Time goes on. It doesn't stop for anyone, no matter how much you plea for a second's pause, you know that everything just keeps on rolling, and you really can't afford to waste it. That's what I had felt like for the past week or so. For days, I simply sat in my house, playing monopoly with myself, trying to keep my mind from other, more depressing, thoughts. But of course, I realised I couldn't spend forever sulking about. Though, I probably wouldn't have realised it as soon as I did, if Taro hadn't come to see me and say something along the lines of 'You can't just neglect yer farm like that, missy! I know yer sufferin', but sometimes your just gotta move on!"

At first, I felt like slapping him in the face for being rude to the deceased, but I knew he was right. Besides, I couldn't just sit there all day and rely on the helpful hand of a few friends to take care of my land for me, free of charge.

Although very few people knew first hand what I was dealing with, word got around. And even those who hadn't heard must have known something was up: I hadn't been raiding peoples cupboards for scraps like I always did. I kept my distance from the masses, opting to make as little communications as possible with those I didn't need to, deciding that I really needed to just deal with it on my own.

Of course, when I finally began to rework my land with the true vigour I had when I first started, I found the pain and sweat of heavy handed work to be quite relieving to the soul. Some girls might have found the same sort of consolation eating ice cream straight from the tub and watching soap opera's all day, but as I've mentioned countless times before, that wasn't really who I was. Exhaustion was my saviour. Even when I let my mind wander to the tragic ordeal of a week ago, the few tears I shed would mix with dirt and sweat and were almost invisible. I felt the true passion for farming I had once started with bubbling up to the surface once more.

And now I was lazily slouched over a couch, forcing all the men to squeeze into the other. I guess there were some benefits that came with depressive self-pity. Other's pitied you just as much. I had a bottle in my hand, my eyes staring intently at the large t.v screen opposite me. The soccer was on, and even though I really had no idea what was going on, I did think it looked like a fun game to play. Especially in the rain, on a muddy field, where you could easily trip over every five seconds. Yeah, that sounded like the good life.

"Chelsea, what's your favourite colour?" Pierre asked, and I looked over at him in surprise. I indicated to my red leather boots that were sitting on the floor beside me, and then tapped my head.

"Red. Thought it was obvious." I muttered, sticking the top of the bottle into my mouth. Yes, I was downing myself a light beer, early in the afternoon. I wasn't much of a drinker, and like I had said before, I didn't really like the taste. But the guys seemed to approve, and I guess it kept my mind off of…things.

"Why are you asking anyway?" I queried, suspicious.

"Oh, I was just wondering. Since, you're birthday is coming up soon." I looked up at the roof, thinking. It was early Summer, as far as I knew. I wasn't keeping track of the past couple of weeks, though I did manage to make it to the Spring Crop festival, bringing up second place due to my lack of last minute care.

But that also meant my birthday was going to fall on a Thursday, next week. And I was going to be 23. Oh, I felt old now.

That wasn't the only issue. I was specifically avoiding a certain cowboy. I know it was probably stupid of me, but I don't think I would be able to deal with it. Usually, we'd just chuck insults and glares like they meant nothing, but I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for that right now.

"Hey, you're right. Make me a cake." I mused, laughing softly at the shining look Pierre gave me. For most people, the demand might have been looked upon sourly, but Pierre used it as an excuse to experiment in devilish concoctions. I always knew they'd come out good though, so he was the best person to ask.

A team made a goal, and I instantly sat straight up, screaming out and pumping my fists into the air with the rest of them. I didn't even know which team was which, and it was highly likely I'd miss the queue and cheer for the wrong team.

When everything calmed down again, I slouched back into my seat and drummed my fingers against my thigh. I glanced over at my companions, and smirked at Denny, who rolled his eyes at me. He was a little on edge, knowing that I was still up to my terrible scheming.

At first, I planned on giving them an unofficial, official tribal wedding ceremony that was widely unrecognised by the world. Elliot told me that it was mean, so I had to change it. Right now, I was thinking…hot air balloons.

We probably all sat there for hours more, sitting on the edge of our sits and bursting into tears of joy when our team (which I still didn't know who) won the match. And then we all started singing the team's anthem, though I was just saying random words to keep up with them. Finally, when we all realised we had just neglected our own responsibilities, we all went our separate ways.

I walked along side Denny, talking to him about all sorts of things. I wasn't really keeping track. I guess, in my weeks of mild instability, I had latched myself to my best friend, seeking comfort from his friendly face and warming compassion. And I guess there was something about his endless fishing tips that made me smile, no matter what my mood was.

I guess it was too bad that I could never see myself developing more than just a friendship with him. Lanna was lucky, and I wouldn't pull anything away from her. It's just a shame, I guess, that I had no one.

