Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

spring showers were always a good way for you to get out of watering your crops for the day. as you woke up and looked outside of your little cabin window, you couldn't help but feel as content as you first did when you overtook your grandfather's farm. you couldn't believe how far it had come in the last two years, and how well you've gotten to know everyone in pelican town.

well, almost everyone.

Sebastian was sort of an enigma. you knew he was friends with sam, that he smoked, and he was probably the only true loner in this little town. you could understand that. moving from a city to a town of fewer than 30 people was quite an adjustment, and you took the first couple of weeks to yourself. not to mention that before you moved here, it's not like you were the biggest social butterfly, but you came out of your shell a lot more since then.

normally on rainy days like these, you would do one of two things. you'd either gather your pickaxe, some food, and a sword to head to the mines. or set yourself up on the dock with some extra bait and fish for a few hours. but today, you decided to do something you felt was necessary: finally, hunker down and learn how to sew, even if only the basics you can get down. to other people this probably seems like a skill that is mostly unnecessary in this day and age, but lately, you've been realizing that it was probably the best thing you could do to yourself. you're only a beginning farmer, with very little time (or money most seasons, if you're going, to be honest with yourself) to spend on the hour and a half bus ride to and from the city to get to the mall. aside from that, as much as Emily was kind enough to fix up holes in your clothes or tailor them, you were starting to feel bad. you were old enough to learn how to fix holes or make clothes.

your morning was spent sitting at your dining room table with a beginner's sewing set, tons of scrap fabric that Emily so graciously donated to you, and books from the library scattered all around as you learned what you could for the day. you were just getting the hang of a somewhat complicated stitch when you heard a knock at the cabin door. you hesitated for a moment, wondering who could be coming by while it was raining. you pushed yourself up with a "coming!" called to the door, grabbing your rain hat and shoving it down onto your head. you opened the door, only to be met with surprise. there Sebastian was, in all his soaked glory, a deep plastic bin in his hands. it was filled halfway with water, with a lily pad resting on top and some extra greenery being held down with pebbles towards the bottom, and a piece of driftwood jutting out of the tank. you almost missed the small frog sitting on top of the driftwood, with its leg bent at an awkward angle.

"um... y/n, I don't know if you can help but I figured it was better than going to Harvey since he's a people doctor and you work with animals and have a good-sized pond here. I found this little dude in a bush freaking out. I think he hurt his leg...."

Sebastian talked fast and almost stumbled over his words a little. though it was coming down hard at this point, the rain couldn't hide the furrowed brow of worry. "oh, yeah. ah, bring the little guy in here, just set him by the front of the tv. I'll see if I can help." you moved away from the door, leaving it open for Sebastian to walk in after you as you went to your bookshelf. not too long after you started donating to the museum with all the gems and items you had found.

Gunther slid you a few books one day after a sizable donation of minerals.

"what's this?" you asked after you placed all your items in the display area. you were just packing up what was left in your bag by the front desk when Gunther came to the front, a small stack of dusty books in his gloved hands.

Gunther replied, "stuff about almost all the wildlife around here in town and the valley. I know you got a fine understanding of plants, livestock, and fish but knowing about some insects and smaller critters couldn't hurt."

Sebastian followed behind you, shutting the door with his foot as he placed the makeshift tank down where you told him to. he sat on the floor with it instead of sitting himself on the couch, carefully watching the frog as you approached with a book already opened, scanning it for information. you glanced up and noticed him sitting on the floor with the frog, and decided that was the best way to get a good look at it to match it up with the images in your book. you sat cross-legged next to the lanky boy, and he started to explain the tank itself.

"Before I did all... this, I brought him down to my room in a little Tupperware and googled what would be best for like, a frog enclosure type thing. I wasn't gonna bother you at first but I realized down in the basement probably wasn't the best place for him, plus he needed help and I don't even know what kind of frog he is."

you smiled a little, still scanning the book's pages as you responded to him. "you're pretty smart for doing all that, honestly."

he blinked a little at that statement, about to respond before you spoke again. "ah, here it is. northern leopard frog.... you did well on its tank here, or at least with what you had on you. it says here they need half water and half land enclosures, the driftwood was smart. but we're more worried about his little leg."

you tossed the book onto the couch, and went to the cabinets under the sink, where you pulled out regular plastic gloves and snapped one onto your hand. "frogs can't be handled with bare hands, now. our hands are usually too oily for them." Sebastian looked down at the frog as you mentioned that, looking a little more worried than before. "I picked it up with my bare hands, held it for a while too when I hauled ass back home with him."

"oh, hey." you sat down next to him, lightly patting him on the shoulder. "you didn't know any better. plus you were helping him out. now, let me check his leg." you gently used your pinky to poke the frog's leg. it merely moved away from you, flinching away from the poke. as you turned to talk to Sebastian, his eyes were fixated on the frog, more worried than ever.

"Hey." you gently nudged Sebastian, making him look at you. "all he did was pull away from me and flinch a little. which can be a good thing since it proves all we can see wrong with him is his leg and the rest of him is all good. why don't I keep him here in the cabin, order him a real tank, and you can come over whenever you want to take care of him or see him. if he doesn't start to get better in the next three days, ill go into the city with him to see the vet. deal?"

you outstretched your ungloved hand, and you watched him start to visibly relax at your offer. slowly he took it, shaking your hand. "you have a deal, y/n. also, ah, can I get a towel or something? the rain made me cold."

"oh, jeez, yeah! sorry dude, I didn't even think about that. I would've offered that first thing if I wasn't worried about our little dude here." you nodded your head towards the frog, before getting up and walking to the bathroom linen closet. you grabbed the biggest and fluffiest towel you had to offer and stepped out only to find your guest gone.

"Seb?" you called, walking around the living room. you made your way to the kitchen before catching a glimpse of him passing by the kitchen window that looked out into your backyard, where he stood with a cigarette in hand, staying much as he could under the little awning. you shoved your rain hat back on, along with a jacket and some shitty work boots before trekking out into the back, towel shoved into the jacket with you to prevent it from getting wet.

"there you are," you said as you rounded the corner, getting under the awning as much as you could with him and pulling the towel out from your jacket before handing it to him. wordlessly he draped it around himself, pulling it close around him with one hand while the other held his cigarette, which was already halfway gone.

"thank you, by the way," he said quietly. after the cigarette and the deal you too made he seemed a lot more like his normal self. quiet, with not too much to say.

"you're welcome." you both stood there in silence, watching the rainfall while he finished his cigarette and lit a new one. it would be a while before either of you spoke.

"I can go into the city later, get some stuff from the pet store for him. did it say what he eats?" he asked as he stared out into the rain.

"earthworms, crickets, and fly larvae. if you want I can go with you."

"Nah, y/n. I'd prefer to go alone if you don't mind. I'll be back before it gets to be too late."

"ah... well. can I at least walk you to the bus stop? I'll bring the umbrella."

"if you want to."

"in that case, I'll meet you inside." you walked yourself back the inside of the cabin, setting yourself back down at the table and reading over what you could about the stitch you were attempting before you heard the front door open, and Sebastian stood in the doorway, towel in hand.

"here you go." wordlessly you grabbed it from him, hanging it on the bathroom rack to dry for now. Sebastian stepped in one last time to give the smallest of waves in the frog's direction before you came back out of the bathroom and grabbed your umbrella from the hall closet.

"ready?" you asked.

"ready."

the walk to the bus stop was a little bit longer than usual due to the rain but it was just as quiet as it would be if you were alone. you did the umbrella holding, while Sebastian lit another cigarette and smoked it during your walk. you stood there while he paid for his ticket and watched it print with him, and even walked him to the bus itself. you were about to say bye before you remembered something.

"ah, wait, one more thing before you get on." you fished for your wallet, pulling it out of your jeans pocket and pulling out a 100 dollar bill.

"here, you should just buy the tank while you're out. no sense in me ordering it now. the book said they do well in a 10-20 gallon tank."

Sebastian nodded at you, taking the 100 and putting it in his back pocket. "alright. well... I'll be off." he walked onto the bus, and you watched him hand the driver his ticket and walk to the back, taking a window seat. you started on your way back home once the bus left, and after a bit, you made your way back to the cabin. you sat back at the table you started your main project today and looked at it with a lot less enthusiasm than before. with a sigh, you pulled yourself up and instead sat in front of the little tank with the frog, watching it closely.

"I think I'll call you lucky."

Chapter Text

 it didn't take sebastian too long to get back to the farm. you could hear all the bags rustling as he stepped up to the door and you got up from your spot to open the door for him. the moment he stepped inside he set down all the bags, and then turned back to grab the big box containing lucky's tank from off the porch. you started to sort through the bags as he closed the front door and set the box on your dining room table. 

 "you really got a lot, huh? $100 really goes a long way." you remarked, pulling out all the things that looked like they were for the tank. "but we should probably start setting up the tank first for the little dude." you carried the decently sized log for the part of the land to the table where Sebastian had already started unboxing the tank to get it set up. 

 "oh, sort of." he replied. "i used some of my own cash to help get some of it. the $100 only covered the tank and some of the things for it. everything ended up being, um..." she searched around in his hoodie pockets for a moment before pulling out the crumpled sheet on paper, scanning it before continuing to speak. "$245 and 30 cents." 

 "$245? jeez, okay. i'll pay you back before you go." you took a seat at the table to watch him put together the tank. you didn't realize he kind of had a penchant for putting things together, you sort of put him in the category of, well, a very cute nerd. wait... cute? no. not cute... maybe a little cute. whatever. either way, watching him put together the tank with such ease got you wondering if he did put together things on his own time. "i didn't realize you had it easy putting stuff together."

 "don't worry about paying me back, it's fine. it's for the frog anyway. it's our job to take care of it." he was almost done setting up the tank. at the mention of his apparent ease of putting things together, he exhaled through his nose a little. about as close to a chuckle you could get out of him. "well, there are instructions in here you know. but, i have a motorcycle. i had to learn to put shit together, take it apart, all that. now i guess it's just easier to put things together." 

"ah, that's really cool. do you think I can see it sometime? maybe even ride it with you?"

"mm. maybe. here." he slid the tank towards you. he finished it up, and it looked super sturdy. you started to put the log into the tank, as well as a few pebbles and artificial shrubbery to adorn the bottle of the tank as Sebastian stepped out. you noticed he had his cigarettes in hand as he stepped out, so you didn't bother asking where he was going. it didn't take long to fill up the tank with all that it needed and then the water. you went to lucky, who was sitting on his makeshift driftwood and staring at you.

"you are too cute."

you snapped back on some gloves to slowly transfer lucky to his new tank, electing to place him on the log for now. you went to the other bags and found one of the things of food sebastian had gotten, deciding to see if he was interested in eating the fly larvae. getting a small pair of tweezers to grab the larvae, you held one out to lucky. he ate it quickly, and you gave some three more before putting all his food into your fridge for now. you decided to see if sebastian was still smoking, sliding on your work boots since it was still muddy out from the rain, and making your way outside.

sebastain was sitting on the little free space behind the cabin. you had always debating asking robin to build a bench there, and now you wish you had so people had somewhere to sit. as you approached sebastian gave a nod of acknowledgment, finishing his cigarette and beginning to light a new one before pausing and looking up at you.

"you smoke?"

"nope. can i try one?"

"be my guest. just don't blame me if you hurt yourself." he handed you a cigarette and his extra lighter. you held the cig between your lips, lighting it and immediately breathing in a little bit too hard. you dropped the cigarette and coughed for a good two minutes, while sebastain watched you carefully. he wasn't gonna jump up and help you immediately, but if it got worse or you were looking bad he would've. one you finally stopped coughing a tiny smile appeared on his face as you took a seat on the grass next to him.

"better luck next time, baby lungs."

"hey!"

Chapter Text

"better luck next time, baby lungs."

"hey!"

"oh, calm down. i was kidding." sebastian's smile had stayed as you two spoke, tapping some of the ash onto the grass. "so... the frog. what should we name it? i kinda had an idea already, but, i'd like to hear a name you've thought of." 

"oh, shit, yeah. i kinda already named him in my head. i went with lucky, cause you know, his circumstances. he was found by a dude who loves frogs, said dude lives only like a 15-minute walk down the road from a farmer who happened to have a book with all the info we needed on how to handle him. plus the minor-looking injury, i'd say the name fits." 

"honestly, that fits the little dude better than what i came up with. or at least was thinking. i was going to suggest char." sebastian shifted a little as he spoke, getting the tiniest bit closer to you. 

"char? that's a pretty name. like charlotte?" 

"no... ah, well kinda. but mostly no. you probably don't really care to know about it." 

"sebastian. who do you take me for? we're parents now, you gotta be a little more open with me." that line earned a soft chuckle from him. he paused for a moment, taking a drag of his cigarette before starting to explain. 

"so i do freelance programming. i know, not very exciting. but i don't really work for a company or anything 'cause fuck capitalism. anyways, i suggested char because it could be taken as charlotte but between me and the frog, it would be just a common little programming word. it just basically means a display unit of information equal to one alphabetic letter or symbol. which now that i think about it, the name itself would've just been a char anyways." sebastian paused again to take another drag of his cigarette. "sorry. i didn't mean to talk your head off." 

"no you're good. i didn't realize you did like, so many things. you know, with the motorcycle and stuff."

"pfft. yeah. alright," sebastian rubbed the cigarette out into the grass, putting the cigarette back into the pack instead of just leaving it. "i appreciate you doing all this, but i think my social meter has been depleted for a day. I'll go say bye to lucky, and i guess i'll see you around." 

"oh, alright. i'll see you around dude." he nodded at you and got up, walking back into the cabin. by the time you had gotten yourself back up and dusted off some of the dirt, he had stepped out. he turned to wave at you, before making his way up to the path that leads to the mountains and his home. 

-

the next two days passed normally. you passed sebastain every so often in town when you walked with emily to pierre's for seeds and groceries, and when you waved at each other, emily could never keep her comments in. especially after you explained why the two of you were suddenly a lot more friendly. not that you minded because she was one of your better friends here, but still. 

"look at you, pulling people out of their shells. i always knew you were destined for something! who knows, maybe you're even destined for more with sebastian." she'd remark, nudging you playfully. 

"oh hush, or else no more amethysts from the mines when i go." you'd retort back. 

