Intoxicated (Stardew Valley)

Chapter Fifteen

AT THAT POINT, the whole town knew that Shane and I were together. I don't know how it came about, but whenever I walked through town, people would congratulate me and say that "I made Shane better", that he had changed from his old self. He was no longer the "drunk" of town.

And as they say, news spreads fast along Pelican Town.

I didn't really care much about what people said about us, but I could tell Shane was a bit embarrassed. Whenever we were together, he'd always turn red and avoid the stares of others. Emily's teasing did not make it better.

"But you're so cute," she protested, a love struck look on her face as her hands were folded under her chin. We were at the Saloon on a Wednesday night, so the area was quite empty, save for the usual customers. "My little Shane has all grown up."

I giggled as Shane groaned and covered his face. "Stop it, Emily. I never tease you about Clint."

Hearing his name, Clint turned his head toward us at the bar and he raised his brow at us. Emily's eyes widened immediately and she said quickly, "Nothing! We're just talking about how you've gained some muscle after breaking all those rocks!" He turned back and Emily gave Shane a look. "Okay, I see your point. I'll stop."

Suddenly, the door opened and fresh breeze flew inside the Saloon. Sam and Abigail entered together and joined us at the bar.

"Oh, it's the lovebugs," Abigail said as she took a seat next to me. "How cute."

"At least they're not doing all that PDA," Sam commented and sat next to Abigail.

Shane downed his cup of sparkling water and got up. "Okay, I'm done for the night. See you." He nodded to everyone else and gave me a longing look. We all watched as he walked away into the night, despite it being early.

"What's his problem?" Sam asked curiously. "Did we do something wrong?"

I shrugged and looked at my drink, not knowing what to say.

"Hey, Mae. Are you okay? You haven't really been talking that much," Emily pointed out, putting a warm hand on my shoulder. Everyone else looked at me and I felt their curious eyes on me.

In truth, I knew that Shane's negative attitude was because of me. It's been a few days since we got together and I have been trying to avoid Shane. It's not because I didn't care about him or that I wanted to neglect him. I cared for him too much. Shane realized something was wrong and so it affected him too. He probably thought it was his fault.

My conscience and guilt were nagging at me, knowing that being with Shane is something I shouldn't do. I was so bad for him. I caused his suffering and pain. If he found out the truth, it'd be over and I'd only make it worse.

I wanted to be with him, but not with lies and half-truths between us.

I looked up at my friends and saw their concerned faces at me. From Emily, to Sam, and even to Abigal, I saw that they were truly there for me.

Tears started to brim in my eyes and before I knew it, I started to spill my heart out. I started from the beginning and told them exactly what happened: from Joja, to Shane's call for help, to the death of his family, to coming here.

Judging from their faces, I knew they were shocked. Their mouths hung open and I felt as if they judged me, hating me for what I did. In truth, I hated myself.

Honestly, it felt good to get these words I've been longing to say off my chest. I had bottled them up for so long, and today I exploded.

"I'm a horrible person," I whispered to myself as a tear trailed down my wet cheek. "I really don't deserve him. I don't know what to do."