OMG! We're like half way through already:O I never thought I would get this far by this time.. but in a way I should be a bit further than I am after how long I left this story just hanging. Oh well! We're here now! Hope you enjoy it!

BondsBeyondTime: :D Haha! I know right? I thought it was pretty hilarious myself! I would be too! Your going for Will? :O N-not Vaughn? D: ...well I do have to admit, Will is very charming:)

LA REIGNA DELLE TENEBRE: I'm not going to give it away!;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon!

Chapter 9: The Parents

"Chelsea, Vaughn" A womans voice said. At that moment Chelsea instantly stopped laughing and turned around to face the two people who stood behind her. I looked up from Chelsea and fully faced Chelsea's parents.

Chelsea's parents were a little younger than I expected, maybe a couple years younger than Mirabelle. The woman had long blonde hair that went down to her waist and bright blue eyes, just a couple shades lighter than Chelsea's. She wore a pink shirt and over the top denim overalls.

Her dad was serious looking and quite tall. Her also wore overalls but they were a light brown colour. He also wore a blue cap on top of his head, that covered his eyes. His hair, from what I could see, was a light brown colour, very much like Chelsea's.

"Mam, Dad? Your early!" Chelsea said. They both nodded.

"Our boat came early, isn't that great?!" Her mother said, grinning. I think I know where Chelsea gets it from now.. "So who's this Chels? This isn't your boyfriend is it? How come you never told me!" She said stomping her foot.

My eyes widened, I wasn't Chelsea's boyfriend! "No, I'm not I'm just a friend!" I blurted out. I must of been bright red when I said this though as Chelsea's mother only laughed. Although her father didn't seem to impressed. "And, how did you know my name?" I asked.

The blonde haired woman smiled "We just heard Chelsea say it. Don't worry Vaughn, we don't stalk you!" She laughed again at her own joke. I nodded only half smiling at her, she really was like Chelsea.. just a little more hyper. "So you going to show us round?" she asked Chelsea.

Chelsea nodded "Of course! Well as you can see this is my farm. Top half for the animals and the bottom for my crops. These are for my animals, c'mon I'll show you my animals!" She said pulling on her mams shirt. The two of them then went into the coop to check out the poultry.

Leaving Chelsea's father and I. "Uh.. I'm Vaughn, a friend of Chelsea's. I work on the island as an animal trader." I said to Chelsea's father, extending my hand out towards him.

The man nodded and took my hand, shaking it firmly. "I'm Gray and that's my wife Claire. She can be a bit loud sometimes." He said gruffly. I let go of his hand and let it fall beside me again.

We didn't say anything after that just stood waiting for the women to return. They came out of the coop and walked over to us. "What you doing out here? Come and see the livestock with us" Claire said taking a hold of Gray's hand and dragging him off towards the barn.

"Your parents seem nice" I told Chelsea once the two of them had went into the barn.

"Oh crap, my dad didn't say anything did he?" Chelsea asked, suddenly looking panicked.

I raised an eyebrow "No, should he of? He just introduced himself." I told her truthfully.

Chelsea sighed happily "Oh okay. That's fine. My dads very protective so if he thought that we were dating and he didn't like you he wouldn't be too happy." I nodded, I'm not sure really how fathers are meant to be like when it comes to their daughter dating but I think it would be a little like how protective I get over Julia.

It seems strange that I would since we fight so much and how much she annoys me but when Julia dated boys I would like to make sure he was treating her right. And of course if he broke her heart, then he would have to answer to me.

And she is only my cousin..

"Oh and please mind my mother, she might ask some weird questions and some might be a bit personal. So don't feel like you have to answer them, that's just the way she is. She'll understand if you don't want to talk about it." Chelsea said, a little quietly this time.

I tilted my head to the side a little, questioning what she meant. "What do you mean?" I asked. But at that moment Claire and Gray came out of the barn and were walking towards us.

"It dosen't matter, you'll be fine." She whispered before walking a little forward to meet up with her parents. "The dinner should be ready soon, whats the time?" She looked down at her watch. "OH! It's ready now!" She spun on her hell and dashed off towards her house.

"I'll help" Gray said running after her to help out. Leaving Claire and I standing at the top of the field, watching the two of them run into the house.

"Well, we better get going, huh?" Claire said. I nodded in agreement and we both walked down towards the small, wooden house. "So where you staying Vaughn?" She asked as we walked.

"I'm staying at the animal shop in the west town, with my aunty and cousin." I told her. "Chelsea said you were from Mineral town. I was wondering, where is that?"

Claire smiled "It's a little village, in basically the middle of nowhere. The closest village being Forget-me-not vally, about... uh, about 10 miles west." she said.

I froze. Forget-me-not vally? I guess that explains why I remember the name, if it's so close. But I'm sure there was another reason why I know the name Mineral Town so well. But what the hell is it? "Oh." I replied.

"You okay Vaughn?" Claire asked.

I nodded "I'm fine." We both reached the house, I reached forward and opened the door, holding it open for Claire "After you" I said quietly, letting her walk into the house before myself. Once she had walked past, saying a small 'thank you', I walked in after and closed the door behind me.

When we arrived it seemed the Chelsea had already done everything and had put our plates in place. "Uh, what drinks does everyone want?" Chelsea asked. "I have, milk, orange juice, apple juice and water. Unless you would like a cup of coffee or tea." she offered.