"you wouldn't mess with my energy like that!"

"i might if you don't focus on groceries."

"hmph.." 

-

on the third day since getting lucky, you heard movement coming down from the mountain path. assuming it was robin to come speak to you about putting that bench in where you and sebastian had sat a few days ago. you started to speak from where you were crouched in your plot where your blue jazz's were currently growing, ripping up weeds. 

"hey, robin. so i was thinking we could- oh." as you turned your head to face what you assumed to be robin, you were met with a pissed-off looking sebastian. 

"i need to see lucky," he said, before stomping into the cabin. uh oh. 

Chapter Text

 you sat there in the weeds for a moment, pondering what to do. it was a little hard to figure out. you had wanted to go talk to him right off the bat since something was so clearly bothering him. but you also knew that he was the type to just want to be left alone. so you went with your gut. you finished up pulling up all the weeds you could find, made sure all your sprinklers were working and walked across the farm to check on your chicken coop before heading back into the cabin where you were greeted with the sight of sebastian sitting in front of lucky's tank, just watching him carefully. he just glanced at the door upon your arrival, so you decided to do what you normally did after gardening. you slid your work boots off, washed your hands, and put on your comfiest sweater before slowly taking a seat next to sebastian. 

 "did something happen?" you asked. 

 "yes."

 "do you want to talk about it?"

 "no."

 "okay."

 the two of you sat in silence, watching lucky hop around his enclosure for a while. eventually, he turned to you. "so. i remember there being a bunch of fabric on your table when I first came over. what was all that for?"

 "oh! i was trying to learn to sew. emily had given me scrap fabric and a little sewing set to practice with. on the farm, it's really easy to tear up clothes and stuff. and i always felt bad going to emily and having her fix up my clothes so i wanted to learn." 

 "maybe i can learn with you. sam sometimes falls super hard when he messes up doing his skateboard stuff, so his shirts or pants rip, and his mom is always on his case about it." 

 "oh lord, yeah. sometimes i hear jodi yelling at him when i'm at emilys. sounds like she really doesn’t like it when he gets all roughed up. kinda reminds me of my mom.” you let out a soft laugh at the memories of your mom giving you quite the firm talking to as she put bandaids on your knees, reminding you that jumping off swings mid-air only landed you with scars. 

 “yeah. well, maybe since you’re just starting too, we wait until you’re better with it to teach me.” he responded. 

 “maybe that would be for the best… in any case, would you like to watch me start practicing? If you stick around after i’m done, i can make us some food.” 

 “... okay.” 

“awesome. alright, just hold on.” you got up from your chair to grab the bin you moved the scrap fabric to, along with the little sewing kit that had a handbook tucked inside of it that had all the most basic stitches. you grabbed two random scraps of fabric to sew together to start with, carefully grabbing the small needle and spool of thread. you fed the thread through the eye of the needle before glancing at the handbook, propped open against lucky’s tank. you decided on attempting a cross-stitch. it seemed simple enough, just an x-shaped stitch. you started on slowly and were so focused you didn’t even realize how intently sebastian was watching you. 

 it didn’t take too long for you to successfully do the stitch. there were so many hiccups here and there, not to mention you almost stabbed yourself twice with the needle. but through the whole process, you and sebastian sat in comfortable silence. the 45 minutes or so of you perfecting your stitch were all encompassed by his stare. but eventually, his stare drifted from your hands and the fabric up to your face, and just how… nice, you looked, when you were all focused. but once he realized he was thinking about just how nice you looked he shook his head a little, pushing the thought out of his head. you two were still just becoming friends, he couldn’t be thinking like this. he looked away once you picked your head up to look at him. 

 “i think that’s enough sewing for today. what do you wanna eat?” you broke the silence with a cheery tone, looking over at him. 

 “well, what do you have?” 

 “good question. let me go look.” you got out of your chair, opening your fridge and two cabinets, surveying all that you had. “let’s see… i have ingredients for sandwiches, omelets, pizza, pumpkin soup-”

 “that. i mean, pumpkin soup, please.” 

 “pumpkin soup it is.” you gathered your ingredients, placing them on your countertop before turning on the stovetop to let the pot preheat while you prepped. sebastian moved to put himself sitting on the free counter space, watching you as you cooked. the two of you fell into silence once again as you started pouring a little bit of milk into the pot. you put some bits of pumpkin into a food processor, and once it was pureed did sebastian start to speak. 

 “i came over because i was mad. my step-dad and i got into a fight, and my mom sided with him.” 

 “i see. can i ask what about?” 

 “he just… look. i like my step-sister. she’s decent to me almost all of the time and she probably deals with our dads' expectations way harder than i do, but almost no one in my house really takes my job seriously. they all seem to think i just sit and play on my computer all day when i’m working. he came down in my room today, lecturing me about how i needed a real job and that maybe maru could put in a good word for me at harvey’s office, then started comparing me to her and saying i needed to be more like her. i got so pissed i started yelling at him about it, telling him that he had no right to say all that and that i work super hard, and that maru is only so good because there seems to be no other choice in this house when he’s around. mom heard us yelling and came down, told demetrius to go upstairs and calm down before telling me i should’ve been a little calmer. that’s when i came here. i stormed out, and i thought about going to sam’s or abigail’s. but it’s still kinda early in the day. abbie helps out in her dad’s shop during some of the day and sam works at joja, so i came here.” 

 you stirred the pot carefully as you scooped some pumpkin in. “well that sounds god awful. i’m glad you came here, though. or well, i’m glad that you find comfort here. and in me, i guess. sorry, i’m not amazing with words, but like…” you paused, before going to where sebastian sat on the counter and gently patted him on the shoulder. “i’m here for you if you need someone.”

 sebastian didn’t even realize his face got too red until he felt the warmth grow from his neck to his cheeks. he nodded sheepishly at you, and you returned to the pot. you let the mixture sit for a moment as you chopped up some garlic and measured out the thyme, and sebastian excused himself for a cigarette.

 you couldn’t place it, but with him there, the farm felt just a little bit homier with him there.  

Chapter Text

 sebastian took his time lighting up a cigarette, taking a slow drag as the red started to subside. why was this happening? why... them? he had just barely gotten over his crush on abigail. was this all because he was getting over it? maybe his heart and his mind just wanted something new to focus on. but there was one problem he couldn’t truly deny. 

 abigail never made him feel that comfortable, that... flustered, before. of course, he felt comfortable around abbie, but never to that level of telling her about something that happened so easily. he was barely even like that with sam. so why you? and, why now? as sebastian took the last puff off of his cigarette, your head popped out from the front door with a smile. he felt his neck get hot as his eyes met yours. god, fucking damn it. 

 “soup’s ready,” you said to him, and you went back into the cabin to finish setting the table. nothing too fancy, just setting out spoons and napkins. you had moved lucky’s tank to sit on top of a short bookshelf, deciding on that to be his final spot instead of your kitchen table. sebastian walked in not too long after you told him lunch was ready, closing the door behind him and settling down in front of the bowl of soup. he leaned forward and sniffed at it a little, and his eyes widened. this was probably going to be the best pumpkin soup he would ever have, based on the smell alone. he waited until you sat down to go all in, and for once he didn’t try masking his face to not show with his emotions. he looked the happiest you’d ever seen him. 

 you thought that was cute. but this time you didn’t bother pushing away the thought of him being cute as you eat your soup, letting the thought sit there and grow a little as you stole little glances at him as you ate. it would’ve been extremely awkward if you stared. within no time you had both finished and sat in silence once again as you grabbed the dishes and utensils from the table and started washing them. sebastian returned to his little spot of counter space, watching you wash the dishes before speaking up. 

 “thank you for today, y/n.” 

 “oh, of course. it was nothing really. i was just being there for a friend.”

 “well, i guess, but still. i’ve made you deal with a lot of stuff the past couple of days, and i just-” 

 “sebastian, with all due respect, just hush and let someone be there for you for once.” 

 he was so caught off guard by that last statement he let out a laugh, before shaking his head and sighing. 

 “i guess i do need to just do that, huh?” 

 you nodded at him with a smile, before looking at the pot that sat on the stove. the heat had been turned off but it was still decently warm, and there was plenty of extras. you nodded your head towards the cabinet next to sebastian’s head while you dried off your hands. “see that cabinet over there? there’s some tupperware in there. take two and fill them up with as much soup as you want.” 

 sebastian took no time sliding off the counter, opening the cabinet, and quickly ladling soup into the containers. he popped the lids on carefully, making sure they were on tight. he really didn’t want to go home, but he knew eventually his mom would start looking for him or calling his phone. he turned to you with a light sigh. 

 “i really should be getting back. i don’t want my mom to get too worried, plus i can’t just avoid home forever.” 

 “i get it. ah, i know you like your alone time and stuff, but maybe i can walk you home? at the very least i would want to help carry the stuff back to your place. those aren’t small tupperware.” 

 “actually, yeah. i wouldn’t mind you walking me home.’

 you tried to hide the surprised look on your face. you were expecting a no. but through your surprise you smiled at him. “well okay then.” 

 you slid on a pair of shoes and brushed yourself off a little, and checked on lucky’s tank before the two of you set off to the trail that led directly up the mountains and to sebastian’s house. the walk-up was uneventful, with both of you holding one tupperware each. there wasn’t much talking going on either. as you guys approached his house the walk slowed down a little, until it came to a full stop a few feet away from his front door. he seemed to hesitate a little, not wanting to go in but also feeling like he should. 

 “...can you come in with me?”

 “yes.” 

 sebastian handed you the extra tupperware so he could open the door, and almost immediately you heard robin start talking. it seemed she hadn’t seen you yet. 

 “sebby! where did you run off to? i was almost about to run down to pierre’s to see if abbie had seen you or called jodi to see if- oh.” robin cut herself off as she realized you were behind sebastian in the doorway. she smiled politely at you, rubbing the back of her neck. “i can guess sebastian was with you. thank you for keeping him company, y/n.” 

 “of course, robin. i was just gonna help sebastian put these in and stuff. it was nice seeing you. you’ll come by later this week to see about putting in that bench?” 

 “oh, yes! of course. i meant to today but, ah... something came up. i’ll stop by in the morning, alright?” 

 “perfect by me.” 

 sebastian grabbed one of the tupperwares from you, just nodding at his mother before walking towards the kitchen. you followed in suit, and he placed the tupperware on the counter before speaking to you. 

 “i’m sorry about my mom, she just worries a lot, you know?” 

 “it’s no big deal. i think she cares, it’s just hard. i think she just wants everyone to get along but at the same time it’s hard not to side with the person you’ve made vows to.” 

 “i wouldn’t know. i just hope that i didn’t… cause issues with her and demetrius, you know? he was still in the wrong but i don’t want that to make him be an ass to my mom just because he and i don’t get along.” 

 “maybe you should talk with her. who knows, maybe you guys will work it out between each other and that’ll help how she deals with you and your step-dad not seeing eye to eye.” 

 “i’ll think about that... let’s just put these away for now.” sebastian opened the fridge and put away the tupperware, and also grabbed himself a joja cola. “alright, y/n. ah, i guess next time i see you i’ll tell you how things go whenever demetrius gets in.” 

 “why wait until you see me?” you asked, and you started scanning the kitchen. there was a stray pen on the kitchen table and some napkins and using those you wrote down your number. “here. just call me, okay? as much as i love- i mean, ah, enjoy seeing you, i know the walk down from your place to mine can be pretty tough. especially when it’s hot out. so you can call me now instead of waiting to see me.” you handed the napkin to him. 

 “i probably should’ve asked for this when i first brought lucky over. ah... well. i guess i’ll call you tonight. thanks again, for everything.” 

 “don’t worry about it…  sebby.” you chuckled a bit.

 “hey! don’t call me that too, or else sam might hear you and my life would be over.” he scolded you, but the smile on his face betrayed his tone. 

 “fiiiine. i’ll just use it when it’s just us then. but now, i should probably get back. it’s getting to be about the time i have to make sure the chickens are all in the coop.” with a smile and a wave you headed out the door, making sure to tell robin goodbye as well. 

 as sebastian headed back to his room, his mother leaned over her front counter. 

 “sebby?” 

 “yeah, mom?”

 “they’re a keeper.” she teased. 

 sebastian's face lit up, turning almost 10 shades of red as he grumbled down the stairs, but in the back of his head, he was glad she liked you. 

Chapter Text

 a few hours had passed since you dropped sebastian off at home. you did all your chores on the farm that needed to be knocked out, and put items in the shipping bin, and were relaxing while you watched a rerun of queen of the sauce. there weren’t many things that played on the tv station so you took what you could get. but as you sat there and watched the woman on screen explain to you how to make rice pudding, her voice slowly faded out and different thoughts took over your mind. what new thoughts would those be? about your frog co-parent. honestly, it was kind of crazy how much had happened in the last week. you went from assuming you and sebastian would just be regular neighbors who said hi to each other sometimes to now being his shoulder to cry on when he needed it. even now, here you were, waiting by the phone to see if he would call like some love-struck kid. not to mention the thoughts of finding him cute and wanting to know more about him. 

 you couldn’t really remember the last time you had a crush. joja corp offices were not really the place to find office romance, and even if they were, you barely spoke to your co-workers anyways. there were crushes here and there during school, but nothing too terribly intense. it was more of a fixation on someone that lasted for less than a month before the feelings just kind of fizzled out. but this was different. maybe it wasn’t a crush? after all, you kind of dropped everything and moved to a tiny village not too far away to become a farmer with no experience. maybe it was the thrill of just getting to know another person? the only person you were super close to was emily. while you were fond of the others who lived here, it was admittedly hard getting close to everyone. it’s a town of only 30 or so people. they had a whole community going on before you moved in. it was like being someone’s significant other, and getting invited to the whole family reunion. 

 you were so wrapped up in your thoughts you almost missed the phone ringing. you answered on the second ring.

 “hello?” 

 “hi, y/n.” 

 “oh, hey. how are you?”

 “i’m... fine, i guess.” 

 “did something else happen? i mean you can talk to me about it-”

 “can i just… come back over?” 

