A/N: Over a year later I finally update again…oh man, I suck. Well I have no excuse other than being busy. Sorry…I will try to update again more frequently. I haven't written much of anything in the past year so excuse this chapter's messiness and the mistakes I'm sure it's filled with. Forgive me guys! Anyway, if anyone still reads this, please review!

The following afternoon I was at the animal shop with Julia, having lunch. She inspected her bowl of pasta, squinting at it and turning it around in her hands. I watched her, amused. I made lunch for today and made her watch every step. The main reason was to show her that you needed to boil the pasta for longer than a few minutes to make it edible. She was impatient but when I showed her how soft the pasta was at the end of it, she was amazed. And now she wouldn't stop gushing over it.

"I can't believe it was this simple the entire time." She sighed.

"Well," I mumbled. "The box tells you what to do, you know."

She dropped her fork in the bowl, startling me. "What? It does?"

"Oh, my gosh." I laughed. "You really are hopeless."

She groaned. "How is Elliot ever going to ask me out when I can't even cook noodles right?"

"He definitely likes you, whether you can cook or not." I told her. "He is just shy."

"Yeah…" She twirled her fork in her bowl. "But I want him to ask me to the festival next week and he hasn't shown any signs that he is going to."

"Oh, right." I remembered. "I wanted to talk to you about that festival. Am I supposed to wait for Vaughn to ask me or is it just assumed we are going together because we're dating now? I'm so confused."

"Gee, thanks Chels." Julia playfully groaned. "Just throw my problems with Elliot out the window."

"I'm sorry." I blushed. "I'm just so new at this."

"Hey, I'm no expert. I've never had a boyfriend either."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Uh, yeah? Just think about it. I've been on this island since I was like, five. And there aren't many boys on this island. All I know about relationships is learned from books and movies."

I sighed. "I guess that's true. You've just always seemed so confident about it."

"Eh, I try." She stuffed her mouth a glob of pasta and started nodding. Then she frowned and starting shaking her head. I stared at her, confused. She finished chewing and pointed at me. "I was about to say we should wait for the guys to ask us out to the festival, but who says we can't ask them? It's probably easier anyway, our guys are hopeless without a little push."

I hesitated. "I don't know…I'm not sure I can do it."

"Sure you can!" She stood, gathering her bowl and walked over to the sink and placed it in. Behind me, I faintly heard the door chime, signaling someone coming in. "Just walk right up to Vaughn, grab him and tell him you want to go to the festival with him and give him a big ole' kiss!" She began laughing.

My heart sank in my chest and I could hardly will myself to turn and see who heard her say that. Slowly, I turned my head and looked towards the door.

Vaughn stood there, still holding the door open, staring at us. His face flushed as he made eye contact with me.

"Oh, goddess…" I groaned, burying my head in my hands.

Julia was still laughing. "Could you even imagine? You would never do that!" She turned to face me again and stopped laughing abruptly. "Oh."

An awkward silence fell over the room. Vaughn stepped in the room all the way, letting the door swing shut behind me, making the bell ring again. I didn't even want to look at him; I thought my face was going to melt off. Julia began to nervously laugh.

"Soo," She slowly said. "Hey, Vaughn. Did you hear that?"

He didn't respond. I glanced at him, seeing that he was just standing there staring at Julia.

"I guess ya did." Julia started walking towards him. "Well, Chelsea, it was nice having lunch with you but I think I just remembered I have something I have to take care of. I'll see you later!"

Before I could react, she was out the door. I noticed she left in such a hurry she forgot her jacket. I mentally cursed her. I couldn't believe she'd just leave me after that.

I averted my eyes from Vaughn and stared straight ahead, unsure of what to say. I heard him walk over to me and pull out the chair beside me, taking a seat. We sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of us looking at each other.

"So," He coughed. "I'm taking it you want me to go to the festival with you."

I groaned. "I'm so sorry you had to hear that. She was just joking."

He chuckled softly. "She was right; I couldn't imagine you doing that."

"I just wasn't sure if you were going to ask me or just assume we were going together since we are…dating." It still felt strange saying that.

His face grew serious. He looked away from me, frowning.

"What?" I asked, terrified I said something wrong again.

