GAHH

I FAIL

JUST... JUST READ IT ;-;

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (excluding A/N): 1400

Date Updated: 3-9-11

Current Review Count: 225

Chelsea honestly felt like she was winning the staring match she was having with that speck of dust on her ceiling. Really, she did. But that speck was stubborn—they'd been at this competition for at least an hour and it had barely made any signs of moving or giving up. If she kept going for just a little while longer…

Three strong knocks suddenly echoed through her still house, breaking her free from her reverie. Her eyes snapped over to the door before she realized what she was doing. She scowled—she'd admitted defeat.

"Damn it," Chelsea muttered under her breath as she rolled herself off of her bed and over to the door. As she pulled it open and the outside cold air mixed with the inside cold air, she scowled. "This better be good."

A silver thermos was held out in front of her. "Y'in a bad mood'r somethin'?"

"Oh, Vaughn," Chelsea laughed, her throat squeezing and making it sound more like a cough, "Sorry. I was just… uh, never mind. Do you want to come in? Oh, but you might catch my cold…"

"I don't get sick." Vaughn said, handing the thermos to the farmer as they moved the conversation inside, "Mirabelle made you some soup."

"Oh," Chelsea smiled, looking the thermos over and basking in its heat on her hands. "How sweet of her. She didn't need to do this."

"Julia said she's worried 'bout you," Vaughn frowned. Chelsea blinked.

"Why? I'm fine."

"Y'don't sound fine," Vaughn muttered, fiddling with his hat. Chelsea frowned.

"Well, I'm getting a lot better. My throat isn't as sore. And my head doesn't hurt. And I'm not sneezing as much."

Vaughn raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "Y'still sound sick."

"Well, then don't tell Julia," Chelsea sighed, leaning against the table in the middle of the room. Vaughn furrowed his brow, clearly confused. Chelsea elaborated. "She told me I can't go eat with them on Starry Night if I'm still sick. I don't blame her or anyth—"

"Julia and Mirabelle are eatin' with Taro and Felicia and them," Vaughn said, then instantly regretted it when he saw Chelsea's face sink. She blinked at him, her eyes looking confused and a little bit betrayed.

"Are they?" Chelsea asked quietly. "I thought that… Why wouldn't Julia tell me that she can't eat with me before I try this hard to get better by tomorrow? This is…" She trailed off, shaking her head and biting down slightly on her lip.

Vaughn frowned. Julia had told Chelsea that they'd eat together, then? And then Julia reneged on their deal without telling Chelsea. Vaughn's frown deepened as Chelsea's eyes became distant and a little misty. She spoke again before he could even think of what to say.

"You know, this will be my first Starry Night I've ever been alone."

The words hit Vaughn like a punch to the gut. She wasn't used to being alone, unlike him. In fact, she seemed to thrive on company—the complete opposite of how he worked. He liked being alone, but Chelsea? He knew that she missed her family, but why did she leave them in the first place? And why didn't she just go out and visit them, or have them come out to visit her?

"Why can't you and your family meet up or something for the festival?"

To his surprise, this seemed to make Chelsea more upset. She was still far from shedding tears, though, much to his relief.

"I never did tell you that I ran away to come here, did I?" She said, smiling slightly at him. He raised his eyebrows. She didn't seem like the runaway type.

"Naw. Y'didn't." He said, waiting for her to elaborate. She shook her head, still smiling.

"I've always wanted a farm of my own. My parents' farm is great, but I need to do my own thing. I can't just stay with them my whole life, you know? So I started saving up all my money from allowances and little odd-jobs around town.

"Years went by, and suddenly I'm an adult… still living with my parents. So when I found an ad in the paper for a cheap farm in Flowerbud Village, I decided to buy it. Without telling my parents."

"Why didn't you tell 'em?" Vaughn interrupted, frowning slightly. Chelsea shrugged, her face heating up a bit.

"I don't really know. I guess I was afraid they wouldn't let me go."

