"Smile!" A girly voice called from behind you. You and your boyfriend turned around to see Haley posing with a camera. Shane wrapped his arm around your waist as you both smiled for the photo.
"Oh, you can do better than that!" Marnie guffawed from behind the amateur photographer. "Kiss her!" She insisted in her "aunt-y" way.
Shane rolled his eyes, but his smile told a different story. He pulled you in as you leaned up to kiss him. This was the first time the two of you had shown a lot of PDA in front of the town, and it felt really nice. You had the strangest feeling. You almost wished Elliott was here, to see Shane and you together. You felt awful that you had only told him you were dating someone, and that you hadn't specified it was Shane. While part of you was terrified to see him, you wanted him to know you were completely committed to Shane. Before you could think anymore about the situation, Mayor Lewis began to address the town.
"Hello, cherished community members!" The mayor smiled, holding a small champagne flute. "Thank you all so much for coming out here today. Now, let the Stardew Valley's annual Flower Dance begin!" There were cheers and applause from the townspeople. "To kick it off, we shall begin with the Flower Dance itself! May all of Pelican Town's eligible bachelors and bachelorettes make their way forward." He left to stand on the side of the field with the other people who weren't dancing.
Shane grabbed your hand. "Are you ready?" He asked, a huge grin plastered over his face.
You sucked in a nervous, yet excited, breath. "As ready as I'll ever be." Your boyfriend eagerly pulled you towards the center of the field where the townspeople were lining up. You were getting more and more nervous. You could feel people staring at you, but you bet it was probably just Marnie. You stepped into line with the other girls and watched Shane take his place opposite of you with the boys.
The music started and the dance began. All of your nerves fluttered away as you performed in sync with the other dancers. Shane's face was shy and smiling as he watched you and the other girls performed the group solo. After, you watched the boys take their turn. Then you waltzed towards each other and Shane took your hands in his and spun you around. In your twirl, you managed to catch Marnie wiping a happy tear away from her eye.
The dance came to an end and the happy group of dancers disbanded into the cheering crowd. It felt good: to be cheered on, to help uphold this tradition, and to dance with the man you loved. Shane pulled you into a hug and tilted your chin up, gently kissing you. Fresh spring blossoms and flower petals fluttered through the air all around you. You could feel them nestling gently in your hair. Shane pulled back and smiled down at you. He ran a hand through your hair, brushing out some of the petals.
It felt like true bliss. Shane held you while you were circled by flowers, surrounded by good food and a new, loving home. You had only been living in Stardew Valley for a little over three weeks, but it already felt like more of a home than Zuzu City ever had to you. Shane was, of course, the highlight of the Valley to you, but the rest of the town and the beautiful nature aided in the love you held for your new home.
"Are you okay?" Shane asked, gently brushing his hand against your cheek. "You zoned out there for a sec."
You smiled up at your caring boyfriend. "Yeah! I was thinking about how wonderful my life is here in Pelican Town." You leaned your head against his chest as he wrapped his strong arms tighter around you. "But, this. This is by far the most wonderful part." You rested your hands on his arms as he set his head atop of yours.
The rest of the town had crowded into the field where the dance had just ended. "Shane! (Y/N)!" Marnie smiled as Jas sprinted towards the two of you. "You were wonderful!" It looked like she had been crying, but a large grin overtook her face. She dabbed lightly at her eyes with a tissue. "I wish I could have gotten it on a recording."
"It's okay, Marn." Mayor Lewis comforted her. "You'll get to see them again next year, just look forward to that."
It was Jas's turn to pipe in. "You did so good, Uncle Shane!" She was jumping up and down with excitement as she turned to you. "You look like an angel (Y/N)!" You could tell she must have eaten a lot of sugar from the buffet. "You're the prettiest person in the entire world!"
"You really are." Shane agreed as he gently slid his arm around your waist, running his hand up and down the side of your hip. "I'm sure the whole town couldn't help but stare." You were trying to avoid blushing as you were showered with compliments. "You're just-"
Jas interrupted her uncle as she spotted her best friend across the field. "Vincent!" She screamed gleefully and started to run towards him. Marnie and Mayor Lewis followed her, leaving you and Shane alone in the swarm of people.
"You're just jaw-dropping, is what I was going to say." Shane laughed. "Want to go get a bite to eat?" He pointed over to the food, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the rows and rows of buffets set out. "To be honest with ya, Gus's food used to be the only reason I came to this thing." He shook his head fondly. "That and Marnie would've killed me if I skipped."
You laughed along as you approached a tall stack of plates at the beginning of the buffet. Shane handed you one and grabbed one for himself. Gus was walking between the aisles of the tables, helping the townspeople and conversing with the buffet goers. He spotted you and your boyfriend and quickly made his way over to the two of you. "Can I interest you in any of these fine meats?" He asked as he gestured to the platters of roasts, turkey, hams, and assorted meats. "Save room for the sides though! We have every kind imaginable for you folks to snack on!" You peered behind him to see Pam scooping as many deviled eggs onto her plate as would fit.
