The next season and all of fall, Fawna and Rick held a very tentative and unsure relationship. They were always visiting each other and spending time together, but hadn't officially struck up a relationship. This was mostly due to Fawna's crippling fear of having her heart broken again. She was so grateful to Rick for everything, however. He never resented her for being unsure and never complained when Fawna fell to tears thinking about Greg, nor did he ever try to push her into a relationship with him. He was just always there, willing to listen to her and patiently waiting for her when she was ready.
Now it was the first of winter and with it came Fawna's newfound success as a farmer. She now had three more chickens from Bonny's eggs. Their names were Lizzie, Winnie and Loni. She had made quite a bit of money from her eggplants in the fall and she had all her tools upgraded to mystrile and had just put in an order to Gotz for her first house extension. Of course, Rick and Travis had helped her with much of this and Fawna didn't know what she'd do without them.
As she walked outside that morning, turning her pale face to the falling snowflakes, she smiled softly to herself. It had been over half a year since she had left Greg to come live in Serenity Falls. Each day that she was here, each day she got up to work in the morning with a sense of purpose for herself and her own destiny, each day she felt the unconditional support of Travis and Rick was a day where her memories hurt less and less. Looking back on Greg now, it was almost as though he had merely been a hazy dream... a fuzzy memory and shadow of the past. It no longer tore her up inside to think of how he had hurt her. In fact, she felt empowered and strengthened knowing that she had proven him wrong by rising up from his shameful abuse and becoming the independent, self-supporting and strong woman that she was. In retrospect, she was thankful that she had seen Greg for who he truly was because otherwise, she would never have amounted to anything more than his brainless trophy girl.
Thinking through all of this gave her a sense of pride, of truly being independent and strong. It was with this knowledge and new surety of herself as more than just an object which told her that she was ready. Rick's patience would pay off and he no longer would have to wait for her. She was there.
"Hey! Earth to Fawna!" Travis' voice shocked her out of her thoughts. Her large blue eyes looked startled for a moment and he chuckled. "I walk in here and you're just staring into space holding the chicken feed. Bonny, Lizzie, Winnie and Loni must think you're teasing them," he joked. Fawna smiled and shook her head. Indeed, she had walked all the way to the chicken coop and picked up the bird feed without even realizing it.
"Oh... heh heh, sorry," she mumbled, grinning slightly. "I got caught up thinking about things," she admitted, spreading an even amount of food into two of the feed boxes as Travis did the other two. Travis gave her a knowing glance, his mouth situated in a grimace.
"Rick, huh?" he asked as Fawna nodded. "Fawna, I know you say you're not ready for a relationship, but it's been such a long time since you first came here and it isn't fair of you to keep stringing Rick along like a puppet when his feelings could get hurt because of it. That's the same thing Greg did to you," he added quietly, not sure if he had overstepped his boundaries. Fawna took in a sharp breath, but to his surprise, nodded.
"I know, Travis," she agreed softly. "You're right. He's been so good to me and he cares about the important things in others. He's nothing like Greg... which is why I'm not making him wait anymore," she confided, blushing a little. "It doesn't hurt to think about Greg anymore. It's just an unpleasant memory now. I'm ready to move on," she told him. Travis smiled and put an arm around his best friend's shoulder, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
"It's about time," he laughed. "Like I said, Rick's a good guy. He'd be good for you," he told her. Fawna smiled and nodded, looking up at him.
"Yeah, I think so too," she beamed, excited with the thrill of being happy with someone who accepted her for who she was for the first time in her life. She could tell that her friend was genuinely happy for her, but there was something on his face that looked sad. Her smile turned into a frown and she crossed her arms. "Is something wrong, Travis?" she asked. "You look upset about something," she told him. Travis looked taken aback for a moment, prepared to deny it but then sighed and shook his head.
"I guess I should have known you'd catch it anyway." he said. "It's Rose. She's been acting so strange lately," he began and Fawna got a knot of worry in her stomach. She already knew what the issue was. "Sometimes, she's the Rose I met back when I was fifteen, but other times... Fawna, it's like she's not even the same person. One minute, she'll be the funny, outgoing, Rose that I love, but the next, she's like this demon. She's screaming at everyone around her for the smallest things, throwing things and crying," he told her desperately. Something about what he said struck Fawna. Rose that I love...
"You love her?" she asked quietly. Travis ran a hand through his shaggy, chocolate brown hair and nodded.
"Yeah... I want to marry her, Fawna," he admitted in a forlorn whisper. "but not like this. There's something very wrong here and I'm worried about her," he heaved a depressed sigh. Fawna bit her lip and inwardly hated herself for what she was about to do, but she knew he had to find out. He deserved to know the truth and if Rose wasn't going to give that to him, she would have to. She took his hand and motioned for him to sit down on a stack of bird feed bags with her.
"Travis, I know why Rose is acting this way. There's something I need to tell you..." she began in a pained tone.
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