The "L" Word
Leah woke that Saturday morning at sunrise, trying to prepare everything for her afternoon art show. She would have liked to sleep in, but her nerves got the better of her. Not to mention she had to make a few last-minute adjustments on the Egg Heads to ensure that the animatronics were timed properly. She examined their tiny, tailored suits and top hats trimmed with gold ribbon as their little limbs bowed and straightened to imitate child-like, whimsical movement.
"You're out of sync, Pip!" she groused to the smallest Egg Head, using a crank to remove and replace a gear underneath the platform. Wiping a bit of grease from her fingers, Leah stood to inspect the results. This time, when she flipped the switch, the tiny rotund figure circled its arms as if holding a jump rope - just like Jas, from whom Leah drew inspiration - when the girl practiced under the big tree.
Leah grinned, please with herself. "That's better!" she exclaimed proudly, propping her hands on her hips as she stood back to admire the work. She glanced around the room in search of the cart intended to lug her pieces into town. "Now to lug everything over," the ginger-haired woman sighed.
Assessing her works, the sculptor decided to move the pieces from most to least portable. Leah's grey eyes rested on the large stone sculpture, which the artist knew would be the most difficult to relocate due to its sheer height and the material from which it was made. It was in many ways, her favorite as well. Leah only hoped that Haley would not notice the resemblance the stone woman bore to her own face.
What had started as a study in human anatomy slowly morphed into a feverish desire to pay homage to the beauty of the blonde. Leah had not recognized it at first, but after examining the sculpture at length, the artist reflected that the statue was a representation of Haley upon their first meeting. Aloof, but assured in herself. The figure stood lazily, her weight shifted to one side and her limbs folded over her chest as she inspected passers-by with an appraising gaze.
The expression was purposefully kept ambiguous, since Leah worried that any additional details would be a dead giveaway that Haley was her muse. At least with relatively vague features, the viewer could project whichever emotion they chose onto the stony form. Leah only hoped that Haley would not see the resemblance. Or if she did, that the photographer would be kind enough to only say so in private after the Art Show.
Leah shook her head and noticed that her braid was coming undone. The disheveled state of her long, red lock made the artist realize that she had not cleaned herself up to look presentable for her own exhibition. "I should probably shower…" the woman decided. "But that should wait until after I've prepared everything." No sense in getting all gussied up only to work up a sweat. It probably would not make a great first impression to potential buyers - assuming anyone wanted to purchase her sculptures at all.
As the artist tried in vain to shift the stone woman into place, however, Leah discovered she was not going to be able to do this alone. It's kind of early to ask anyone just yet.
As if summoned, a knock came at the door. Surprised, Leah quickly unlatched the lock to find out the identity of her guest. Er - guests.
Haley, Shane, Emily, and Alex all stood in the doorway, some looking more awake and happier to be there than others. The blonde stepped forward. "Alright, which art pieces need moving?" she asked, though she immediately pointed Shane and Alex in the direction of the stone statue.
Leah was breathless for a moment. "What are you all doing here?"
Emily addressed the artist in her usual chipper manner. "We're here to help, of course!" the sapphire-haired woman explained as she gently hoisted with her sister on the other side.
Haley, whose hair was back in a messy, gorgeous bun, rolled her big blue eyes. "You didn't think you were going to be able to drag these into town by yourself, did you?" The sisters lowered the wooden piece onto a cart just outside the front door.
Leah felt disconcerted that all these people were suddenly in her house and doing things for which she - in hindsight - should have planned. The ginger circled helplessly, as she could not lift anything on her own, but she was without a partner. "I - I -"
"No need to thank us," Alex promised Leah with a winning grin, flexing his biceps for show. "This is a great dynamic workout, you know?"
Leah hesitated, unsure of how to argue the point. Haley nudged the artist out of the way. "Say 'thank you' and tell us what needs to go where," Haley advised with a huff. "Just because we're helping you move these monstrosities doesn't mean we're going to haul them back and forth until you decide the feng shui is right or whatever. Once we place them, that's where they stay for the rest of the day."
The sculptor's grey eyes landed on Haley. Despite the gruffness of her words, Haley's mouth bore the slightest hint of a smile. She's teasing me a little, Leah realized. But she's genuinely trying to help. Since when had Haley become such a good friend? Maybe Haley had been more serious about their friendship since that at the Fair had been
Nodding, Leah accepted the terms. "Okay, I'll head into town and make some measurements for the spacing," she disclosed to her helpers. "I'll be back soon!"
