Chapter Text
The saloon buzzes with various conversations from every corner, more than usual. Tons of people from out of town passing through for the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies tomorrow night.
To the right there's Willy and Clint laughing with some travelers over one of Willy's wild fisherman tales about Moonlight Jellies. Beyond them is Sebastian, Sam, and Abigail playing pool with some other younger folks. Just ahead is Lewis catching up with Gus who's behind the bar and pouring yet another drink for Pam, who talks Dr. Harvey's ear off.
Speaking of Dr. Harvey - I never did stop by for that checkup, did I? Emma silently scolds herself for how busy she's been. The summer blew by and now we're entering the busy season, although the weather seems to be on another page, stubbornly sticking to the hot summer heat instead of cooling down as we're about to head into autumn.
Just another thing throwing me for a loop with this farming crap. She curses the heat for making her newfound farming career even more difficult, which brings us back to why we are here - for a MUCH needed drink.
Scanning the rest of the room for a place to sit, her eyes skip over Demetrius and Robin having what looks like a very serious conversation, which feels a bit tense and definitely out of place with all the upbeat conversation and laughter going on in the bar.
Even more out of place (well maybe not really since this is his usual place) is Shane. He's got his elbows resting on the bar top and he's glaring into the bottom of a beer glass like it's personally gone out of its way to do whatever it is that makes Shane so miserable. However, there is one of few empty seats beside him, one of the only empty seats far enough away from human interaction tonight.
For once I think that might be the best seat in the house.
Emphasis on the 'might'.
Hesitantly, Emma grabs the edge of the stool and pulls it out, sitting beside the guy. Typically, he would shoot some kind of look for taking the seat beside him but tonight he just kind of clenches his jaw tighter, ignoring her and throwing back another sip of his beer. It's kind of... hot?
She's so used to Shane giving her attention in the 'refusing to give you any attention but giving just enough to tell you to fuck off' type of way that his lack of telling her to fuck off has her curiously wanting exactly what she sat down next to him of all people to avoid. Attention.
"Someone's in a good mood today" she says in a way that could easily be taken sarcastically, though she isn't sure if she means it seriously or not. He hasn't told me off yet, that's a good sign.. Or a really bad one.
"Could say the same." Shane says back coldly, a tinge of attitude in the way he says it.
This kind of short-spoken banter was normal for them. Shane finds her repulsive, but not in the unattractive way. As a matter of fact, he kicks himself anytime he recognizes the fact that she's quite beautiful. It's the kind of beautiful that would grant her anything she wanted, almost even from him if he weren't so good at ignoring it.
What he really hates is the way everyone fawns over her and how she's always in this extremely bubbly mood that drives him crazy, persistent to get to know him and be close to him. Something he's just not capable of anymore.
"I'm just... ecstatic" She adds in response to his comment, pushing her long blonde hair behind her shoulders and then waving down Emily as she sees her appear from the back.
Gus is still busy with Pam and Lewis, and, by the way Shane's glass has sat empty for over a minute without being auto refilled like usual tells her that Gus probably isn't stopping over anytime soon.
As he wonders what could possibly have 'miss perfection' in such a mood tonight, he realizes he missed the chance to ask Emily for another beer before she walks away to make Emma a drink.
"Fuuuck" He groans, shifting in his seat impatiently.
"You go 8 hours a day without a drink, I'm sure you can handle, let's see..." she checks the time on her phone, "5 minutes" Emma chuckles at the way he stresses over the short wait for a drink, earning just an eye roll from Shane.
"Nine, actually." Shane says after a moment, forehead leaning in one of his palms as he tries to calm the headache he feels coming on.
"What?" she asks, confused.
"I work nine hours a day. That doesn't count the way to and from work" Shane says, regretfully, realizing as the words come out that his explanation made him sound even more like an alcoholic than her initial joke did to begin with.
He assumes that since moving to the farm someone must have given her the run down on him - 'town drunk'. There's no way she doesn't know it by now and if she didn't, she probably does now.
Emma scoffs at Shane's exaggeration of a wait to get a beer, wondering how often he counts the time between his alcoholic beverages or if that's just tonight. He really must be having a bad night.
"Geeze, Shane. You'll live...I think." She adds, giggling for the first time in what feels like the past month.
