[Stardew Valley] On the Edge - Shane

23

Shane awoke the morning after as abruptly as he did the day before, but this time it was from Aria's alarm clock. He'd take that over Marnie's multitude of questions and demands any day. The small beep of the clock reverberated against the walls of the silent bedroom. Aria was sprawled on the other side of the bed, fast asleep. He longed to stay in bed with her for as long as it was acceptable, but Harvey would be waiting for him at the clinic later that morning for a check up.

It was funny to think that it'd been years since he went to the doctor regularly, but that wasn't the only seemingly unfathomable thing happening in his eyes lately. With a silent sigh, Shane dug the heels of his palms into his eyes to rub the drowse away and lurched forward. He fumbled around for his discarded hoodie and pants in the dark, and at some point during the ordeal he realized this was the first time he'd stayed at Aria's. For the first time in a long time, things felt real. And for the first time in even longer, real wasn't synonymous with pain. His heart bubbled steadily in his chest at the mere realization that he felt like he was making progress. For the first time, visiting Dr. Harvey didn't feel like a punishment, either.

"You sure you don't want m..?" Aria asked against Shane's cheek once he hugged her goodbye. He loved the feeling of her arms looped loosely around his shoulders.

Shane hushed her and gently laid Aria back down. Her curls tickled his nose. He inhaled deeply, relishing in her sleepy scent before he pulled away gently. "Just stay here and rest. I'll be back, champ." All Aria could do in response was just give Shane a half nod and bury herself back under the covers.

Quietly, Shane slipped from the bedroom and into the living room area. He stepped cautiously over discarded cups and clothing in the darkness to not disturb his sleeping friend only to find him propped up on the couch, scrawling down something onto a legal pad.

"Morning bro," Devin greeted him, looking over the rim of a pair of glasses on the tip of his nose. He looked so...adult. Even though he and Shane met on the cusp of real adulthood, Shane didn't know how to feel about seeing him like this - and awake before noon, at that. Back in college, Devin wasn't exactly known for making it to class on time - or at all, for that matter.

"Uh...Morning," Shane responded only because he figured that it would be kind of rude to ask what the fuck happened to his college roommate, and who was this adult sitting sitting in his place on the couch.

Shane kicked his feet into his beat up sneakers. "Just headin' out."

"Oh yeah? You guys seemed pretty serious to me." Devin jokes, perking up from his place on the couch. Shane rolled his eyes with a smirk still present - he missed Devin's smart ass quips.

"Do you, um..." The question felt more awkward as it left Shane's lips, but it was early and it was quiet and somehow Devin understood what he was asking, because he was already up and already kicking his own shoes on.

"Yeah, sure. Plus, I don't want to go rummaging through your girl's shit but I desperately need some coffee. Let's go."

Together they walked through the early morning fog that blanketed the field between Aria's farm  and the heart of Pelican Town.

"So." Devin had an expectant tone in his voice and Shane knew that meant he would have to address the obvious — what happened since his sudden departure from college?

"So..."

Shane told Devin everything, starting from the day they last saw each other: the call he received from Marnie, about his brother, about Jas and his sudden transition into part time fatherhood, and the rapid descent into alcoholism. They walked as the sun crawled from below the horizon, bathing everything in a cold, golden haze. Shane's pace quickened as every detail fell out of his heart and mind, and he didn't even notice when Devin stopped walking, calmly beckoning him to come back and walk slower with him.