A/N: for the lovely BeeQueen01 !! Enjoy!

The farmer sat in her camping chair, watching the chickens wander around the farm, plucking away at the tall grass.

She wondered if Shane missed them.

It had been a year since he and Jas moved to the city, and the farmer swore she hadn't spent a single day without thinking of them.

"Hey, little baby," she whispered to the chicken that had come up to her feet. "Do you miss your papa?"

The chicken stared back at her.

"I miss him, too."

The chicken stared back at her.

"It's not like I didn't see this coming, though. But if he ever comes back to Pelican Town, I've still got an empty side of the bed..."

The chicken stared back at her.

The farmer groaned. Was she really this lonely? To be sitting outside, alone, talking to a chicken?

She'd written Shane a few letters over the past year. She had gotten his new address from Marnie, despite Shane's wishes, yet she always found herself waiting for the response.

It never came.

Until the day the bus came through Pelican Town and dropped off two strangers.

"Got everything?" Shane asked Jas, who had stepped off the bus with wide eyes. She was in awe; despite the fact that only a year had passed, the town looked so different!

Shane was also taken aback, but not by the changes. He could smell pepper poppers cooking not far away- and the closest place to the bus stop was the farm. Was the farmer still here?

He'd always claimed that he didn't miss her, but the letters in his bag proved otherwise. Of course he kept them; however, he could never bring himself to write back. Why should he, after all the nasty things he'd said to her?

"Can we go see the chickens now?" Jas stood next to him, her suitcase almost the same size as her body. "I wanna see how big they've gotten!"

"No, honey, we can't." Shane glanced towards the farm. "Not right now, at least."

Jas nodded, unfazed by the refusal.

"How about you go down to Aunt Marnie's, huh? I'm sure she's so excited to see you!"

"Okay!" Jas squealed, and headed off towards the ranch, leaving Shane and his bag at the bus stop.

He knew what he had to do, but he didn't know if he had the guts to do it.

Walking back onto the farm felt like a fever dream, the way it had evolved! There were kegs, preserve jars, and more crops than he could count. The farmer had really shaped the place up.

"Shane?" The farmer asked, coming out of the barn with a milk pail in hand. "Is it really you, or have I worked too hard again?"

"It's me. Wow, I have so much to say, I don't even know where to start..."

The farmer dropped the milk pail in order to wrap her arms around the man. "Start with telling me that you're staying."

Wrapping his arms around her twice as tightly, he grinned into her shoulder. "Of course. I'm home."

"Did you get my letters?"

"All of them. I saved 'em, too. Just didn't know what to say back, I guess."

"I forgive you," the farmer teased, just happy that he was home. "The chickens have missed you."

"I've missed them, too," he said, watching as a chicken sprinted from the tall grass back into the coop. "But I've missed you, most of all."

"Don't leave anymore, okay?"

"I won't."

"Did you bring Jas?" she asked, peeking over his shoulder towards the lane. "I bet she's gotten big!"

"A whole year older." Shane's smile was nearly permanent as he looked at the woman in front of him. God, he missed her. He never should've left in the first place.

"Come inside!" the farmer insisted, ushering him towards the front door, "I've got pepper poppers cooking, and-"

"We could smell them from the bus stop," he interrupted, "I knew that it was you."

Shushing him, the woman shoved a plate into his hands. "Eat up, you must be starving."

"How'd you know?"

"You're always hungry, silly. You act like I don't even know you!"

"I'm sorry I left," Shane said in between mouthfuls of pepper poppers. "I never should have done that shit to you."

"It's okay. We're okay." The farmer crossed her arms. "We can start over, without all the huffy responses like the first time we met, huh?"

"I'd love that."