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she was married now. she almost couldn’t believe it. sebastian had been the first one to catch her eye when she moved into town, and once she had finally broken through his tough outer shell, she knew it was something both of them wanted.
she hadn’t thought twice before buying the mermaid pendant from the old mariner and presenting it to her love, relishing in his eager little gasp of “yes, yes, yes" and the kiss he presented to her in return. but now she was.
she loved him, and he loved her. and sure, in the first few days after getting married, he could barely keep his hands and eyes off her for a few moments. they sat on the couch all day wrapped in each other’s arms, stealing kisses between giggles and sweet nothings. it was everything she could have wanted and more. but these days, the most she got was a peck on the cheek when he was making his morning coffee, and his arms wrapped around her when they lay in bed. even though he didn’t need to work anymore since she was earning more than enough for them both, she quickly realized that his tendency to stay locked up in his room back in his mother’s house wasn’t just because of work, it was also because he preferred not being around other people.
and she quickly learned that “other people” also usually included his own wife.
she recognized that he made an effort to be more attentive to her than he was with other people, but it had been two weeks since he had stopped giving her as much attention, and she felt like it wasn’t enough for her just to be special to him. no, she knew it wasn’t enough. but then she met sam.
technically she had already met him before (him being one of sebastian’s best friends made it impossible not to) but it was only recently that she had started becoming closer to him.
it started with a single gift. she’d finally figured out how to extract maple syrup from the countless maple trees around her farm, and soon found herself with far more maple syrup than she knew what to do with. she mentioned this to jodi, and jodi gave her the recipe for maple bars, a recipe she had apparently perfected because of sam’s adoration for them.
she made an entire batch of them and, remembering that jodi had told her they were sam’s favorite, delivered a handful to his door. she placed them in a small bag tied with a blue ribbon, the color reminding her of the hoodie he always seemed to wear. she hadn’t thought much of it, figuring that since her husband was so fond of sam, she might as well make an effort to be nice to him too. but the way his eyes lit up when he saw the gift made warmth blossom in her heart, and so did the warm grin he gave her when he immediately invited her in to share the maple bars with him.
they didn’t even bother to sit at the table, sam instead ushering her into his room. she opted to pull the chair in front of his desk closer to his bed and sit in it, while he went straight for his bed. as she watched him jump onto his bed, immediately starting to excitedly tear into the ribbon holding the bag of maple bars closed, she offhandedly thought about how if anyone else she barely knew had invited her into their room, she wouldn’t have taken the offer. but something about the warmth he radiated was disarming. she supposed the fact that he was childhood friends with her husband also helped.
the look on his face as he bit into the first bar made her mouth run dry, but she laughed it off. and she laughed even harder when he fixed her with a playful frown, soon giving up and joining her. he offered her one, telling her in a sheepish voice “if i don’t give you one now, you might not end up getting any.” she laughed and reminded him that she had the entire rest of the batch at home, and that he could have all of the ones that she’d brought him, but he insisted on giving her one, so she relented and took it. however, she didn’t hide her delight at seeing how much he enjoyed her treats.
between mouthfuls of candy, sam chatted with her excitedly. despite being the epitome of a ditzy blonde skater jock, he was genuinely interested in learning about how she brought the old rundown farm her grandfather had left her back to life. he hung onto every word she said about farming practices and taking care of animals and the most profitable crops to grow. it was…..different from what she was used to. sebastian obviously listened to her when she rambled excitedly after bringing in a good harvest, but he only asked about it as much as he needed to. it was always as if he was only talking to her about it for the sake of making conversation. he didn’t seem interested at all, and she told herself that was okay.
because it was, wasn’t it? sebastian was allowed to be interested in different things than her. it wasn’t their shared interests that made her fall in love with him after all. but that didn’t change the fact that sam made her feel heard. and maybe that was why, the next day, she showed up at his door again with the rest of the batch packed neatly into a tupperware box, citing the fact that “these would make you a lot happier than they’d make my cupboards,” because that was where they’d end up staying for the next few seasons, until she had an excuse to give them away.
or maybe it was because of the blinding smile he gave her and the friendly arm around her shoulder ushering her in yet again to share the disgustingly sweet treats with him.
she learned that he hardly ever knew his father, since his father has been off serving in the army ever since he was a child. she also learned that despite how young and naive he seemed, sam had been filling in the hole his father left in their family ever since he was old enough to get a job (the money his father sent home every month was hardly enough to sustain a family of three, but both jodi and sam were too scared to tell him that). vincent hadn’t been born when his father left, so sam was also the only father figure vincent had ever known. she absentmindedly wondered how he managed to do all that and still keep being the carefree and giving person he is, but she kept that to herself.
she didn’t come again for a few days, but only to be able to collect enough maple syrup to make another batch of maple bars, so that she might have an excuse to go see him again. she didn’t really talk to him outside of these interactions, however. she supposed it was because a part of her almost felt guilty for spending more time with sam than she did with her own husband.
but whose fault was that, really? sebastian was the one that hardly ever left his room for more than a few minutes, except for long midnight strolls that she was never invited on. there was no reason that she should be feeling guilty for spending more time with others than him. and yet here she was, desperately whipping up another batch of maple bars to give herself some excuse to talk to sam again, even though she knew that if she showed up at his door empty-handed, she would still be welcomed in with open arms. sam told her as much, too, amusedly pointing out that regardless of whether or not her company meant maple bars, he enjoyed it all the same. and so she went home that night and convinced herself that she was done feeling guilty. sam was her friend, and it was time she started treating him like one.
