Celeste started to spend more time around Leah and less time in the saloon. Which meant spending less time around her friends, Sebastian, Sam, and Abigail, as well as never seeing Shane, who she thought of as a friend, but wasn't sure how he felt.

She didn't intend to avoid any of them, but after farming all morning long, she would go to the beach in the afternoon with Leah and then head back to her place afterwards, where they would eat an early dinner. Summer was making it warmer and warmer outside, as well as inside Leah's cabin, so she often left the windows open to allow the cooler summer breeze to enter.

And often, after their early dinner, Leah would lead Celeste to her bed, where they'd spend the evening making out and things.

And Celeste didn't expect her relationship with Leah to take this route. Well, she wasn't sure where the relationship was going. After all, they hadn't done more than kiss each other, but Celeste didn't know how to ask. She was worried she'd fuck up the relationship she had with her as she did with every relationship she had prior.

And Leah was a great kisser. She didn't want it to stop.

But Leah's phone rang, and she got up off the bed. So, it had to stop. Sigh.

Leah answered the phone with a gasp, causing Celeste to look up in a fright, her lips still tingling from when Leah's mouth was there.

Her freckled face had gone white as she held the phone to her ear, quietly listening to the other end. Celeste stared in anticipation, wondering who she was speaking to and when she would respond.

Leah broke the silence in the cottage. "No, Kel! I don't want you to visit, and I don't want to get back with you! Please, leave me alone," she began pleading before angrily hanging up.

There was silence in the cottage again, but this time it was tense. Celeste kept her eyes on Leah, who began pacing the cottage.

"How dare she?!" Leah finally said with anger.

Celeste sat their quietly, unsure what to do or say. Leah was still pacing; she hadn't even turned to glance at Celeste. It was as if she forgot that she was even there.

Celeste got up from the bed and made her way to Leah, grabbing her arm and looking into her eyes. Leah let out a long sigh, one that sounded as if she had been holding her breath from the moment she answered the phone.

"My ex… Kelsey," she finally said. "I thought she would have gotten over me by now and leave me alone…"

Celeste was staring at Leah intently as she began to tell her story, this time with more detail than she previously shared. Without knowing it, Celeste felt like Kel was somehow like Dallas.

"We lived together in Zuzu City. I worked odd jobs, trying to make ends meet. I wore myself thin. She ridiculed my art, my passion. Said it would never bring us money and that I should try for something more worthy instead…She didn't understand me… She didn't love me. Not as much as I loved her." Leah grabbed Celeste's hand and looked her in the eyes.

"I left her and came here to get away from the noise. To make art in the forest and in the sea. It might sound like a silly, romantic dream, but I'm way happier here than I ever was in that tiny apartment in a hopeless relationship."

Celeste smiled, feeling happiness for Leah. "I should get going. Thank you for having me over." She gave Leah a tight hug. They were friends, after all.

Celeste had a sleepless night. She was tossing and turning, remembering Dallas, feeling guilty.

"You are such a dirty slut!" She can hear it now. The words he would say if he knew what she left him to do. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind went to the place where she saw him, looming over her, judging her.

She got up from the bed and went to the bathroom, looking in the medicine cabinet for the melatonin she had purchased from Harvey's a few days ago. I knew this would come in handy sooner or later. She expected those dreams of Dallas to come back.

She grabbed her phone. It was nearly 2 am. She sent a text to Sebastian.

"Hey are you up?"

She hadn't been spending time with him as much since the night they hung out before the Flower Dance, and little did she know was that he was trying to avoid her too.

Celeste waited for a response, but when nothing came, she sighed and placed it down on her bed. Sebastian had told her about his sleepless nights, but tonight was probably not one of them.

Her throat suddenly felt dry, so she went to the kitchen to grab herself a glass of water.

As she made her way back into her bedroom, she saw her phone light up. He responded.

"I was about to go for a ride on my motorcycle. Everything ok?"

She quickly grabbed her phone and started typing. "I can't really sleep. I was wondering if you'd like to chat."

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

She put her phone down. The small pill was still in her hand. She returned to the bathroom, placing it back in the bottle where she retrieved it from, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. Then, she put on some black jeans and a t-shirt and sat on her bed. Waiting for Sebastian's next text.

Celeste heard Sebastian's motorcycle revving outside her front door. She ran outside to greet him, seeing the thin man dressed in black from head to toe, a helmet on his head.

He pulled off the helmet and shook his head to fix his hair. His eyes met with Celeste's and he grinned. He then offered his helmet to her. Celeste's eyes were wide in amazement.

