Chapter Five:

"Ann and Cliff had their marriage dissolved." Maria lifted a cup of tea up to her lips and shook her head sadly. "They were such a sweet couple - the epitome of opposites attract. Ann talked so dearly about him." Jack nodded and tried to act like his world had not just exploded. Had Cliff been the one to end it, or Ann? Did it really matter? No. He rubbed at his nose as Mary continued to gossip, Harris continued to play with Jeanette, and Jack continued to know that it did not make a speck of difference for his own situation.

It was the beginning of his second winter winter and once again unabe to farm, he had become somewhat of a fixture at Maria's house. His schedule was generally feed chickens, ship eggs, feed cows and sheep, milk cows, ship the milk, feed Melvin, feed and exercise Jenny, and then spend the rest of the day away. He was far too wealthy to care about mining for extra income. He even had the ability to order a greenhouse but had no desire to do so. He had made his decision that he would leave in the spring - no use spending all his profits on things he'd be leaving in a season.

Maria and Harris's daughter Jeanette was learning to walk, while their first son Harris Jr. was barely a month old. Elli had given birth to Jeff's child. Karen and Kai had left the vineyard, together, to pursue a glamorous life in the city. No one understood and no one really cared - it was their lives, after all. Popuri and Gray were childless but happy. So that left the citizens of Flower Bud village with nothing to gossip about except the split of Ann and Cliff. Jack cared very deeply but shoved his feelings aside. They were irrelevant.

On Thanksgiving day, Jack did not leave his house. He knew Maria and Harris would be happier spending this holiday as a family event. So he took up his old habit of sitting on the patio and playing his ocarina. Melvin seemed to remember this special time and ran over happily, barking. It took Jack a few moments to realize there was a man behind the dog. "Jack," he said.

"Hello," he said, unable to speak his name. Breathing was suddenly hard. He had not been this close to Cliff since the punch.

"I bet you heard about Ann and I."

"Yes."

"Then I guess this is all that's left to do," Cliff said. Jack had no idea what he meant until Cliff stretched out an arm. In his palm sat a slice of cake, a little lopsided and very chocolatey. "It's for you. Happy Thanksgiving." Jack stared at the dessert as if it had been poisoned. Was this really happening? After almost a year of rejection and avoidance, Cliff was just going to waltz up and hand him food, as if that helped anything? Without thinking, Jack reached out and slapped a hand down on the offering. It slipped from Cliff's grasp and fell to the wooden boards. The plate clunked but did not shatter. Melvin immediately ran out and began gobbling up the cake. "I deserved that."

"You deserve - just - get out. Get off my property." It was hard for Jack to manage that. He really felt like launching into a screaming fit of obscenities and insults, peppered with tears. That would help no one, least of all Jack.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Jack. For everything." With that, Cliff turned on his heel and walked away. Jack felt the odd combination of wanting to chase him down and wanting to spit on his retreating head. Like a slice of cake and a two word apology meant anything. Screw Cliff. He'd gone off and gotten married but now that his marriage was over, he came running back to Jack, expecting...who knew? But whatever it was, he wasn't getting it. Jack was strong. No, he was weak. But he only had to hold out half a season. Then he'd be leaving.

Cliff came back the next day with raspberries. The following day, star fruit. Then a bracelet said to ward off demons, then a Firefly light, and on and on the gifts went. Every day Cliff came and faced Jack and withstood verbal abuse and always apologized before leaving. It was wearing Jack down. He didn't want it to, but it did. Maybe his resolve would have been stronger if he'd actually had things to occupy his mind with. Instead, he had nothing to think about but Cliff. Cliff, the first day he'd shown up, so hungry and thin. Cliff, drunk and laughing and touching Jack's hand. Cliff, punching Jack and running away. He had thought about all these events and conversations so many times this past year. He didn't want to do it again.

Jack won the dog race and came home late at night to find Cliff waiting. He took several strides towards Jack, who promptly backed away. "Listen. I'm going to wait forever."

"I'm leaving the first of spring. My dad's coming to get me. The farm life isn't for me." The words visibly affected Cliff. He sucked in a breath and frowned, his posture slumping a little. Jack could guess he had a million things to say, but wouldn't. He'd felt that so many times. After a couple of moments, Cliff straightened and met Jack's eyes.

"What are you talking about? You love farming. Don't let me ruin that for you." Jack shrugged, sighed. Then Cliff stepped forward and kissed him. Their bodies did not touch and the kiss was so extremely soft. Jack wished this had been the response back on Moon Mountain. "Stay. Let me make up my mistake."

