Stardew Valley Fanfiction:

'The Farmer Witch'

Chapter 22:

Alice didn't realize anything was wrong until she was already rounding the fence outside their home and making her way to their front door.

She could hear screaming coming from inside. It was Demetrius and Sebastian, shouting at the top of their lungs at one another. She noticed a pile of belongings sitting outside the door as well, a backpack and luggage among them.

Oh no…

She didn't know if she should leave or wait here. Going inside would surely make things worse. She could occasionally hear Robin and Maru trying to get a word in over the shouting, so she knew the two men weren't home alone together. Words like 'ungrateful' were shouted by Demetrius, while phrases like 'useless cheapskate' were shot back by Sebastian. Clearly neither of them liked one another, but Alice hadn't realized it had gotten this bad. Far worse language began to be used by the men and the witch could here Robin crying now.

Sebastian was shouting at him to move out of the way and let him out. The sounds were super close to the front door now and Alice instinctively took a step back, standing to the side of the door by the fence of their front yard.

It sounded like Demetrius was refusing to move and let him leave for some reason. She heard as Demetrius was pushed out of the way physically and Sebastian opened the door, dumping more belongings outside the door before heading back inside. He hadn't even noticed a dumbstruck Alice standing there. More stomping sounds from inside the home, more of Robin crying as her son continued to shout at her husband. Sebastian must have finally broke. But where the hell was he planning on going? The city? Was he going to try to move all this luggage somewhere on his motorbike? That wasn't going to happen. This must have been a spur of the moment decision due to the fight, otherwise he would have told Alice about it last night.

Worried about the well-being of everyone in the house as things started to sound more and more hysterical, Alice dialed the first person she thought of. Shane. Sure, he was a grumpy, beer-loving slob most of the time, but he had proven to be a good friend to Alice over the last few months as well. He was realistic and logical when he wasn't drinking, and better yet, he had a big pick-up truck that he used to help Marnie run her animal business with. Shane probably owed Alice about a dozen favors by now too, for babysitting Jaz and buying him drinks when he was broke, among other things. So, she was going to call in those favors now and try to deescalate the situation as best she could.

This wasn't an argument that was going to end in a handshake. Sebastian and his stepfather needed to be separated before things turned physical and Alice needed a way to get Sebastian's belongings loaded off too.

A surly Shane picked up the phone. "What is it farmer?" He sounded annoyed that anyone was calling him.

"Shane, I need your help. I need you to drive up to the carpenter shop ASAP with your truck." Maybe it was the tone in her voice, but Shane didn't argue or protest.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" He sounded totally different, concerned and urgent. That's one thing about Shane that Alice had learned by getting close to him and his god-daughter Jaz – Shane could step up when things counted.

"Please, please just get here as soon as you can." She could hear the fear in her own voice and realized then that she was crying. Clearly Shane heard it as well.

"I'm coming farmer, just hang tight – I'll be there in under ten!" The phone disconnected. There was no point trying to maintain the call while driving, Shane would lose signal once he was off the ranch anyway.

Alice shakily put her phone away in her pocket. She could hear the noise and shouting getting louder again as the men climbed back up from Sebastian's room and moved towards the front door. This time it sounded like Sebastian was the one trying to stop Demetrius – yelling about not touching his belongings among other things. Demetrius retorting that it was his house and the boy was no longer welcome here.

Alice moved to the door, deciding it was time to act, one way or another. She was surprised when the door flung open once more, Demetrius standing in the doorway, holding Sebastian's computer monitor. The man went silent, also in shock, surprised to be seeing the girl standing there. Was he planning on throwing Sebastian's monitor out onto the front lawn?

She frowned through upset tears, reaching out and snatching the monitor from the frozen man's arms. She set it down gently by the pile of other belongings. Sebastian came into view next, carrying his precious computer up the stairs and into the front room. He must have had to choose between saving his computer from his stepfather or his monitor once Demetrius had decided to 'help' the young man move his things.

Demetrius was still oddly quiet, perhaps embarrassed from being caught in the act of trying to destroy or damage his stepson's property. Alice brushed past him into the house.

"Shane is bringing the truck." She commented to a stunned Sebastian, before passing him and his mother and heading down into his bedroom. She began collecting his things to help bring outside.

Things calmed slightly after her arrival. It was obvious that both Robin and Demetrius were ashamed of the situation that the farmer had found them all in. The carpenter still cried and still quietly tried to convince her son to stay – clinging to his arm as he tried to move his things outside and promising to Sebastian things like no rent, a lock on his door, or other trivial things. But the time for that had passed and the man couldn't be convinced to stay here any longer it seemed. Maru had gone into hiding in her room after seeing Alice arrive and it didn't take long until Shane was pulling up in the driveway.

