A/N: So, here's the second fanfiction I've written. I've always loved Harvest Moon, and I figured, "Why not?" Please, Point out any errors or mistakes you may see. Don't be afraid to tell me if it's bad; I'm able to take criticism well.

The character's personalities aren't too close to those in the game; I apologize for that in advance.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon in any which way. The characters, while being OOC, do not belong to me.

"You two have been here a whole year already, and well over half the town doesn't know she exists. I keep telling Grams and Candace about her, but they only look at me like I'm crazy," Luna said. Her loud, almost obnoxious voice carried from the small gap in the door. Knowing her, she was sitting on Kasey's bed, legs crossed and glaring at him.

Kasey was standing at the opposite side of the room. Why he was standing with such a large gap between them was easy to tell. He was half afraid of doing something Luna would later regret or not enjoy. Apparently, even after three seasons of dating, they were still in the beginning 'awkward' stages of their relationship. The other half of him was afraid I'd come into the room in the middle of something I'd rather not see.

"Angela's just shy, Luna," Kasey said. His voice wasn't as strong as usual; there was a hint of hesitation to it.

"Candace is shy. She gets embarrassed easy and stumbles over her words, but at least she doesn't leave the room the moment she thinks someone else is coming. Angela's a straight up hermit. She even avoids me, and I'm here almost every other night. I really do think the only reason she leaves that cave of hers is to take care of her crops. If it weren't for those plants, you wouldn't see hide or tail of her. You need to get her out of this freaking house."

"I don't want to-"

"Don't want to what?" she questioned. "She's not getting younger, and with things going the way they are, she'll never get married. She'll die in this house old and alone."

I sighed and placed my book on the couch next to me. As I thought, it had been a bad idea to read in the living room. There was only one standing lamp in my room to provide light, and with night descending, the idea of the living room's several light sources was pleasant- pleasant enough to get me out of my 'cave' as Luna called it. I had pictured myself snuggling into a blanket and reading until I finally fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning. Too bad reality rarely did my fantasies justice.

"I'm telling you," Kasey said, pushing open his bedroom's door, "Angela's just Angela." He froze; his eyes locked with mine.

"Then tell me what the hell she's going to do when you move in with me? How's she going to live by herself. Why'd you stop?" Luna asked, poking her head out from over his shoulder. She took my appearance with much more grace than my brother. She smiled her business smile. It was the only smile she seemed to show around me. "Hello, Angela," she said in greeting. "What are you up to?"

I picked up my book and lifted it just the slightest. It wasn't much of an explanation, but honestly, I didn't care whether or not it was good enough. I looked to Kasey as evenly as I could. "You're moving out?" I asked. My grip tightened on my book. A blue vein popped out from my hand.

His hand went to the back of his head. "Uh, well," he said, not looking at me.

Luna stepped out from around him and was sure to look dead in my eye. Her beautiful blue eyes didn't hold any uncertainty to them. "Yes he is. We're thinking by the middle of summer. We're buying a house in town."

I felt my jaw tighten. Yet, I tried to ignore the little sparks of anger bubbling in my stomach. "And your animals?" I asked. My voice raised a pitch, making him flinch. "You know I can't take care of them; they don't like me."

"Roma likes you," he said in a little voice.

Roma was the only animal in the barn I had raised on my own. It had taken the gelding two seasons to warm up to me. Then it took another for him to trust me enough to let me ride him. In turn, he was the only animal that listened to me or let me near it. The others made a point to ignore me; some of the sheep even kicked at me.

He sighed. "I don't have intentions of abandoning my animals. I'll come everyday to take care of them like I do now."

A moment of silence passed between the three of us, but with another sigh, I rose from my seat. All I wanted was to go back to my room and sleep. Maybe I'd wake up and the whole night would be a dream. I aimed for my door with my new hopes in mind.

Luna stepped in my way, blocking me with her petite body. "You're not running away this time. You need to face what's coming, because it's not going to just disappear." She crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you going to do when he isn't here? How are you going to get your seeds? Or new clothes?"

"Luna," Kasey said as a caution.

