Summary:

Sebastian retreats to the lakeside one evening, hoping to escape from the disaster that is his life. To his surprise, the new farm girl, Saria, decides to join him. The two get unexpectedly close, to Sebastian's dismay, and each come to learn that they both have their own reasons for escape.

WARNING: Use of alcohol, drugs, and profanity. Read at your own discretion.

Tags: Sebastian/OC, Hurt/Comfort, Untold Backstories, Alcohol/Drugs, Romance, Family Struggles, Depression

Sebastian went outside and stood in his usual spot next to the Mountain Lake. It was late enough that nobody would have noticed he stepped out and nobody would be there to question him for smelling heavily of crack. He gazed out unto the lake with his weary, bloodshot eyes, the dark water blurring into the outline of the trees, which blurred into the blackness of the sky. The moon seemed blindingly bright, blurring his already hazy vision. My fucking family. He squinted in anger. Wouldn't give a damn if I just disappeared. He rubbed his temples. His thoughts were foggy and jumbled, and it was difficult to think.

Good.

He always thought too much, thought until his head ached, after which point he would hit a few blunts in the hopes of numbing his racing mind. He let out a deep sigh, letting his thoughts and troubles spiral away in the fuzziness of chemicals.

"Hey, Sebastian!" a voice called out from behind him. His heart started racing in panic. Who the hell is out this late? Fuck. Sebastian didn't move, half-hoping that he was just delirious and had conjured up the voice in his own head.

"Don't ignore me, Sebby!" he recognized that fruity voice, but it was much more high pitched than usual. He turned around slowly, as though his drugged up body was made of molasses. Through the fog of his own eyes he could just barely make out the farmer girls figure, with her usual purple tee and light-wash jeans. Something was off though, either the farmer girl was wobbling as she walked up to him or he was so high that the whole world was swaying. His thoughts were too fuzzy to distinguish which one.

"Mind if I join you?" Saria asked with a teasing rise and dip in her voice. As she walked up next to Sebastian, the strong smell of alcohol engulfed him.

"You smell like alcohol."

"You're one to talk," Saria laughed. "You reek of pot." She punched his shoulder playfully, stumbling slightly in the process.

"Heh, fair enough," Sebastian chuckled and shot her a lopsided smile. The sickly alcohol smell flooded him, blurring his mind even more. Man, she looked so beautiful, her silky blonde hair blowing in the waves of the fresh lake wind...

Wait, what? The hell was I thinking?

Saria abruptly sat down, playfully splashing her feet on the surface of the lake.

"Come on, Seb, join me!" she giggled, tugging at the sleeve of his hoodie. It was strangely uncharacteristic, she never acted this girlish. He had never even heard her giggle like that before. It was as if the alcohol had turned back the clock to when she was just a child, innocent and carefree.

"Haha alright," he laughed, as he sat down next to her, putting his feet in the water. His shoes and the bottom of his jeans became soaked, but his senses were too dulled to make anything of it.

"What're you doing out so late," Sebastian asked. It must have been near one in the morning.

Saria giggled. "Celebrating that I'm done planting seeds! The first few days of the season are soooo tiring," she slurred her words heavily and moved her arms in an exaggerated manner. Sebastian grinned with amusement. She must be really drunk. "Especially fall, cause there's soooo many crops to plant. I just, needed to take a load off, ya know?"

Abruptly, Saria placed her hand on his shoulder and crept her fingers up his neck. Sebastian's body tensed, taken aback by her handsy movements. She looked at him, her head bobbing back and forth.

"What about you, you smell a lot more of pot than you usually do," she giggled, taking her hand off his neck and moving it to his thigh.

"Just, uh, family stuff," Sebastian muttered as he averted his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Demetrilous can be so stuffy sometimes," she slurred. Sebastian couldn't help but smile at her words.

"Demetrilous?" he chuckled. "How drunk are you?"

"Haha, just a bit," she giggled as she moved her hands back to her sides to stabilize her wobbly body.

"I never thought you'd be the type of person to drink, farm girl," Sebastian teased.

"Oh really?" Saria responded sassily, putting one hand on her hip as she turned to face him. "What? You think I'm too much of a good girl to get drunk?" Her words slurred heavily. Sebastian's lips curled slightly upwards, amused by her cheeky response.

Suddenly, her face drained of playful bubbliness, her eyelids drooped and she slowly turned her head away from Sebastian and towards the lake. Her smile faded and was replaced with a bleak, absent expression. Sebastian could see pain in her eyes, a distant look as if the ghost of some painful memory abruptly showed face to her.

"I…uhh," she slurred, struggling to create a coherent sentence. She gulped audibly and smacked her lips. She could smell the pungent odor of alcohol on her own breath and it made her stomach turn. She furrowed her eyebrows. It was all coming back to her, all the memories she had tried to bury away, and they had hit her at full force like a smack to the face. She looked up at the horizon, at the trees in the distance which swayed in her drunken vision. She felt dizzy and sick to the stomach. The feeling was all too familiar.

"Just," she mumbled, lowering her head. "You're not the only one…trying to escape…and trying to forget." Sebastian hung on to her words as if they, and Saria, were about to slip away from him. Something took hold of him, maybe it was the weed, maybe it was something else inside of him, but he spontaneously put his hand on the side of her cheek, his hazy eyes fixated on her beautiful face, which glowed in the light of the moon. What the hell are you doing?!