After a brief explanation of events, Alice enlisted the usually grouchy man into helping her get Sebastian's pile of belongings loaded into the truck's bed. After a very tense twenty minutes, Sebastian's room had been stripped clean of anything valuable - minus the furniture which Demetrius condescendingly pointed out didn't belong to the man. Robin had tried to get Sebastian to take it after realizing her son was going to leave no matter what, but Sebastian refused. He told his mother that Demetrius could keep it if it meant so much to him and slammed the front door behind them as they left.

Sebastian had barely even said a word to his friends the whole time they packed…

An uncomfortable Shane climbed back into his driver's seat, looking to Alice in the passenger's side. "So where to?"

Alice looked out the rear-view mirror at Sebastian in the trucks bed, riding along with his belongings. "My farm." She responded quietly. "We'll figure something out there. It's getting late and we have to get this stuff indoors. It's set to rain tomorrow." It wasn't like the witch to be timid, but she was still a little shaken from the events that had taken place.

Shane started up the truck and pulled out of the mountain road. They drove through town and past the bus stop, finally arriving to her farm. Despite the tension, Shane even offered to stay and help unload things properly which Alice accepted. A subdued Sebastian thanked him quietly as they brought things into her front room.

"I'll get it out by tomorrow Alice. Promise." The poor guy felt horrible for taking up space in her home. He hadn't been thinking when he'd started dumping his stuff outside. He didn't have a plan on where he was going, that much was clear, but he just knew he could stay there any longer.

"Don't be stupid." Alice chastised him. "Just put your stuff upstairs. Take the extra room for now, I haven't even moved much stuff upstairs yet." She had put some supplies in the upstairs bathroom, intending to move her bedroom up there eventually, but it would just be easier if he kept his stuff up there for now since it was practically empty.

"No, I can probably get Sam to hide a lot of this stuff at his place." Sebastian protested solemnly. Alice wondered if her friend was in a little bit of shock too. Now that the anger and adrenaline had worn off, Sebastian looked a lot more apprehensive.

She set down a trash bag full of clothes on the floor by her table.

"Seb, you're not going to go live in a tent like Linus. Tents don't have computer plugs, remember? Just stay here until you figure something out." She felt a little responsible. She was the one who had made Sebastian promise to start the process of moving out. She guessed that the man had brought it up to his mother and stepfather and that that had started the entire argument at his house.

Sebastian looked paler than usual. He looked like he wanted to argue with her more but couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't have anywhere else to go, so it was either the farmhouse or….

No, pretty much the farmhouse was his only option.

"Are you two going to make me do all the work?" Shane complained from the doorway. Alice stirred, realizing that she and Sebastian had just been standing there for a few minutes, both trying to think of something to say.

They returned to unloading everything, getting it all upstairs or into Alice's kitchen. "Thanks Shane. I owe you a million." She walked the man back to his truck.

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't go telling people and making them think they can use me as a truck driving service." Shane grumbled as he got back into his ride. He peered out the open window at Alice. "Is he gonna be okay in there?" Nodding his head towards the farmhouse where Alice had sat Sebastian down with a cup of coffee to sooth his nerves just a few minutes ago.

Alice sighed softly. "Dunno… I think all this has been a long time in the making, but it sure was scary to see."

Shane scoffed. "They haven't gotten along since Robin married him. Dem was a nice enough guy to Sebastian while they were dating, but after the marriage he just seemed to grow to hate the kid more and more. After Maru was born, he started ignoring Sebastian completely."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Is that what Marnie said?"

"Yep." Shane confirmed. "I was here for some of it, but my aunt Marnie was here for it all. That's what she told me a while back."

Marnie wasn't the type to lie. Alice felt bad for Sebastian, not realizing just how bad it all was. No matter how many times Sebastian had complained, she still hadn't really understood…

"Well… thanks again Shane. I'll see you around." She gave a half smile as she backed away from the truck.

"Keep an eye on him." Shane suggested, turning the truck south to head back to Marnie's Ranch.

Alice watched him go for a few moments before heading back inside. It was dark by now and she needed to turn the obsidian shield back on for the night.

Oooof! Long chapter, but totally worth it. There it is, the angst. Like I promised. But don't worry, things get back to normal soon! Just have to get over this dramatic part of the story before we can move this relationship along~ Had to find a convincing way to get Sebastian to move in as Alice's roommate after all. - Mystical Jelly