With his nerves getting the better of him, Sebastian rose when his weekday alarm normally went off, despite it being a weekend. Still, it was probably for the best. With the extra hour, the motorcyclist was able to finally locate his old biker jacket stuff in the back of his closet. He figured he should have some gear for Violet to wear while they rode to ZuZu. I hope it fits...
He then quickly gathered all the stuff he would need for the evening. Sebastian promised Violet a ride of her life and while he really only meant the innuendo to tease her, he wanted today to be a memorable one. So, Sebastian dressed in layers to account for the wide variety of plans for the day and headed upstairs for a few supplies. In the hall closet, the programmer found a blanket that he could spread out for their nighttime excursion.
On his way toward the kitchen, Sebastian bumped into his mother. It was then he realized that they were both going to Violet's house that morning since Robin was still working on a silo that Violet ordered to feed the chickens Shane was going to care for in the new coop.
His mother beamed brightly. "Good morning, Sebby!" Sebastian tried to hold back his normally grudging tone. Robin was a morning person and despite being her son, Sebastian was most definitely not. Once the scent of his favorite soup filled his nostrils, however, the man perked up slightly.
"Hey, mom." The dark-haired man opened his bag and shoved a few snacks and drinks inside, just in case he and Violet did not have time to grab a bite to eat somewhere between apartment showings. "Did you make pumpkin soup?"
Robin grinned. "I did!" she replied with a hum as she lifted the lid of the crock and stirred its steamy contents. "I slow cooked everything overnight, so all the spices have had plenty of time to really soak into the puree."
Sebastian could feel his mouth watering. Soup was not really a breakfast food in his opinion, but in this case, he might make an exception. His mother quickly caught on to his desires and grabbed a pair of thermoses from the cupboard. Using a ladle, Robin filled them to the brim before securing the lids tightly. The carpenter winked, handing them to Sebastian. "I hear you and Violet have a busy day ahead," she remarked with a knowing smirk.
The ginger regarded her son, leaning against the kitchen counter. "So, when were you going to tell me that you plan to move to the city, Sebby?"
Embarrassed, Sebastian tucked the thermoses away in his bag. "I, uh… Just forgot to mention it," he confessed honestly. "I've been busy lately since the term's almost over."
Robin nodded as she pulled her son into a hug. "Just don't forget you'll always have a place here if you want it," she guaranteed Sebastian with a tight squeeze. She stroked his cheek with her thumb affectionately. "Now c'mon. We have somewhere to be, don't we?"
Sebastian balked briefly. "You're gonna walk to Violet's with me?"
"Does the idea of hanging out with your mom on the way to your girlfriend's really scare you that much?" Robin answered with a teasing laugh.
"...No," the young man muttered. He glanced toward his mother, whose dark orbs matched his own. "I can just walk my bike, then."
Robin scoffed at the idea. "No way!" She grabbed her bag of carpentry tools and stuck a packed lunch inside. Then, from a forgotten shelf in the hall closet she produced an old, blood red riding helmet with flame decals on either side and a matching, spiked leather jacket. "I'll drive," she told her son as she threw on the worn leather garment. "You can ride behind me, sweetheart."
Violet had not slept well. Sebastian's joke about giving her the "ride of her life" on their date today triggered an entire tsunami of over-thinking. He's just teasing me, right? Sebastian couldn't possibly mean that he wants to have sex already, we haven't even said "I love you" to each other! Violet knew there were plenty of people in the world who were relatively casual about their sexual relationships. Zach was the king of those. And if the band's lead singer remembered correctly, Sam and Abigail were actively banging each other for at least a season when Sam finally announced - quite proudly - that they professed their love for one another prior to the concert last weekend.
While she had not verbalized it even in her innermost thoughts, Violet suspected she might actually love Sebastian. This was more than a crush and on a completely different level than her previous relationship. No, with Sebastian, it was more than the desire to be needed by someone.
Violet considered calling her best friend last night for council after Sebastian left the previous night, but the farmer already knew what she would say. Bex was all about seizing the moment and while the pastel-haired woman could appreciate that perspective and had harnessed that energy previously, Violet doubted this was the kind of situation to act first and think later. Sebastian was about to leave town, and they would be forced to adapt as a couple - either by adjusting to this life of only seeing each other on the weekends or by breaking up when expectation versus reality proved to be too vastly different to cope.
