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You immediately stopped what you were doing and rushed to the front door when you heard him call your name. You had been waiting for him all day long and were more than happy to have him back. You missed Harvey when he was away, you always did, despite how independent you both were and how happy it made you to know he kept working at the clinic even if he no longer had the financial need to do so. You married a kind man, someone with a big heart. You were lucky.
He opened up his arms when he saw you approaching him, getting ready to hug you tight. Feeling your body in his arms felt soothing to him, just as soothing as it felt for you. He was warm and still faintly smelled like the cologne he put on that morning before leaving for work. To Harvey, you smelled just like home, no other way to rightfully describe it.
Before you could even ask about his day, Harvey asked you to close your eyes and hold out your hands. You opened your eyes when you felt the weight of something in them. What you saw was no less than a stardrop. A few feet in front of you, Harvey warmly smiled at you, his gaze full of love for his spouse.
You had heard about this fruit from countless sources before, but this was the first time you actually got to hold one, let alone get a chance to taste it. You heard about its connection to the Winter Star from the valley’s fisherman, you heard about its supposedly undescriptable taste that seemed to connect with your subconscious and gave you an unique experience each time you ate it, you heard about how difficult it was to obtain. And there you were, in the comfort of your home, being offered one by the love of your life.
“Enjoy it,” Harvey told you with the same lovestruck smile, “and tell me if it’s really that good.”
As fantastic as it sounded, the stardrop seemed to have a bright purple glow to it. After everything that had happened to you since you arrived to the valley, it was nothing you couldn’t accept as real, but that didn’t make it any less impressive. Eating it almost made you feel guilty.
Soulful memories washed over you upon swallowing. You closed your eyes and allowed yourself to experience it all again.
The stardrop tasted like the 5th of Summer. Harvey reluctantly agreed to visit Ginger Island with you. You had noticed how much the clinic’s situation was stressing him out and knew him well enough to know he was in need of a break. You also knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t willingly take it. Under the guise of a date, you took him to the beach and hoped he could let go of his worries at least for the day.
You sat on top of a towel, serving up two glasses of mango wine and offering him one of them. It was sweet and refreshing. You told yourself you’d try to make some once you were back at the farm, or at least ask Gus for a couple more bottles.
A small kiss on Harvey’s bare shoulder made him look back at you. Despite your attempt to cheer him up with the trip and the wine, he looked distraught, deeply immersed in his own thoughts. You rubbed his shoulders and asked him what was wrong, not really expecting an answer. “I don’t want to talk about it,” was the only thing he said.
You kept gently massaging his shoulders, as Harvey sat in silence and stared at the vast sea. You could feel his body relax under your hands. You didn’t need any words from him, a single mango flavored kiss was enough to let you know he was thankful.
The stardrop tasted like the 14th of Fall. You woke up to giant pumpkins in the farm and Harvey asked you to save one for him, which you gladly gave it to him for free. He came up with the idea of baking a pumpkin pie. He had never tried his hand at it, but it was never too late to do something for the first time. You lent him your kitchen in exchange for a slice.
He stayed inside the house cooking while you took care of the crops. Aside from the usual fruits and vegetables, that season you were growing an exotic plant you bought from the traveling cart. You didn’t quite understand what the merchant told you about it, but got a seed after hearing for how much you could sell the fruit in case everything went well. If you messed it up for any reason you could find solace in the fact you only bought one seed.
Harvey called you inside when the pie was done cooling. The recipe he found advised accompanying the pie with whipped cream, but he chose to skip that part. He cut a slice and took a bite out of it, savoring it and trying to decide whether his pie attempt was successful or not. One, two, three bites. He just couldn’t make up his mind.
“Can you tell me if you like it? I feel like there’s something missing but I want to know what you think.”
You took a look at him, then looked at the pie, and looked back at him. Without thinking about it any further, you leaned in and gave him a kiss. His lips tasted like pumpkin just like you thought they would.
“It’s really good,” you said before kissing him again, “but I would like it more with some cream on top.”
The stardrop tasted like the 25th of Winter. You sat next to Harvey during the Feast of the Winter Star and held his hand under the table while everyone ate; you two could have sworn at the moment that nobody noticed, but Shane let you know a couple days later that everyone else at the table absolutely did. Harvey had stir fried vegetables and fruit salad for dessert, you had a crispy bass and ate from Harvey's dessert. Not like he minded anyway.
When the moment to exchange gifts came, Harvey stood up from his sweat and asked for everyone's attention. That was so unlike him it caught everyone by surprise. His voice was shaky and he looked like he wanted to sit back down and retreat into himself, but despite that, he stood as firm as he could.
He took a deep breath and announced you were his secret friend. He asked everyone to pay attention as he gave you a small box with his gift. You couldn't stop yourself from kissing him when you opened it and saw a mermaid's pendant. His lips tasted fruity.
“The stardrop tastes just like you,” you told him moments afterward, once you came back to your senses. You stepped closer to him and kissed him again. His lips tasted like your favorite thing in the entire universe: your Harvey.