A/N: Hello everyone! I wrote a new story after taking a bit of a break. This is Chelsea and Vaughn, as usual. I have been on a Harvest Moon kick lately and this is all I want to write about. I think I am trying to make up for what happened in Letters to Nobody. Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon is owned by it respective owners.
A Chance at Love
"You never showed any interest in me, so I moved on," a silver haired cowboy was saying.
A brown haired girl looked a little upset at his words.
"But, Vaughn! I showed you I was interested in you! It's not my fault if you didn't notice," she said, crossing her arms and frowning.
"Oh come on, Chelsea," Vaughn said, rolling his eyes. "I saw you with all the other guys. I saw you hunting with Shea, fishing with Denny, horseback riding with Will, teaching Mark how to farm, and whatever it was you were doing with Elliot. You never did anything with me."
"Vaughn, I helped you take care of the animals last week," Chelsea said, massaging her temples. "I tried to talk to you, but you wouldn't hold a conversation with me."
Vaughn was quiet while he prodded his thoughts. She was right about that. But he wasn't about to let her know that.
"Look, can we talk about this later?" he asked, glancing behind him.
Chelsea followed his gaze and she remembered that she had intruded on Vaughn's date with Sabrina.
"Just forget about it, Vaughn," she said, turning her back on him. "Sorry I ruined your date with Sabrina."
She stalked off, leaving Vaughn standing where she left him. Chelsea glanced behind her and noticed that he had gone back to Sabrina. They were sitting on a bench when she came up to him. Chelsea thought they had plans, since they always had plans at this time of day. Vaughn pulled Chelsea aside, where they had their heated discussion.
Chelsea was in such bad mood, that she went home, cleared out her rucksack, and went to the mine. She knew mining would help her relieve some of the stress she had. It felt good to pound the rocks till she got the precious metals and gems that she wanted. She spent hours in the mine, relishing the feelings of the blisters on her hands, and the sweat pouring down her face.
When she finally emerged from the mine several hours later, her bag heavy, she noticed that it was already late in the night, and she headed back to the ranch, drenched in sweat. Chelsea decided to take a bath before she headed to bed, and she would just ship the gems and metals in the morning.
The island was quiet as she walked home. She enjoyed the island at night. Charlie and Eliza were at home, sleeping, and everyone else was at home, either sleeping, or spending time with their families. Chelsea stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky. The stars were twinkling, and it was a nice, warm summer night.
She stood like that for a couple more minutes before she continued home. As she passed the rocks on either side of the road, she saw a figure sitting against her door. She stopped, wondering who it could be this late at night. That's when the figure stood, and Chelsea could see the outline of a cowboy hat.
"Vaughn, what are you doing here so late?" she asked.
"I told you that I would talk to you later. When I got here, no one was here, and I didn't know where you went, so I waited here for you. Where were you?" he asked.
Chelsea didn't answer right away. Her mind was still reeling from the info she had just learned.
"I was up in the mine," she said, after a couple minutes, still trying to wrap her head around the whole thing.
"Well, I would still like to talk to you. Can I come in?" he asked.
Chelsea nodded numbly, and unlocked the door, leading the way into the house. She went over to the stove and started to make coffee. Vaughn must have noticed how sweaty Chelsea was, because he offered to make the coffee so Chelsea could take a bath. She took a quick bath, and when she emerged ten minutes later, dressed in blue pajamas, the coffee was done and sitting on the table.
"Well, what did you want to talk about?" Chelsea asked, sitting at the table.
"I wanted to talk about what happened today," Vaughn said, sipping his coffee.
Chelsea glanced up at Vaughn, but looked back down at her coffee. The intensity of his gaze unnerved her a bit. He had never looked at her with that much intensity before.
"I'm sorry," Chelsea said. "I over-reacted."
"No, I am sorry. I should have confirmed with you first, to make sure we weren't doing something."
Silence fell between the two. The only sound was the occasional sipping and the clinking of the mugs.
"Vaughn, how do you feel about Sabrina?" she asked quietly.
He didn't say anything as he observed her.
"I don't know," he said simply.
The rest of the night they talked about random stuff, but not talking about how they really felt. They eventually fell asleep on the couch, Chelsea's head nestled on Vaughn's shoulder.
When she awoke the next morning, he was gone, and she was lying on the couch, covered. She got up, and walked over to the counter. He had washed the mugs and left her some rice balls he had made. She smiled as she picked up and rice ball.
Chelsea got ready for the day, and headed out to do her chores. She had finished caring for her animals, and was heading to the green house when she saw Sabrina walking toward her. Chelsea placed her rucksack on the ground and met her halfway.
"Good morning, Chelsea," Sabrina said, pleasantly.
"Good morning, Sabrina. What brings you by this early?"
"I wanted to talk to you about Vaughn," she said.
Chelsea's eyes widened slightly. So, Sabrina was confronting Chelsea because she felt that she was a threat. Chelsea crossed her arms and looked at the ground.
"What about Vaughn?" Chelsea asked.
"Do you love him?"
The question caught Chelsea off guard and she looked up at Sabrina, shocked. Was she in love with Vaughn? Chelsea wasn't sure. She was feeling something, but she wasn't sure if it was love.
"I don't know," Chelsea replied. "I feel something, but I don't know if it is love. I am happy when he is around, I love being around him. My heart beats like crazy when I am with him. And when I am not around him, my heart hurts."
"You sound like me," Sabrina said. "I feel the same way. What you are feeling is love."
Chelsea looked up at Sabrina, and could tell that she was telling the truth. Chelsea was in love with Vaughn. After the night they just spent together, she was certain that what she was feeling was love. She looked down at the ground.
"Then I guess I love Vaughn," she said.
Chelsea was still looking at the ground when she heard a thump. She looked up and saw Vaughn, some bags laying on the ground at his feet.. He had some bird feed and fodder for her, and judging by the look on his face, he had heard what she had said.
"Oh, Vaughn," Chelsea said, running over to him, trying to keep the blush from appearing on her face. "Let me help you!"
"No," he said, a blush already on his face, "I can do it myself."
He picked up the bags he had dropped, and headed toward the barn and chicken coop. Chelsea and Sabrina watched him go before Sabrina spoke again.
"You and I love Vaughn, but Vaughn only loves you. Yesterday he was asking how he was supposed to get your attention. I tried to get him to look at me as a woman that he could get married to, but he only has eyes for you. He only sees me as a friend. But, I do want to let you know that I am giving up on him. He is all yours."
Sabrina turned away from Chelsea and headed back to town. Chelsea was a bit shocked. She assumed Sabrina would put up more of a fight then this. She heard a twig snap behind her, and she turned to see Vaughn walking toward her.
"You know, what she said was all true," he said, stopping beside her and taking off his hat. "I think the reason I was so upset was because I was jealous. I wanted to talk ask you how you felt about me last night, but I couldn't bring myself to ask. I didn't want to hear you say that you loved someone else."
He ran a hand through his silver hair and put his hat back on. Vaughn started to walk away when Chelsea called out after him.
"Vaughn, I will see you at noon! We can talk about where to go with this then!"
He raised a hand to show he heard, and Chelsea smiled at his retreating back. It looked like she was going to get a chance at love.
The End
A/N: So what did you think? I think it turned out pretty good! Anyways, read and review. Remember, constructive criticism is welcome, but please no flames!