Okay dears here's today's forecast for this story; hint of another filler but the ending shouldn't disappoint :) Hopefully XD


~Chelsea~

Oh my gosh. What's he doing here?

As my friend pulls back, he holds me at arm's length and looks me up and down.

"Chelseaaa~" he whines, "I haven't seen you in so lonnnng! Why didn't you ever TELL me you were here on such a cute little island?"

I swear, he hasn't changed at all from how he used to be. Even when we were near starving and caught in the rain, the way he talked still sounds like he's punctuating nearly everything he says with a heart. One can literally see flowers just blooming around him.

I slap him away with a laugh and say, "Oh shut up, Mark. What the hell are you doing here?"

He pouts and lets his arms rest on my shoulders, jutting his hip out as he leans to one side and looks at me.

"You're so cruel, Chelsea," he says, tears in the corners of his eyes. "After all this time, that's what you say to me when you see me? No, 'Mark, I missed you' or 'Mark, how I've lived to see you again'? I thought we had something special!"

I just roll my eyes. When he sees that, he claps his hands together and bounces back and forth on his feet, smiling at me.

"You haven't changed a BIT!" he squeals, a pleased look on his face. "But I think you've gotten just a little bit cuter."

I'm about to answer him when I feel someone leaning against me, using my head like an armrest.

"Oh? Chelsea, who's your friend?" Vaughn says in a tone that feigns disinterest, although I can tell he's clearly irritated at something.

With a smile, I dart out from under him and run over to Mark's side, taking his hand. This only causes Vaughn to scowl, his irritation becoming even more apparent as Pierre edges away from him and mutter something about a dark aura.

There certainly seems to be one coming out from Vaughn right now.

"Don't be jealous," I scold, which causes Vaughn to blush and pull at his hat.

"Who said I was jealous?" he mutters, and I just grin.

"Well whatever. Don't be. This is just Mark."

When I say that, Mark pouts even more and says, "JUST Mark? How can you speak of me in such a distant manner?"

With a sigh, I ignore him and talk to Vaughn, Pierre, and Denny, all of whom are looking at Mark like he's got something sprouting from his head.

"Mark and I grew up together," I explain. "He's the one who took care of me when I ran away and lived in the city; he's just an old friend of mine."

Mark stomps his foot childishly and says, "Old? Do I LOOK old to you? Sure, I'm twenty five now, but I've still got it!"

While Pierre and Denny curiously swarm around Mark and begin talking to him, Vaughn pulls me to the side.

"Is he…?"

"No, he's not gay, although I questioned it too for the first three years I lived with him. He's just weird. That, and he has an unnatural obsession for cute things."

Vaughn frowns at this, then turns around calls to Mark, "Hey, what do you think of her?" while he points at me.

Mark tilts his head to the side, a confused expression on his face.

"She's like a puppy; she's so cute and just needs to be taken care of! Why?" he says, and Vaughn brings his hand to his face and says, "Never mind. Just…never mind."

xxxxXXXxxxxXXXxxxxXXXxxxxXXXXxxxx

I can't believe the outfit they've stuffed me into.

We're all going with THEMES although apparently this was just decided at the last minute. And, better yet, the boys apparently are dressing up as well, although both Sabrina and Will have opted out, since Sabrina's got some more bookkeeping to do for her father and her cousin wants to keep her company.

So we're all ending up coupling together, and we're going to go around the island like kids asking for candy despite the fact that the youngest of us, Natalie, is already eighteen.

Although, I have to admit that now I'm a little curious as to what the boys are going to be, since we're all wearing different outfits.

Julia's some kind of cat girl, and she keeps adjusting her ears and fixing her clothes, while Lanna dances around in a gypsy outfit, the bells on her anklet ringing with every step she makes. Natalie's been stuffed into her costume, like me, although she look uncomfortably at her outfit and holds the maid skirt out with a look on her face, giving me a rueful grin.

I smile back, and look down at my own outfit.

They've got me in a princess outfit; the skirt is full, and flares out to the ground where it covers my feet, the hoopskirt covered in layers of petticoats and lace that are bound to trip me at least twice. The dress itself is the same blue as my eyes, and the sleeves stop at my elbows, flaring out as well, with bows here and there. Julia somehow managed to pin up my hair with a crystal hairpin, which she insists that I keep in, despite the fact that I'm afraid I'll lose it.

While we all admire each other's outfits, I hear a knock downstairs before Mirabelle opens the door and exclaims, "My, you're all so dashing!"

With eager smiles, we all rush downstairs and gasp as we take in the boys.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxXXXXxxxxx

My eyes go to Vaughn first, of course. I could care less that Denny's wearing some kind of matching pirate/gypsy outfit for Lanna, or that Pierre's wearing a waiter suit, or that Elliot has cat ears.

Vaughn is elegantly dressed, with a nice suit and everything. His hat is gone, and so is his vest, but in place is a long cape that looks suspiciously like it belongs to Regis.

He kind of looks like…a really sexy vampire. But I'm supposed to be a princess…so what's going on?

Like she can read my mind, Julia calls out, "Chelsea, don't worry about it. You and Vaughn totally match. You're like a princess of the light and he's like the demon lord of the dark, so you two have this whole Romeo and Juliet thing going for you."

While everyone busts up in laughter, I smirk at Vaughn while he complains loudly.

"What? Why do I have to be a demon lord?" he growls, but I run down the stairs to meet him anyways, flinging myself on him while the others all greet their partners.

"That's okay," I whisper in his ear, enjoying it when he tenses at how close we are, "You can kidnap me any day."