Stardew Valley - Start - (Sebastian x Alex)

Surprises

He was nervous.

More than nervous-- he was terrified. He wondered if anyone would even care that he was back; maybe they would turn their noses up at him. He was notoriously a sleaze who was obsessed with himself, so why would they want him back?

He mulled over the thought until his grandmother patted him on the back. "Alex, don't worry. It's going to be alright, okay?"

He nodded weakly.

Alex put his head on the window and looked up at the towering mountains coming into view. He knew they were close; he could practically feel the sign saying they were entering Stardew Valley. 

After a few minutes the bus passed the sign undramatically.

The bus came to a halt. Alex and Evelyn grabbed their bags and stepped off the bus, thanking the bus driver on their way out.

It was a bright Spring Day; the sun was up, clouds were nowhere to be seen, and it was a perfect day for gridball.

Gridball, gridball, how come that's the main thing that's always on my mind?

It had only been a year since he moved to Zuzu City, but he felt as if a lot of things had changed. He couldn't pinpoint anything, but he could tell at least something was different.

He looked to the right and stared. The farmer was grimacing as they watered crops, muttering vehemently under their breath. Before he could stop himself, he yelled: "Hey, farmer!"

The farmer jumped and stared back at him for a good while. They dropped their watering can. "Alex!" They said, "You're back? What's the occasion?"

"Well, don't really need one, right?" He laughed, suppressing all of the anxiety he felt before. "Where's Haley?"

The farmer smiled. "Well, she's just back there. Let me go grab her; she'll be ecstatic!" They turned around and ran into their house, a minute later emerging with Haley by their side.

Haleys eyes were fixed to the farmer, delighted but confused. Her eyes flickered to Alex, and she erupted into jubilant laughter. "Alex!" She yelled. She tackled him and hugged him, nearly toppling him over.

"Hello to you too," he began. "How are you doing?"

She grinned warmly. "Great! Oh, just great!"

After that, time seemed to pass by quickly. Small talk began and persisted throughout the walk to Evelyn's house, stopping only when they surprised George with Alex's return.

Alex thought it was one of the rare times he saw his grandfather shocked. That, and the time he and Penny dated for a bit.

He cringed.

Although, that one time in the tree was pretty go-

He stopped himself from thinking.

His grandfather sat at the table, mixing his coffee with a spoon. His face returned to the same old grimace he usually wore. The farmer and Haley sat next to him, drinking from their cups.

"So," she said. "How has gridball been going? Too busy for us?" She tittered.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Just a year into playing gridball and I'm suddenly busy all the time." He said.

The farmer gave Haley an amused glance. "Too busy for a girlfriend?"

Alex was caught off guard; his jaw went slack. They all laughed, even George cracking a smirk. Alex shut his mouth.

"No– I mean, I don't know. I honestly haven't been thinking about that." He muttered awkwardly. "I don't think I want a girlfriend right now."

Evelyn stirred her tea. "I think that you ought to focus on your gridball career right now, but if you do meet someone– don't let it pass you by, dear."

Alex stared at her for a moment until resigning his gaze to the table. "Yeah, ma, I won't let it."

– – – –

Sebastian looked up at the house, exhaling a shaky breath. He placed his hand on the door handle, the other gripping his suitcase.

This was his temporary home for the next two weeks, the carpenters shop. Or, at least, that's what everyone called it. To him, it was just his parents' house.

He pushed the door open and looked inside. Robin and Demetrius stood by the lab's white counter, talking about something Sebastian bet he wouldn't understand.

He shut the door behind him louder than he would have liked to.

Robin and Demetrius looked up from the counter and turned towards him; Robin grinned brightly and ran over to him. She hugged him, Demetrius standing closely behind.

After Robin let go, Demetrius put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder. "I missed you, Sebastain." He smiled.

He smiled back warily. Yeah, sure, you miss me. He thought, Just in the same way you miss an annoying coworker over a holiday.

Maru walked over to Sebastian and greeted him briefly before turning to go into her room. She said she needed all the time she could get to work on her inventions.

Sure, she just doesn't want to see me. For two whole years she got all the attention and now she is mad I'm back and hogging it. Although, it's not like I got much attention anyway even when I was here.

Robin clicked her tongue and took Sebastian's luggage. "Let's get you all situated, hm?"

They all walked down the stairs and opened the door to his old room.

Sebastian was a bit shocked.

The room was completely transformed. No more wooden floors, he noticed from the get-go, just linoleum tiles. White counters were placed against the right wall, a huge refrigerator (if that's what it was?) stood in the middle of them. The rest of the room was just empty white space; even the walls were white.

The sound of his suitcase being placed down snapped him out of his trance. "Well, this is new."

"Heh, yeah, sorry about the whole refurbishing." Demetrius said.

"No, this isn't my room anymore." Sebastian said grimly.

"True..." Demetrius paused. "Just to go over it... you're okay with me coming in here for a few hours just to work on some things?"

"Yeah, sure, I mean– it's not a big deal. I won't be in here that often. Only to sleep." He said.

Demetrius smiled and looked at Robin. "See, that's what I said, dear."

She pouted. "I guess so." She looked towards Sebastian. "I just don't want my little Sebby all-"

"I'm not little, mom." He sighed.

"You'll always be my little baby boy in my heart." She said confidently.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his suitcase. "So, sleeping bag?"

"Yes," Demetrius said. "Right here." He hurried up the steps and came back with a black sleeping bag, complete with a pillow. He laid it out on the floor.

"I've got it, stepdad." He said.

Demetrius smirked, "This is the least I can do for you, Sebastian." 

(To be honest, I wasn't really feeling this chapter. I hope no one can tell, but I was just being kind of lazy about writing it. Next chapter I know I'll put more effort towards it though, cuz that's where it gets pretty interesting-- at least to me. And yeah, I was also lazy with the chapter name.)