Laetitia

by ElGal

Vaughn didn't talk a whole lot and "friendly" wasn't a word often associated with him. But there was something about Chelsea that made him try without his noticing. A Harvest Moon fic where the main characters are seen as actual humans rather than game characters. Alternating POVs. Lots of fluff, some angst. Heavy start but it cheers up! M for language and distressing scenes

13. Chapter 13

A/N: British notes at the end of the chapter.

Nymerianna99, I'm so sorry!

Chapter 13.

- Chelsea -

The rest of March passed, mostly in a rain cloud and April came in in a similar manner. Lisette was around at ours quite often and watching her with Hugh was adorable. As much as 9-year-olds can crush, it was pretty clear that they were crushing on each other hard. The family moved out halfway through the month and Hugh was devastated, but they weren't too far away and Karen had hinted heavily at visiting again sometime this year, so it wasn't too bad. Vaughn deflated a bit once Popuri left as well – the two had really hit it off and it was nice to see him making a friend he could socialise with. He still saw Celia every now and then, but I think there was something special about Popuri being a friend that he chose to make rather than how I basically forced him to interact with Celia.

Things on the farm were really coming together. Gannon had spent a full five days installing the textile mill (three of which were in the torrential rain, the poor guy) and then Lanna had spent most of her mornings holed up in there, taking whatever wool I provided her with and turning it into yarn and then the yarn into clothing. I'd started growing cotton and flax early on in the season – it wasn't quite harvestable yet, but it was getting there. Chen's was now boasting a pretty woolly clothing section, which worked out well with how cold it hard turned with the miserable weather.

It was early April when the next Big Thing happened. Lanna's presence on the island had always been vaguely known by her fan-base, but not many people actually bothered her here. It was a bit of a trek to make, just for an autograph. Plus, her afternoons were spent in the jungle with Shea (they were still going strong and last I heard, Lanna and he had started making bizarre pop-tribal fusion music together), where very few could find her (it helped that her boyfriend was literally a hunter as well and could pretty much scare off anyone who was unwanted company. It was a skill shared only by Vaughn, Gannon and Natalie).

In any case, after the clothing started coming out in Chen's store, she somehow managed to entirely unintentionally start a name for herself in the fashion world. Tourists would buy the clothes, go back to the mainland and spread the word and suddenly she was faced with a conundrum that I think she thought she'd never see – get her leg in the door in the fashion industry, which had always been a dream, or keep her new life of privacy, which she had moved to the island for in the first place.

Eventually the decision was basically taken out of her hands once some up-and-coming fashion magazine heard of her. They sent a reporter out to the island who managed to track Lanna down to my farm in the middle of her creating her latest woollen masterpiece. Flattery took over and Lanna caved to give a short interview (firmly plugging the farm and the produce as she did, which I found hilarious. Lola had made significant improvements in her moods since she fell pregnant, but Mara was still a pretty miserable sheep. It felt like vengeance to take the wool of such a bitter creature and turn it into joy for the people she hated). And thus the brand L&C was born. Being a part of the name became a running joke for Vaughn – he thought it was hilarious that the girl who lived in shorts and a bandana was a named member in a fashion line, and seeing as all I did was give her wool and a place to work I didn't really feel like I deserved a dedication in the actual fashion side of it.

"Fashion is nothing without production, Chelsea." Lanna had said, and that was the end of that. So our little island became the sole provider of L&C clothing and we had even more people flocking to our shores than ever. I even found myself giving a few words to some gardening and agriculture magazines that were printed back on the mainland once L&C had grown big enough for people to care about my farm (the fact that we were still running off one sheep – that admittedly gave a lot of wool these days, but still just the one – meant that basically every item was exclusive as there were so few of them. It also meant people went nuts over how elusive they were and how "organic" the whole process was).

It shouldn't have surprised me that a ghost from my past would manage to find me and turn up on the doorstep to my new home. It had happened once already with Tina after all, but I suppose I just assumed that seeing as I wasn't anybody big back home – and home really was a lot further away than America where Lanna's fanbase was – that I'd be overlooked. I didn't know anyone in America and that was where all this publicity was heading.

So it was that I woke up on my 21st birthday at the tail-end of April, completely relaxed and ready to spend the day with Vaughn and Hugh as well seeing as it was a Saturday. My two boys had treated me to breakfast and presents in bed and sorted out everything on the farm for me whilst I luxuriated in a bubble bath at 9AM. I was out, lounging on the sofa in my towel and actually painting my nails for once (well, my toenails which were less likely to get ruined within the day) when the knock on the door came. Both Vaughn and Hugh were out on the farm still, so I cussed as I hopped over to the door, clutching my towel around me, fully prepared to find Lanna on the other side with some question or other about the fashion line.

What I opened the door to though was a beautifully sculpted platinum blond man with sky-blue eyes that I remember sparkling at me from the pillow next to mine in the early morning light that fell through the curtain cracks on summer days back in my flat in London.

"Will." I gasped and clutched my towel around me even tighter as I felt it slip with my shock-slackened grasp.

"Cecee." He beamed and tugged my free hand towards him to drop a kiss on the back of it. "How wonderful it is to see you! I'm terribly sorry to drop by so unannounced, would it be okay for me to come in? This rain is rather dreadful, though I suppose I should be used it by now – it's not much better back home after all!" He chuckled to himself and I found myself standing aside, mouth agape still.

"I, err. I'll just. Um." My brain had completely melted in his presence and the bastard just smiled benignly at me as if there was nothing wrong in the world.

"Perhaps a change of wardrobe is required?" He prodded and I flushed as I nodded and ran into my room and slammed the door behind me.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I asked the empty room, dread already settling into my stomach. I hadn't thought about the guy in a long, long time and now, here he was, on my island, on my farm, in my house in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

I didn't have a clue what was going on, but I knew that nothing good ever came out of your ex rocking up on your doorstep with no prior warning.

"Vaughn is going to go ape-shit."

- Vaughn -

I was in pretty high spirits today as I watered my way around the greenhouse with Hugh by my side. I didn't often get to do a lot of stuff with the kid by myself, and I was utilising Chels's birthday to the max in order to do a bit of male bonding. Of course, watering flowers generally wasn't on the top of most male bonding to-do lists, but I'd take what I could get. Only the most secure men could partake in gender stereotyped activities and come out unscathed, after all.

We had the whole day planned out between the two of us. The morning had gone off without a hitch, and we'd left Chels pruning herself up in a bath about an hour earlier. We were leaving it up to her on how to spend most of the day, but come tea-time we had a whole surprise party arranged for her at Aunt Bella's. It was meant to be in the meadow, but with it still pissin' down outside, we'd had to make a quick recalculation. It'd been nice enough for most of the last week, and we'd hoped it would stay, but Aunt Bella and Jules were always happy to hostess and I think it made them feel more connected to us now that we're all moved out and don't see them as often as we did when I still lived there.

"That's the last of 'em, squirt." I said, putting the watering can back down by the door as Hugh followed suit. "Let's head on inside and see what Chels is wanting to do for the rest of the day." I winked at him. We jogged through the rain and crashed into the living room only to find no Chelsea and a stranger on our couch instead.

"Hello!" He cried as he rose from his seat and bowed – the dude fucking bowed – to us both.

"Er, hi?" I replied, making it clear with my stance that he better tell me who the fuck he was and what the fuck he was doing in my house in the next five seconds or he'd be out on his ass in the rain.

"My apologies, how rude of me! My name is William Terry Louis Andrew Carrick Jonathan Dredge Hams Reading Roger Southwark Alwick Plymouth Junior Regison III, but please, just call me Will." The guy said, dropping into a sweeping bow again.

