Celeste got up early as usual and went outside to begin planting and watering her new seeds before the sun got too harsh. Mid-morning, she saw Robin returning with more supplies to get to work, and she waved off to her as she headed towards the mountain to wash off the dirt of the day in Robin's home.

Upon walking through the front door, she bumped into Sebastian; both of them were looking down and not paying attention where they were walking. Sebastian was able to find his balance, but Celeste fell straight to the ground, embarrassed that she was so clumsy. She saw Sebastian offer his hand to help her up and she grabbed it. It was cold as ice, probably from him spending so much time in his room on the computer. Sebastian started to speak, "Hey-" right when Celeste remembered what she was there for. She looked a mess! She was sweating and her hair was in knots. She was crusted in dirt and she was hoping that Sebastian would wash his hands after touching hers. Without responding, she ran to the bathroom and started her shower.

After finishing her shower and getting dressed, she noticed that Sebastian was no longer in the house, so she headed to Pelican Town to socialize with the people she had met and shop at Pierre's for more seeds.

"Any produce you grow, I'm willing to buy off you," she heard Pierre say as she walked out his shop door.

It was a beautiful day. Birds were chirping and the sun was out. She felt like maybe she could really get used to this life.

Mayor Lewis saw her at a distance and called out to her, wondering why he hadn't seen her in a few days and if she had already met everybody in town. "Uh…I'm yet to meet Shane," she said, disappointed in herself. "Really? He's not hard to miss," she heard Lewis respond. "You'll be sure to find him at the saloon tonight." So I've heard, she thought to herself.

Her and Lewis chatted a bit about how she met all the other townsfolk and what her last couple daily activities consisted of. She told him how Robin was so kind and inviting and was building a bathroom and indoor plumbing for her. Before long, Celeste noticed that it was near 5 o'clock and she was getting hungry, so she said her goodbyes to Lewis and made her way to the Stardrop Saloon.

—

She sat at the bar stool, eagerly waiting. Why was she so obsessed with this? Well, she didn't want to disappoint Lewis after all. It shouldn't take long.

And it wasn't long before the saloon started to fill up on a Wednesday night. First, Emily came in for her evening shift. Followed by Clint, sitting at a table furthest away, but staring at her the entire evening. Willy came in to spend the evening with him, but it was obvious that Clint wasn't engaged in conversation and was there to spend him time watching Emily. Celeste felt a little uncomfortable by this realization.

Pam walked in, blaring, "Ahh…finally!" She made Celeste uneasy. She often smelled of alcohol and slurred her speech constantly. Celeste moved to the other end of the bar to create distance between herself and Pam.

And there he was, Shane. He was the only person who walked into the saloon that evening that she hadn't seen before. He took off his blue tattered hoodie, revealing his green polo underneath, and made his way to the back of the bar. Emily greeted him with a smile and handed him a pint of their cheapest beer. Before Shane could take a sip, Celeste rushed up to him and exclaimed, "Shane! You're Shane! Right?" He glared at her and responded, "What do you want? Leave me alone."

Celeste's eyes welled up. He couldn't have intended to be that rude, could he? Maybe he just had a bad day at work. She was still looking at Shane, who was looking away, as he took a long swig of foam from his pint glass. He seemed to not care…at all. Celeste left in a hurry, nearly slamming the saloon door behind her. Emily and Gus looked up with remorse, but Shane didn't even take a second glance where she was standing.

—

Celeste was running, and it started raining now. She wanted to go home, but with Robin not done with the plumbing, she would be a filthy mess all night long. So she kept running, past the turn for her farm and up north towards Robin's home in the mountains.

The run up took Celeste nearly 20 minutes, and when she got there, she was so out of breath, heaving heavily trying to compose herself before she knocked on the door. A pale face opened the door, staring blankly at her at first, before smirking and gesturing for her to enter. Celeste was relieved that because of the rain, it wouldn't be obvious that she had been crying. The run up there was just long enough for her to calm down, and since she had to focus on catching her breath, she had forgotten all about her interaction with Shane.

"What's going on?," she heard a male voice say to her as she put her hands on her knees, trying to silence her pants and gasps. She looked up at Sebastian. He was genuinely curious, and he had a softer demeanor to himself than their first interactions with one another.

"I-I got caught…in the...rain. I don't have indoor…plumbing…I…" She was still trying to catch her breath. Robin hearing what was being said as she was walking into the foyer spoke up. "Celeste! Of course you can stay here the night. Just go take a hot shower and I will see if Maru is okay with you staying in her room. I'm sure she has some clothes you can borrow as well." Celeste's breath was finally catching up with her as she let out a sigh. "Thank you."

