The sun beat down on Alex, illuminating his clear features and thick brown hair like a halo, making the sweat on his bare chest glisten. He was at the Stardew Valley beach, sitting on a bright blue towel, as he did most summer days when he wasn't working at the barely functioning ice cream stand or working out in his room. Beside him was Haley, the beautiful, self-centered Haley, with her damp blonde waves falling over her eyes just slightly, her bikini top tied on a bit too tightly. Alex had known Haley for his whole life it felt like, but he barely knew the woman. He knew she liked photography and hanging out with him, which was apparent in the way she sat so close to him right then, the side of her arm pressing against his shoulder and her fingers slowly making circles around his inner thigh. Alex didn't move away or respond to these actions, as he was used to them by then. He simply enjoyed the feeling of the cool breeze washing away the heat from that scalding summer day.
A few inches away from the two lay Sam, the pale guitarist with hair greased so far upwards he could make it his own skate ramp. He had been swimming with them that day since he was off work from JoJa Mart. Now he lay on his towel with his hands around his head, staring up at the clear blue sky. For a while, things were nice. Haley looked up at Alex from behind her eyelashes, a look he knew all too well from her. He gave her a small smirk and then turned back to the water. In those quiet moments, Alex could almost feel normal. And then Sam started talking.
"I'm bored," he whined, sitting up abruptly. Haley didn't stop caressing Alex's thigh, just slowed her movements. Alex turned his attention to Sam.
"Yeah?"
"Summer here sucks. I want to be in the city," he continued.
"Don't we all." Haley mused.
"Summers in Stardew Valley are nice! Nothing to do, just relaxing at the beach. Perfect weather for practicing too," Alex beamed ignoring Haley's eye roll.
"Whatever, I'm still bored." Sam said. Then the only sound was the roaring ocean again, waves splashing upon the white sand.
All too suddenly, Haley stopped touching Alex's leg and began shifting on the sand, taking Alex's attention away from the sea. The blonde was propping her leg up, about to reach it over his knees, crawling gracefully into his lap.
No, no. Alex thought, trying to hide his grimace. Yoba, don't do this. But it was too late. Haley was on top of him then, smiling sweetly down in his direction. She was a fun person to be around, sure, but Alex didn't really know how or when he got so tied up with her. He couldn't remember why he let her get in this position so often, putting her hands on his neck and leaning towards him, pressing her chest against his. He tried to smile at her but the fact was, he just wasn't interested.
"I have an idea." Sam piped up, just as Haley's lips were about to hit Alex's. She stopped, her pucker quickly twisting into a frown.
"Sam, can't you go to Sebastian's or something?" Haley scowled, like Sam was some little kid, but Alex wasn't so disappointed. Bless Sam, he thought. The guys not so bad after all.
"No, no, you can stay. What's your idea?" Alex asked perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.
"We should play a prank on someone."
"Who?" Alex asked as Haley sat back down next to him and lay her head on his shoulder instead, always needing to feel included.
"Hmm, I dunno." Sam put a finger to his mouth, obviously deep in thought about who in Stardew Valley he should torment next.
"Aren't pranks a little childish?" Haley whispered into Alex's ear, her fingers trickling down his chest. A small smile danced on her lips. It was obvious what she wanted, of course Alex knew what she wanted. It wasn't the first time he'd felt her hands on him, felt her hot breath in his ear.
"We can at least hear the guy out," Alex whispered back.
"Okay," she soothed, biting her lip. Alex smiled at her and Haley took that smile to be an affirmation of her wishes so she laid a soft kiss on his lips, pulling him in, even though he just wasn't interested.
"Shane."
Sam's voice shook the two out of their previous endeavor, pulling away from each other abruptly. Alex was thankful for the release though, turning back to Sam with raised eyebrows. "Huh?"
"Let's pull a prank on Shane," Sam continued with a mischievous grin. "Duh."
The thought of Shane made Alex's mood sour a bit. He barely ever spoke to the guy, not in the mere ten months the drunk lived in the Valley, but he knew about him. He knew about his nightly habit to go in the bar and wind up shitfaced around town. He knew that Shane didn't really have any friends, or at least kept to himself, and on the rare occasion that Alex actually tried to interact with him with even just a simple 'hey,' he knew that Shane reacted with an eyeroll or a 'fuck off.' Alex had every notion to believe that Shane was a real dick.
