Compassion and Oblivion

Chapter Thirteen: Turmoil

TW-Mention of Alcohol

OH MY GOD.

SEBASTIAN NEVER RESPONDED TO MY TEXT.

SHIT. I SHOULDN'T HAVE SENT THE HEART EMOJI! I MADE THINGS WEIRD!

Your eyes snap open at 6:00 AM on the dot.

You had fallen asleep at some point last night while waiting for Sebastian to text you back. Your eyes were so heavy, and you'd had a long day. Despite your best efforts at trying to wait to see how your crush would respond to your risky move, you had lost the fight and succumbed to sleep. Now, almost six hours had passed, and you never heard back from him.

Damn it, I knew I should've listened to my overthinking stupidity. It's right about stuff sometimes. Ugh, I'm never drinking again.

After a few minutes of tossing and turning, you decide to just wake up for the day. The weather appears to be slightly warmer than yesterday, so you decide to get dressed and head outside to clean up your farm a bit. You opt for a cozy crewneck sweatshirt over your favorite yellow tee, and light wash, straight cut jeans. You also grab your hiking boots that you had purchased when you helped your (+Parent) move to the mountains. When you bought them, you figured you'd be visiting a lot more than you actually ever did. At least now they'll get some use.

Quietly, you move to your kitchen to eat a bowl of cereal. Sam slept like a rock, and didn't budge at all while you poured the delicious carbs into the small ceramic bowl, or crunched away contentedly. Once you finish eating and washing your dishes off, you brush your teeth, grab your black crossbody bag and wireless earbuds, then head out to the farm to clean up for a few hours.

You started by gathering all of the twigs, sticks, and fallen branches that you could find, that weren't obstructed by the many large pine, oak, and maple trees that had grown in very inconvenient places. Some of the trees will surely have to be chopped down to make room for your crops, but all of this will make for great firewood. Maybe I could have a bonfire in the spring! It would be fun to have people out to the farm to hang out and roast marshmallows.

Once the sticks had been picked up and stored in the lumber pile on your porch, you moved to the smaller rocks that could be picked up by hand, without the use of a pickaxe. You'd found your grandpa's old tools in your closet, but they were old and worn out. You weren't sure how useful they would be without getting them fixed up first.

Along with more rocks than you knew what to do with, you found a few intriguing items that you'd be interested in bringing to the museum to show Gunther. You'd found an old book that matched with one of the incomplete series you saw on Monday, a rusted metal spur from the back of a cowboy boot, and a small statue of a chicken on a bronze base. You'd also gathered three large pieces of quartz. The shimmering, clear crystals were dazzling. You kept the treasures in your bag for safekeeping.

You weren't sure where to keep all of this stone, but you figured it'll come in handy at some point, so you didn't want to sell it right away. For now, you decide to just stack it to the left of your porch. Once the stones were neatly piled beside the house, you gazed out at the slightly neater farmland. There was still plenty of tall grass that needed to be cut and weeds that needed to be pulled, but you were still proud of your progress.

Behind you, you hear a creak coming from your porch. Turning to see the origin of the noise, you find Sam, slumped against your doorframe. Dark circles are nestled under his eyes, and his hair is a mess. He smiles at you weakly. Man, he looks like hell.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" you exclaim, much to Sam's dismay. You pull out your earbuds and jog up the steps to meet him, boots pounding on the old wood beneath your feet.