Unbeknownst to her, Shane is a bit sensitive about the drinking jokes, though.
"Why the fuck are you talking to me? Just to remind me I drink too fucking much? Because last I checked, this is a bar and if I remember correctly, which I do, you're here almost every night too."
Holy... what??
Emma tries to mentally replay whatever it was she said to him to set him off like that. It's not unusual for Shane to tell her to fuck off or to leave him be, but that's probably the most words he's ever used to do it.
Convenient timing, Emily steps back to their end of the bar, slowly approaching the tense pair sitting on the other side. She's holding two glasses of amber colored liquid with no ice. Shane can tell by her face that the farmer wasn't the only one to hear his little outburst and he rolls his eyes at the upset look Emily gives him for it.
Emily sets one glass in front of Emma and one glass in front of Shane.
'Shit', he thinks to himself as he gathers that she ordered one for herself and one for him.
"Well hopefully that'll brighten your day" She says calmly, lifting her glass to her lips and taking a large sip.
He can see the thoughts brewing in her mind, but she just sips quietly. Meanwhile he contemplates whether it's appropriate to even accept a drink from her after he just told her to go fuck herself.
"For the record," she says, breaking him from his train of thought. "Everyone in here is here to drink so I wouldn't take it too personally when someone jokes about drinking... Or when someone buys you liquor." She nods toward the untouched glass in front of him.
From her tone, he can tell she's at least a little irritated by him now. Which, if she's going to continue to sit next to him, and he sure as hell isn't ready to head home yet, he should try to at least make the environment remotely bearable.
Shane tosses his head back and drinks down the whiskey she ordered in two quick gulps, signaling Emily back already.
"Let me get another one of those and a..." Shane nervously looks to Emma for her drink order as he attempts to return the favor and make up for being an asshole tonight. And every night. And, fuck, she's looking him in the eyes.
Her eyes are a greyish-green that he's never noticed before. They're beautiful.
Have they ever made eye contact? He wonders as she orders from Emily a sunrise something with an extra cherry, followed by a subtle smile he thinks she might be trying to hide by the way she bites her lower lip.
Cute.
Suddenly he's well aware that he's buzzed and he's not sure if it's the unwelcome thought of how cute she looked doing it that made him realize his intoxication, or if it's the intoxication that made him find it cute.
Avoiding all thoughts about her as they wait for their drinks, Shane moves his attention around the room, quickly remembering why he keeps to himself most of the time.
There are far too many people in here for him.
A disappointed look from Lewis is the first to really catch his attention, then a wobbly raised glass from Pam who's clearly too drunk to keep the liquid in the glass, clueless to the fact she just spilt it all over the counter.
Next, he notices a pitiful look from Robin who smiles gently at the poor farmer beside him, probably silently acknowledging the fact that he is an asshole and she's stuck sitting there with him.
Just in time before his thoughts can spiral into their normal self-destructive pattern, Emily sets the two drinks on the counter.
Shane lifts the glass to his lips immediately, noticing that Emma still hasn't finished the first glass of whiskey now that her new drink has arrived. This one is some kind of blue and red cocktail in a dainty glass with two maraschino cherries.
She grabs one cherry by the stem and places it in her mouth, pulling the stem off. Her eyes meet his now, making him feel almost guilty for witnessing the sight that made heat rise in his cheeks.
Shit, I was staring.
He assumes that's why she turns to look at him.
"Have you ever had one of these?" She asks, still holding the stem of the cherry between her fingers.
"No" he clears his throat. The small conversation feels awkward now.
"You should try one"
"I'm good" although she does have a way of making it look absolutely delicious as she sips the rest of the whiskey and places the second cherry in her mouth.
"You're missing out, but okay" she says. "Sorry if I upset you by the way. I'm having a shit day...week, actually.. so...I guess I just didn't realize that-"
Not wanting her to have to explain how she didn't realize he's an alcoholic with a short temper for alcohol referencing jokes, Shane stops her in her tracks.
"It's fine. I shouldn't have snapped like that."
They both sit quietly, sipping from their glasses with stern expressions. He figures he's probably shit company, but for some reason she still hasn't left.
Guess he'll just have to deal with her, for now at least.