It was a rather unusual morning. Penny had woken up to a trailer that was almost just as clean as she had left it the night before. Pam was peacefully passed out on the couch, but there was no sign of alcohol or spillages anywhere. She couldn't help but smile slightly, although the smile faded slightly when she realized that this unusual morning is probably the kind of morning most people experience; where there isn't an enormous mess waiting for you.

Still, content that she could leave almost immediately, she grabbed her current book off the table and tucked her class notes inside it before heading out.

Penny glanced around her, always trying to remember to stop and admire the beauty of the valley. Alex was out by his house doing his usual thing, tossing his football in the air and catching it, each time going higher. It was a shame that no one else in the valley played football, Penny thought. Hadn't Shane talked about football once? Maybe that was gridball. She couldn't quite remember.

Meanwhile, Lewis, the town mayor, was around the side of his house, doing something to the door of his pickup truck. Beside him was Marnie, who seemed to be leaning in rather closely to him. Penny realized at that moment that she hadn't really talked to Marnie about anything other than her niece, Jas. She made a mental note to do her best to try and branch out and talk to her about something else. But that could wait for another day.

Her gaze continued around to the river, across which was the library and museum where she'd later be tutoring the kids. Further along the river was the blacksmith shop and beyond that was JojaMart, but her eyes never made it that far. Just outside the blacksmith's was someone she hadn't expected to see. John was sitting alone in the grass along the other side of the riverbank, staring at the gentle river, his cap tilted at a slightly off angle, his eyes slightly glazed. He looked tired, as if he'd been pushing himself quite hard. Even his backpack, which was lying in the grass alongside him, looked like it had endured a lot of work. He'd been very kind to her in the few interactions they'd had, but stupid shy Penny had ruined it, she thought. She wanted to be friends with him, especially as she thought it was a good challenge to help tackle her inner introvert – by befriending a stranger.

Nodding to herself and noting that it was just outside the library anyway, Penny decided to cross the river and sit on the bank with John. Would he think that was strange? Inappropriate? Maybe she shouldn't do it. No, Penny, she thought. Stop overthinking and just go, what's the worst that can happen?

Lost in thought, she made her way over to John.

"Hi, John." Penny held her book close to her chest. "This looked like a pretty peaceful spot. Mind if I sit and read here before I go teach the kids?"

John, who'd seemingly been lost in a daze of thoughts, shook himself out of his stupor and looked up at her. "No, of course, please." Penny smiled and sat down, quickly opening her book. "I'd appreciate the company." John returned her smile, cheerily. Unable to think of something to say, Penny smiled at him a second time and quickly busied herself with her book.

What felt like a few hours passed. When Penny realized that she wasn't actually taking in what she was reading and was instead lost in thought about her mom's drinking problem, she decided to try and talk with John instead. "Do you think… do you think you'll enter the fishing contest?"

John glanced over at her, and looked a little lost. "Umm..." John rubbed the back of his head, slowly. "Fishing contest?"

"Yeah," Penny lowered her book to her lap, closing it gently. She was a little nervous at having asked the question, and tried her hardest to mask that in her voice. "At the Festival of Ice, there's an ice fishing competition."

"Oh, ice fishing? That sounds cool," he said, grinning. "Yeah, I suppose I'll give it a shot." John shifted with his hands, pushing his small backpack aside, sitting up a little straighter than he was before. "Will you?"

Penny blushed slightly. "I can't fish."

John cocked his head gently, with a faint smile on his face. "What do you mean you "can't"? I bet you could."

Penny shook her head, still blushing. "I've never done it before. Willy wanted to show me once, but I was on my way to teach Jas and Vincent, and it just seemed-"

"I could teach you."

Penny smiled shyly, and looked out towards the river, her blush deepening slightly. "I guess there are some things books can't teach."

John crossed his legs and joined her in gazing at the river. The flow of water lapping and burbling along the bank was strangely mesmerizing. "It's the least I can do to pay you back for keeping me company," said John, not moving his gaze away from the flowing stream.

Penny laughed quietly and glanced at him. "You looked like you could use the company. Not that me reading quietly beside you can really be called 'company'." She laughed again, but this time a little meeker, as if her own words had hurt her a little. "What, um," Penny placed her book down on the grass and shifted slightly to face John, determined to keep a conversation going, "what were you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh. Well," John plucked the small cap off his head and scratched lightly at his head of brown hair. "I'm waiting for Clint to see if he can fix up my pickaxe. I busted it, thought I might as well get an upgrade."

Penny looked at him, bemused. Her bright green eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "A pickaxe? What for?"

John chuckled, placing the cap back on his head. "I was mining."

"You were in the mines? Why?"

