In My Head | Shane | Stardew Valley ✔️

18

Shane heads over to the door, feeling incredibly nervous. He knows she'll notice his attempts to seem desirable, but it almost feels fake of him to clean up just for her. Should he have gone through the effort? Shane can't even tell anymore, he overthinks everything that has to do with Elle

Elle stands smiling at the man as he opens the door, wearing nearly the same thing she wore when they had cooked together. She looks him over in surprise, obviously noticing he had cleaned up. "Hey" she waves.

"Hi," he waves back awkwardly, already running his hand through his hair. He opens the door for her to come in, and she excitedly heads to the kitchen after smelling food. He sighs in relief that she seems to be in her normal mood, following from behind.

"I'm sorry I left before I could try these when I was over that day," she says, grabbing one from the pan and putting in on a nearby clean plate.

"It's okay," Shane takes one for himself, then sits at the table. Elle joins him. He doesn't know if Elle can sense it, but there is definitely a strange awkwardness lingering in the air. Nothing feels natural for Shane anymore with her, perhaps coming from the pressure of confessing his feelings. It's murdering him from the inside out.

"So, watcha wanna do today?"

"Well," he braces himself. "Marnie and Jas will be gone until tomorrow, so if you're up to staying the night..."

Elle grins at the invitation, brushing hair behind her ears. The man quickly wonders if that's a nervous habit, much like how he messes with his hair, but skims over the thought as she replies. "That sounds fun! And this time it's not in a car."

Shane laughs lightly. "Yep. Also, what did you think of my pepper poppers?"

"Well, these are the first ones I've ever had, and I can confirm they're also the best."

"What a compliment."

After eating, the two end up sprawling out on Shane's bed to watch movies, Shane being careful not to get too close to Elle. Her touch, while he also craves, makes him nervous. Especially considering what he has to do today.

Though Elle watches the movie, he ends up getting lost in thought. Questioning why it's so damn hard for him to just man up and do it. Why her touch is so terrifying. Why she's so confusing to him.

About halfway through the movie, Shane excuses himself to go to the bathroom and makes sure to lock the door, hunching over the sink as he did at Sam's. He tries not to be too loud or else Elle will hear, but begins to verbally jab himself. "Just fucking do it," Glancing around, he finds a nearby pen and sits down on the toilet seat, quickly writing down something on the cover page of a magazine. Call it stupid, but it makes him feel better to write down a note that'll make him suck it up and get out there.

'Just fucking do it. Kiss her. Don't think about it. When you get out of this bathroom, fucking go for it. Piece of shit. Or are you too much of a coward, huh? Too pathetic? Come on!'

Shane tosses the magazine aside, leaving the pen on the sink, and stands up. "Okay. When I get out of this bathroom, I'm going to do it." His feet stay frozen. "God dammit."

After a couple minutes of standing there, anxiety filling his chest, he hears Elle call for him. "You good in there?"

"Uh, yeah!" he calls back, taking a deep breath. Shane finally opens the door, marching out and approaching the girl, but it seems his mind goes blank and she stares at him. "God dammit," he runs his hands through his hair self consciously.

"What? What's wrong?"

"You're so going to hate me," he feels himself growing even more fearful as she stands up and walks over to him, the tv still playing in the background.