Another part of her was forced to acknowledge that she really liked the idea of having sex with Sebastian, though. If she was going to be that intimate with someone, why not her boyfriend? They were a couple and she enjoyed Sebastian's company and sense of humor. Being with him was so… easy. Everything about Sebastian felt familiar to Violet, like they had somehow existed in parallel and only recently found a way to cross over to one another. But the unknowns of the future loomed over her head like a dark cloud, raining on her parade.
Rolling out of bed, Violet retreated to the bathroom and threw cold water on her face. Gazing at her reflection in the mirror, the woman noticed how different she appeared compared to a year ago. I look… alive, she supposed with a hint of humor. Medium Phalanges was not the only undead employee her former coworkers at Joja Corp. joked about, after all.
But in all seriousness, Violet did like what she saw in her reflection more than she had in a long time. For the sake of "professionalism," she had constantly held herself back when she worked for Joja and it had destroyed her sense of self. Violet could feel her confidence rebuilding itself brick-by-brick each day here in Pelican Town. "I can be happy," she told herself, leaning on the sink to have a serious talk with herself. "You can do this, Violet."
Standing up straight, Violet focused on the mirror. "I… I really like who I am around you, Sebastian," she began rehearsing her declaration. "And I wanted to say that I lov-," she stumbled, even with no one around to hear them. The words caught in her mouth, and she shook her head violently, her floral-hued waves thrashing about on either side. Inhaling deeply, Violet widened her stance, as if she were about to take on a physical opponent and closed her eyes with her fists balled at her sides. "I love you, Sebastian!" the woman shouted, startling herself. Outside the bathroom door, something fell to the floor.
After an awkward silence, Bruno scratched at the door and whined faintly, expressing his concern for Violet and a desire to help his human. He must have fallen off the bed. Violet opened the door and apologized to her canine companion. "Sorry, boy. I didn't mean to startle you." She knelt on the floor and pulled the fluffy German Shepherd into a hug. "And I love you, too, Bruno," the farmer cooed, nuzzling her face into his soft fur. Violet could hear the rhythmic thump of her pet's tail on the hardwood floor.
Violet sat back on her heels and sighed heavily. "Why is it so much easier to say these kinds of things to a dog?" she complained to Bruno quietly. The woman pulled away and the dog's tail wagged as he nudged his owner's shoulder affectionately. Violet grinned and ruffled the fur between the canine's ears. "But then again, who could possibly hate such a sweetie?"
Bruno stood and barked his agreement. "Can I practice with you, boy?" she requested her German Shepherd. The dog's owner took a calming breath then held Bruno's face lightly in her grasp. Leveling her shoulders, she said, "I love you, Sebastian."
The dog's tongue fell to one side of his mouth and Violet did her best to maintain her composure, but it quickly dissolved the instant Bruno lunged forward to lick her face. "Alright, alright!" she giggled, trying to keep the enormous dog at bay with her forearm. "Don't be so jealous! You know I love you!"
Springing to her feet, Violet grabbed some clothes appropriate for the weather. While she did not want to keep using her concert outfit every time she wanted to dress up, the farmer did not have a lot of clothing that she considered cute enough for an all-day date in the city. Instead of the usual tank top, Violet opted for something with long sleeves.
After dressing herself, the young woman stepped outside, expecting to harvest some grapes and Krobus' next batch of wine, when she noticed something peculiar. The mysterious rare seeds she bought from Talla - which the syren claimed would take all season to grow - had suddenly bore fruit overnight. As Violet approached the strange corn-like stalks, she noticed a few pumpkins which had been previously blocked by the taller plants, had also matured just as quickly. "What the hell?"
The air smelled intoxicatingly sweet, and the pastel-haired woman quickly determined it was the mysterious fruit. Violet extracted the gardening shears from her pocket to gently remove one of the oblong orbs from its rigid vine. Her mouth watered at the scent, but the magically inclined woman was hesitant to try something she had never encountered in the "real world." Still, Violet knew she should get these fruits harvested and safely indoors to avoid them being stolen by an animal.
It's a shame Talla's not around to tell me more about these, Violet regretted as she entered her house with the sweet orange fruits, a few pumpkins, several clusters of grapes, and a few bottles of Krobus' wine. The cultivator decided she would keep a few of the familiar fruits for various meal ingredients and all the enormous orange ovals until she knew what they were. She would leave the wine outside for Krobus, of course.
When she was done organizing the morning's harvest, there was a knock at the door. Violet's heart leapt in her chest. Sebastian's here! The woman snatched her leather jacket - which held the rabbit's foot in an inner pocket for good luck - off the back of her chair and inhaled deeply before opening the door.
