It was around the second week of Spring that Denne had truly gotten settled into the valley. On a morning she decided she had free time, she got to finally finish fully unpacking, fitting in the small amount of outfits she wore into a dresser. She managed to place down a photograph of her and her grandfather on the small coffee table that had already resided in her cabin. Then she decided to place down a cute chicken statue she found beside the photo. Her nervous "Good morning"s and "Hello"s grew into calm and confident greetings as she was sure she'd finally gotten all of Pelican Town's inhabitants' names down by now. The field in front of the cabin was a much better sight than it was a week ago, since she was able to get rid of the many rocks and trees that took up valuable farming space.

After getting ready for the day and making sure Parsnip had enough food and water for the day, Denne stepped out of the cabin to see Emily making her way towards her.

"Good morning, Emily!" The farmer greeted with a smile. "What can I do for you today?"

"Oh, I just had to let you know that the girls and I are going to start our rehearsal sessions for the Spring Dance coming up!" Emily began to explain. "We have these so that every young lady at least knows the dance steps by the time it comes around in case they get asked to dance, and we'll be starting tomorrow at my house. I wanted to know if you'd like to come to the sessions, Denne."

"Oh, that sounds interesting. Am I expected to dance in this?" Denne asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Emily let out a warm giggle. "All of the young villagers are. The boys are going to be rehearsing too. It's going to be a couples' dance with beautiful plants and flowers all around, along with a delicious feast! I definitely recommend you at least join us for rehearsals! You never know if someone will ask you to dance with them." An almost suspicious smile graced her lips as she finished her explanation.

"Hah, I'll only join because you recommended it!" Denne accepted the invitation, a small blush forming on her cheeks when the couples' dance was mentioned.

"Absolutely fabulous! Just make sure to bring some clothes you can move around freely in." The barmaid grinned, clasping her hands together in glee. "How does 6PM sound? We do have to account for Penny taking her time to teach Jas and Vincent."

"That's a perfect time for me." The farmer nodded. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then!"

Emily returned the nod and waved Denne goodbye as she headed out of the farm to go inform the rest of the town's bachelorettes.

With that, Denne went on with her day, caring for crops and freeing up some more space at the farm. Once she had made enough progress with the farm for today, she had brunch at the saloon and then decided to forage around Cindersap Forest. Once her legs became tired from walking and running throughout the forest, she decided to sit down and fish for some extra gold.


Shane's day at JojaMart went as good as it possibly could. This meant it was somewhat less annoying as usual. Although he had a pretty decent day at work today, his mind decided to treat him otherwise. He'd spent his entire shift just thinking of how much of a disappointment he'd been to Jas and Marnie. How everyone in Pelican Town would be better off if he'd just disappeared without warning. How the new farmer probably already hated his guts by now.

A switch in his head suddenly flipped. Wait, when was the last time he'd seen Denne anyway? Was she just working extra hard these past few days? Did she plant so many crops that it took her entire days to water them all? Did she bother Parsnip enough to get deep scratches that left her at Harvey's for days? He found himself smiling and letting out a small chuckle as he imagined the silly predicaments.

Then the switch flipped back down. Maybe she was just trying to avoid him. Shane settled on that being the most realistic outcome. He couldn't wait to get out of work and buy packs of beer to sit down with at his usual wallowing-in-pity spot.

When the clock finally hit 5PM, he wasted no time. He made sure to buy enough packs of beer to refill his stash in his room along with some extras to drink tonight. As he walked past the saloon, he looked into the window. No Denne to be seen. She usually had dinner in there at this time.

She was definitely avoiding him now. This didn't help his mood, as his legs became heavier and he started dragging them in the direction of Marnie's ranch. Why did he suddenly start caring about the farmer, again? He asked himself that question again and again, the third time stopping halfway when he saw a sitting figure at the pier on the lake he was heading to. Shane didn't know who was there, but he found himself quickening his stride all the same, beer packs in hands.

