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Kit sighs, hauling her backpack full of bits and bobs she’s collected in the mines over the doorstep. She drops it to the ground and rubs her shoulder. As she steps into the cozy, warm farmhouse her boot sticks.
“I sure hope Shane is better at tidying up after himself,” Marnie said a few days ago, when Kit dropped by to stock up on hay for the winter.
“Mm,” Kit hummed. “I think so. He’s a lot more consistent with taking care of himself recently, even on rough days. It makes me really proud.”
Marnie’s smile went a little uncomfortable at that, but she nodded. “Well, to be honest I was more worried about your poor floors -- The amount of mud I mopped up when he lived here…”
Kit’s brows furrowed. She couldn’t care less about how clean her floors are. Plus, she’s the one who dirties them most, since her thick, well-worn boots end up with soil clinging to them at the end of each day, no matter how much she wipes them on the mat.
Nevertheless, she gave Marnie a polite parting and promptly forgot about the entire interaction.
There’s muddy footprints leading from the front door to the kitchen, getting fainter as they go. In the first couple of steps, Kit can see dried corn and bits of eggshell. Shane was with the chickens. The sight makes her smile.
She follows the trail to their little kitchen, leaning against the archway separating it from the living room with a fond look on her face.
Shane is facing away from her, Jas held up on his hip so she can comfortably reach the counter.
“What else should we put on it?” Shane is saying. “Hmm… Maybe some wild horseradish? Do you think Auntie Kit likes horseradish pizza?”
Kit has to cover her mouth to muffle her own laugh at the disgusted noise Jas makes.
“Blegh, no way!” She says, emphatically.
Shane laughs and the sound warms Kit to her very core. “Alright, alright, let’s just stick with pepperoni.”
With that, he sets Jas down on the tiled floor, and she immediately spots Kit in the archway.
“Auntie Kit!” Jas exclaims, running over to Kit.
“Jazzy Jas!” Kit grins back.
After a quick hug to Kit’s legs, Jas starts talking about all the things her and Uncle Shane did today, which ends up leading to how Vince told her his talking robot toy that Sam got him is way better than her favorite doll, and how Miss Penny told them not to fight but her doll is totally better than any dumb old robot, and don’t you think so too, Aunt Kit?
Kit nods along and looks appropriately offended on Jas’s behalf, and when she looks up Shane is watching them with an unreadable look on his face.
What’s up? she mouths to him, but he just shakes his head. With a small smile on his face, he puts the pizza in the oven and sets their egg timer on the counter.
Later, after they’ve eaten the pizza and Jas boasts about her involvement in it (she’s a far cry from the timid, quiet girl Kit first met when she moved to Pelican town), Jas goes to bed and Kit sprawls on the couch to watch TV. Shane brings her a mug of tea, dropping a kiss to the top of her head after setting it on the coffee table, just like always.
Before he can turn away to sit in his recliner, Kit catches his hand in hers.
“Everything okay?” She asks, her voice soft and expression softer.
Shane flips his hand and intertwines their fingers. “Fine. Everything’s fine. More than fine, really. I just… You’re so good with Jas. So good for me. I never thought I’d get to have this.”
Kit’s heart feels like it’s about to burst from her chest. She wants to tell him how she feels the same, but the way Shane’s biting his lip tells her he has more to say. And she wants to listen.
“For such a long time I thought… Shit, I thought I’d never feel like this ever again. Like I have something that’s worth sticking around for. That there are enough good days- or even okay days- to make the bad days bearable.” Shane sighs, and doesn’t resist when she pulls him to sit next to her on the couch. “And I hate how- sometimes I hate that you’re here, because you deserve so much better, but at the same time I’m too selfish to let you go. So, thanks. Thanks for being here. Thanks for letting me love you.”
Embarrassingly enough, Kit feels her eyes well up with tears. She throws her arms around Shane and buries her face in his neck.
“Woah,” he grunts, but he winds and arm around her waist.
“Shane,” she laughs. “Thank you. Thank you for letting me in, for loving me despite… everything.”
When he makes a questioning sound, Kit pulls back, but can’t seem to look him in the eye. “I know I’m a lot. I’m… loud, and kind of annoying at the best of times. Not a whole lot of people actually want me around long-term. Not a lot of people actually want to put up with me as a close friend. I’m a friendly person, but I’ve never really had anyone I felt like saw me and still wanted me. Not until you. You let me be pushy and annoying. You laugh at my dumb jokes. I mean, god, you told me to fuck off outright when we first met.”
Shane groans, a hand coming up to cover his face, but Kit catches it in hers and brings it to her lips.
“Don’t be embarrassed, I like that about you. That you’re blunt. It makes you being sweet even better, because I know you really feel it.” Kit leans into Shane’s hand that’s now cupping her cheek. “I never felt like I had people I belonged with until you let me in and gave me a family. I never felt like I had anywhere that I really belonged until I knew what being in your arms was like. You say I don’t deserve you, and maybe you’re right. You’re a hell of a lot better than anything I could ever deserve. But ‘deserving’ is a made-up concept, so I’ll stay here with you until you tell me to leave.”
When Shane kisses her, it feels like dishes in the sink and muddy footprints on the floor and the sound of laughter in the air.
It feels like coming home.
The next day, Kit visits Marnie again. Shane asked her to pick up some new chicken feed that he explained the benefits of but she didn’t fully understand. If she got a bit distracted by how pretty Shane’s eyes are when he’s excited about something, that’s between her and Yoba.
“That farmhouse of yours really built back up beautifully,” Marnie says, pulling the bag of feed down from a shelf behind her. “I sure hope Shane isn’t being too messy. I’d hate for your home to get too untidy.”
“Don’t worry, Marnie,” Kit says. “Our home is perfect.”
Muddy footprints and all.