"Don't 'Luna' me. She needs to hear this," she said, snapping at him. Her fury was returned to me. "We do everything for you. We get you everything you need. Yet, you don't take your time to talk to us. You'll even ignore our existence until you manage to escape. In fact, you act like we have the damned plague. Why is that? Huh? Do you think you're better than us? Do you?"

I damned my fantasies; they did nothing but depress me. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just leave me alone. Why couldn't she see that I was happy with my life? I didn't need other people; I wasn't her.

"I'm better off alone," I said, wrapping my arms around my waist.

Her face took a red tint to it. Her mouth gaped open and shut for a moment before it clamped shut with a strong harshness. "You," she said, "robot." It came out like a shocked accusation and less like a statement.

"Luna," Kasey said once more.

"Do you even feel emotions? How can you be so heartless?" she asked. Her eyes were beginning to bulge out of her head. She stomped her foot and let out a small screech. "No wonder none of the animals like you. You just some cold, unfeeling monster. Someone like you deserves to die alone."

Kasey gripped Luna's shoulders and tried to settle her down. He whispered into her soft pink hair to no avail.

Luna pulled herself away from and came inches away from my face. It was difficult for her, since she was much shorter than me. Her minty fresh breath tickled my face, and heat seemed to be rolling off her in waves. "Get out." There was no place for argument; her voice was tight and shut off.

I looked past her to my brother, not too surprised to find him siding with her. He had really taken to the rude woman when we first moved to Castanet. I couldn't see what he saw in her, but in some disturbing way, she made him happy.

"I said to get out," she repeated.

I placed my book on the nearest counter and went to the front door without saying a word. When I shut the door behind me, I could hear the tumblers locking, keeping me unable to let myself back inside. I glared at the door and sighed. "Great. Just great." Sleeping in the barn did not interest me in the least. The straw was itchy, and even though it was still the beginning of spring, it would be hot and muggy inside.

I made sure my necklace was still in place. The heart shaped pendant felt cool in my hand. Tucked under the heart was the small key to my bedroom door. At the very least, Luna wouldn't be able to get into my room without chopping it down. Maybe, if I had any luck at all, I had left the lock to my window undone. Then I could just sneak back in and go about my life as normal.

A gurgle from my stomach made that seem less likely.

Well, there was an inn and a bar in town. I'd never been to either, but they had to be good. They were mom-and-pop shops with years of practice to make themselves the best after all. The walk to the town took a little over a half hour. By then, night was well settled. The only real lights were the few street lamps and the large lighthouse. Most people must have been asleep; almost all the buildings were dark.

The only three lit buildings were an odd house near the path to the church, the inn, and the bar. My goal at the moment was the bar. The lights glowed orange on the outside, and the moment I stepped inside, I was engulfed by warmth. The temperature wasn't necessarily warm. It was the dim lighting and delicious smells that made the whole bar 'feel' the way it did.

There was a handful of people inside the bar. At one of the tables was an old man with a long beak nose. He was talking loudly to the heavily muscled man sitting across from him. Said man had short dark red head. He was also talking loudly. Both men had a pink flushed look to them as they drank their beers. Standing at the table with them was a big breasted blond in a cowgirl get up. She was smiling and laughing with them, but she, herself, didn't seem to be drunk.

On the small elevated stage, there was a tanned woman dancing. Her dark red hair was fashioned into an exotic bun, and her whole dress and movements could be explained as exotic. The way her body twisted and glistened was almost hypnotic, and she definitely had all the attention of a young man. The blue haired man was whooping and hollering at the dancer with hazy eyes. All the while an older man was shaking his head, embarrassed by the younger man's actions.

Finally, behind the bar counter were two men. One stood tall and silent as he watched me slowly make my way to a bar stool. He had a stern gaze but soft eyes. There wasn't a strand of hair on his head; it was all located in his wild beard. Behind him was a slender peach haired man. He was cooking something with a small, happy smile.

"Welcome," the man said, nodding to me.

I nodded back and looked at the menu hanging behind him. There were many types of cocktails offered and a smaller assortment of meals.