 “yeah. of course.” 

 it didn’t feel like almost 15 minutes had passed before you heard footsteps walk up onto your porch. while you waited you tidied up a bit and put on some deodorant. after all, you hadn’t showered yet. you had only expected to talk on the phone and were going to shower after. in any case, you spruced up as much as you could and didn’t even wait for him to knock before opening up the door. 

 “is everything okay?” you asked, looking him up and down. he stood there with his hands in his hoodie pockets, moving from one foot to the other as he stood. 

 “no, nothing is ever okay in this stupid fucking town or my stupid fucking house.” he grumbled at you, not meeting your eyes. “can i come in?” 

 “of course you can.” 

 sebastian walked in without another word, going up to lucky’s tank and uttering out a quiet hello before tossing himself into your nearest armchair, slumping down as he played with his hands and started to talk. “i tried talking to my mom. it was going fine until demetrius walked in on us talking in the kitchen. he started yelling at me about running off and scaring my mom all day, trying to ask where i went and how i could make the family worry. i went off all over again. this time he told me to leave. my mom just sat there... after i told her how i felt, she still just sat there.” 

 “oh christ. god, i’m sorry sebastian. that’s so fucked.” you had closed the door behind him and were still standing by it by the time he stopped talking. you glanced at the clock. it was already almost 8:30 at night, and he seemed to have nothing with him in addition to apparently getting kicked out for the night. “hm. do you need somewhere to stay tonight?” 

 “i guess i kinda do... i was debating skipping town and getting a hotel in the city for the night but i figured that wouldn’t be very fair to all the other people i know that i’m not currently pissed with. and you’re the only person i know who lives alone, without parents that i would’ve woken up with my situation, so…” 

 “in that case, i’ll take the couch. i gave my extra cot to linus forever ago, so the bed is all yours dude.” 

 “if you insist, i guess. but... i’m not really tired yet. is there, like, anything you wanna do?” 

 “hm... well other than watching tv i don’t have much here dude, sorry. hm... maybe like, truth or dare?”

 sebastian shook his head. “i’m not much of a dare person.” 

 you chuckled, sitting down on the couch. “in that case we play truth or truth?”

 he raised an eyebrow at you, sitting up in the chair. “alright. fine. i’ll ask you something first. mm... why did you move here?” 

 “honestly? i just fucking hated my old life. i was in a dead-end job with superficial friends and nothing to really show for all i had done. most nights came home to no one, with nothing to do that would make me happy and even if i did, i’d be too tired to do anything. it was just sort of this, endless cycle. so i just opened the letter my grandfather left me before he passed and now, here we are.” 

 “that’s honestly really, like... how do i put it? commendable, i guess is the word. i’m glad you pulled yourself out of that cycle.” 

 “aw, thank you sebastian. okay, so like... what’s your best memory from living here?” 

 “hm.. honestly, probably when we first moved here. It’s obvious demetrius is my stepdad, and we moved here because of my mom’s divorce from my dad. when we finally got all settled in after unboxing as much as we could, my mom made pumpkin soup for the first time for us in a long time. it’s part of why i like it so much... it’s tied to really good memories.” 

 “that’s so sweet. i’ll make sure to make it whenever you’re over.” 

 “oh, ah. you don’t have to do that. um, okay. so you don’t have to answer or whatever if you’re not comfortable but, have you ever, dated anyone?” 

 “not really. i went on dates and talked to people, had crushes but nothing really became official. it’s not that it’s something i’m not interested in i just haven’t really been able to fully settle down before. but i hope it’s something i do soon. so i guess, i’ll ask you the same thing? have you ever dated anyone?” 

 sebastian blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “well... no. there’s someone i did like but i think i’m finally over that person. but i do think i like someone else now. i’m not sure yet.” 

 you grinned at him. “really? aw, can i ask who it is? i bet they’re pretty cool if you like them.” 

 sebastian turned three shades darker and gave an awkward laugh, shaking his head. “no, um, haha! it’s a secret. they are cool, but like, nevermind... i think i’m gonna go to bed finally.” he got up from his chair, walking towards your bedroom. “is this it?” he asked. 

 “oh, yeah! just hold on a sec.” you ducked into your bedroom and grabbed yourself an extra pillow and blanket, leaving the door open for him as you started to set up the couch for yourself. “you can go ahead in. goodnight, seb.” 

 “oh, yeah. goodnight, y/n.” he closed the door behind him. he kicked off his shoes before pulling off his hoodie and jeans, leaving himself in a black t-shirt and boxers to sleep in. as he flopped into bed, and closed his eyes to try to sleep, he couldn’t help but enjoy how much the pillows smelled like you. 

 you got as comfy as you could on the couch. luckily you had some laundry in the dryer to grab instead of going back to the room, wearing just sweatpants and an old t-shirt. you eventually drifted off to the sound of queen of the sauce re-runs, and slept really well, until you were woken by a decently loud knock at the door. bright and early at 7 am. you couldn’t think of who could have come by this early until the realization hit you like a truck. 

robin. 

Chapter Text

 slowly you sat up on the couch, rubbing your eyes and glancing around your cabin. it seemed that sebastian had not gotten up yet, and thank the lord he didn’t. you checked yourself as much as you could before taking a deep breath and heading towards your front door, greeting robin with a tired smile. “hey, robin. i’m so sorry, i stayed up late last night and got so caught up in my chores around here that i forgot you said you’d come by to handle the bench. but i won’t make you go all the way home, do you wanna go look at where i wanted to put it?” 

 robin almost looked surprised for a moment as you mentioned the bench. but she composed herself just as quickly as the look crossed her face, nodding at you. “no worries! i’m sorry for waking you, i just figured it was best to come by now before you really started on your chores for today.” 

 you moved out onto the porch and closed the door behind you. “here, follow me. it’s just behind the main cabin. i’ve left the space since i moved here because i wasn’t sure if i wanted to put things for the farm there or maybe a shed. but i decided to go with a bench. especially after the last few days.” you led robin to the back of your cabin, pointing at the spot where you and sebastian sat only a few days before. robin went towards it, getting out a measuring tape and seeing how big space was. you leaned back against the cabin silently, and it stayed that way until robin tucked the tape back into her pockets and turned to you. 

 “hey, listen y/n. i know you and sebastian have been getting... close, lately. he left home last night and hasn’t come back. is he-” 

 “he’s asleep in bed, robin.” you stared her down. you hadn’t really thought about it until she showed on your doorstep like her son, how much the whole situation truly bothered you. it made you feel for sebastian in so many ways and after being woken up by one of the people at the core of his problems really added to that. robin rubbed the back of her neck, walking over to you. 

 “can i go inside, wake him up and talk to him? i’m sure that he talked to you about everything but i really just need to go speak to him. i was so worried sick-” 

 “worried sick? i didn’t see you calling him, or me, trying to see where he was. i don’t recall you coming down after he left, making sure he was alright. and from what he’s told me, you certainly weren’t so worried when you let your husband berate him all day. sebastian couldn’t find comfort in you. you’re supposed to be someone he can turn to, not the one complicit in your husband’s rage fits.” you glared at her. you couldn’t remember the last time you felt such a burn in your chest. It crept up with your words and sharpened your tongue as you continued to speak, not letting her attempts at speaking get through. 

 “robin, i’m sure it’s hard trying to keep a happy home, but sebastian is your son. what demetrius did to him was wrong, and all you did was sit there. he came down to me, someone he just started to get to know, instead of you. do you wonder why that is? it’s because i’m the only one who’s been listening to him lately. you raised a good kid. so why aren’t you doing good by him? what is holding you back? because if it’s demetrius i’ll gladly walk my happy ass up-” 

 “y/n! please, i love sebastian. he’s always going to be my boy. but demetrius... he just wants best for him. he just doesn’t know how to express it well enough-” 

 “he sure knows how to do it with maru.” 

 “let me finish, please. it’s harder with sebastian. maru and demetrius have always gotten along, they’ve always had the same interests. sebastian was about five already when maru was born, and four when me and demetrius married. he never fully clicked with demetrius. but my husband still cares for him. he tried with sebastian for a very long time before it got so rocky between them. i try to just let them work it out between them, sebastian is an adult now after all.” 

 “what kind of excuse is that? god, robin. look, go home. i won’t tell sebastian about the talk we had or anything if you don’t want me to. i’d rather not say anything else to you before i get too upset.” 

 “well... no. i’m a grown-up. what do you have to say to me?” 

 “...okay. let’s start with the fact that you just kind of, inadvertently, blamed your son from five years old to now for not fully getting along with your husband. what did you expect of him? he was five, robin. all of a sudden there was a strange man who was taking over the father role, who didn’t really get along with him, and then you guys were married. and then, you had a kid together. and the kid turns out exactly like her dad, all the same interests, just a built-in best friend for demetrius. what does that leave sebastian? another father figure was gone, you were all he had left. so now he has to deal with watching you fawn over maru with demetrius while sebastian barely gets a glance. do you even know what he does for work, robin? what his interests are, his favorite things? because while i’m learning all of that, you’re still here barely knowing any of it. so there you go, that’s all i have to say to you robin. now, if you don’t mind, i will gladly see you off my farm.” you pushed yourself off of the outer wall of the cabin, walking towards the mountain trail as robin silently followed behind you. you were so focused on getting her off of your property that you almost missed sebastian standing there by the front door, still in his pajamas, staring at you. you stopped in your tracks and so did robin. the silence felt like years before robin spoke. 

 “sebby, i’m sorry. i don’t know how much you heard, but-”

 “i heard about all of it, mom. if i’m going, to be honest, they were mostly right. about everything, especially how i feel.”  

“sebastian, i really do love you. i’m just not sure how to go about you and him anymore.”

 “mom, please just go home. we can talk when i get home. i want to talk to y/n.” 

 robin glanced between you two before walking off towards the trail. you both watched her walk away, and disappear up into the trail before you looked to sebastian. 

 “did i go too far?” 

 “maybe a little. but i know you meant well. is it okay if we talk inside?” 

 “well, duh.” 

 sebastian smiled the tiniest bit as you made your way back inside, him closing the door behind you as you both settled down at the kitchen table. 

 “i’m sorry for blowing up at your mom. it just bothered me that she was saying she was so worried and all when she makes no effort to show she’s worried. she never once called me or came by to see where you were last night or even when you ran here from home the other day. then it just turned into everything that i said. i hope you don’t think less of me for losing my cool at her because i know you want to fix things, but i got mad because i care so much.” 

 sebastian nodded at you, running a hand through his hair as he leaned back. “as i said, it’s alright. i know you mean well. i guess i’m just not used to someone… standing up for me like that. it’s definitely new. and, ah… i appreciate that you care for me. i care about you too. if the roles were switched... i think i would’ve defended you like that to your parents. or whatever.” sebastian’s neck and face were red as he spoke, looking away to avoid your gaze. you leaned forward and grabbed his hand, gently squeezing it. he whipped his head towards you, and you let out a laugh. 

 “you’re really... something, sebastian. thank you. i appreciate it.” you let go of his hand and pushed yourself up.

 “now, what do you want for breakfast?” 

Chapter Text

“i- ah, um... eggs. yeah, eggs please. scrambled. if you don’t mind.” sebastian barely made it through his sentence, so surprised and flustered by your touch it took him a moment to even register what you said. you just nodded at him, moving to the fridge and getting all you needed. sebastian got up once you turned on the stove, taking his usual spot on the counter. as you looked at him, it was only then you realized he was in his pj’s from the night before. you blushed a little, quickly returning your focus to the eggs. you cracked two of them in a bowl, mixing them before pouring them into the pan and moving them around with a spatula. the two of you were in another one of those ever-present comfortable silences, just enjoying each other’s presence.

of course, this silence didn’t last forever, because when you glanced over at him did you finally realize he was still in boxers. with all the feelings and adrenaline from earlier this morning, you barely noticed it. your neck started to get hot as you turned your attention back to the eggs in your pan, starting to scramble them before speaking.

“hey, seb?”

“what’s up?”

“not to be rude or anything, but i do believe you’re still in your boxers.”

you watched his face drop and go up in the flames of his blush at your words, mumbling an apology before shoving himself off the counter and booking it into your bedroom. you couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he closed the door behind him. as you started to plate the eggs he came back out of the room in his normal attire of a hoodie and jeans, sitting down at the table as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“i’m sorry about that,” he said as you turned to him with a plate of scrambled eggs. “i didn’t even realize i hadn’t changed. i was more worried about the argument and talking to you, i’m really sorry, i should-”

“if you talk more i’ll just have to bully you more about it. now eat your food, dummy. it’s fine.” you set a plate in front of him, a fork already on it. you set your own plate down across from him, sitting down. “honestly it was kinda... cute, i guess.” you took a bite out of your food, trying to seem all cool and nonchalant. in reality, your whole head was bursting. you actually called him cute. a small first step, but still, a decent one. you paid no mind to the red face across from you, as he slowly ate a bite of his food.

“thank you... i guess, um. you’re kinda cute too. or whatever.” he replied after a few moments of silence. he ate slowly, almost on purpose. he wanted to savor the time he had left with you until he had to go home to a shit show. the last time he would know peace today would probably be in your presence, and he enjoyed it. it had become normal to associate you with peace in his head. maybe even a feeling of coziness. maybe, if he dares thought on it for longer, you felt like home. but even though he just called you cute, it didn’t mean that all these feelings towards you were even slightly reciprocated.

oh, if only he could read your mind. especially the moment he called you cute. if he knew what was going through your head right then, he would know the storm of emotions he just conjured up.

he thought you were cute! oh, the phone call you would have with emily later. it didn’t feel real. it was so much, just that little word. but it meant so much. it meant maybe, this little budding crush on yours would no longer be a fleeting thing of no reciprocation. that the past week or so wasn’t just your imagination, or rather all the feelings and tension between you two wasn’t something only in your head. whatever it all was, the way him calling you cute made you feel was enough to confirm that maybe being a little extra forward wouldn’t be so bad.

although both your heads were swimming with the thoughts of each other, the silence settled back in until you both finished breakfast. sebastian washed the dishes while you gave lucky his breakfast for the morning, and you both ended up on the couch, sitting next to each other. sebastian played on his phone while you tried to think of something to do until he really had to go home, and that’s when you thought of it.

“do you like horror movies?” sebastian looked up from his phone as he answered you.

“yeah, they’re decent. why?”