"Right." I replied, staring at him blankly. The guy was from the same part of England as Chels was – her accent wasn't as pronounced anymore, and she didn't speak as fancy, but she'd always been pretty well spoken regardless. This guy took it to a new level, but he was obviously from a similar area. Or more similar than Gannon was from. I didn't really give a shit, to be honest. All I cared about was why the fuck he was here on Chels's birthday and shitting all over the plans that Hugh and I had made. Speaking of... "Hugh, why don't you head off to your room for a bit? Chels or I will come get you when we're done with our...guest." The kid didn't waste a second as he skirted round the edge of the room and dashed through his bedroom doorway. Clearly he thought the guy was cuckoo as well, which was comforting. Kids were meant to be good judges of character, right?

"So what are you doing here?" I asked, turning my attention back to guy.

"I came to visit my Cecee!" He exclaimed with a grand hand gesture. I felt my eye twitch at both the possessive and the nickname.

"You mean Chelsea?" I emphasised and he chortled – motherfucking chortled – at me.

"Yes yes, but of course. I haven't called her than in years, myself, but yes, we speak of the same fair maiden!" My patience was nearly gone – I was impressed I'd lasted this long – when I asked my next question.

"And how do you know Chelsea?" The door to our room opened and out walked the girl in question in her laziest loungewear I knew she owned, looking pretty pale. Her face drained of what little color it had left as she noticed me facing off with this Will bastard and as he responded with:

"Well, I'd have thought it obvious! We used to be each other's paramours."

- Chelsea -

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Vaughn ground out from gritted teeth, his accent thick with emotion. "Cos I ain't no expert in your fancy Brit talk, but ain't that a word that means y'all dated?" I opened my mouth to respond before Will could say what I knew he was about to, but I was too late.

"Oh Cecee, his English is appalling! How do you cope?!" I ran across the room to stand in front of Vaughn and laid a light hand on his chest, not restraining him should he choose to lunge for Will like it looked like he was about to, but just reminding him that it'd be a good idea not to. Knowing Will and the money – and therefore lawyers – he had behind his name, I knew it was especially a good idea not to.

"Will, please." I said, not looking at him and concentrating on the cowboy in front of me. His already tight jaw, tightened more as I said Will's name. "Look, I know you weren't to know but this really is an unexpected visit and I'm afraid I already have plans today." I said, turning to face my ex-boyfriend. "I don't know how long you're here for, but can we take a rain-check on this? I've got to get on with my day."

"Of course, of course!" Will gushed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. "I can't expect you to keep your days free on the off chance someone turns up on your doorstep, and I apologise again for how rude it was of me to visit with no prior notice. If I'd had a way of contacting you, I assure you I would have." He bowed his head in remorse. "Here." He held out the box to me. "Happy birthday, Cecee, I hope this makes up for my blundering manners. I know how distraught you were when you –" he paused very briefly to glance at Vaughn who was no doubt seething above my head. "lost it the last time." Then he bowed to me once more, pressed a kiss to the back of my hand and scarpered before Vaughn could take a swing at him. The door shutting behind him resounded in the thick silence in the room he left behind, and the rain pattering against the windows seemed amplified within it.

"Greenhouse. Now." Vaughn bit out and followed Will's footsteps. I shoved my boots on my sockless feet and stumbled to follow, sending a glance at Hugh's closed bedroom door as I went. God this was going to take a lot of explaining.

The door rattled as Vaughn threw it open and I made sure to shut it gently behind me. I didn't think I'd ever seen him this angry before, and whilst I knew most of it was at the situation rather than me, I knew that he didn't have the best track record for directing his anger where anger was due.

The rain was soft against the glass as we stood there looking at each other. Vaughn must have seen something wary in my expression because he held his arms out.

"I'm pissed off, not murderous. Come here, I ain't gonna hurt you." I sighed in relief and moved forward and he held me tightly to him. "Chels what the fuck is goin' on? I didn't even know you had an ex, let alone that dickhead. How did that even happen? He's so...and you're so... What the fuck is goin' on?" I pulled back to look up at him and saw the frustration on his face. He was in just as much shock as I was, even more so perhaps because at least I knew that Will existed in the first place.

"It's a long story," I started, as a warning not a dismissal. "So it might be worth finding somewhere to sit, cowboy." He grunted, let go of me and moved some bags of soil around until he'd made two seats for us both. I flopped on the one he didn't take, took a deep breath and began. "Firstly I want to say that I didn't mean to hide any of this from you. It wasn't done deceptively, it wasn't me purposefully withholding stuff from you – it was just the fact it never came up in conversation and honestly, I hardly ever think of all of it anymore, especially not here where my life is so separate to London and I'm so happy every day.

"So yeah, Will and I used to go out. We dated for just over a year before he ended it. I was pretty torn up over it at the time, and it was part of the reason why I decided to go on my trip to the States and I booked myself a ticket for four months' time. Four months after we split, I had saved enough to have a comfortable time when I went. I was mostly over it by then, but I thought I might as well go anyway. I'd always wanted to, and then I'd be able to go back to the UK, move out my flat in London and try my hand as a farmer's aide in Somerset. That obviously never happened and I ended up here instead."

"But how, you and him?" He interrupted when I paused for breath. I grimaced.

"I was brought up in a pretty upper-middle class family." I sighed. "I wasn't, y'know, Regis and Sabrina, but the household income was more than the farm is currently earning." I saw his eyebrows raise at that – the farm was earning a pretty penny at the moment. "My dad was in the corporate insurance business, my mum stayed at home to look after me and the house. We had a cleaner. We went on 5-star holidays to mainland Europe every summer. My dad had an original 1960's Porsche. We had a holiday home in Switzerland. I had horse-riding lessons. My mum's parents were Regis and Sabrina levels of rich – they lived in a mansion and had a tennis court in their back garden. I went to an all-girl's private school where they shoved education down your throats and taught you that Bs were bad and A*s were the only acceptable grades. My life was very different back then to how it is now. I like to think I was never a twat with it – my parents are quite snobby but they knew that snobbery is an unattractive trait, so they brought me up not to take for granted what I had. Kind of hypocritical, I know. The summer I graduated from school, I spent a lot of time hanging out in the local bar celebrating our freedom and 18 years of age, drinking with my friends and their friends from the local all-boys private school. Will was one of the guys and everyone pushed us together because we were both going off to uni to read the same subject. To be completely honest, something only happened between the two of us because we both got off-our-tits pissed one night and made out in the bar.

"Following that, something clicked between us, and yeah he was a right posho but then we all were so I didn't really notice it that much – it's what I'd grown up around. He wasn't a horrible guy either, he didn't hate on those with less money, mainly he just disapproved of those who weren't as well educated. The two can go completely hand in hand and I see that now, but I didn't back then, and he was always so polite and his manners go genuinely down to his heart...at the time I'd never had a boyfriend or anything and I was a bit smitten by it all so I went with it. He went off to Oxford and I went off to Surrey and his views got reinforced whilst mine got quietly changed until I started speaking less like the queen and made friends with people who had family members in gangs in London. Uni was the best thing that happened to me socially in terms of personal growth. It just so happened that the people I befriended were quite bigoted against those with more money and women in general. I was always the butt of the insult and they were very closed-minded people and along with that I realised halfway through my first year that I hated what I was studying. I hated studying full stop. It took a lot of thinking that I won't go into now, but eventually I decided to drop out.

"My parents were beyond pissed. I was an embarrassment to them and all their friends they had bragged about me to. I was an only child so they had all their hopes resting on me. I moved back home for a bit and got a bog standard job in retail just to have some spending money. That was even more embarrassing for them – their daughter, the cashier. We fought a lot and I saved every penny I could until the inevitable happened – I got kicked out and told never to go back. I rented a crappy little flat in a dodgy area for a while until I figured out what I wanted to do. Throughout all this, Will and I had been keeping up a long-distance relationship. He'd been sweet about me leaving uni and I leant on him a lot for support because I literally had no one else.