His arm came around my shoulders, squeezing me lightly. "Hey, you're okay, aren't you?" He asked, his dark eyes sincere. My mind wandered off a lot lately, and he probably saw right through my contemplative expression to see the gloom behind it.

I smiled at him, weary. "I suppose. It's just a difficult time for me… And, from the wise words of a cowboy, 'One lost lamb is nothing in the big scheme of things'." I huffed softly, and emitted some sort of humourless laugh.

Denny frowned, worried. "Don't take his words so seriously. We all know that he's anti-social. He doesn't know how to communicate."

I shook my head and sighed. "No. He's right. Really, he is. I'm just worried I won't be able to face him now that I'm finally out and about again." That was probably my biggest issue right now. Seeing his face again.

Or rather, seeing the shadow of it behind his famous Stetson.

"Well, you know you can come and hide at my house for two days if you need it." He joked, his hand rubbing my shoulder softly. I leaned up and kissed his cheek, whispering a small thanks. He blushed and seemed to shrug it off as best as he could. It wasn't surprising, since my usual equivalent to a kiss would be a good hard wack against the arm. I just wish I wasn't being such an emotional time bomb.

"You're still going to have to face him some time though."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just going to push it as long as I can." He frowned, removing his arm from around me when we met the mouth of the beach. I looked down at my feet for a moment.

"Well, I need to go tend to…stuff." I murmured, knowing that my morning chores were done and my animals happily grazing outside. It had taken a while for me to accept my animals again, and I kept a general distance from them in the beginning. But I knew that, in specific, my ewe wasn't the cause of my despair. Complications of birth and pregnancy were.

And so I walked off, back to my farm and continued to do some sorts of daily work. I weeded, though I didn't need the extra space. I smashed up rocks, though I hardly needed any more supplies. I chopped wood and foraged, just to keep myself busy. And by the end of the night, I was lying dead on the floor of my room, staring at the ceiling.

"…Food." I groaned, piteous of myself. I needed to start collecting supplies for a decent dinner again. I glanced at the clock at sighed, wondering if I could make it for dinner at the diner or not. I hadn't felt this hungry since I had first started, when I hardly had the money to spare on daily needs.

After a minute of forcing myself to believe that I was, indeed, full, I sluggishly got to my feet and went for the front door, knowing that if I didn't eat sooner or later tonight, I would have difficulty getting up at my usual 6 o'clock start. Not that I would have minded the extra time in bed, I would have enjoyed it. But the farm needed to receive far more attention than it had been receiving lately, and the earlier I could get up, the better.

My feet dragged against the cobblestones of the pathway, picking up the dust that had settled in the cracks. Summer, though only in it's early days, had already started to take its toll on the little island around us. Things started to yellow in the heat, while other's thrived. There was something to love about nature, and in our own little part of the world, nothing seemed more powerful than the force of nature itself. We'd had out fair share of bad weather, disasters, and the like, but even when it ruined everything, everyone who lived there seemed to hold a tiny bit of appreciation towards the beauty that had created it all.

I wasn't very religious, but I knew enough to know something was working through the island. The island's church was entirely dedicated to the worship of the Harvest Goddess, and through I wasn't a ritual attendee, I could appreciate it. Though, I probably wouldn't have if I had the brushes with the higher being on multiple occasions in the past. At first, I thought I was going insane, but everything seemed to make more sense when you put the beautiful woman with the green hair into place.

I seemed to have lapsed out of concentration, only coming back down to earth when I felt my arm being yanked. Pulled to the side, I turned my head to look at whoever it had been pulling me, surprised as any when I found it to be Julia, alongside Natalie. Oh dear, I was being ambushed.

"Chelsea! You're spending the night with us whether you like it or not." Julia said, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, looking down at my feet as they moved across the path: half dragged and half stepping to prevent myself falling. "Will I get food?"

"Is that really all that you ever think about?" Natalie stated, raising a brow in mild disbelief. Hey, if they were gunna feed me, I might as well attend.

"Food's important. You need it to live. And for your information, I live a lot."

The good news was that they fed me when we got to Julia's house. The bad news was they were forcing me into a girly-night in. Spare mattresses were laid out along the floor of her bedroom, covered in clean sheets and supplied with a comfortable amount of blankets. Her room wasn't all that large, so it was a little hard to get around the two big makeshift beds without toppling over. I sat down on one, crossing my legs and listening to them…not so intently.

Even with the girls trying their best to get me involved in their girly business, I wasn't interested. Though there was probably good intentions behind all of it, I wasn't exactly in the mood for pretending to be something I was evidently not. I could use the hugs and cuddles though.

