"What is love?"

'Twas the first day of spring, and I'd gone for a fish. Sam decided to sit beside me and ask that shit.

I opened my mouth to make the "Baby, don't hurt me" joke, but just one look at Sam's face told me he was serious. As in I don't think I'd ever seen him this serious before.

Was… Was he okay?

"Love?" I asked. "Like… in general?"

"Yeah," said Sam.

"…A…" I answered. "A feeling of… happiness toward someone. Love is feeling happy and/or excited due to someone's existence. Getting happy just thinking about how perfect they are. I-I mean, it's a wide spectrum, but… happiness caused by another person. That's the gist of it."

"I definitely get there's family love and friend love and all that," said Sam. "…I'm talking straight-up romance, though."

"Uh…" I answered, caught off-guard. "…Melting in their embrace… wanting to be near them at all times… can't help thinking about how perfect they are and getting all dreamy and over-the-moon… Even that's a wide spectrum."

…Why was he asking me all this?

"…Yeah," Sam nodded, looking out at the water. "Yeah, you're probably right."

As I felt a tug on my pole, I looked at him for a bit. He still looked pretty serious.

He sighed.

"I ask…" he told me. "…I ask because I want to get the ball rolling with Sebastian and Abigail."

I reeled in some seaweed. I also felt a bit of an adrenaline crash.

"Really?" I asked. "That bad, huh?"

"That bad," said Sam. "It's so obvious they're in love! They just don't want to say anything!"

"Okay, okay…" I said, casting again. "…What were you thinking of… doing?"

"I dunno," said Sam. "I'm a bit upset I missed the opportunity to dangle a mistletoe over them."

"Now, I see what you're going for," I interjected. "You have to be really careful, though. This is going to sound so damn sappy, but it's true: love is something that, in order to thrive, has to happen on its own. You can't force it."

"It's not forcing," Sam argued. "It's… encouraging. I want to encourage them to realize what's blossomed between them."

"Still," I said. "If they realize someone's trying to make it happen, they could be discouraged from acting on it. It could feel sour, like someone thinks it's all a game."

"You're talking like I'm just going to walk up to them and try to push their heads together," Sam said, sounding a tad offended. "No. As much as I want to sometimes, I know that's not cool."

"You're right, you're right," I said quickly. "…I'm sorry. I just… wanted to make sure you… knew what was at stake, for lack of a better way to explain it."

"Don't worry about it," Sam said, more calmly. "You're right. We can't be reckless."

I nodded and gave an "Mhm."

"I more wanna… set the scene," said Sam. "Set everything up around those two and let it do its work, you know?"

"Right, right," I nodded.

Something tugged at my pole, and I reeled it in, trying to come up with any ideas.

"Have those two ever played pool against each other?" I asked, reeling in an anchovy.

"…You know, I'm not sure!" Sam answered with a bit of enthusiasm. "I've sometimes been sick and couldn't go hang out with them at the saloon, so maybe they have!"

He snapped his fingers, as if he'd gotten an idea.

"I've got an idea!" he said. "I'm going to get those two to play a game together!"

"Love it," I nodded and smiled, also giving him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks for the inspiration!" said Sam.

"Don't mention it," I smiled. "…This is going to be interesting."

I had a feeling that this would, indeed, be interesting.