"I'll do that for you, honey. You've done enough" Claire said going over to the kitchen to help out with the drinks. "Chelsea do you just want orange?" Chelsea nodded "Okay, you sit down and I'll sort it out. What do you want Vaughn?" She looked over at me.

"Uh.." Was it rude to say milk? Maybe I should just have water, I didn't want to use all of Chelsea's milk...

"He'll have milk, mam" Chelsea said for me.

"No! It's fine I'll just have water!" I insisted.

Chelsea turned to glare "Vaughn, don't lie I know you want milk. Mam just get him milk." Claire nodded and went into the fridge, pulling out the jug of milk and the carton of orange juice. Once she was done she came over with the four glasses in hand and placed them down.

Claire then joined us at the table, sitting directly opposite to me. Gray was to my right which left Chelsea being at my left. I waited for a moment making sure that they didn't pray before their meals or anything before I picked up my fork and joined in eating.

There wasn't any conversation between us at all to begin with, not until I looked up and caught Claire's eye. We looked at each other for a little before I realized that I was staring so I averted my gaze back to my food. "You have the exact same eye colour as my best friend" Claire stated.

My eyes flicked back up to look at Claire, as did the rest of the tables. "Karen? Mam, Karen has green eyes, or have you already forgot?" Chelsea said, laughing slightly. But Claire didn't say anything. I looked over at Gray but he only sat staring at his wife.

"Claire.." He said slowly.

Claire stopped looking at me to look at the man next to her, to smiled sweetly "I'm fine, really." She said.

"Mam?" Chelsea asked looking a little panicked. "What are you talking about?"

"Y'know how I told about that woman that was killed, just before you were born?"

"Yeah? Her husband and son died too." Chelsea said.

Claire nodded "Yes well I was talking about her. She had the same eye colour as Vaughn here. Isn't that strange? And I thought I would never see purple as an eye colour again. " she laughed. "So Vaughn what do your parents do? Do they work here too?"

Chelsea looked at me cautiously, biting her lips in the process. I felt my heart rate pick up as I thought about my parents, I became nervous as Claire and Gray watched me. But Chelsea did say I didn't have to answer if I didn't want too, but then wouldn't that give it away that I was still grieving about their death.

"Uh, they.. died when I was very young" I said carefully. Making sure I didn't sound too upset or angry she had asked that question.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean.." Claire trailed off.

I shook my head "No it's fine. I don't mind. It was a long time ago." I put down my fork and picked up my glass of milk taking a swig from it. I didn't really mind too much that she had asked but after what she had said about her best friend being killed I suddenly felt reluctant to say a word about it.

But it did make me wonder if her best friend was killed before my mother and father or after. I wanted to ask her if she knew anything about my parents as well I mean she must know a few people in Forget-me-not they aren't that far away and plus my mother was a farmer and would of probably attended the same festivals.

But that was something that I couldn't bring myself to ask. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what people thought of my parents. Of course Mirabelle adored them, as my mother was her sister. But all that muttering that morning, when I was on the bridge.

No, I don't think I really wanted to know.

"I think we better move of that subject.. so how did you guys meet?" Claire asked looking between Chelsea and I. "I bet it's a good story"

I frowned a little trying to think when I actually first met Chelsea, it must of been at the beach when I first arrived here. "I think it was when I first came here, and my aunt had invited everyone to come and meet me. Kind of like a welcoming." I said.

"Yeah it was, you looked so annoyed when you came. It was quite funny" Chelsea said.

I narrowed my eyes at her "Yeah well I wasn't expecting the whole island to come and greet me. I'm not a big fan of crowds, and she knows it"

"Who?" Claire asked.

"My aunt." I replied.

Chelsea smirked at me. "Yeah well, I thought it was pretty funny."

I shook my head, taking another bite from my meal. It fell silent again among the four of us as we all continued to eat, finishing off our meals. "Is everyone done?" Chelsea asked looking around to see if everyone had finished their meals. We all nodded and let Chelsea take our plates, each of thanking her for the meal. "So who wants dessert?"

The three of us looked at each other. "I don't think I could manage anymore" Claire said sitting back in her chair. I nodded, agreeing with Claire, saying I too couldn't manage anymore food. And soon after I had said Gray followed.

Chelsea laughed "Good! Cause I don't have any!" She came back over to the table and sat down.

We sat for a little in silence before I stood up "I think I better get going then.. thanks again for the meal Chelsea. It was nice to meet you." I said looking at Claire and Gray.

Chelsea then stood up too "Are you sure? You can stay for a little longer if you want, we're just going to play some games."

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly "Maybe another time.. sorry."

Chelsea nodded "Yeah, sure!" She smiled and stepped around her chair "I'll show you to the door." She said as she started to walk towards the front door. I nodded and followed her across the room.

She opened the door for me, leading me out "Thanks for coming Vaughn" she said with a smile.

I nodded in agreement "Thanks for having me. Goodnight" I said with a small smile. I then turned around and started to walk down the little mud path that lead off her farm and down to the west town.

"G'night!" I heard Chelsea call after me. But I didn't turn around to wave or call back I just kept walking, walking down the path and back home.

Yay! I actually done it before the deadline! How good's that?

So thanks again! Hope you enjoyed it!

wipe-your-tears xx