Wow. I'm suddenly really bad at keeping a schedule.

I hope this'll be worth the wait, though...

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (excluding A/N): 1462

Date Updated: 3-23-11

Current Review Count: 251

"Hey, Daisy. What's up?"

The nearly-grown cow turned her gaze towards the petite farmer in the doorway of the barn, letting out a long and low moo. Chelsea smiled and stepped across the dirty hay that lined the floorboards, making her way to the fodder dispenser. As she pulled out an armful of straw, Chelsea let out a little giggle.

"You know, Daze, it's Starry Night tonight and it's already getting dark," she set the hay in the trough facing the cow and plopped down on her bottom. "I thought I was going to have to spend it alone with you this year."

Daisy bowed her head slightly and let out a disgruntled snort. Chelsea shook her head and waved her hands frantically, realizing what she'd said.

"No, no—I didn't mean it like that! I wouldn't have minded spending it with you—it's just, you know, you're… a cow. A very wonderful cow, but a cow nonetheless," she sighed, patting Daisy's course, brown head. "I'll get you a friend soon, and then you can have someone around when I'm working. Until then, though, us lonely girls have to stick together, yeah?"

Chelsea smiled as Daisy raised her head in affirmation. Before Chelsea could even think of what to say next, a deep voice she had come to know well sounded from the far side of the barn.

Ooo

Vaughn had come to the barn after he'd been unable to find Chelsea at her farmhouse. When he'd opened the barn door, he was not entirely expecting to see the farmer on her knees, franticly apologizing to her livestock. It was just so weird the way she treated that cow like it was human—sure, it was weird, but Vaughn found it refreshing. Treating her cow like a person and friend was far better than treating it like it was a walking piece of meat. Vaughn felt his respect for her grow just a little more as Chelsea smiled at the cow, promising it that she'd buy another soon.

"Hey, you ready?" Vaughn said, deciding it was time to end his little eavesdropping session. Chelsea's shoulders tensed in surprise and she shot up and spun around to face him, her face a delicate pink. He almost smirked at her expression.

"H-How long have you been there?" She asked, walking over to join him at the doorway. He shrugged one shoulder.

"Not long," he said, and, nodding towards the door, continued, "S'gettin dark out."

Vaughn didn't really know how this whole deal was supposed to go down. He'd heard that the festival was observed in a few different ways, the most common being eating with family and friends or going out and watching the stars. Since he and Chelsea didn't exactly have a feast to eat, he assumed they'd be doing some stargazing and hadn't thought much of it.

Until he and the small farmer were actually walking out on to her field, that is.

He had really underestimated the closeness of the festival. It was just him and her, walking alone through the pitch black night, making their way to the center of her field. He felt a real tension all throughout his body. It pulled his muscles taught, bunched his shoulders, made his heart beat just a little faster than it usually did… and he felt like he was sweating. In fact, he was sweating, honest-to-goddess—and in freezing temperatures, too!

He was starting to rethink this whole event.

He was usually pretty thick to this kind of thing, but after a little thinking he also realized what the implications of this festival were. Hadn't Riley said something about him spending Starry Night with that girl from Flowerbud? Depending on who you're with, this festival could be… suggestive. Not that he particularly cared—the islanders here knew his reputation. They knew his ways well enough to know that his and Chelsea's spending the festival together wasn't normal. It didn't mean anything.

Chelsea suddenly stopped walking and glanced around. He followed suit. They were in a small patch of cleared field, probably somewhere near the river—he could hear its flowing in the background noise of the night. With an almost inaudible sigh, Chelsea sat down and pulled her knees into her chest. Vaughn sat down near her, but not too near her… he was afraid that she'd be able to hear his sudden arrhythmia if he got too close.

A few moments passed and the silence continued. It wasn't too heavy, but it wasn't comfortable, either. Even Vaughn could tell that some sort of conversation had to be started soon. He wasn't going to be the one to start it.

As if on cue, Chelsea glanced over at him. "The stars are really pretty tonight."

Vaughn glanced up, peeking at the diamond sky from under his hat. He nodded, opting not to say anything.

"I'm surprised it's this clear—it had been snowing all week, but there's not even a cloud in the sky tonight," she said, and he saw a soft smile pull up her lips, "And it's not even that cold out."

At that statement, he suddenly became aware that she was still wearing his coat. Surely she'd been wearing it before, but he'd never noticed it. Granted, he wasn't really looking, but it still seemed kind of… normal on her. Aside from being obnoxiously oversized, that is.

"S'almost spring," Vaughn mumbled, feeling the need to contribute something. Chelsea nodded, her smile growing.

"I can't wait," she said, leaning back onto her hands, "I'm going to grow a lot more this season. And I'll build a coop and see if I can get another cow."

"You take good care of Daisy," Vaughn blurted, surprising himself at the compliment. Sure, it was true, but he wasn't entirely used to giving out his approval. Before now, it never seemed like anyone cared if they had his praise. But, of course, Chelsea would be the odd one out.

She turned towards him, her eyes dancing with her smile. They reflected the twinkling lights overhead, making them seem so much more… enchanting. Vaughn couldn't bring himself to look away. If his heart was beating fast before, it was in hyper drive now. The white noise around them suddenly faded as his ears started to throb and his palms felt clammy. In the back of his mind, he started panicking—what the hell was going on? He couldn't move—he felt paralyzed. His stomach was in knots. His face felt hot. Was it just him, or were Chelsea's eyes getting bigger? No, no, they were just closer. Somehow the space he'd made sure was between them had closed in and now the only thing that separated them was three or four inches of still, freezing air. He managed to tear his gaze away to glance quickly, nervously, at her lips—that was a mistake. He had no idea what came over him, but the way her pink lips were just barely parted and the light feel of her cool breath on his face made him desperate to close the distance between the two. He brought his gaze back up to her eyes—her huge, blue eyes that reminded him so much of home. The space between them become two inches. Chelsea's eyes fluttered down towards his mouth for half a second. One and a half inches. She exhaled softly and a small puff of clean breath tickled Vaughn's chin. One inch. Her eyelids dropped slightly and Vaughn's breath catches in his throat.

And then reality hits him like a punch to the gut. He jerks away from her like he would if he's just touched a hot stove. Her eyes open fully and she blinks once, twice, three times. She can feel her face heat up drastically—had they just almost…? She shook her head slightly, rubbing her hands together. They suddenly felt a little cold.

"We should probably head back inside now," she said after a long moment's silence. "It's getting kind of cold, don't you think?"

Vaughn nodded and stood, offering her a hand. She took it and pulled herself up, unable to see his expression from under his hat. He walked her back to the farmhouse and, with a silent tip of his hat, started back down the path to town. Chelsea watched him go, her face still hot. Before he disappeared completely into the darkness, she called after him.

"Thank you, Vaughn."

She saw him stop, but now he was just a dark figure at the entrance to her farm. She couldn't tell if he'd acknowledged her or not. Sighing softly to herself, she walked inside and closed the door behind her.

Outside her window, a soft snow began to fall.

Dang, I feel kind of bad for doing that to you guys. Vaughn and Chelsea are just really having trouble being fluffy, aren't they?

So, I don't have much of an excuse for this last lack of update. Just that it's time to apply for AP and honors classes and I have a lot of tests to take. Sorry, I'll do better, I swear!

NEW POLL IN MY PROFILE. Please share your opinions on Vaughn's accent in this fic! It's important research for me xD

Thanks for reading. Here's to faster updates!