Sebastian stood in the doorway, clad in protective gear for the motorcycle ride into town - minus the helmet - which presumably was still with the motorcycle near the bus stop. "Hey, Violet," her boyfriend greeted her with a slight red tinge in his cheeks. "Are you ready to go?"
Violet nodded and closed the door behind her. Sebastian had not moved, so she suddenly found herself pinned between him and the closed entrance to her home as he leaned forward to kiss her. She snaked her arms around him and discovered that he was holding something behind his back. Violet surfaced from their kiss out of curiosity. "What's that?"
Sebastian smirked. "I was gonna wait to give it to you until the Feast of the Winter Star, but it's better that you wear it if we're going out on my bike."
"I got this when I first bought my motorcycle," Sebastian explained. With both hands, he held out a well-worn, but well-maintained motorcycling jacket. "It doesn't fit me anymore, but I thought it might do alright on you."
Violet felt a wave of emotion surge over her. She quickly donned the jacket, holding herself in a hug once the garment was on her body. "It's a little long in the arms," she appraised the size, lifting the appendages to show that most of her hands were also covered. The young woman radiated happiness as she gave Sebastian an appreciative peck on the cheek. "I love it."
"Keep it then," Sebastian offered, taking her hand. "You look… cute." Violet could see the expression on her boyfriend's face and suspected that he had a thing for seeing her in his clothing. "C'mon, we'll be late for the first showing if we stick around much longer."
The floral-haired woman felt a warm, fluttering feeling rise in her chest as she walked beside Sebastian toward the road out of town. This was the first time that a boyfriend had ever given her a gift. Sure, she had borrowed Sebastian's hoodie for a day, but Violet had only borrowed it. Sebastian's old riding jacket was entirely hers now. Violet grinned. Today was going to be a great day.
Haley watched Leah pacing anxiously back and forth along the cobblestones just outside of The Stardrop Saloon. The blonde sat perched on the decorative hay bale, her blue eyes watching her friend. As someone with advanced skill in event-planning, Haley knew Leah had gone about this Art Show all wrong. The Stardew Valley Fair was the town's biggest bash of the year, and the aspiring sculptor made the rookie mistake of trying to compete with a well-established tradition.
If Leah had been smart about it, she could have applied to have a booth at the Fair, like the carpenter lady or the weird guy who made spiky metal things. If she missed that deadline, the ginger could have at least done her Art Show the day afterward so those tourists who booked overnight stays in nearby towns like Grampleton might decide to check it out on their way home.
But Leah had done neither of these things. The poor, naive woman did not even try to hype herself on social media for a few months to promote the show. Yoba, she needed me to take charge on this one. Haley knew this debut might completely flop, but she did not have the heart to lecture her friend about it now. The woman was, however, fed up with Leah's aggravating pacing.
"It's an hour out from start time, you know," Haley reminded the host of today's exhibition. "Why are you so worked up?"
Leah paused and glanced over to Haley miserably. "If all my friends aren't coming, then why should I expect a bunch of complete strangers to show up?"
The photographer noticed the striking purple hues of the dying leaves on a nearby tree and realized it would really complement her blonde hair, but now was not the time to be looking at the potential selfie scenery. "I assumed the whole town was coming to support their local artist," Haley stated, trying not to sound bored.
"I went to remind Violet about the show this morning and ran into Sebastian on my way there." Sighing, Leah frowned, "I guess they're going to be in ZuZu City all day, so Violet won't be coming." Haley could hear the disappointment in her friend's tone.
She did her best to comfort Leah without sounding too abrasive. "And Alex has been ditching me to hang out with Maru more often," she commiserated, hopping down from her seat on the bundle of straw and sticking the landing with ease. She linked arms with the ginger and escorted her to sit on the hay bales for a moment. "This is why we classy, artistic ladies need to stick together."
Haley noticed the slight upward curve of Leah's full lips and took that as encouragement to continue. "Besides," she added with a roll of her baby blue eyes, "if you get discovered by everyone all at once, all those annoying art hipsters out there won't get to claim they knew your work before everyone else."
It did not take long for Haley to realize that Leah was not listening to her. Instead, the woman's grey eyes were transfixed somewhere in the distance. If not for the subtle rise and fall of Leah's chest, Haley would swear her friend had stopped breathing. Haley followed Leah's stare and found an unfamiliar woman standing off in the distance.
The brunette's long hair, but dull and her bangs were harshly parted to the left side of her head. She wore dark wash jeans with the hem rolled up slightly to show off her ankle boots and a slate blue button-up shirt over a maroon tank top. She desperately needs a stylist and some good conditioner…
The woman stood, her upper limbs crossed over her torso, with one foot tapping the cobblestones beneath the soles of her shoes expectantly. "Who's th-?"
