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In Sheep's Clothing	By : ParisWriter Category: +G through L > Harvest Moon Views: 2169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Eighteen

Avery looked about nervously as she stood on the stoop of Raeger's restaurant, a basket hanging from her arm. The sun was just barely starting to peek up over the horizon and most of the town was still fast asleep. All was quiet, save for the grumbling of Fritz, who was kneeling next to her with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he stared at the lock on the building's front door.

"Come on!" he angrily whispered when he tried the knob once more to find the door still wouldn't budge.

"Why are we doing this, again?" Avery asked him.

"Because it's Raeger's birthday," Fritz reminded her, and she rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I know it's his birthday, but why do we have to break in to his place?"

Fritz shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I thought it would be cool if we could surprise him by making breakfast for him, and I don't have a kitchen at my place."

"I have one, you know," Avery reminded him, and he finally tore his attention away from the lock to look up at her.

"I know, but you live all the way at the top of the mountain. If we cooked up there and then brought it down here, it would be cold by the time Raeger finally got to eat it. Besides, fresh is better!"

Avery threw up her hands in surrender and dropped the argument, then sighed and leaned back against the frame of the door, closing her eyes. If they didn't hurry things up, there would be no surprising Raeger. Soon enough, he would be up and about doing his usual prep work in order to get the restaurant ready for opening later in the morning.

"I think I... got it!" Fritz proudly announced, flashing a large grin at Avery as he turned the doorknob and the door finally swung open. He stood and stuck the makeshift lock pick he'd brought from home into his pocket, then held the door to allow her to go inside ahead of him.

"Where did you learn how to pick locks, anyway?" Avery wondered as she stepped into the darkened restaurant and went over to the counter to set down the basket of ingredients Fritz had asked her to bring along the day before.

"This older kid I knew when I was little," Fritz told her as he opened the blinds to let in what little morning light there was in order to allow them to see what they were doing. "He was constantly breaking into people's houses. He never really took anything, but he always said one day he was going to be some great thief."

"I'm guessing he's in jail, now?" Avery wondered as she began unloading eggs and vegetables and other various products from her farm onto the counter. Fritz laughed and ran a hand back though his messy auburn hair.

"You know... I honestly don't know whatever happened to him."

"He's probably in jail," Avery asserted, smirking at him before bending down to search under the counter for where Raeger kept his cooking implements.

The two of them quietly set to work making breakfast, Fritz grilling vegetables and sausages while Avery made a frittata using cheese crafted from the milk of her cows and fresh eggs she had gathered right before leaving to meet Fritz at the crossroads near his house. While she waited for the dish to bake, she boiled some water and poured three cups of tea – one for each of them. Fritz made a face at the drink when she offered it to him, but didn't complain, reasoning that he could add a bunch of honey to make it more palatable. Avery smiled at him and picked up one of the other cups, then made her way toward the stairs which led to Raeger's living quarters above the restaurant.

"I'm going to go wake up the birthday boy," she told Fritz, who has started preparing a few pieces of thickly-sliced bread for frying. "Could you take my frittata out in another minute or so?"

"Sure," Fritz agreed, flashing a smile.

She slowly walked up the stairs, her eyes glued to the cup in her hands. She'd filled it nearly to the top, a mistake she didn't realize until she was moving and the hot tea threatened to slosh out over the rim and burn her hands. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she carefully moved the teacup to one hand while she used the other to open the door, then crept across the floor toward where Raeger was sleeping, still keeping her gaze upon the tea.

"Happy birthday!" she called in a sing-song voice as she reached the bed, finally looking up to where her best friend was stretched out on top of the covers... completely naked.

Avery let out a surprised shriek and Raeger shot up into a sitting position on his bed, suddenly wide awake. The movement further shocked her, and she dropped the teacup, burning her hands and letting out another high-pitched scream which mixed in with the sound of the ceramic cup shattering on the floor.

"Avery! What's wrong? Is Raeger okay?" a panicked Fritz asked as he rushed into the room and came up behind her. She shook her head, her eyes shut tightly against both tears of pain and the sight of the naked man in front of her, and Raeger gave him a casual wave as he sat there, holding a pillow over his lap.

