It was a relatively well-known fact that Leah stayed out late more often than not. But on nights like these, with the loud yet soothing howls of winter winds right outside of her windows, even the aspiring artist opted to stay inside, bundled up in a pile of warm, fuzzy blankets with a cup of hot cocoa in one hand and a stuffed bear she had sewn herself in the other.
Days like these were almost always unproductive, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and recently those thoughts were turning more and more towards the most recent resident of Stardew Valley, a farmer by the name of Anna.
The girl had inherited the old house in the fields less than a year ago, and she was already feeling like a regular part of the community. It felt like every few days she had something new to do, and hearing her talk about her day as they ate and drank in the Stardrop Saloon was always something she could look forwards to on the nights that she felt compelled to go and have a sip of that amazing Stardew Valley red.
Anna would tell stories of the creatures she'd encounter down in the deeper parts or the mines or of spots she'd just discovered around the town. Like that statue deep in the woods and the little quarry near the mines. All were places that Leah and most of the other villagers knew of beforehand, but the girl seemed so happy when she found new places that they had collectively decided to just keep them a secret, letting her discover them at her own pace. The smile that adorned her face whenever she found new places to explore always warmed her heart to see, and was well worth the secrecy, at least in her opinion.
However, the farmer wasn't without her fair share of flaws. She would sometimes go days without talking to a single person, and seemingly without taking a single break either. It used to be a common occurrence for her to be found passed out at the late hours of the night, tools still in hand, or so she was told. She'd only found her like that once herself, and it had nearly given her a heart attack.
It had been the middle of summer, and a loud thump had startled her awake at one in the morning. She ran outside to see what had happened, and she'd run up to the girl that had passed out on the ground. Her long brown hair was stuck to her forehead, beaded with sweat, her axe still embedded in a nearby tree. It took considerable effort to carry her all the way back to the farmhouse. The following day she'd stopped by Anna's house and sat her down for a talk. The house was sparsely decorated but for a few old pieces of furniture she said was left there by her late grandfather, the previous owner of the house. Give it a week and the farmer had gotten sick. Leah had made it a point to visit her almost every day until she got better, and kept visiting for a few more days afterwards to make sure she was taking better care of herself.
It had inspired her to pick up her chisel again and to finish the sculpture she'd been working on for so long now. Gifting it to the girl that, over the time of a week, had come to take a place in her heart that had been left barren for quite some time now. But she didn't want to assume anything, and so never addressed it. Eventually, things went back to normal, but not before she had another long talk with Anna about taking better care of herself.
It didn't take long to get her point across, and it occurred to Leah that none of the other villagers had likely taken the time to tell the poor girl that it worried them. They probably assumed that she would know, but that was obviously not the case. From then on, the occurrences stopped happening almost completely, something the whole town seemed to agree was a good thing.
Her train of thought was broken as knocking could be heard right at her doorstep. She checked the clock mounted on her wall and sure enough, it was eleven pm. Most people would already be asleep by now. Still, she wasn't one to let someone stay outside to freeze in the cold winter night, so she got up from her fort of blankets and opened the door. In front of her stood Anna, her brown hair mixed with snow, wearing a winter coat and some snow pants, her face tinted with red. The girl gave her a lopsided grin and spoke, her words slurred.
"Heyyyy, can I... come in?" It hit her as strongly as the smell of wine on the farmer's breath. The girl was completely drunk. Well, that was new. Still, getting her out of the cold was more important then asking her why she was here, drunk, so late.
"Sure, come on in. I'll go get you a towel to dry off."
She turned around to go fetch a towel from one of her cupboards. As she turned back though, she saw the farmer was laying on her bed, her blue backpack, coat and snow pants discarded by the door, revealing that the farmer was only wearing an undershirt and some shorts underneath. She had her face buried in Leah's pillow as she seemed to almost melt into her bed. Occasional giggles could be heard from the drunken farmer.
"Hey there, you okay Anna?"
"Huh?" She got a glazed look in return, before the girl in her bed seemed to finally get the question. It seemed that she misunderstood the question for a reprimand, as she seemed to deflate and curl in on herself, sounding almost sad, the tone of her voice tugging at her heartstrings.
"Oh, uh, last week you said I could stay the night if I ever felt lonely in my cabin and I just thought… I'm sorry, I just really wanted to see you cause you're really sweet and pretty and I missed you so I thought maybe I could come but uhm, sorry, I'll just be on my way." The farmer tried to get up, legs shaking, and she was about to take a step forward when Leah put a finger to her chest and pushed lightly. Despite how little force she had put into the push, Anna fell back down onto the bed, a confused look on her cute, flushed face.
"Oh no. You aren't going anywhere in the state you're in, missy. Now here, dry your hair, don't wanna get my bed all wet now, do we?" With a smirk, Leah gently chucked the towel at the girl, hitting her head on and causing her to let out a muffled squeak of a giggle as she flopped back down on the bed. Within a few minutes, her hair was dry, and Anna was sitting on her bed, having sobered up slightly. Leah sat down next to her, pushing herself up against the lithe but strong frame of the farmer sitting besides her.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Oh… well, I kinda just finished my first batch of wine I just made and well, you've told me before that you like wine but haven't been able to get much cause of how expensive it gets and I was thinking that maybe you might want some but I think I forgot to bring it here so there goes that idea and I wasted your time and I'm sorry and-" Leah cut her off by putting a finger against her soft lips.
"Jeez, flower girl, calm down. It isn't that big of a deal, okay? Look, it's late and you look ready to collapse any second now. Let's just, get some sleep, m'kay?"
A small nod was all she got as a response. Her eyelids were starting to get heavy now, the earthly smell that had become the farmer's signature scent warming her heart.
"Hey, Leah?"
"Hmmmm?" The artist hummed in response, sleep already threatening to pull her down into its soft embrace.
"Are you sure I can sleep here? It's your bed and I don't want to impose-". Whatever she was gonna say was cut off as she was pulled down onto the mattress, face being pushed into the artist's pillow, as if to say, 'you aren't leaving'. A hand snaked down to pull the blankets on top of them both.
" 's fine. I don't mind. Just… sleep, we'll deal with... this, in the morning."
Leah put her chin on the farmer's head, and nodded off, leaving for the world of dreams. It didn't take long for Anna to follow suit. The scent of wood, paint and metal filling her nose, making her feel at ease as she fell asleep.
