Hey I'm back again :D Another NeilXRachel fic... Yay! Well I hope you enjoy~ Read and review my little pretties... :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. If I did... I would totally bring back Vaughn, Skye, and Gray :D ... And maybe a few others...

The blonde raced up the forest path. His boots stomped the worn dirt path beneath him. Sweat started to form on his brow.

'C'mon Neil! Faster! You'll miss her if you don't!'

Neil found himself now in the mountain area. By now, he was heavily panting. A cool autumn wind flowed freely through the air.

'Almost there Neil... Rachel should be there, according to Henry.'

The animal trader gripped tightly the ring he was holding. Around here, specifically Echo Town, it was custom to give your crush a ring, a commitment ring, to show your commitment to the person. When done so, it means that you and that person are a couple.

And that's what Neil is going to do. He had his eyes on the female blonde rancher for a while now, and it's only been through her brother's, Henry, convincing and his friend's, Rod, convincing to finally ask her out.

The boy smiled himself at the thought of Rachel being his girlfriend. Man, if she says yes, which she hopefully will, he'll treat her like the princess she is... To the best of his abilities he can of course, where he is very socially awkward, that could be difficult.

Neil slowed his pace as he reach the top of the mountain where the Harvest Goddess Spring was. Butterflies danced in his stomach as he reach the summit. Taking a deep breath, he pressed on to lay eyes on his crush and the local hair dresser, Allen.

Confused at first, he just stared silently, wondering what he was doing here with Rachel. They seemed to be talking, but Neil couldn't hear what they were saying.

The blonde boy stood there, watching for a second until he notice Allen blush, and pull out something from his pocket.

Neil felt something in him snap. In the hair dresser's hand was a small ring, very similar to the one Neil had for Rachel. In fact, it was the exact same ring as his.

His ruby-red eyes widened as he stared at the ring in his hand. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked down, his body trembling.

'I... I was too late... Why would she date me when she has Allen. Allen is so much better than me...'

A few tears fell down his cheeks as he let out a few shaky breaths.

Neil spun on his heels, not caring if the couple saw him. The blonde bolted from the summit, even faster than he had run up there. He raced down the mountain and headed to the forest.

The anti-social boy looked through teary eyes at the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. His legs felt like rubber but he refused to slow down.

'Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why did you have to fall for her Neil?! You should have known that Rachel would never fall for you! You should have seen it! Never listen to Rod or Henry ever again!'

"Neil? You o-"

Neil raced past Rod, not caring at all. He just wanted to go home and never leave his house again.

"Hey Neil! How did it-"

Henry.

Neil finally reached his house sobbing crazily and tears falling like a waterfall. He fumbled with his house key. After a few seconds, there was a satisfying click and he walked into his house, slamming the door and locking it behind him.

From the door to his bed, he managed to kick off his boots and threw his jacket to the floor. He flopped onto his bed, burying his head into the pillow.

"Damn it... Why...? Why?!" the blonde screamed into the pillow.

He continued to sob greatly and eventually, fell asleep, heartbroken.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Neil whimpered, hoping the knocking would stop.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

He groaned, pulling the pillow over his head as if he could block out the irritating noise.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come on Neil! I know you're in there! Open up already!"

Said blonde growled and got up from his warm bed. He shuffled to the door, blanket wrapped around him so he didn't lose the warmth.

Opening the door, he laid sore eyes on Rod, whom gasped at his sight.

Neil's ruby-red eyes were red and puffy from the crying he did earlier. His breathing was still slightly uneven, a sign that he was still crying in his sleep. His cheeks were stained with his salty tears of heart-break.

"What do you want...?" the sniffling blonde croaked, voice hoarse.

Rod looked at him sympathetically. "What happened man? You looked so upset earlier so I didn't come over 'til now. I knew you'd want to be left alone so..." the pet shop owner trailed off.

Neil pulled the blanket over his shoulders tighter.

"Everything is fine... Now good-bye..."

Neil started to close the door but Rod, thinking fast, stuck his foot in the door, stopping it.

"C'mon man. Tell."

The man scoffed, kicking Rod's foot out-of-the-way with his socked foot. He closed the door again without problem.

Rod stood there for a second, before seeing if he locked the door.

Turning the knob, it opened. He didn't.

Pushing the door farther, he walked in, gently closing the door behind him.

Inside the house, Rod saw his jacket and boots randomly on the floor. Looking to his left, he saw that Neil had made his way back to his bed.

Rod quietly walked over and gently sat on the bed. Neil just whimpered.

"What happened?"

"Y-you're not going to leave me alone... Are you?"

"Nope."

Neil sighed softly. "A-Allen..." Cough. "Allen was there with her... He... He had that stupid ring..."

Rod was shocked.

"Oh Goddess Neil... I had no idea what he was planning!"

Neil just sniffled, then started sobbing, unable to hold back his tears.

"R-Rod... I can't take it! I... I-" Neil was cut off by sobs and then coughs.

The boy just rubbed his back gently, hushing him. "Shh... Neil calm down and go back to sleep okay? If you continue to cry, you'll make yourself sick..."

The golden blonde just nodded softly, cuddling deep into his pillow and blanket.

They stayed there like that until Neil's sobbing slowed – not fully stopping – as he drifted into a deep sleep.

Rod sighed, watching him.