He was finally able to make out Denne, whose legs were dangling off the pier as she held a fishing pole with a bucket at her side.

She didn't notice him until she heard his footsteps along with the planks creaking. She looked up at his direction and took a hand off the pole to give him a friendly wave.

"Oh, hi." Denne began quietly. "Am I in another one of your spots again?" She asked. Shane could make out a small laugh in her question as he watched her get ready to stand.

"You are," He started with a small smile, placing his beer down. "But, uh, you can stay there."

"Are you sure?" She asked, eyebrows raised in surprise as he sat beside her.

"Mhm." He nodded, making himself comfortable.

"If you say so." She shrugged, taking her place on the pier once again.

The two spent the next few minutes silently doing their own thing. Shane would open up a can of beer and gulp it down within seconds, preparing himself to open up another. Denne would be lying if she told herself that Shane's sudden appearance didn't make her nervous as she continued to nab another fish from the lake. She'd sometimes look beside her from the corner of her eye to see him drinking and occasionally taking a look at her as well. Her gaze would then quickly return to the water.

"So..." She eventually spoke quietly, deciding to break the silence that had lasted too long. "How's it going, Shane?"

"'T's going." He answered with a loud burp as he suddenly drunkenly leaned on her shoulder, trying to pass her a can.

Denne looked at him a bit worried, but nonetheless graciously took the can. She could only handle fishing at the docks for so long without any entertainment. She then flipped up the little tab and gulped it down, trying to hide the small burp that escaped her mouth and wiping her lips with her forearm. She noticed his weight slightly getting heavier on her and mentally shrugged, deciding this wasn't too bad.

"Woman after my own heart..." She heard Shane mumble to himself as his legs dangled off the pier.

"Hm?" She nudged him a bit, as if asking for some kind of clarification.

He only replied by shaking his head with a small "Nothing." She didn't miss the smile plastered on his face. Maybe he was nicer when he's drunk.

Another few silent minutes passed, broken only by Shane's loud burps and Denne's giggles in response. He found them pretty cute as he continued to lean on her even harder, causing her to let out full on laughter as she leaned back onto him and it turned into a small battle to see who could tip the other over the most. He then finally straightened himself up and sighed.

"You ever feel like...no matter what you do, you're gonna fail?...Like you're stuck in some miserable abyss and you're so deep you can't even see the light of day?"

Denne's growing grin turned into a look of concern as she turned her head towards him. She then gently leaned on him, laying her cheek on his shoulder and hoping it would comfort him somewhat. She seemed to almost snuggle into him out of pity.

Shane gave her a pat on the back in appreciation. He normally hated being seen in such a vulnerable state, but he figured she'd get a pass this one time after the kindness she'd shown him. He hoped neither of the two would remember tonight's events by tomorrow.

"I just feel like no matter how hard I try...I'm not strong enough to climb out of that hole."

Silence filled the air for a moment as Denne only continued to caress his shoulder with the side of her face.

"You can talk too, you know." Shane lightly nudged her, finding himself wanting to hear her calming voice. He didn't know if he enjoyed her being this close to him because of his drunk and moody state or if he was just genuinely enjoying her presence. He also didn't know if she was being this affectionate with him because she was becoming drunk as well or if she'd perhaps started to consider them as friends. He mentally came to the conclusion that she was just a friendly drunk.

He was disappointed to feel her weight being lifted from his shoulder so soon.

"Oh, um..." She spoke, straightening herself back up in surprise. She began thinking of the right thing to say, not wanting any misunderstandings to upset him. "Well, have you had someone to help you climb out of the hole? You don't have to deal with this all by yourself, you know." She asked, looking up at him.

Shane scoffed at this as he looked at her with a raised brow. "What, like professional help? A therapist? Hell no. Those don't come cheap."

"It doesn't have to be professional help or anything that costs money." She lightly teased. "You have people in this town, like Marnie. Any friend you're good with, even."