the next day, she invited sam for drinks at the saloon. he happily accepted the offer, and the two of them set themselves down on the blue couch next to the pool table that sam loved to frequent. after one round of drinks, she decided that drunk sam was her favorite version of sam. he wasn’t an overexcited drunk like sebastian. in fact, it was as if the alcohol mellowed him out. as if it stripped away all of the expectations and worries on his shoulders and just left her with….sam. even though he was quieter, he wasn't any less sincere, rather, it felt like he was more so. she loved it. he sheepishly mentioned that he doesn’t really drink, and it made sense to her. this was a side of him that not everyone got to see, and she felt special that he allowed her to see it.
as they talked, she silently convinced herself that she didn’t feel guilty. she convinced herself that she didn’t feel guilty when his soft, drunken smile made butterflies flutter in her stomach. that she didn’t feel guilty when she scooted closer to him so their legs were brushing against each other. she even convinced herself that she didn’t feel guilty when her cheeks heated up at sam lazily placing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. this was completely normal, she told herself. they were just friends sharing a few drinks.
it was so normal that she invited him to get drinks again every chance she got. and despite the fact that sam didn’t really like drinking, he always accepted with a warm grin. she even convinced him to teach her how to play pool. soon, she became almost as good as him, and the only bitter part of her first victory against him was that he would no longer be behind her with his arms against hers to correct her stance. it became such a common occurrence to see them both together at the saloon that word started spreading around town, and one day she came home to sebastian’s crossed arms and accusing frown. she already knew what he was probably upset about. her eyes drifted to the ground, wanting to look anywhere but at the man that had been the source of her guilt for the past few weeks. he placed his hands on her arms, imploring her to meet his eyes.
“should i be worried?” he murmured, using a hand to tilt her chin up to look at him when she didn’t acknowledge him. seeing the desperation in his eyes, she presented him with a warm smile, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. “no,” she said, “i promise.” he gave her a relieved smile and, in bed that night, kissed her for the first time in weeks.
she stopped seeing sam for nearly a week, both from guilt and from fear that sebastian would become more suspicious. but when she had clint break open some geodes she found in the mines, she found that one of them had a tigerseye in it. she remembered sam telling her that it was his favorite gemstone. she considered just selling it to clint, but she ultimately decided that she was going to take the long way home and drop it off at sam’s house.
she told herself that she wasn’t going to stay for very long, that she was only going to give it to him, (hopefully) accept his thanks, and be on her way. but the grateful hug he gave her along with the plea to stay because “you haven’t wanted to hang out recently. i’ve missed you.” made her change her mind. he ushered her into his room and, once he sat down on the bed, patted the spot next to him. she looked at him uneasily for a second, but the warm smile he was giving her made her decide to accept the offer.
he wrapped an arm around her, and fiddled with the gemstone in his other hand. “i can’t believe you got me this….it must have cost a fortune.” he said, tearing his eyes from the stone and staring at her in awe. she meekly explained that she’d found it in the mines, making the look on his face shift to one of worry. he put the gem down gingerly on the ground and looked her up and down, tracing his hands over her arms as if to look for any sign that she had been hurt. she felt her breath catch in her throat.
when he was satisfied that she was okay, he looked up at her and fervently thanked her again. she was suddenly acutely aware of how close he’d gotten, close enough that she could feel the ghost of his breath on her face. all she needed to do was move forward a few inches, and their lips would meet. she met his eyes and noticed that they had dilated. his eyes flickered downward then back up to her eyes. she didn’t know who ended up closing the distance between them - it was probably both of their doing - but all she knew was that in the next second, she was drowning in him. she felt him moving against her, their lips seeming to fit perfectly together. he prodded her mouth open and let his tongue dart inside, using an arm to pull her impossibly closer. when she pulled away to catch her breath, he rested his forehead against hers, and she looked up at him with a dopey smile plastered on her face. sam almost returned the smile, but something seemed to occur to him and he gently pulled away from her, sitting back and frowning.
“this is wrong.” he murmured, running a hand through his long spiked hair. “we need to stop.” suddenly, the reality of what she’d just done crashed into her, and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying.
sebastian. she belonged to sebastian.
“you’re right,” she agreed, rubbing her arms uncomfortably. “i should go.” she stood up to leave, but the frown on sam’s face turned to desperation and he pulled her back down.
“no,” he whispered pleadingly. “please don’t go.” she found herself listening to him and sitting back down, but before she could fully sit down, sam’s arms were hooked around her legs, pulling her into his lap. his arms brushed over her sides as his lips crashed into hers again, harder this time. he trailed his fingers over her skin, and she let out a little sigh into his mouth. after a while, he detached from her mouth to pepper kisses all over her face and neck, making her giggle. he smiled against her skin in response. he soon stopped and reached a hand up to cup her face. she leaned into his touch, letting out a little contented sound at the gesture. he simply stared at her for a minute, just taking her in with a smile.
“will you stay?” he murmured. it was a simple request, but she knew the implications. staying the night….she didn’t want to get caught. hell, she knew they were going to get caught. but the hopeful look in his eyes made her nod affirmatively, pressing a kiss to his temple. she spent the next few hours wrapped up in sam’s arms, both of them pressing soft kisses to each other’s skin every now and then. they barely spoke, but it was the kind of silence born of two people not needing to say anything, the kind of silence born of it being enough to simply be there in that moment. she decided that it was her new favorite sound.
and as she drifted off to sleep, her head resting on sam’s chest, she had almost forgotten sebastian’s name.