"No." Jack stepped into his house and locked the door. He did not sleep, instead staying awake and watching TV. The reception was only of useless channels, basic farming information he had learned very long ago. But he was scared of the dreams he would have if he closed his eyes.

Knowing that his departure was near, Jack sold off all his cows, sheep, and chickens. It hurt to see them touted off and separated. He had put a lot of love and hard work into those animals. But he trusted the people from other towns to care for them just as well. He tilled the field, pulling up all the dormant grass seeds. Whoever bought the farm would already be getting an easy start, with an added on house and a clean field. They wouldn't get his crops and animals too. Maybe that was selfish. He didn't care. The hardest part was selling Jenny. Melvin was moving into the city with Jack, but Jenny needed fresh air and plenty of room. He could not deny he shed a few tears when he hugged the horse's neck as a goodbye. Ann had promised to pay special attention to her. He just shrugged and left. If he'd tried to talk, he would have undoubtedly sobbed.

Jack packed nothing. Everything he owned, from plates to clothes to the TV, reminded him of the very things (person) he was intent on forgetting. Melvin seemed to sense change was coming because he rarely barked and stayed very close to his owner. Finally, the day came. The town held a goodbye party in the town square, and everyone was at once cheerful and tearful. Cliff showed up halfway through and Jack could not shoo him while being the center of attention - well, a few people were now more interested in seeing if Cliff and Ann were going to create drama. Ann was red-faced as she talked to Gray, but Cliff seemed unaffected.

"So, are you going to miss your best friend?" Jack had could only blink at Elli's question.

"My what?"

"Cliff," she explained, looking at the two men.

"He's not my friend, best or otherwise," Jack said. It was not out of anger. He had never considered Cliff a friend because there were always more feelings lurking under the surface. To hear the label made his skin crawl. However, his words clearly carried a meaning different from the intended one because Cliff bowed his head and Elli went a little pink-cheeked.

"Oh. My mistake." She walked away. Jack tried to ignore the guilt he felt at having hurt Cliff's feelings. Cliff had hurt his feelings over and over. He was leaving. None of this mattered. Suddenly, the last thing in the world he wanted to do was celebrate his own exit. He did not even bother to offer an excuse to anyone as he walked down the stairs. He broke into a run the moment his feet hit cobblestone, and he sprinted all the way up Moon Mountain. It looked less beautiful in the sunlight. Jack was not surprised when Cliff sat down next to him a few minutes later. The run had made Jack perspire and breathe heavily and he had not fully recovered by that time. If Cliff noticed, he said nothing.

"I'm going with you," Cliff said. "One way or another I'm leaving this town. I'd rather it be with you. And don't waste your time telling me I can't, because I can and I will." Jack looked over the mountain's edge, at the dot that was their village, at the endless expanse of treetops.

"Why did you and Ann divorce?"

"I regretted marrying her even as I said 'I do.' But I kept a promise so I tried to stick with it, but I couldn't. I'm surprised she hung around as long as she did." Cliff paused and his eyes closed. "She left me, and I don't blame her. I never loved her. We were never even intimate." Jack did not know how to react to that news. They'd been married a year without consummating it? That seemed impossible, or at least very hard to believe, especially having seen Ann and Cliff kiss many times. He was actually surprised Ann had been okay with waiting until they exchange vows. Jack inhaled slowly and decided none of it mattered. He wasn't going to be with Cliff, after all. He was leaving. He -

"I want to be with you." Jack was not aware he'd spoken until he looked at Cliff, who was smiling. As Jack just looked at him, his expression became solemn.

"I just wish you hadn't sold everything." Jack looked away, down at his hands. Despite his lack of hard work recently, his hands were still calloused and dirty. He wondered how long it would take for them to go back to city boy hands, if they ever would.

"We couldn't have stayed here anyway. Not with Ann around."

"And Popuri," Cliff said, and Jack had not thought about her in such a long time that it was surprising to hear her mentioned. But Cliff was right, in a way. Then Jack realized that they were talking about a future and consequences and it was so easy to fall back into how happy he'd been in the beginning of his relationship with the former bum. He wished he'd decided that nothing mattered a long time ago and at the same time he was very glad they had never cheated on Ann, so no, he would not change anything. They stood together, and then kissed. It was their first mutual kiss and Jack could feel Cliff's stubble against his face and thought it tickled in a nice way. His father would be there any moment so they walked down to the beach to greet him, stopping at the farm to get Melvin. There would be time for reflecting on the past later, perhaps, if it was necessary, but right now Jack was just glad Cliff had followed him up the mountain.

A/N: And that's it. I'm not very happy with it. The quality definitely declined throughout the story but I don't know what to do. I hope you at least enjoyed it.