Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sunflowers are a special type of flower, hyperaccumulators. They absorb toxic metals and purified them, sending fresh air into the system.

"Our little sunflower." Haley's parents always said.

Her dad had been a plant nerd, always gardening, and he would tuck a sunflower behind Haley's ear and kiss her forehead. "My sunflower." She would roll her eyes, call him cheesy, but a faint pink would taint her cheeks, refusing to dissipate no matter how much she told it to.

She always brightened up the room like; "a ray of sunshine" according to her mom. Whenever they were sad, like when grandma died, she would smile and say something, and everyone would laugh and thank her for lifting the mood. Either that or she'd get yelled at for "being insensitive." But she focused on the times she got a pat on the head for being sweet.

But now her parents were gone.

And she couldn't seem to make anyone smile like she used to.

The ice cream cone grew warm under her grip as she talked with Alex. "I still can't get it through my head it's summer."

"You always did have a thick skull." She mused and took a lick of the ice cream, propping herself up on his stand.

Alex looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Be nice."

"Pft, what's the occasion?" Haley shot back.

"New farmer." He said, smug satisfaction on his face. Nothing ever happened other than one of Morris's stupid stunts every once in a while. Same faces, same stone and dirt paths. A new farmer was definitely unexpected. And unbelievable.

Another lick of the ice cream as Alex got another ready for her. "You're joking."

“I’m not. Moved here a few days ago, actually. Rumor is she hasn't left the farm yet, and every time Lewis checks on her she's hacking away at weeds. You think she's even slept?"

"I could care less." Haley scoffed.

"Couldn't."

Haley looked up to see a woman her age leaned against the bridge, smiling slightly. One hand held her up against the stone and the other held a barrel of blueberries to her hip.

“Pardon?"

"You said you could care less. That's not the phrase. Saying you could care less means you cared in the first place, and considering we haven't met yet, I'm assuming you don't." The farmer held their hand out for Haley to shake.

Haley didn't move, her face twisted in a grimace. "I don't shake people who don't wash their hands."

"I don't either, but I was willing to make an exception." The farmer muttered, putting her hands in her overall pockets.

"Pardon?" Haley repeated.

Without another word, the farmer turned away from Haley and set a few coins down on the table. "Ice cream, please. Just a vanilla."

Alex shrugged and handed her the one that he was going to give to Haley.

And as soon as she arrived, the farmer left.

"She's rude." Haley huffed, and under her breath she added; "Stole my ice cream."

Chapter Text

Sunflowers are like any other flower, their roots deeply planted in the ground, unmoving and stubborn until ripped up.

"Haley, please, please get up. Clean the cushions. I'm going to make dinner." Emily pleaded, her hands tightly clasped together.

The sisters fought far too much for either of their liking. It was almost always fruitless and ended in both of them putting off whatever they were fighting over. That was one thing Haley and Emily could bond over. Procrastination.

Haley's arms were crossed in her signature pose. "I--don't--want to." She put her legs up on the coffee table Emily had just scrubbed stains off of.

"Haley, you're being childish." Emily rubbed her nose as she sighed heavily. Something Haley was very used to. "I do the vast majority of work in this house, and you know it."

Haley didn't know why she was like the way she was. She certainly didn't like it, she didn't like making her sister mad, she didn't like being "mean", but it just happened.

There was a muted click and Haley heard the noise of the front door dragging across the carpet. The first thing Haley saw of the newcomer was small flecks of dirt scattered the carpet and she was able to form a guess on who it was.

"Am I interrupting something?" It was that stupid farmer girl, head cocked and eyebrows raised in curiosity. It made Haley's blood boil. 

"Yes, yes you are." Haley snapped her fingers which was followed by a motion to the door. "Leave."

Emily shot her a look. "Haley's just being a little stubborn. She's not usually like this--"

"Yes, I am."

"What are you arguing about?" The farmer asked, released the doorknob. Why did she care? It didn't affect her. If something didn't affect Haley, she didn't care. So what was so different about this new girl?

"Leave." Haley repeated.

Emily's face twisted into a forced smile, eyes squinting, lips facing downward despite her mouth being pushed up. "Haley just doesn't want to clean the under the couch cushions."

All Haley could add to the conversation was meaningless jabs--a fact that annoyed her to no end. "Cleaning is your job." She hoped to insert herself into the room more, even if it was as via a rude jab. At least she had someone's attention.

"And what's yours?" The farmer turned to Haley, a small triumphant smile on her face.

"I see you've taken your side in this conversation." With a huff, Haley stood up to storm dramatically off to her bedroom, maybe slide down the door like they did in movies, maybe sigh and shove her face into her pillow and have her hair dramatically envelop her.

Then she felt calloused fingers wrap around her wrist, gentle yet dirty. Emily's hands were always blistered from sewing, so Haley's jaw dropped when she sat it wasn't Emily that grabbed her hand.