“well, maybe i can put one on. i can just connect my laptop screen to the tv since the stations i get out here are very… well, i’m sure you already know.”

“alright. well... i know we just ate breakfast but if you have popcorn kernels, i can get that all setup. i know how to make it stovetop.”

“the middle cabinet. i’ll get all set up.”

“alright, well i leave everything else to you.”

you both got up to handle your responsibilities. the popcorn was already halfway done by the time you hooked up your laptop screen with the tv, cycling through netflix’s horror movie section until you settled on something decent. you landed on the nightmare on elm street, deciding on that. loading it up, you set yourself down on the couch as sebastian sat down next to you, placing the popcorn in its bowl down between you two. you pressed play on the movie and leaned back as you grabbed a small handful of popcorn.

“nightmare on elm street, huh? decent choice. i am glad your horror movie taste is good.” sebastian remarked, stretching out and spreading his arm out onto the back of the couch.

“ah, i figured it was a safe choice. cheesy eighties horror is always safe in my opinion. especially if you’re just throwing something on for the sake of watching without fully paying attention.”

“you truly are my kind of person. cheesy movies you only have to half pay attention to are what i put on usually when i’m gonna watch something with friends. especially with sam. love the dude, but he talks through movies an awful lot. i think the only time he doesn’t is when it’s something he picks out, and even then, he will talk during silent moments only.”

“oh lord, that certainly sounds like a fun time. but honestly, you’re a good friend for letting him talk like that during movies. i don’t think i could do it.”

“honestly, i only let him do it because i don’t have the heart to tell him to stop. he always gets so into whatever he talks about, i just let him be.”

“that’s so sweet of you... but, i did kinda have an off-topic question.”

“mm. what would that be?”

“how are you gonna handle things at home?”

sebastian paused. while he thought of how inevitable it was that he did indeed have to go home at some point today, he hadn’t thought of how he would talk to his mom.
“honestly, i’m still not sure. i guess i’ll figure it out when i get home. i just hope she’s taken what you said, and what i agreed with, into consideration.”

“fair enough. i was just wondering if you had a game plan with how to handle it. i don’t wanna worry about having you haul ass back here again in the middle of the night. not that i don’t want you here, it’s just, you know-”

“y/n? i think it’s my turn to chide you for worrying too much now,” sebastian smirked at you, and you rolled your eyes.

“whatever.”

you fell back into silence as the movie went on. what you didn’t notice, however, was sebastian’s arm slowly coming down from just laying on the back of the couch to coming to rest on your shoulders. you almost didn’t realize it was there until sebastian made a small coughing noise, which brought you out of your focus and made you realize there was a weight on your shoulders. you looked at where his arm was and smiled a little as you relaxed. once sebastian realized it was all fine and dandy, he relaxed just as much.

as he started to rub small circles into your skin with one of his fingers, you thought about how you could sit there like this, with him, for forever.

Chapter Text

 eventually, the movie ended. after his arm wrapped around you, you and sebastian kept pretty quiet and just shared the popcorn. but you were only half paying attention to the whole thing, your mind was way more focused on the fact that his arm was around you. How his fingers felt against your skin, how much you just… wanted to lean over and kiss him and not care about anything that might come after that. but you still battled those feelings. you were just friends. friends can cuddle, can call each other cute, and blush at each other on a semi-daily basis. kissing him might ruin the budding friendship, why ruin it just because you’re caught up in the moment? as the movie came to a close you both sat there, his arm still around you and rubbing circles into your skin for a good few minutes until eventually he pulled away and turned to look at you. 

 “thank you for that... and everything. like just truly everything you’ve done for me the past week. i don’t know anyone else who’d do all that for a guy they’re only just starting to get to know.” he looked so sincere it made your heart swell, but you just smiled at him and shook your head. 

 “how many times do i have to tell you? this is just what friends do for each other. you’re my friend now. if i didn’t enjoy you in any capacity i wouldn’t have done as much as i have. and even if i didn’t like you much, i still would’ve helped out. you’re a lot, like, cooler to get along with than you might think you are.” 

 sebastian smiled and let out a little sigh. “maybe you’re right. i don’t know... in any case, i should start heading home. i can’t avoid this forever. i’ll call you tonight?” he stood up, extending a hand towards you to help you up. as you grabbed it you took a moment to enjoy how warm his skin was, surprised that he also had some tough skin. but he did work on a motorcycle after all. your skin was tougher than his by far, but you liked how it felt. 

 “yeah, just let me know how everything goes. remember, you can come back here at any time. i’ll just be handling my usual farm chores today, so i’ll be home and around the farm.” 

 “well alright then. i’ll see you around, y/n.” 

 with that, he gathered up his things and left, and you let out a sigh. what an interesting morning. you went around, tidying up your home before setting out to handle things on the farm. but two things lingered in your mind during the whole process. one was obviously sebastian. he was on your mind a lot these days, but the second was the fact that you really needed to call the one person who could help you out with all these feelings and help you out here. 

 and that person was, of course, emily.

 you got done just before the afternoon and took a lengthy shower once you were done. you get into comfy clothes and quickly dialed emily’s number, waiting for her to answer. it didn’t take long for her to pick up, and you smiled at hearing her cheery as ever tone. 

 “y/n! i’ve been meaning to call you. you’ll never believe all the crystals sandy sent me in the mail! she got me three whole rose quartz, an amethyst, and some jade! oh, and she sent me some more incense. you’ll have to come by soon and hang out to experience it.” 

 “i can’t wait to do that, em. but, as much as this is a social call, i did want to talk to you about something.” 

 “oh, of course. Is everything alright? do you need me to come over?” 

 “no, no. everything is fine. i just needed some advice.” 

 “tell me everything,” 

 you told emily everything that happened since you last saw her. how you felt, what’s been going on with sebastian, and the fight with robin. she listened on silently, only asking a few questions here and there. once you were done talking, there was silence on the phone for a few moments before emily spoke. 

 “you want my opinion?” 

 “isn’t that why i called?” you joked, and she let out a laugh. 

 “i think you should make things a little more... obvious, depending on how things go with his parents. maybe even ask him on a date, if stuff goes well? the possibilities are endless! but maybe a date is a bit much. he doesn’t seem like the dude who would like a generic date. you know him better than me. just do something nice for him if things with his parents go well. if not, keep stuff platonic until it all gets better for him. a relationship with all that negative energy surrounding it at the start doesn’t bode well… maybe i consult the tarot for you?” 

 “hm, no, i think you’re right for now. the tarot will probably tell you the same thing you just told me anyways. but thank you. i knew you’d know what to say… and you are right on the whole, like, generic date thing. i’ll figure something out though. maybe i’ll find an aquarium in the city to take him to.” 

 “see! decent ideas already. okay, i have to help haley. she accidentally broke a zipper on one of her dresses. call me with updates, okay?” 

 “of course i will. good luck with haley.” 

 “thanks! i know you’re destined for this boy, y/n. see you!” 

 with a click, the conversation ended, and you let out a soft sigh. everything seemed like a lot right now. summer was usually a busy time for you, and you were more than excited to be busy. being busy meant more cash flow, but right now all you wanted to do was take a nap. but instead, you forced yourself up, deciding to meal prep for a few days. with so many farm chores, it was hard to find time to make stuff. most of your crops were on track to being ready to be picked and packed away into the shipping box as well as any requests for certain crops needed to be dropped off. things were about to pick up, so this was a better time than ever. 

 you peeked into the freezer and saw you had quite a bit of fish. well, may as well get rid of that until it wasn’t going to be good to make food with. maki rolls and sashimi it was for now. the rolls would be a little bit more tedious, so you started with the sashimi instead. you had packed two little bento boxes of sashimi and rice before your phone rang, and when you answered, a familiar voice rang through. 

 “hey, y/n.”

 “oh, hi seb. is everything okay?” 

 “for once, yeah, everything is. at least for now.” 

 “well, now you gotta tell me all about it.” 

 you heard him chuckle, and some movement over the phone. “of course i will. i managed to catch mom and demetrius at the same time. mom talked to demetrius with me instead of just not saying anything, and for now, we’re fine. still a little tense, but fine. he kind of apologized, but i’m not even gonna worry about it. as long as he isn’t up my ass like that ever again then i don’t care. then me and my mom talked... she asked me to apologize to you, from her. she knows you were just being a good friend. but other than all that, things are fine here.” 

 “well, i’m really glad, seb. i was worried about it today. i was hoping your mom would turn around after this morning so i’m glad i got through to her, tell her i’m sorry too.” you held the phone with your shoulder as you cut up the fish, making sure not to cut yourself. 

 “i will. so... what are you up to right now?” 

 “making food for the week. it’s about to get kinda busy over on my end soon, so i meal prep so i don’t have to worry about making myself something every night.” 

 “ah. that’s smart of you. what are you making?”

 “maki rolls and sashimi.” 

 “sashimi? oh, wow. i love that stuff.” 

 “really? well, i can set aside some extra for you. i have some requests i’ll be filling out soon, i’ll just bring it when i’m running around town.” 

 “ah, are you sure? i don’t wanna burden you if you’ll be busy.” 

 “nah, dude. i’ll already be out, i’ll just drop it off. not that big of a deal.” 

 “if you insist.” 

 “i am. fully and wholly, i am insisting.” 

 he laughed again, then let out a sigh. “alright, well i gotta dip. i’m working on this module for a dude. but i might call you tomorrow.” 

 “alright, well i’ll talk to you tomorrow then.” 

 “deal. tell lucky i said goodnight.” 

 another click, another phone call over. the difference with this one was that you had some serious stomach butterflies afterward. 

 you made some maki rolls and packed those away, and then eventually made sebastian’s sashimi. only you added some personal touches once you were done with the main dish. you took out a tiny heart cookie cutter and cut one out of fish meat, and placed it right on top of the sashimi. you packed it in a special black bento box and made sure it looked nice and wrote a nice little note to fold and put into one of the free bento compartments. you stashed it in the fridge and went about your nightly routine, before finally going to bed. 

 your dreams were filled with a certain boy that night, and when you woke up the next day, you had to force yourself out of bed. as you checked your phone while you brushed your teeth, you saw you had a voicemail from sebastian. a decently long one too, about 50 seconds. well, time to listen in. 

 “no answer.” you heard sebastian's voice, followed by a sigh from someone you couldn’t quite recognize. 

 “well, i guess you better confess into their voicemail.” sam retorted. 

 you choked on your toothpaste. 

 what the fuck did he just say? 

Chapter Text

 “what? no, are you fucking dumb? i already hung up when the beep went off anyways.” 

 you stood there, frozen in front of the bathroom mirror. was this real? no, god no. maybe you were still dreaming, and this just wasn’t happening. but as some toothpaste spilled from the side of your mouth and down your chin, you realized how real this was. you quickly rubbed the side of your mouth and chin, still listening as you held the toothbrush in your mouth. 

 “i still think you should’ve confessed.” the phone made a noise as it was moved to be set down on a surface. you heard sebastian chuckle and wanted to throw yourself down a flight of stairs as your stomach turned in the way it always did when he laughed. now was not the time, whatsoever. 

 “you don’t know shit. i’ve barely been their friend for like two weeks. if i’m honest, i barely know jack about them. the whole time they’ve dealt with me and my shitty life problems.” you heard sam sigh, and the sound of a guitar being tuned. he strummed chords, then took a few moments to tune it the way he wanted as he spoke. 

 “you’re overthinking it. next time you see them, just ask basic shit. just let it be a regular hang-out. you know, things weren’t as intense when you were still into abby.” 

 silence. you could imagine sebastian’s face as he thought about what sam said, taking it in. but he spoke up after a few moments. 

 “this is different. they’re different. i didn’t feel like this with abby. abby was… well, abby. y/n… god, i don’t know. aren’t we supposed to be practicing?” 

 “yes. but this is more interesting. but if you wanna practice so bad, get your phone so we can listen to the demo we made.” 

 there was more noise as the phone was picked up, and then sebastian started to stutter. it took him a moment to force sam’s name out. 

 “sam.”

 “what?” 

 “it didn’t hang up.” 

 “oh my fucking god, hang up the fucking phone-” 

 click. silence. 

 you spit the toothpaste into the sink along with the contents of your dinner. this was so much. too much. you needed comfort, someone, anything. while nothing bad was said, you felt like you’d been punched right in the stomach. you ran water in the sink and used toilet paper to clean out whatever was left that the water didn’t reach before taking steps back to your bed. you pulled the covers over your head, holding your phone close to your chest. why did this feel so intense? what was happening to you? you just threw up in your sink over a boy stating he liked you. what the fuck was that about? 

 maybe it was because you can’t remember the last time someone made you feel this warm with just a look. and maybe, it was because you couldn’t remember any time you felt so safe with someone. so at home. you buried your face into a pillow, letting out a groan. you did have to eventually get up. things still needed to get done, at the very least you needed to check on the animals and handle everything about them. but right now, you needed the only person that knew you from your city days. 

it was sort of a lie when you told people you truly just dropped everything and everyone when you decided to move to the valley. there was one person, one last link to your old life that you refused to let go of. after all, it would be quite a dick move to drop the one person you promised to always be around for. 

 levi was your rock when you lived in the city. you both started at the same temp agency, which is what you used to do before landing a job at joja. as much as emily was your best friend, levi was your platonic soulmate. he was the person who would be the only comfort to you right now. you pulled the phone up to your face, finding his number as you clutched the phone to your ear. he answered fast. 

 “you have a lot to answer to, you know, i’ve barely heard from you and you have the balls to call me at 6:30 in the morning? seriously when i visit i’m gonna-” 

 “yeah whatever threaten me later, i have boy problems. shut up.” 

 “you have my attention.” 

 you spoke fast as you explained everything that happened the last week, and all that happened this morning. he listened silently until you finished, and you heard him sigh. 

 “jeez. and here i thought i had a hard time in the dating scene. so what exactly are you even worried about? the abby girl, or what?” 

 “it’s not really… that. i just don’t know what to do. this is all a lot. i feel like this is going fast but at the same time, i feel like i’m losing it over nothing.” 

 “i think you just need to confront him on the voicemail. just say that if he likes you in that way, you want to go slow. if he doesn’t and you interpreted wrong, you can keep being friends. did you ask my replacement about this too?” 

 you rolled your eyes. “emily isn’t your replacement. she told me i should play it safe.” 