"I think she burned her hands, Fritz," the chef calmly informed him, though his cheeks were a bright shade of pink. "There's some cream and bandages in the first aid kit under the register."

"Aw, man... Okay, come on, Avery, I'll help you get fixed up," Fritz assured her, completely oblivious to the rest of the situation before him. He turned her toward the door and led her back downstairs, then helped her to sit on one of the stools at the counter before locating the first aid kit. Avery continued to keep her eyes shut, biting hard on her bottom lip as tears finally squeezed out of the corners of her eyes.

"How bad is it?" she heard Raeger asking as he came downstairs a minute later. She finally dared to open her eyes and was relieved to find he had put on a pair of dark blue pajama pants and was working on buttoning up the shirt over his chest. He stopped in front of her and reached for her hands. "Here, let me see."

Avery held out her hands to him, avoiding his eyes, and he gingerly turned them over and examined the spots where her skin had turned red from being scalded by the hot tea.

"Should we get Marian to take a look at her?" Fritz asked, handing him the cream from the first aid kit. Raeger shook his head as he took the cream and opened it.

"It looks worse than it is," he assured them both, gently applying the cream to the burns, causing Avery to hiss a little. "Your hands are going to be sore for a few days, but just keep applying this cream two or three times a day and you'll be back to good in no time."

Avery nodded a little as Fritz handed over the roll of bandages and Raeger began wrapping her hands. Three three of them remained quiet, Avery and Raeger avoiding looking each other in the eye while Fritz simply watched and winced each time she flinched at the feeling of the bandages pressing against her sore flesh.

"Fritz," she finally said after a moment, breaking the silence in the room. "Is my frittata out of the over?"

"Shoot!" Fritz rushed to the oven and yanked the door open, then let out a relieved sigh when he pulled out the dish containing her part of the breakfast they'd been making. "It's fine. Don't worry."

Raeger finished up bandaging Avery's hands while Fritz worked on piling up three plates with the food that had been prepared. He then gave his tea to Avery, instead opting to drink some juice he'd found in Raeger's personal refrigerator. Raeger and Avery remained relatively quiet as they ate, while Fritz talked continuously about what a great cook he was and how he was going to make a great husband someday.

"So you asked Agate to marry you?" Raeger asked him at that, causing Fritz to finally stop talking and turn bright red. He sputtered and stammered, and Avery laughed, finally meeting Raeger's eyes and receiving a wink.

"I'm not getting married now!" Fritz managed to blurt out after his initial floundering. "But... you know... someday, I might. Not before Avery and Klaus, though!"

Raeger chuckled. "You're probably right, there."

Avery looked back and forth between the two men, slowly chewing on a piece of grilled potato. "What?"

"You and Klaus talk about that, yet?" Raeger wondered.

"About what?" she asked after swallowing, wiping her mouth with a napkin and reaching for her tea.

"Marriage!" Fritz excitedly announced. "You know, I think you'd make a good wife, Avery."

"Are you hitting on me, Fritz?" she asked him, and he blushed and stuttered as he assured her that he wasn't. Avery chuckled and got up from her seat, then kissed Raeger on the cheek. "I'm going to go clean up the mess I made in your room."

"I'll help," he offered, moving to stand, as well.

"No, stay," she told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's your birthday. Enjoy your breakfast."

Raeger sat back down and Avery slowly made her way upstairs, sighing heavily once she reached the doorway to Raeger's living quarters. She continued over to where she had dropped the teacup near his bed and stopped short when she found the mess had already been mostly cleaned up.

"Wanna talk about it?"

She turned around to find Raeger leaning back against the wall, arms folded over his chest. Shaking her head, she turned away and stared at the wet spot on the floor once more.

"There's nothing to talk about," she insisted.

"Bullshit, Avery," he called her out. "I know you were trying to make a joke down there about Fritz hitting on you, but there was no mirth at all in your voice."

"I'm just tired," she lied. "I had to get up pretty damn early so we could get here and make you breakfast before you woke up, you know."

"Yeah, about that... How did you two get in? I could have sworn I locked the door last night before I went to bed."

