Penelope cautiously approached the hodgepodge early-to-mid-twenties group, which consisted of two guys playing pool together and a girl who sat on the couch observing them. As Penelope neared the pool table, the purple-haired girl looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey, you must be Penelope!" she sang. "I'm Abigail, and this is Sebastian and Sam". Sebastian was dressed from head to toe in black. He was tall and rail thin with a mop of jet-black hair that was cut short on one side so that it hung over the right side of his face. Sam, on the other hand, was bright and colorful and was a bit shorter with light blonde hair that stuck straight up. They looked like the difference between night and day. Sebastian simply nodded at her with a small smile, but Sam turned to greet her and firmly patted her on the back.

"Hey! It's nice to meet you, Penelope!" he chimed.

This boy is giving golden retriever vibes. Well, I suppose these guys aren't so scary after all.

"So," started Abigail in a whisper, "I thought you and Shane were mortal enemies already, but I guess my dad had that all wrong!"

"Your dad? I mean we got off to a rocky start, but–" Penelope stammered, glancing over at Shane who was still nursing his beer in the corner where she had left him.

"Oh, sorry, I should clarify. My dad is Pierre. He said Shane was rude to you the other day in the store and that you yelled at him. Said you walked out of there looking pissed," she laughed.

"That makes so much more sense." Penelope laughed too. "But, uh, he actually apologized tonight and bought me a drink," she said and raised her Midori sour to Abigail. The entire group turned around to look at her in disbelief.

"Shane? Apologized and bought you a drink?" asked Abigail. "Boy, he must have a crush on you or something!"

"Is it really that big of a deal?" asked Penelope, turning bright red and raising her eyebrows at Abigail. Penelope's blue-green eyes were wide with surprise.

"Uh, yeah. He moved here like a year ago or so and pretty much talks to no one, and, even then, the nicest thing he's ever said to any of us is 'fuck off.'"

"Oh, well he seems okay once he warms up. Maybe no one has ever really tried to talk to him? Pierre, your dad, said he's had a rough life…" Penelope trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hm, I guess so. I don't think anyone knows much about him. Sam works with him at Joja Mart, and his mom sometimes watches Shane's daughter, but he doesn't really talk to anyone at work or say much to Sam or Jodi," she admitted, shrugging back at Penelope. "Anyway, enough about Shane, tell us about yourself! We heard you just moved here from Zuzu City." Daughter and no ring on his finger? I wonder if she died or if they got a divorce or something.

Penelope took a deep breath, shaking herself from her thoughts, and smiled. She started with the sob story of her grandpa's Alzheimer's and his eventual passing, and about how he had left her the farm which afforded her to escape from her mundane life in Zuzu City. She told them about her shitty soulless job at Joja Corp and she told them about her friends back in the city, and how everyone thinks she's lost her mind moving here. The group seemed sympathetic to her situation, inviting her to hang out with them on Fridays at the Saloon, which Penelope graciously accepted. Sure, they were a few years younger than her, but friends were friends and Penelope wasn't going to turn them down.

Gradually parting from the group, Penelope made her way around the various tables strewn about the Stardrop, meeting Robin's husband, Demetrius, Clint, the local blacksmith, Willy, the fisherman, Leah, and Elliot, both recent transplant artists, Marnie, who turned out to be Shane's aunt and lived just south of Penelope's farm, and Pam, the town drunk and former bus driver. Everyone was definitely interesting, that was for sure. Pelican Town was turning out to be nothing like what Penelope had remembered or anticipated, but there was something reassuring about that fact. As far as Penelope could see, there wasn't a single person who belonged in Pelican Town and half of them were from somewhere else.

Eventually, after most of the other patrons had left, she made her way back to Shane who was now sitting on a stool, slumped over his glass. Penelope hopped up onto the stool next to him and swiveled to face him. Shane slowly looked up at her, visibly straining to focus his eyes. Penelope wanted to cringe.

He really wasn't kidding about going for the title of town drunk.

"Well, did you win the title?" she questioned, eyeing all the empty glasses on the counter.

The corner of his mouth pulled into a smirk, and he made a small sound of amusement in his throat. "Yeah, somethin' like that…" he slurred, frowning into the emptiness of the mug directly in front of him. Penelope was a little taken aback and sat quietly for a moment– she never felt comfortable being around drunk people or being drunk for herself for that matter. Awkwardly, she tried to pull Shane back out of his shell.

"So, um, I just wanted to thank you for the drink again. It helped calm my nerves," she admitted and started picking at the wood on the bar top.

Shane nodded. "Welcome".