"Wear this. I want you to stay safe." Celeste felt herself get red in the darkness of the night, hoping the full moon wasn't bright enough to show her color.

She put the helmet on her head, noticing the smell of the inside. It smelled like Sebastian's room, a mixture of nicotine and pine. She timidly hopped on to his bike, sitting up close behind him. He turned his head and grabbed her arms, wrapping them around him as he said, "grab on. I like to drive fast," winking at her.

Sebastian sped off and drove towards the horizon, leaving Pelican Town and then leaving Stardew Valley. Before long, it felt like Celeste was at the edge of the world with Sebastian, where he stopped and stepped off of his bike, helping her off.

She took off the helmet and he took it from her, placing it on the seat of the motorcycle. He grabbed her hand and led her close to the edge of the cliff. In the distance, the Zuzu City skyline could be seen, the full moon overhead illuminating the two of them. Sebastian pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

Sebastian and Celeste sat on the ground, silent for a while. Celeste hadn't told him about Dallas. And she wasn't sure where she stood with Leah, but she knew she couldn't tell him about that.

Sebastian finished his cigarette, tossing it to the ground and stepping on it. He turned to Celeste and said, "What was keeping you up?"

Celeste was still staring at the city in the distance. Several buildings were lit up despite it being nearly 3 in the morning now. "I came to Stardew Valley to escape someone." She turned to face Sebastian, grabbing on to her bent knees as she sat on the dirt.

His eyes were wide, indicating that he was ready to hear every word she was about to say. Celeste turned back to face the city. "We were engaged." She felt the fear escape her mouth as she said that. What would Sebastian think of her, leaving her fiancé to start a new life? How selfish could she be?

Sebastian shifted closer to Celeste. His shoulder was touching Celeste's now. He took a mint from his jacket pocket, offering one to Celeste. She held her hand out in refusal and continued.

"He was emotionally abusive. He broke me down." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Eventually, he became physically abusive too, and I had to leave."

She turned to Sebastian to see him staring at her again, closer this time. He leaned towards her and gave her a hug, just as any friend would when confided in. She held on to him tightly, the tears now streaming down her face. She buried her face into his shoulder.

The breeze picked up as they sat there in silence, holding on to one another. Celeste did not let go until the tears stopped. Until the aching stopped.

Sebastian hadn't let go of her yet, but she softly pulled away.

Sebastian reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out another cigarette, putting the butt to his lips and stumbling with his lighter.

Celeste watched Sebastian fumble and softly said, "You should try to quit."

He finally lit the cigarette as she said this, pulling it from his lips and scoffing afterwards, retorting, "You sound just like my mom…"

There was a brief silence until he sighed. "You're right. I'm addicted to these things, to the feeling." He turned once again to make eye contact with Celeste. "It's not good for me."

With guilt, he tossed the freshly lit cigarette to the ground and stepped on it with his boot. He then laid on the ground, looking up at the stars. Celeste followed him, laying down beside him, her shoulder touching his. The summer night was a lot cooler than the daytime. In just her shirt, she started to feel the cold tingle her spine as the goosebumps began to reveal themselves on the surface of her skin.

Her hand brushed against Sebastian's cold hand on the ground. His gaze was fixed to the sky, the gravity pulling his hair away from his face revealing the softness underneath. His light freckles could now be seen, although the moonlight was soft. They reflected the stars in the sky across his face.

Celeste turned to look at him, noticing the details of his face she never was able to before. Although it was dark, her gaze was uninterrupted. Sebastian's mouth opened and his brow slightly furrowed. "I come out here to think sometimes." He put his hand that was touching Celeste's to his face. He continued, "To get away. I feel it calling to me."

They laid there in continued silence for a while, Celeste drifting in and out of sleep. The sun started to peak from the horizon but the warmth from it still hadn't reached the valley. Celeste began to visibly shiver, something that kept her from falling asleep completely.

Upon noticing this, Sebastian sat up and took off his hoodie. "Here, put this on."

It smelled just like his helmet. The smell was surprisingly sweet and comforting. She quickly put it on as he hopped back on to his bike.

"We really should get back." It was nearly 5 am now. She put on the helmet and got on to the motorcycle, holding on to Sebastian's slim abdomen.

They drove through the trees, Sebastian going faster than before. Celeste had to hold on to him tighter. She was more tired now and felt like she was about to fly off.

He left her at her farm, not getting off his bike to say goodbye. She handed him his helmet back, to which he said, "See you later, Celeste."

He drove off north.

Right after he left, Celeste noticed she was still wearing his faded hoodie. It fit her perfectly. She took off her jeans and crawled into bed, still wearing the hoodie. She immediately fell asleep.