—

Maru was so excited that she would have a sleepover. After Celeste came out of the shower and put some fresh clothes on that she borrowed from Maru, she joined the family in the living room where they were playing Pears to Pears. "Hey, we were just about to start a new game! Join us!" Maru was flashing the biggest smile ever to Celeste, and she slowly made her way to the center of the room, where Robin, Demetrius, Maru, and Sebastian were gathered, holding on to their cards. There was an empty space between Sebastian and Demetrius where Celeste sat down, right as Maru handed her a deck of cards for her to play with. "Do you know the rules?," Maru began. It had been awhile since Celeste had played this game, so Maru explained the rules to her.

While placing her Green card in the center, she realized that she didn't know enough about anyone at this table to know how to appease to them. She was competitive and wondered how on earth she would win against a family of four. Throughout the night, she felt Sebastian's foot touch hers under the table, and her face would flush as she avoided looking at him. Robin seemed to notice this and smiled a big smile, keeping what she witnessed to herself.

After nearly two hours of gameplay and lots of laughter, Celeste stood up in excitement and exclaimed, "7 cards? I won!" Maru was just as excited for her and ran up to hug her, Sebastian rolling his eyes, and Demetrius giving her a congratulatory handshake. They all started to wind down and settle for bed. Robin had an inflatable mattress that she blew up for Celeste, placing it in Maru's room. As Celeste made her way to Maru's bedroom, she thanked Robin, wondering how she could ever repay her. Robin reminded her that it wasn't a burden and said, "I'm happy that you're here."

—

Dallas threw the door open, waking up Celeste, yelling at her. "You chose this fucking tool over me? He's looks like he's wearing makeup. What is he, some fucking girl?" He was gesturing towards Sebastian, angrily. He then glared at him and lifted up his fists. Celeste hopped out of bed and tried to calm Dallas down. She placed her hands on his chest and pleaded. "Dallas, no, we're friends. We're just friends. Please don't hurt him!"

Dallas was getting angrier. "A fucking fly could hurt him! Celeste, why did you leave me? I was perfect for you. You can't find any better than me. You don't deserve any better than me."

His words stung.

Celeste found herself falling backwards, getting absorbed into the ground and finding herself smothered by the waves. She was suffocating….

….and she woke up with a gasp, jolting upwards on the inflatable mattress. She saw herself in Maru's room: a nightlight was in the far right corner, Maru sleeping in her bed with a soft snore. Celeste hid her face into her hands and started rubbing her eyes before checking the time. It was only about 11:30 but she needed some fresh air to clear her head.

She carefully opened the front door to Robin's house, seeing that the rain had stopped, and quietly made her way towards the lake. She saw a dark figure standing there, and upon approaching nearer noticed that it was Sebastian. When she got near him, she noticed he was smoking a cigarette. Without looking at her, he offered her one, to which she responded, "No, thanks. I'm trying to quit." He looked at her with curious eyes, as she kept her gaze on the moonlit lake. "It's beautiful," he began. "I come out here to think, to clear my head." Celeste noticed the beauty he was referring to, not realizing he was still looking at her. The moon was full and cast a bright light on the surface of the lake, shimmering as the water slowly moved under the surface.

"I was thinking…," he continued and he turned to look at the lake again, "…people are like stones skipping over the water. Eventually we're going to sink." Celeste heard that. She looked over at Sebastian as he tossed his cigarette into the lake and made his way back into the house. She followed closely behind him, returning to Maru's room, and quickly dozing back to sleep.

—

Celeste was up and gone early. Robin had washed her clothes overnight, so she put on her clean clothes and left Maru's in the laundry basket before heading out the door by 7 AM. She didn't hear anyone awake when she left, so she made sure she was quiet and careful. Walking towards her farm, she couldn't stop thinking about…Shane. Even though he was glaring, he had a sad look in his eyes last night when he was rude to her in the bar. She kept telling herself that maybe it was because he had a bad day at work. She had heard from the other townsfolk that he worked at Joja Mart, and she knew that couldn't be a good job to have. She was familiar with the work practices of Joja Mart Corporation and began to feel sympathy for him.

When she got to her farm, she started clearing some more debris off the land. She thought about how it would be nice to expand the farm and possibly get a chicken coop in the near future. Earlier than usual, she heard Robin making her way towards her farm, calling out to Celeste.

"You left so early this morning! I didn't have a chance to speak with you!" Celeste bashfully looked away, her cheeks flooding red with embarrassment. Robin already had to tolerate so much of her, and she couldn't help but feel guilty for everything she was putting her through.

