Chapter Text
1. Abigail, Sebastian, and Sam
A group of friends stepped into the place.
The second the door opened, they were hit with warmth coming from the fire blazing in the fireplace. A contrast from the chilly temperature outside. The slow music coming from the jukebox in the corner of the room set the atmosphere, making the tone calm and relaxing. Perfect for a peaceful Friday evening.
The saloon was buzzing with people; there were a couple dancing, people chatting as they drank, and Emily busy making drinks as Gus was cleaning the wine glasses. This was definitely not out of the ordinary since it was Friday. The time everyone would just relax and let loose with a little bit of alcohol. But from the strong smell of beer and the collection of empty wine bottles on the side of the bar, “a little bit” might be an understatement.
Sam ran in front of Sebastian, not wanting to wait as he immediately went to the pool table, going to his usual spot and picked up the cue stick swiftly. “Are you prepared to lose, Sebastian?” he said in mock confidence as a sly grin appeared on his face.
Sebastian chuckled at his best friend’s action. “Being there first doesn’t make you beat me, you know that right?” He returned the smug look, challenging Sam with a matching grin. “You say that every time but, you always lose anyway.”
“Oh fuck off!” Sam yelled from across the room. Spontaneously, Abigail and Sebastian looked at each other. Abigail’s eyes glinted with mischief and Sebastian knew that she was about to say something amusing.
Abigail went to Sebastian’s side and nudged him with a grin. “Don’t ruin his fun! It hasn't even started yet. We know he’s going to lose anyway, you don’t need to say it!” She said the last part purposefully louder so that a certain loser could hear it.
Victor was watching all of this go down and decided to chime in. “Let’s not gang up on him. At least let him get back up first!”
“You’re supposed to be on my side, Victor! I thought we were friends…” Sam sighed loudly, but the smirk growing on his face was betraying his facade. “I’ll show all of you that I’m the best pool table player,” he confidently continued as he watched Sebastian go to his designated spot.
And everything fell into place, the usual light-hearted banter, the bubble of laughter in the air. Everything was familiar. But, there was this one unfamiliar thing happening right now. It might be just a hunch but, Victor was acting strangely... anxious. Maybe that’s not the right word but, he seemed distracted to say the least. Abigail paid no mind to it for now, she didn't want to just assume things out of no where.
But, another strange thing happened again. When she was watching the fierce competition in front of her, Victor suddenly sat beside her. “Hey, do you think-” But before he could finish his sentence, he shut his mouth and muttered “Nevermind” bashfully as he walked away.
“Now that was really suspicious,” Abigail thought to herself.
Abigail didn’t really think about it much at first, maybe he was just in deep thought about something and if there actually was something, she knew he would tell them when he’s ready.
However as the time passed, Abigail saw from the couch she was sitting on that Victor was suspiciously looking back and eyeing the Saloon’s door. After every round of arcade games, he would grab a drink from Gus and “subtly” stare at the door like it could disappear at any moment. She thought that maybe she might be reading too much on this but, no one could say that it wasn’t incredibly suspicious.
A loud groan of frustration broke Abigail’s deep thoughts. “No, one more round!” Sam’s eyebrows furrowed while grabbing tightly onto his cue stick.
“C’mon, Sam. It’s not hard to admit that I’m better than you,” Sebastian said nonchalantly, his eyes narrowed at Sam’s expression and a smug smirk grew on his face.
Before Sam could respond, Abigail interrupted their banter. She looked between them and Victor who’s making his way to the bar, waiting for Victor to be far enough so that he couldn't hear her. “Hey, am I the only one to think this but, isn’t Victor a bit…. strange tonight?” She began with a whisper.
Sam and Sebastian instantly stared at Victor at the same time. “Hey! Don’t look at him, it’s going to make it obvious that we’re talking about him!” Abigail reprimanded in a hushed tone. When she said that, both of them pretended badly to look like they were just looking around the place.
Abigail started, “Before he went here he was just totally fine, right? He was like himself. But, I honestly don't know… There was just something unusual, I can feel it.”
“Maybe he has a problem? If he does then we should just wait for it to tell us himself.” Sam responded.
“I know,” Abigail sighed, “It’s just that I have a feeling…”
Sam voiced his thoughts out loud, “But… he did look distracted when we talked.”
“I mean, yeah, he was a bit quieter than usual,” Sebastian nodded at them. “But that doesn’t mean something strange is happening.”
Abigail explained, “He’s always looking at the door like a lot. Not just a few times, it actually could be hundreds- wait look!” Sam and Sebastian followed her gaze and she was right. Victor was sitting on a stool with his hand swirling the liquid in his glass while evidently staring at the door. The room wasn’t extremely bright but it was obvious that he was frowning slightly.
“He looked like a kicked puppy.” Sam said simply, earning a chuckle from Abigail and Sebastian.
“Wait… is he waiting for someone maybe? And the person didn’t come?” Sebastian guessed as he narrowed his eyes at Victor.
“But, who-”
The door swung open as someone stepped in. It was one of the farmers, Cleo. The footsteps were drowned by the music and loud chatter. Victor who was frowning and swirling his drink just a moment ago was now smiling brightly. His face practically lit up the moment she stepped in. Seeing this play out just a few feet away from them, the three of them muttered an “Oh.”
“Now we know who kicked the puppy,” Sebastian joked, cocking his eyebrows up and down.
Sam chimed in, “And now the puppy is wagging his tail, look at him!” He pointed towards Victor who’s now laughing and looking at Cleo softly.
“Okay, okay let’s just stop calling him a ‘puppy’ it’s a bit weird.” Abigail commented. Her eyes drift back to the "kicked puppy", she watched as Victor blushed when Cleo was patting his shoulder and he unconsciously reached to the place Cleo’s hands were before while having a stupid smile on his face.
When Cleo finally noticed the group of friends sitting on the couch she smiled at them. Abigail responded with a wave and motioned her to join. Cleo nudged Victor and tugged his sleeve, urging him to go.
Cleo smiled apologetically. “Hey, I’m sorry I was late… I had something to take care of,” she explained bashfully. “Did all of you wait for long?”
“Nah, don’t worry! Glad you can make It.” Sam smiled warmly.
Abigail faked a cough. “But, someone did look like a ‘kicked puppy’.” she added quickly under her breath so that only Sebastian and Sam could hear it. Sebastian was holding in laughter but Sam was outright smacking his leg and laughing out loud.
Victor and Cleo looked at each other in confusion. Cleo raised an eyebrow at Abigail and Abigail motioned to Victor with her eyes but it ended up only making Cleo even more confused. While that was going down, Victor's eyes narrowed in suspicion to Sam that was still bursting out laughing but after a few seconds he decided to let it go.
And at last, everything was back to normal as per usual, the banter, the laughter, the chatter, and the company was familiar. But now Sam, Sebastian, and Abigail knew something important about their certain friend.
Victor was in love.