"Fritz picked the lock," Avery told him, smiling a little at the look of surprise on his face. "I know... I had no idea he was such a delinquent, either, but apparently he had some shady friends as a kid."

"Interesting," Raeger mused, laughing. "So what happened between you and Klaus that has you so upset?"

Avery groaned and sat down on his bed then looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Do we really need to have this discussion?"

"Yeah, I think we do," Raeger told her, his expression turning serious once more as he crossed the room and knelt down in front of her, carefully taking her hands in his. "It's clear to me that something's bothering you. What's wrong?"

"Klaus has been acting strange, lately," Avery said, shaking her head. "I'm probably just over-reacting, though."

"Strange how?" he asked, moving to sit next to her on the bed. She shook her head again and gave a false start before finally letting out a heavy sigh.

"Remember how I told you that he and I... you know?" She looked at him and he nodded, smirking, causing her to let out another sigh as she turned away again. "Forget it. I can't talk about this with you."

"No, don't... I'm sorry, okay?" he pleaded with her. "This is serious talk time, honest."

Avery refused to look at him, but continued speaking. "Ever since then, he's barely kissed me."

"Well, didn't you say the two of you agreed to slow things down?"

"Slow them down, not... nearly bring them to a stand-still," she said, her voice squeaking a bit in her repressed frustration. "Before, things were..." she paused and let out a rush of breath. "It was intense, even before things went that far."

"And now?" Raeger prompted after she fell silent.

"Now, it's like... the passion... it's not there like it was before." She suddenly looked at him, and Raeger blinked in surprise at the tears in her eyes. "And I don't know where things went wrong."

"Things haven't gone wrong," he assured her, sighing and pulling her into his arms to hug her. "Come on, don't cry. You're being silly, you know. You told me yourself that Klaus freaked out when he realized what you two almost did. I'm sure he's just overdoing this whole 'taking things slower' thing because he wants to do right by you."

"What if that's not it?" Avery argued, pulling away from him and wiping at her eyes. "He went into town on a Tuesday last week, Raeger. Without telling me about it, first. That's not like him."

"Oh, well... In that case, I guess he doesn't love you any more," Raeger told her sarcastically, but she still let out a small sob.

"Shit, no... I didn't mean..."

"I know!" Avery said. "I know... I'm being stupid about this whole thing, but it still bothers me."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Raeger waved off her concern. "He's got a lot of rich clients in the city, right? And you know how those people are... They think that the entire world bends to their will."

"Kinda like Elise," Avery remarked, letting out a small laugh.

"Exactly. So I wouldn't be surprised if he got some last-minute call to the city from some overstuffed jackass who demanded he show up that day. Or, you know... you do have a birthday coming up. Maybe he's planning some sort of surprise for you."

Avery blinked and Raeger winked at her, causing her to blush. She hadn't even stopped to consider that his secrecy might have something to do with her upcoming birthday. A smile began tugging at her lips as she imagined what he might be plotting, and Raeger chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.

"I take it you're feeling better, now?"

"A little," she answered with a nod, returning his gesture before standing. "Thank you, Raeger."

"Any time. Now what are you gonna do, though?" he wondered.

Avery's smile grew as she began backing up toward the stairs. "I'm going over to Klaus' house and I'm going to give him a wake-up call he won't soon forget."

She winked and Raeger chuckled, calling after her to go get him, and Avery took the stairs down two at a time. Fritz looked up from where he was washing the dishes and asked where she was going, and she told him she was going to see Klaus, which caused him to give her a confused look as it was still quite early and most of the town's residents would still be in bed. She simply laughed and told him she'd see him later, then ran outside and across town to the residential district of town. She pulled her kerchief off her head as she neared Klaus' home, and – after knocking on his door – she mussed up her hair a bit to make it look fuller.

It took him a while to come to the door, and when he opened it he was standing in his dark green pajamas, looking half-asleep and utterly confused at her presence on his stoop. Avery smirked when he asked her what time it was and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back inside and taking the door from him to push it closed.

"What's going on?" he asked her, his voice croaking a little in his tired state.