"I guess he could deal with it for as long as he didn't have to see the physical reality of it. He was still studying so he'd pay my train fares for me to visit him in Oxford every other week and we were good for a little while longer. During the summer I mostly stayed at his – he had pretty absent parents. Then at some point he came round to mine – I think he'd had a fight with his dad over our relationship now that my reputation had been dragged through the mud. Will's a pretty passionate guy, so he flounced out declaring our love eternal and then he saw my ends and the flat I lived in. Things got a bit strained after that – some of the crap that had been whispered in his ears for years had sunk in and we started fighting over stupid shit and politics. When I told him that I was thinking of going into farming, he flat-out laughed at me.

"Things got properly ugly from then on. He'd say stuff that he genuinely thought was inoffensive but it'd tear me down constantly. I wasn't happy but I was desperate to keep one person in my life – I'd just lost everyone else and he was it for me. By the autumn, he was back at uni and had me come visit him, just to dump me the night I arrived. "It's impolite to do such conversations in any manner other than face to face." So yeah. I had to sleep in the same bed as the guy the same night he dumped me. I jumped on the first train back the next day and booked my flight to New York whilst I was travelling back to London. He tried calling me that night but I ignored it and every attempt after that. I posted whatever shit of his I had to his flat in Oxford, saved up and fled to the US for my west-to-east coast holiday.

"And yeah. That's the long and short of it all, I guess." I trailed off in a mumble, voice hoarse from talking and staring at my twiddling thumbs. I stayed looking at my hands whilst Vaughn digested. His own hands came into my line of vision as they gently held mine.

"And why is he here now?" He asked, voice a lot calmer now – through my explanation or the fact he'd calmed down in the age it had taken for me to tell, I'm not sure.

"That," I looked up at him to see his face a lot less tense than it had been, "is a question I can't answer. I assume he saw me through one of the fashion magazines repping L&C or something. Why he decided to act on that...I don't know." Vaughn breathed out through his nose.

"What do you want to do about him?" He asked. I peeked up at him from under my lashes.

"Honestly? I really don't know." I sighed. "I'm curious – of course I am, someone from my old life rocks up and I've no idea why...but I don't know if it's worth opening that can of worms or not. It's not like I've thought of the guy since I crash landed here, and I'm really happy here with you and the farm and Hugh...just, can we not think about it today? It's my birthday and it's already miserable outside. I was having such a good time of it before and I really don't want to have to think about anything tiring today. Are we okay?"

Vaughn leaned over and kissed my forehead and I sagged in exhaustion and relief. "Course we are, cowgirl. I don't care who you used to be – I didn't know that chick – and I'm not so insecure that I'm threatened by that asshat. We're good."

"I must have done something very right in a previous life to deserve you." I smiled at him, and we stood up. "Let's head back and watch a crappy movie, all three of us, and I can finish off painting my toes."

"Whatever the birthday girl wishes." Vaughn said, and gave me a mock bow to which I giggled.

We spent the rest of the morning curled up under a blanket with Hugh between us, watching bad movies and eating popcorn until my boys surprised me with a party at Mirabelle's. It didn't help that I could see Will's dad's yacht moored up outside Denny's from Mirabelle's house, but I tried my best to laugh along and ignore the elephant in the room in my mind. By the end of the day, though, I couldn't quite shake the cloud that had settled around my head, knowing that Will was somewhere on the island.

Happy birthday my arse.

~.oOo.~

I made it three days until I caved. Vaughn gave me a very knowing look when I casually told him I was heading off to the beach in the afternoon after Hugh had gone to Chen's. The weather was on a turn for the better and I felt bitter as I walked through the sunshine with my own personal storm going on between my ears.

Vaughn had been really good about the whole thing after his initial explosion of temper. I don't think I'd have handled the situation half as well – I was far too much a jealous personality to be able to deal with Vaughn seeing any exes if he'd had one to see. My cowboy was doing really well. I knew it bugged him that Will was here, and I knew it bugged him that I hadn't sat there cussing Will out and saying how I hated him and never wanted to look at the guy again. I knew there were some insecurities floating around in his mind, and I'd used the last three days to really try to reassure him without making it obvious that that's what I was doing. I must have told the guy how much I loved him about a hundred times and I was probably lacking in subtlety entirely, but whatever. My guy's security in our relationship was more important than me sounding like a broken record.

I couldn't stop the niggling question that Vaughn had asked from echoing through my head though.

"And why is he here now?"

The night after I left from Oxford and Will had phoned me at 3AM, I'd ignored the phonecall. Curiosity had lingered around the edges of my consciousness over the event ever since, and now here was a chance to get my answers and make my peace. The guy had broken me when I was already in a tough situation and it had taken me a long time to get to the place I was now – a mindset of understanding rather than accusing. That didn't mean I didn't have questions I wanted answers to though. Half my ability to be so understanding stemmed from the fact that I hadn't thought I'd get the chance to ask those questions, and now I could, I really wanted to let rip.

I got to the beach and saw the bright white yacht that I'd stayed in once on a holiday with his family to Cornwall. Nerves and dread congealed in my stomach and settled at the bottom of it as I walked up the gangplank up to the deck where I could see Will sunning himself.

"Will." I greeted neutrally and he jumped a mile, sitting upright with a sparkling white smile on his face.

"Cecee! You came to see me!" He cried, standing up with a flourish. I sighed. His personality was a one of a kind and I'd never met someone like him since. It brought back all sorts of memories – snowball fights in our pyjamas on his estate, summer drives around the Oxfordshire countryside in the sunshine, wheeling round on shopping trolleys in Waitrose and acting completely inappropriate for kids of our upbringing but not caring for once...

He bowed and kissed the back of my hand before leading me over to the shaded bar he had on deck.

"What are you doing here, Will?" I asked as I sat down, cutting straight to the chase.

"Come, come, no pleasantries first? How are you doing m'lady, would a glass of lemonade quench your thirst for answers for a spell?" He winked and I frowned at him.

"Cut it out, Will, I know you better than this. I can tell when you're stalling. Why are you here?" He deflated and put a glass of lemonade in front of me regardless.

"You never returned my calls." He said quietly. "And then you disappeared from London altogether."

"You dumped me!" I cried out. "You let me come all the way to Oxford, knowing you were going to do it, and dumped me on arrival. It would have been kinder to do it over the phone by that stage! Why on earth would I return your calls?!"

"I made a mistake!" He wailed over me and it shut me up pretty quickly. "I regretted it the moment it sunk in that we'd never speak again; never see each other again. I'd been bigoted and let that come between us. I realised the error of my ways, Chelsea, and I wanted to make things right." I started as he called me Chelsea. The last time he'd done that was the conversation he used to break us up and it was unsettling to hear it again now in his voice. "I stopped by your flat during the Christmas break but you weren't there." I'd been working every shift I could then, trying to get all the money I could so I could enjoy my jaunt in America. I must have missed him. "I tried again in Easter but you still weren't there. I tried again in the summer, I even stopped by your New Look but they said no one called Chelsea worked there. I even got in touch with Genevieve and Jacob -" my parents, "-but they turned me out pretty speedily. No one knew where you were!" His face was the picture of distress and I was frustrated to find that it still caused the same knee-jerk reaction to soothe him now that it did a year and a half ago.

"So how did you find me?" I asked, still reeling from the fact he'd spoken to my mum and dad to try to find me. They were pretty intimidating people with a fair amount of power within their social and business circles.

"Once I'd exhausted all of my London avenues, I set my sights on Somerset." He said, looking a bit proud of himself. "I knew you had wanted to pursue a career in agriculture, so I packed my Barbour and my Hunters and drove off in the Rover to find you. I must have asked about fifty different agricultural establishments –"

"Just call them farms, Will."

