Did I leave the light on last night? Penny pressed her eyelids shut as she woke up. She had a crick in her neck and she didn't know why; was there something hard under her head?

She blinked her eyes open...and met Sebastian's. His deep blue eyes were inches from hers. Along with the rest of his face, of course. Yoba, he was handsome...

Penny gasped sharply and sat up.

Sebastian sat up more slowly, stretching and rolling his right arm, which she had been lying on. All night.

Neither of them said anything, though Sebastian looked somewhat amused.

How could he be so calm in this situation?

Penny crawled clumsily out of bed and smoothed her hair and skirt. "Um, wait here." She practically ran to the door of her room, catching her breath when she was around the corner out of Sebastian's sight. She unlocked and opened the door as silently as she could, listening for any hint of her mother. She peaked out and thankfully saw her mom fast asleep on the couch. She slipped back into the room.

"My mom's asleep," Penny whispered. "I think it's best you go now, before she gets up."

Sebastian nodded and pulled on his boots. He ran his fingers through his hair roughly, not worried about how it fell. His jaw was just slightly darkened from not having shaved. She had seen it like that before; when they'd gone to Zuzu City.

Penny led him out her door and they tiptoed through the kitchen. He stopped for a moment before leaving

"I..." he started, so low she could barely hear. Then he shook his head. "See you later."

He slipped out, and Penny caught the door so it wouldn't slam. She turned the handle silently as she shut it, then leaned her back against it.

Her heart raced. She put one hand on her chest, and the other she brought to her lips. She could still feel him there, if she closed her eyes.

Penny whipped her hand away, embarrassed with herself, and pressed the backs of her hands to her hot cheeks.

Did Sebastian really just sleep in my bed? With me in it? Penny hardly knew what to think.

Did she...like him? Well, she did, obviously, or she wouldn't have wanted to kiss him. And she wouldn't be standing here thinking about kissing him some more.

Penny pushed off the door and went back to her room to get ready for work. Jas and Vincent still needed to be tutored, no matter how much Penny wanted to curl up in a ball and hide the rest of the day.

But she stopped in front of the bookshelf, and took down the Solarion Chronicles. She flipped to the page with the poppy bookmark and threw it unceremoniously in the trash. She hadn't meant to keep it; she really had just forgotten about it. Then, for good measure, she pulled the bookmark back out of the trash, tore it in half, and tossed it in again.

Penny was over Sam. She didn't know how long getting over someone was supposed to take, but she was pretty sure that she was. It had been, what, two weeks since she saw Sam and Maru kiss? And four weeks since she began to suspect? Maybe that was short to other people, but it was enough for her. During all those years when she'd been hoping something would happen, she'd always been preparing for the day that it didn't.

Still, Penny wanted to be sure that she truly liked Sebastian. And liked him in the right way, and for the right reasons, whatever those might be. He was so good to her; too good to hurt. She wanted to be careful.

The way Penny felt about Sebastian was so different from the way she'd felt about Sam. She was familiar with unrequited love, but had no experience with requited...whatever this was.

Knowing Sebastian was interested in her, too, was exhilarating. If she wanted, she could run outside right now and kiss him, and he would probably kiss her right back. It was completely new to her, and she liked it.

If she wanted, Penny could tell him honestly how important he was to her and how he made her feel, and there would be nothing to be ashamed of. She wouldn't have to feel embarrassed of her own heart.

Penny checked herself before getting carried away. What if she was only interested in him because he was interested in her? Her mind was spun so full of thoughts that she could hardly trust it. Or worse, what if she liked him more than he liked her? He'd kissed her...but what if it didn't mean anything more?

No, she knew Sebastian better than that. And Sebastian knew her better than that. Sebastian wouldn't act insincerely or lead someone on. Not her or anyone. No, his kiss definitely meant something.

Penny checked her phone, as if he would text her "Hey Penny, I like you and want to date you. Please be my girlfriend," which of course he hadn't. The ball was in her court; she had asked him to wait.

If she hadn't happened to see how late it was, Penny would have dissolved right there in a puddle of overthinking. Instead, she pulled herself together, grabbed her teaching stuff and left.

But before she went to pick up the kids, Penny went up to the General Store to check the calendar. Sebastian's birthday was in Winter, but she wasn't sure of the exact date. She flipped up the page-Winter 10, a season from now. Would that be enough time? Ever since Sebastian had given her those books, she'd been thinking about what to get him for his birthday. But money was tight. As the nights got colder and the sun set earlier, her mom would spend even more time in the saloon than she usually did.

Penny tried to do the math in her head. She'd get paid at the end of this week, and again at the end of the season, but that was barely enough to cover their groceries and heat. Maybe Gunther would let her do some cleaning? He'd paid her for it before, when times were tight. Even then, she could never afford something like the books Sebastian had given her.

She put it out of her mind and went to meet Vincent and Jas.

"Miss Penny, Miss Penny!" Vincent called, nearly tripping as he ran out of his house. "Guess what!"

"Hmm...has your head turned into a melon?" Penny asked, and Jas giggled.

"No, Miss Penny, a real thing! C'mon, guess!"

"Your toes are blueberries!" said Jas.