 “calm yourself. i was teasing. i think you need to be direct, and soon.” 

 “you think so?” 

 “i wouldn’t have said it if i didn’t think so, idiot.” 

 “ouchie. you dare berate me while i’m vulnerable?” you could practically hear his eye-rolling over the phone. 

 “you better give me updates on this. it’s the most interesting thing i’ve dealt with all week.” 

 “anything for you.” 

 “stupid-ass. love you.” 

 “i love you too.” 

 you tossed the phone onto the other side of your bed with a sigh, forcing yourself up. you got dressed and made your way out to the animals, collecting eggs from the chickens and ducks and placing everything in the shipping bin. you looked over crops, but nothing was ready to be picked yet. you ventured back into your home, picking up the journal you kept with everyone’s requests. you had some corn for pierre, a couple of geodes for clint to study, and a melon for haley. not to mention the sashimi for… him. well, this was no better way to see him. it was still pretty early, so instead, you took the time to settle into the couch and watch queen of the sauce reruns. 

 as your eyes opened, you realized you most definitely fell back asleep watching tv. you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, patting your pockets as you searched for your phone to see what time it was. it was only 11 am, so not bad. time to head into town. 

 you used a wagon to pull things into town with, as it was a little bit easier to handle and more reliable than one bag holding everything. the corn, sashimi, and melon were all bagged up with each person’s name written on the bag. the geodes for clint were in a box with his name on it. you headed off to pierre’s first, leaving the corn on the counter for him. you two made small talk as you continued dropping off people’s things until all that remained was the sashimi. you stared at it in the back of the wagon, letting out a sigh before making the walk up to the mountains and his home. 

 you parked the wagon outside the front door, grabbing the bag of sashimi before you walked in. you immediately locked eyes with robin and your stomach sort of dropped. she was the first to speak, smiling at you. 

 “hi, y/n. is there anything i can do for you?” 

 “oh, no. thank you though. i just came to fill a request for sebastian. his room is downstairs, right?” 

 “yes. but, one thing.” she stepped out from behind her counter, walking close to you. “i just wanted to apologize again for the other day. you didn’t need to be put in that position. i want us to still be, ah, friends.” 

 “oh, robin. yeah, no. water under the bridge. you didn’t deserve that from me either.” 

 “alright, i’m glad we could work this out. i’ll let you go see him now.” 

 “thank you.” 

 you turned and walked down the stairs to sebastian’s door as fast as you could. god, that was awkward. but that wouldn’t be the last of awkward things to happen today. you sort of stared at the bedroom door in front of you, gripping the bag with his name on it. eventually, you managed to knock three times, and your heart jumped as you heard him walking to the door. as it opened, both your faces went bright red as the two of you stared at each other. then, you both started to talk at the same time. 

 “i’m so sorry about the voicemail, i thought i hung up, i promise i did, oh god i am sorry-” 

 “listen don’t worry about the voicemail, i just want to talk, honestly it was sort of sweet but i just felt like we could talk-” 

 you both stopped talking, going back to just looking at each other. an awkward laugh escaped you and you sighed. “i’ll go first this time. i just want to talk. i have your sashimi, can i come in?” 

 sebastian rubbed the back of his neck and just nodded, stepping back to let you in. 

 as you stepped in, your stomach flipped like it did this morning. but it was a lot easier to keep from losing cool this time because while he was the source of your stomach ache, he was also the only thing keeping you calm. 

 what a sick joke. 

Chapter Text

you surveyed the room as you stepped in. you knew his room would be decently big since it was a basement, but you didn’t think it’d be big enough to fit a whole table for what looked like something similar to DnD. sebastian closed the door behind you, taking his usual seat at the small table and moving what was left of the last game he and sam played. he patted the seat closest to him, inviting you to sit. 

 so sit you did. 

 you placed the sashimi on the table and played with your thumbs nervously. the silence hung in the air like early morning humidity. uncomfortable, sebastian was the first to break the silence. 

 “so, um. what i meant to say earlier that i’m sorry you had to hear that voicemail. not only was it really fucking embarrassing, but i don’t want it to complicate things. we barely just became friends, i don’t want things to get weird all because of a voicemail.” sebastian fidgeted in his seat, looking at you expectantly. he watched your face intensely, looking for any signs. anything to make sure you weren’t weirded out or mad at him. his heart settled as a small smile formed on your face, and you looked at him. 

 “this didn’t complicate anything, at least for me. i was surprised… but honestly? I thought it was sort of… sweet. i think there’s something here. i also think we really need to get to know each other a lot better. i think we both like each other in a more than friends way if i’m getting this all right from your end?” 

 “um. yeah. i mean, yes.” sebastian’s face went bright red as he spoke, but he wasn’t about to dwell on how easily his face went up in flames. he wasn’t really the best with serious things, so a whole conversation about feelings and what to do if you and he wanted to explore a deeper relationship was a little foreign. well, not a little. this would be his first relationship; the first of many firsts that even come with just having the relationship. he remembered you said you dated here and there. how far did you go with people? what if he wasn’t as good as other people you were with before? what if, at the end of the day, he just wasn’t worth it? his thoughts were stopped from spiraling by your voice. 

 “what’s going on up there?” you asked, eyebrows knit with concern. his thoughts must have shown through his face. sebastian looked down as he rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the cushion under him. 

 “a lot. i... god. it’s so stupid. i’m worried i won’t… be good enough, for you. for a relationship. i’ve never been in one. i have a lot of things i’ve never really experienced that you already have. you had a whole life before the valley- my life IS the valley. i’ve barely left it. school doesn’t count for me, because when i had to bus out to the closest high school and all that, i was always just not included in friend groups out there. all i had was sam and abbie, and they’re still all i have in terms of friends. you have so much more experience than me. what if i’m not as interesting as you think?” sebastian glanced up at you, just to be met with your smile. That helped him calm down a little bit, and you put a hand on his arm. 

 “i was bullied on and off, all the way up until like freshman year. even when people left me alone, i never really had true friends after that. more like, just people who were nice to me sometimes. i never went to a party; never did anything rebellious. but you know what was the highlight of my childhood, and those years? the valley. coming here to visit my grandfather as a kid, was the best escape. then, he got sick. we had to move him closer to us so we could watch him better, then he was gone. it took me almost two years to even look at the letter he gave me and not lose it, and it took me another three years to open it and come here. you make me feel like a kid, i guess. the valley to me, it means so much. it was the one escape i ever had from my bullshit at home and school. it was home; in turn… you remind me of home. i love the valley, i love what it means to me. my life is just as much the valley is it is yours.” 

 sebastian’s hand came to rest on yours, and he met your eyes. you were so sincere, so warm. you exposed so much, how could he compete with that? he was so in the moment, he didn’t realize he was leaning forward a little. so you leaned forward a little bit too. his eyes flickered between your lips and your eyes before he closed the distance. 

 as your lips met, his hand came up to cradle the back of your head. his fingers entangled themselves into your hair. the kiss was intense, deep. you’d never been kissed like this before. your face was so hot, it immediately flared when he kissed you. your hand cupped the side of his face, thumb rubbing across his jawline. you didn’t realize how defined it was, even to the touch. what felt like years was actually seconds before he pulled back, and you both stared at each other. 

 “was that okay? i probably should’ve asked first, i’m sorry-” 

 “shut the hell up, seb.” you punctuated your sentence by continuing to kiss him. you melted into each other’s touch, his hand holding the back of your head still keeping it steady in place. you reluctantly pulled back for air, and he smiled at you. 

 “so much for taking it slow and stuff…”

 “hey! you kissed me first!” 

 “yeah, and now i’m gonna kiss you third.” he pulled you from your seat diagonal to him to just right next to him, turning you to face him by your chin. his thumb glided over your lips before he kissed you a third time. this one was shorter, and he pulled back first. 

 “are we friends who kiss now?” he joked at you, and you rolled your eyes and rested your head on his shoulder. 

 “we are friends who kiss.”

Chapter Text

 after the kisses shared between you two, you only stayed for a couple of minutes longer before you needed to head back to the farm. just because you were now friends who kiss doesn’t mean you could just sit there all day, kissing him. even if that’s all you wanted to do. he did however kiss you goodbye, so there was that. he also said he might come over later, which gave you so many butterflies in your tummy that you weren’t sure if you wouldn’t get sick on your way home. you decided that if he was going to pop by later tonight, you might spruce up a little. put on the outfit that made you feel the most confident or experiment with new hairstyles. your thoughts continued as you made your way back to the farm. today you figured you’d focus on making jams and checking all your tree trappers, which busied you until the late afternoon.

 it was almost six, and you hadn’t heard from sebastian. if he was coming, he might come soon. you rushed through getting inside and getting a shower in before looking through your dresser drawers to find the perfect thing. you settled on your favorite shirt and a pair of jeans with flower embroidery on the back and front pockets. as you were brushing out your hair, you heard a knock on your front door. your heart skipped a beat as you moved to answer it, and you were met with sebastian’s smiling face. his smile widened as he looked you over, and then he finally spoke. 

 “you look… wow. you look amazing. i’m kinda used to seeing you in your work clothes or like, pajamas.” he ran a hand through his hair. he was in his usual outfit, but you thought he looked just as handsome as the day you first laid eyes on him. 

 “why thank you.” you stepped aside to let him come in, leaving the door for him to close as you made your way to the kitchen. “have you eaten? i can probably make something, we can eat dinner and watch a movie.” 

 sebastian shook his head, grabbing you by the shoulders and guiding you into a seat at the table. “nope. you’ve been making me food all the time, i should probably show that i can at least make something. you have stuff for spaghetti and garlic bread?” 

 “of course i do.” you smiled, leaning an elbow on the table as you watched him advance towards your pantry to get what he needed. 

 “then keep yourself in that chair, or else.” with a wink, he went ahead with making dinner for the both of you. any attempts from you were thwarted by a stern look or him throwing crumpled up napkins at you playfully. he also took to setting the table for you both and serving you, before he finally sat down across from you. you took a bite of the spaghetti, savoring the taste. he was a decent cook after all. after you finished your bite you smiled at him. 

 “maybe i will find ways to make you cook dinner more often. this is good.” you reached across the table to grab a piece of garlic bread. 

 “anything for my friend who i kiss.” he joked at you, taking a bite himself. you both sat in silence while you ate more before sebastian piped up again. 

 “maybe this sounds silly, but it’s been on my mind a bit. is this considered, ah, a date? i was meaning to take you on a more proper one, but i know since yesterday things didn’t go exactly as i wanted them to… not that i regret yesterday! it’s just made things different.” sebastian looked away sheepishly as he finished talking, chewing on the inside of his cheek. 

 “well... yeah, i consider this a date. sure, it’s a date.” you smiled reassuringly at him. “i get what you mean. if we want to be more clear about intentions and getting on the right page, i’ll start; i want to be more than friends who kiss, eventually. i want to be official. eventually, i want to call you my boyfriend.” god, that sounded so… official sounding. but it was good to air everything out; instead of letting your thoughts get the best of you or letting things fester, it was nice to let him know exactly what you wanted. and from the way he smiled at you once you finished speaking, you could tell he wanted the same things. 

 “i guess in that case i don’t have to say much. i agree, i want to become official eventually and have a serious relationship with you. but i gotta say, being referred to as your boyfriend makes me feel… good. even if it is in the future tense.” sebastian punctuated his sentence with another bite of his spaghetti and the both of you fell back into a comfortable silence until you cleared your plates. you moved to clear off the table but sebastian grabbed the plates from you. 

 “nope. i’m cleaning too. if you wanna help that bad, you can set up the movie.” you pouted at him, and sebastian felt his heart well up. god, you were adorable. but he returned his focus on washing plates in the sink as you once again set up your laptop to play on the tv and peeked through Netflix for what to put on. you settled on another horror movie, children of the corn. you sat back on the couch, waiting for sebastian to join you. 

 within moments he plopped himself down right beside you, and arm looping around your waist and pulling you snug against his side. a blush crept up on your face as he did this, but you raised no complaints. you leaned forward and pressed play on the movie before getting comfortable next to him, resting your head on his chest as you both leaned back against the couch. it wasn’t much past the opening scenes when you felt his warm fingers touching your skin, from under your shirt. 

 it wasn’t in a bad way; his fingers merely found their way under your shirt and drew circles into the skin like he had done on your arm prior. but this time felt a lot more intimate, and for good reason. his hand was halfway under your shirt, and this was the day after you two made out in his bedroom, more than once. you felt his eyes on you, and you glanced up to meet his gaze. his movements suddenly stopped. 

 “was this too much? i can stop.” 

 “no! i mean- no, it’s okay. i like it, i just wasn’t expecting it.” sebastian smiled at you, and continued to rub circles into your skin. you settled back into him, but it wasn’t long before he spoke again. 

 “i know i said i don’t have much experience in this, ah, area. but you make me a lot more confident, and comfortable. so please let me know if i do anything weird, okay?” he mumbled part of what he said into your hair, before kissing the top of your head. all you could do was nod. 

 the rest of the movie went on without much happening. other than a few jokes about how bad the movie aged, things went on smoothly. as the credits rolled, you pulled your phone out of your back pocket and sebastian pulled away from you as he yawned and stretched out. it was nearing 10:30, and you were pretty tired. sebastian’s yawn told you he was feeling the same, but you didn’t feel like making him walk home. as he stretched out his arms next to you, you popped the question. 

 “will you stay over tonight? i can see you’re tired, i don’t quite feel like making my date walk home when he’s tired.” sebastian chuckled, nodding his head. 

 “all, good. i’ll take the couch this time.” 

 you frowned a little. you didn’t want your guest on the couch, but you also didn’t feel like taking it either. well... couldn’t hurt to suggest sharing the bed. so that’s what you did.

 “well, i was thinking, maybe we could share the bed tonight?” 

  sebastian blinked at you, a blush creeping up onto his face before he answered. 

  “um... yes.”

Chapter Text

 after he accepted your offer, you two stayed cuddling on the couch as you both watched the rest of the credits. it was another comfortable silence, and you were glad for it. neither of you moved as the screen went black, his arm tightly around your waist and pressing you into his side. you were the first one to stand and stretch, and you looked over at him. 

