Us | A Stardew Valley FanFiction

Chapter 13 - Fall 16

 "Sadie?" Josh's voice bit through the tense air. "Tell me what is going on here."

"I think you are the one with explaining to do, actually," Haley interjected, pushing in front of me and thrusting the evidence towards him. From across the room, I could see his face distort—an expression that was quickly masked by anger.

"And you are...?" Josh sneered, his foot impatiently tapping the floor.

"Their daughter," she spat, throwing the picture at him like a frisbee. "More importantly, Sadie's best friend. And I don't take bullshit, Josh. So, I'll only say this once."

"Start. Talking." She hissed, her narrowed eyes fixated on him. Despite his stone cold features, I could see his body language start to shift as he squirmed beneath her stare.

"What even is it that you want to know?" Josh scoffed as the photo fluttered by him.

"What do we want to know? Well, I have a few things I'd like to know," Sam said bitterly from behind us. "First of all, did you know that you're a piece of—"

"Why have you been here?" I said almost silently, stopping Sam in his tracks. "Why did you do all of this? It doesn't make sense."

"Sadie," he sighed, his tough demeanor dissipating as he stepped closer. The fluorescent lighting of the office illuminated his brown eyes—his gaze that once housed comfort now sent chills down my spine.

"You don't understand...I'm here to apologize. I did bad things, but with the right intention. God, Sadie, please...you have to believe me." his words tumbled out of his mouth uncontrollably, his brain seemingly unable to keep up with their pace.

"And what was this 'right intention,' huh?" Alex chimed in, his arms crossed.

Josh's eyes glazed over, Alex's comment rolling off of his shoulders. "When your grandfather sent the deed, I immediately knew that I wanted to move you to the Valley, Sadie...I wanted you to live here—I knew it would be good for you. We'd just been hired at Joja, and I knew that a market in a small town would be a cash cow—cheap prices, expanded inventories; all I needed to do was convince the big bosses to open one here." He stumbled over the words, his tears clouding the story.

"And I did, Sade, I did. They agreed." he sniffled, bending down to pick up the photo. "This is them, um..." he said, motioning to Haley.

"Haley," she replied, her voice monotone.

"Haley." he nodded, looking down at the picture. "They gave me a chance to be somebody—they really did. That's why I didn't tell you where I was going, or what I was doing. I needed to keep it a secret, so that I could move you here and you could tend to the farm and I could work and we could live happily ever after. Don't you get it? I did this for us. For you."

I could feel Alex's eyes boring into the back of my head, as if they were trying to send me a message. Don't do it. Don't believe him.

"Josh?" a voice called from behind him, snapping me out of my trance. "Are you in here?"

A head of blue hair entered the room.

My heart began to race, my blood boiling with anger. Why the hell is Emily here, and how does she know Josh?

"Shit," he whispered, his eyes frantically darting between her and I.

I let my gaze float away from his anxiety ridden motions, and began examining Emily. She looked like a deer in headlights, her stature so stiff that her dress laid completely still against her. Blue shoes, red dress. Blue hair...

Red lipstick.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

For what felt like the millionth time today, I was back in our city apartment, screaming at Josh for everything he'd done. For everything he would do. For firing me. For hiding the letter. For having red lipstick on his collar.