He took a moment to think and then shook his head, looking down somberly at the can in his hand. "She wouldn't get it. Too old to believe in that kind of stuff. It's not like I can drag Jas into it either, and the only other person I really talk to is dealing with enough of peoples' issues working at the saloon 'til midnight."

Denne turned her head to the water with a small "Oh." She then went back to softly leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Well, you managed to start talking to me about it." She spoke in a hopeful tone. She then gazed up at him and spoke softly, "And I haven't told you to stop yet."

Shane lightly blushed and turned his head away at her forwardness. "Uh, maybe I'll consider it sometime..."

"I mean, obviously, it doesn't need to be me, either! Just anyone you trust that much!" She explained quickly with a nervous laugh, waving her hands around in embarrassment after realizing how direct she must have sounded. "I just know that being alone while you're feeling this way isn't the best thing to do. You can get through most things if you have someone helping you with 'em!"

"Were you a therapist in a past life, perhaps?" He jokingly asked, nudging her in the side with an elbow as he grabbed another beer.

Denne laughed. "We'll never know. I've been through something similar so I just thought I'd put my two cents in. Don't know if they're any useful, but you do whatever you think helps."

Shane found himself giving her a genuine smile, causing her to lightly blush in return. She hoped it was too dark outside for him to notice as her cheeks grew warm. Denne realized she began to like this gentle, somewhat soft side of him.

"Thanks for hearing me out, I guess. Sorry for throwing that onto you out of nowhere."

"No, it's fine! I offered you my ears and I'll make sure I stand by it. If I don't, you can be as mean to me as you want." She'd said the last sentence as a joke, but Shane's smile turned into a small frown out of realization.

"Oh, yeah. And I'm sorry for not being the nicest when we first met. I'm no good with strangers." He admitted, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I get it." Denne assured him quietly while nodding in understanding. "Don't worry about it."

Shane lightly snickered when he noticed one of her arms slowly reaching for a can behind him, as if she was trying to grab it without him realizing. He instinctively put his hand on top of hers with a sneer as she jumped and looked at him with wide eyes. The beer definitely had some kind of hold on him at this point.

"I'll let you off the hook this time," He started with a teasing voice. "But don't go making a habit out of it. You still have a future ahead of you."

Denne only nodded quickly, still in shock as she looked into his green eyes. He had a much softer look in his face than he'd ever had in the past times she'd interacted with him, and he looked...content for once. The hint of sorrow behind his eyes hadn't vanished, however.

Meanwhile, Shane was fixated on the silky-smooth feeling below his hand. He was sure she'd had a glove over hers but he quickly glanced down to see it was bare under his. He then looked back up at Denne in panic and let go, finding himself at a loss for words. How long was his hand sitting there?

"Oh, um, of course. Thanks." She stumbled on her words, taking the can after a few seconds and getting ready to work on it.

The two sat in silence once again as they drank. Shane's legs swung back and forth slightly quicker than before due to him becoming nervous.

"So...the saloon." He began after a while, noticing his legs and trying to steady them. "I don't think I saw you there these past few days." He instantly regretted bringing it up, realizing how desperate he must have sounded to Denne.

"I mean, not that I was look-" He started his defense when she spoke suddenly.

"Oh, I've decided on skipping dinner."

"Skipping dinner?" Shane repeated, incredulous.

He quickly looked her up and down before speaking again. She was a fairly thin woman and he couldn't possibly find a single flaw on her body. He couldn't stop himself from taking a moment to think about the rest of her features. The soft, pink curls that beautifully framed her face and cascaded down to the middle of her back. He liked the way they bounced with each step she took. And the little flecks of pink that adorned her cheeks, her small rosy nose, along with her arms and legs? He found himself focusing on the ones on her face whenever they'd interacted, occasionally thinking of how some of them looked like little hearts, or maybe even stars. And just above them were her eyes. Her beautiful sky blue eyes that always seemed to look at him with either concern or curiosity. She'd just recently begun to look at him with some sort of excitement and even complete understanding. To him, she looked perfect.