"What can I get you, Miss?"

"Um," I said, trying to make up my mind. It wasn't easy. With my stomach set on empty, anything and everything sounded amazing. "Can I get some cabbage stew and a strawberry cocktail?"

He nodded, slow and easy. He turned to the chef and put the order in before having me pay for my meal. "You're in luck. All of our ingredients come fresh from the local farms. The high quality crops make for the best food in all of the country," he said, smiling softly.

I managed a smile. At least people appreciated all of my hard work. However, I never knew the produce I sold went to the town. For some reason, I thought they were shipped out to the city. I was given my food with another small smile. It tasted very well; I never really had cooked meals. I usually ate my crops raw. The change in pace was nice. Too bad the bar was loud.

I had just finished the last bite of my stew when I saw movement in my side vision. The bartender gave the new person a cocktail without asking; he must have been a regular. I sipped on my own drink as slowly as I could. The alcohol was stronger than I expected; not even the sweet strawberries could counter it. Once more I half-saw the person next to me. I glanced to my side and nearly jumped out of my seat.

The person was staring directly at me, and they were much closer than I had expected. The person had long layered hair; the top section was purple while the lower section was hot pink. Streaks of yellow and green were here and there in their hair, giving them a very wild look. Their eyes were such an odd colored brown that they almost appeared red. They were wearing dark purple eyeliner and a light eyeshadow. They had some type of shiny gloss on their plump lips, too. It was almost scary how beautiful they looked. It was scary when I realized that the person was a man and not a woman as I first thought.

I licked my lips and pulled my drink closer. "Can I help you?" I asked him.

He twirled the straw to his drink with a finger. "Perhaps," he said, smirking.

"Perhaps, what?" I asked, unable to help myself. Eventually, my curiosity was going to be the death of me.

"Perhaps you could tell me why the oh so elusive farmer from down the lane is sitting at the Brass Bar all by her lonesome." His smile had an naive undertone to it, but his eyes were anything but innocent. The sharp glint in his eyes told of a silent cleverness that I didn't want to come face-to-face with.

I tried not to look too surprised, but I could see the way my jaw slacked in the reflection in his eyes. I straightened my shoulders. "I was kicked out of my house," I said as evenly as possible.

The man barked out a short, unamused laugh. "Is that so, Darling? Something tells me that brother of yours didn't have the guts to do it himself." He took my silence as an affirmation. "Then it was the she-beast?" he asked, leaning forward a bit.

As he moved closer, I shifted farther back on my stool. He was coming remarkably close to invading my private space. "If you mean Luna, it was her." The arrogant way he held himself and spoke made a knot form in my stomach. He came off like an unapologetic ass, and his mocking tone wasn't appreciated. Although 'she-beast' was a fairly accurate way to describe Luna; I would give the man that much.

"So she's still as bossy and rude as ever," he said. "I'm not surprised."

There were only a few more sips of my drink left. If I could just finish them, I could escape to the inn.

"You sure do like your strawberries." He watched me with an interest I really, really did not like. The man turned to the bartender, flashing a wide smile. "Hayden, why don't you hit us with another?" His attention was quickly returned to me. With a wink, he said, "My treat."

Before I could voice my opposition, another reddish-pink glass was placed in front of me. This time around, the bartender put a whole strawberry in the glass as decoration. "Who are you?" I asked, picking the berry out with a sword toothpick. "Not that it matters," I continued in a lower tone. Damn, I sucked at talking to people.

He held up his hand to his chest in a mock offended manner. "Oh Darling, you wound me." The hurt act was dropped in a millisecond. "If you really must know, my name is Julius," he said. His smirk was back in place.

"I see." The name didn't ring any bells, but for all I knew, he was my brother's best friend. I never did pay too close of attention when he spouted off about the locals. I didn't think I'd need any information on them since I had no plans to interact with them.

There was a blank look in his eyes. "Darling, this is the part where people usually introduce themselves," he said.

"I'm Angela." I took swig of my drink just as a wave of lightheaded nausea hit.