"Nooooo," Vincent whined.

"I give up, what is it, Vincent?" asked Penny.

"Sam has a girlfriend," he revealed, extending the vowels in 'girlfriend' as long as he could. "He brought her over for dinner yesterday, and I forgot her name but my mom really really likes her because she's like a doctor scientist or something."

Jas pouted. "I thought you were gonna marry Sam, Miss Penny."

Penny laughed. Not long ago, she'd had the same idea. It was funny to see it all through the kids' observational eyes. They were smarter than most people realized. "Sam and I are just good friends. I'm friends with his girlfriend, too; her name is Maru. Just like how you two are friends."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna marry Jas probably," Vincent said matter of factly. Now that was a surprise.

Jas wrinkled her nose. "Ew."

"Well, let's wait until you're a little older before we start thinking about that." Penny said.

"Like when we're old like you? Like a hundred?" Vincent asked.

"Yup, that's right, I'm a hundred years old." Penny said.

Emily was just coming out of her house and overheard them. "Are you really?" she asked.

"What?" Penny said.

"Not your corporeal form, of course, I mean your spirit," Emily said dreamily. "I have always sensed that you have an old soul, Penelope. Can you really perceive a hundred years of being?"

Penny didn't know how to begin answering that. "Oh, Penny's not short for Penelope," she managed. "It's just Penny."

"Ah, I see... and yet..." Emily drifted off as she wrapped her bright red scarf around her neck.

"Did you knit that?" Penny asked.

"Yes! I dyed the wool myself."

"It's lovely," Penny said, and an idea stirred in her mind.

"Thank you. Do you knit?" Emily asked

"Yes, I used to." Penny tried to remember where she had left her needles. She used to love knitting, but it could be an expensive hobby, especially without anywhere to buy yarn in Pelican Town. "Would you happen to have any leftover yarn I could buy from you?" Penny asked suddenly.

"I do, but the color came out all wrong. I wanted blue and purple, but it came out as gray and black."

Penny brightened. "That would be perfect! We're off to the library, but could I come look at it tomorrow?" The kids were getting antsy next to her.

"Of course!" Emily said. "I'd love for it to go to a happy home."

"Thank you!"

That evening, Penny found her knitting needles in the back of the closet, and the next morning, she hurried to Emily's house, wallet in hand. She'd pay whatever it took, she was too excited now to change her plans.

"Here's the black and gray, and I've got some other colors if you don't want it to be completely...dull," Emily offered.

"How much?" Penny asked, pulling out her wallet.

"Oh, no charge, Penny," Emily said. "You're doing me a favor taking it off my hands; I'm drowning in craft supplies."

Penny couldn't tell if she meant it or was trying to be charitable. "It's fine, Emily, you worked hard spinning it. I can afford it." Probably.

Emily laughed and pushed gently down on Penny's hands. "Really, I don't feel right selling something I wouldn't even use myself. I think it must be fate that led it to you, and I won't stand in the way of fate." But she saw Penny frowning. "Fine. I will accept one of the following as payment: A flower, a song, or a secret."

Uh, what?

There were no wildflowers blooming in the fall, and Penny couldn't sing. As for a secret...there was only one that came to mind. Penny was not close to Emily, but Emily had helped her mom get home a number of times, and always stayed quiet about it.

And Penny was feeling particularly bold.

"I'll tell you a secret," Penny said. Her boldness lessened after she'd said it, but Emily looked at her encouragingly.

Penny leaned forward, even though there was no one else in the house. "Do you know Sebastian? From up the mountain?"

Emily nodded.

Then Penny couldn't hold back. It was like the words had been trying to escape ever since she had thought of them. "I like him," she said. "I really really like him. Like romantically. And a lot."

Emily squealed and hugged her. "How wonderful! What a gift it is to welcome someone into your heart. And your auras are so compatible!"

"...What?"

Emily was now looking above Penny's head and swaying slightly. "Yes! They are quite similar. I see green and tan strongly for each of you. In you there is a stronger streak of blue, and for him I see red, but this will bring you balance."

"Um, thank you." Penny didn't understand what Emily was saying at all, but she had been thinking lately that she and Sebastian were surprisingly alike. And they got along so naturally, perhaps Emily was on to something. "Well, I'd better get started on this." Penny held up the bag of yarn.

"Of course! Will it be for him?"

"Yes." Penny's embarrassment caught up with her and she blushed.

Meanwhile, Emily was on cloud nine. "How perfect! The colors are so dreary and depressing; he's going to love it!"

"Um, I hope so."

Emily started humming and dancing around, so Penny started for the door. Then she remembered a conversation she'd had with Sebastian.

"Emily?" she said, and Emily lowered the intensity of her dance to a slight sway.

"Hmm?"

"Dr. Harvey...what do you think about him?" Penny asked. It was a little forward, but she had to know.

"He's very kind...and not a bad dancer." Emily smiled to herself.

"I just thought," Penny ventured, "that maybe you and he had...compatible auras."

Now it was Emily's turn to blush. "Well, I...I think so...perhaps."

Penny smiled to herself; Sebastian might have been right after all. "Thanks for the yarn, Emily."