"It's a good way of getting stone, and a bit of coal. Plus it's pretty fun." He shrugged, with a small grin. "An adventure."

"I'm impressed." She smiled at him softly. "I'd never go in the mines."

"Maybe you should come with me sometime!" John chuckled. "After we've gone fishing, of course."

...

The two sat in pleasant tranquility for a few more minutes. Stardew Valley was slowly winding its way towards Winter. The trees and bushes were bursting with brilliant shades of red, gold and amber. Breathing in the clean and crisp autumnal air, John found it very difficult to imagine his life before coming to the valley. And yet it hadn't even been a full year since he'd packed up his desk job and followed in his grandfather's footsteps. An image of his grandfather flashed across his mind. He hoped, he really hoped, that his grandfather would be proud of him.

He glanced over at Penny, who was still sitting beside him. She had her head half-buried in a book entitled "Teacher's Guidebook: 2nd Grade", and her face suggested that she was in a state of deep concentration. Her vibrant red hair was held back with a small golden clip. John smiled to himself as he realized that the clip was there solely to keep hair out of her eyes whilst she was reading.

...

"Those kids are really lucky, you know," said John, earnestly.

Penny glanced up from her book. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that there's no school in Pelican Town, but they've got you. You give them a chance they wouldn't normally have. I admire you for it."

Penny's blush resurfaced, a little redder. "I get paid though, it's not like it's the kindness of my heart. And it's only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays."

John had a warm smile spreading across his face. "I bet you'd do it anyway, payment or not. Am I wrong?"

Penny's cheeks continued burning red. "Maybe," she eventually admitted, unable to stop an awkward laugh. "They're the future."

"You might say that you're giving a future to our future," he chuckled.

"I just wish that I could-"

"John?" called a voice from behind him. John craned his neck over his shoulder, and saw Clint standing just outside his blacksmith shop, holding a shiny pickaxe. "I got that pick fixed up for you. Actually," he said, stepping closer to John and handing him the pickaxe carefully, "it's a new one, a steel one. The old one was… well, unfixable."

"Great, thanks, Clint. I'll look after this one," said John, smiling and turning the pickaxe over in his hands and examining it. Clint returned the smile and, with a quick nod to both John another one to Penny, he returned to his shop. Penny had always admired Clint. There was something endearingly awkward about him, a trait with which she was all too familiar.

"Well, I guess I should go, Penny," said John. He began stuffing the handle of the pickaxe into a small backpack and zipped it up so that the head was sticking out, but secured. "It was nice to talk to you."

"You too," Penny beamed, actually meaning it, and feeling a warm sensation, proud of herself that she'd actually enjoyed human contact.

John pulled himself to his feet. "What are you doing tomorrow? Let's say… around mid-day?"

"Tomorrow? Why?"

"Fishing. Fall's almost over and I don't think either of us will want to sit and fish in the snow."

Penny giggled. "Oh, you were serious."

"I've only ever been fishing with Willy!" said John, chuckling. "And when he's 'working the waters' as he calls it, he doesn't talk much." John grinned at her. "Thought it might be nice to fish with someone else for a change."

Penny paused briefly, thinking. She knew that she wanted to, but she deliberated over how to say it. "Sure, let's do it," she said.

"Great, I'll see you here tomorrow." John slung the backpack onto his shoulders with a small grunt. "See you 'round!" he said, with the flash of a final smile before moving away.

Penny waved him goodbye as John moved further along the riverbank, crossed the small stone footbridge across from the museum and in towards town. She closed her book slowly, gazing at the leaves gliding gently down from the nearby trees. She was very proud of what she'd just done. She'd conquered her fears and put herself in a social situation. And she'd liked it.

A figure approached on her left.

"Penny?"

"Gunther?" Penny turned to face him, still sitting on the riverbank. She was startled by the sight of him, as she wasn't sure she'd ever actually seen him outside of the library before. "What is it?"

"Jas and Vincent came in a few minutes ago without you, I came to see if you were-"

"Oh shoot," Penny scrambled to her feet, hastily grabbing the book and straightening out her skirt. "I didn't realize it was that time already. Sorry!" she shouted as she rushed past Gunther towards the library.

Wednesday, Fall 17th, Year 1

Thanks for reading!

So, in this chapter we've had Penny's first interaction with John on her own terms. The ice is breaking, and the two are getting closer. I hope you're enjoying it all so far! Please let me know what you think.

Side Note: This was actually the first chapter of this story that was written, and unfortunately, I think it shows - I'm not overly happy with the quality of this chapter! Also, there's a couple of paragraphs in there from John's perspective - they're separated from the rest of the text with centered ellipses (...).