Then he thought about himself for a moment. The complete opposite of the cute, friendly little lady that sat next to him. He could definitely use some dinner skipping. His drinking and unhealthy eating habits had given him a noticeable amount of soft chub above his waistline, on the sides of his face, and a bit on his arms. He wasn't all fat, however, as he did have a decent amount of muscle on his arms, back, and legs from helping his aunt with the chores he did around the ranch. His gloomy, purple hair was barely ever brushed since he always rushed to get to work in the morning, which was covered by his Joja cap anyways. The slowly growing stubble on his jaw that he just can't get himself to get rid of. The dark spots under his muddy green eyes weren't going away anytime soon and would only grow darker and more noticeable if he kept up this lifestyle. To him, his list of flaws went on infinitely. He'll never know why Denne even bothers to lay her eyes on the gigantic hot mess that was himself.

"I'm pretty sure you're already as small as you can get."

Denne let out a laugh and took a moment to stretch, seemingly in defense of his "small" comment.

"Oh, no, um...I'm just trying to save money." She admitted, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "Maybe I'll treat myself to something nice after my next crop harvest. It stops me gaining too much weight from Gus' delicious spaghetti, wouldn't want to get big before the Flower Dance."

She turned to him in confusion when he sighed at the mention of the dance.

"I forgot about that." He began with a groan. "Aunt Marnie's gonna hound me over the rehearsals when I get home."

"Are you planning on dancing there?" She asked, somewhat hopeful.

"I don't get much of a choice. Depends on whether I get asked to dance, but I won't know until I'm there." He explained with a roll of his eyes as his can let out a loud crinkling noise from his tightening grasp. "Only good thing about it is the feast. You should at least go for the food."

"That's the plan." Denne nodded.


"Anyway, I'll let you go." Shane said with a groan as he stood up from the pier. "Work tomorrow."

"I hear that." Denne replied with a smile.

"I can't imagine how someone like you handles that farm." He admitted with a chuckle. "Don't think it can get any worse from how it was before you came here, though."

"Maybe you can come visit sometime! I'm making some decent work of it." The farmer started as she began to pick up the empty, crumpled up cans around them. "I'm planning on having Robin build a coop soon so I can have chickens."

Shane grinned at the thought of his favorite animal. "Feel free to let me know when that happens."

He took the cans from Denne and stuffed them into his plastic Joja bag.

"Oh, um..." Denne mumbled out as Shane turned around to leave for Marnie's. "I liked talking to you today. It was nice."

"Why?" Shane asked as he watched her pick up the bucket that was filled to the brim with fish. She stretched out her legs and looked up at him in confusion.

She then let out a nervous sigh. "I honestly don't really know either. I've always been better with older people than younger ones. Doesn't really help that there aren't that many young people in Pelican Town, either."

Shane found himself stuck in his head once she finished speaking. Old? How old did he look? Had he been neglecting his appearance that much? When was the last time he looked at himself in the mirror? He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear Denne talk to herself for a moment.

"I mean, you're also drunk so maybe that's why you're being nice and actually talking to me..." She mumbled quietly as she looked away from him.

He snapped himself out of it when she looked up at him and spoke again.

"Well, be careful heading home. You're lucky it's right there!"

"Uh, yeah, you be careful too." Shane nodded before turning around to leave. "I'll see you around."

I realized that I had completely forgotten that the Egg Festival exists, but I honestly don't know if it's important enough to even bring up in this fic? Maybe we could pretend it's during this week but I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on that :) I've also actually decided what Denne looks like, her description being mostly the same as it was during the first chapter but her hair is just longer! I feel like I may have dragged this chapter a bit long, but I think it's pretty alright? I'd love to know what you guys think about ths fic so far!