She woke up late the next morning to knocking on her door. She glanced at her phone, it was past 10 am and she had 5 missed calls from Marnie. The knocking was getting louder. "I'll be right there."

She rushed to put on some shorts she found in her hamper and ran to the door, stumbling along the way.

When she opened, she saw Shane standing there, his face was expressionless.

"Yoba, Celeste. We thought you died or something. Marnie's been trying to call you," Shane sternly said once she opened the door for him.

She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I saw that."

"Well, do you want em or not?" Celeste gave Shane a confused look. "The chickens."

Realizing what he said, she jumped for joy. "Yes! Do you have them? I can't wait to see them!"

"They're in your coop," he said, as he started to walk away. He made his way towards the coop. Celeste excitedly followed. Her very own chicken! She was really cementing herself into Stardew Valley.

When she entered the coop, she saw three chicks roaming around, peeping and pecking at the dirt floor. Celeste wanted to squeal but contained herself. She grabbed on to Shane's arm and excitedly tugged. "They're so precious, the babies!" She kneeled to the ground and tried to imitate the clicking sound Shane had taught her in an attempt to call them. He couldn't help but chuckle at her, even more so because none of the chicks responded to her call sounds.

"You're so cute, thinking that would work." He just heard himself. You're so cute, what the fuck?, he thought to himself. I hope she didn't notice what I said.

Celeste pouted and puffed up her cheeks. "Okay, Mr. Chicken-Know-It-All. Show me how it's done then!" She motioned her hand towards the chicken as if to present them to Shane.

Shane knelt on the ground, slowing calling for the chicks and petting them softly, immediately giving them dried mealworms he was carrying in his….pocket?!

Celeste felt warm from how the chickens responded to him. He was so good at this, and she couldn't understand why he didn't just devote his time to his calling instead of wasting away at Joja Mart.

Shane spent the rest of the morning showing her different ways to care for the new chicks. By lunch time, they were both ravenous and Shane invited Celeste over for lunch, suggesting that the pizza he had in the freezer wouldn't be as good as the saloon, but he wanted to show her some more chicken stuff over at the barn in Marnie's home after they eat.

Celeste happily trailed close to Shane as he walked south towards Cindersap forest. She excitedly continued to ramble about the chickens and talking Shane's ear off. He'd never admit that he liked hearing the sound of her voice.

When they got to Marnie's home, Shane quickly turned on the oven and placed the pizza inside.

"I'm gonna go take a quick shower. Uh, just make yourself at home." He left towards his room and Celeste was in an empty kitchen to what seemed like an empty house. Marnie and Jas weren't around on a Saturday afternoon, leaving her the opportunity to explore.

The bookshelves were filled with books on raising all kinds of livestock and barn animals and the living area had some of Jas's toys sprawled on the floor, dolls and stuffed animals.

Celeste found the guest bathroom and went inside to rinse her face, looking at herself in the mirror as she came up, water dripping into the sink. She had lost a lot of weight since moving to the farm. Her freckles had deepened from the summer sun. She wasn't wearing as much makeup as she used to, frowning at the appearance of the spots on her skin. Her grayish green eyes stared back at her, almost confused at what it was looking at. She felt like she almost couldn't recognize herself. She had lines forming where she smiled; she hadn't felt happiness like this for years and it began to show on her face.

She grabbed the nearby towel and dried her face and hands before returning to the kitchen, where she saw Shane standing, hair dripping wet, in a T-shirt and shorts. He was pulling the perfectly baked pizza out of the oven. It smelled amazing.

Celeste made her way to sit at the kitchen table where Shane's towel was draped over the chair. He grabbed it and apologized, drying his hair as he left the kitchen to dump it in his hamper.

After Shane served them each a slice or two, he grabbed some lemonade from the fridge, offering some to Celeste. He sat across from her at the kitchen table, slightly grinning before taking his first bite.

Celeste was too excited to eat. She wanted to keep talking about chickens. She turned to Shane and asked him how he got involved with chickens. He put his pizza slice down and looked away. She wasn't sure what she did wrong to cause him to get upset.

"I'd rather not talk about this right now, ok?"

Celeste felt a pang of guilt in her chest. They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

Shane then led her to the coop outside of the kitchen to show Celeste some more chicken "tricks" for her to take home with her that evening. They had spent their entire Saturday together, Celeste not noticing that her phone was going off with texts from Sam, asking if she was joining them for Solarian Chronicles tonight.

When Shane went inside for a moment, she finally looked at her phone, seeing all the messages, and responding. "Yeah, I'll see you tonight."