Shane's P.O.V.

Is it normal to hate the sight of my own face so much that I've contemplated getting rid of my mirror every single morning? 'Cause if not, I'm one pretty abnormal guy. I rubbed my bloodshot eyes as I once again decided there was no point in shaving. My stubble was getting pretty out of hand, but maybe if people saw it and thought I was some unkempt wild man, they wouldn't try to talk to me… Good plan, if I do say so myself. Even after brushing my teeth, my mouth still tasted like the night before. I felt like hell had vomited me back out, but luckily for me, I was the world champion of managing to do a full day's work with a hangover. Time to endure another eight hours of slave labour…

"Morning, Marnie!" A horribly loud and high-pitched voice rung out from the shop floor. The hell? It's not even 7:30. The store isn't open yet… I opened my door just a slither and peeked out into the shop, and upon discovering who the loud intruder was, immediately pulled myself back into my room. That goddamn farm girl. From the day I told her my name she's been calling out to me in that annoying voice. I'd been doing my best to avoid her for the past couple weeks, but now she was blocking my exit. Ergh… I'm gonna be late if I don't do something…

"Ah, Ms. Rain! It's good to see you up and about so early." Speak for yourself, Marnie…

Wait a minute. Rain? Her family name is Rain? If I had the energy, I'd laugh at the irony, but I was more focused on figuring out how to get out of the front door.

"It's good to see you too! I wanted to ask about your chickens today."

"Ah, you're here to buy already?"

"Well, not exactly…" An almost audible sweat drop rolled down the farmer's face. "It's just for future reference. I've… Not really made much money yet. But it's just about enough to get by, so it's fine!" Sombre for a split second, beaming UV rays from her face again the next… This kid was really something else. Regardless, I was in no position to wait around for this drivel to end any longer. I wasn't prepared to be late for work and get my pay docked – that'd mean less beer, and really, what's the point if there's no beer? With that gratification in mind, I swiftly opened my bedroom door and made for the exit as quickly as I could, hands in my pockets, eyes to the floor.

"Oh! Shane! Good morning-" She'd barely started spewing her nonsense by the time I was out of the door and on my way. Phew. Now to survive a torturous day of work to get to the promised land of alcohol and liver damage later on…

7:40 am. Footsteps frantically running behind me. This all felt far too familiar. "Shaaaaaane!" At the speed of light, she was next to me, catching her breath, toffee-brown hair all over the place. By this point, I'd seriously had enough. I'm a grown man, for god's sake. I don't need some farm girl pestering me when I'm perfectly content being unhappy with my life.

"I—"

"What do you want from me?!" My sleep deprived rage erupted from my soul, or lack thereof. "Money? Is… Is that what you want? I'd give you a pot of gold to leave me alone!" I took a note from my pocket and threw it at her for dramatic effect. It was probably just a Joja Cola coupon, though. Without giving her a chance to react, I shuffled along on my way to work.

A few hours later, my shift was under way and I'd been repetitively stacking shelves, just like every other day. On one hand it was the most mind numbingly boring task to spend eight hours of every day doing. Then again, my permanent state of 'hungover' probably means that I wouldn't be capable of much more anyway… I mean, the job only makes me want to drink more, but I digress. I was minding my own business stacking tins of tomato soup on aisle three when the big cheese decided to leave his throne at the front desk and swoop down to visit the peasantry working under him. Ugh. I hated Morris. He'd periodically do anything he could to make my life more difficult during my shift, from the odd taunting word to 'accidentally' telling me to stack the wrong aisle, only to have me do it all over again in unpaid overtime. "Well hello there, Shane! Fine day, isn't it? The twentieth of the month already! How it has flown by," his voice sounded so ridiculously pompous that my eyes automatically rolled themselves. I didn't respond – that tends to be the best way of dealing with this clown.

"Now now, I can't have you slacking like this," he tapped his ridiculously shiny shoe against the blue tiled floor as he said this, quite clearly watching me work my ass off. "Even if it is a special day, Shane, you don't get any privileges!"

I groaned at his words. I never get any privileges working here – I barely get basic human rights. Why would a stupid day like today be any different…

Finally my hard labour came to an end. The walk to the Saloon went by in the blink of an eye, the whole while my mind was fixed on that bitter taste I'd longed for all day. Throwing Gus a few coins and picking up my beverage, I stood in my usual corner next to the fire, away from everyone else. I looked down at the beer in my glass as if it was some kind of magic potion. Well, time to make me forget the day…

I ran out of money unusually fast that night. Maybe Morris cheated me out of some cash, or maybe Gus put the prices back up… Or even more likely yet, maybe I just drank a lot more. I was just gearing up to leave at around 9pm when the Saloon door flung open. In walked the farm girl with her usual peppy demeanour, a skip in her step. Yep, definitely time to leave. I started to walk toward the exit, when the farm bumpkin got right in my way. "Ah! Wait!"