"You know, you're really pretty," he murmured.

The fuck just came out of my mouth?

Saria turned to look at him, which made Sebastian notice that he had inadvertently leaned over to her so that she was inches from his face.

"Y-you're pretty cute too," Saria responded, her voice stuttering. Her eyebrows drew together and her eyes were wide with a gloomy, drunken sadness, but there was something else. Longing? Loneliness? Her bleak eyes, flickering in the moonlight, bore into him, captivating him, pulling him in. Sebastian's heart beat rapidly and his face became hot.

It was the weed that was doing this…right? He swallowed nervously. His mind swirled with dizzy thoughts and chemicals. What was even happening? He was so high, he couldn't think straight. All he could process was that her lips were so close to his, he could taste the alcohol on her warm breath. He wanted to kiss her, to hold her in his arms, to tell her how he felt about her…wait, what?…no…

From the back of his foggy mind crept the memory of years past, memories which he tried for so long to hide under the billows of smoke and drugs. Memories of her. He tensed up. He could see Saria slowly draw closer to his lips, her beautiful blue eyes shifting between his eyes and his mouth.

No, not again. I can't.

Sebastian abruptly pulled away from her and turned to the lake, his head down. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see her gaze at him intently before she slumped her head on his shoulder. Sebastian remained still as he averted his eyes away from Saria. You fucking idiot, he cursed himself. Should've never let her in. Why didn't you just fucking ignore her like you've done with everyone else? He desperately hoped that she was too drunk to remember anything the next morning. Great, now the headache and the racing thoughts had returned, despite the drugs in his system.

"You should go home," Sebastian muttered as he stood up, leaving Saria to collapse on the ground in a drunken stupor. Did she pass out? Irritated, Sebastian let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead, pushing the hair out of his face. He was going to have to carry her home, wasn't he?

"Come on," Sebastian said curtly as he nudged her back with his foot.

"Wha…? Oh…sorry," she slurred, rolling over onto her back lethargically. She extended her arm towards him. "Can you help me?"

Sebastian's nose crinkled slightly in irritation before he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. Immediately she stumbled forward and collapsed into his arms, but his dull, drugged up body lost balance and fell backwards onto a heap of leaves. Saria laid on top of him, her arms splayed across his torso, her face inches away from his face...again. Even in her drunken state she could feel her face get hot.

"Damn it, Saria," Sebastian coughed, the breath knocked out of him. If his head wasn't swirling before it was sure swirling now. The fall coupled with all the chemicals left his brain spiraling in dizziness.

"Sorry…" Saria murmured. Her eyes were wide as she gazed at his face longingly. Dazed, Sebastian once again found himself distracted and lost in her gorgeous eyes. Neither of them moved or said a word. Instead, they just laid there, fixated by each other. Sebastian could feel her heart thump rapidly on his chest. He felt as though her body was sinking into him, her warmth permeating through his cold body. He could feel her smooth skin against his arms. Everything around him just seemed to blur together in confused delirium. He didn't know how much time had passed before he was brought back to reality by a sharp pain in the back of his head. What the hell just happened?!

"Fuck," he spat, grabbing the back of his head with his hand.

"Are…are you okay?" Saria asked, concern pervading her voice despite her drunkenness. She was still on top of him.

"Uhnnn, I guess," Sebastian grunted, squinting in pain. He rolled onto his side, pushing Saria to the ground. Her face was still very close to his as her body laid against him.

"I'm sorry!" Saria squeaked, reaching over his body to place her hand on the back of his head, bringing her closer to him so that their foreheads touched. Sebastian opened his eyes and, startled at how close she was to him, immediately sat up, still rubbing the back of his head.

"It's…it's fine," he stuttered. He could feel his face flush.

This fucking girl.

He made motions to stand up, using a tree as support for his teetering body. Everything was spinning. How the hell am I going to drag her back? He felt a hand grab his arm.

"Lemme help," Saria slurred, as she pulled his body into hers. Even though she was wobbly, she managed to support his weight in her arms. His face flushed again. Damn it, how many times is she going to be on top of me? He was really starting to curse himself for not staying home that night.

It was apparently Saria that had to carry Sebastian back. With his weight leaning into her, they hobbled back to Sebastian's house. How fucking embarrassing. Saria led him to the front door.

"You gonna make it back okay?" Sebastian asked. The last thing he wanted was for her to pass out on the path and have him be responsible for it.

"Yeah, yeah, I have experience…," Saria responded, her voice trailing off as she gave him a half-hearted, lopsided grin. Sebastian raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else.

"Alright…well, see ya," Sebastian muttered, walking inside the house without waving a goodbye.

What an utter disaster. Why did he ever let himself get close to this girl? It just occurred to him that his sneakers and the bottom of his jeans were soaked through with lake water. God fucking damn it. Frustrated and fed up, Sebastian collapsed on his bed, letting the chemicals swirl his brain into a half-asleep stupor, trying to escape and trying to forget.

Hope you enjoyed this one-shot! This is part of a fanfiction that I was working on a while ago, but had eventually abandoned.

If I ever get back into Stardew Valley, I may come back to this piece, but no promises for now.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!