"Time for your wake-up call, Klaus," she told him, grasping the front of his shirt and pulling him down as she raised up on her toes to press her lips against his.

Klaus made a surprised sound in the back of his throat, his eyes going wide, but he soon recomposed himself and wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her back. Avery caught his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled on it the way she knew he liked, and he groaned loudly and backed her up against the door as he opened his mouth to her, allowing her to take control of the kiss. He soon stole it away from her, however, by pressing his hips forward against hers and allowing her to feel how aroused he was. Avery threw her head back with a gasp and he dove for her neck, his lips pressing over her pulse as he continued to grind himself into her as he kept her pressed back against the door.

"This is quite a surprise," he groaned against her neck before nipping at the sensitive spot where her neck sloped down to her shoulder, causing Avery to whimper.

"Talk about surprises," she replied, grinding against his hardness and drawing out a deep moan from him.

"It's morning," he reminded her, continuing to move against her suggestively. "Though I think he's even more awake than usual, thanks to you."

"Should I be apologizing for waking the two of you up?" she wondered, tightly grasping the front of his shirt once more when he suddenly bucked his hips hard against hers.

"Not at all, love," he told her, chuckling at her response. He reached up to take her hand in his and pulled back to look at it when he felt the bandages wrapped around her palm.

"What happened?" he asked her as he backed away from her completely, raising up her other hand and holding them both carefully in his. Avery sighed, closing her eyes and feeling frustrated at herself for having been so clumsy earlier as the magic of the moment was now gone.

"I spilled hot tea on my hands when I walked into Raeger's bedroom and saw him naked," she replied, causing Klaus to blink at her in shock.

"You were at Raeger's, and he was naked?"

Avery sighed once more and explained everything to him, telling him all about how Fritz had suggested to her the day before that they should pay Raeger back for all the wonderful meals he'd made for them on special occasions by cooking him a special breakfast to celebrate his birthday. She gave him every detail about how they had broken into the restaurant, cooked breakfast, and then the way she had accidentally seen her best friend naked on his bed. Klaus remained silent, even after she had finished telling the story, and Avery finally opened her eyes to find him attempting to hold in his laughter.

"That must have been quite traumatic for you," he told her, a smile breaking through his serious expression.

"How do you know I didn't like what I saw?" she asked him flippantly.

"Did you like what you saw?" he asked in reply, stepping closer to her once more.

"To be honest, I didn't really see much of anything. As soon as I realized he wasn't wearing any clothes, I shut my eyes."

"Good," Klaus whispered against her lips, and Avery whimpered as he began teasing her by giving her the barest of kisses, brushing his lips faintly over hers before pulling away over and over again.

"Klaus?" she softly said his name after nearly a full minute of him repeating the behavior.

"Hm?"

"Kiss me," she demanded.

"Not yet," he told her as he pulled away completely and looked at her, reaching up with one hand and brushing her hair back from her face as he gazed at her with a loving smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," he finally said as he traced her bottom lip his his thumb.

"What for?" she wondered, dread creating a knot in her stomach.

"I know I've been kind of distant lately, that I haven't been as amorous as I was before. After what happened between us and the way Veronica lectured us both, I guess I sort of pulled away more than was really necessary. I'm sorry if I caused you to worry at all. You know I love you, and I still want you just as much now as I did before. I guess it took you showing up here when my guard was down to remind me of that."

Avery smiled and let out a soft, relieved sigh as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, nodding in response to his words. "You're right... I was worried. I sort of figured that was why you were acting weird, though, so I didn't want to say anything about it because I didn't want you to think I was unhappy."

"But you were unhappy."

"A little." She shrugged and pulled him down into a brief kiss. "But, in my heart, I knew you loved me and that's all that mattered. I was really starting to get pretty damn frustrated, though, if you know what I mean."

Klaus chuckled and kissed her again, teasing her with his tongue before pulling away. "I understand, and I will do whatever I can to help ease your frustration, love... So long as our clothes stay on, okay?"

Avery nodded. "Just keep kissing me the way you used to before, and I'll be happy."

"I think I can handle that," he told her, his voice low and husky, then roughly claimed her lips.
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In Sheep's Clothing