I stopped and glared at her. It was only then that I noticed how short she was compared to me. I mean, I'm hardly a tall guy, but she's seriously tiny. Even so, she still managed to be an obstacle. "Get out of the way."

"B-but, I wanted to say happy birthday to you!" her wide green eyes blinked endearingly several times. "I had a lot to do today, so I was worried I wouldn't get here in time to catch you… But next round's on me, so just stay a little longer, okay?" she smiled widely. I really didn't want to stay around such a bundle of sickeningly positive energy, but she did mention beer…

"…Fine. Whatever." I slumped back into my corner. She disappeared from my vision for a moment, before returning with a pint of beer in her right hand. I squinted at her young looking face. "…Are you even old enough to buy beer?"

"Of course I am!" she puffed out her cheeks grumpily. "I'm nineteen years old, not a little kid!"

She held the beer out to me, and upon me accepting it, she bowed as if to say 'I'll get out of your way' and started walking away. Heh, she finally got the message. Still… She did just buy me a beer on my birthday when I didn't even mention it to anyone, and this morning she was talking about her monetary issues, and yet she still went out of her way to buy me this…

Damn it… Even I'm not that heartless. Looks like it's my turn to call out.

"Hey… Rain."

She turned around, eyes wide in wonder. "Huh?"

I sighed, hesitating. This was gonna sound stupid, no matter how I said it. "…It's no fun drinking alone. Go grab yourself one, too." Her mouth widened into a huge grin as she processed my words. Running to the bar and then unsteadily walking back with a pint glass in her hand, she sat down at the bar stool closest to where I was standing. "Yay, Shane! I'm so glad we're finally—"

"Hey, don't go getting the wrong idea…" I mumbled. "Who told you it was my birthday, anyway?"

"The big calendar that Mayor Lewis put up on the bulletin board said so." She grinned, as if she were some sort of ace detective. "And you don't have to call me by my last name, you know. Most people call me Mira."

"Nope, I'm good."

"Why?" she cocked her head to one side. "Calling me by my family name sounds so weird and formal, like the army or something."

"I just think it's funny." I took a sip of my beer. "Having the last name 'Rain' with your sunny disposition… The irony's too sweet to pass up."

"Jeez!" She puffed her cheeks out again. I grinned.

After about half an hour, I headed out of the Saloon, Rain following behind me. After Gus poked the whole 'it's not kind to let a lady walk home alone at night' line at me, I reluctantly told her she could follow me back. "No further than Aunt Marnie's ranch, though. Got it?"

"Yep!"

"And you're not coming in."

"I know, I know." She waved her hand at me nonchalantly.

It was pretty damn annoying to have such an obnoxious ball of sunshine skipping next to me so late at night, even if it was only for ten minutes or so. The entrance to Marnie's farm had never looked more welcoming than right now, since it'd get me out of this situation. "Okay, bye!" Rain chirped as I pushed the door. Yeah, good riddance. I must've been home a lot earlier than usual, since Aunt Marnie was still up. "Ah, there you are! I didn't think I'd get a chance to give this to you before tomorrow morning." She was holding a large box wrapped in blue spotty wrapping paper. It looked far too big for someone of her height and stature to be carrying. "Happy birthday, little nephew! I wasn't sure what else you'd like, so I got this delivered from the city a little while ago." She handed me the package unsteadily – it was a little heavy. This wrapping paper, though… Her 'little nephew' just turned 26, not 12… I could only imagine a remote control car or something was inside, since Aunt Marnie seemed to treat me like a child on the odd occasion when I ran into her. I mean… Not that I'd complain if it was an RC car, but that isn't the point.

"…Thanks, Aunt Marnie." I mumbled as I shuffled off to my room.

"You be responsible with that now, y'hear?" she called after me as I closed the door. Sitting down on my bed, I sighed and started tearing off the childish wrapping paper.

"Wow." I said, instinctively. It was a crate of city beer. She actually got me a gift befitting of my age. When I caught sight of the brand, I stopped dead for a moment, uneasiness swirling in my stomach.

…I used to drink this back then.

Author's Note: So I've found my feet with the story a little more now after the introductory chapters, so this one's a little longer than the other two. The chapters will probably continue to be around this length. :3 I'd like to give my thanks to the one person who has given me a review already - I really appreciate it! ~Nyannygiri