"Why?" Alex finally asked.
"He kinda has it coming, don't you think? I mean he's been here for almost a year and he's never even tried talking to us. It's not like this is some big town where he could avoid that sort of thing. The guy is cold-hearted." Sam explained.
"He's friends with my sister." Haley commented.
"That's because your sister gives him beer." Sam said with a smile. "Has he ever talked to you?"
"No," Haley answered.
"Because you don't give him beer."
"Okay, so how do you even want to prank him?" Alex asked, Haley's kiss still hot on his lips.
"I dare you, Alex," Sam turned to face Alex then with a devious glint in his eyes, "to make Shane fall in love with you."
Alex began to tense up. "I thought this was a prank?"
"Eh, it's a dare now, I guess." Sam shrugged.
Nerves began flying around Alex's stomach. This somehow felt like a confrontation. Why would Sam suggest him to pursue another guy? Did he know something?
"Uh, why me?" Alex asked, trying to laugh but it just sounded forced. "Why not you? Or Haley?"
"I'm pretty sure Shane isn't into girls. Besides, it's funnier this way." Sam said, smiling. "I'm sure it'll be easy for you to get him to like you anyway."
"But why?" Alex asked, confused at how his peaceful day at the beach suddenly turned into some strange high-school game of truth or dare.
"To see if we can crack that douchebag shell of his? Or, I dunno, just to mess with him?" Sam suggested, chuckling at the thought of his ingenious dare.
"Come on Alex, stop asking so many questions. It'll be funny." Haley chimed in, poking Alex in the arm.
"Yeah, yeah. Funny, you're right. I'm not gay, though." Alex tried to force another laugh, tried to seem cool with this, tried to make his lie sound totally believable.
"Yoba, don't worry, your masculinity isn't at stake here. It's just a prank." Sam groaned.
"Okay, hah, I'll do it, just to prove that I'm incredibly charming, even to people who I'm not even remotely attracted to," Alex said, scrambling to his feet. Why was he agreeing to this?
"Alex, we get it. You're straight." Haley said, rolling her eyes.
"Right. Exactly." Alex looked a bit apprehensive for a moment and then remembered where he was. He was just trying to have a nice day, why did Sam need to test him? It's not like he was gonna back down on a dare, no matter how bizarre. "How should I do this then?"
Sam shrugged. "I'm sure you can figure it out. You know where to find him every night after five o'clock, so maybe start there?"
"Right. Well, I should probably go get ready then. You know, turn the charm on. Do a few crunches." Alex said, gathering his things.
"Alright, dude, see ya." Sam waved, and then went back to basking in the sun.
Alex went home and tried to ignore the anxiety flipping in his chest. He didn't know why he felt so strongly, or why he even accepted Sam's dumb dare. He was the one who wanted a prank anyway, so why didn't he just do it? The brown-haired man began pacing his room absentmindedly. He had a few problems with this situation, one being he didn't want anyone to have any sort of notion that he was gay. And openly flirting with Shane wouldn't look too straight to anyone passing by, or would it? Maybe everyone would just assume it was a joke, since of course he wouldn't just flirt with Shane out of the blue. Because his other issue with the prank was the man of the hour himself. It was no secret that Alex didn't like Shane. He didn't like the way he acted or drank or how he acted when he drank. He just assumed that because of the way he looked and treated himself that he was akin to all the other drunk assholes in the world, and he was probably right anyway. Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Alex sighed, staring at himself in his mirror. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he should just have fun with it like Sam and Haley wanted him to, so he wouldn't look more suspicious. Soothing down his hair, Alex began to walk back outside of his house, telling himself that it just wasn't that big a deal.
