Hey There Delilah! ⇝ Doctor Harvey.

spring six, year one

three

Usually Saturdays were reserved for hangovers and regrets but Delilah had most certainly flipped the script with her early rise on that spring morning. Notably, the days were already becoming longer, with the nights much less icy. It gave the farmer more time for productive activities: clearing out debris, chopping tree stumps and most importantly harvesting her very first crops. The parsnips, that Mayor Lewis had gifted the seeds for, had taken an extra day to grow than what was expected. Delilah chalked that up to inexperience and was rather pleased with the fourteen she had grown, though it would have been fifteen had it not been for a pesky crow.

Making a scarecrow was officially on the city girl's to-do list.

After selling majority of her produce to Pierre, the blonde adventured into planting some potatoes and silently prayed for them to grow as well as the parsnips had. By the time all her work on the farm was done, Delilah had decided to take a trip to Joja Mart, only for the fact that Pierre's alcohol was extortionately expensive. It was Saturday after all.

•

The sun had been good to Delilah that day providing her with a healthy (and slightly red) glow. The beautifully mild day had made way for the first moderately warm evening since her arrival in Pelican Town.

Part of the farmer felt guilty that she had hidden herself away from majority of the town, but as a self diagnosed non people-person Delilah found it difficult to make an effort to change her behaviour. It was for that exact reason that she found herself alone, sat upon the dock in Cindersap forest, beer cans both full and empty scattered beside her.

If she had the materials and talent she would have painted a picture. The usually dull pond had developed a strange allure, one that called her to the edge of the dock, optimal placement for her to drink in the view.

The fireflies shone as bright as the stars in the Valley. Delilah had never seen such clear skies in Zuzu and so, had never truly took in the vastness of the universe above her. Intoxicated: the feeling after gulping down cans of cheap beer and the sensation of being exposed to such beauty with the knowledge it was there all along. Delilah couldn't differentiate the cause if she tried.

"You're in my spot." Moment officially ruined.

Visibly flinching at the disruption, the blonde didn't need to turn to recognise the voice. It was the man who had served her at the Joja Mart earlier that afternoon - Shane according to his clumsily pinned name tag. "Didn't mean to scare you." He sneered, the slosh of the whiskey bottle in his hand becoming more and more obvious the closer he got to the end of the dock.

"Nothing personal. Most men scare me." She wasn't sure why she said that. Maybe it was the spinning of her head or the way her tongue tingled with anticipation, but the words seemed to spill from her lips without a thought, without a regret. "You remind me of the city boys." Five cans of cheap beer on an empty stomach had decidedly become a terrible idea, Delilah acknowledged that fact when she caught the sway in each step she took down the dock, further away from the waters edge. Narrowly avoiding Shane's form, she managed to shimmy past the man who, on closer inspection, was just as drunk as she was.

He hides it well.

"I'm usually here on Wednesdays and Fridays, if that helps at all."

"It's Saturday."

"So it is." He took a swig of his drink, swallowing it down thickly. Shane didn't comment on the information the city girl had shared, nor did he dwell on it. He had his own issues, who was he to address Delilah's? The pair shared no further interactions that night, though the farmer was sure she wouldn't have remembered it anyway. "Crazy bitch." He muttered once he was sure the farmer was out of earshot.

•

The reality of her carelessness didn't register until the early hours of the following spring morning with intrusive thoughts and an overwhelming nausea keeping Delilah from the depths of sleep.

Late nights like these called for unhealthy habits and the farmer had already explored the use of alcohol. Digging through her city luggage that had still yet to be unpacked, she found a crumpled box that held three old cigarettes. Delilah took one, deciding the action of smoking one was bad enough so she left the other two sticks untouched. Smoking on the porch was quickly ruled out when guilt pooled in Delilah's stomach, the thought of her grandfather witnessing such an action enough to push her legs to work in their obvious exhaustion.

Without a plan, Delilah found herself perched beside the mountain river, one she had yet to fish in with the pole graciously gifted to her by fisherman Willy. She hadn't lit the stick, not that she'd thought to bring a means to, and yet the familiar smell filled her senses. Her eyes met with those of the figure stood merely a few feet behind her, leant easily against a tree with a cigarette perched between their slender fingers. "Got a light?"

The figure moved closer, taking a seat beside the blonde before flicking the flint of his lighter to provide what she desired. Delilah took a long drag before thanking the slender man. She drank in his appearance in their close proximity, a complexion as pale as hers only amplified by the raven hair and equally dark clothing surrounding it.

Neither spoke, they were both quite happy not to.

Basking in the dark of the night, it was a lengthy smoke for both parties, silently waiting for the other to make a move to leave at the risk of seeming displeased with the company. Eventually though, it was Sebastian who stood first, helping up the blonde and walking her back to the farmhouse with the intention of ridding himself of the smell of tobacco.

The two parted with nothing more than a small nod, a wordless agreement that the raven haired boy was happy to share his place of recluse with the farmer.

ᴛʜᴇ ғᴇᴍɪɴɪɴᴇ ᴜʀɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs ᴀ sʜᴀɴᴇ ᴏʀ sᴇʙᴀsᴛɪᴀɴ ғɪᴄ.

ʟᴀᴛᴇʀs ʙᴀʙʏ.