Work Text:
“I don’t know you. Why are you talking to me?”
“Well, what a lovely way to greet a new person.”
Followed by a few more insults and a statement that you wouldn't be giving up that easily, and that’s how your first interaction with him went. Who the hell did he think he was, greeting the town's new resident like that?
You didn't even learn his name from that short meeting, later learning from the saloon employee Emily that he was Shane, and to not worry too much, he’s basically always like that. Any sane person would’ve given up trying to get to know someone that rude at first, but you weren’t one to give up that easily. You were stubborn. Or stupid, you weren’t really sure.
He was an asshole, no better way to put it. Not that you really treated him much better. “Can you blame me?” You always told yourself or whoever else took notice of your guys’ fighting. Who wouldn’t get heated talking to that jerk? Yet you still found yourself talking to him, despite most of your early conversations swiftly ending in nothing but swears and insults from both parties. Shane pissed you off more than anything, but you were determined to be the bigger person.
That’s what you told yourself anyway. Maybe it was more curiosity, surely he has some reason for being so ill-tempered all the time. A reason you eventually figured out after he had drunkenly started spilling out his thoughts after you’d caught him in the forest one night. Well, that explained things at least. Not that you had forgiven or excused him just yet, but at least you had the reason you’d been looking for.
You guys still lashed out at each other from time to time, but things had certainly gotten calmer between them over the months you had been in the valley. Eventually you started actually learning about the real Shane, the one behind that gruff asshole you’d been bickering with for all this time. You guys actually ended up having a lot more in common than either of you would’ve expected (Besides both being stubborn jerks, anyway). You had even discovered how much of a softie he could be sometimes, after having caught notice of him taking care of Marnie’s chickens while coming over to buy more hay one day. You’d never really seen that grouch actually look happy before that. It tugged at something within you, but you just ignored whatever that feeling was.
Well, you tried to ignore it anyway. A feeling that was getting harder and harder to push down over time. And now here you were, tossing and turning in bed thinking about that asshole. You’ve been at each other’s throats nearly this whole time and yet you still somehow catch feelings for him.
Yeah, you guys had certainly gotten better with each other, you could maybe even consider you and Shane as friends now. Even if things were still a bit… awkward, between you. But they were certainly much better than they had been when you had first moved to the valley. Even still, you can’t believe you’ve now somehow managed to actually fall for this jerk.
And despite your best efforts to keep these feelings to yourself, it seemed like people were starting to catch on. Though maybe because you were actually too stubborn to admit how obvious you really were. Like how you seemed to always stop by JojaMart during his shifts to give him the fresh hot peppers you had been growing, his favorite.
“Just cause I had a few extra.” you always added. You could see his co-worker Sam smirking at you guys across the aisle every time, yet you tried your best to ignore him as you swiftly excused yourself to avoid embarrassing yourself any further. Although you had never seen it yourself, you had a feeling Sam had been teasing poor Shane mercilessly about you every time you came in.
And that was just the start. How about the fact that you sat with him and bought him a drink nearly every night at the saloon now? Or how you always came over to Marnie’s ranch “just to pick some things up” on his days off and just happened to strike up a conversation with him anyways? Hell, you even always seemed to just be in his path on his way to work every day to say hi and sometimes even toss him a gift.
You rolled over in bed again, groaning into your pillow as your face quickly heated up at the realization of how obvious your little crush was to everyone. You hated admitting it to yourself. How much his smile lit up your own face, how his soft side melted your heart, how cute his grumpy face looked during your still occasional bickering, or just how cute he was in general… Yoba, you feel like a stupid teenager crushing on this guy right now.
You want to tell him how you feel, even if you were sure to yourself he’d probably laugh and go back to berating you constantly. That would still probably feel better than the weight crushing your chest at the moment. You didn’t think you had the confidence to tell him outright though, so you started devising another plan, seeing as it seems you weren't gonna be sleeping tonight anyways.
Luckily for you, the crisp autumn had finally fallen over the valley, meaning your favorite flowers were finally in season. They had taken just over a week to fully mature, a week which felt like years, but you finally had what you needed. You had learned shortly after moving here about the town's tradition to give a flower bouquet to one you’d want to be with, and while you could have just bought one from Pierre and saved all this time, you were determined to make something a bit more memorable for him. Well, you were also just too embarrassed to buy something like that so publicly, you just wouldn’t admit that to anyone else.
You made the bouquet and attached a card with just your name on it, you didn’t really have the words to say anything else right now and surely Shane has lived here long enough to know what this meant anyways. You also didn’t feel like facing him directly with it, instead sneaking over to Marnie’s ranch before he would be leaving for work to leave it at the steps for him to find, rushing off before anyone could notice you and your burning face.
You didn’t visit him at work that day, instead focusing on farm work to try and calm down from the hundreds of thoughts going through your head. You instead planned to catch him at the saloon later that night, simply knowing you couldn’t just hide from him all day after pulling that stunt.
Yet he wasn’t there that night, something very strange for him. You waited for a bit before finally deciding to just head back home, taking his no-show as a sign of defeat. You did your best to hide how hurt you were feeling as you paid Emily for the drink and headed out early. Just as you shut the door behind you however-
“Y/N?”
You were abruptly snapped out of your thoughts by a voice you had wanted to hear more than anything tonight. There he was, waiting just outside the saloon with his hands behind his back.
“Shane-” You hated how your voice cracked, “Why the hell are you creeping out here like that?”
“Sorry, sorry. I was just, uhhh, waiting for you.” He mumbled that last part.
“Oh. So I’m sure you got my, uhhh…” your voice trailed off, not knowing what to say anymore thanks to the awkwardness of the encounter.
Shane hesitated for a moment that felt like forever before finally showing his hands. He averted his gaze as he held up a different flower bouquet and a blush quickly crept up his face, your own expression mirroring his as you stared at the flowers. You could tell it was just one of the bouquets Pierre's sold, but you didn’t care. Without thinking and at a loss for words, you just tackled him into a hug you had been wanting for so long at this point.
He was taken aback by your sudden display of affection, but just as quickly wrapped his own arms around you to return the gesture. Neither of you bothered to say anything else, just resting against each other for what felt like forever. The fall air was chilly that night, but you didn’t seem to notice now that you both had the warm embrace of each other.