Author's Note: Harvest Moon: Island Of Happiness belongs to its creators and does not belong to me.
My Deviant Art username and story by: x3Bella
Thanks to my friends great help! Love you, mitsuki93.
Rated T for this chapter to be safe.
Please enjoy Chapter 10.
After walking for quite a distance, the two had finally reached Vaughn's home. His house was on the second floor, so he had to carry Chelsea on his back and climbed the stairs up to the second floor and he was already gasping for breath.
"You're so heavy." Vaughn placed her gently down on her feet upon reaching the second floor as he panted for breath, using his fingers to signal that the one on the right was his home.
"I'm not heavy! You are just weak! You need to do more exercise." Chelsea gave him a sarcastic remark; she walked passed him and turned to his right, patting onto Vaughn's shoulder to ask him to open the door quickly. Vaughn shot her a quick glare and turned to his own pocket and took out the keys, he handed them to Chelsea because he was still tired from the climb.
A click was heard from the door and Chelsea quickly scrambled in before Vaughn could ask her to wear slippers. "Wow! It sure is messy in here." Chelsea gave a quick scan to the surrounding area; the place was in total chaos, clothes were scattered all around the living room, his kitchen's sink was overflowed with dirty plates and utensils. Left over foods even had flies flying around it.
"Vaughn. Do you clean?" Chelsea walked to where the leftovers were placed and took them to the kitchen. She placed the leftovers at the side of the sink and began to wash those which were in the sink.
Vaughn was still picking up his dirty laundry and did not knew Chelsea was helping him with the dishes, he rushed to his room and threw all the dirty laundry in the washing machine and he proceeded to the kitchen to see Chelsea helping him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Vaughn stared in bewilderment; he could not expect Chelsea to do these kinds of chores. Chelsea turned to look at Vaughn and she smiled softly, "I'm helping you, so that you could rest after carrying me for so long." She replied him, turning back to wash the dishes and wiping them dry.
"I'll do it." Vaughn went up to her side and rolled up his sleeves, he started to wash the dishes too. "I told you, I'm going to do it." Chelsea pushed him away using her hips and he still did not budge. Chelsea's face was getting annoyed by the fact that the process had slowed down instead of getting faster, but she thought of an idea.
"Why don't you dry those dishes over there and I do the washing?" Chelsea suggested to Vaughn, while he gazed at her with his amethyst eyes and nodding in agreement. He then started to dry the dishes when Chelsea finish washing them.
Chelsea washed the dishes while staring at Vaughn's profile, his amethyst eyes focused on the plates he was drying, she could not take her eyes off him.
"What are you staring at?" Vaughn asked in an impassive voice and looked at Chelsea.
"N-nothing. Continue drying!" Chelsea quickly turned her focus on the plates she was washing and a tint of red was embedded on her face. She still could not get over the fact that she still likes Vaughn. Vaughn rolled his eyes to the side and drying the plates, feeling annoyed for no reason.
"All done!" Chelsea wiped her sweat on her forehead using her arms and walked to the living room, to her amazement, she could not believe that Vaughn could clean so fast and so efficient. "You're good, Vaughn." Chelsea turned her gaze at him while he stood there, his cheeks blushing from the compliment that she gave him.
A soft thud was heard on the sofa; Chelsea stroked the sofa's black fur, knowing that the fur was fake, because of Vaughn's tendency to have love for animals; he would not even buy or use real fur. "Vaughn! Sit down!" Chelsea commanded him as she patted onto an empty spot beside her, but instead he walked up to the dial phone and dialled for someone.
"Ring, Ring…" Vaughn was waiting impatiently for the person to answer her phone.
"Hello! Julia speaking!" The person, Julia, had finally answered her phone and Vaughn was already angry by the fact that she left Chelsea all alone, lost in the big metropolis city.
"Oi! Julia. Chelsea's at my house, come pick her up!" Vaughn commanded her in a death threatening voice but Julia did not take him seriously.
"What? Chelsea is with you? But, Vaughn… Natalie and I are quite far away from your place." Julia spoke through the phone while Natalie stood beside her, appalled by her words. "But, Julia, we're just like a few streets awa-" before Natalie could finish her sentence, Julia placed her fingers onto Natalie's lips, signalling to her to ask her to keep quiet till the end of the call.