"-Before I realised that no one had seen you there either. Instead of allowing myself to become despondent though, I decided to subscribe to various agricultural magazines. I knew how determined you were and assumed some clue or other would show up soon enough." I was shaking my head in disbelief as he pulled out a glossy copy of one of the magazines I'd done an interview for. The reporter had been American, so I hadn't even realised that they published in the UK. "And so I borrowed Father's yacht and sailed across the ocean to you." He finished with a flourish, opening the magazine to the page which had my interview printed on it including a picture of me stood in front of the farm.

"You sailed here." I stared at him. "From England."

"Oh, it only took me about a week and a half. You know how fast she goes when her motors are running full steam." He said, patting the wall of the cabin behind him.

"Who does that?" I screeched, completely lost in the whole conversation. "You dump me, then spend what, a year and a half looking for me then you sail across two oceans to find me?"

"Terribly romantic isn't it?" He asked with a wink. Something in my brain snapped.

"Dude, let it go! Live with your mistake! Jesus Christ." I rose to a stand. "So what, what you're here to try to start things back up again? To atone for your wrong-doings? For a holiday? What?"

Will scrabbled around from behind the bar and gripped my hands in his. I yanked them out and crossed my arms as he stood pleadingly in front of me.

"I still love you Cecee. I've travelled around the globe for you to apologise. Please, give me another chance." I almost felt sorry for the guy and I sighed, dropping my arms.

"You're too late, Will." I said gently. "That guy that was in my house the other day? He's my boyfriend. We live together and look after a kid together. My farm is just about as much his as it is mine these days. I've moved on from you; from us; from England. This is my home now and I have an entirely different life here. I'm happy here."

He sunk back against the bar looking truly devastated and guilt started nibbling around the edges of my brain. He'd really spent the last year and a half searching for me.

"What did you do about uni?" I asked as the thought struck me.

"I deferred for a year." He said weakly, tiredly running his hand down his face. "I start final year in September."

The concept of being at university still, of knowing someone who was at university was so alien to me now; so young compared to all the 18 year olds on the island who went straight into work, let alone 21 year olds. I could never go back to that, could never imagine myself being so carefree with coursework deadlines and hangovers my only worries in the world. I felt reaffirmed in my life here on the island.

"Look, Will. I'm sorry you've spent so much time on this all, but I really think it'd be good for you to just head off now. Surely you can see your feelings for me aren't healthy – you disrupted your entire education pathway just to go on a wild goose chase for a girl who you hadn't spoken to in a year!"

"Help me make it healthy then." He said, imploringly. "Let's just be friends. You and your boyfriend can come over for dinner and we can all have a jolly good time of it!" He continued with false cheer. I looked at him until he shrunk back and nodded. "Okay, perhaps not. But friends we can do? We've shared so much together and I miss you Cecee." He looked so sad and I felt so entirely platonically towards him that I actually paused for thought for a second.

"I don't know, Will." I conceded eventually, standing up and walking back to the gangplank. "I need some time to think. This conversation has been... a lot. I'll see you around sometime maybe. Thanks for the lemonade."

"Cecee!" He called over the railing on deck. "Did you at least open your present?" I'd forgotten all about it actually. I think it was lying somewhere buried in the sofa. "Just, take it as a token of my friendship and dedication to maintaining some relation between us." I vaguely waved to show that I'd heard and then scurried away, feeling his eyes on my back the whole way. I had a lot to think about.

~.oOo.~

Vaughn met me as I loped into the farmhouse, feeling bone-deep tired. I headed straight to the sofa, grabbed the package Will had given me, tore it open and found a large red jewellery box. The name Cartier flashed at me in gold as I opened it. A glittering white gold chain faced with me with a large charm of a parrot sitting nestled amongst the fabric. It was studded with diamonds, an emerald eye and chains of sapphires blooming out its tail to form plumage.

I felt the sofa dip next to me as Vaughn joined me, putting down a glass of iced tea on the coffee table in front of me as I sat there in a stupor. He whistled as he peered over my shoulder at the necklace, but I knew he had no idea how much awe the piece really deserved.

"So how'd it go?" He asked me, and his accent sounded strong to my ears after an hour of conversation with another Brit. I quickly shut the lid on the box and all but threw it onto the coffee table.

"He's crazy." I said, crawling on top of Vaughn and clinging to him, him and his beautifully sane ways. "He's spent the last year and a half trying to find out where I am. He deferred his final year to search for me. His final year at Oxford. He sailed here from England. And that –" I said, pointing a shaking finger at the innocent looking box, "would have cost him the same amount as a house."

Vaughn just blinked at me dumbly and I echoed his mute sentiment.

"He said he wants to be friends." I said, hearing my voice slowly get higher as hysteria settled in. "Friends. Who wants to be friends with someone when they spend the same amount of money that you would on a house on a necklace?! I've never been given something so ridiculous!" I squeaked and Vaughn started stroking up and down my arms to calm me down.

"Didn't he say you'd had it before but lost it?" He asked me and I took a deep shuddering breath to re-oxygenate my brain.

"My grandparents gave me something very similar for my 18th." I explained, "But it wasn't anywhere near as expensive as that. I had to sell it to pay off my loans and rent after my parents turned me out. Oh my god, my parents¸ he spoke to my parents to try to find out where I was. My parents Vaughn!" I started breathing way too quickly again, panic at the idea of having to ever deal with them again rising in my chest.

"Your parents Chels, who you don't ever have to speak to again. They didn't come with him, and I'm sorry to say it darlin', but they obviously don't care." Cruel though his words may have sounded, I sagged in relief as he said them.

"He says he wants to be friends." I repeated, leaning down on top of Vaughn and burying my face in his neck, breathing in the familiar smell of his deodorant that always made me feel warm and homely. "What do I do? This is a situation that's beyond ridiculous. I don't know what to do with it."

"Take it a day at a time, Chels." He soothed, untying my bandana and running his fingers through my hair, slowly detangling it as he did most evenings after a windy day of work. "Do you want to see him again today?"

"No." I mumbled, finally feeling calm and exhausted for it.

"Then ya don't got to see him today. I personally hope he fucks off back to England, but if you need to talk to him a couple more times to get closure on things, then you can do that. If you wake up tomorrow and don't wanna see him, then you don't. Same goes for the next day. It'll be alright. Come on, it's a nice day outside today, drink ya ice tea and we'll go let the animals out into the paddock." I sighed into his neck and pressed a kiss there before pulling back to grab my drink. This is what I needed – normality. My farm, my animals, my cowboy. Not some enactment of a bad movie plotline.

"Thank you, Vaughn." I said seriously, pressing a kiss to his lips before guzzling my drink in one. "I'm just gonna go to the loo then I'll be right out." I pointedly ignored the Cartier box on the coffee table as I walked to the bathroom, and when I left to go join Vaughn it was gone.

~.oOo.~

- Vaughn -

The next day and Chels was mostly back to normal. Another day after that and she was even better. A third, and she was right as rain. I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the whole situation. It was clear to me that Chels had no feelings leftover for Will whatsoever – or not romantic ones at least – and I knew she was a kind girl so she'd probably be feelin' all kinds of weird about it all. For Hugh's sake, we didn't really talk about it again, and I think that helped her ultimately. She'd seemed to mostly put the creep outta her mind and before we knew it, it'd been a week since the guy arrived.

I wanted to walk up to his stupid boat and ask him when the fuck he was planning on leaving (every time I went to visit Aunt Bella I could see that it was still floating in the harbour), but figured if Chels could ignore him and get on with things, then so could I.

Mara and Lola were doing well. Lola was truly a changed woman now and she spent more time munching on grass with Gwen and Alexa than she did moping with Mara. Mara was getting there slowly and ate readily at least, though her general attitude still stunk.

