Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, I had my first bout of writer's block for this fic, and I think I may have written myself into a corner here. Ah, well. I'll figure it out eventually.

As a side note, I finished reading Pride and Prejudice and I LOVE DARCY. Anyone else out there? He kind of reminded me of Vaughn, but at the same time, not so much. I dunno, I can kind of see Vaughn having a "quizzical brow" with a "brooding" personality... xD

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this little chapter! And thanks for your reviews! They all make me smile :3

It was one of those lazy mornings, when there was a thick fog looming outside and there was nothing to do but curl up under the covers and get another twenty minutes of sleep.

Chelsea, however, was unable to partake in such pleasure. She marched out of her farmhouse at six on the dot, ready to tend to her crops. It was almost time for the fall crop festival, and Chelsea was determined to win with her best eggplant. She'd planted a new patch and paid special attention to it just for this occasion.

As she trudged into the mist, her bare legs growing numb from the almost-winter chill, she couldn't help but smile. She really did enjoy farming—in fact, she loved it. It was a shame that she just wasn't very good at it. Her performance in the summer had shown her that much. She did feel that she'd improved tremendously over autumn, but she wasn't sure why. It could have been that she was getting more comfortable with her surroundings, or maybe even the fact that she was making more friends. Either way, she was almost pleased with the result.

After tending to her fields of crops, Chelsea stood up and headed over to the barn. She greeted Daisy with a warm smile and a gentle pat on her flank.

"Hey, Daze," Chelsea said, pulling out her brush, "how was your night?"

Daisy turned and looked at her owner in response. Chelsea laughed slightly, heading over to get some fodder.

"Mine was alright, thanks for asking." She gently placed the hay into the feed bin. Wiping her hands on her shorts, she smiled down at the calf again. "Well, I'll see you later tonight. I hope you grow up to be big and strong, Daisy!"

With that, Chelsea skipped out of the barn, leaving Daisy staring after her.

Ooo

"Hey, Chelsea!"

Chelsea whipped her head around, scanning her farm for the source of the voice. She spotted a purple bandana making its way up the hill to her in the field and a smile broke out on her face.

"Hi, Denny," She waved, wiping her forehead off with the back of her hand. She'd been pulling weeds all morning. Denny walked up to her and laughed.

"Working hard?"

"You bet," Chelsea laughed with him, pushing herself off of her knees. "So, what's up?"

"Lanna and I are going to head out on my boat today to do some fishing, and she suggested we invite you—she said she wanted to get to know you more, 'cause you guys don't talk much." He finished, shrugging. Chelsea pursed her lips thoughtfully. She didn't mind getting to know Lanna and Denny better, but by going fishing? She wasn't sure she was up to a whole day of something she had no idea how to do. Chelsea brought her gaze back up to Denny's, smiling apologetically.

"I'd love to get to know you all better, but the truth is, I've still never fished before in my life."

Denny frowned at her. "Aw, it's easy! C'mon, we can show you how—it'll be fun."

Chelsea knew she couldn't say no to that determined look in his eye. Sighing, she nodded reluctantly. "Okay, but I'm not the most coordinated person. This could end badly—consider yourself warned."

"Alright! Thanks, Chels—come on down to the beach around noon. We'll show you the ropes." Denny beamed, waving as he started back down the path. Chelsea feigned a smile and, as soon as he disappeared into the town, she checked her watch.

"Eleven o'clock already?" She exclaimed, jogging into her house. She needed to clean up and change into something warmer for this.

Ooo

"Chelsea!"

The blonde-haired pop star flung herself onto the poor farmer, causing them both to stumble in the sand of the beach later that day. Denny laughed at Chelsea's bewildered face. Lanna unlatched herself from Chelsea and smiled up at her. Chelsea grinned uneasily back.

"Hey, Lanna… How're you?"

Lanna giggled, spinning around on one foot. "I'm great! Are you ready for some fishing?"

"Sure." Chelsea bit her lip, studying the little boat Denny was waiting in. She swallowed hard, suddenly remembering her last voyage on the sea. Panicking slightly, she walked over towards Denny, her eyes urgent. "Oh, no! Denny, I forgot—I, uh, I don't have a fishing pole! I think I may need to sit this one out."

Lanna cried out in protest, and Denny shook his head, smiling. "You aren't getting off the hook that easy. I brought you one of my extras, because you told me back when we met that you didn't have one."

Chelsea watched in despair as Denny pulled a black rod off of the floor of the boat. Before she could form another excuse, Lanna had skipped ahead of her on the dock to get into the small sea vessel. Sighing, Chelsea followed, stumbling as she tried to climb into the little ship.

There is no way that this can end well, she thought, watching as Denny guided them out onto the gray sea.

Ooo

"So, how was the island this week?"

Vaughn brought his attention off of his newspaper to glare at Riley. "What d'ya mean?"

"You know what I mean. Did anything interesting happen with that girl while you were on Sunny Island?" The coworker restated, his eyes dancing. Vaughn rolled his eyes, but didn't snap at him, much to Riley's surprise. Instead, he set the paper down on the table between them and removed his hat.

"She's so damn confusing," Vaughn muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd had another one of his nightmares last night and subsequently lost too much sleep. His head was killing him.

"Why?" Riley asked, leaning forward. This was a first—Vaughn never admitted to any feelings aside from irritation or anger. Riley was jumping at the chance to help out his friend, now that he had the chance.

"T'hell if I know," Vaughn scowled, his eyes shut tightly, "If I knew that, she wouldn't be confusing me!"

"That's true." Riley agreed, and, not wanting to drop the subject, added, "Do you care if she confuses you?"

"What the hell kinda question is that? Of course I care! I don't want her goin' and messin' with my mind!" Vaughn shouted. "Goddess, she's drivin' me insane."

Riley smirked. "So she's already dug that deep, huh? Tell me, Vaughn: do you think you'd be better off if you never saw her again?"

Vaughn scowled, wanting to brush off the question, but his mind wouldn't let him. He thought about how annoyed she made him and how many problems she'd brought on. But then he thought about how she actually made an effort to talk to him, and, as much as he hated to admit it, how much he liked seeing her smile. She was the only one in quite some time to try to get to know him, and he didn't really mind it much—in fact, he kind of liked it… and if he never saw her again, he'd probably be disappointed.

Goddess, he hated himself at that moment.

"Shut up, Riley," Vaughn mumbled, putting his hat back on. Riley smiled smugly, knowing they'd just made a breakthrough.

GASPZ! VAUGHN ISH SLOWLY REALIZING TEH TRUTHZ.

...Ahahaha. Anyways, I'm a bit stuck on what Chelsea, Denny, and Lanna should do out on their little voyage... I have a little idea, but I don't think it would work out. Any suggestions? Thanks for your review! :D