~~Puppy Love~~

The two stared at each other across the table, Allen with an unimpressed look on his face while Rod tried his best to maintain the serious look on his own face. Unfortunately for Rod, the pet store owner found himself unable to hold in his thoughts much longer, and with a loud sigh he leaned back in his chair before putting an arm on his forehead in defeat.

On the other side of the table, Allen smirked before shrugging and saying, "It's impossible for you, don't you know that by now?"

"Shut up," Rod said miserably. "I don't even want to think about it."

While Rod pouted and frowned on the other side of the table, Allen just shrugged again before asking, "What possessed you to confess to her in front of half the town anyways?"

"Urgh…" Rod made a face and avoided answering the question as he looked out the window with a miserable expression on his face.

As autumn leaves swirled and fell to the ground in a flurry of color, Rod pouted again before picking at his table and muttering, "I-I don' t know…I just wasn't really thinking things through at the time. I mean, after last week when we went on that picnic together and she smiled at me a lot that time even when I said something so dumb…"

Butterflies swarmed in the pet seller's stomach as Rio's face filled his head; the hard-working farmer was well known among everyone for more than just her construction skills. Her smile was cute enough that even Neil, the most anti-social guy in town, couldn't refuse a present from her no matter how irritating he thought she was.

It was hard enough that Rod had developed a huge crush on her, but what made things particularly challenging for him was the way everyone in town looked at him like he was five, and not the grown man he really was.

As Allen watched his baby-faced friend floundering around in self-inflicted misery, he shook his head before pointing out, "You told me that your little outing went well, but couldn't you have at least pulled her to the side for a confession? You had to blurt it out at the Foliage Festival of all places…"

Rod turned crimson at the memory; just two days before he'd managed to get to Rio before anyone else and had asked her to pick up leaves with him for the bonfire. The two of them had been having a great conversation, and without thinking he'd blurted out 'I like you!' while not thinking that quite a few people were gathering leaves nearby as well.

The result of his blunder was that Rio had blushed furiously but hadn't given him an answer; she'd fallen silent for the rest of the festival and even made a point of standing in between Allen and Neil as she shyly peeked over at Rod while everyone roasted their yams.

Afterwards people had pulled him aside, reassuring him that everything would be okay while at the same time smiling at him with endearing expressions.

"It's just puppy love," they said. "You'll grow out of it."

But growing out of it was the last thing on his mind.

Despite his embarrassment, he'd hoped that she would still be as friendly with him as she had been in days before; she'd always stopped by his stall at the plaza and given him a friendly gift. Sometimes, when business was slow, the farmer would lean against the counter and talk to him. The two could've cared less that Neil had glared at them from his own stall, or that the townspeople would laugh and glance at them when they passed by.

Of course, his confession changed everything.

For two days she'd avoided the plaza, and now that it was the weekend and Rod was catching up with Allen he was beginning to regret his foolishness.

With a loud wail, the pet store owner smacked his face into the table, causing Allen to jump a little at the sudden gesture. As he pouted and kicked the table leg, Rod felt like he was going to be sick.

Allen watched with eyes of pity before asking, "Have you tried to talk to her?"

"Haven't had the time," Rod grumbled, "Neil offered to watch my stall for a bit so I could go look for her but I wasn't going to let him lose customers just because I did something dumb."

"Well yeah," Allen pointed out, "But that was nice of him. Look, don't be so down about it okay? It's just a crush."

Allen blinked in surprise as Rod turned his face to glare up at his friend before the pet store owner said adamantly, "It is NOT just a crush. I really like this girl."

Before Allen could argue back though, there was a knock on the door of the cottage. Curiously, the two boys looked at each other before Rio's voice called out, "Rod? Are you in there? I need to talk to you…"

In a frantic rush to open the door, Rod nearly fell out of his chair before turning to glare at Allen as if to say 'don't you DARE follow me'. As he opened the door, Rod nearly laughed in relief to see Rio standing in front of him with her usual smile; the sight of her and her blue overalls had never been more welcoming to the pet store owner.

When he realized he had been staring at her, he quickly blushed before stepping outside and shutting the door behind him firmly.

"Come on," he told her, grabbing her wrist as excitement made his heart throb painfully. "This isn't really the right atmosphere for a good talk."

As the two stood in front of the spring, Rod kept his hands stuffed in his pockets while looking at the water with a strange amount of focus. He was so concerned and preoccupied with what he was going to say and hear, that he missed what Rio asked him before looking over at her with a confused blush on his face.