Haley had not finished the question, but that did not stop Leah from ducked her head to conceal her face. "My ex," the artist groaned, immediately recognizing that her attempts to hide were futile at this point. "I don't want to talk to her right now!" Leah hissed as the woman strode toward them. "But I should have known Kel would find me here eventually."
Haley placed a confident hand on Leah's shoulder. "Let me handle this."
Finding a place for Sebastian to live in the city was turning into more of an endeavor than either of them anticipated. The places the couple toured thus far were great on paper, but it turned out a lot of the social media hype came down to plants and bait-and-switch techniques. After going through the majority of the list, both Violet and Sebastian were exhausted - and in the programmer's case - disheartened.
They sat in a small mom and pop restaurant close to the latest complex they visited, sipping on their drinks as they awaited their hot meals. "At least we know that it's consistently bad," Violet sniffed in contempt. "It's not just one company monopolizing terrible places to live."
Sebastian lifted his head off the table, but only just barely. "Okay, so where the hell am I gonna live?" His girlfriend could tell Sebastian had no intention of lowering his standards for an acceptable dwelling.
"You mean you don't want to live in a dorm like a commoner?" Violet pestered him with a soft chortle.
The hoodie-clad man sighed heavily. "I'd constantly be hit up by loads of underclassmen trying to get booze," he reasoned with a grumble, settling his chin on his forearms. "That would be annoying as hell."
Violet chuckled under her breath but did not argue the likelihood of that scenario. "Not to mention you'd be the residential hottie," she added. "The dark-haired, brooding, loner with a motorcycle."
Sebastian blushed but pivoted to adapt to the comment. "Until my girlfriend visits and the other half of the dorm falls for her." He frowned, "Besides, I think overnight guests are technically off-limits in the dorms, so that would leave for potential blackmail material, and I only like to be on the giving end of that scenario."
"I guess it's best if we don't cause any trouble, then." The farmer giggled and reached out a hand to touch his arm. "We'd hate to corrupt the youth with our cuddling." Her mind wandered to other, more explicit ideas for which she would prefer to have more privacy than the paper-thin walls of a college dorm.
Sebastian did not seem to notice where her mind went, however. He laughed at her joke, and Violet smiled at him. She squeezed his hand and proposed an alternative. "Since the apartments you ranked highest have been a bust, how about we ditch these last few tours and explore the city for a while?" The pastel-haired woman tapped her fingers on the glass in front of her as she made a guilty confession. "I may have done some research in case we needed to bail on this whole thing and found a decent comic bookstore a few blocks from here."
Her boyfriend's obsidian eyes lit up. "Look at you, breaking the rules," Sebastian praised Violet with an approving timbre to his voice.
Violet pouted slightly. "Did you already forget how we first met?" she scoffed. The waitress came by with their food and placed it on the table in front of them. Waiting until the server was well out of earshot, she took it upon herself to remind him. "We blew up that boulder together!"
Sebastian shoveled a few fries into his mouth. "I remember that those little cherry bombs didn't do shit." He was technically right, but Violet still enjoyed the memory. "It was fun, though." The hungry apartment hunter inhaled another handful of food. "Even if I thought you were a little crazy at first."
The amateur arsonist felt emboldened now that her stomach was no longer demanding tribute. "I guess you're into that, aren't you?" Violet prodded, tucking her bangs behind her ears to better see her boyfriend. "Otherwise, you would have never considered asking me out."
"Yeah, I'm definitely into you…" Sebastian conceded, his attention suddenly very focused on his burger. He took a bite to escape the expectation of speaking again so soon.
Violet had not expected such a straightforward answer from Sebastian. It threw her off-guard. She shifted in her seat and bit her bottom lip. Could she casually assert her true feelings here in a random hole-in-the-wall restaurant? No, this was not a good place for it. She wanted somewhere more private in case things went south.
Ugh, why do you always assume that? Violet chided herself. Still, she could not leave Sebastian hanging. He was trying to hide it, but her boyfriend seemed to hope that Violet would return the sentiment.
"I did say I wanted to be tied to you, didn't I?" Violet referenced the night on the pier after the Luau under her breath. Using Sebastian's technique against him, she took a bite of her food to avoid the obligation to elaborate.
Sebastian smirked in that way that made her knees weak as he leaned forward to address her more intimately. "I don't have that kinda gear with me, but I'm sure we could find it somewhere in the city if you want to try it together."