This was proving to be harder than Penelope had thought, this guy was not one for conversation and her social awkwardness and anxiety were really not helping things. She didn't know why she felt the need to keep badgering him, but she did anyway.

"Are you okay? You seem, um–" Shane snapped his bloodshot eyes up to meet hers, his green irises were amplified by the red rimming them, and they burned through her. His eyes were daring her to continue, daring her to judge him like the rest of the town.

Am I okay?! Dude…

"Sorry, I… I'm going to get going. Do you need… Can I walk you home?" she blurted, looking down and picking at the peeling wood on the bar top again. I'm sorry, what? Did I just offer to walk him home?

"Do I look that drunk?" Shane mused. "But yeah, I suppose you can. We're neighbors anyhow." He motioned for Emily to come over and pulled out his wallet, placing some bills on the bar top. Shane rose to his feet, slightly swaying, and used the bar to steady himself. "You know, you really shouldn't be leaving with me, you don't want to ruin your reputation already like I told you…." He stuffed his hands into his blue Joja hoodie and motioned for Penelope to head to the door.

"Hah, bold of you to assume I haven't already ruined it myself with my terrible social skills," she replied, grinning.

Penelope stood up and made her way to the door with Shane clumsily walking behind her. Once outside, a cool breeze cut through her jacket and made her shiver. She took a deep breath and fell in pace beside Shane, letting him guide her southwest, down past a few houses. Shane motioned to them.

"This is where Emily and her sister, Haley, live and the next house is where Sam, his mom, Jodi, and his little brother, Vincent, live." Penelope sighed, enjoying the cool night air and the smell of the river to their left.

"Uhg, I still have so many people to meet. For a small town, I feel like there sure are a lot of you," Penelope groaned and shoved her hands in her jacket.

Shane laughed to himself and shook his head. They spent the rest of the walk in comfortable silence until they made it to Marnie's ranch.

"And this is where I live," he paused. "I'm renting a room from Marnie at a really good price. It's small but I can't complain. I get to help with the chickens too, which I really enjoy." he mused, eyes glazed over and fixed on the horizon.

Penelope smiled and snapped her attention to the ground, realizing she had been staring at Shane. "Chickens, huh? I didn't peg you for a chicken farmer." she laughed softly.

"Yeah, me either, but I've come to find that they're better than people. They're not judgmental and they listen." Penelope nodded in understanding; she had felt much the same way about animals her whole life. "If I could reset my whole life maybe I'd start a chicken farm. Heh." Shane suddenly inhaled after a brief lull in the conversation, "Well, let's get you home."

"Me," she asked, taken aback. "I thought I was walking you home." Penelope crossed her arms. "Besides, you're far too drunk to make it through the southern edge of my property. It's an absolute mess."

"Listen, I'm a professional" he joked. "Plus, I'm not going to take the blame for anything happening to you, not after a quarter of the town watched us leave together. No fuckin' way!"

Penelope huffed. "Well, you've got me there. I'll allow it," she teased, rolling her eyes.

They walked around the ranch and turned north, meandering through the brush, rocks, and fallen logs. Miraculously, neither of them tripped and fell while navigating Penelope's wild overgrown forest and they made it to her cabin safely.

"See," Shane puffed "I'm a very agile drunk". Penelope laughed and tried to catch her breath.

"That was way more of a workout than I thought it would be. I'm used to walking and bike riding in the city but crawling over rocks and logs at an incline is something else." She stood there, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.

Shane smirked at her with pity on his face and shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, I got you home safely. You, uh… have a good night, Penelope," he said, kicking at the dirt in front of her steps. He gave her a little wave and turned to go.

Penelope, of course, just stood there awkwardly. "Hey, Shane?" she called out at him.

He turned around to look at her from a few feet away. "What?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Don't be a stranger, yeah? I, um, liked hanging out with you tonight. Thank you." She could feel her face and ears growing red.

Shane nodded and smiled back, blushing as well. "I'll try not to..." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he turned and trudged off towards Marnie's ranch, disappearing into the darkness.

Penelope opened the heavy, old door to her cabin. Oh my god, what am I even doing here? Was that weird? Was I giving off the wrong vibes? I mean, he is cute even if he is the self-professed town drunk. No, no, no. I shouldn't be crushing on someone like him. Damn it. This is my first week in a new town and I am absolutely ruining it.

Penelope's thoughts were going a mile a minute as she overanalyzed every single interaction, she had had that night, especially the walk home with Shane. He seemed like a genuinely good person, but he definitely had a lot going on. Eventually, Penelope fell into a fitful sleep on her old, lumpy blue couch.