Author's Note: Thank you for reading this story! It's a random idea I had after talking to Maru and then Abigail while playing the game, and then realising they would be awesome together. So I was inspired to start this fanfiction. I really hope you enjoy; please leave a review if you do!

PS: I haven't decided who to ultimately ship 'the Farmer' with. I usually lean towards Shane but I'll keep it open. Let me know your thoughts on that as the story progresses!

Content Warnings: Sexual references (nothing explicit), mentions of depression; alcoholism.

(I'll put specific content warnings at the head of each relevant chapter.)

Enjoy :)

Chapter One

~ A City Girl Fed Up of the Rat Race ~

I glared at the purple-haired woman in front of me. No, girl would be more accurate. She might be in college, but she was a devious witch of an immature b-word. I'd say it to her face, but she might curse me. I couldn't risk it. I'd risked enough moving here in the first place. No need to minimise my chances even more.

"Another win," Abigail said with a smirk. "It's almost as if you've never used a joystick before."

"Trust me, I've used joysticks before," I responded darkly. "But usually, I'm facing opponents who don't cheat."

A choking sound drew both of our attentions to the man in the corner. Leaning against the wall, full beer in hand, he smiled against the glass he pressed to his lips.

"Something funny?" I demanded. I'd already been conquered by one violet person; I didn't need the judgement of another. Especially not the most depressed guy in town.

His black eyes flicked towards me for barely a full second before he returned to burning a spot in the opposite wall. I almost thought he was going to ignore me, but then…

"If a girl not at all familiar with joysticks can beat you, I dread to think what you would do with one."

Are we still talking about joysticks, or is he implying something else?

"Ignore him," Abi said. "He wouldn't know how to use a joystick if it slapped him in the face."

Shane choked again, this time coughing beer back into his frothing drink.

Despite myself, I smiled.

His eyes met mine for a moment, and my skin burned with the heat of his gaze.

Then Abi was dragging me away, a warning in her sky-blue eyes. "What have I told you about listening to Shane?"

"That it's like hitting your head against a brick wall," I reeled off automatically.

"Exactly." She cast a dark look towards him and then turned back to the arcade machine. "So, how much do you wanna bet I beat you again, same time next week?"

"Uh, how about five G?"

"No way." She rolled her eyes. "You're, like, rich. Come on, Farmer. Gimme a genuine offer."

I wasn't rich. Sure, I inherited my grandfather's farm and it was a lot of land. But it was almost impossible to maintain on my own, and I couldn't afford to hire anyone else. The money I made, I made all on my own. And most of it went back into the farm. Into feed for the chickens, into new seeds to plant. I wasn't rich. I was barely scraping by.

But Abigail didn't see that. What she saw was me selling produce to her father. What she saw was me earning my own money and paying my own bills. She saw independence and freedom.

She didn't understand that owning my own farm was far from freedom. I moved here because if I'd stayed at my day job in the city I probably would have killed myself. But if I'd known how much work it took to run a farm; how lonely it felt and that I would never get a day off because the animals needed to be fed and the crops needed to be watered every day? I don't know if I would have made the same choice. I did want to make my grandfather proud. But also, I never knew him personally. My parents cut him out of their lives before I was born. Inheriting this farm was like winning the lottery and then realising that every penny I won needed to be spent on bills. Even in a small countryside village like Stardew Valley, money was at the center of everything.

Abigail didn't understand. She was nineteen with purple hair. She lived at home and resented her parents for limiting her freedom. She didn't have to cook her own meals, pay her own bills, or feed and water her livelihood every single day.

"Are you hounding our newest resident?" drawled a voice that set my blood on fire.

I turned around to see Sam strolling up to us, hands in his pockets, bright blonde hair spiked to perfection.

Did I have a crush on Sam? Maybe. But I was crushing on half this town. Stardew Valley might not be known for its internet speed, but it was known for its eligible bachelors – and bachelorettes.

"Are you flirting with her?" Abi shot back.

Sam's eyes widened innocently. "You know me, Abi. I never flirt with anyone less than a ten. Speaking of which…" He turned towards me, his brown eyes glimmering like a chocolate sea.

I swallowed, trying hard to maintain a neutral expression.

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" He raised his hand. He brushed my cheek with his thumb, cupping my face with a hand both soft and rough; calloused from playing guitar. "I can imagine exactly why they ejected you, but it was their mistake, angel."

His skin touching mine, I couldn't ignore. But his pickup line was overused, and the over-explanation gave me enough breath back to utter a dignified response.

