"Abigail's birthday's coming up," said Sam.
I fished, he sat there and kept me company. The usual. One usual I loved dearly.
"What does she like?" I asked.
"I was actually kinda hoping you'd know," Sam answered sheepishly. "Believe it or not, you actually talk to her more often than I do."
"Really?" I asked. "Y'all hang out all the time."
"She just kinda tags along with me and Sebastian, more than anything," Sam said. "Like, she's cool and all, and an amazing drummer, but she's more there for Sebastian than for me, I guess. I-It's not like we say nothing to each other, but…"
"I get'cha," I answered. "I've been the tag-along person in a group more times than I can count."
Something bit at my line. I reeled it in, to find seaweed.
"You've said she's a gamer, right?" I asked.
"Did I?" Sam asked in response.
"When we first met, you asked if I was a gamer," I recounted. "Because I am, you said I'd get along with her. I-I mean, I guess that's kinda reaching, but…"
"You've got a good memory," Sam marveled. "…Tell me your secrets. I forget shit all the time."
"Trust me, my long-term's much better than my short-term," I answered. "But… huh. Giving a gift to a gamer sucks, too, because you don't know what kind of game they're into."
Right here, I got the most this-just-might-work idea I'd gotten in a while.
I had a bunch of minerals from mining that I didn't know what to do with, one being an amethyst. She'd left an amethyst at Sebastian's, meaning she just carried one around, right? Meaning she liked an amethyst, right?
I also remembered that she seemed to have a bit of a reaction to me giving her father one at the last Feast of the Winter Star.
…What if I made her some amethyst jewelry? I mean, I didn't know if she liked jewelry (after all, I didn't).
But even if she didn't, it would be a gift that I made for her. Can't go wrong with a handmade gift from a friend.
That settled it. I'd have to go into the city tomorrow to find a craft store or something.
The 13th of fall rolled around, and I had a wrapped box holding a pair of crudely-constructed amethyst earrings in my jacket pocket. I was semi-proud of how they'd turned out. Like, everything was solidly in-place and wouldn't easily fall apart… but the amethysts looked just a tad uneven, and the whole product was nowhere near as shiny as something you'd find at the mall. I wished I'd picked up some polish or something.
Sam had told me the day before that we were just meeting at the saloon for a standard hangout, the only real difference being that Abigail was getting gifts.
When I got to the saloon, the scene was pretty familiar: barely anyone was there yet, the boys were playing pool, and Abigail was watching them play.
She saw me walking in and said a solid "Hi!", which made the boys pause their game and turn to look at me.
"Hey, we were wondering when you'd get here!" Sam said cheerfully.
"We've been here for ten minutes," Sebastian countered.
"Now that you're here," Sam said, nearly cutting Sebastian off. "Let's give Abigail her gifts."
Soon, I sat on the couch besides Abigail, Sam standing next to me and Sebastian standing next to Abigail, the rest of us watching her intently. All of our gifts were pretty small in size. Actually, Sam's was just an envelope.
She opened Sam's first, to reveal a download card for what looked like an indie platformer game.
"I've played this a bit and really enjoy it," said Sam. "I think you would, too."
"It does look like fun!" Abigail smiled. "Thanks, Sam!"
"Don't mention it!" Sam smiled back.
Abigail looked to Sebastian's and my presents. It hadn't struck me until this moment how similar they were in size. So much so that if I hadn't handmade my gift, I'd worry we'd gotten her the same thing.
She picked mine to open next. Before I knew it, she had opened the box and was looking at the earrings… and I was overcome with relief to see that her face had lit right up.
"Did you make these?" she asked, looking at me.
"Yeah," I answered. "I know they're a bit uneven, but-"
"They're amazing," she interjected, wrapping me in a tight hug. "Thank you so much!"
As she let go, all my anxiety went away. She liked it. I'd succeeded.
She then opened Sebastian's… which was a stand-alone amethyst, about as big as the one she had before, except way shinier. Abigail's reflection could clearly be seen in it.
"I found this myself," said Sebastian. "I also polished it, as you can see."
Poor guy was just barely getting the right words out smoothly, I could tell. If I hadn't thought he liked her before, I would have been enlightened in this moment.
"It's beautiful!" Abigail smiled. "How did you get it so shiny?"
"An unreal amount of polish, basically," said Sebastian.
Before I knew it, Abigail was hugging Sebastian.
Scratch what I said before. If I hadn't thought he was crazy about her before, I would have been enlightened in this moment. He'd taken Sam's hug with clear hesitation, and hadn't even wanted to hug me… but when he was in Abigail's arms, the look on his face was that of pure joy. As if this hug, no matter how brief, was taking half the world's burdens off his shoulders.
I sent a look, a smile and a raised eyebrow, Sam's way. He sent me the same look back. It was that obvious.
"You know you completely one-upped Sebastian, right?" Sam asked later.
We'd walked Sebastian home, then Abigail. Ended up Sam was walking me home next.
"How was I supposed to know?" I asked with a laugh. "And, I mean, are you sure? I don't think I could have gotten a jewel that shiny if I had all the polish in the world."
"Yeah, you've got a point," Sam agreed. "That's dedication. The kind of dedication a guy only has when he likes a girl, the way I see it."
"I know you saw the look on his face when they were hugging," I said.
"I don't think I've seen him that happy in my life," said Sam.
It seemed like it was just as he finished speaking that a train blew its whistle off in the distance. Well, I say "off in the distance," but it was closer than I was expecting. It startled me.
"Me neither," I said, trying to mask the fact I'd just been jumpscared by a train. "I mean, that's not saying much considering I've only been here a year and a half, but… if it set a record with you, it must be significant."
"Those two were made for each other," said Sam.
"I believe it," I nodded.
The train whistled again, but this time, it seemed a bit more distant, and I was ready for it. Instead of shock, I was filled with peace.
The sound of a train always gave me this image of adventure, maybe wandering a grassy field in the middle of nowhere, where the only sign of civilization was a train track and the train that would come through on it.
…Well… Stardew Valley was essentially all grass and dirt paths. I was on a dirt path in a realm of nature, talking with one of my best friends (who just so happened to be a potential future husband) about matchmaking. That was an adventure all on its own.
Author's note: I was on Tinder this morning and ran into a Sam and a Sebastian consecutively. Tf.