And even though I had very little input to add to their conversations that night, they seemed to be content with me just being there. I gave the occasional wide eyes and surprised expressions, the laughs when I was meant to. But altogether, I couldn't get myself into the whole thing.

"You up to sleeping here tonight, Chels?" Julia asked me, and I glanced down at my comical watch. It was already the middle of the night. It wouldn't hurt, anyway…

"Yeah. Spose' so." I mumbled and pulled a pillow up to my chest, hugging it to myself softly. Maybe something about my subtle detachment finally clicked, because Julia looked at me with her pretty blue eyes and sighed.

"You're alright, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"So you're not worried about what happened?"

"Nope."

"What's wrong then, is it about Denny?" I rose a brow at her, confused to no end. I hadn't expected him to come up in the conversation at all. I had heard the two girl's talk about Elliot (despite Nat's gagging sounds) and Pierre, but seeing as I failed to have a romantic interest in anyone, they had left me out of the conversation.

"Um..No? Still the best friend he was a few hours ago." I paused, tilting my head to the side. "I know you guys might disagree, but I don't want anything more with him. Lanna has his heart."

"You know we all love Lanna. But you're one of the first. You were with us from the beginning. Of course we want you to be happy."

I laughed. Actually laughed. It was the first time I had truly laughed in a long while. And, due to my hysteria, the others simply gave mild, nervous giggles back to meet my mood.

"Really! Don't worry about that! I don't like Denny in that way! I never have, and I never will!"

Natalie finally spoke, her head tilted towards me in some sort of sign of determination. "Then who do you like?"

I took off my bandana and frowned. Were they done probing me for answers I just couldn't give them? "No one."

"Mark seems the right type. He's a farmer like you, and you share a lot of interests…"

"Huh? No, I don't like Mark." I couldn't help but smile. We sounded like middle-schoolers. We didn't dare use the word's 'attracted to' or 'love'. No, we used like. We were so bad that if someone even mentioned the word love, we'd probably blush and giggle away like idiots.

Both Natalie and Julia seemed stumped. They looked at each other, their expressions jumping sporadically. They were having some sort of… telepathic conversation. It probably crossed the lines of whether I wished I had one of the men they were pining for, and then probably through all the older men in town. It might have touched on the possibility that I liked someone who lived in the city, and it might have even gone so far to reconsider my sexuality. When they finally voiced their conclusion, I nearly choked on my own saliva.

"Vaughn! What!" I stared at them, appalled. "I'm sorry, but I can't find any reason behind your conclusion! Have you forgotten that I haven't even been able to face the guy for the past two weeks?"

Julia shrugged, the look on her face made it seem like it was a far more plausible answer than what it actually was. "Well, you have told me that you found him attractive." Oh, there was that word. And I knew the moment I heard it I should have kept my trap shut.

"So? That means nothing. The guy's a jerk. And if you haven't realised by now, I don't think I would be happy spending the rest of my life with a man who constantly give me the death glare." I pouted, upset with them. Why did they have to bring him into it?

"You must like him." Natalie stated. "Or else you wouldn't react like this."

Ugh. The stupid, overreaction proves guilt theory. Why was that even when the theory had been proven wrong so many times, it still seemed to be the heart of all gossip between young girls and women. And right now, I was subjected to it.

"I don't like him. I don't want him. I tease him because it's fun. He chucks insults right back at me. Because that's who he is. And unfortunately for you guys, you're right off the mark. " I fell onto my back, bouncing once as it hit the soft mattress. "It's all just a game between us. And even if I can't face him right now, that's all that it will ever be. So do get your knickers in a knot waiting for me to confess my love to the guy. Because that word it void." I shut my eyes, hoping that they'd get the point that I just wanted to sleep.

There was silence. Even though I had my eyes closed, I knew they were swapping their gaze from between each other to me. "Alright… I believe you." Julia's voice was soft, but convinced. I was glad that Natalie had refrained from saying anything at all.

"I'm going to sleep. Goodnight." I rolled onto my stomach, done with them for the night.

"Already?"

"She has to get up early and get to her farm, remember? Cut her some slack."

"Yeah, cut me some slack!"

Even after a tense moment, we still ended the night on a light heart. They may not have been my closest friends in the world, but they were still that. My friends. And I still loved them, just not as much as my men.

XXXXXX

I shut the door quietly behind me, hoping I wouldn't wake them up as I felt my way through the darkness. My feet wriggled their way along the wooden floorboards, checking to make sure I wouldn't walk into something. I had only just woken up, and my eyes had not yet adjusted to the lack of light in the room.

I needed a glass of water. Having a bad habit of breathing through my mouth when I slept, it meant more often than not that I'd wake up with a sore throat and a dry tongue in the morning. I just woke up earlier than usual, probably because I was generally restless at the moment.

