Til There Was You - Dr. Harvey x Farmer, Leah x Shane Stardew Valley Fic

chapter 6 - leah

After that first night that I had spent with Shane, I woke up to nothing but an empty bed and a headache. I had no idea when he had left, but there was no trace of him, as if it had all been a dream.

    I laid in bed for a long while contemplating the events of the day before. Yesterday morning, I had woken up next to Kel in our apartment in Zuzu City, and now I was waking up alone in another town. That by itself was a lot to process, but remembering everything that had happened with Shane the night before was even more overwhelming. I had slept with someone I had just barely met, but the craziest part was that I didn't regret it at all.

    Several days passed before I even saw Shane again. I ended up meeting Emily and learning that her parents were renting the cottage I was staying in, but that they had been out traveling the world for some time now. Emily and her sister Haley were staying in their childhood home with no idea when their parents would return. I liked Emily right away, and I could tell she was very humble and down-to-earth, because I gathered from her conversation that her parents must be loaded, but she didn't say it outright.

    Three days after my arrival, Emily knocked on my door.

    "Hi, Leah, great news! My parents are giving you the cabin!" she exclaimed.

    I was dumbfounded. I hadn't told Emily anything about me being interested in owning the cabin. It wasn't something that had even crossed my mind.

    "Like...they're letting me buy it from them?" I asked.

    "No, silly, it's yours!" she responded. My eyebrows raised.

    "Come inside, Emily," I said, opening the door and ushering her in. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

    "Oh, no, I'm alright!"

    I took a seat at the kitchen table, and she sat across from me.

    "Emily, why on earth would your parents be giving me this cabin that I never even told them I wanted to buy? Are you absolutely positive that that's what they told you?" I asked her.

    "Leah, I don't know if you've been around for long enough to really notice, but Stardew Valley is practically a ghost town. My parents have been renting this house for the last decade, but nobody has booked a stay for the past two years until you arrived. They've been trying to sell it, but haven't gotten any offers. When they saw that someone new was staying in the valley, they just got so overjoyed. They really love this little town, and they've always wanted to bring new people into the area. So if you want it, the place can be yours today." she explained, grinning from ear to ear.

    I nearly broke down in tears. I couldn't believe the generosity of two people I hadn't even met. Especially because at the moment, I had no income. I couldn't imagine receiving a gift better than this.

    "Emily..." I began, "I can't tell you what this means to me, honestly. Is there any way that I can meet your parents? I don't know what I could ever do in a million years to properly thank them..."

    "Oh, it's no big deal, really!" Emily spoke as if she had just given me a piece of gum rather than a piece of real estate. "They're in Cambodia at the moment, but I can give you their number if you want to call?"

    Of course, I accepted the number and called them that night. I cried on the phone with Emily's mother, thanking her over and over for selflessly giving me this gift that would change my life forever. She seemed to be just like Emily; overflowing with kindness and humility.

    I had thought about Shane quite a bit ever since our night together. I had never had a one night stand with anybody like that before, so it just felt awkward to leave things as they were. Part of me wanted to find him so that we could talk, but I knew that wouldn't make any sense to do. What did I even have to say to him? Nothing. I just had to accept that this was something that I had done and learn how to move on from it, as other normal people who have one night stands with people they met at the bar do.

    And besides that, being gifted the cottage had now given me a new sense of purpose and direction in my life. I didn't have to worry about paying bills anymore - I actually had the opportunity to pursue my dream of being an artist full-time. And I didn't have Kel in my ear telling me that my cute little fantasy life couldn't possibly work out for me. If only she could see me now, I thought. So with this new opportunity, I didn't have time to try and pursue a relationship. I needed to completely dedicate myself to my art to prove to Emily's parents that I deserved their gift, to prove to Kel that I was determined and capable, and to prove to myself that I was in control of my own destiny.

    So when I did see Shane again, I figured the best thing to do would be to break the awkwardness and have some innocent, friendly conversation. Maybe then I would be able to get the nagging thoughts of him to go away for good and stop feeling like I had to tie up any loose ends in my life. I found him in the saloon again, without meaning to, five days after our first encounter. This time I hadn't come in to get drunk, but just to relax and reward myself after a long day of painting. I figured I deserved to come out of my shell and meet some new people that I was now living in town with. But now that Shane was here, it seemed that I could kill two birds with one stone.

    I first got to visiting with Gus and Emily who were working behind the bar. Gus was thrilled to hear that I was Stardew Valley's newest resident, and Emily had been ecstatic ever since I took her parents' offer. I didn't want to suffer through drinking a beer again, so Gus introduced me to his Stardew Valley red wine. The taste was much more to my liking.

    With my glass in hand, I took the bar stool next to Shane. They were the very same seats we had occupied just days earlier. Once again, he smelled strongly of alcohol and was working his way through another golden pint of beer. He was laying his head in his arms on the counter, and when he heard me approach, he looked up, only to recognize me and place his head back down. We were not off to a good start.

    "Hi, Shane, is it okay if I sit here?" I asked, trying to sound as gentle and friendly as I could.

    "I don't give a shit what you do," he mumbled in return.

    "Shane...are you okay? I just came over to visit with you..."

    His head shot up suddenly. "You know what, Leah?" he began, "I don't know you. And you certainly don't fucking know me. We aren't friends," he lowered his voice and leaned in closer to me. I could practically taste the beer on his breath. "You had no idea what you were getting yourself into the other night, okay? I'm not that guy, Leah. I'm a fucking alcoholic with a kid I can't even take care of."

    I stared at him in disbelief, my mouth agape. In all the worst case scenarios that had gone through my head of what my next encounter with Shane might be like, none of them had been as bad as this.

    He seemed to feel remorseful for what he had just blurted out to me.

    "I'm sorry, Leah. It's just not going to work out."

    I had nothing left to say. I left some money on the counter for my drink that I had barely touched and walked out the door.