Haley snatched her hand away from the farmer girl, shaking it like she'd been burned, the warm feeling on her hand matching the warm feeling on her face. "Don't touch me! Ew!"

The farmer girl ignored her remark. "Maybe there's a compromise to be made. This could be Haley's one weekly chore."

With a sigh, Haley stopped waving her hand. "...fine. Then they'll be no reason to argue anymore."

"Great!" The farmer clapped her hands together and turned to Emily. "Now, I brought you some materials for--"

Haley didn't listen to the rest of the conversation, because she was in her bedroom, busy thinking about why she blushed when the farmer grabbed her hand.

Chapter Text

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

It's what sunflowers do."

-Helen Keller

Haley was as good at ignoring things she didn't like as much as she was good at makeup. Usually, she ignored Alex while he droned on about football players and their tight little shorts, or Emily when she demanded Haley do the dishes. Today, yesterday, and forever, she was ignoring the farmer.

It was small little encounters that Haley disliked so much. The farmer would wave at her from across the saloon and Haley would wrinkle her nose. The farmer would look at Haley when she stopped at the house for Emily, and Haley would respond by immediately standing up and going to her room.

But today's encounter was not one Haley could ignore easily considering she had just walked headfirst into the farmer who was holding a tub of raspberries, promptly lathering Haley head to toe in berry juices. "Watch where you're going!" Haley hissed.

The farmers eyes widened and her hands immediately went to wiping the juice off Haley's face, but in more accurate terms she was just smudging it. "I am so so so so sorry."

"I spent hours on this makeup and I actually thought this dress was decent!" Haley yanked her face away.

"I'll buy you a new dress." The farmer said quickly. "You can pick it out--"

Haley let out a choking noise that was supposed to be a scoff but raspberries were getting in her nose, which made it very difficult to stay calm. "Like I'd be seen in public with you."

"It would ruin my reputation too, toots." The farmers eyes rolled, looking at the Pierre's store behind Haley.

That woman didn't even have the audacity to look Haley in the eyes.

Her hands went back up to brush berries off Haley's shoulder but Haley yanked away again. "Ew, you'll get me dirty! You're covered in dirt, I don't need that on me too."

"I am not covered in dirt. I don't know who you think you are honey, but you have no right to judge others bodies. These right here are freckles." The farmers nose wrinkled in disapproval. "You do know what freckles are, correct?"

"What do you take me for, an idiot?" Haley laughed bitterly.

The farmer was silent, chin wrinkled as her cheeks puffed up with poorly suppressed giggles.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, sorry." With a wave of her hand the farmer dismissed her disrespect and began to rummage through her pockets for money. "How'd twenty bucks for the dress would?"

"Great, I could get a nice bra at Goodwill with that money." Haley sneered.

"Whatever. Your sister sews, don't she?"

Haley matched the farmer's disapproving expression. "That girl knows nothing about fashion. She'd made me something straight out of Dance Moms."

"How hard is it for you to say something positive?"

"Very."

"Good to know you're such a stellar person." Farmer mumbled sarcastically, giving up completely and handing Haley her entire wallet. It was a surprisingly fancy leather-bound type but not any brand Haley recognized.

"You do not get to insult my person like that!"

The sun shifted under the clouds, shining into the farmers eyes. While she shielded her face she spoke. Her hand cast a shadow across her face. A glint of sunlight sparkled in the farmers eyes as she gave another stupid remark. "You're not doing yourself many favors."

"Watch this! Watch me compliment you." Haley thought for a moment. "Hmm... If it weren’t for those clothes you might actually be pretty cute."

Mirth finally burst free from the farmers lips. Haley had expected an evil-ice-cream stealing cackle to escape the farmer, but Haley was disappointed to hear it was the opposite. It wasn't loud, the only sign she was laughing was the occasional wheeze and her face, which was scrunched up, eyebrows knitted together. "Yet another person who wants my clothes off."

Haley's face felt as hot as her curling iron despite the cool berries still coating her skin. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

The farmer opened her mouth to no-doubt piss Haley off more but a bee buzzed by, investigating the juice on Haley's hair, prompting a high pitched scream from the blonde.

Again came the wheeze laugh from the farmer. "That's not the type of bee that stings. Little fella won't do a thing to you."

The bee flew right by Haley's ear and Haley whipped around to avoid the noise (which was almost as annoying as the farmers laugh) and she saw her house down the street in the middle of her frantic motions. Right. She needed to go home and shower. Not talk with the country bumpkin.

Haley thought for a moment before deciding the other woman didn't deserve the decency of a goodbye.

The door to Haley and her sister's home clicked open and closed behind Haley. Back when they first got that door as a replacement for an old one that had stemmed mold her parents had set up a bell that rang when the door opened so whoever just came in could be bombarded with hugs and kisses. All Haley got now was a call from Emily to do her laundry.