"They didn't kick me out of heaven. I was scouted by demons on behalf of the devil." I grinned a wicked grin. "Touch me again and you'll find out why, pretty-boy."

"Don't feed his ego," Abi scowled. "He's full of himself enough as it is."

Sam beamed at me with the brightness of a thousand suns. "This is why I love you, Farmer. You always know what to say!"

I hesitated.

Is he being sarcastic or genuine?

My sadistic self wanted to believe the first, but my knowledge of Sam so far told me he most

likely believed what he said.

"Come on." Abi rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm. "Let's get out of here. My dad's probably about to send out a search party for me anyway."

She dragged me about three feet before stopping dead in her tracks. I was looking at my watch, thinking that I needed to remember to close the chicken's hatch before going home, when I realised she wasn't dragging me anymore.

Looking up, I found the reason why.

Spiky-haired, purple-tasting Sebastian stood in front of the Saloon door as it swung shut behind him. Unlike Sam, Sebastian's spikes were natural; the result of not caring to wash his hair regularly and his habit of sweeping his rarely-cut hair to the right side of his face.

"Oh," Sebastian said. "You're here."

Oh, and Sebastian hated me. Even more than Shane, he resented my presence wherever he found me. At least Shane hated everyone. Sebastian, however, hated only me. Which was tough, because he clearly had a crush on Abi, and I went practically anywhere Abi went.

I glanced at Abi. She looked like a rabbit caught in headlights; her eyes wide and fixed on the slim, outwardly-mean man standing directly in our path.

I sighed. I'd been here before. "I'll see you tomorrow," I told Abi.

She nodded as if she'd heard what I said, but I doubted she recognised the words.

I walked past Sebastian and called out goodbye to Gus, who was kind enough to always have a smile for me as if he were the only person in this town who truly wanted me here.

Emerging into the fresh Spring night, I drew in a deep breath.

The night was dark, the stars bright. That was one thing I loved about living here. The stars shone like there was nothing to cloud them. Like they were free to be their own unique selves.

The walk home was only fifteen minutes. Through the town square, along the fenced meadow where the old bus used to stop, and then I was walking onto the land I owned.

I owned this land. Every time I thought about it, it felt crazy. I was just a city girl who got fed up of fighting the rat race. Upon finding the old letter from the grandfather I'd never known, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to move to a valley I'd never heard of in the hope of experiencing a life of endless happiness, just like he proclaimed to have had. Unlike him, my life in Stardew Valley was far from easy. I'd managed to grow a handful of crops and construct a small coup that could house four chickens. But it was mine. There was no-one glaring over my shoulder, yelling at me the moment I stopped focussing.

However hard the farmer life is, it is still better than the life I left behind.

I scooped more feed into the chicken coup. They were already sleeping; my Shortcake, Biscuit, Marshmallow, and Trifle. As much as I might complain about them to Abi, I loved them. They gave me eggs and I gave them safety. A mutual agreement. Really, they paid for their own upkeep and more. Despite Stardew Valley being a farming valley, they were desperate for farm products. Only one other farm provided milk and eggs. I wouldn't have blamed Marnie for not wanting to share her business with me, the newcomer. But Marnie welcomed me with open arms, practically gifting me the first chicken (Shortcake). If it weren't for Marnie, I might have given up already.

Speaking of Marnie, I realised I was running low on chicken feed. I had enough for the next day, but not the day after.

In the city I would never have dared to approach anyone after work hours. But Marnie genuinely cared for animals. I knew she wouldn't mind. So I whispered goodbye to my chickens, though they were already asleep, and tip-toed out of the coup.

It took me twenty minutes to walk down, through the overgrown land I owned, to find the passageway towards Marnie's farm.

Maybe if I cleared it, it would only take fifteen minutes, but I barely had the energy to keep up with my daily farm tasks, let alone add more tasks on top of those.

Upon entering the forest, which to the right was not thick because Marnie kept the way fairly clear, I almost walked straight through to her house.

But a sound stopped me. A keening, desperate sound.

I glanced to the left. I couldn't see anyone. The way was thick with trees, night having fallen thickly over the forest.

I almost ignored it.

Then I heard it again.

It struck my soul. I gasped. Whoever made that sound… was a person in dire need.

I glanced along the path towards Marnie's. Then I glanced towards the forest. Towards the darkness.

I made my choice.

However dark the forest was, it couldn't be darker than my own heart. I came here to get away from things that hurt me. But maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to face my fears.