"I don't care where you are at now. Just take her back with you!" Vaughn panicked as he shouted through the phone.
"I'm sorry, Vaughn. Could you help me take care of Chelsea for one night? I'm in the subway now, the reception is getting lower. I c-can't h-he-hear y-you. B-Bye for n-now!" Julia quickly hung up the phone and left Vaughn glooming in despair, he slammed the phone and hammered his fist onto the oak table as Chelsea flinched at the sudden sound.
"What's wrong, Vaughn?" Chelsea asked cutely, her head tilted to her left.
Vaughn finally raised his head up and looked at Chelsea; she was giving her watery puppy eyes that he could not avoid. He knows that he could not leave her to sleep on the streets or even leave her there to get eaten by some hungry 'wolves'. All he could do was to give in into Julia's words and let her stay here.
"Julia wants you to stay here, so you'll be staying here for the night." Vaughn sighed heavily, still reluctant to let a lady to stay over at his place, but he had no choice. He stared at Chelsea's face, still did not catch what was going around her.
"What? Me? Are you sure?" Chelsea stood and rushed to his side, trying to make sure what she heard was right.
"Yes! And stop giving me those eyes. Go and take a bath, you stink!" Vaughn dragged Chelsea by her sleeves and made her enter his room. Vaughn took a fresh clean black long sleeved shirt and passed it to her as she made her way in and locked the door.
"Why am I the one always doing this?" Vaughn sighed as he got out of his room and to the living room; he laid down on the three-sitter sofa and closed his eyes to get his deserved nap.
Meanwhile,
"What do you think you're doing, Julia?" Natalie pointed her fingers at her, nagging and scolding Julia about lying to Vaughn.
"Natalie, cool down! I was trying to create an opportunity for them to be together." Julia winked at Natalie, slowly she ceased the quarrelling and instead she was worried for Chelsea being alone with a man.
"But you can't leave a woman who's still weak in a wolves cave!" Natalie pointed out to her.
"Come on, Nat. Do you think that Vaughn is a wolf? I see him as a sheep instead." Julia giggled and tugged onto Natalie's arm. "Let's continue shopping, we'll buy something for Chelsea to repay her." Julia and Natalie walked off
"I hope you're right…" Natalie sighed and was pulled towards the cute shop ahead but she still did not agree of the idea of what Julia had done.
Vaughn dozed off into his dreamland, puzzles starting to piece up together as images in his dreams.
"How can you do this to me?" Vaughn's mother, Valentina, shouted loudly in the grand hall. The sound of glass scattering into pieces echoed in the big hollow hall, a young lad, Vaughn came rushing through the corridors, he laid onto the wall near to the door, he peeped and eavesdropped on them so that he could hear what they were quarrelling about again.
"I was just giving prayers to Valerie! She was your sister after all!" Vaughn's dad, Vincent, shouted at Valentina, trying to explain to her that she was just giving prayers to her twin sister, Valerie. His arm was dripping
"Are you trying to say that I made her die? She was the one who sacrificed herself to be my scapegoat! She is stupid!" Valentina shouted back, pointing to a picture frame that consisted of her and her twin sister. She grabbed hold of the frame and slammed it onto the floor, cracks and pieces of glass were scattered everywhere around the floor, and the picture was ruined.
"You're just being ridiculous!" Vincent was appalled by what she did and spat words back at her. "Just because you want the mining company's assets, you killed his wife? And you even placed all the blame to your own sister! You are such a malicious person! I can't believe I have been helping you to hold the truth for so long!" Vincent pushed her shoulders and brushed pass her, walking up to the stairs leading to their bedroom.
"You're wrong… I was doing this for you and Vaughn' sake!" Her voice started to shake and she collapsed on her knees, her palms were covered on her hands, weeping and sobbing loudly.
"What?" Vaughn dropped his book he was holding onto, his face was pale and eyes wide with shock. He could not believe that his own mother killed her own sister for money. He quickly ran out of the long corridor and out to the main gate, gasping for breath while thinking about how horrible his own mother was, she said she was doing it for him. It was no true!
"I'm really disgusted by her actions." Vaughn paused in a small garden near a candy shop and panted for breath, he could hear sounds of sobbing and crying near the bushes.
