Sebastian POV
It was just another uneventful afternoon—exactly how I preferred them. The garage smelled like oil and rust, music thumping through my earbuds as I worked on the bike. Abigail was here again, uninvited as usual. Not that I cared enough to kick her out.
Sam would've been slouched on the couch with her, cracking dumb jokes and getting grease on his hoodie—if he wasn't stuck in another mind-numbing JojaMart shift.
"Seb."
I barely heard her voice over the music, but something in her tone pulled me out from under the bike. I sat up, brows furrowed. She wasn't looking at me—she was staring out the garage door.
I followed her gaze and saw Alex walking up the path, hands shoved in his pockets like he was trying to disappear into them. He looked uncomfortable. Good.
Abigail looked like she was settling in for a drama-filled episode of her favorite show. I just felt a familiar weight settle in my chest. Whatever this was, I already hated it.
Alex stopped a few feet away and gave me a weird, twitchy smile. "Hey..."
"Hi." Flat. I didn't bother pretending.
"I just wanted to catch up," he said. The silence between us was loud, until he let out a half-hearted laugh. "Okay, not really. I've actually got something important to talk to you about."
Of course. I stood up fully and wiped the oil off my hands with an old rag. I wasn't in the mood for whatever "important" thing brought Alex of all people to me.
"Abigail, can we have a minute?" he asked, not even looking at her.
She rolled her eyes dramatically, but didn't argue. She slipped inside through the garage door, probably grinning the whole way. She wasn't going far. We both knew that.
"So?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral. Cold. I didn't have the energy to fake interest.
Alex rubbed the back of his neck like the weight of what he was about to say was physically painful. "I didn't know who else to talk to," he started. "It's about Hannah."
My muscles tensed.
"She's planning to go to the Skull Cavern," he continued, "and she's doing it alone."
My eyes narrowed. "Seriously?"
I'd always assumed that place was a ghost story the old miners told to scare people off from going too deep. But the way Alex looked—like someone had carved the truth into his bones—said otherwise.
"I tried to stop her," he said. "She wouldn't listen. I don't know when she's going, but I know she's been preparing for it. Stockpiling supplies. Keeping quiet."
I stared at him, saying nothing. Letting the silence fill the space so he had to face what he was really saying.
Eventually, he cracked. "Look... I know it's weird hearing this from me, but... you're the only person she might actually listen to. Whether you want to believe it or not, your opinion matters to her."
That hit harder than I wanted it to.
I looked down, pretending to be more interested in the floor than the tightness crawling up my throat. She hadn't said a word to me about this. She hadn't said much of anything since the Moonlight Jellies.
And maybe that was my fault.
"I'll try," I muttered.
He gave me a grateful nod. "Thanks." Then he turned and walked away.
The moment he was gone, I sat down on the old couch in the corner of the garage, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with shaking fingers I pretended weren't shaking.
Why you, Hannah? Why always you?
The garage door opened again.
"I know why she's doing this," Abigail said, like she'd been waiting for her cue. She marched back in like she never left.
Of course she heard everything. She always does.
"She's doing it to protect me," she said. "I told you, remember? About the Wizard being my dad. And his ex-wife—the witch—she's been trying to get to me for years. Out of spite, revenge, whatever. And since Sam broke the talisman... it means she can find me again."
I ran a hand down my face. "Why Hannah?"
"Because she's the only one who can stop it. The Junimos chose her. Yeah, the little forest spirit things? They're real. They're the ones keeping the balance in Stardew. But they can't hold off the dark magic alone anymore. Hannah's tied to the land—her farm, her family, something deeper. I don't understand it all, but she's the only one who can fight this kind of magic. Not even the Wizard can do it alone."
She was talking fast, like it was all trying to spill out at once. I let her talk. Just listened. Smoked.
"She's not doing this because she wants to be a hero," Abigail added. "She's doing it because she thinks it's the only way to protect everyone. To protect me."
I stared at the floor. My voice came out quieter than I meant. "She was never just the new farmer down in the woods."
"Not to you, at least." Abigail smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "Cut it out."
"You can pretend all you want, Seb," she said softly, "but if something happens to her, we both know it would destroy you."
"She's my friend," I said flatly. "That's it. I'm not dragging her into all my issues. She deserves better than that. If something happened between us, we wouldn't even be friends anymore."
Saying it out loud didn't make it feel any more true.
Abigail sighed. "I just want you to be happy. For once."
I didn't look at her. Just put out the cigarette and got up
I want to be happy too, but I would never say that out loud.
When we got to the mines, actually finding Hannah like Abigail swore we would, the conversation went exactly as I thought it would -Hannah defending her purpose, avoiding eye contact with me, building up a wall over her feelings that I forced her to build.
I didn't expect that we would all be going into the mines together, but I also don't want Hannah going alone, Abigail was right, I would never forgive her if Hannah died trying to save her.
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