So the blizzard was supposed to last three chapters, tops. This is the fourth chapter and counting.

Onward!

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (excluding A/N): 1521

Date Updated: 1-17-11

Current Review Count: 162

Vaughn clenched his teeth together as he padded through the blizzard, his right arm up to shield his eyes from the snow and ice. He couldn't see a thing though the never-ending whiteness, but he was sure that he was on that damn girl's property by now.

His scowl deepened as he marched forward, his hair being strewn every which direction from the gusts of sharp wind. She was so impossible. Didn't she understand what he meant by "stay inside"? Hell, she probably went outside on purpose, just to piss him off. She knew he was losing his sanity to her, little by little. She was trying to speed it up. Damn farmer.

"Shit," Vaughn muttered, tripping on a hidden rock. He recovered quickly, feeling the ground starting to slope upward—he was at the entrance to her farm. He still wasn't sure if she'd even made it back here safely, since there was no way he would be able to see if she'd left any trail behind through this snow. He could only hope she'd made it back in one piece. He frowned. The odds of that happening were slim-to-none, and he knew that.

After dragging his boots through a few more yards of nearly knee-deep snow, he began to see the outline of a small house. He sighed in something like relief. He'd made it. But had she?

He felt around the wooden wall until he found the doorknob, his arm still up to block out the harsh snow and winds. He pounded the door three solid times, his jaw still clenched.

"Chelsea!" He shouted, pounding on the door once again. After the longest two seconds of his life, his stomach started to drop and his heart felt like it was stopping. Where was she? He pounded again, harder, calling out her name louder. He squinted as the snow seemed to aim right for his eyes. His stomach was still too low in his body and he didn't like the feeling.

Another second passed. Vaughn stopped knocking, leaning his forehead against the door with a resigning sigh. He shut his eyes tiredly, trying to calm himself down and think. Where else would she be…?

And then, just like that, the door opened.

Vaughn's eyes snapped open as he fell forward, into the dimly-lit house. He heard a soft gasp and tried to catch himself on something, but it was no use—he was already halfway to the floor. He managed to stop himself before totally hitting the hardwood, his hands getting the majority of the impact. A second ticked by. He opened his eyes, blinking once at the pair of wide, blue ones below him.

Déjà vu.

He scrambled up, lifting his body off of the shocked farmer. She took the hand he offered to her and pulled herself up, her face flushed and her eyes still wide. Vaughn noticed the door was still open, letting the blizzard inside. He slammed the door shut and sighed, taking a moment to compose himself.

"Uh… Vaughn?"

He slowly turned around and felt his cheeks get hot. She was in her pajamas, dry and safe. Had Mirabelle and Julia lied about her coming to the store? Had he just made a total fool out of himself? He grimaced to himself and reached up to pull his hat down, which, much to his dismay, he'd left back at Mirabelle's shop.

"What are you doing here?" Chelsea asked. He saw her fidgeting with the hem of her flannel shirt, avoiding eye contact with him in a very guilty manner.

"I heard you were at Mirabelle's earlier," Vaughn mumbled, his eyes narrowing. Chelsea's head lowered and her hair—missing its usual bandana, he noticed—blocked him from seeing her face. She sighed, her shoulders shrugging in defeat.

"I… ran out of feed," she explained weakly, looking up at him with apologetic eyes, "I had to feed Daisy, Vaughn. You can understand that, right?"

He could understand that. If she was going to have an excuse, that was the one to have. But he still felt a little bit more than annoyed that she'd gone outside in this weather.

"Y'realize that you could've been killed," Vaughn hissed, still glaring at the lanky girl in front of him. She nodded feebly, her lips set in a soft pout. He felt his left eyes twitch. "Honestly, it's like you're tryin' to die."

"I am not," she protested, crossing her arms in front of her and frowning up at the cowboy, "I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if Daisy starved, or got sick, or… I don't know. She's more than just my cow… she's… like…"

"Family." Vaughn finished. Chelsea nodded slowly.

"How did you…?" She asked. He sighed, leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

"I work with animals for a livin', remember?"