Robin smiled and continued, "I was thinking that you should stay in my home until I finish your plumbing. That way you can have a warm meal, a warm shower, and warm company each night." Robin winked, which only made Celeste blush even redder. "It will also make me feel better for you to not be around while I finish up this plumbing job." So, Celeste went inside and grabbed some clothes to suit her stay with Robin's family for the next few days.

—

After dropping off her things in Maru's room and Maru leaving for work, Celeste decided to venture back into town. She had finally met all of the townspeople so she had good news to share with Lewis!

—

That evening, Celeste decided to try again. Maybe Shane would be in a better mood today. The week was ending soon, and she was sure he would be looking forward to the upcoming weekend.

She walked into the saloon early, smiling at Gus and Emily as she walked in. She was in a better mood today and she was able to show it. She just hoped that everyone else felt the same.

5:30 and Shane walked in. Just like Gus had said, like clockwork. He didn't notice Celeste as he walked in. He didn't notice anybody as he walked in. Shane sulked to the counter where Emily often stood as she poured him a pint of foamy beer. His eyes, zoned out, didn't even look at the glass as he grabbed it and went in for a sip, the warm foam touching his lips and beginning to ease him. But it wasn't enough for what he was about to experience.

Celeste walked up to Shane and stood in front of him, smiling, hopeful. He slowly looked up at her and responded, "You again? How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone?" Celeste felt hurt and wanted to run away and cry as she did yesterday, she but found the courage to confront him.

"What's your problem?! I spoke nothing but two words to you, and you seem to hate me!" She was nearly yelling, but the saloon was playing music loud enough that only Emily was able to hear, turning for a moment to watch them, before returning to her work.

Shane groaned. "What do you want from me? Money? I'd give you a pot of gold to leave me alone!" Celeste looked closely into his face and saw that he was looking away. His face looked angry, but his eyes looked sad, just as they did the night before. She was just staring at Shane, trying to get him to say something else. He continued to look away. "Why are you still bothering me? I want to be alone."

Not only was Celeste persistent, but she knew that wasn't true. His eyes briefly looked up at Celeste, before looking away and he let out a grunt. Emily quickly came with a bright smile and filled Shane's pint glass once again. Celeste grew concerned and said, "All of that cheap alcohol without any food won't make you feel any better tomorrow." She was used to nursing Dallas when he was hungover so she knew the recipe for a really bad one. Shane was silent.

Celeste then called Emily over, asking for a menu. Starting to feel hungry herself, she looked for the cheapest item that she could share. "Can I have a pizza, half jalapeño peppers? Thanks." "It'll be right up, Miss Celeste!," Emily responded with glee. Shane took his eyes off of his pint glass for a moment to look at Celeste. She was smiling, looking at her phone. Was she unaware that secretly Shane appreciated her company?

When the pizza came out, Celeste smiled and looked at Shane again. "Hey, you really need to eat, so help yourself." Shane looked at her, confused. She grabbed a slice covered in jalapeños and smiled, taking a large bite. His hand reached for a jalapeño slice as well, his face turning slightly red as he grabbed a slice. He hadn't eaten all day and was starving, and although he felt comfort in the alcohol, it was beginning to turn his stomach.

Celeste was happy, even though they both ate in silence. After finishing all of the jalapeño slices, they both grabbed the pepper flake shakers off the counter and smothered the cheese half in red confetti. Shane bit his lip, surprised at Celeste's appetite, but never broke his eye contact with the food and booze.

After finishing the pizza and his third glass of beer, Shane turned to face Celeste and spoke again, after being silent the entire night. "Hey. Sorry if I came off as rude when we first met. It takes me a while to warm up to strangers." Celeste let out a big smile, assuring him that she had forgiven his rude behavior. It looks like he was misunderstood after all, and maybe he just needed a friend. The saloon had started to empty out and Celeste found herself getting sleepy. She knew the walk towards Robin would be a long one, so she turned to Shane to say kindly say goodbye as she made her way out the saloon. Shane didn't respond.

—

As she left, he started at her exit the saloon. He was confused. Why would she spend the time and energy trying to get on his good side, especially when he was nothing but rude to her? No one in the town was nice to Shane, well…except for Emily. But she was nice to everybody.

He walked back to Marnie's ranch that night, his stomach full of food rather than alcohol for once in a very long time. After unlocking the door, he noticed that the lights were off and Marnie and Jas seemed to be asleep. He quietly stumbled to his room and flopped on his bed, his thoughts still on Celeste. Before…

…..suddenly…..

….falling…..

…asleep.