My hand met the kitchen door, and I could see the dull white of the fridge. I fumbled my way through, finding the right cupboard for a glass. I couldn't see the tap anywhere, so I just went to the fridge and fished out a jug of cold water. I didn't like my water cold, but it'd have to do.

Sitting down in the darkness, my eyes as adjusted as they ever would be, I took slow sips of my water. My eyelids drooped, and I knew I'd have to head back to bed soon or else I wouldn't be able to get up in the morning.

Even in the darkness, I could make out the designs of the cottage style placemats set out on the table.

"Ah!"

Someone had just slammed their fist onto the light switch, and I shielded my eyes with my arm. I cringed, my eyes severely affected by the sudden inclusion of light. "Turn the light off!"

The light did not turn off, much to my dismay. And my eyes were still squeezed shut, so I had no idea who it was that had caused me the displeasure.

"Do you… often sit alone in the dark." I opened my eyes and stared at the cowboy leaning against the doorframe. Great. "In someone else's' house, no less."

"Yes, it's my favourite pastime. Get lost." He didn't move. I sighed and continued to focus on my glass and thoughts of sleep, though the bright lights made it sure that I was now wide awake.

A few minutes past, and the silence seemed to irk me. It had been silent before, but it was just odd now that there was another person in the room. Vaughn didn't really seem to care much, but he came and made himself comfortable at the dining table anyway.

"What time is it?"

"Just past three."

"You get here this early? Sucks to be you."

He said nothing in response, and continued to look away from me. Perhaps he was contemplating the events of a few weeks ago, as I was trying not to. Maybe he felt guilty. Or maybe he did this every morning after he arrived at our little island. He sat in the kitchen until somebody woke up and made him breakfast.

Typical male.

"What are you doing here?" He muttered finally, barely sparing a second to give me a proper glance in my general direction.

"Julia and Natalie hijacked me on my way to the diner. They wanted to do the whole girly sleepover thing with me." Something about it seemed to humour him, because he chuckled softly before returning to his usual anti-social self.

I realised my glass was empty, so I stood up, ready to leave again. I took my glass to the now visible sink and rinsed it. I felt movement behind me.

"How's your ewe?" Of course he had to bring it up. I braced myself, and continued to needlessly scrub at the insides of the glass.

"She's fine. We're all fine."

There was a pause, and I knew Vaughn must have gotten up at some point in time, because his tall figure cast a shadow against the wall. "I'm sorry for your loss."

I sighed, and finally set the cup down. "Yeah… You and me both."

"No… I was rude." I assumed that Julia and Mirabelle had given him a well deserved hiding after the way he treated me, so I didn't really take any of his words with seriousness in the mind. I simply turned and made my way to leave.

On my way out, I stopped and looked up at Vaughn for a moment. "You and I both know you don't mean that. Death is nothing to you. Why would a death of something I own mean anything else to you than another disposal for you to take care of?"

My words came from the heart, and for a second I thought I might have startled him a bit. It was too hard to tell.

"No. There's much more to it than that. You're just too naïve to see it." That was probably the longest sentence I had heard him say, and it irritated me that he thought he knew me so well. Certainly, he didn't.

"So, you just bare the burden and refuse to smile?" There was no response, and I finally turned my body to look at him, seriously.

"Right now, I hate you. I hate your attitude. I hate the way you treated me. And I'm not afraid to say it." I paused, letting it sink in. "But one day I will get over it. And one day I will find myself annoying you like I used to. And I'm going to entertain you and amuse you, and I'm going to get you to smile."

He frowned, and shook his head. "Do you want to bet on that?"

"I reckon I will."

"It's game on then." I swear I saw a smirk. And I smirked right back. I was going to win, no matter what it took to do. I'd stable his face into a smile if I had to.

Okay, maybe I wouldn't go that far. But I was going to win and I was going to make sure of that.

We upheld a sort of staring competition for a long while, simply in silence. And then I left because I was far too tired to stay up in these antics till the time I had to work. He left too, heading to what I assumed to be the guest room. I went to bed easily once more, finding it easier to get to sleep than I thought it would be. My body was as tired as my mind was, but it was still maintaining a sluggish pace at thought. Not for very long though, as I soon fell into a deep sleep, only do be jumped on by a bubbly Julia just hours later.

A/N: Tada! Finally, the game has been introduced!

Though, I had a fairly difficult time writing this chapter, especially with paragraphs that are generally used to connect all the events. So, if it seems a little jumpy, I apologise for that. Also, I apologise for any spelling errors, because I didn't take the time to check over the last half of it. I was lazy. Anyway, that's enough from me!

Edit: Fixed some of the spelling. Not all. Yeah. Sorry again.