He looked at me again. "The festival lands on a day I'm not supposed to be on the island."

My heart sank. I tried not to show the raw disappointment on my face, but I knew he could tell. He frowned. "Since that isn't a festival celebrated in the city, I don't have the day off."

I bit my lip, trying to hold back the tears that suddenly pricked at my eyes. I guess I hadn't thought about that possibility before. I never thought how hard it would be only seeing him two days a week, and that he could miss holidays and birthdays with me. He did almost miss my birthday, after all.

That thought made me realized something. "You came a day early for my birthday, can't you arrange it so you come that day instead of your regular days?"

He sighed. "I had to convince my boss to let me come a day early this week. I'm actually supposed to be leaving soon because of it…"

"Soon?" I looked at my watch, seeing it was only half past noon. "But the day isn't over. The boat doesn't come until tonight, right?"

"They are sending it early today for me." He frowned. "I came here to tell you that."

"The festival is Friday…you leave Wednesday." I trailed off. I wasn't even sure why I said that out loud.

"My days off are Saturdays." He remembered. "I can try to finish work early Friday and make it here in time."

"You'd spend your day off here?" A smile tugged at my lips.

His face flushed. "It's important to you, right?"

I nodded, blushing. "I would like to spend it with you."

"I'll try my best, then." He slowly reached out and placed his hand over mine. I looked at him, surprised at his touch. His face was bright red. He used his other hand to tug his hat down over his eyes. "Just know it isn't for certain. I'm not sure I'll make it in time."

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I understand."

"I'm…I'm sorry I'm gone so much. I guess most relationships aren't like this." He frowned.

I put my other hand on top of our hands. "Don't worry about that, It's worth it…"

A smirk appeared on his lips. "If you say so…"

"When do you leave today?" I asked.

He looked at the wall clock. "The boat comes pretty soon. I should head down there."

"Can I wait with you?" I asked, feeling shy all of a sudden.

He smirked and nodded. We both stood and left the animal shop. We walked in silence for a while and enjoyed just being together. As we entered the beach area, we noticed Denny fishing at the dock, as usual. It made me remember the encounter I had with him and Lanna yesterday and I told Vaughn about it.

He frowned. "Poor Denny."

I shrugged. "Maybe she will like him more soon, she seems like she has to get used to life here."

"Tch." Was all Vaughn had to say.

I frowned, remembering how weird Lanna was about him. "I think she may have a crush on you already."

He made a face. "Ugh. Doubt it."

"She called you interesting." I told him. "And she likes interesting."

"Well, don't worry about her." He grumbled.

"Who says I'm worried?" I asked, not very convincingly.

He chuckled, shaking his head. We looked off into the distance and saw the boat slowly coming in. I was sad he was leaving so soon, but I understood. I still couldn't believe he came a day early to help build me a new barn and coop. I looked at him, smiling. He noticed, and frowned back at me.

"Eh, what?" He tugged his hat down.

"I'm just happy." I told him. He gave me a small smile.

"Me too."

Soon, the boat docked and it was time for Vaughn to get on. I turned to look at him and met his eyes. It felt weird saying goodbye to him right after we just started dating.

"I'll see you next week." He told me.

I nodded. "Okay."

"I'll try to come for the festival. I can let you know more when I come back to town." He suddenly pulled me in for a hug. I was shocked at first, but warmed up to it and hugged him back. I breathed in his scent, closing my eyes. My heart was hammering in my chest, I could feel his neck grow warmer and warmer.

He pulled away, holding my arms for a moment, then letting his arms fall back to his sides. I gave him a small smile. There was an awkward pause, as if he was waiting for something. He shifted on his feet, then turned away from me.

"See you." He put his hand up in a wave.

I waved back. "See you…"

I watched him board the boat, saying hello to Denny as he passed. A sudden blast of freezing air blew past me and I shivered, bringing my jacket closer to me. Looking back at the boat I spotted him leaning against the rails, looking towards me. I put my hand up again in a wave. He waved back and the boats horn sounded. I watched the boat leave until I could no longer see it. I was numb and couldn't feel my body anymore, but my chest felt warm. I looked down at my boots in the sand and smiled to myself.

I really hoped he could make it next week.