One thing that Will's reappearance had changed was the amount of socialising Chels did. Before we got together, I know she used to be quite the social butterfly. She'd hang around with Jules constantly, or you'd find her fishing with Denny or chatting with Gannon or playing with Charlie and Eliza. Since I moved to the island, it seemed that most of it stopped – she spent her time on the farm more often than not, and rarely had to go into town to do chores because all her biggest money-makers were on the farm now. Having Hugh around didn't help much as it meant she lost even more time to him – though he was pretty self-sufficient for a nine year old.

Will rocking up seemed to light a fire under her cos now she was constantly out having dinner with Jules and Elliot, checking in with Denny and Pierre, she even went off to the forest to see Mark and Alisa – the latter of which I knew made her feel pretty uncomfortable. When asked, she just said his presence had reminded her of how bad friends could be and how grateful she should be for the ones she did have.

So this left me alone pretty often, which meant I went around making the farm my own properly. All the paths that we had informally walked into the grass, I made proper with paving stones and fancy little borders of pebbles I'd gathered. I went around and fixed every loose screw and every squeaky hinge in all the buildings on site (apart from Hugh's door, which I left squeaky and free). I even had Gannon come round and help expand the textile mill so Lanna had a toilet and a small kitchenette where she could make coffee, and then the greenhouse so Chels could put her berry bushes in there. She had been using her mornings on the farm wisely and the "orchard" was now full of fairly mature saplings. They were still skinny little things, but they'd be fruit-bearing by the time the season came and the flower-patch/orchard area looked beautiful with half of it all in blossom in the spring sunlight. A small apiary consisting of three beehives stood nearby which Chels, Hugh and I had all installed together. It was obvious which one Hugh had made because it was a patchwork of planks of wood that I had to add after he was done to make it structurally secure, but he'd had a lot of fun making them and couldn't stop chattering about how impressed Lisette would be when she next came to visit. Judging by Chelsea's reaction when he said that, I had an inkling that she was schemin' a surprise visit for him, but she hadn't mentioned it to me so I acted dumb for Hugh's sake.

I stood up from the fence I was currently reinforcing, wiping my forehead and squinting against the glare of the sun. My poor eyesight meant I had to stoop real close to whatever handiwork I was doin', but I liked doin' it too much to quit for the sake of comfort. Deimos was off lying in the shade by the farmhouse – the weather had come in to April biblically and was leaving April hellishly and we were all suffering.

"Howdy partner." I heard from behind me, and I turned to see that Chels had returned, a smile on her face. "Hard at work, I see?"

"Only when you're not here." I winked and she frowned, looking around the farmland as I perched on my newly-hammered fence.

"So much has changed and I've not even paused to appreciate it." She murmured. "I'm sorry, Vaughn, the place looks amazing. I'm sorry I've been leaving you on your own so much as well." I reached out and pulled her to stand in front of me between my legs.

"Don't sweat it, I know it's been a weird week and it's good that you're reconnectin' with your friends."

"I feel like it's been a weird couple of months." She sighed, resting her chin on the top of my hat and leaving me to stare at her chest. "Ever since Jules and Elliot got married, we've not had proper peace. It's just been one thing after another."

"You mean since I moved to the island?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at her left boob.

"Yes. Well no, not because you moved to the island, but since that time period, yes." She said, pulling back. "Eyes up top cowboy." She admonished and I grinned at her.

"Don't shove 'em in my face if you don't want 'em to get the attention." I teased and she laughed. Suddenly I was struck by how much I'd missed her over the last week, and I pulled her in again, burying my face in her stomach and not caring that it was a) too hot to be this close to someone and b) one of her most ticklish spots. "I've missed you." I mumbled and felt her fingers playing with the sweaty ends of my hair at the nape of my neck. "I see you every day, but I've really missed you this past week, Chels."

"I'm sorry." She replied gently, stroking the back of my head. "I've missed you too. I know we see more of each other now that you live here, but sometimes it feels like we see way less."

"At least when I was commutin' here we got a whole day of each other, now we're spreadin' it out across the week." I sighed, nuzzling my nose into the hollow between the tips of her rib cage. I heard her giggle and she squirmed in my hold.

"We should plan a trip." She said once she'd pulled back far enough that I couldn't tickle her any more. "Just us two, a whole week. Once everything's back to normal." Aka, once Will had fucked off from the island. I tried not to feel frustrated that he was dictating our lives without even being in them and focused on the idea of a week alone with my Chels.

"Sounds perfect." I smiled at her and pushed up off the fence. "In the meantime, let's go cool off inside and you can fill me in on all the gossip you've been gatherin' these past few days." She grinned at me and held her hand out for me to hold as we ambled our way to the house.

I flopped on the couch once we got in and she went about fixing us some iced tea and grabbing a punnet of raspberries from the fridge – pretty soon those would be home-grown, once she'd got the order in from Chen.

"Biggest news on the block I'd say is that Denny and Pierre have split." She said as she carried it all over. I felt my eyes go wide.

"For real? I thought they were solid." I should probably pay Denny a visit. We weren't super close anymore, but we'd used to be and he'd probably appreciate any company he could get.

"Mmm." Chels hummed as she popped a raspberry in her mouth. "They left it on okay terms but it wasn't a mutual decision. Apparently they just wanted different things out of the relationship. Denny didn't go into too much detail – something about Pierre needing a more stable future than he could see Denny offering. Denny's pretty torn up about it, it was the first chance he'd got to explore the guy side of his bisexuality and I think he'd had his heart pretty set on Pierre. They'd been together a while."

"He doin' alright?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I've been with him most of the afternoon. I only left cos he kicked me out. He's all brave face and bluster, really, but I'll head down there tomorrow and keep him company. He'd practically moved in with Pierre, I don't think he even remembers where half the stuff in his shack is."

"Poor guy." I sympathised, taking a handful of raspberries myself.

"I know." She sighed. "I'll do some fishing with him or something. It's been a while since I last did and I know it's something he never did with Pierre so it should be safe. Mealtimes are going to be hard though."

"He can always come up here if he wants a change of scenery. I don't mind entertainin' if you got other people to see." She beamed at me and I felt a fuzzy warmth in my chest at the knowledge that I'd said something good.

"You're such a softy." She said, pinching my cheek. "And I love you. I really am sorry I'm not around as much."

"Chels, it's fine." I replied, rubbing my cheek slightly. "I'm not a guest you have ta entertain. I go see Aunt Bella and Celia, you get to see your friends too." I grinned at her before parroting, ""I'm a big boy", I can look after myself for a couple hours a day." She rolled her eyes but smiled back at me.

"Alright then, I'll go drag him out of bed tomorrow morning and force my company on him for a bit. How's everything doing outside?" And we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on each other's lives until Hugh came back from school. Whatever was going to trigger the return of "normality" I hoped it happened soon, because I'd missed this. I'd missed her.

~.oOo.~

- Chelsea -

I left my boys to it with the farm the next day (after Vaughn assured me they'd be okay and that I wasn't spending too much time apart from them) and headed off to the beach to see how Denny was doing. He'd really loved Pierre and they'd had such a happy, relaxed relationship. I couldn't imagine what had gone so wrong or what incompatibility had been so big that they couldn't make it work.

"Denny!" I yelled as I banged on his door. It was nastily early for him, but I figured the earlier I dragged his sorry arse out of the bed, the less time he could spend curled up in it. "Wakey wakey! Come on the fish are biting!"

"Chelsea." He groaned as the door opened to reveal his scantily dressed self. "It's 7AM in the morning. What are you doing?" He yawned, eyes shut throughout his speaking.