Violet flushed and she threw her empty fry basket in his general direction. "Oh my gosh, you perv!" the embarrassed woman shouted. Despite herself, she enjoyed their push-and-pull dynamic when it came to flirting with one another.
The sable-haired man across the table from her cackled heartily and his ink-black eyes twinkled mischievously as he dodged the red plastic bin. It was heart-breakingly beautiful to hear Sebastian be so carefree, even for just a moment.
"Hey, you apologized for phrasing it that way originally, so I'm pretty sure we were both wallowing in the gutter together," Sebastian countered.
Violet did not notice the dirty looks from the other diners for the outburst. Instead, all she could feel was her heart beating against the confines of her ribcage. Despite the pounding of her chest, which was normally indicative of a desire to escape the situation, Violet could not help but beam back at Sebastian. "You get me," the woman admitted. "That's probably why I like spending time with you so much."
Sebastian's attention focused completely on her for a moment, and Violet felt her breath catch for a moment. "Violet, I lo-"
"Listen, you horny kids!" an old woman called from the kitchen, waving a wooden spoon through the service window. "My customers can't stomach their food with your sexy talk over there!" She threw a small set of keys toward them. "Either get it out of your system in the supply closet or get a room across the street and leave the rest of us in peace!"
Both Pelican Town villagers were completely abashed. Violet even covered her face with her hands, separating her fingers only to see Sebastian. "Sh-should we get going, then?"
"Yeah." Slapping payment for their food onto the table, Sebastian nodded and took her hand, avoiding eye contact with the other patrons as they hurried out the door.
Someone wolf whistled on their way out and cackled, "Take it easy, kids!" Oddly enough, Violet could have sworn it sounded like the granny who kicked them out.
"Let's never show our faces in there again," Violet stated once they were a good block away from the burger joint. It was one thing to flirt so boldly in private where no one else could hear them, but clearly, they were not as subtle in public as they assumed, and Violet had no intention of inviting the commentary of strangers again.
"Yeah, we should just cut our losses while we can." Sebastian turned his head, scanning the surrounding area. "Now, where's that comic bookstore?"
Leah's ex reluctantly followed Haley to the fountain just west of the run-down Community Center and took a seat on a nearby bench. The visitor immediately crossed her arms and legs in front of her body. "You wanted to talk, so talk."
Haley could feel her muscles tense as she fought the urge to go on the defensive, but she held her tongue and squared her shoulders to give off an air of confidence. "Look, Leah doesn't want you here, so if you could just leave quietly, I think that would be best for everyone."
Kel scanned Haley from head to toe. "Leah was always a sucker for femmes. Did she seriously sic her new girlfriend on me?"
Haley denied the accusation. "No!" the blonde answered too defensively.
"Fine, you're not dating." The brunette sneered as realization washed over her. "But you wanna be with Leah, don't you?" Kel's head bobbed side-to-side disapprovingly. "Listen here, Barbie," the brunette snapped back, planting her feet firmly on the ground as she leaned forward in her seat. "Leah ran away from home a few years back. Her family and I are worried about her living in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere to 'pursue her dreams.'"
"My name is Haley." The blonde took offense at being compared to the doll; it was far from a creative insult. "And you were the one trying to make Leah something she's not." Haley gestured in Kel's direction, "Another career woman dressed in a poorly tailored suit." The jab was in bad taste, not everyone had an eye for fashion, but Haley did not care. "Leah worked all the time, and you didn't support her artistic talents!"
Kel's unsculpted eyebrows rose, revealing wrinkles on her forehead that indicated she was likely a few years older than Leah. "Is that what she told you?" The brunette left out an exasperated hoot. "I guess she failed to mention that I was the only one making money off of my art." The woman scowled. "The only sculptures Leah every sold were to a 'Mr. K.'"
"So, there was one guy who really liked her work. What about it?"
The woman's dark eyes regarded Haley coldly. "I'm 'Mr. K.'" She leaned back in her seat as Haley fell silent for a moment, considering the new information. Leah's ex resumed her tirade. "So, forgive me for asking Leah to try out a new career after five years of us scraping by trying to make ends meet."
Five years? Haley felt a pit forming in her stomach. She had not realized when Leah mentioned that she and her ex lived together, it had been for that long. It was a cruel reminder that the person for whom she held feelings had a past that Haley knew almost nothing about.