Chelsea opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she was going to say was drowned out by the sudden pounding outside her door. It wasn't like a person's pounding, more like rumbling. Like snow falling in heaps. Vaughn pushed off the wall and glanced over at Chelsea, who shook her head at him, bewildered. She didn't know what was going on, either. He eyed the door for a moment before pulling it open.

Chelsea gasped. His eye twitched. Perfect.

There, right in front of him, stood a wall of cold, packed snow.

They were snowed in—stuck until either the snow melted or someone dug them out, neither of which would be happening too soon. Vaughn cursed under his breath, shutting the door to try to preserve what little heat was inside. He sighed and brought one bare hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. This was just great. He was stuck here for Goddess knows how long, and it was cold, and…

"What do we do now?" Chelsea asked quietly from behind him. He turned to face her, almost forgetting she was there. He studied her for a brief moment, his eyes caught on her big, blue gaze. The urge to pull out all his hair suddenly hit him. Why was the Harvest Goddess doing this to him? It was all a scheme—they were all trying to drive him absolutely insane.

With a sigh, he shook his head in mild defeat. "I don't know."

Ooo

"So…" Chelsea started, fidgeting awkwardly with the hem of her pajama shirt, "Sure is a crazy storm, huh?"

Vaughn rolled his eyes at the girl sitting next to him. They were both sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall of her single-room farmhouse. Each of them had a blanket wrapped around them, but Chelsea knew that Vaughn was still cold. Even she was still cold, and she was dry. Vaughn's clothes had been soaked through from the blizzard, and he didn't have anything else to change into like she'd had.

When Vaughn didn't reply, Chelsea sighed. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to try and be a little bit nicer. What gives?"

"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout," Vaughn mumbled, wishing that he'd remembered his hat. Chelsea rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, come on," she said, smiling slightly despite her minor irritation, "You're the meanest guy on the island."

"If I'm so mean," he turned his head towards her, raising an eyebrow, "why do you talk to me so much?"

"Well," Chelsea paused, bringing a finger up to tap her lips as she thought. "You might be mean, but you're not bad."

"Is there a difference?" Vaughn asked, trying to sound like he didn't care. Chelsea smiled slightly.

"Sure," she nodded, "You might be mean, since you don't talk to people and stuff, but you're not bad. If you were bad, why would you save me so many times?"

"Maybe I'm trickin' you." Vaughn mumbled, shutting his eyes and leaning his head beck against the wall. Chelsea laughed.

"Tricking me?" She snorted, surprising Vaughn a bit. "You and I both know that I'm way too annoying for that. You wouldn't put up with me that long for a trick."

Vaughn grunted in reply. He really wasn't used to talking this much. Chelsea, on the other hand, was enjoying the conversation.

"Hey, Vaughn," she said, smiling up at the ceiling, "thanks for coming by to check on me, by the way. It sounds weird, but I'm kind of glad that you got stuck here, too—it was getting kind of lonely around here…"

Vaughn opened one eye and glanced at her. She'd lost her smile and her eyes were distant as she watched the snow roaring by her window. He sighed. "You homesick or somethin'?"

"Huh?" She jumped slightly, as if she'd forgotten he was there. Her cheeks turned a soft pink and she sighed lightly. "I'm just… just a little nostalgic, that's all."

"Same difference," Vaughn muttered. Chelsea glared half-heartedly at him.

"Oh, yeah? Well, how about you, cowboy? You're always moving from place to place. Don't you miss your family?"

Vaughn's face wavered for just a moment before it hardened. His voice was cold as he spoke.

"My family's dead."

Well, there you have it. Chelsea actually made it back safely. I wonder if her klutziness is cured? ...Ha, yeah right. The Universe is out to get her.

The next chapter should be out by this time next week. I have an intense amount of stuff to do tomorrow, so I shouldn't plan on writing at all, but... I really want to! I know what happens and everything, but... Blurg. Dang school, always getting in the way...

In case you were wondering about the results of my recent poll, I've set it so that it's no longer blind. Feel free to drop by and see the results so far!

Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and alerting. You guys are the best. Seriously :D

BTW I'M A BETA NOW BD