[Harvest Moon: A New Beginning] Rio to the Rescue

Three Little Words pt. 2

"I love you."

Neil coughed in surprise and turned to gape at Rio. "Uh, you, I mean you...and I, um...what?"

Rio laughed and turned to her companion with a bright smile. "I said I love you, silly!"

Neil looked down at the pond and gathered his thoughts. He had dreamt of hearing those words, but never in a million years imagined that he'd actually hear them. 'What are you doing?!' he thought. 'Tell her you love her back!!' He took a deep breath and turned to face her again. "Rio, I-"

"Stop. You don't have to say anything." She looked at his frown and decided to rephrase. "I mean, don't feel obligated to say something. I know I've been pretty normal around you, so it might come as a shock but I just needed to tell you. And I don't-"

Neil lifted a hand to silence her. "Now it's your turn to stop talking." She smiled sheepishly at him and stopped. "I came here to talk to you as well, remember?" He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Rio, for a long time now I knew I held some sort of feelings for you. And I- I denied it for a long time because I thought it would be easier, but it's not. The past season has been torture. I realized sometime in Spring just how much you meant to me. And I tried to tell you the other day, but we were interrupted." Before he continued, he grabbed her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. "I love you too, Rio."

Rio smiled to herself and looked out to the pond, admiring the fireflies. "You know, I always ignored all the subtle signs that you might have feelings for me. I thought to myself that if I ignored it, I wouldn't have to think of all the possibilities that might bring." She sighed and squeezed his hand. "I'm glad I told you though. And I'm glad you feel the same way."

"Then will you go out with me? I'd-I'd really like that."

Rio's smile fell and she removed her hand from his grasp. "That's what I came here to talk to you about actually."

He grimaced and looked away, trying to hide his disappointment. "You don't want to then?"

She sighed in frustration. "No, I didn't say that. I just need to let you in on some things before I give you an answer. Are you willing to listen?"

Neil squinted his eyes shut, praying to whatever Deities were out there that she would say yes at the end of this. "Sure, you know I'll always be willing to listen."

Rio blew some air out of her lips before she started. "Well, the first thing I want you to know is that I'm not exactly who you think I am." She shot him an amused grin when he looked at her in shock. "It's nothing as serious as you're thinking, I swear!! What I mean is that the personality I have now is the result of something that happened in my past. I'm not as oblivious and airheaded as people think. I know that sounds totally ridiculous, but just hear me out?"

Neil sighed in relief; worried she was going to tell him 'Rio' wasn't her real name or something. "I already knew that Rio. You never acted oblivious or anything like that around me."

"I know, I know. It's because I feel comfortable around you. But that leads me to what I actually came here to tell you."

Rio went on to tell the tale of her childhood best friend; how she denied her feelings for him for years and then finally decided to give him a shot. Neil tried his best to not show how hurt he was when she mentioned the engagement. And he balled his hands into fists when she went on to explain how their engagement deteriorated. He wanted nothing more than to punch the bastard, but he calmed himself before offering to comfort her.

Rio leaned back until she was lying down and admiring the stars. "And that's that."

Neil joined Rio in stargazing and felt surprised at her mood. "You don't seem very upset."