 “so... do you want to borrow clothes to sleep in? i have some giant sleep shirts and pajama pants that might fit you.” you asked, and he shook his head. 

 “no, ah. i’m okay. i wore a tank under this and i have my boxers.” he was still nervous about the prospect of sharing a bed with you, and if you were going, to be honest, it made you anxious too. what if you snored too loud, or stole the blankets from him? it got cold in the cabin at night, so maybe you grab more blankets from the linen closet before settling in? you pondered these things for so long you didn’t realize that you were just standing there until sebastian was standing next to you, nudging his hand against yours. 

 “are you okay?” he asked, an eyebrow raised. 

 “oh! um... yes. sorry, i was just thinking.” your hand slid into his, holding it tightly. 

  “are you sure you’re okay sharing a bed tonight? you seem really nervous.” 

 “no, no. i’m alright seb.” you smiled lightly at him. “but i appreciate you worrying.” 

 his face softened and he let out a breath, nodding his head. “whatever you say.” 

 you lead him back to your bedroom, letting go of his hand as you sat at the edge of it. he stood in the doorway, taking in the room. he really hadn’t looked at it when he crashed in here last time, but it was nice. very comfy and homey, a contrast to his dark room. 

 “oh, ah, i’ll let you get changed in here. i’ll get changed in the bathroom.” you got up and opened up the top dresser drawer, pulling out a pair of loose flannel pj pants and an old t-shirt with your high school’s mascot on the back. years later the thing still was loose on you, a perfect sleep shirt. you smiled at him as you dipped into the bathroom, and caught a glimpse of him pulling his hoodie off and over his head before the door clicked shut. you blushed and started undressing. 

 once you were in your underwear you looked yourself over in the mirror. you weren’t one to really care how you looked on a day-to-day basis. that didn’t mean you didn’t take care of yourself, it just meant so much of your look choices were centered around what would make it easier to work in the last two years. you looked yourself over in the mirror and let out a breath. this wasn’t the time to worry about this. sebastian didn’t seem like the type of person to care about how someone’s body looked, and if he was, you wouldn’t be as interested in him in the first place. you finished getting your pj’s on, stepping into the bedroom. 

 sebastian had gotten comfortable on the right side of the bed, playing on his phone. he wore a black tank top and black boxers, and he was quite focused on whatever he was doing. something about how he looked made you warm in the pit of your stomach, and you got shocked at your own natural response a hand went over your stomach. sebastian looked up at you, looking between your hand and face. 

 “is your stomach bothering you? i can get you water.” 

 “oh, no! i’m okay.” you walked to the left side of the bed, settling in next to him. 

 “you still seem really nervous.” he sat up, his gaze following you as you sat in the bed. you let out a soft huff, arms crossing over your stomach. you looked down at your feet, sitting in silence as you felt his concerned stare bore into you. finally, you turned to him, a frown tugging at your lips. 

 “if you’re this nervous at the prospect of sharing a bed, i’ll just go to the couch. i really don’t mind. your comfort is more important to me, y/n.” 

 “no, seb- ugh. it’s hard to explain. you’re not making me nervous, i’m making myself nervous. i just keep second-guessing myself, and worrying about stupid stuff.”

 he shifted closer to you, an eyebrow raised. “i can bet it’s not stupid.” 

 “... like if i steal the blanket. or what if i snore, or if my pajamas are cute enough, or if i end up not being good with sharing a bed at the end of the day and we can never share a bed ever again, and i have to add an expansion to my house for an extra room for you, so you can be comfortable- mmh!” 

 he cut you off with a kiss, his hand cupping the side of your face. it was a short kiss, and when he pulled back he smiled and chuckled at you. “sorry, but i couldn’t let you go on and come up with more things to have a crisis over.” 

 you shook your head, a smile creeping onto your face. “well, it certainly made me focus on something else for a second.” 

 “in all seriousness, y/n, you know... even if you sucked at sharing a bed, i wouldn’t mind. i just like being around you. i don’t think you suck at bedsharing so far. even if you did, we would work through it. you’re thinking a little bit too hard about this, and this is coming from the dude who doesn’t know how to hang up a phone.” sebastian smiled at you, and you felt your insides melt. how could you have been so stupidly worried? he was so sweet and forgiving. as you thought about just how amazing he was, a wave of sleepiness hit you. you glanced at the clock on your bedside table; almost 11pm. most nights you were already in bed and asleep by now. 

 “i appreciate you, i really do- but i am so tired. so now maybe we should really test our bed-sharing abilities.” sebastian laughed and nodded his head, shifting and pulling the covers onto both of you. you turned off the lamp, the only light source, and snuggled into the bed. your back was to him as you started to drift, but his arm pulling your back into his chest made your eyes pop back open. 

 when was the last time you spooned with anyone? ah, whatever. you were too tired to dwell on this new installment of affection. you slowly drifted back to sleep, enjoying the warmth of his body and the covers. 

 it felt like you had only closed your eyes moments ago when you woke up, and you almost fell out of bed as you felt arms holding you firm against someone’s chest and a face buried into the crook of your neck. but your heart calmed when you remembered that it was sebastian. he was breathing slowly into your neck, and his hair tickled your cheek and jaw. he was sort of on top of you, but you didn’t mind. it was just a half limp bear hug, and you would allow yourself to bask in it until you absolutely had to get up. 

 you stretched and shifted a bit as you started to fully wake up, careful not to stir him. and maybe you really should’ve moved around as much as you wanted and pretended you accidentally woke him up because as you became extremely aware of something hard pressing against your ass, you wanted to hide under the covers. 

 the pitfalls of cuddling with a man: morning wood. 

Chapter Text

 you stayed there, unsure of what to do. you were tense against his form, not daring to move. you honestly didn’t even realize you were holding your breath until you felt the pain in your lungs and chest. you slowly let the air leave your body and felt your muscles relax a little bit more. gentle relief for your body, but your mind was racing. the fuck were you supposed to do? wake him up? no. god, no. you slowly moved your hand to the bedside table, blindly grabbing for your phone to check the time.

 ten a.m. 

 okay, well, you did have to get up. you never let yourself sleep in this late; the animals weren’t used to it, and throwing off their schedule and rhythm would possibly fuck up the production cycle. but he was so… warm. and you weren’t gonna lie, the fact that his morning wood was pressed all up against you definitely made you feel a certain kind of way. but this was no time for that; you needed to get up and get showered. you forced yourself to scoot a little ways away from him, and attempted to sit up. you barely pushed yourself up when you were harshly pulled back down and back into his chest. 

 “stay.” he grumbled into your neck, burying his face into it once more. “ten more minutes.” 

 his morning voice sent a shiver down your spine, deep into the pit of your stomach. low, with a little bit of a gravelly sound to it. your stomach was tying itself into knots but you tried to keep focused on your objective. but he was so very tempting, not to mention the fact that he pulled you right back into his crotch. 

 “seb, i have to handle the an-”

 “ten. more. minutes.” he definitely was not a morning person. irritation was evident in his voice, and how could you say no? his entire being right now was all about staying close to you, holding you. trying to leave from such comfort would be a crime. 

 “fine, ten more minutes.” 

 a satisfied noise came from him and he pulled you as close as possible to his body, a lot more firm than from when you woke up this morning. as you laid there, you realized something. if you were letting him get his way, why not let yourself have a little fun with it? a small smirk appeared on your face, and you feigned a yawn while stretching, it was a little hard to really stretch your whole body with how much of a grip he had on you, but you managed. 

 what made you have to hold back a laugh was when you pushed your ass back into his morning wood, and he let out a small groan. his breathing picked up a little bit against your neck, which sent another set of shivers down your spine. but this was no time for worrying about what he was doing to you; you wanted to see what you could do to him. 

 you laid still for a couple of moments after that, waiting for his breathing to return to normal before ‘adjusting’ your position against him. aka, moving your ass against his wood once more. another noise, but this time one with the tiniest bit of irritation in it. no need to push it. you checked your phone; only four minutes passed during your little escapade. 

 what could you get done in six minutes? 

 you turned onto your side, facing a disgruntled sebastian. he seemed a little bewildered from your sudden movement, so you positioned yourself accordingly. your knee and thigh came to rest perfectly against his crotch, meaning if you moved that leg, your thigh would most definitely rub against his cock. 

 boy did that action wake him up. his eyes shot open, wide eyes staring at you. all you could do was suppress a chuckle and smile lightly at him, rubbing at one of your eyes. 

 “good morning.” 

 “... good morning.” despite his expression his voice was still low. 

 “hm. how did you sleep?”

 “i slept… good. you?”

 “i slept good too. what do you want for breakfast?” you rubbed your thigh gently against his cock as he opened his mouth to speak, making his voice crack when he spoke. 

“i- ah! i mean, christ. surprise me. i want to, uh. get changed.” he mumbled some excuse at you and moved out of bed, grabbing his hoodie and pants to change into as he headed into the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind him. 

 you let out a soft laugh at that. well, may as well start breakfast while he handled himself. pancakes would do, maybe bacon as well. you pulled yourself out of bed, opting to grab the extra can of spray-on deodorant and spraying under your arms until you could get into the shower. you groggily moved to the kitchen and starting pulling what you needed from the cupboards.

 by the time you got to mixing the batter and warming up a pan, sebastian sat himself down at the table. he was only wearing the hoodie, deciding to merely just keep the boxers on. you smiled at him over your shoulder, and he offered you a sleepy smile in return. 

  “i’m making pancakes, by the way. how many do you want?” 

  “ehhhh… surprise me again. it’s still early for decision making.” he yawned and stretched, leaning back in the chair. 

 “you really let me make all kinds of decisions, huh?” you teased, and he rolled his eyes. 

 “if i was more of a morning person, i’d be the one making all the decisions.” while you could tell this was mostly about breakfast-making duties, you could tell his words were also slightly directed towards your little escapades this morning. that made you chuckle softly to yourself as you poured the batter into the pan and waited for it to bubble before flipping the pancake. 

 within fifteen minutes, you had stacked a decent amount of pancakes onto a plate. you sort of lost track and just went on until you didn’t have anymore batter, and once the last one was stacked on top you counted them. ten in total. 

 you put the stack on the table, then grabbed everything else and set it up. butter, syrup, two plates, three knives, and two forks. you sat down as you placed the napkins and eagerly looked towards sebastian as you gestured for him to plate himself first. 

 he looked a lot more awake now. he piled three onto a plate and began buttering them. the only noises filling the room were the sound of eating and cutlery clinking. before long only two pancakes were left, and you got up to handle cleaning. but you were very quickly shot down. 

 “ah, nope. i’ll clean, you shower. i want to show you something when you’re ready.” sebastian said, starting to clean up. your eyebrows shot up, but you just nodded and went to the bedroom to pick out clothes and start up the shower. 

 as you stepped into the warm water, you could only imagine what the boy had in store. 

Chapter Text

 almost immediately, sebastian knocked on the door as you turned off the water and started to dry yourself off. 

 “yeah?”

 “wear something, ah, sort of nice. comfy, but nice. i’ll be back in 20 to get you.” you listened to his steps recede away from the door, all the way to the door until it shut. you excitedly stepped out of the bathroom and started to look through your dresser drawers, looking for something that matched his suggestion. 

 eventually you pulled out your nicest jeans (aka ones without any kinds of rips or weird stains from an animal), and a nice shirt. not too fancy, but nice enough. it was warm out, so there was no need for anything extra. you let your hair dry as much as it could before getting dressed and put together, and you spent the last few minutes before sebastian would be back looking over your outfit in the bathroom mirror over and over. before long, you heard a noise you hadn’t heard since you moved out of the city: the rev of a motorcycle. your heart skipped a beat. 

 you dashed to the door, excited as all fuck. your super cool… boyfriend? was picking you up in his super cool motorcycle! you couldn’t contain your smile as you stepped onto the porch and sebastian stood there, leaning against the bike, helmet in hand. he smiled at you as he saw you. 

 “you like it?” he asked

 “i love it.” 

 “then let’s go.” 

 sebastian sat down on the bike, holding out a helmet to you. “you have to be safe, or else.” 

 “and you’re not wearing one?” 

 “well… i’ll get another one after this. just ‘cause i know you’ll be up my ass if i don’t.” he teased at you, and you rolled your eyes before getting the helmet on and getting onto the back of the bike. your arms wrapped around his stomach and pressed your chest against his back. 

 “hold tight.” 

 it was faster than you thought. you didn’t know how he did it, let alone how he did it without a helmet. he was right, after this you would nag him daily until you saw he had an extra helmet for himself and not just you. even though your face was protected against the wind you felt a need to shut your eyes tight, like on a roller coaster. it was only 20 minutes but it felt longer, and when you came to a stop you slowly blinked open your eyes. 

 sebastian patted where your arms wrapped around him, signaling you to let go. you did, slowly getting off the bike and looking around. before long you realized you didn’t recognize this place much at all. he had taken you along a dirt trail it seemed, at the edge of a cliff overlooking the city. it was still early enough in the day to consider it lunch. as you started to approach the edge of the cliff, you noticed there was actually a little set up. a blanket held down by some stones at each corner, and a cooler with a couple of wild flowers tied together with twine. before you could turn around and ask him, he was already brushed up against you with a proud little grin on his face. 

 “can i assume you were surprised?” he asked as he turned his head to face you. you couldn’t help but giggle a little bit at how proud he looked, and just nodded your head with a smile. his hand slid into yours and he led you to the spot, sitting down on the blanket and gesturing for you to sit across from him. he handed you the tied up wildflowers. 

 “i didn’t know if you really liked them so i figured why not. if not, they’re just little ones so it's not so much of a waste.” he rubbed the back of his neck. he was starting to get a little nervous. he opened up the cooler and pulled out a couple of wrapped sandwiches with labels from the saloon on them. 

 “gus was starting to open a little earlier i guess, so i grabbed sandwiches. there's ones with lunch meat and a couple of pb and j’s.” he glanced between you and the food as he set everything out, and finally pulled out a 6-pack of joja cola. you watched him carefully, bringing up the wildflowers to sniff them. they smelled like spring, almost like a dewy morning. you sat yourself down on the blanket across from him, just looking at everything and taking it in. this was probably the nicest thing anyone has done for you in quite a while, it was hard to really come up with the words for a response. eventually you found the words, holding the flowers in your lap and smiling at the nervous man across from you. 