Vaughn nodded. Chelsea smiled sheepishly and continued.

"I took an early ferry to the city, almost fell off the boat, walked around the city, almost got run over, and then hurried back to catch my boat to Flowerbud. But you knew all that." She smirked, still slightly awed that the man who'd helped her all that time ago had been the one right in front of her. Vaughn rolled his eyes, but she could see a ghost of a smirk on his mouth.

"But you're not in Flowerbud," Vaughn said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Change of heart?"

Chelsea frowned at him slightly—did he really not know about the shipwreck? "You mean you didn't hear?"

"I reckon I didn't." Vaughn replied, leaning back against the nearby table. Chelsea sighed.

"The ship that got caught in a storm back in summer? Felicia told me that they printed a story about it in the city's newspaper after it happened…"

Chelsea watched as Vaughn's eye flashed with recognition then widened to a surprising size. He stood up straight, taken aback. "You mean t'say that you and Taro's family were the ones thrown off that boat?"

Chelsea nodded, smirking a little at his reaction. He really only pretended to be calm, cool, and collected, she realized. "Yeah, it was us. We washed up here and found the abandoned town and farm. I figured that a free farm was better than a cheap one—and this one is so big, too—so I stayed here."

Vaughn was silent. After a moment, Chelsea started growing apprehensive—was he angry or something? She glanced over at his face to read his expression, but, naturally, is hat was in the way. Just then, he looked up at her, shaking his head and sighing—but she could see the smirk on his lips.

"You really can't do a thing without almost dyin', y'know?"

Chelsea scoffed, "Well, I've managed to stay alive this long, haven't I?"

"'Cause y'lived in a town with a population of two dozen."

"Whatever," Chelsea rolled her eyes, but still couldn't help but smile slightly. "The point of the story is that I can't go back there or let them know where I am because… well, I don't know if they'd make me come home."

"But you're a grown woman," Vaughn said, his hat pulled back down over his face as he leaned back again, "Can't y'make your own decisions?"

"I guess," Chelsea sighed. She looked out her window at the desolate, snowy field and added to herself, "I'm just not sure what my decision would be…"

Vaughn didn't seem to hear her and stood up straight again, taking a step towards the door. "Well, I ought t'get back—"

"Wait," Chelsea said, turning towards him. She had been talking about herself this whole time, she'd almost forgotten to ask about him. "You're still going to be on the island tomorrow, right?"

"Is it Thursday?" He asked curtly, probably seeing where she was going with this.

"I'll take that as a yes," Chelsea smiled, tilting her head slightly. "Are you eating with anyone?"

Vaughn hesitated for a moment before he spoke. "Naw…"

"Do you want to come over here, then?" She blurted out, her cheeks pink. After a second's pause, she hurriedly continued, "Since neither of us have any plans, I mean. That way neither of us has to be alone on Starry Night, but I understand if—"

"Sure," Vaughn said, and she fell silent.

"Oh. Really?" Chelsea asked, blinking. "I mean, thanks. I'll, uh, see if I can whip anything together for dinner…"

Vaughn shook his head, "Don't bother—s'fine. See y'tomorrow."

"Bye," Chelsea called as he pulled the door open and walked outside. As the door clicked closed, she flopped back on her bed.

Her head was pounding, her heart was beating hard, and her face felt hot, but she couldn't help but smile.

B'aww :3

Anywho, I know I said double-update back in February. Well, little did I know, that weekend would be the Weekend from Hell. I literally had to plan the entire weekend out hour-by-hour to finish all my schoolwork - and I still didn't finish it all. But that doesn't explain my lack of update this last weekend. Let's just say that this chapter is that update... please?

I'll update this weekend again, and I'll see what else I can do until then. I really should never promise more than I'm doing currently because... well, in all honesty, I'm just way, way too busy. But this story takes great priority and I work on it as soon as I can, whenever I can.

Sorry for failing with the double-update D:

Thanks for reading :3