"I couldn't carry our finances on just my earnings forever and as much as I enjoyed painting," Kel revealed sourly, "I finally made the tough decision to call it quits to make sure we didn't starve or live out on the streets." Kel's voice rose as she spoke again, "And what did Leah do to repay me for that sacrifice? She up and left me!"
Haley wanted to do her best to defend Leah's side of the story. They were friends and that was her job. "Nobody likes someone who plays the victim card for their own decisions. If Leah didn't ask you to quit being an artist, then you have no one to blame but yourself."
Kel rolled her eyes and exhaled sharply as she rose to her feet. "Whatever," the woman responded dismissively. "Clearly you people in this hick town are going to keep giving Leah false hope so she'll waste her time and effort for another decade or so until she finally wakes up to the harsh reality that passion for art doesn't guarantee success." She shot Haley a look. "And by then I'll be forced to move on."
"You're the one who gave her false hope by buying her sculptures under an alias," Haley argued with a sarcastically sweet smile. "If you're going to play the blame game, that one's on you, too."
"It's like talking to a wall…" Kel smoothed out the front of her button-up shirt, as if she suddenly noticed a bit of lint. "If Leah doesn't want to talk to me, fine. I'll leave," she announced solemnly. The woman shooed Haley away. "But I'll wait here for my ride. Go run back to Leah or whatever."
Haley's eyebrows furrowed skeptically. "Who else came to town?" The blonde considered too late that this might be a social ambush if Kel brought along Leah's parents and purposefully allowed herself to be led away to give them an opportunity to guilt her into returning to the city with them.
Kel clicked her tongue at Haley's audacity. "Not that it's any of your business," the frizzy-haired woman growled defiantly, "but I'm apparently not the only one trying to bring a wayward ex back home from this weird little town."
The sun had long since set on the horizon and the stars shone brightly in contrast to the ebony sky. Sebastian pulled up to the rocky ledge a short way off the main road to his favorite spot for viewing the city lights. The view did not disappoint.
Violet's face looked exactly as Sebastian hoped. Her deep blue eyes were wide with wonder and her lips parted slightly as she admired the sight. "It's beautiful, Sebastian…" she breathed quietly. The light breeze teased her purple wavy hair as they approached the edge of the stone shelf. Overhead, the moon was not quite half-full, but it gave off enough light to easily see safely.
As Sebastian stood beside Violet, he pointed toward the urban lights beyond. "That's ZuZu City in the distance…" he informed his girlfriend.
"It's weird seeing it like this when we were just there all day," Violet opined quietly. "It's almost surreal."
Sebastian nodded in agreement. "I come out here when I want to get away from everything and just… think." He turned away and pulled something from his pocket. The wrapper crinkled slightly, despite his best efforts to be discrete.
Violet touched his shoulder. "What is that?" she asked, the concern in her tone palpable. Sebastian realized it was a mistake to try and hide it. She assumed it was a cigarette.
The young man revealed the object sheepishly. "It's a Tootsie pop," Sebastian divulged, flashing the red sphere of sugar as evidence. "I've uh… only got the one, but I guess I could share."
His girlfriend chuckled. "No, it's okay. It's cute," she swore. Yoba, her reactions to the simplest things made Sebastian feel so good about himself. He stuck the lollipop in his mouth and a hint of artificial cherry flavor hit his tongue.
Sebastian turned back toward the twinkling city lights to the north. "So, what do you think?" he inquired, waving a hand in the general direction of ZuZu City.
A silence hung between them like a heavy curtain until Violet finally gave her critique, "It gives me a strange, sad feeling."
"Yeah…" Sebastian bobbed his head, adjusting the candy in his mouth. "That's exactly how I feel, too."
"Are you disappointed we didn't find an apartment for you today?" Violet inquired, her eyes stealing a glance his way.
"No…" The words came out of his mouth unexpectedly, as if his sweet treat to keep his nicotine urges at bay when his anxiety was high had been laced with a true-telling serum. "And yes?" Sebastian shrugged, unsure of how to properly express his feelings with words, but he tried. "The city used to draw me in…" the raven-haired man explained, "but now I'm finding myself happier at home in the valley." He ran a hand through his hair, hoping the physical sensation would ground him enough to say what he needed to convey to Violet tonight. "But I also know that it makes more sense for my studies - at least for the next few seasons."
"It's okay, I get it."
"Still…" Sebastian wanted so much to tell his girlfriend how she felt about her.
He had Violet's full attention; her gaze fixed wholly on his face. Sebastian's heart raced in anticipation. "I don't usually bring girls to this place…" the biker admitted shyly. "In fact, you're the only one." He hesitated, but his mouth curved upward indicating his true feelings. "You know what I'm trying to say, don't you?"