"We're getting you up and outta bed and on the other end of a fishing rod." I declared. I know he'd got used to waking up earlier with Pierre and I didn't want him to think that everything about his routine had to change just because Pierre wasn't there anymore. Losing a partner is a big enough change in your life without everything else having to go with it. "Chop chop, otherwise all the good spots will get taken."

He gave me a huff and a groan, but disappeared behind his door again and returned with an unzipped hoodie on and his fishing gear in his hands.

"I hate you." He grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, and I handed over the coffee I'd prepared for the occasion. His eyes zeroed in on it and he grabbed it. "Maybe I hate you a little bit less." He said as he took a deep draught from the cup.

"Take in that fresh spring air!" I cooed as I set off at a marching pace to the spot we usually sat at by the pier. We sat down and started prepping our rods. "Doesn't it just make you want to tackle the world?"

"I know what you're doing." Denny said drily, casting his rod with one hand and gulping more coffee with the other. "And it's not working. But thanks."

I shrugged, not really expecting him to fall for any of my theatrics, and cast my own line out. After Shea, I only fished for sport. I always released the ones I caught back into the water unscathed, feeling far too guilty over the whole thing.

"Ahoy!" We heard from above us and I groaned internally as the platinum blond elephant on the beach appeared at the railing of his yacht behind us. I'd been hoping he'd be sleeping still, but he'd always been a morning person for as long as I known him. Guess it was too much to ask for that to have changed.

"Ahoy!" Denny greeted back, smiling in his usual friendly demeanour. It probably helped that Will was incredibly easy on the eye and Denny was newly single and vulnerable. Unless something else had changed in the last year and a half, I'm afraid that Denny's chances were slim to none.

"Cecee!" He called and I audibly groaned as I looked up at him.

"Hi, Will." I said, defeated, reeling in my line and casting it afresh.

"I didn't know you partook in this particular hobby!" He cried, eyes sparkling blue as the sky and teeth shining white in the sun. Denny looked star struck next to me. "By Jove, what entertainment can be found through this? 'Tis just fish!"

"They're not just fish." I said, frowning at him and defending both mine and Denny's hobby. Denny didn't seem to have even figured out that we'd been insulted.

"They're not just fish!" Will repeated then; "They're M&S fish?" He replied and I couldn't stop the bark of laughter that escaped me. It was a joke our whole friendship group used to throw around back in the day, based on the adverts of the most expensive supermarket in the UK.

"More like M&S wish." I giggled. "You don't still shop there, do you?" I asked, voicing the thought before I could tell my mouth to stop. Will used to insist that all his food came from M&S or Waitrose. "You go in for some eggs, bread and milk and you come out having spent £15!"

"It's better than going to Tesco." He replied, sticking his nose in the air in (only slightly mock) snobbery at where I used to shop when I was at uni. "At least M&S know the difference between beef and horse."

"Didn't affect me anyway." I threw back at him. "This is why you shouldn't eat meat." I'd mostly given up the fish part of my pescetarianism now that I was earning and growing enough to eat otherwise. I was full-blown vegetarian again and proud of it. If anyone on the island wanted meat other than fish, they'd have to import it by boat because I wasn't killing one of my animals to feed them.

"But then I'd have to give up my 21 day matured tender rump steaks!" He cried in horror and I busted up laughing at the look on Denny's face as he stared at Will. It wasn't quite as star struck any more and more like he was witnessing an alien landing.

"Jog on, mate." I called at him, laughing still, "You're too much of a posho for Denny to handle, Tory boy."

"Takes one to know one, my fair Chelsea." He said as he ducked back from his railing and headed somewhere else on his boat, playing on the stereotypical pun of my name. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Denny.

"Sorry about him, he can be a bit much." Denny just smiled and shook his head.

"No worries dude, I didn't realise you were friends with him. He's been parked outside my shack for a while now, doesn't often do much more than walk up and down the beach."

"We're not friends." I quickly amended. "We just know each other from a while back. It's complicated." I bit my lip. It had been far too easy to fall back into old banter with Will. I wasn't worried about my feelings changing, but I was entertaining the idea that perhaps we could be those rare and mythical exes that stay friends...

"Ah. I see." Denny replied diplomatically. "Does Vaughn know about this "complication"?" He asked and I frowned.

"Yes, he does. And he doesn't own me. I'm allowed to have complications from the past."

"Alright, alright!" He held his hands up in surrender. "Chill. I was just checking. Bros gotta look out for each other, y'know?" He said and I rolled my eyes. Considering I think it had been a good month or two since Denny and Vaughn had even last interacted, I thought that stretched "bro code" a bit thin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I dismissed. I paused as Denny reeled in a fish as long as my arm and let it go again.

"New record, beat that!" He cheered, fist-pumping the air. I sighed and re-cast my line again.

"How was last night?" I asked as silence fell around us again. Denny's breathing hitched briefly before smoothing out again.

"Hard." He replied shortly. "It's difficult when you're used to sharing a bed with someone. It's a big change." Thinking back to all the nights in bed alone before Vaughn moved over, I could relate.

"I feel you dude." I sighed. "So what's the plan now?" I asked. "Just keep on with your search for the Big One?" He exhaled through his nose and laid his rod down on the pier next to us.

"I don't know Chelsea." He said very quietly. "I was happy spending my days doing that before...before. Days by the sea, evenings at the bar, dinners with friends. But everything's different now. I stopped caring about the Big One a long while ago and now I feel aimless. Pierre's got his restaurant, he's got his business, he'll be fine. I'm the one without the life plan, I'm the one without the ambition." He emphasised that last word so much that I knew it must have been quoting someone, presumably Pierre. "What do I have?"

"A large group of supportive friends." I replied firmly. "Who'll help you out any way you need. You're always welcome on the farm, Denny. There's plenty to be getting on with. Or if you want a complete change in scenery then Vaughn's got some connections in the city and Celia has even more. You pick a dream and we'll make it happen."

"The dream was Pierre." He said in an almost whisper, and my heart broke for him. I knew exactly how he felt – hell, last time I was in his position, I fled to America and started a new life on an abandoned island.

"It was." I agreed. "But there'll be other guys – and girls – D. I know it's not what you wanna hear or think about right now, but it's true. You can't make your life's dream a guy, they're not worth it. No one's worth it. You need to make it something for you, something about you, that someone can join you in but if they leave you still have a life to live without them."

"Couldn't you have told me that before this whole thing started?" He asked petulantly.

"I would have, if I'd had any warning of what was happening before you outed yourselves in Pierre's kitchen." I returned and he grinned sheepishly. "Look, I've been here before, everyone's situations are slightly different, but in a general sense I know what you're going through. You'll be fine. You'll make it through this. You need a sofa to kip on? Then you come stay at mine and we can watch horrible movies and eat ice cream." Denny laughed,

"I may have just been dumped by my boyfriend, but I'm still a guy Chelsea."

"Why the gender stereotype?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who doesn't like movies and ice cream?" He laughed again and conceded. I put my rod down next to his and turned to him. "Pierre may not be a part of the picture any more, but you've got friends to support you. Do you want to come stay over for a bit?"

"Can I get back to you on that?" He asked, "I need to try it on my own first. It's a pride thing."

"I can respect that." I nodded, "Just let me know. Vaughn suggested it in the first place, so he's happy to have you round. Between you and me, I think he misses you, he's just too socially awkward to come and see you now it's been so long since you last hung out."

"He's a weird one." Denny nodded, laughing. "I'll come round for a visit sometime for sure, I just want to try roughing it on my own again and see if I can do a bit of soul searching through it."

"Sure, Denny, you just keep me in the loop." I picked up my rod again, "now come on, it may not be The Dream anymore, but catching the Big One would still be a nice perk." He chuckled and cast his rod, looking a lot cheerier than he had before.