"What?" he asked, feeling foolish as Rio giggled a little at his scatterbrained manner and said, "I asked if you were alright. You seem different from normal…I mean…"

As the farmer figeted and turned pink (no doubt at the memory of Rod's bold confession) the pet seller felt himself heating up before he coughed and said, "Er…the breeze is nice up here, isn't it?"

"Wha-Oh. Yeah."

There was more awkward silence, before Rod clenched his hands into fists and said, "That wasn't what I meant to say. Please, just hear me out a second time."

Hesitantly, Rio nodded, and strengthening his resolve Rod declared, "Rio, I really like you! If you feel the same way…please be my girlfriend!"

Rod waited with a blush, expectant of her saying no; to his surprise, she burst into the most breathtaking smile he'd seen yet on her face before producing a small, silver ring from the pocket of her overalls. While he gaped, not comprehending what was going on, she giggled and took a step closer, blushing as she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek gently.

When she pulled back, Rod stared at her as she said softly, "I'm glad you asked…I didn't know what I would've done with the ring I worked so hard to buy otherwise…"

"Wait…I don't understand," Rod said, flustered as Rio placed the ring in his hand and traced a pattern on his palm with the tip of her index finger. For a second he lost his train of thought at the sensation of her touch, before the pet store owner remembered what he was thinking and asked, "Why did you act like that after I confessed the first time then?"

As he stood there, waiting for an answer, he found his heart beat even faster as a frustrated look came over her face; her crinkled nose, combined with the light spattering of freckles on her cheeks was entirely too much for him. While Rod bit his lip and willed himself to stay calm, Rio pouted, "I didn't mean to do that…I was actually going to confess to you but I hadn't saved up enough money for a commitment ring. I just got this today-I rushed through my routine to get to Hana's store as soon as it opened."

Remembering the silver circle that lay on his palm, Rod looked down before protesting, "But should I be the one giving you a ring?"

He couldn't help but blush as Rio gave him a mischievous look and said, "Maybe later, one would be nice. I wanted to be able to claim you though before you could claim me... and everyone knows that only one of us has to be wearing a commitment ring in the relationship."

Gripping the ring tightly, Rod smiled at her before replying happily, "I meant to get you a ring but since you went through all this trouble I guess I'll just have to accept this from you."

"Good," Rio said cheerfully, and as Rod slipped the ring into his vest pocket he leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. As he pulled back and looked down to see her blushing, he smiled before muttering, "How cute!"

Ignoring her flustered sounds and the blush on her cheeks, Rod put a hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer, causing their hips to bump lightly as their bodies collided. Pressing a hand to her cheek, Rod leaned down to kiss her eyelid, then her nose, before hesitating just at her lips.

It was silent save for the sound of bugs nearby and their flustered breathing, before Rod tilted her face upwards and met her lips with a kiss. They broke apart only for a moment, before he rushed in for another taste of her, savoring the way she felt pressed against him.

As he repeatedly kissed her, his hands gliding past her shoulders to where they tangled in her hair, Rod couldn't help but feel like everyone had no idea what they'd been talking about when they'd told him that it was just 'puppy love'.

It certainly felt like more to the pet seller as he stood there with his pulse rushing and his whole body begging him for more.

He broke off the kiss for a second, trying to catch his breath only to blush when Rio gave him a pleading look, tugging at his vest zipper with a smile that made his mind go blank for a second. As she looked up at him, he put a hand over her eyes and leaned down once more for a final kiss.

Pulling away gently, he smiled at her cute expression before straightening up and saying, "I have some unfinished things but…I'll see you around, right?" As he took his hand off of her face, he was pleased to see her surprised and bashful expression.

"O-of course," she stammered, blushing harder as he brought her hand up to his face and kissed her palm. Dropping her hand, he gave her one last look before heading back towards town, resisting the urge to yell with triumph as he left Rio blushing behind him on the mountaintop.

Yay, oneshot!

Rod totally deserves more than his fair share of love, especially since he seems to be one of the more childish bachelors. He's absolutely adorable, and I really do love him as both a character and a bachelor :)

Anyways, for those of you who read my Redefined story, glad to see you back! For those of you just randomly reading this, I hope you enjoyed it and that it was good :)

I will be posting another story pretty soon too for Rio and Neil-I still have to get the whole concept down right XD So until then, I hope to see you all on that story as well! Au revoir, my awesome readers!