I don't even Smoke (a Stardew Valley Shane x Reader)

Chapter One

Before we start, as I mentioned in the last chapter, I would give individual warnings before each chapter. This chapter will focus mainly on Shane, and the event that leads up to him agreeing to go to therapy in the first place. That being said, it will contain alcoholism and talks of suicidal ideation.

____________Chapter One ___________

Every day that Shane opened his eyes, it seemed that the world got drearier. Although he had always remembered feeling this way, he was fairly positive that this was not the case, and that he had not felt this way as a child. On his really bad days, he would wonder whether he was the cause of the weather, and if he didn't wake up one day, then the sun would shine brighter than it ever had in his miserable 30 years of existence. Of course, that was only on his bad days.

He sighed as he continued walking down the street towards the Joja Corp supermarket, head kept down. His five o'clock shadow and the dark bags under his eyes were painfully evident, and although he didn't care if anyone saw him like this, he couldn't be bothered to hear the neighbour talk about him again. Anyone that knew him could tell that he was still drunk, and he'd gone into work in that state so many times that it truly seemed like nobody cared.  He checked his watch once again, attempting to move quickly through the centre of town, heading towards the bridge that led over to the soul-sucking company that he worked for. That is until he heard something that stopped him in his tracks. Two sets of high pitched laughing sounded throughout the desolate centre, heading in his direction. Although he kept his head down, he knew exactly who the two voices were coming from. The first one was higher than the other, and had a slightly annoying and whiny quality to it. It was a voice he knew all too well from his time at the Stardrop Saloon - it was Haley. The blonde practically ruled over anyone in Pelican Town that would listen to her. She knew she was beautiful, and she damn well used that to her advantage. Although Shane hadn't talked to her much, he'd had more than a few run-ins with her boyfriend, Alex. Now, Alex had always been a cocky bastard, and he had spewed more than his fair share of insults towards the appearance and behaviour of the purple haired man.

And if the person talking behind him was Haley, then he knew exactly who she was talking to.

Y/n had moved to the town not all that long ago, but she quickly became the golden girl of the small community. She, like Haley, had many of the residents wrapped around her little finger. In fact, she was similar to Haley in a lot of ways. He knew for definite that she was probably popular in high school, most likely a cheerleader, and she was probably the better half of some stupid school 'power couple'. She was meant for better things - Milan, Paris or Berlin - not Pelican town. And that explains why he'd never spoken to her. She had tried, in the start. It was rather sweet, actually. She would sit and try to talk to him after his shift, and while he was at the Saloon. Of course, he never really responded to her, because people like her just don't talk to people like him. That's where she met Haley, and it seemed like they instantly clicked- they were cut from the same fabric, after all. In his opinion, the friendship was probably quite shallow.

He slunk backwards, attempting to remain as invisible as possible to the two girls that walked past. As they walked past, he noticed Haley scrunch her nose and glare at him, tightening her grip on Y/n's arm. Haley leant over, whispering something in the shorter girl's ear as they passed, who proceeded to let out a laugh as she turned around to make eye contact with Shane. With that, they turned around and left, giggles echoing behind them.

Having been left alone, Shane sunk into himself and quickly made his way towards the jojamart. He knew that he was the laughing stock of the town, and he knew that people like him didn't mix with people like Haley or Y/n.