Chapter Text
Rosalind’s first memory was in the tall grasses of her grandfather's farm. It was summer, hot and loud with the braying of animals from every direction. The world was so large around her small toddling form, the simple dirt path immense in her mind. Small bugs and reptiles lept out of her way as she squealed and stomped barefoot. Suddenly there was another child, almost a mirror image of herself, sitting in the grass loudly playing with brightly colored cars and trucks. Without fear or hesitation she approached the boy, more intrigued with him than the toys. Finally, he noticed her and in that moment the same recognition passed through his eyes as well; there is someone else like me. He offered her a small blue car, it was heavy in her hand, and they played. It was a rudimentary memory for her, one mostly made of colors and emotions, but impactful nonetheless. The lasting impression was all the same; Stardew meant a friend.
In the following years, Roz would accumulate more memories of Stardew than she knew what to do with. From the age of 5 onwards she spent the entirety of the summer on her grandfather’s farm. First her parents would drive her down and make sure she settled in to the small cabin he kept, but after the age of 10, she took the bus on her own. It was practical, he needed more help on the farm in the summer, with a larger harvest, and her parents wanted her out of the city for a least a couple weeks. She couldn’t care less about adult reasonings, as long as she got to spend those 8 weeks in Stardew Valley each year, nothing else really mattered. It was like dream, she adored every aspect of her country summers. The festivals, the animals, her grandfathers stories, and most importantly, the friend. Whenever she considered it, friends plural may have been pushing it. She of course played with all the children in town when she was younger, Sebastian and Sam were a few years younger than her but she and Haley regularly played dress up each summer. However, as the summers passed by, and as they all got older, Roz found that dressup wasn’t enough to keep her and Haley close. There was one friend that she could count on each summer, however. Shane was in a similar position as Roz, shipped off to his aunt's farm each summer he also looked forward to those 8 weeks each year like his life depended on it. Usually, wherever you found Shane, you found Roz. It was nice, all the other kids lived in town year round- they went to school together, and they all grew up together. Roz and Shane both lived in a city most of the year, they were outsiders, and as they grew older they preferred it that way.
By the time middle school had rolled around, they had known each other for almost a decade. That didn’t stifle the worry Roz felt when she rolled into town for her 12th summer. She had changed, a lot, and she found herself choking on the worry that maybe Shane hadn’t. She wore dark makeup and clothes bought at store that her mother refused to go into, a huge difference from her pastel shorts of the previous summer. Mostly, she felt that she wasn’t a child anymore, more concerned with bands and books than playing tag. Of course, she was still only 12, these feelings as varied as they were complex. For the first time in her life, Roz got off the bus next to her grandfather's farm with a nauseating twinge of nerves in her stomach. After quickly saying hello and dumping her bags she ran off south to find the object of her worry. Knocking on Marnie's door almost made her puke, but she gathered the nerves to do it all the same.
“Oh, Rosalind! It’s good to see you sugar, are you back for the summer?” Marnie was a very sweet woman, and Roz liked her immensely.
“Yes ma’am.” Before she could ask, Marnie interrupted.
“That’s quite a lot of eyeliner, now tell me, because Shane wouldn’t, is it a trend with the kids?” Marnie’s question didn’t make much sense, but Roz answered all the same.
“No, I just like the way it looks. Is Shane here?” She looked around behind Marnie expectantly.
“Oh he’s sulking up by that shack, you should go say hi I think that would lift his spirits.” Marnie chuckled. “And Roz, do Fridays still work for you and your grandfather?”
Roz was already walking quickly in the direction of the abandoned community center up above town. She shouted over her shoulder “Yes ma’am, thank you, ma’am!”
She did her best to avoid any other interactions, she had all summer to talk to them, and she was going to pass out if she didn’t see Shane immediately. The smell of cigarette smoke hit her like a wall and finally, she got close enough to see its source. Shane stood In the doorway of the community center with a lit cigarette in his fingers. He had grown over the previous year, now the same height as Roz where he had previously been considerably shorter. Smudged eyeliner encircled his eyes and his naturally black hair had been left long. Roz’s heart almost stopped at the sight of him, her looked like a boy taken straight from her band posters.
“Roz!” When he caught sight of her his eyes widened and he quickly pushed himself off the wall he had been slouching against.
“Shane!” She ran capturing him in a hug, and although he smelled a bit more like cigarettes now, he still smelled like Shane.
“You want one?” He offered his pack to Roz and she quickly picked one out, grinning as he lit it for her.
“So what’s new?” Roz had never smoked, and before that moment had feared cigarettes with her life. Every cigarette after that moment, however, would always taste a little bit like Shane.
…
By the time they had reached their late teens, the community center had become their decrepit hang-out spot. It wasn’t just theirs, Sebastian hung out there a lot (usually to bum cigarettes off of them) and Alex, a new addition to town, used the front lawn to practice gridball. Shane, the gridball star of his high school team, would shout pointers at the middle schooler like a seasoned coach. The mayor wasn’t too happy to have the building overrun with teens, but Roz, who had become quite good at getting her way by batting her eyelashes and doling out compliments to the old man, convinced him it would be okay. This summer was different than all previous summers, it was the last summer they would both spend there. Shane had gotten a full ride to the big university in Zuzu for grid ball in the fall and Roz had her own scholarships a couple of states over. It was strange, they were eachothers best friends, the kept secrets, had inside jokes, and spent more time together than they did with any of their peers back home, but they had never interacted outside of the summer. There was something sacred about it, something neither wanted to acknowledge, but the quickly approaching end of their time made them consider it.
They sat in silence hanging out the window of the community center passing Shane’s joint back and forth. It was comfortable. The feeling of Shane’s broad shoulders against Roz’s sometimes felt more like home than the city did. Shane felt like his eyes were all the sudden open to the girl that stood next to him. Childhood crush didn’t even begin to cover everything he felt for her. She had been responsible for the happiest moments of his life for the past 13 years and suddenly he would be found without her. They had already been eachothers firsts for so many things but now he had to live with the idea that someone else would be her first love.
“You look stupid when you stare off like that.” Roz broke the silence.
“You look stupid.” Shane rolled his eyes.
“Whatcha thinkin' bout?”
“Fall.” Shane answered vaguely.
“Yeah me too.” Roz’s voice was softer as she turned to look at her friend. “Do you remember that day in the field?”
“With my cars?” Shane looked down at her a little shocked.
“Yeah! You know I still have the one you gave me right?” She shuffled through the tattered bag she carried, pins of popular punk bands were stuck everywhere. Victorious she pulled out a small blue metal car, some of the paint had chipped but it still looked largely similar to how Shane remembered. He smiled, broad and toothy. “I carry it with me everywhere.” Roz considered the car for a second before digging through her purse again. From it, she pulled a small black stone statue of a chicken. The stone glimmered in the mid-afternoon sun.
“What is that?” Shane took the chicken from her hands as she offered it to him. Turning it over in his hands it was hand-carved.
“I made it for you, that way we will always have something from each other. It’s not so bad not seeing you when I have a piece of you with me.” Roz looked at the ground, her blushing cheeks noticeable through the thick layer of pale white foundation. Without thought Shane quickly placed a sweet and small kiss on her cheek. He reasoned later that it would have to be enough to last him a lifetime.