 “well. you certainly know how to make a farmer feel special. honestly! i’m so used to doing so much for everyone in town, handling everything all day long… it’s nice to have someone take control over a day instead of me having to worry. i appreciate this, and… i love it. it’s so cute and sweet.” you leaned across the blanket and kissed him, short and sweet. “thank you.” 

 sebastian finally settled once he realized how much this whole thing meant to you. he just chuckled and handed you a joja cola and a pb & j, unwrapping one for himself. “i’m glad you like it. i’ll try to plan more stuff in the future since it means so much to you. who knows? maybe there’s more stuff later… all i’m saying is, be ready by eight pm tonight.” 

 your raised your eyebrows at him as you took a sip of your soda, staring him down as you drank it. he met your gaze and smirked, which honestly almost made you choke on the soda. but you held it together until you had the chance to say something.

 “you mean to tell me you have a whole day planned?”

 “well… yes. although tonight is less involved.” 

 “do i get a hint?”

 “absolutely not.” 

 you laughed and took a bite of your sandwich, and got up to approach the cliff's edge. there was a railing wrapped around it to keep people safe. you could see the tall buildings of the city in the distance, but you saw a whole lot of nature. fields of flowers, towering trees. sights like these quelled any moments of homesickness for the city, because it reminded you that there was no place quite like here. 

 arms wrapped around you from behind, and sebastian's chin rested on top of your head. you nestled into his chest wordlessly, enjoying the light breeze that carried the scent of more wildflowers from afar. you could stay like this for hours if you really wanted to, and you did want to. but the pang of hunger hit your stomach a little bit too hard, and you decided you better attend to it.

 the rest of lunch went well- sebastian and you talked about movies, lucky, and all sorts of things. any questions about the activities he planned for tonight were quickly shot down, or he just straight up ignored them and changed subjects. eventually you finished eating and helped him pack everything up and he dropped you back home. he told you to bring a bathing suit and an extra change of clothes for tonight, but when he gets you to dress nice once again. 

 you watched him speed off from your porch, and your heart fluttered in a way you were a bit unused to. it was way more intense than before.

ah, the beginnings of love. 

Chapter Text

 sebastian silently cursed himself as he took the long way back into town and towards gus's saloon. what was he thinking, coming up with another date on the fly? what if he didn't have the private dining room open for tonight? he slowed down as he got closer to the cobblestone streets, stopping in front of the saloon door. he got off his bike and strode into the saloon, walking right up to the bar. he only saw emily behind it, deciding to just sit and wait for gus to come back. he was so lost in thought he didn't even hear emily call his name until he noticed her hand waving in front of his face. 

 “sebastian?” she stared at him with one eyebrow raised, slowly letting her hand rest on the bar top. 

 “sorry, emily. just kinda lost in thought. do you know when gus will be back in? i need to ask about renting out one of the private dining rooms tonight.” 

 “ooh! are you doing it for y/n-?” emily cut herself off, a hand coming to cover her mouth. sebastian felt his face get warm, and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 “i forgot you guys were close… um. yeah. but please, do me a favor. don’t tell them. i kinda came up with this whole thing at the last minute, as a surprise.”

 “say no more! anyways, you don’t need gus to rent out the room. i can just handle it too. so…” emily pulled out a pad of paper, looking through the list. “let’s see… okay! so, tonight the rooms are only about fifty dollars to rent. what time were you thinking?” 

 “um…” sebastian played with his thumbs nervously, thinking for a moment. “i can’t remember if i told them a time or not. i kinda panicked. i guess… eight? tonight?”

 “seven works. do you just want the regular menu or do you want specific food?”

 sebastian hesitated, staring at his hands for a moment before looking up at emily with a hopeless stare. “i don’t know what their favorite food is.. can i assume you do?”

 emily looked at him, a gentle smile spreading across her face. “they’d never admit it, but chicken tenders. with fries and cornballs. they like southern comfort food. can i put that down, then?”

 sebastian nodded his head. “yes, please. thank you for helping me out. if it was gus here i’d be shit outta luck… i kinda feel silly. we’ve spent a lot of time together lately, and i don’t know small stuff like that. i feel bad-”

 “hey, don’t start with that! you guys just started hanging out. i haven’t even heard from them too often, that’s how much they like you. you just need to take your time getting to know them. it’s gonna take a while anyway.” 

 sebastian let out a sigh, just nodding his head. “okay… well, i guess i’ll see you later? i need to get ready and finish up some stuff. here.” sebastian reached into his back pocket, feeling around for his cash before he slid 50 dollars across the bar. “thanks for helping.” 

 “no problem! have fun tonight.” emily winked at him, before turning to pam who was waving her down. sebastian smiled to himself as he walked out of the bar, going to his bike. he mounted it, steadying himself before pulling out his phone and calling sam. he answered almost immediately.

 “hey, dude! what’s up?” sam spoke into the phone. sebastian could hear his brother in the background, playing and watching tv. good. that meant he was close by. 

 “hey man. can you come by the saloon? i need your help.” 

 “duh. i’ll see you in like… two minutes.” 

 “great.”

 sebastian hung up the phone. he double-checked that his bike was propped up properly, and moved to sit on the closest bench. as he sat down he could see sam head out the front door, yelling goodbyes to his mom and his brother. sebastian sometimes envied that. while he knows that his family was a bit tense at times, even more so lately with the news his dad was finally coming home from war, they were still close at the end of the day. no one in that house felt pawned against each other. 

 suddenly sam was in front of him, a grin on his face and hands shoved into his pockets. “so. what did you need help with?”

 “yeah… okay so, um. you’ve been on dates before, right? like a proper dinner date. i remember you got asked out a couple of times in high school… what do you wear? what do you do? i’m kinda fucking lost on all this.”

 sam stared at him, blinking a few times before he started to laugh. “oh, dude!” he yelled at between laughs. “is this about y/n?-“

 sebastian shushed him, pulling the blonde man down onto the bench next to him and clamping a hand over his mouth. “shut the fuck up, sam! god, you’re ridiculous. ugh. i don’t know why i bothered to do this in public with you… get on the bike. we’re going to my house.” sebastian let go of sam, listening to his laughter subside as he got on the bike. sam followed suit, getting behind him and wrapping his arms around his stomach. 

 it didn’t take long at all to get back up to sebastians house. his mom was busy talking to leah about something, his stepdad nowhere to be found. the boys bounded down into the basement, taking their usual spots around sebastians DnD table. 

 “alright,” sam began. “so i can assume you’re going to gus’s? you rented out one of those private rooms?”

 “yeah.”

 “i see… huh.” sam got up, making a beeline to sebastians dresser. he rooted through some drawers, tossing a couple of clothing items into the bed. sebastian let him work - it was easier than arguing or protesting. he simply turned to watch him work. 

 it took a hot minute for sam to find anything remotely nice, that wasn’t lounge-wear or casual clothes. or old stuff shoved into the back of a drawer that didn’t fit anymore. he pulled out a purple and black flannel, a plain black t-shirt, and black jeans. he threw the outfit at sebastian, a grin on his face. “go on! try it on. but roll up the sleeves. it’ll look better that way.”

 “whatever you say, man.” sebastian pulled himself up and trekked to the bathroom; his mom had added this before he claimed this room as his, thankfully. the basement used to be a guest room, and maru’s room used to be his. he used to always have hated this, but as he got older he was glad to have the room no one bothered to come down to. he got changed onto his date outfit, rolling up the sleeves as he was instructed. as he looked himself up and down, he smirked a little bit. sam was many things - a personal stylist probably wasn’t on many people’s lists. but the dude always could pick out a decent outfit.

 “i’m not quite sure how you never fail me when it comes to outfits, but thank you man.” sebastian said as he stepped out of the bathroom, greeted by a grinning sam sitting on his bed. 

 “what would you do without me?” the blonde retorted, his grin somehow getting bigger. “alright. well, it is…” sam checked his phone. “about three in the afternoon. i dunno when your date is, but i gotta go as is. i told penny i’d help her organize book club at the library and get all set up.” he slid off the bed, patting sebastian on the back. “good luck, man!”

 sebastian barely had any time to properly say goodbye before sam was already bounding up the steps, leaving his bedroom door ajar. he closed it, letting out a sigh before plopping down into his computer chair. he had five hours to spare, and an assload of feelings he couldn’t properly articulate. he had so much he wanted to say to you, why was it so hard to get out? he stared at the black screen of his computer monitor, obsessing over how to properly get all his feelings out before it hit him. 

 he could type it out. 

 if tonight went well, he would give you the letter at the end of dinner. if it didn’t feel right, he could always save it for another time. 

 he turned on the monitor, hearing the computer come to life. well, here goes nothing.

Chapter Text

 you can’t remember the last time you were so excited about spontaneous, romantic plans. not that you were ever swooped into them, but you did like to at least have the faintest idea of what you had to do for a date or a night out. but sebastian wanted a surprise, and you let yourself stew in it all day. after he dropped you off, you resumed your normal farm chores. the excitement kept you so motivated that you finished about an hour earlier than usual, giving you time to relax. and what better way than a bath?

 you turned the water on and plugged the drain, slipping out of your clothes and kicking them into a corner to later be picked up. you opened up the medicine cabinet, peering at some of the small vials of bath soaks you had. they were a gift from emily one year for christmas; sandy had recommended them, especially ones for relaxing the muscles and getting the tension out. a thoughtful gift that you never really thought of using until now. 

  you reached for the bottle of epsom salts, as well as the dried rose petals. emily said that they helped with softening the skin, so why not? you poured the epsom salts in and stirred the warm bath water slowly with your hand, making sure it all got in there as the last of the water-filled the tub. you sprinkled the rose petals across the top when you were done and slowly slid in, letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction. your head rested against the back of the tub, eyes closed as you soaked in peace. 

 as your mind drifted between random thoughts, you slowly returned to your main focus these days: sebastian. you felt giddy again as you wondered what he had in store; what sort of surprise could he have planned? whatever it was, you’d be sure you would love it no matter what. your mind drifted to a different thought of him, from this morning. 

 ah, when you had been so confident to have teased him. he really did bring you more out of your shell lately. his reactions to your touch, though, were nice to remember and stew in. the hitch of his breath, the way he stuttered through talking. how flustered he got… 

 a familiar warmth pooled in the pit of your stomach. 

 when was the last time you touched yourself?

 you’ve been so busy, you didn’t pay attention to that part of yourself, sort of suppressing it. but ever since sebastian, well… you didn’t see a reason to ignore it anymore. your hand slowly slid under the warm body, resting on your inner thigh before going any further. 

 imagining him, on top. imagining his face when he was finishing, or how his lips would feel on your neck. marking your neck down to your collarbones with hickies and bites, the sound of his breath as it picked up and got more desperate. god, you could only imagine the type of noises he would make - grunts and whines. you wondered how his thrusts were. were they hard and fast? or maybe hard and slow? 

 before you could even get to the next thought, you felt the familiar tensing sensation of your lower body before the rush of euphoria and relaxation. you sunk lower into the bath, a deep sigh escaping you as you fully relaxed. 

 the bath couldn’t last too much longer. you pulled yourself up and out of the water, wrapping a towel around yourself before draining the tub. you went to your room to start looking at options for tonight. you always wanted to look nice for sebastian - but you hadn’t much of an idea of what he had planned. you pawed through your dresser drawers, peeked through the rows of clothes in your closet. you settled for a nice button-down and black skinny jeans for the night - nice, but semi-casual. you checked the clock; almost 5 pm. you had three hours to kill, so why not spend them putting extra time getting ready? 

 the unfamiliar sound of a truck pulling up to your farm at around 7:45 caused you to get up from the couch, peeking outside the window that looked out onto the porch and walkway. what surprised you, even more, was watching sebastian hop out of the driver’s side, dressed nicely and even double-checking his hair in one of the side mirrors. you moved back, heading to your bathroom to look yourself over one more time. 

 the button-up was loosely tucked into your jeans. hair was done nicely, and you even took the time to part it a little differently. you looked nice. there was no time now to wait because soon enough you heard a knock at your door. you walked up, grabbing a light jacket just in case, turning off all the lights as you opened the door. you grinned at your date, and he offered a small smile back. he looked you up and down and was blushing a little. he offered his hand out to lead you to the truck. 

 “you look… amazing. that’s all i can even think of to say,” he said, smiling more as your hand slid into his and he led you to the truck. he opened the passenger side for you, waiting for you to get settled in before closing the door and hopping into the driver’s side. the nerves were radiating off of him, but he was managing well. he drove down into town, eyes steady on the road. he still had to go quite slow due to possible animals jumping out, or townsfolk walking around. you scooted a bit closer, hand resting on his thigh. he glanced at you, a nervous smile on his face.

 “i didn’t get the chance to say it earlier, but, you look really good too.” you smiled at him. “so, can you finally tell me what this plan of yours is?” 

 “well… okay, fine. i got us a private room at gus’s and we’re gonna eat your favorite food - southern comfort. and i have something extra, but that’s not until the end. depending on how well the rest of tonight goes, at least.” he glanced over at you, and his heart practically melted at how excited you looked. 

 it wasn’t long before he had the truck parked at the space between alex’s dog’s area and the saloon. he once again let you out of the truck, offering his arm as you walked inside. gus was already ready for you; with a smile he led you to the reserved dining room, remarking how he would be back soon with some drinks. once the door was closed, sebastian awkwardly pulled your seat out for you, pushing it back in once you were seated. he took the seat across from you with a smile. the room had a romantic air to it; candles on a little side table, dimmed lighting, and all the blinds and curtains closed. soft guitar music played overhead. you both took a moment to enjoy the atmosphere, before you spoke up, leaning forward. 

 “so. who’s truck is that? i don’t think i’ve seen it before, and i really hope you didn’t buy one just for a date.” you teased him, and he rolled his eyes at you. 

 “you doubt me in such a way? i think i’m allowed to go the extra mile to impress you. but it’s my mom’s. we just keep it in the garage with my bike. it helps get materials around.” 

 “right. maybe i should invest in one… it would be easier than dragging around a cart all day.” 