He threw back the rest of own and nodded to the bartender for another. "Kasey and Angela, huh? It sounds like a bad sitcom. One's a rancher that almost everyone loves. The other is a farmer who no one knows about and might as well be a ghost. Together, they try to adjust to life in the tiny ass land of Castanet." He smiled at his own weird idea.

"If that's what you want to think, go ahead," I mumbled.

"Why don't you tell me what I need to think? Maybe the truth is better than fiction, Darling."

I scowled at him. "If I told you my name, why don't you use it? I'm not a fan of being called 'darling' in the least."

He shrugged.

Well, whatever. It wasn't like I planned on talking to him again. It didn't matter what he called me. "We, Kasey and I, moved out here to get out of the city. Health reasons, you know? He's got asthma. All the pollution really messed him up, so out here we came. Starting up a farm seemed to be our only option, so we did it."

"It must have been difficult."

"Nah. It took Kasey a little while to get use to the animals. He wasn't use to being so active and all that kind of stuff. Farming came pretty easy to me. The seeds are cheap while the crops sell high, and the physical activity isn't all that bad. My aches stopped happening after the first summer." My stomach churned, and I finished my drink. I was given yet another but didn't think anything of it. Halfway through the second one, the burn didn't seem to be as strong. The bartender must have been diluting the alcohol content with each new glass. It was a smart idea. It must have kept people from getting too drunk.

But the men only seemed to be getting louder as that one woman danced. Maybe I was just getting a tolerance? Yeah, that made sense. Yup, total sense.

"What's your story?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

"Who, Moi?" he asked, once again adopting a fake facade. "How can it be, little old you is interested in little old me? I feel so giddy." He stretched his shoulders, showing off a bit of the skin from his neck. "All I do is work at the accessory store," he said, shrugging.

"What are you into?" I asked. The way his eyebrow cocked up made heat rush over my face. "Uh, at the shop, I mean." My head was starting to feel fuzzy- like it was filled with cotton balls. Or sheep wool. Nah, wool was too rough. At least, cotton balls were soft. Damn, strawberry cocktails tasted good. Why didn't I go out more often? Other than the random fop, it was turning out to be a good experience.

"I mostly work with shaping the metal and setting the gems. It's more of Mira's job to refine the ores and wonderfuls. I'd hate to sound arrogant, but my eye for beauty and quality of work has made our shop known throughout the region." He sat up straighter and grinned. "Although, I can't take all the credit. The shop's previous owner, Mira's husband, he was the one who taught me all I know. He's the one who saw my raw talent and made it what it is now."

I wasn't sure how to respond so I stayed quiet. It took me a moment to realize that my drink had somehow replenished itself. I stared at it, confused and amazed.

"You feeling okay, Darling?" Julius asked.

"My glass is magic," I said, still watching it. There had to be something behind the sorcery. Maybe the bottom of the glass was in sync with a black hole that spouted out alcoholic strawberry drinks.

He chuckled, softly. He had a very musical laugh; it sounded very pleasant. "I have the feeling, you don't have a high tolerance."

"High tolerance for what?" I asked.

He just shook his head, still smiling. "It's nothing, Darling." He pulled a leather wallet out of his pocket and dug out some money. He gave it to the bartender. "I think it's time to go home," he said, returning his attention to me.

I sighed and shrugged. "Why not?" But Luna locked me out. For some reason I felt like there was another way in; however, I couldn't remember where it was to save my life. "I can't go home," I said, laying my head against the counter. It felt nice and cool against my burning face.

Julius nodded, thoughtfully. Pieces of his hair fell into his face, but he made no motion to move it. He really was a good looking guy. Staring at him, I wasn't sure how I had thought he was a woman at first. Sure, he did dress rather fashionably, but his clothes did well to highlight his slender features. Was slender the right word? I couldn't be sure. For all I knew, he was actually well toned or something.

The bartender gave him his change. "You two be careful, alright?" he asked, glancing between the two of us.

"Yes, Sir."

"Alright, Hayden."

Julius led me out of the bar and into the night, but after that, everything went black.