& Them | A Stardew Valley FanFiction (Sequel to "Us")

Intro & "Us" Recap

Hi everyone! :-)

Before we start, I want to preface that this book is a sequel to the other story on my profile, "Us." While it's not necessary for you to read that story in order to understand this one, it definitely provides context surrounding the upcoming (and, of course, past) plot points.

If you have already read it, and are still here, thank you so much! Your support means the world, and I cannot wait to share more of this storyline with y'all!  Much like the first book, "& Them" truly has it all—love triangles, lust, chosen family, plot twists, a good fix of steaminess...

Much like "Us," I'll likely publish the first few chapters as quickly as possible, just to get the ball rolling, and then fall into a more consistent schedule. 

Below is a lil recap of all of the first book's major events, so if you haven't read it, or it's been a while, fear not! :) I've got ya covered. Otherwise, Chapter 1 is up and ready to go; happy reading!!

"US" RECAP BELOW --- SPOILER ALERT!

We follow Sadie Simmons, a twenty three year old Joja employee, who has just received two heavy pieces of information: her partner is cheating on her, and she has been fired.

Her boyfriend, Josh—the Vice President of Operations at Joja Corporation—breaks this news to her merely minutes before his infidelity is revealed, the combination causing Sadie to lock herself in their room and begin packing her belongings. During this time, she decides to open Josh's safe, which is suspiciously nestled in the back of the bathroom closet, collecting dust. After guessing a slew of incorrect passcodes, she is admitted entry, and finds the deed to her late grandfather's farm—dated over five years prior. Josh admits to having hid it from her to keep her in the city with him, and Sadie decided her fate in an instant: she was moving to the Valley.

After five days of hiding away, Sadie finally makes her debut appearance in Pelican Town—foolishly starting at the Saloon on a Friday night. Her first encounter is with Sam—the goofy, town troublemaker who buys her a shot before even introducing himself. Together, they meet the rest of the townsfolk, the night ending in a rather unpleasant exchange between Sadie and Haley following a flirtatious remark from Alex.

Sadie continues to prioritize the farm, while still attending social events, like Haley's birthday party—though her attendance may have been more of a peace offering. The night progresses—Sam, Haley, and Emily becoming belligerently drunk—Alex and Sadie sober on the couch. They open up to each other about their pasts, unlocking a new level of vulnerability for both of them.

Slowly, Sam, Haley, and Alex begin spending more time at the farm, all three of them practically living there before too long. Throughout spring and summer, Haley and Sadie dance together at the Flower Dance (an interesting dynamic, considering both of their alleged, yet secret crushes on Alex), the girls throw Alex and Sam a surprise birthday party, and the mystical green "Jellyfish of Truth" approaches Emily at the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies, dooming her to having a concealed secret revealed.

Sadie's birthday is the 7th of fall, and the group renovates her house under the ruse of a bug infestation, requiring them to vacate and stay at Emily's for a few days; it is clear that the jellyfish fiasco has her panicking. The first night back at the farm, Sadie and Alex's silent romance comes to fruition—they have a steamy exchange against the back of the house [you can find this scene in chapter nine ;)]. Following this is the Stardew Valley Fair, where Sadie's booth has a stiff competitor—a brand new Joja display. Despite winning the grange competition, Sadie finds herself unable to celebrate when she sees the representative for the new booth: Josh. When Haley reveals that she has seen him around the Valley before, a whole new massacre of questions arise...When has he been there? Why was he there now?

The group leaves the festival early to explore the back of Joja Mart, where Sam finds Josh's office tucked away behind the break room. Here, they find a safe (with the same cryptic password as before), and inside is a folder entitled "us." Haley is mortified upon seeing the first photo fall out—the picture depicted Josh alongside her parents, the CEOs of Joja, who have been out of town on business for years.

Josh catches them rummaging through his things, and starts a confrontation. He claims that he is here to win Sadie back—a myth that is promptly debunked when Emily walks through the door, looking for Josh. Here, he is forced to admit that he and Emily have been having an affair, but pushes the narrative that it began as a business exchange with Emily's parents, and developed into much more than that. If he wanted to open a store in Pelican Town, he would have to date the daughter of the CEOs—that was the deal he agreed to.

A fist fight breaks out between Josh and Sam, where, despite a valiant effort, Sam is knocked down after one punch. Alex steps in as soon as Sam is down for the count, sending Josh home with a bloody nose, a broken ego, and one last threat: as long as this store is still here, I will be, too.

Sadie's friends take it upon themselves to restore the Community Center as a surprise for Sadie, but she ruins the secrecy after following them out one day. Alex and Sadie have another steamy exchange, this time inside of the decrepit Community Center, revealing to him that she is bisexual while Haley and Sam are attempting to catch a fish...or so they thought. Haley catches the two of them in the act, and is, well, pissed. She mutters that Alex would be stupid not to fall for Sadie, and asks her to pretend to be surprised for Sam's sake.

The Community Center is soon finished, and the entire town has gathered to dawn her with the Stardew Valley Hero Award, and merely days later, it is the day of the Feast of the Winter Star, where Sadie was unfortunately assigned as Emily's secret santa. The conflict between them dissolves during the Feast, where Emily reveals that she and Josh were never really in love, but it was all for show for the satisfaction of her parents. She, however, felt as though Josh was still unloyal to Sadie, which was her motivation behind trying to get him caught. Almost as though the picks were rigged, Emily also had Sadie for her secret santa, and gave her the receipt to a rental house she had booked for New Years; she said Sadie needed to get away. Sadie invited Emily to join them, as well as the rest of the younger population of Pelican Town, and together, they went.

New Year's Eve was eventful, largely due to Sam's outlandish drinking habits. After finishing an entire bottle of tequila himself, he summons the rest of the guests for a good ol' fashioned game of spin the bottle. Everything was fine until Alex's spin landed on Haley, and they shared a rather intimate kiss in front of everyone, who had been waiting years to see such a spark between them. Full of rage, Sadie goes next, and her revenge kiss couldn't have been better: Sam.

Sam whispers to her that he has no problem hurting people if they did so first, and tells her to follow his lead. After a lengthy makeout session, he picks her up, carries her out of the living room, and into a bedroom down the hall—nothing else happens, but they were okay with everyone thinking something did. Moments later, Haley appears at the door, wanting to speak with Sadie—after Sam leaves, Haley tells her that she only likes women, and having never kissed a man, she wanted to know for sure. When Sadie asks why she was upset about her and Alex, Haley reveals that it was because of a crush on Sadie that she was jealous, not a crush on Alex. Drunken lust takes over, the two of them having an exchange that was arguably just as intense as Sadie and Alex's had been [chapter 18, for reference ;)].

The car ride home the next morning was brutal, with Sam vomiting out of the window and the others annoyed by the disruption. After calling him out for always drinking too much, he spills everyone's secrets—starting with Alex and Sadie's first hookup, and ending with Sadie and Haley's late night encounter from the evening before. After thoroughly embarrassing everyone in the car, they arrive home, where Lewis has requested their presence north of the railroad tracks. After taking in the views of the Summit, Lewis arrives, and tells Sadie stories of her grandfather. He thanks Sadie for everything that she has contributed to the community, and asks her for one final favor—he's lost his purple shorts.