By then, it was nearly six, so the sun was starting to lower beneath the mountains, casting a hazy glow over the whole town. He admired it as he walked to the Stardrop Saloon, a place he had only been inside once or twice in all of his years living in the Valley. And those times were just to play pool or order a pizza. Never to drink. So it was a much different atmosphere at this time of day, on a Friday. When he walked in and felt the cool air-conditioning hit him, heard the honky music being played over the jukebox, saw the handfuls of town members, he felt his stomach do another flip. He wasn't meant to be here, so of course everyone turned their eyes onto him. Some were kind enough to avert their glaring eyes, like Marnie and Robin, but others, like Pam, stared him down curiously as he slowly stepped further into the joint. They locked eyes for a moment, and it seemed as though she were raising her beer bottle to her lips in slow motion. Suddenly, alcohol was everywhere to Alex. The bottles on the wall, the smell of it in the air, pints of ale cluttering tables. The sight of it made him want to throw up or run. But of course, that would just look even weirder.
Emily greeted him affectionately, breaking him out of his slight trance. "Alex! I didn't expect to see you here. What can I do for you?" The blue-haired woman chirped, leaning towards him over the bar. Alex quickly glanced over to the corner of the room, near the fireplace, where he saw the man he came for, sitting as he usually did at the edge of the bar. Shane, with his tattered JoJa jacket and messy black hair. He tapped his fingers on the table, no beer bottle in front of him, just a couple stray pennies and quarters. Seeing just that, Alex could already tell he had run out of money and was jonesing for another cold one. Just because he's observant like that, and observance is a key ingredient to seduction.
So Alex turned back to the smiling Emily and said in his sweetest, most sincere voice, "Hi, Emily. I'll just have a beer, please." He slid onto a bar stool.
She didn't object or question his motives, just turned around and began fixing his order. He was relieved for that. But he wasn't going to drink the beer, no never. It was a peace offering. Peering around the corner of the bar, he noticed Sam was playing pool with Sebastian in the game room. They locked eyes, then both glanced at Shane. Understanding what was going on, Sam smiled and nodded approvingly as Emily slid the frothing pint towards him.
Alex smiled at her and took the glass, standing from the bar. The smell of it, feeling the icy droplets on his palm, was enough to make him uneasy, but still he pushed those thoughts away and strode over to Shane. The man didn't even look up.
"Hey, Shane." Alex said, putting on the charm. He knew he had a dazzling smile, everyone knew he had a dazzling smile. With perfect teeth like his, how could he not have a dazzling smile? So he gave that very same grin to the lackluster man in front of him, who only glanced up slightly. "Uh, I got you this." He put the beer down in front of him and tried to ignore the fact that everyone in the Saloon was probably staring at them.
Shane stared at the drink and then up at Alex quizzically. But despite the strangeness of the situation, Shane took the offering, as Alex knew he would.
Still looking Alex over, probably trying to figure out what was going on, Shane brought the drink to his lips. Alex took this as an invitation to enchant him. A smirk danced upon the sunshine-bathed boy's seemingly perfect lips. He leaned against the bar coolly and tried to mimic the sultry look Haley gives him when she wants something and slowly looked up at the haggard man he was supposed to be wooing, biting his lower lip all the while. He tried to ignore the blank expression on Shane's face and just assume that he was enjoying the show.
"So, Shane-" Alex began to drawl, about to start making small-talk, until the man in question held up his finger, making him stop mid-sentence.
"Hold that thought." He said roughly. Alex's expression dropped as the man leaned his head back and chugged the beer Alex had so graciously paid for and given him. Alex watched as the whole bottle was slowly downed, drops of ugly amber dribbling down the corner of Shane's mouth. Finally, with a sigh, Shane slammed the empty beer back on the bar.
"Thanks for the drink." He dead-panned, and then left the bar-stool in one quick movement, leaving Alex at the bar, trying to piece together how things fell apart for him so fast. Blinking a couple times to make sure Shane was actually gone, he swung around to try to catch him as he left, but the door was already swinging closed, leaving him all by himself. He glanced apprehensively towards Sam, who looked back and smiled sardonically. Alex's frown deepened, and his mood soured even more when he noticed that the rest of the bar was looking at him too.
Pulling his varsity jacket tighter around him, Alex made a beeline towards the exit. This was going to be harder than he thought.
A/N: hi, I hope you liked the first chapter! I'm super new to ffn and writing fanfic in general so I hope it's not too shitty. you can probably see where this is going already (it's not meant to be super convoluted). Just a fun story about the two of them because I actually really like their pairing and have a lot of ideas for them. I don't really know what people say here so leave a review/follow/fave? look I'm trying my best out here...but thanks anyway for reading!
-Bean
