"So, um…I have some news to tell you."
I felt my heart drop as I clenched the phone against my cheek. Those words, mixed with that tone of voice, were never good news.
"What is it?" I finally asked.
Sophia sighed. "Um…so this trip. We encountered a lot of rough seas, and there's supposed to be a hurricane approaching soon."
"Okay?"
"Well, the captain is not looking good with any of it. He's cutting the trip short."
My heart officially hit the floor. "What?"
"I…I come home next week."
I breathed. Next week. I breathed harder. Next week? It all seemed like it was happening too fast. The past few seasons, these new experiences, the friends, and…and whatever I experienced the other night. It all came crashing down to this moment to find out that it was all ending sooner than I expected.
"When next week?"
She inhaled, exhaled. She seemed nervous, too. "Like, the end of it. So you have like two weeks left."
Jeez. Two weeks seemed like a lot, yet no amount of time whatsoever.
"How's it all going over there, anyways?" my sister decided to ask. "Nobody's figured it out?"
I panicked. Almost this entire year I haven't been acting like the way she told me too. Do I tell her that? Or just let it catch her by surprise? I panicked as my mind fumbled to try and figure out what to do.
"Chels? Oh, Goddess, who knows?"
I sighed. I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell half the truth.
"Ugh, alright. Mark, Denny, and Julia."
"All three of them?!"
"Let me explain!" I quickly defended.
Her side fell silent, except for the few muffles that floated between the receivers.
"Okay," I exhaled, "look. Two of them were accidental. Mark found out almost immediately, and I told Denny while I was drunk. Julia…Julia is one of my best friends. I had to tell her."
"Best friends? Chelsea, you're not there to make friends."
I felt my eyebrows furrow in frustration. "Well what did you expect me to do while I was here, Soph? Sit in isolation for a year?"
She scoffed. "That's not what I'm trying to say."
"Then what are you trying to say? Are you just mad that I'm actually getting along with the people that are here?"
"How could you be when you're supposed to be acting like me, when nobody likes me there!"
I froze. This was not going to end well whatsoever.
"They all know, don't they?" her voice cracked.
"No!" I said quickly. "They don't."
"Then what's going on, Chels? Julia and I have nothing in common. She doesn't like me, plus, she's always around Natalie who sure as hell doesn't like me. What are you doing over there?"
"I'm not acting anymore," I breathed. Goddess did that feel good to get off my chest.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm just being myself. Everyone else still thinks it's you…but I'm being me."
"Why?!"
A wave of anger consumed me. I wanted to say I had no idea where it was coming from, but that would be a lie. "Because I couldn't handle being a bitch for a straight year and have nobody like me!"
The line was silent for what felt like ages, but was only a few seconds. "I'll talk to you when I get back. Bye." And the line clicked immediately.
I sighed, slamming the phone back on the receiver. That probably wasn't the proper way to go about that, and my sister was most definitely not happy with me. But it was done now, and all I could do was just play out these last two weeks exactly like I have been. She'll deal with the rest when she gets here.
However, my New Years resolution? Tell Vaughn the truth.
Coincidentally, to knock me out of my thoughts, there was a knock on the door. I glanced in that direction for a second before making my way over.
"Hurry up!" a frantic voice called from the other side of the door. I chuckled to myself while rolling my eyes, opening the door to find none other than Julia and Mark on the other side.
"What is it—"
"I'm engaged!" Julia screamed at me, before pouncing into a hug.
"What?" my eyes popped out of my head like saucers. I returned the embrace, but I was wild. I pushed her off of me and grabbed her left hand, to find a beautiful, simple princess ring gracing her fourth finger.
"What? When? How? Julia!" I cooed, before pulling her into another hug. I felt tears line my eyes, I was just so happy for her.
"Last night!" she replied, finally looking at me. Mark closed the door behind us and we were standing in the middle of the floor. "When everyone left. He just…he just got down on one knee and presented the blue feather and a ring! Look at how gorgeous it is!"
"I know, I see!" I squealed. I felt tears streak my face. Welp, there were the tears. "When's the wedding?"
