The morning of the Flower Dance, I was standing in my living room, feeling better about my appearance than I had in ages.

I was also wearing the most makeup I'd worn in ages, with a little eye shadow, some blush, some mascara, and some lipstick. Enough that my mom would be satisfied if she was there.

I'd just gone into one of ZuZu's department stores to pick up the white dress I was wearing. I ended up telling an associate about the Flower Dance, and the dress I was wearing was the one that best fit the Flower Dance bill according to them. It went down to my shins, which I appreciated, and if nothing else, I could twirl around and make the skirt fan out to feel pretty for a moment.

Before I left the house, I looked down at Laslow and asked "Do I look good?"

He didn't say anything.

"Yeah, thought so," I replied before heading for the door.

Upon stepping foot at the event, I already liked it better than any other dance I'd been to. There wasn't any music, which meant there wasn't any bass-boosted rap about clubs and sex and shit. There was barely any dancing to begin with; people were just talking to each other, and the only dancing happening right off the bat was Haley, who was practicing some moves while Alex looked on. Because of course he was.

I eventually spotted Sam talking to Sebastian and Abigail over on the other side of the field.

It occurred to me that Sam hadn't been wearing his suit when I'd talked to him on this day last year. Otherwise, I would definitely have noticed how different a person it made him look. Every guy that was partaking in the dance was wearing a similar suit, but Sam wore it so differently. He looked like he'd stepped right out of an advertisement for a big clothing store's suit department. He didn't look like his skater boi self anymore; he'd become what was considered society's image of a perfect man.

I'd been asked here by that guy? In what world was I worthy of that?

"Hey!" I heard a female voice say from my right. I looked over to see Maru walking up to me, wearing a white dress of her own. For some reason, it seemed way too elegant for the kind of person she was, but of course, I didn't know everything about her.

"Hi!" I waved. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good!" she answered. "The flowers are extra beautiful this year. Did they plant new ones?"

I took a moment to look around at the flowers that were all over the venue. I was impressed, too; there were all sorts of different flowers, from tulips to poppies to roses to kinds I didn't even know the names of.

"They are beautiful," I agreed.

"Sooo…" Maru said next. "Forgive me, but I gotta know… Who's the lucky guy?"

"The one that's dancing with me?" I answered. "That's Sam."

"Sam, huh?" she said. "He's always struck me as sort of lazy, but he's a good guy."

"How about you?" I asked.

"Harvey asks me every year," she answered. "…I'm happy to do the Flower Dance with him, but the poor guy needs someone in his life, you know? Sometimes, he seems so lonely."

"Yeah, he's a good person who deserves a nice companion," I agreed.

"Well, I'd better practice the moves again," said Maru. "The one part near the end has tripped me up every year."

"Oh, that's right," I said. "I was told this is a choreographed thing. Would you be able to teach me the dance?"

"…This is your first Flower Dance, isn't it?" she asked. "Glad you asked, then! I'd be happy to show you!"

We spent the next twenty minutes or so practicing the dance… if you can call stepping in place and raising your arms in the air a dance. Every moment of it felt like some kind of ritual.

"This honestly feels like a ritual," I even said.

"Yeah, I agree," said Maru. "I thought I read somewhere that it has to do with the fertility of Stardew Valley's plants, and the fertility part would explain why the man-woman pairing is involved… but I'm not 100% certain."

It turned out that the same part she struggled on was one I couldn't get 100% down, either. It had to do with the fingers being bent certain ways at certain times.

Soon enough, though, Mayor Lewis was calling for everyone to line up, guys on one side and girls facing their partners.

"I guess that's about as much as we can do to prepare," said Maru.

"Yup," I said.

I ended up standing next to Abigail, who stood across from Sebastian, as expected. We exchanged small, silent waves.

But then, Sam took his position across from me.

The way he was looking right at me made me want to fold in on myself. He had a bit of a smile on his face… as if he was somehow genuinely happy in this moment. I was probably just overthinking that part, but what I could be certain of was that he wouldn't quit looking right at me.

I looked around to find that that wasn't strange; in the moments right before the dance started, all partners seemed to have their eyes on each other. Not wanting to stand out, I decided to reciprocate Sam's eye contact. I smiled a bit as well, to try to send the message that I was happy to be here, too.

If nothing else, I could focus on how blue Sam's eyes were. It amazed me every time I saw it, how someone's eyes could get such an electrifying tint of blue.

From a stereo system at Mayor Lewis's feet, the waltz began to play.

I quickly noticed that the guys had a completely different dance to do, and to Sam, it seemed to come completely naturally… at least, compared to Sebastian, who was definitely doing the bare minimum.

I wondered what everyone else was thinking. Some, like Maru, were probably having a bit of fun, but didn't take it seriously. Some, like Alex and Haley, I figured, were probably still stuck in high school and took this shit super seriously, as if it was the ritual to guarantee their marriage or something. Some, like Sam, were probably pressured to take part by their family.

Thinking about that helped to calm the butterflies that Sam's eyes were spawning in my stomach.

Soon, the whole thing was finally over, Mayor Lewis thanked everyone for coming out, and the whole crowd dispersed.

Before I could decide what to do next, Sam approached me and said "Hey. Thanks for doing this with me."

"It's all good," I replied. "But I agree. This all does seem a bit pointless. I talked to Maru, and she said it may be some kind of fertility ritual, but she couldn't be sure."

"This place is very… filled with nature," he said. "That would make sense, a dance to ensure that nature can thrive. I kinda hope Maru's right."

"Yeah, me too," I said.

Then, my brain added something a little daring to my queue of things to say. I internally shrugged and decided it couldn't hurt.

"You look nice," I told Sam. "That suit is… um… nice."

I could have left it at "you look nice," but my brain just HAD to go and make my mouth keep talking. My anxiety told me I'd just fucked over any chance I had with this guy.

"Thanks," said Sam, rubbing his neck. "You look nice, too."

How'd he managed to get that out coherently? Ugh, he was better at this than me.

He then asked "So, uh… I've got nothing to do. Wanna go sit at the beach or something?"

"Sounds good," I said.

So I fished, and he sat with me, as per usual, to end off the day. Only difference was that he was in a suit and I was in a dress. I didn't think I'd be breaking this dress out again, so I wouldn't have cared if a fish exploded on it.

When the sun was setting, Sam told me something sort of interesting.

"'Sam'…" he said. "'Sam's' actually short for 'Samson.'"

"Oh?" I replied. "'Samson'… I don't think I've ever heard that name before."

"Really?" he said. "Well… don't tell anyone I told you that, please. It's a little embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?" I asked. "Why's that?"

"For one thing, it sounds like something you'd only hear when your mom's using your full name to scold you," said Sam. "Every time I hear it, I think I'm either being scolded or at a doctor's appointment."

"Okay, that's understandable," I said with a bit of a laugh.

He didn't say anything beyond that. After a few seconds, I spoke.

"I won't tell anyone," I promised him.

"Thanks," he said.

I wondered what had compelled him to tell me that. I knew I sometimes had moments where I suddenly trusted the person I was talking to enough with a bit of information about me. Was it something like that?

I then wondered if, if Sam were to get married, the officiant would say that full name. Like "I now introduce to you, Samson and so-and-so…" or something like that. Probably, right?