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

Chapter 7 - Fall 12

"Sade."

"Sadie."

"SADIE!" A voice hissed in the darkness, shaking my shoulders.

"What?" I exclaimed, my head rocketing off of the pillow. "What's wrong?"

Alex stood at my bedside, like a child who had just thrown up all over their comforter.

"Alex?" I groaned, squinting to see the clock. 3:17 AM. "What is going on?"

"I can't sleep," he said defeatedly, sitting by my feet. Just last year, this exchange would have ended very differently; my tired mind wandered. "Will you go on a walk with me?"

"A walk?" I questioned, rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I figured it could help clear my mind."

"Yeah, okay, sure," I replied, swinging my legs from beneath the sheets and sliding my shoes on. "Let's go."

The cold air hit me like a truck, the fog in my brain dissipating before we even had fully left the farm. "Are you doing okay?" I asked quietly, linking my arm into his. "I know we've both been busy, but I want you to know I'm always here for you."

"Thanks, Sade," he sighed. "I'm okay—I'm a little stressed about gridball training, but mostly I'm worried about Sam, you know, now that Kent's back. It was easy to tell, even back when we were little kids, how hard Kent's absence was for him. It's like he finally gets on his feet, and all the sudden, his ghosts are back to haunt him."

A lump formed in my throat; thinking about little Sam, missing his dad, made me want to cry. "Fuck," I groaned. "I've been wondering about that, but it was just speculation. To hear you say it...damn."

Alex nodded. "He's going to start counseling though, yeah?"

"Yeah," I said, optimism peeking through my clouded thoughts. "Harvey seems to have high hopes."

"He's going to Harvey?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah...? Where did you think he was going to go?"

"I don't know, I guess somewhere in the city," he shrugged. "I'm just surprised, that's all. Something felt off with him when Harvey snagged you at the bar the other night. Was this plan already in motion then?"

"No," I said. "Well, kind of. I'd mentioned it to Harvey, but not Sam. Sam was just blasted, you know how he is. He never knows when to stop."

"Hm," Alex pondered. "I know, but it felt different. He started taking shots like crazy when Harvey was ordering you a drink...it was bizarre."

"Eh, it was probably just because I wasn't there to bitch at him," I laughed. "He's going through a lot...I feel like maybe this was the one time he had an excuse to be absolutely belligerent."

"It was your birthday, though."

"Alex, chill. It's not like I'm the only one allowed to drink on my birthday. We all went to the bar for a reason."

He held his hands up in surrender, his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm just worried about him, geez. I want to show him I support him without being too up in his business."

Our footsteps echoed through the empty town square. "Me too," I whispered as we neared Jodi and Kent's. I looked at the sunshine decal on the exterior of Emily's house; it smiled back at me.

"Oh, shit," an idea hit me.

"What?"

"Sam was saying he loves tigerseye, but has never seen the real thing. Clint's always on some rant about the shit you can find in the mines...I bet I could find some if I looked hard enough!"