"Is anyone there?" Vaughn called out, hoping there was an answer, he quickly got behind the bushes and saw a girl in a short brunette hair wearing a long white dress till her knees, crying and sobbing while holding a picture. Vaughn squatted in front of her and she quickly used her arms to rub away her tears from her eyes and face.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl in brunette hair sobbed and sniffed, she turned to face Vaughn, her tears still running down her face as she rubbed them away again.
"I should be asking you? Why are you crying here?" Vaughn asked as he sat down on the grassy floor, looking into her bright watery eyes.
"-Sniff- My mum died from an accident." She sobbed as she held tightly to a photo of a woman and brings it close to her chest. "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have asked her to come home early or she would not get banged by a car." She cried even harder, having the thought of her mum dying in a car accident, dripping blood everywhere on the road and her eagerness of getting home to see her own daughter.
Vaughn turned around to find something to cheer her up, he scanned around the area to find some Baby's breath flowers growing, he quickly went forward and plucked a bouquet of flowers for her, and he walked back to where she was and shoved the flowers in front of her.
"Here, for you. Stop crying. Even if you do this, your mother will not revive! Would you like your mother to see you in despair like this? After all, the bouquet I gave you, it symbolises Happiness, you do want your mother to see you happy right?" Vaughn told her these words, even if she cry and beg, her mother would never come back to life, instead of crying, the brunette finally stopped and turned her face to Vaughn.
"Thank you, Big Brother." She looked into Vaughn's amethyst eyes, it felt like they were dying; something was clouding in his mind, wondering what if his mother died after doing all these treacherous things. How would he have felt if she really died?
"Big Brother?" The brunette waved her hand vigorously in front of his face as he snapped out of his thoughts.
"What's wrong, Big Brother?" She stared back at him, worried. Even though, after what Vaughn told her, he was feeling guilty for his mother after what she did to her own twin sister.
"It's nothing." Vaughn sighed, staring back into empty space again.
"Big Brother! Here!" She split the bouquet into half and gave it to Vaughn, her face lit up with a big smile. "Didn't you say that these flowers bring happiness? So I'm giving them to you, so you'll be happy too!" She gave an innocent and naïve smile at Vaughn, knowing that he had problems deep down inside of him that it is unspoken to the world.
"Thanks." Vaughn could not do anything but just smile and patted onto her head, the wind blew her hair into Vaughn's direction. He could smell a flowery scent around her; it was pleasing to the nose.
"Big Brother! Will I see you again?" Her eyes turned watery again, hoping that she could see Vaughn again, so that he could talk and play with her. "I will." Vaughn patted on her head once more to reassure her, her cheeks flushed and smiled widely at Vaughn.
"Vaughn! Vaughn!" Chelsea shook Vaughn's shoulders over and over again, slowly, he opened his eyes. His eyes still blurry after the nap he took, but to his amazement, Chelsea was half exposed! A bright white towel was wrapped to cover her chest and it tingled on her knees, droplets of water were dripping from her hair to her chest. Vaughn was dumbfounded as he stared Chelsea from head to toe, his cheeks turned bright pink and he stumbled as he stood up.
"What are you doing walking around like this? Didn't I give you my clothes?" Vaughn cheeks were still pink as he fidgeted while talking, he tried to avert his gaze somewhere else but still he could not and his eyes were fixed onto Chelsea. Chelsea stared at him with her innocent sapphire eyes, not knowing what to do.
"I dropped it into the bathtub while I wanted to wear it, it kind of slip out of my hands, so…" Before Chelsea could finish, Vaughn grabbed onto Chelsea's wrists and dragged her into his bedroom, he stood in front of his closet and rummaged through the clothes Chelsea could wear. He took out another long black sleeved shirt and threw it to Chelsea as the shirt covered her head; he quickly took the chance to leave the room and closed the door.
"Quick change into that." Vaughn stood outside the door, shouting to her to ask her to change it into it quickly before things turn ugly. As they say, all guys are perverts. His face was still pink by the fact that he had seen something he should not, the images of Chelsea wrapping a towel was still vivid in his mind. He threw his hat on the marbled floor and ruffled through his own hair, making it all messed up because he was trying to forget the images that is appearing in his head.