~.oOo.~

The next day Vaughn told me he'd join me down at Denny's once he was done with the chores. So I ran off ahead at 6:30AM to wake up Denny at 7AM again and we went through much the same routine as the day before: groaning, grouching, coffee, fishing. Secretly I was thrilled that Vaughn would be coming to join us, I still felt like a school-girl with a crush around him half the time and it made my stomach flutter thinking about him coming down. It would be just like the day we met – only with less falling on top of one another (though I wouldn't complain).

Even Will sticking his head over his yacht railings again didn't dampen my excitement. He chattered at us for a bit, being as effervescent as ever and making Denny laugh just as much as me. If anything could be said in Will's favour, it was that he was the kind of guy you could bring to a party where he knew no one, and by the end of the night he'd have a running joke with everyone there. I think it was good for Denny, having someone as wacky as Will around and I felt only a little guilty at that thought, knowing that Vaughn was wishing with every fibre of his being for Will to jet-set off into the sunset, alone and ASAP.

The blond was still yammering his jaw when Vaughn arrived with us, squinting in the light. I knew he struggled in the summer – as this spring was turning out to be the start of – and I thought it was really sweet that he'd put himself through that just to check up on Denny. My stomach started fluttering again as I saw him arrive, and I jumped up off the pier and ran to him – just stopping myself shy of throwing myself at him in respect for Denny and his recent broken heart.

"I'd kiss you but I don't want to show off in front of Denny." I said, beaming up into his mauve eyes. "But I'm very, very, very excited that you're here and I feel like a school-girl waiting for her crush to walk past again." He smiled at me, and it set his whole face aglow with warmth as he did.

"I'd kiss ya too, but I don't reckon I'd be able to stop at PG." He winked at me and I grinned.

"Come on, come sit with us. Denny could use some adult company." I said, rolling my eyes towards Will up on deck who was making bizarre noises as Kuu flapped around his head, much to the crying amusement of Denny.

"Aha! The cowboy appears!" Will cried, finally waving Kuu off him. "Greetings! Or should I say, "Howdy partner"?" He said the last without even attempting an accent and it sounded ridiculous in his voice. I joined Denny in his laughter as Vaughn scowled and growled out,

"Piss off."

Will slanted a look at me and I knew he was going to duck out now that Vaughn was here. It made me feel awkward to remember that the guy still had feelings for me, no matter how friendly he may come across. In equal measures though, it felt so nice to have someone who had so much common ground with me. I got shipwrecked here alone – no friends, no family. No one on the island's known me for any longer than I've been here and despite the reminders of my family that he brought with him, it felt so good to have someone who'd known me for longer than a year back in my life.

"To quote Jack Whitehall," Will started, ""Sticks and stones may break my bones, but fuck it, I'm with BUPA."" He called and disappeared. I won't lie, I just about died as I collapsed on the pier, howling with laughter.

Denny and Vaughn were both watching me, completely oblivious.

"Who's Jack Whitehall?" Denny asked at the same time that Vaughn asked,

"The fuck is boopa?" I wiped the tears from my eyes and sat down next to Denny.

"He's a comedian." I directed at Denny, "And BUPA is a private health insurance company." I said to Vaughn. "British humour and all that."

"Oh well in that case..." Vaughn grumbled and sat down on Denny's other side. "Didn't realise y'all were chattin' so much." He grouched.

"Oh come on Vaughn." I sighed. "He's kind of hard to avoid what with his boat sitting right behind us." Denny shifted uncomfortably between us and I heard Vaughn groan and sigh.

"Sorry, sorry." He muttered and then struck up a conversation with Denny.

~.oOo.~

- Vaughn -

I continued to go down and meet up with Chels and Denny in the mornings. It was a nightmare on my eyes and head, but it seemed like Denny really appreciated it. It was kinda nice to chat with him as well – we'd established a sort of friendship before but it had fizzled out once we both got obsessed with our respective partners. I was getting what Chels meant with seeing her friends loads now – it felt good to know I had a friendly face outside of my relationship with her.

With the way things were goin' with Will, it looked like I was going to need it as well. Every fuckin' day I'd walk down there to the guy chattin' with Chels and Denny. I hadn't really cared about him until he started making Chels laugh so hard she had to sit down. It had been a long time since I'd made her laugh like that, and I'm man enough to admit that I was jealous. The most frustratin' thing was that I didn't really have a cause to be jealous – Chels had made sure that I knew she only felt friendly feelings towards the guy, and I knew she weren't about to run off on me with him, but it made me pissed as fuck to know he still had intentions on her and she was havin' more fun with him than she was me.

One day it was jokes about a pig and some politician guy, another day it had moved on to them gossipin' about all the people they both knew back in England. Turns out their joint group was very big, cos they had a lot to talk about with that one. I wasn't hiding my angst all that well either. I was tryna make sure Denny didn't suffer for it, but in some way I think it was helping the guy – showing him all the things not to miss about a relationship. I could tell that Chels was getting frustrated with me though. She couldn't understand why I was feelin' the way I was and that annoyed me because I knew that if roles were reversed, she'd be a green-eyed monster from the start. If roles were reversed though, I'd probably not even speak to my ex, so I guess there was the fundamental difference between us. Chels was a friendlier girl than I was a guy and she wasn't about to ignore someone who'd known her for two and a half years.

All in all I just wanted the guy gone, but I also knew that if we didn't reach some kind of conclusion whilst he was here that the issues this had exposed would stick with us once he left.

Yeah, not just a hat-rack, my friend.

The only problem was, I could do jack shit about it all. Chels shut down and got all prickly with me whenever I commented or tried to bring it up and Will weren't doing nothin' but making it worse with his British humour shit and poor Denny was sat in the middle of us, working through his own crap whilst weakly mediating ours. Every day it was the same and it was driving me nuts. We were halfway through May for fuck's sake, and all I could see happening was this guy who's crushin' on my girl tryin' to muscle his way in on our thing. So maybe I'm insecure – sue me. Knowin' that did fuck all to help me when I was in the situation, faced with Chelsea crying with laughter from some weird-ass joke the dickhead had made.

All I wanted was to just live in peace with the woman I loved and the kid we looked after – a kid who was having to spend a lot more time entertainin' his sister in the mornings now that we were both down on the beach 'til lunch.

When shit got too tough – like currently, with the Shit with a Ship throwin' out jokes like they'd gone off – I'd sit with my bare feet in the sea that I couldn't look at, stare at my lap and daydream. I'd dream of what it'd be like once things had settled down, where Chels and I would go for that trip she'd mentioned and what heights we'd take the farm to. I'd imagine us getting married and what our kids would look like and what they'd be like. I'd imagine how we'd bring them up right – better than either of our parents managed – and how they'd be able to stay the night at Hugh's once he was all grown up and do stuff with their "cool older brother" whilst Chels and I'd have a quiet evening in, probably walkin' round the farmhouse picking up toys littered all over the place. I'd imagine Deimos runnin' around with a little toddler runnin' after him and Chels scolding the tot from the door of the chicken coop whilst I sheared a nice, happy, normal sheep.

And then I'd be brought back to Earth by the sound of my cowgirl screechin' with joy over something another man was sayin' to her.

"I'm goin' off to Celia's." I muttered to Denny, standing up and rolling my trousers down. Chels didn't even notice she was laughing so hard.

"Alright, man." He said, giving me a concerned look. "Stay strong."

"Shouldn't I be sayin' that to you?" I asked and left before Chels could notice me stropping off.

I shook the sand off me and shoved my boots back on as I reached West town and moped off to East town to see Celia and Hugh. The little guy was running round like a loon out back when I arrived, so I just went straight inside to see if I could get a chat from Celia about it all.

"Vaughn!" I heard from the kitchen as I was taking my shoes off again and I turned to see her head poking out the doorway, smiling at me. "What brings you here?"

