Shane x Reader - A Stardew Valley Story

Chapter 3: Buh, Life

(Notes: I decided to redo chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)

One spring Sunday morning, you waited outside Marnie's red front door, knocking gently. It truly was a beautiful morning. A soft breeze gently caressed the fresh green leaves, taking the edge off the warm, spring sun. A bumblebee ambled through the air, looking for flowers and several butterflies fluttered around. Dandelions and daffodils were springing up everywhere, as well as leeks and spring onions.

"Hello, dear!" Marnie opened the door with a warm smile.

"Hey Marnie, I just thought I'd pop round and see Shane and Jas. I've got presents for both of them."

"Gosh, you're such a lovely young woman. Shane's very lucky to have you." She said, leading you inside. Her house was far bigger and homely than your small farmhouse. A counter filled the wide entry hall, a till sat atop it. To your left was a room filled with haybales, filling the house with their scent, and Jas's room. To your right lay the kitchen, Shane's room and the entrance to the barn. Straight ahead, behind the counter was Marnie's room.

You headed into the kitchen where Jas was sat at the kitchen table practicing her writing.

"Doing homework on a Sunday?" You asked.

"Yeah but I like writing. Shane doesn't normally play with me so I play on my own most of the time and it gets boring." Jas replied.

"Well, your handwriting is very neat and...I got you a little present." You stood next to her and handed her a beautiful daffodil you'd found.

"Wow... Thank you!" She smiled.

After Jas had finished her homework, you and her went and played with her dolls together. You were in the middle of playing dress up when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Jas called.

"Hey Jas, what're you playing-" Shane walked in and stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted you, wearing a tutu and tiara.

"We're playing dress up. Wanna join?"

"....not really."

"Come on, Shane!" You giggled.

"Pleaseeeeee Shane~~" Jas pleaded, doing puppy dog eyes at him.

"Oh alright," he gave in, coming into the room.

"But you have to dress up like a princess," she said, handing him a tiara and skirt.

"Fine..." He begrudgingly put the skirt and tiara on. You bit back a laugh as he shot you a glare that said 'if you ever say a word about this to anyone, you're dead to me'.

You three played for a while, giggling and having fun, Shane less so but you could see he cared so much about Jas.

Eventually, you and Shane headed to the kitchen.

"Oh hey, I totally forgot to give this to you." You said, pulling out a pizza and holding it out to Shane.

"Wow (y/n). How'd you know this was my favourite?" He almost, almost seemed happy.

"Let's just say a little birdie told me," you smiled.

~The next evening~

It was around 9pm and you were tired from the days work. You'd cut down a lot of trees today, trying to tackle the mess that was your farm. You needed to make space for a chicken coop but it was gruelling work. You decided, since you had a few hours left of the day, you should head down to Cindersap Forest and forage for some spring onions. They were easy pickings, so to speak.

As you entered the forest, you could see someone sat on the little wooden dock on the river. Curious, you headed over. As you neared, you could see the person sat, legs dangling off the dock, sipping a can of something or other.

"Up late, huh?" Shane said, as you plonked yourself down next to him, the wood creaking beneath you.

"Farming never stops," you huffed a tired laugh.

"Here, have a cold one,"

You accepted the cold can of beer and took a sip, savouring the cold liquid. Shane seemed more withdrawn than usual. Normally he at least told you to 'fuck off' or 'leave me alone' or 'Don't you have work to do?'. However, tonight he was just sat on the pier, drinking, alone...well not alone anymore.

"So why are we sat out here drinking tonight?" You asked.

"Buh, life," he paused "You ever feel like no matter what you do, you're gonna fail? Like you're stuck in some miserable abyss and you're so deep you can't even see the light of day? I just feel like no matter how hard I try, I'm not strong enough to climb out that hole."

"Yeah, I know how you feel," you spoke softly "I was miserable everyday I worked at those Joja offices in the city. I felt like I was drowning."

"I just feel so stuck. I'm not going anywhere in life. I slave away at that shitty Joja Mart just to pay the rent to Marnie and throw the rest of it away on beer. I'm just not strong enough."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head "I don't know, I just don't see a future for myself at all,"

You didn't really know what to say so you just sat and slipped at your beer for a bit.

"You know," you said softly "I used to feel like you did. Stuck in a miserable, dead-end job, working for Joja. Most days I would wake up and wonder what was the point of getting out of bed, of feeding myself. Everything felt grey, like life itself had lost its colour. You're not alone."

"How do you manage to be so cheerful all the time? Every time I see you, you're always smiling."

"I'm in a better place now most of the time. But a lot of it is putting on a mask. Pretending I'm happy and believing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel is all I can do to keep going. And getting absorbed in all the farm work. The physical labour is so tiring I find I often don't have the time or energy to overthink. But some days it's still hard, I don't really have any friends here and I've not got any friends or family from the city. It's just me."

"You're a lot stronger than me, (y/n)."

"No, I just got lucky. Lucky that I had a deed to the farm from my grandfather. I would still be stuck in the city otherwise. You're lucky to have Jas and Marnie."

"Yeah but Jas is just a kid and Marnie doesn't really get it. She's too busy chatting up the mayor most of the time anyway."

"Marnie cares about you a lot, you know. I see it. And Jas is a very smart kid, even if you don't tell her, she knows something's wrong."

"Yeah, I guess,"

"And I care about you. I know I've only known you a few weeks, but you're a lot like me, in some ways. I'll always be here for you if you need me, as a friend," you smiled up at his solemn face.

"Yeah, thanks," he said awkwardly, like he'd never really had a friend before.

You sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the river as the moon rose high above the valley and the stars twinkled in the velvety night sky. You looked over at Shane. He seemed so peaceful and relaxed in the forest, if solemn. The moonlight shone on his purpley-black hair and you could see bags under his eyes. When was the last time he'd slept well? He had a kind of ruggedness to his face that you liked and a strong nose. You didn't even mind the messy stubble; it gave his face a messy, rugged charm to it. You hadn't noticed how long you were staring at him until-

"...Have I got something on my face?"

"No you haven't," you turned away sheepishly, hiding your rising blush. "Anyway I better get going, I've got so much to do tomorrow as usual so I should get some sleep." You downed the rest of your beer and stood up.

"Ha, woman after my own heart!" Shane chuckled but quickly sobered up "Just don't make it a habit, ok? You still have your future ahead of you."

"You're not much older than me, you know? Anyway, I'll see you around Shane, it was nice chatting with you!"

"Yeah....you too," he replied quietly, as he too stood up.