"Vaughn… Are you okay? You look kind of sick…" Chelsea talked to him through the door while she wore the shirt that he gave her. She knocked onto the door, hoping that Vaughn will answer her. "Can I come out now?" Chelsea asked, pounding loudly on the door, hoping that Vaughn could hear her.
"No! Don't come out! Stay inside!" Vaughn pulled the door knob so that she could not even turn it, and she would not come out of the room. Because his face was still as red as a tomato, he wanted to calm down before Chelsea sees him like this.
"Vaughn! What's wrong? Are you sick?" Chelsea hammered the door numerous times to check whether if Vaughn was still there. Vaughn released the grip of the door knob and ran to the kitchen; Chelsea heard footsteps getting away from the door so she opened the door and ran in search of Vaughn.
"Vaughn? Vaughn?" She called out for his name, trying to find Vaughn. While in the other hand, he was hiding behind a kitchen counter, hoping that Chelsea would not find him. But he was wrong.
"Found you!" Chelsea scared him and he accidentally hit the back of his head on the wall of the counter, a really loud thud was heard, his expression was changing into pain than the red cheeks just a while ago. He used his own palms and tried to massage the back of his head.
"You idiot, what was that for?" Vaughn was still massaging as Chelsea used her two hands to bring Vaughn's head closer to her chest, she was trying to help him ease his pain by massaging it for him. "Does it hurt here?" Vaughn was suffocating in Chelsea's big embrace; his head was touching onto Chelsea's chest while she was trying to soothe his pain. Vaughn's pain quickly turned back into shyness and he pushed her away, trying to gasp for breath while his cheeks are still bright pink.
"I'm going out for a while; I won't be back till night. I'll buy dinner when I'm at it." Vaughn quickly wore his shoes and sprinted out of the house, leaving Chelsea at home thinking about what she had done.
"What's wrong with Vaughn?" Chelsea thought, suddenly she realised what she did, she hugged Vaughn and even walked out of the bathroom half exposed with only a towel covering herself, she covered her face out of embarrassment and the cheeks was bright red. She paced around the house trying to calm down, but she could not so she pulled a chair and laid her head on the dining table, trying to regain her composure. "What have I done?" She started to ruffle her own hair and closed her eyes, thinking about how happy they were today.
Slowly, she drifted into sleep.
The night draped sky has devoured the whole city, the moon has finally emerged and stars was all scattered around the sky making it like a beautiful piece of art. Vaughn came home with paper bags in his hands, inside it were him and Chelsea's dinner. He did not have the habit to say 'I'm home' when he got home.
"Oi! Chelsea, I bought dinner." Vaughn walked to the dining room to see that Chelsea was sleeping. He placed the paper bag on the dining table and approached to Chelsea, seeing her sleeping face made his heart skip a beat, he just could not leave this helpless girl alone.
"I'm going to sleep on the sofa today…" He sighed as he carried Chelsea bridal style and walked to his room, gently placing her on his bed. He pulled the blankets on her and was about to walk out the room, but something was stopping him from going.
"Big Brother…" Chelsea was sleep talking as she mumbled out those words; Vaughn was shocked by what Chelsea had said in her sleep. When he was young, there was only one girl whom called her Big Brother and it was the girl in his childhood, the girl in short brunette hair.
Chelsea kept on tugging onto his shirt and he could not balance himself as he toppled onto the bed. Chelsea snuggled onto Vaughn and held onto him so tightly that she would not let go of him. "This girl… Could she be?" Vaughn mumbled to himself, he intertwined his fingers into her brunette locks. Vaughn raised Chelsea's fringe and gave her a soft peck on her forehead.
Since she was lying onto Vaughn's chest and he could not come up, he took the advantage to do what he could not do when she was awake. He thought about his childhood, he wanted to ask Chelsea when she woke up, he could not wait to ask her if she was the girl from his childhood.
"Sweet dreams, cry baby…" Vaughn's head was touching onto her hair as he inhaled the scent of her; she had a nice smell just like the flower, Baby's Breath. Vaughn and Chelsea both, drifted into a deep sleep together…
The End
Is Chelsea from Vaughn's childhood? Read on to know more. Review please! :D