Liminal Space | A Stardew Valley FanFiction

Chapter 6

"Rough night?" Sam chuckled as he pushed the bathroom door open, stepping over my legs and Seb's limp body.

"You could say that." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and pushed my back towards the cabinet in an attempt to clear some space.

"Why are you even in here, Cal?" Sam whispered after poking Seb's back several times. He didn't wake.

"Well, I woke up and Sebastian wasn't in bed, and—I don't know. I found him here and I wanted to stay."

"Mm," he hummed, tugging on his sweatpants and nestling his feet between Seb and the toilet. "You don't think he could feel your support from, I don't know, ten feet to his right?"

I grimaced as he pissed right in front of me, completely unphased by the lack of room and my presence. "He wasn't doing too hot, Sam. Is it really that big of a deal?"

His eyes landed on mine, icier than usual. With a shrug, he muttered, "he wouldn't do it for you."

And then he left, and I was in the dark again, alone with Sebastian and my thoughts. Seb stirred slightly, the tile clinking in collision with his rings. I watched him sleep, lost in the memories that we shared and the person he used to be. The way I used to see summer nights and snow days, shared milkshakes and teenage rebellion in his eyes; the way that I now saw nothing but a sullen snapshot of what once was. A version of him that I knew Sam knew, too, but had seemingly grown cold to; disinterested.

"Fuck," Seb groaned, peeling himself off of the floor and pressing his cheek back onto the toilet seat. There was nothing left for him to puke up; I wasn't sure if he knew this. His gaze met mine, and he groaned, "Jesus, Callie, get out!"

This time I did; my face steamed as I stood up and slammed the door behind me, hoping my footsteps rattled the bathroom as I ascended upstairs. I watched the rain through the kitchen window, eventually slumping into a wooden chair and laying my head on the table. I'd barely slept, taking care of Sebastian. He'd wake suddenly and begin to heave, and I would help hoist him off of the ground and hold back stray hairs from his face. His eyes would flutter closed as yellow-tinged bile spilled out of his mouth, his entire body weight leaned haphazardly onto me and collapsing backwards if I let go of his shoulders. He may not have wanted me around, but he needed help, and I swallowed just as much pride as he did to be there. Fuck him.

"Callie?" Abigail said quietly, emerging into the kitchen. Her hair was a mess, some plum strands protruding in conflicting directions and others plastered to her head. "You good?"

"Mhm," I replied. "Never better, matter of fact."

She sighed and pulled out the chair beside mine. "What's up?"

"Sebastian was sick last night, like, terribly. It was a lot."

"He wasn't grateful, was he?"

"Not even close."

A heavy silence settled between us; I could almost feel her own thoughts giving her vertigo. "What's on your mind?"

She bit her lip. "He kissed me last night."

"He—what?" Panic began to spread through me, my heart rate soaring. "When?"

"After you and Sam had fallen asleep," she muttered. "He was really shitfaced, I mean, seriously. We were trying to find a battery for this lantern thing he found in his desk, both rummaging through piles of crap. At one point, I was so focused that I didn't see him behind me, and I absolutely smacked the shit out of him when I stood up. I'm freaking out of course, trying to see if I'd scratched him or given him a black eye or a concussion, I don't know, I was high. But he was looking at me with those eyes, Cal, and I wasn't thinking straight. He went for it, and I let him. We didn't talk afterwards. He stumbled to his bed and rolled over, and then I laid down next to you, and I woke up to you heading up here." The words were spilling out of her mouth uncontrollably, the pace of the conversation accelerating as she reached the details that she didn't want to share.