"This Friday!"
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Whoa, isn't that a bit sudden?"
She shrugged. "It's not hard to plan weddings here. So I mean…fuck it, right? Plus, it's getting difficult hiding this baby bump. This baby keeps growing!"
I laughed. I then glanced over at Mark, who was just hanging out in the background. I threw him a quick smile and some wide eyes. He cocked his head a tad, before widening his eyes in return.
"So Chelsea," my attention was brought back to the bombshell in front of me. "Where in the world did you disappear off to for the countdown?"
I shrugged, trying to nonchalantly come up with a lie on the spot. "I was, uh… in the bathroom…throwing up."
"Because of alcohol? But you stayed sober, with me. Right?"
I inhaled, and shook my head. "Sorry. I took some shots with Pierre in secret. My stomach couldn't handle it."
I watched Mark bite his lip in the background. He knew I was lying. I wasn't yet ready to tell Julia what happened, but Mark? I couldn't wait to let him know about everything. It was habit. It was also just a lot easier to let him know things. We were able to relate for some strange reason, while our situations, oddly enough, were kind of similar.
Julia slapped my arm. "Curse you Chels, all I asked was if you could stay sober with me and you defy me!"
The two of us giggled, but Mark then stepped in. He cleared his throat and put a shoulder on the each of us. He was peering down at Julia, whose smile faded under his gaze.
"Julia, do you mind if I have a word with Chelsea?"
She looked at me for a quick second, before looking back up at Mark with a small smile on her face. "Yeah, of course." She then proceeded to grab my hands, gave them a tight squeeze, and then proceeded for the door. Once it closed behind her, Mark gave me a glare, accompanied with a devious smirk.
I couldn't help but mirror it. "What?"
"Okay. What actually happened that night?"
I scanned the room—for whatever reason, because I did know we were the only two people in the house—and then brought him over to the couch. We sat down, as I crossed my feet and he stared at me with curious eyes.
"Okay," I sighed heavily, glancing down from my woven fingers back to his green orbs. "Bear with me."
"Lay it on me. I'm ready."
"Alright—"
"Is it about Vaughn?" he immediately interrupted, his eyes pleading.
I laughed a smile and said, "Do I get to talk?" His smile faded slightly. So I rolled my eyes with a grin. "Yes, it is."
"Holy—what happened? Good news? Bad news?"
"Little bit of both," I released. "Can I talk without you interrupting me? Please?"
He bit his lip and released a breath. "Fine."
"Okay," I tried to restart. "So Julia asked me to get Vaughn out for the countdown, of course. So I went in there, and he was being really cold to me. And so of course, I called him out on it."
Mark laughed. "Of course you did."
I shrugged. "Well I mean, other people might take his shit but I certainly won't. And because of that, we got into this screaming match. Well, more Vaughn screaming at me and me cowering against the wall."
"Well? About what?"
I frowned. "He knows about the notebook."
"I'm sorry?"
"Well not what's inside of it, but that it definitely holds…secrets. And so he's been asking me what I'm hiding, what I'm hiding, what I'm hiding…"
"Hey, hey, breathe," Mark grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. "How did it end? Did you tell him?"
I shook my head. "I don't know how to tell him."
He shrugged, his eyes now evading my stare. "I mean. Just get him alone again, sit him down. Make sure he understands."
I shook my head. "I mean, I know what I have to do…I just…"
"It's okay, it's okay. You wanna grab some coffee? Eat some biscuits? Talk about it some more and maybe relax?"
I flicked my eyes up to his and gave him a small smirk. "The night didn't end there, Mark."
He froze. My eyes were smiling. His lips curved into a grin. "Goddess, Chels, tell me what happened."
I couldn't bite back my smile. It was impossible. I stared down at my fumbling fingers and said, "When everyone was counting down, we weren't arguing anymore. But we weren't doing anything else, either? He had me like…against the wall, and then the New Year happened, and then… well, he kissed me."
