Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or its characters. This story was only written for entertainment purposes.

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Seventeen

It was a bright and sunny, albeit chilly, morning when Jamie found himself marching out of his property, with an unfriendly scowl firmly placed on his face and the metaphorical dark clouds looming over his head. With every heavy step away from his comfort zone, he felt the irritation in his joints beginning to hitch as curious looks from the few gazes morning surveyors bombarded his form with.

Jamie had expected to find a certain brunette farmer clucking away during his morning routine. Had assumed he would have to prepare himself for the extended version of her rant about her days in Mineral Town. Presumed his entire morning was going to be filled with heart warming laugher and stale attempts to trying to get his input into the once sided conversation. But instead, he had gone through the mundane routine alone, again, and silently fumed about being left to his own devices, effectively frightening his poor livestock half to death.

So here he was, storming down the dirt pavement towards the ocean home he had become extremely familiar with during the summer with a dark look etched onto his face. As his foot made contact with the bridge, a feminine voice called out to him.

Stunned that someone, other than the brunette he was in search of, was calling out to him without the slightest inclination of hesitation, Jamie froze and cautiously glanced over his shoulder. Casually making her way towards him was the bubbly brunette relative of his blond nemesis, Ellen, with a smile on her face and a friendly wave directed squarely at him.

"Morning, I'm so glad I caught you," she said quietly, the smile refusing to leave her face.

Jamie shifted uncomfortably, not used to the constant, and genuine, look of others being so relaxed in his presence. With a curt nod, he waited impatiently for the brunette to finish her business with him so that he could continue looking for a different brunette.

"You're probably looking for Abigail, correct?"

Jamie narrowed his eyes, but refrained from snapping at the poor girl. She was after all a friend of his on-again-off-again talkative companion.

But the heavy tension unsettled Ellen, evident by the falter in her smile, "Um. Yes, well. She's not at her home. Carl and Katie offered to teach her how to cook a few new plates, so it's more than likely that she's still there. If you'd like, we could go together I'm on my wa..." but her voice drifted off as Jamie made a bee-line towards the café.

"Drat, another one bites the dust," were the first words to ring in his ears when he stepped out of the frigid winter air and into the cozy atmosphere the small, quaint café naturally exuded without trying too hard. A high pitched giggled followed soon after, which was soon drowned out by the nervous chuckle of a male and the heavy sound of a dishearten sigh.

With a hard stare, Jamie's sore muscles complained as a new tension settled throughout his form. Behind the counter was the proprietor of the quiet establishment and his only help, hovering awfully close to a certain brunette farmer he had been in search of.

Katie was the first to move away from his former rival and smiled coyly before running a free hand through her long locks, "It's okay, Abigail, not everyone can be fantastic cooks like me and Carl, or even Ellen."

The dark glare Jamie threw at the waitress was mirrored by the blond owner as he brushed aside the comment with a bat of his hand. The action caused a haughty pout from the younger woman and sent her fuming deeper into the back of the establishment, leaving the farmer and baker to themselves.

"Don't listen to her," Carl mumbled cheerfully, face bright with sincerity and happiness. "No one ever gets it the first time, it's almost impossible. Just keep practicing and you'll get the recipe in no time. Try again."

Jamie watched as Abigail cringed away from the brightly colored bowl before turning pleading eyes towards the blond. "Do I have to learn how to cook? I mean... couldn't I just send him to the café whenever he even begins to hint that he's gets hungry. This way, we both win. I won't have to learn all these complicated recipes, thus avoiding more failures and less chances of losing a finger or two, and you'll be getting regular business."

Carl laughed before shaking his head in disbelief, "As tempting as the proposition sound, as your friend, I cannot let you do that, Abby. Besides, you never know what kind of husband you'll end up attracting. Maybe it'll be someone whose expecting a home cooked meal, or maybe someone who doesn't mind going out on occasion. It's just – "

"Better to be prepared," she finished, and Jamie didn't even need to have the farmer facing him to know she had said it with a roll of her eyes. Taking the bowl that was still being offered to her, Jamie felt his lips twitch ever so slightly upwards from the look the brunette was subjecting the blond to. "Fine. But know now, you've just given up a great offer. Constant flow of money, three times a day, seven days a week." Abigail made a small scolding sound as she wagged her finger at Carl.

Carl sighed halfheartedly as a tired and pained smile stretched across the man's face and Jamie swore he heard a sorrow filled 'I know' being moaned quietly as the baker shuffled away.

The brunette turned away from the retreating form, giving Jamie a brief look at the growing smirk on her face, and slouched her shoulders before beginning to collect ingredients. It was then that Jamie decided to make his presence known. Clearing his throat loudly, but not loud enough to attract the attention of the two other inhabitants in the building, Jamie felt the stiffness in his form slowly ebb out of his muscles when alert brown eyes locked onto his own.

"Good morning, Jamie!" was her chipper response, causing a slight wince from the normally brooding purple haired farmer.

A mumbled greeting, one that a normal person would have never guessed to have been a greeting of any kind, escaped his lips as he crossed the room and took a seat in the closest available seat. He watched as she turned her full attention towards him, something that Jamie subconsciously relished in, and glazed over the bowl in her grasp. His questioning look returned to the smiling face.

"I'm making pancakes!"