The shower felt good on Haley's skin and she liked watching the red and purple fruit discharge swirl around the drain. She soaked in the bath a little bit afterwards too and when she got out she prayed to Yoba Emily wouldn't lecture her about the ring of color she had left in the tub.

Haley liked her room. It was a strict "her" zone. Only Haley. Not even Alex was allowed in. In all honesty, Haley had only implemented that rule because as kids Alex wouldn't let her in his treehouse. Though, Haley got her vengeance when the barbells he'd drudged up there weighed it down enough that it collapsed in on itself.

Clearly from the arguing with Emily about chores, cleaning was not Haley's thing. The only thing Haley could stand to organize was her vanity. All her nail polish's lay out in front of her in color order, her eyeshadow and blush tucked away in a drawer away from the fan Haley had tucked in the corner's cruel breeze.

When Haley was dressed, she sat down on her stool, staring at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was gone now. Now she was just Haley. Now was the part where she contemplated life instead of just fashion.

Freckles.

Haley didn't have freckles, but she had moles. Cursed, evil moles that didn't come off no matter how many times she'd scrubbed. In her teen years after her parents disappeared she'd scrubbed at her skin where the brownish black dots sat until she was missing a few layers of skin. They had left because she wasn't perfect enough. She wasn't their little sunflower, she hadn't given enough.

Haley knew she had to go to bed soon, get her beauty rest, and that sleeping in makeup was stupid (teen her had also learned that the wrong way) but Haley just wanted to look pretty before she went to bed.

Pretty. Pretty meant no moles, no freckles.

Pretty meant concealer.

After a few minutes of masking her imperfections with powder, she looked at herself in the mirror, hoping to find some satisfaction.

She didn't know what she felt, but it wasn't satisfaction.

One thing she did still feel was the farmers hands on her face, wiping at the berry juice she had spilt.

Chapter Text

Once you plant your sunflower seeds, the germination phase of the flower’s life cycle will begin. During germination, roots will develop from the seed and a shoot will push through the surface of the soil.

Pelican Town's people moved with the sun. When the sun dipped below the hills in the distance the townsfolk dipped into their homes and tents, only a few exempt from that routine. Haley was not one of those people.

She always left her blinds open so that the light flooded her room and woke her up when the day started. By the time the sun rose, Pierre's was opening up, Marnie's was opening up, and by the time Haley would be ready peoples feet would be pounding against the stone of the square.

With a groan, Haley flipped on the lights and rolled out of bed.

At about 10AM she finally padded her way over to the kitchen. When she opened the cabinets for some food the cabinets creaked, no doubt alerting her sister of her presence in the other room. But instead of her sister turning the corner it was a different familiar face.

"Haley?"

Haley's face assumed a shocked expression. Haley wasn't wearing makeup. Haley didn't have her fancy clothes. Haley was just Haley. And for some reason it bothered her even more that the farmer was seeing her like this.

"What are you doing in my house?" She looked to the side towards the stove in an attempt to cover more of her face. The stove had dirty dishes piled on top of it so high it almost reached the hood.

"I came here for Emily." The farmer shrugged, taking a step forward. "It's ten, so I thought she would be up and you wouldn't be. Getting your beauty sleep and all."

Maybe it was because Haley felt so bare that the farmer looked less ugly by comparison. A lot less ugly.

Haley's eyes darted around until she saw something she could do with her hands. The cold of the jar she had grabbed smothered her hands with condensation, making it very hard to twist it open.

"Having trouble there?" The farmer smiled softly, hands on her hips.

"You-!" Haley started and then her eyes drifted down to the farmers arms. It must have been from working on the farm, but she was ripped.

Haley had decided a long time ago that she wasn't attracted to muscles. Alex had shown her pictures he'd printed out of football players a while ago and he seemed more into them than she was. But for some reason Haley was questioning her past conclusion, which was odd considering the farmer was a girl and Haley didn't like girls, or women, or females, or any of the sort. She couldn't even say she liked herself.

Haley inhaled. "I do need help. You look strong enough, mind opening this for me?" She cherished the shocked expression on the farmers face.

"You can admit you need help? So you're not beyond fixing."

"Har har, take the jar."

"Ooh, and she rhymes too."

"I hate you."

"You're not the first."

The farmer slid the lid of the jar with practiced ease and handed it back to Haley. "Back on the farm, I'm shoving fruits into jars all the time."

"Like the fruits you spilt on me yesterday?" Haley questioned.

"Precisely."

Haley fought the urge to laugh, but she absolutely refused to give the farmer that satisfaction.

For a moment, Haley almost put her guard down. She almost forgot she wasn't with Emily or Alex, she almost forgot she wasn't wearing makeup.

"Thanks, I guess. You're not so bad." Haley muttered.

"Didn't you just say you hated me?"

"Listen here, farmer girl-" Haley was cut off by the farmers giggle.