"What, am I not welcome?" I asked, aiming for teasing, but when she frowned I sighed and apologised. She wasn't my Chels and she couldn't shake off my attitude as well as my cowgirl could. "Sorry, sorry. Feelin' a bit stressed."

"Oh no, what's going on?" She asked, "Here, come in here and I'll get you a glass of milk." I walked into her tiny-ass kitchen, slumped at her table and started speaking before she'd even finished pouring the milk.

I told her everything I could think of – Will arriving on Chels's birthday, how Chels had seemed so disinterested in knowing the guy anymore but suddenly was being real chummy with him. How she'd reassured me a million times that she loved me and only saw Will as a friend and how embarrassed I was feeling with myself for not being able to accept that and shrug off all that was happening. She refilled my glass twice before I was done and I made a quiet note to give her some of Gwen's milk on the house. When I'd finished she stayed quiet for a bit with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Have you told Chelsea about how you've been feeling?" She asked, "because – and I'm not picking sides here – but it does sound like the last time you spoke about it, you'd told her to just take it day by day and that if she wanted to talk to him then she could." I sighed.

"When you put it like that then yeah, I look like a dick. But every time I try to talk to her, she shuts me down, and it's obvious that I'm not comfortable with it. It's not like her to avoid the conversation like she has been. Normally she's the one to initiate this shit – she hates having misunderstandings between us. She doesn't let things fester, that's the opposite of her M.O."

Celia went quiet again and thought for a few minutes. I sipped on my milk and felt true appreciation of having a friend.

"I think you're just gonna have to rip the bandaid off, Vaughn." She said. "Go back home and when she comes in just force the conversation. You're right, it's not like her to avoid it and I know she loves you desperately – I saw what she was like when you were still commuting here and I don't think that's changed. But something obviously has. Maybe she's unsettled with having her past appear in front of her and this is the way she's chosen to deal with it, maybe she's genuinely enjoying his company, I don't know – but neither of us are going to be able to say why what's happening is happening. The only person who can help you with that is Chelsea, and you need to make sure she can't get out of talking about it if she tries. Both of you do a lot for each other, but sometimes you have to do something for yourself, and this is something you need to do for your own mental well-being."

I took it all in and felt a weight liftin' off my shoulders. I could do a conversation with Chels. That was so totally doable. Maybe she'd be a bit prickly at first, but she was pretty sensible overall – she always tried to understand both sides of the story.

"Thanks Celia. You've no idea how much I've needed to talk to someone about this." I sighed.

"No problem, you know I'm always here. I'll keep Hugh for the night so don't you worry. We've got enough stuff here now that you don't have to pack him a bag – just get home and sort it all out." I reached out and gave her a hug which surprised us both and thanked her again before heading outside.

"Hey squirt!" I yelled over to Hugh who was kicking a ball around. "You up for a sleepover here tonight?"

"For real?" He asked, grinning. The blessed boy was always so happy, no matter where we were shipping him 'round to. I nodded. "Awesome!" He cried, then did a small lap in a circle with his shirt over his head. "See ya tomorrow!" He yelled and I waved at him and headed back to the farm.

Celia was right, the only person who could give me answers was Chels, and God knew I needed them by this stage.

~.oOo.~

I'd been polishing the floors with all the pacin' I'd been doing waiting for Chels when she came rocketin' in through the front door, hair all messed up, bandana askew and lungs working double-time to keep up with her.

"Julia's pregnant!" she screeched through her pants.

"No shit?" I gaped, dropping the apple I'd been tossin' around and all thoughts of the conversation I'd been about to hold left my mind immediately.

"She just told me! She's two months along."

"Jesus, they didn't wait long did they?" I laughed then ran forwards to scoop a beaming Chels up in my arms. "Congratulations to her! I'll have to go see her – I am allowed to know, right?" Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"As her cousin, I think you're allowed to know, yes. She told me to pass the message along when I next saw you."

"Perfect!" I had a silly grin on my face now and I could tell, but the idea of someone of our generation having kids was gettin' me all broody again. I felt my hand automatically slip down to Chels's lower belly. "God can you imagine? A tiny human in here?" I laughed again. Chels chuckled, but it sounded kinda strained and she gently pushed me away from her.

"Steady on cowboy, we're not quite there yet." She said, taking a step back. I rolled my eyes.

"Course not, but someday maybe. Sorry, Chels, I'm just getting broody."

"Of course you get to be broody, you're not the one who would have to shit out a baby." She scowled and moved away from me completely. I frowned, confused why she was reacting so strongly when just last month she was laughing off whatever comments I made. I thought she knew I wasn't going to pressure her into anything, and it's not like I thought we were actually ready to raise a baby for fuck's sake. We could barely keep Hugh in the house for a solid week with all the drama we had goin' on.

"Is that where the babies come from? If so, then we've putting it in the wrong place for a while now." I joked and she didn't even crack a smile.

"I'm 21, Vaughn, personally I'm not ready yet to do that to my body." She crossed her arms and gave me a disapproving look like I was a kid myself.

"Yeah, Chels, I know that. I ain't tryna pressure you, it was just a joke." I held my hands up in surrender. "What gives? We were laughin' about this shit a month ago."

"I just think you need to slow down." She mumbled. "It's funny a couple of times, but not when you keep going on about it."

"Keep goin' on about it? I've mentioned it about three times ever!" I fought back. "I'm not being serious, I'm not about to flush your pills down the toilet or anything!"

"Well then stop joking about it!" She all but yelled. "It's not funny!"

Something in me snapped at that and I gave up trying to understand where she was coming from.

"Well no, I don't suppose it is. I'm sorry I'm not as funny as your main man, Sir William."

"Will's got nothing to do with this, Vaughn, don't bring him into it." She looked so damned disappointed in me, I couldn't take it. I moved over to the door and grabbed my jacket, shoving my feet back into my boots.

"You sure about that, Chels? You really sure?" I asked as I threw my hat back onto my head. "Think about what kinda personality you're showin' and if that person would be here right now if Blondie hadn't turned up." I opened the door and turned to leave. "You're more rational than this. I'm going to stay at Aunt Bella's. Hugh's staying at Celia's overnight. Come see me when you want to." And I stormed out, letting the door slam behind me.

So much for all my fantasies of married life and a future. Looks like it's back to the old bachelor room at my aunt's for me.

Chapter End.

A/N: I'M SORRY FOR BREAKING UP DENNY AND PIERRE! I have other plans for Denny, don't worry, the two just didn't have a long-term future together. Like Monica and Richard from FRIENDS – they loved each other, but their future pathways just didn't match up :(

Brit notes to explain some of the jokes made in this chapter for those who aren't from the UK:

M&S and Waitrose are very expensive supermarkets we have over here. M&S especially so – they do ridiculous products and marketing campaigns including some adverts back in the noughties that basically said how their food was better than any other and ended with the tagline "It's not just xyz food, it's M&S xyz food" (where xyz was Christmas or summer or Easter or whatever).

Tesco: Tesco is a more affordable supermarket, but the joke here is that a few years ago there was a scandal where one of Tesco's suppliers had been less than reputable and it turned out that their mince in their spag bol was actually 60% horse meat or something. Yeah. It was gross. Vegetarianism FTW.

Posho: slang for someone very posh

Tory boy: joking about how Will is a Tory – or someone who supports the Conservative party whose manifestos tend to appeal more to the upper-middle to upper classes.

Chelsea pun: Chelsea is also the name of a very affluent area in south west London.

Jack Whitehall: British comedian who's quite posh and hilarious.

BUPA: Private health insurance company over here.

Politician and the pig: Y'all heard that story about our good ol' ex-PM sticking his dick in a dead pig's mouth when he was at uni? No? Google it.