"HE WHAT?" Mark screamed, a smile exploding off of his face. I immediately jumped up to him, nearly sitting in his lap, my hand slapped across his lips. "Hmm hmwumm?"
"Shhhh!" I hushed him violently, shooting glares at him. I retreated back to my seat, bringing my hands back to my lap. "Please don't be so loud."
"He kissed you?" he said in a loud whisper. "We're talking about Vaughn, right?"
I nodded, a laugh and a wide grin escaping me. "Yes, yes, yes."
"Holy shit!" he squealed. "This is amazing! Was the kiss amazing? Was it just like a quick peck? Or like…"
"It was passionate." I looked up at him, Mark's eyes glowing. "I don't know how long it lasted but we were just there, and he just kept kissing me. I've never felt fireworks explode like that in my chest before. I didn't want to stop kissing him. But finally when we stopped, he looked a little embarrassed so I told him not to be. He also apologized."
Mark laughed. "Damn it Vaughn."
I giggled with him. "I told him that I'd see him next week and he said surely. And then I left him alone in the room while everyone was talking and partying and celebrating. I managed to slip in and out and no one noticed."
He was shaking his head. "I can't believe it."
I smiled at him and said, "Honestly? Me either."
"But this is great! Now we have to celebrate."
Suddenly, I felt a chill in my bones. The sound of Sophia's voice over the phone was echoing in my mind, sending bumps down my arms. My uncomfortable aura must've showed because the wide smile on Mark's face quickly dropped, as his eyes scanned me for answers.
He frowned. "What's wrong?"
I sighed, my breath shaky. "It's my sister."
"Oh, no."
"Her trip is being cut short. She'll be back next weekend."
"Like…this coming weekend? Or next next weekend?"
"Next. I have a little less than two weeks on the islands."
"Holy…"
"I just don't know what to do…I'm not ready to leave."
He gave me sad eyes. "We don't want you to leave, either."
I looked at Mark dead in the eyes. "I need to tell Vaughn."
He nodded. "You do."
"He should be in the shop today, right?"
"Well, it is Monday."
I narrowed my eyes on him now. "Wait, what day is it?"
"Uh…" Mark thought to himself quickly, "I wanna say it's the 3rd?"
My eyes popped. "It's Vaughn's birthday, isn't it?"
Mark cocked his head at me. I jumped to my feet and said, "I-I need to go!"
Suddenly, I was racing toward the front door, Mark shortly at my tail. Once the front door closed, his speed decreased, and I ran inside the barn. I knew Vaughn liked milk, so I guess that was going to be my birthday present for him. I approached Missy and pet her nose gently, and she rubbed up against me. All of the animals were looking beautifully healthy and were also giving me much love. I sighed, knowing how much I was going to miss them, too.
I then used the milker on Missy, for her to distribute to me a perfect jug of milk. I pet her nose yet again and scratched behind her ears, so incredibly grateful for her. I glanced over at Pearl in the distance, and felt a pang in my heart.
My horse, who started off this journey sick, was now wonderfully healthy. Pearl was the reason Vaughn and I really started talking, and eventually became friends. I couldn't believe Summer was such a long time ago.
I fed the animals, gave them all a nice rub, and then left the barn with the milk in my rucksack. Mark had slipped from my farm, and I knew I had to go see Vaughn.
I walked down the path with nerves shooting through me. I was never this nervous usually to talk to Vaughn, but after New Year's I couldn't help but feel myself shiver beneath my skin.
Where did that kiss put us?
I approached the animal shop and walked in to find Mirabelle behind the counter. She threw me a generous grin and I told her that I was going to be going in the back. She kindly replied with a cheery "okay!" as I then worked my way into the hallway. Straight ahead was Vaughn's bedroom door, and I walked straight towards it, feeling my heart drop lower with every step. I knocked on the door, and he opened it relatively quickly.
"Sophia?"
I smiled sweetly at him, pulling the milk out of my rucksack. "Happy birthday!"
He glanced down at my hands, staring at the milk. He hesitated for a second, before picking it up. I looked back up at him to find him staring down at me, a look of shock swept across his face.
