your best friend penelope had invited you apple picking with her colleagues, who you'd never met before. you were generally shy but said yes, because she seemed so excited about it. it could be fun. maybe.

you put on a sweater and jeans with boots and put your hair in braids. pretty fall vibes. penelope picks you up and starts ranting about her coworkers in the car. she says you'll get along with a shy guy named spencer, so you take her word for it.

you meet her team, and as soon as he waves shyly at you, you know she was right. he clearly has a natural aversion to touch, not shaking your hand, but smiling giddily when he sees you.

you go into the orchard and you end up shyly straggling behind the group. they're all so close, and some of them have kids with them, it feels hard to fit in. you see spencer backpedal to walk next to you, cute in his converse and scarf.

"hey." he greets, smiling. you pull your sweater sleeves over your hands and smile sweetly.

you end up talking almost the entire time, and by the end you're comfortable with him. he's sweet and caring, and just like you.

"you've uh, got something there." he picks an apple leaf out of your hair and you laugh. penelope turns around to look at the pair of you.