"That I'm officially the newest member of your cult of the undead?" Violet jested. Sebastian could tell she was trying to deflect from her own uneasiness, so he let the comment slide.
Sebastian crushed the last remaining nub of his lollipop between his teeth and tucked the stick away in his pocket. "No," he replied firmly as he held Violet close. "But you do seem to like it when I nibble your neck a little." He leaned in and Violet met him halfway. Their lips locked repeatedly opening and closing as their hands ran over one another's back.
The kisses seemed desperate and hungry in a way that pleasantly overwhelmed Sebastian for a moment. When the two finally surfaced for air for a moment, he felt obligated to reveal a secret. "I… may have heard you in your house earlier today before we left for ZuZu. I let myself in to wait for you to get ready, but once I heard you, I decided to go back outside so you wouldn't be embarrassed."
Violet tilted her head in confusion. "Heard what?" Sebastian could see the gears turning behind her stare and the farmer reddened when the realization came to her. "That was you who fell over when I was practicing what I wanted to say to you in the bathroom this morning?" she gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. She had assumed Bruno made the noise.
"It was sudden," Sebastian reminded his girlfriend. "And loud. And… unexpected." He caressed her forehead as he wiped a stray lock of hair away from Violet's face. "But even after hearing you say it, I'm still kind of scared, you know?"
Violet studied his face. "Does that mean you don't feel the same way?" Sebastian could hear her fear from the shakiness of her voice.
Sebastian shook his head emphatically. "Violet, I brought you out here to tell you how much you mean to me, but… the words won't come out the way I want them to." He squeezed her body in his arms and rested his forehead against her shoulder. "You make me really brave and like a fucking panicky spazz at the same time."
He felt a gentle pressure as Violet hugged him back. "I-I know what you mean," she said softly in his ear. "You give me the strength to try and be happy again – to live my life the way I want, but I'm so scared of how empty I'll feel if you meet someone else in ZuZu while you're away…"
Sebastian lifted his head and blinked in disbelief. "You're scared that I'll dump you for someone else?"
Violet's face twitched as she tried to conceal her discomfort. "You've only really ever lived in Pelican Town and the dating pool is abysmal." She squirmed apprehensively in Sebastian's embrace. "I'm terrified you only like me because I'm one of like - five options."
"Four," Sebastian corrected his girlfriend. "Leah's a lesbian, remember?" the dark-haired man poked at Violet's side to lighten the mood, but her face only fell. He quickly tried to amend his mistake. "And here I've been wondering whether it would really matter to anyone if I just disappeared." The man frowned. "You'll be so preoccupied with all the good things going on in your life, that you'll forget about me…"
Violet's expression looked like he had struck her, and he felt her cold fingertips clamp onto either side of his face. "Don't you ever say something like that again, Sebastian!" the woman scolded him ferociously. "It would matter to lots of people if you 'just disappeared!'" Sebastian heard her voice crack and tears welled up in her eyes as she stroked the crown of his head. "You mean so much to me, so please don't think that." Tears streamed down her cheeks, despite Violet's best efforts to keep them at bay.
But before Sebastian could assure her that he was not going anywhere, a confession escaped her. "I - I love you."
"I love you, too," Sebastian echoed, and he knew he meant it. Instinctually, the two resumed their kissing, the tears rolling down their faces now those of relief and joy. They clung to one another as if their lives depended on it and Sebastian was unsure of how much time had passed when they finally broke away from one another.
Violet's skin appeared flushed, and his fingertips were naturally drawn toward her body once again, but she stopped him. "Ca-can we maybe move so we're not like five feet away from falling to our deaths?" she panted with a nervous laugh. "I literally saw Shane fall off a cliff last season and that's as close to that experience as I ever want to get."
Sebastian nodded dumbly, the blood in his body had drained well away from his head. "Yeah, okay. I'll grab the blanket I brought…" he quickly darted back toward his motorcycle and opened the side pouch.
When he turned around, Sebastian found Violet standing within inches of his face. She eyed him in a way that made Sebastian feel breathless and excited. "I love you, Sebastian," she repeated. The addition of his name made it feel more real than the first time, but the rush of relief that Violet felt the same way he did was just as intense.
He quickly spread out the warm blanket and pulled Violet down gently to lay on top of the downy fabric beside him. Sebastian yanked the opposite corner of the oversized blanket over their bodies like a sleeping bag and cuddled closer to her. "I love you, too, Violet…"