The jolly bartender left the two of you to fill up your plates with a variety of foods from the saloon. You and Shane headed over to some chairs that had been set out and dug into your meal.
It was delicious, to say the least. "Wow." You tried to say, but your mouth was completely full.
"Couldn't have said it better." Your boyfriend joked. He took another bite of something pepper-related before looking back up at you. He looked much more serious now. "Thanks for dancing with me, (Y/N)." He looked down bashfully. "I never thought that someone would actually want to dance with me, Emily used to do it out of pity. But with you, everything is turning out better than I ever could have imagined."
You were shaken by the sentiment. "I wouldn't have danced with anyone else." You patted his knee. "I didn't think I would get along nearly this well in the Valley, but here I am with the perfect boyfriend and I wouldn't trade this life for anything."
He adorably tried to hide the fact that he was blushing when you called him the "perfect boyfriend." Instead, he just continued to eat as the two of you enjoyed the bliss of the Flower Dance. You didn't know how they had made it happen, but flower petals were continually fluttering through the sky as if Mayor Lewis had magically filled the clouds with sweet pink blooms.
The petals were landing everywhere, settling the field in an angelic cloak of baby pink. There were some continually falling into your hair. You watched as Jas and Vincent ran around trying to catch some. Dr. Harvey brushed some off of his shoulder as more quickly took their place. You looked over at Shane. They had settled all around him, nestling in his dark hair and bringing out an almost purple hue. The tiny blossoms circled around him and nestled in the folds of his suit. You looked down to see the same thing was happening to your dress as you brushed them off to the ground gently, preserving their grace.
Before you could pay any more attention to the mystical flower petals, you and Shane had finished your lunch and he stood up, offering you his hand. You instantly took it and went to set your plates in the disposal bin.
You looked up at Shane, wondering what the two of you should do next. Your boyfriend responded to your question before you could even ask. "We should probably go mingle some more." He sighed. "Marnie always says I don't get out enough, and you haven't even met half the town yet."
The two of you started out to go back to Shane's aunt, who was still chatting with the Mayor. "I can't get over it." Marnie smiled as the two of you approached her. "That was just the sweetest dance." She gently placed a hand over her heart. You had never seen her this happy before. "Now, where are you two headed?"
You responded this time. You were growing more comfortable around Shane's family and you were trying to speak up for yourself a little more, even though you were fine with Shane taking on the conversation from time to time. "I think we're going to try and meet some of the people I haven't run into yet." You explained.
"You should go and meet George and Evelyn." Mayor Lewis suggested. "They're some of Pelican Town's oldest citizens, and Evelyn is such a sweet and positive light in town. In fact, she arranged all the flowers you see here today." You looked around, the flowers were particularly impressive and beautiful.
Shane agreed with the Mayor. "You'll really like them." He smiled as he grabbed your hand and started walking across the field to where an elderly couple sat. The man was in a wheelchair and the woman stood next to him. They weren't speaking to each other but just observing all of the townspeople rejoicing in the celebrations.
"Hi, Granny." He grinned at the couple.
They looked up at you as the two of you approached. "Shane." The woman smiled. She looked you over. "It's been so long, who is your friend?"
"This is my girlfriend, (Y/N)." Shane kissed the top of your head as a demonstration of your relationship. "She just moved into the farm west of town."
"How nice." The lady grinned through squinted eyes. "I'm Evelyn, but you can call me Granny." She gestured to the man in the wheelchair. "This is my husband, George."
Shane leaned over and pulled you into a hug, secretly whispering something in your ear. "The only reason she knows me is that Marnie makes me move a bunch of pots and dirt for her gardens. Apparently her grandson Alex can't do it by himself." He chuckled before releasing his arms.
"Go on, spin her." George interjected. He nodded at you.
Shane didn't hesitate to take his advice. He grabbed your hand and spun you out, lifting up his arm and twirling you by the finger when he pulled you back in. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" You whispered jokingly as he twirled you all the way into his arms. He quickly kissed you on the lips, not letting go of you as you turned back to face the old couple.
Granny Evelyn had a huge grin across her small face. "You two give me so much hope for the future." She patted her husband's arm. "Now go on and talk to your friends. You have better things to do than chat with us old folk." She waved you on and the two of you started walking back towards the rest of the townspeople.
✏️ A/N: I hope that each and every one of you enjoyed this chapter! Next Sunday, May 8, 2022, will see the release of Chapter 27: Quite An Afterparty. I also wanted to mention that where I live, the time is CST. So if you're receiving my posts on Saturday evening or Monday morning, that may be why. Thank you so much for all the love and support on this story! xoxo Kira