'He looks younger when he sleeps...'

Rod stood up, careful not to wake up Neil.

"Don't worry Neil... I'll fix this out for ya..."

"Allen. We need to talk. Now."

Allen looked up from the book he was reading. He was leaning against the counter of his salon.

"Hey Rod..." he greeted his childhood friend, sounding sad.

"Dude! How could you! I told you that Neil had a crush on Rachel! And then you ask her out?!" Rod fumed.

Allen blinked, shocked to see the usually mellow boy burst like that.

"Uh... I do not recall that... But I'm not dating Rachel..."he muttered sadly.

Rod cocked his head. "But... Didn't you ask her?"

The corner of Allen's lip tilted down. "I did but she rejected me, saying that she already liked someone else."

"Oh... Did she say who?"

The red-head shook his head. "Nope."

"Well... Sorry about the outburst but Neil was absolutely heartbroken. I've never seen him so upset... Oh and uh, sorry about... You know..."

Allen took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah..."

Rod left the salon, wondering what he should do now.

'Hmm... I should ask Rachel who she likes.'

The honey blonde walked to Echo Farm where Rachel and Henry lived and did their livelihood. Not seeing anyone at the main part of the farm, Rod jogged to the east where Henry had all his crops.

Entering the crop fields, he saw the brunette lazily watering some of his yams.

"Yo Henry!"

"Hmm? Oh hey there Rod," Henry called back, smiling.

Rod smiled brightly back. "Say, have you've seen your sister?"

Henry scoffed. "Everyone's asking that. You, Neil, Allen... Goddess... Why can't I be that popular! ... She's in the chicken coop..."

Rod laughed at the farmer's dismay. "Yeah okay, thanks. We could hook up later if you want..." he said, winking.

Henry couldn't help but laugh. "Nah, I don't swing that way. Maybe if you were a girl... Anyway, later."

Rod entered the chicken coop to find Rachel surrounded by chickens and Silkie chickens.

"Hey Rach," he greeted.

Said rancher looked up at him from the little black chick she was holding. "Oh, hey there Rod."

"Say, can I ask you a question?"

The blonde smiled brightly at her friend. "Sure!"

Rod looked at her seriously. "Who do you like?"

Rachel looked at him embarrassed, her cheeks setting aflame. "R-Rod! What on Earth?"

His eyes narrowed. "C'mon Rach. It's okay, just tell me."

"Bu-but it's embarrassing!"

The honey blonde sighed. "Would it help that Neil is really upset?"

Sapphire blue eyes blinked. "Neil? Why? I understand that Allen is upset but why him?"

"He saw Allen ask you out. What hurt him even worse is that he was going to ask you out when he saw you but... Then he saw Allen and..." his voice faltered.

"Wait, Neil was going to ask me out?" Rachel gasped.

The boy nodded his head. "Yeah... And now he's devastated 'coz he thinks you're dating Allen."

Rachel looked as if she was about to cry. "Wh-where is he...?"

"At his house in bed. He should be asleep still."

The cowboy hat wearing blonde nodded, placing the black chick on the ground. "Thanks Rod. I'm going to talk to him."

She turned to leave. "And to answer your question... I like Neil."

Rachel stood in front of the door of the animal trader's house. Her hand trembled just inches away from the wood.

Foot steps stopped behind her.

"He might be still asleep."

"Is the door unlocked then, Rod?"

"Should be."

Nodding, the blonde reached down and gently grabbed the door knob, turning it.

It opened.

She walked in, closely followed by Rod. They went over to the lump in the black-sheeted bed. Rachel gently moved the blanket to find Neil sleeping the day away.

She giggled softly and gave his cheek a little poke.

"Hey sleepy head. Get up."

He mumbled in response.

"Neil, get up. I need to talk to you."

He whimpered, not wanting to wake up.

Her eyes narrowed. "I said... Wake up!"

"Gah!" Neil bolted up like a shot. His eyes were wide.

"What the...?" he looked around confused.

"Rod? And Rachel..." the blonde boy's voice dropped.

"Neil... You have it all wrong..."

"What? What do I have wrong? Huh?! I know that you're dating Allen, now get the hell out of my house"

Rachel winced, seeing tears form in his brilliant ruby-red eyes. "That's where you're wrong... I turned Allen down..."

"See?! I told you-... Wait, you what?"

Rachel gave a small smile. "I turned him down because..." her voice faltered. "I like you..." she murmured softly, barely audible.

"Y-you do...?" Neil's voice ended up a higher octave than normal.

"Mmhmm..."

The blonde boy blushed deeply. "Well, uh... I... Like you too..."

He got up from his bed and picked up the red jacket that was thrown to the ground. He reached into the pocket of it and pulled something out.

"I know it's not the... proper place but uh... Will you be my girlfriend?"

Rachel just cocked an eyebrow. "Now what do you think? Of course!"

Neil smiled for the second time that day, both because of Rachel. The girl stood up and took the ring from him, putting it on her finger. Then she wrapped her arms around him, hugging the blushing boy tightly.

Rod smiled softly, standing up from the corner of the bed he was sitting on.

"Looks like my work here is done... Good luck Neil," the honey blonde whispered to himself as he left the animal trader's house.

*Opens her mouth to say something* I have nothing to say down here but... I hoped you liked it :D Review?