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

It's a date!

Neil woke up feeling more rested than usual; he slept in a comfortable bed and had a beautiful girl in his arms. 'Wait, what?!' he thought, 'Why is Rio here? Whoa, why am I in Rio's bed?!' Memories from the previous night began to flood his mind and soothed some of the tension he felt.

He glanced down at the woman that rested on his chest and was instantly captivated by the peaceful look on her face. She looked almost angelic lying there with a smile on her face. He brushed a few strands of hair off her forehead and softly laughed to himself at the fact that she even smiled in her sleep. After placing a light kiss on her head he held her close and envisioned what it would be like to wake up like this every morning. 'Maybe someday...' he thought.

Before his daydreams could take him anywhere too far away, Rio began to stir. She yawned and hid her face in Neil's chest to hide from the light that was shining through the window. She was drifting off to sleep again when she realized that she was snuggling into Neil...in her bed...which meant he spent the night. 'Oh right!' she remembered, 'we fell asleep here last night. I hope he isn't too upset...'

She peeked up at him to find gentle, red eyes looking down at her. "Oh, you're awake!"

He smirked down at her, "I'm always up early. You, on the other hand, slept in today. You must have been tired."

She yawned again and giggled, "Maybe just a little...hey, you aren't mad are you?"

A look of confusion crossed his face as he replied, "No, why would I be?"

She bit her lower lip and answered, "I dunno, I just thought that maybe you'd be upset that I didn't wake you. I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with sleeping here..."

He looked serious for a moment and then snickered. "You really think I'd be upset about falling asleep with my adorable girlfriend and getting to wake up to her beautiful face in the morning?"

"Well no...not when you put it like that." She suddenly smirked as she noticed his hair. It stuck out every which way, very unlike how he usually kept it for work. "You're still pretty good-looking in the morning yourself, but I can't say the same for your hair!"

He self-consciously started smoothing down the unruly pieces of his hair. "We can't all roll out of bed looking like Allen!"

Rio looked thoughtful at this. "I wonder what he looks like in the morning...I bet he still looks abnormally perfect. He probably has never suffered a bad hair day in his life."

"I'm sure. And he'd probably rub it in your face if you asked."

"Not probably, definitely."

The two chuckled at their jokes until Rio's stomach let out a noise similar to that of a whale. She flushed and put a finger to her lips, "Shhh! We're trying to have a conversation here, stomach."

Neil snorted, "Did you really just talk to your stomach? Wait, never mind. That doesn't actually surprise me."

"Shut up! I'm not that weird."

Neil gave her a pointed look, "I beg to differ. Anyway, shall I make you breakfast?"

"Yes please!"

-----

Rio lay flat on her back in the coop, groaning in pain. "Too many pancakes...I think Neil is trying to make me fat." She opened an eye to glance at the baby chicks that were currently using her belly for a home, "What do you guys think?" One of the chicks turned towards her with a loud 'Peep!' then continued to run around with the others. "My thoughts exactly."