"Um…thank you," he said softly.
I stared at him. I didn't know what else to say; the vibe was clearly different between us. The moment of the kiss was lingering over us and settling in, and we both shifted uncomfortably. We must've both felt the tension. He sighed.
"Did you, uh, want to come in?" he wondered sheepishly.
A small smirk appeared on my cheeks. "Sure," I replied softly, as he let me into his room.
He closed the door behind me. He turned and put the milk on his nightstand, but didn't turn around the face me. I was staring at his back, and I watched, even facing away, he pulled his hat further down his face. I bit my lower lip nervously, and leaned back against the wall that I was up against only a few days ago. I shoved my hands in my pants pockets and patiently waited for the cowboy to conjure up a sentence, as I could hear he was clearly fumbling.
"What happened…" he began, his back still facing me. For some reason, the moment he spoke, my heart jumped around my ribcage. Nervous didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling. "What happened…I don't know what happened. I don't know what came over me."
I honestly didn't know what to say back. Was this his way of saying…he regretted doing what he did? I stared at him, my eyes wide, and he finally turned around to face me. While the majority of his face was hidden underneath his hat and even shadowed away, I saw a small tint of pink shade his cheeks. I couldn't help but bite back a grin.
"I told myself…ugh. I told myself I wouldn't do that until I found out the truth. I mean…" he struggled, now gripping the tip of the hat tighter.
I breathed a smile. "Vaughn, it's okay."
"No, it's not."
I narrowed my orbs on him. "I…I wanted to, too. It's okay."
"No. It really shouldn't have happened. This…this is not the life intended for me. All of this…it's not for me."
"Who said it wasn't for you?"
"I did," he breathed, glaring at me. "And I won't let a personality changed farmer from the city try and change that for me."
"I don't understand—"
"If this was part of some game, or maybe some bet you made with Mark, it's over now, okay? You won. Now leave me to my business."
Stab one to the heart. "Vaughn…"
"For all I know this personality change isn't even real. For all I know the old you is going to come back."
"How…how could you say that?"
How could I say that? The old personality was going to return. She was going to be here by the end of next week. The real Sophia was going to return and everything was going to go back to the way it was before I ever arrived.
But I don't think I wanted that to happen.
"You changed everything. Some things for better, but…"—he now glared at me, his purple orbs sinking a feeling right into my core—"…other things for worse. Much worse."
Stab two to the heart. "Vaughn, please…"
"Get out of my room. I don't want to speak to you."
Stab three. With that, I couldn't even mutter one last 'happy birthday' to him. I just growled, "See you at the wedding."
I turned the knob and opened the door, when suddenly it was slammed closed against my will. I turned to my left to see the cowboy peering over me. I tried holding back tears, but that was nearly impossible. He gave me a confused and frustrated look.
"What wedding?"
A/N: Hello to my absolutely beautiful readers. I can't even express the gratitude I have for all of you. Your kind reviews seriously made my days and nights, constantly feeling the affection you all have to offer. Bless all of your souls. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Your reviews definitely do boost my excitement for this story, as well as these now oh-so-frequent updates. I just can't wait for Vaughn to find out either, believe me! I see the reviews every chapter and I want him to know too! I want you all to know how it happens! And all I have to say to that is: patience. Soon, I promise! All the cards will be on the table and your wishes will be answered. Whether it's how you want them to be answered, well, that's a different story.
I guess this chapter was kiiiind of a filler...sorry. I gotta keep the pace! And of course, even after Vaughn tries to rid Chelsea from his life and say he doesn't want to speak to her, he pulls her right back in. Guess Julia forgot to spill the secret to the other houseguest, hm? Whoops!
From here on this story is going on a rollercoaster. I nearly forgot that it wasn't Winter anymore when I was writing this; it feels like we've been in Winter forever! Nevertheless, while Winter sure had its craziness, I promise you Spring will be much, much worse (or better, depending on your outlook of the situations presented!).
So sit back, grab some popcorn, grab a pillow, and enjoy. I can't wait to see how y'all react.
Much love.