 “i dunno. i always do enjoy the sight of you coming up the mountain, wagon and all.” 

 you rolled your eyes at him, smiling. “maybe i’ll keep the wagon, just for you.”

 he laughed as the door opened, with gus arriving with drinks. your favorite soda was placed in front of you, a similar drink placed in front of sebastian. gus let you know the food would be back shortly before bowing out of the room once more. 

 “so,” sebastian sipped on his drink. “i hope you count this as an, uh, official first date. while earlier today was amazing, i wanted to treat you properly. give you like, the whole proper first date experience? i just… i wanted to start things with you, officially, with this. i want this to be good for both of us.” 

 you smiled and reached across the table, squeezing his hand. “seb, the past couple days have been so much more than enough. you don’t need to go all out and rent out a private room just to make it a real date, you know?”

 he squeezed your hand back, nervously running a hand through his hair. “well… i know. you told me so many times it doesn’t matter but, you want us to get serious someday. so i wanted to do something a little bit more serious, you know? just… to show you that i mean it. i mean everything i say, about us being more. i also did it because,” he straightened up a little bit. “the extra surprise. i’ve decided what i’m gonna do with it. here.” sebastian reached into his back pocket, handing you a thick envelope. your name was written on the front carefully. you raised an eyebrow at him, pulling your hand back to slowly open it. 

 “ah! no, wait until you get home.” he smiled awkwardly. “just read it when you can, okay?” 

 as you nodded your head, gus entered with a trolley and two plates of food. he placed the food in front of you both and took your glasses back for refills, which only took a moment before he placed them in front of you and left you back alone. the food smelled amazing, and you both ate in silence. although, a thought slowly dawned on you. 

 “wait… how did you know this was all my favorite?”

 sebastian stared at you for a moment, his face going bright red as his mind searched for any kind of reasonable or, well, believable response. but the cat was out of the bag for now. he sighed and looked down at his plate, mumbling out his answer. 

 “i had to ask emily….”

 he looked back up at you and your eyes met in silence for a second before you started to chuckle. soon he started to as well, until you both were full-blown laughing at the situation. as the laughter died down you reached across the table and squeezed his hand. 

 “although it’s a little funny you had to ask her, i appreciate you doing it. it probably took a lot to ask her and kind of admit to yourself and her that you weren’t sure about this stuff.” 

 “i guess you’re right… asking her was worth it, i’d do it a thousand times over if it meant you were happy.”

 you blushed a little, nodding and pulling your hand back. 

 the rest of the night went smoothly. you enjoyed each other’s company, shared more jokes and poked a bit more fun at him here and there for having to ask emily about your likes when it came to food. eventually you both polished off dinner and left, giving gus and emily a decent tip at the end of the night. sebastian once again let you into the truck, making sure you were all in before shutting the passenger side door and climbing into the driver's side. the truck sprang to life once more as he drove back down the road to your farm, a comfortable silence back home. 

 once he pulled up to your little home, you turned to each other for the first time. it was a beautiful night, even you could see that through the windshield and windows of the truck. stars glimmered above and fireflies dance around in the night. maybe it was the fact that everything had gone so perfectly in the end because he willed it to be. even the nighttime atmosphere bent to the will of the man who sat next to you. you still couldn’t believe everything he had done. maybe that’s why you were inclined to scoot a little closer, almost leaning over the center console. 

 he froze for a second when you did, nervousness capturing him for a brief moment and he looked away. but something told him to just look back, and his body moved on its own after that. a hand went to the back of your head and the rest was history.

 the kiss was so intense your head was swimming the moment your lips met. his fingers intertwined themselves in your hair, making a home for themselves in the locks. he practically pulled you over the center console, right into his lap. his other hand was frantically searching for the pulley that makes his seat move backward, not wanting you to have to be pressed up against the steering wheel. luckily this ended up not being too terrible a worry - you needed to break for air. and you also needed to look at him, remind yourself that this whole thing was real. that he was real, that the past couple of days and weeks had been real. his stare melted you. it was hard to remember the fact that you were the one who pounced on him, not the other way around, with how he was holding you against him. the cab of the truck was hot, and he was warm to the touch. quiet, heavy breathing filled the space. it took a minute before you could think of anything to say. 

 “do you want to come inside?”

Chapter Text

 he was hard to ignore. from the minute you left the truck he was on you, kissing your exposed neck from behind and arms wrapped around your waist as you struggled to keep your key in your hands, let alone put it in to unlock the door. his fingers ghosted the waistband of your pants, then gliding along your stomach and then dancing themselves upward towards your chest. it felt like a million years on that porch, the air filled with heavy breaths and the whispers of sweet nothings against your skin as he tried his hardest not to push you into the house and go to town.

 but you managed to get the door open, and he finally pulled back - just to grab your hand and lead you back into your room. once you were in and he shut the door behind you both, he was fast to have pushed against it, hands pushing up your shirt. you were getting overwhelmed - your skin was hot, and you felt like your stomach had dropped and was in a pool of lava (aka intense arousal suddenly pooling, but, still). you also couldn’t breathe - there was no time. as much as you didn’t want to, you pulled back, breathing deeply and locking eyes with him. he studied your face for a moment, and you watched remorse flicker across his stare for a moment. 

 “ah… i didn’t think, to ah- i mean, sorry. do you want to?”

 “do i want- oh! oh, uh, yes. yes, please. i do.” 

 his expression changed once he got a yes, a mischievous glint in his eye as he leaned forward, lips just barely against yours. “ah. please, huh?” 

 “can you shut up and-”

 he did what was asked - in a swift movement his lips were back on yours. your arms wrapped around his neck, fingers entangling themselves in the hair at the back of his head as he pushed his tongue into your mouth. your head was swimming again, but it felt a lot less overwhelming than earlier. he pulled back this time, looking you over before grabbing you by the legs and pulling you up. instinctively your legs wrapped around him, and he carried you pretty effortlessly to the bed. he was gentle - he laid you down, and just admired you for a second. your face and body was flushed and he liked it; liked being the reason for it. your hair and clothes had gotten all messed up in the whole encounter, and his hands just kind of moved on their own. 

 he started to undo the bottom buttons of your shirt, working upward, mostly just before your chest was exposed. he watched you carefully as his head came down to where he had left it buttoned, and left soft kisses on the hot, exposed skin. his eyes stayed on your face, waiting for any kind of back reaction. but once your head snapped back and a soft moan escaped your lips and as he bit down on the skin, and started to leave a hickey, he sorta lost it for a second. he was determined to leave an artwork of bites and hickeys, down to where the waist of your pants started. he wanted more, more of those harmonic little noises he could draw out of you. the thought of you moaning his name during all of this made his pants even tighter than before, but he was going to ignore himself for right now - he wanted to make you feel good first. 

 you, on the other hand, were a fucking mess. overstimulated was the closest word you could think of to describe how you felt under his touch right now, but you didn’t want it to stop either. it was too good - he was too good. good god, was he amazing. he was always amazing, but, especially right now, as he marked your skin with the evidence you were all his. it was barely anything in terms of all that would come tonight, but you were already euphoric over it. in your head, this was as if you were doing something like this the first time. which it technically wasn’t - at least in terms of foreplay and messing around. but that was your old life, and all you could care about was the now. and the now was bliss. 

 he looked up at you again, fingers getting ready to undo the button on your jeans. “can i?”

 “if you don’t, i might go fucking insane.” 

 he laughed but did as he was told. but he went slowly; he wanted this image, this experience, etched into his brain for as long as he was lucky enough to recall this night. he tugged down the fabric, tossing the clothing into a corner of the room as his hands came to rest on your thighs. you tensed initially; waiting with a caught breath to see what he would do. he grimaced for a second. the tightness of his pants was starting to get to him. he glanced back at you, and bit back a groan at just how good you looked. especially just in underwear and a half-buttoned shirt, eyes needy and skin already showing the bright marks of his teeth. it was art. 

 “one sec’, angel.” he leaned over you, pressing a deep kiss to your lips before he undid his jeans and kicked them off, letting out a sigh of relief as his hard-on was no longer as constrained. he positioned himself back between your thighs, pulling your legs up over his shoulders as he pressed kisses all over your inner thighs. your hips instinctively jutted forward, seeking more of the feeling. it made your stomach do flips, drew whimpers out of you that he took in like it was a symphony. you were having a hard time keeping it together. you just wanted him, wanted to make him feel good and have him make you feel just as good. 

 “mmh- seb-?”

 he stopped, crawling back up so he was held up by his hands while he positioned his hard-on to be pressed right up against between your legs. “yes?”

 you tried really hard not to press back into what was still in his boxers, teasing him like how he was teasing you. but then you realized, you could say the words and make him practically melt. so you leaned up, lips pressing up his neck and leaving slow kisses until you reached his ear. the words came out so easily and yet you had trouble making them form on your tongue. 

 “could you fuck me now?” 

 if we could imagine how love and lust could humble a god into just a man, it would be sebastian in this exact moment. he groaned at your words, pulling you up into a loving kiss that seemed to last centuries. he was the one to pull back, forehead resting against yours for a moment before he nodded. 

 “anything. anything for you. i’m gonna fuckin’ ruin you, though.” his words were soft, his tone was stern. authoritative. “god am i gonna ruin you.” 

 he was fast in his movements. he sat back up, getting off the bed to pull off his boxers and hoodie. he dipped back down between your legs, teeth meeting the waistband of your underwear and pulling them down with his mouth. that alone made you want to melt right then and there. the sudden cool air of your room meeting what was between your legs caused you to draw in a sharp breath, but it quickly morphed into a gasp as his warm length was suddenly pressed up against you. he leaned down to give you another kiss, though shorter than the rest as he moved to leave a hickey on your neck. his fingers worked finish on the last set of buttons of your shirt, almost ripping it off of you, throwing it in the same corner he threw his jeans. his stare was lust-filled, and as his eyes met yours he had a gentle smile.  

 “i’m gonna go inside you now, ‘kay? tell me if it hurts, okay?” you nodded up at him, and he took a moment to adjust himself before slowly pushing in. it didn’t quite hurt, but it was a new sensation of getting used to his length. he wasn’t necessarily too big, but he was a little girthy. but nothing that was going to ruin the rush of pleasure that followed the initial sensation. he was eventually hilted inside you, and he was a mess. he was biting his bottom lip so hard he could feel the bruise already forming. he wanted to wait before doing anything more, let alone breathe, to make sure you were fine. slowly he started to thrust in and out, and once again the melody of noises you made, he was drawing out. every breath and moan felt like a song perfectly made for him, for his ears only. his soft grunts and sharp breaths were just as perfect to you - perfectly crafted, and expressed. a score just for you. 

 he was letting the speed and intensity of his thrusts build up. a slow build-up was going to be the best way to let loose onto you. plus it would help him keep himself in check; because all he wanted was to make your body hyperaware of who it belonged to at this moment. he timed his speed and intensity on the frequency of your own vocal reactions, but it was hard not to let the noises push him over the edge. ah… but it was getting there. one hand held him up, the other alternating on gripping either your waist or hip as he got more intense. but he could feel the release bubbling up in him. 

 which would be alright with you, because you could feel yours. the familiar clench of the pit of your stomach, a flare-up of blush on your skin, and the way you felt like you were going to get light-headed were all tell-tale signs. you were trying to find the words between your moans, tongue losing them as soon as you felt like you could push them out. but you did. eventually. 

 “jesus, seb- ‘m gonna c- ah! cum, please,” the words were enough to send him going harder, a choked chuckle escaping him. he kissed you, hard and sloppy, pulling away right as he hilted himself hard inside you, staying still as he spoke. 

 “aw. asking me if you can cum, huh?” he pulled almost all the way out, before thrusting back into you. “you go ahead, angel.” 

 he picked back up his previous pace; hard, but not too fast, just like before. it wasn’t long before the feeling of your arousal finally tipping over happened - you came with a loud gasp, crying out his name like it was a word of praise as you rode our your orgasm. sebastian kept going as you finished, but his thrusts became a bit faster and sloppier as he was pushing towards his own finish line. he pulled out with a groan, cum pumping out of his length and onto your stomach as you both breathed heavily. he almost threw himself down onto you, mostly falling and laying next to you. you looked upon each other, the tiredness of after-sex settling in and both your breathing getting slower. he looked completely blissed out, happy. you looked about the same to him, albeit more tired-looking than him. he leaned over, planting another kiss on your lips. it was gentle, like the ones he had given you before. 

 it was wordless for a while. you went to the bathroom to clean off your stomach and when you returned he waited expectantly in your bed, under the covers, with a bottle of water he grabbed from the fridge for you. you crawled into bed with him, cuddled into his side as you sipped on the water. 

 “so. um. was it okay? are you okay?” he looked nervous and a little shy like he normally seemed around you, it was baffling that this was the same man who before was saying he was going to ruin you. you let out a small chuckle, nodding at him. 

 “i’m okay, it was… good. great. amazing. were you lying when you said you hadn’t gone super far before?” you teased him, and he let out a huff and rubbed the back of his neck. 

 “i dunno… i guess you just bring it outta me, you’re just so perfect.” 

 you smiled at that. you basked in the afterglow for a while, silently, listening to the soft sounds of each other’s breathing and his heart beat. 

 you don’t remember who fell asleep first, but you just remember waking up and feeling strong arms wrapped around you, and a sense of calm and security you hadn’t felt in a long time. 

 and all that followed was the rush of overwhelming love as you laid there, drifting back off to sleep. 

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hello! i would like to start this off with a genuine thank you to everyone who has read, left a comment or kudos, or just shared this story around. i loved writing it, and it was the first piece i ever published on ao3. i really, truly, deeply am thankful for the attention this got. 

onto the less nice stuff. lucky was and is extremely important to me. as i said, it’s the first thing i ever posted and it really sort of blew up. 7.3k is so many people to me. but as much as lucky will be important to me, i unfortunately just cannot find the will or want to keep writing for it. it feels like a chore, and ultimately, it’s not fair to the few people i see consistently coming back for more and asking about updates. 

so i plan on writing and epilogue, of sorts. after that there will be no more updates on this, but i still plan on writing for stardew! and i have some plans for more sebastian one shots and shorter chapter fics. 

again, thank you for this. for everything you have given towards this fic.