With a roll of his eyes, Jamie allowed the obvious observation roll off without a snarky comment and watched with mild interest as she continued to bat the batter with weak stirs. The lackluster enthusiasm that she seemed to pour into her actions spoke loud and clear that this wasn't where she wanted to be this morning. For a brief moment, he felt... bad for being upset over being stood up this morning. But that feeling was quietly squashed when the woman before him began to make up for the lack of chatter earlier this morning.

"Martha's making me come here. Said it would do me some good, learning how to cook for when I get hitched." A small frown formed on her face, and Jamie was a second away from mimicking the look, but the quiet laugher eased the muscles on his face. "Like that's going to make or break a marriage..." her light hearted laugh morphed into a nervous chuckle, "...right?"

Jamie looked away from the batter in her grasp and found eyes boring into his form.

"No," he finally answered after what felt like an eternity but was only a matter of second.

A sigh, one resembling a strange likeness to relief, left her mouth before a bound of energy exploded from the brunette as she hastily continued with her cooking. "Mama tried to tell me the same thing while I was helping her around the farm. Said the only way to get into a man's heart was through his stomach and seeing as I only really know the basics, like boiling water and steaming veggies, she kept hinting that I'd end up scaring off potential husbands with my lack of cooking skills."

Azure eyes narrowed at the thought, "Humph."

She giggled, "That's exactly what I said to Mama. That woman is so silly sometimes."

"You're speaking differently," Jamie noted in a quiet voice.

A blush spread across her cheeks, one that Jamie would never admit aloud to making her look... cute, and the farmer smiled sheepishly. "Ha, yeah. I guess a whole season of being around my family again rubbed off. But don't worry, it should go away after a few weeks just like before."

Jamie hummed quietly as she turned away from him to continue with her cooking. A moment or two of silence and the sound of batter hitting a hot flat surface filled the room. It was quickly followed by the welcoming aroma associated with homemade pancakes and Jamie found himself taking in a deep breath of the scent. It had been far too long since he had actually indulged in anything that wasn't already wired into his routine. He couldn't even remember the last time he had had a breakfast that didn't consist of the usual toast, juice and fruit.

His curious eyes tried to sneak a peek at the delicious smelling treats being made before him, but somehow the brunette managed to keep them well hidden. It almost looked intentional, and the brief tilt of her head towards him only confirmed his suspicions. Sighing quietly to himself, Jamie faked being interested at something hanging on the opposite side of the stove.

It was only then than the brunette farmer moved less stiffly, grabbing a nearby plate and slide the finished pancake onto it.

"Oh. It came out deformed," she mumbled, cocking her head and staring down at the lone pancake sitting on the plate. Sighing, she rubbed her face and placed the plate on the flat surface between Jamie and herself, "It's not even round. I'm never going to get this."

Jamie glanced at the food. It wasn't round, that was for sure, instead it seemed to have taken on the shape of a fish looking thing. Oddly spaced out in the center and the tips of a smile at the ends of each side. But despite it's shape, it still held the golden brown and fluffy appearance associated with pancakes. So, it couldn't be that bad. Could it?

The brunette gawked as Jamie stuffed half of the pancake into his mouth, her own mouth wide open in shock. "W-w-what are you doing! Don't eat that! What if it's not cooked correctly, o-or what if you come down with something horrible because of my terrible cooking! You spit that out right now, Mister!"

But instead of doing as he was told, Jamie swallowed the food and waited.

"You ate it." she breathed out, worry ebbing onto her features as she quickly grabbed a glass and shuffled to the refrigerator to fill it with milk. Once filled, she made her way towards the sitting purple haired farmer and handed him the glass. Watching with cautious eyes, she inched closer when he took the offering and pressed the back of her palm against his cheek. "You don't feel sick do you? You feel a little hot... Oh Goddess, I should get you to Alex quick."

Jamie frowned, batting away the warm hand against his burning cheek, and shook his head. Downing the milk in his grasp, hoping it would alleviate the hummingbird pace his heart had adopted from just her close presence, he picked the remaining piece of pancake and stuffed it into his mouth.

"I'm fine," he gritted out, feeling his pulse quicken when she peered into his face for a close inspection, blatantly checking to see if he was lying to her.

"I don't know," she mused aloud, refusing to give Jamie breathing space to stop the color from rising to his cheeks. "You're starting to look a little red." Just when Jamie thought he was going to past out from the unusual amount of blood rushing to his head, she pulled away and threw her arms in the air. "Oh, why am I so horrible when it comes to cooking. Gardening, I'm great at, but when it comes to actually utilizing whatever I plant... I'm a complete mess!"

"Shh," Jamie found himself hissing, panicked that her cries of despair would attract the buildings other inhabitants. Teary brown eyes turned to him somberly and Jamie felt an ache in his chest, and he was certain it had nothing to do from the food he had just ingested. Looking down at the plate before him, now riddled with bits and pieces of the pancakes that once laid upon it, he fiddled with it as his mouth moved on its own, "I-It wasn't horrible. I l-liked it."

A pregnant pause engulfed the empty café.

Shuffling from the adjacent room brought Jamie to look back up, frightened that their time together was coming to an end. But instead of seeing Carl's cheerful face or Katie's haughtiness, he saw her smiling timidly at him with shimmering eyes. "Really?"

Jamie nodded.

And the smile on her lips grew tenfold, "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me, Jamie." A pain in his jaw caused Jamie to look away from the brunette, but his eyes jumped right back when her hand gently touched his cheek. "You really should do that more often."

He frowned, "Do what?"

"Smile."