I'm alive - and I have a new chapter!
This was written back in October specifically so I'd have a chapter to put out in November, since I can't write any more of this story until the end of the month (NaNoWriMo ftw!). I actually forgot about it until just now.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER STATS
Word Count (excluding A/N): 1728
Date Updated: 11-20-11
Current Review Count: 502
"H-Hello?"
Chelsea sat up from her dirty spot in the middle of her carrot plot, wiping at her face and accidentally smearing mud across her forehead. A petite girl with strikingly dark hair and pale skin was standing a few yards away, looking incredibly nervous. There was a sheen of sweat on her delicate face even though it wasn't even seventy degrees out yet.
"Hello," Chelsea smiled, standing up and wiping her hands down the front of her shorts. She extended her now-clean hand to the girl, meeting the purple gaze behind her glasses. Her eyes reminded her a little of Vaughn, but this girl's eyes were softer. "I'm Chelsea—have we met?"
The girl hesitated a moment before taking Chelsea's hand and shaking it carefully. "I-I'm Sabrina."
"It's nice to meet you, Sabrina," Chelsea smiled. "Are you here visiting, or…?"
"Oh, my father and I just moved in here… he heard about the mines on this island and they're apparently very well-stocked with gems and precious metals."
"Oh? Is he a blacksmith?" Chelsea asked, thinking of her own father.
Sabrina smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Oh, no. He works for Regis Mining."
Chelsea's eyes flashed with recognition. Regis Mining. They'd tried to buy out her great-grandfather's blacksmith shop back in Mineral Town to set up a station at the Mineral Mines. Luckily the mayor hadn't given the company a permit to come in, so her father and grandfather were still in business. Sabrina seemed to sense Chelsea's thoughts because the mousy girl smiled apologetically.
"My father is very ambitious—I hope you don't…"
"Oh, no! I was just trying to think of where I'd recognized the company name from."
"And you remembered?"
Chelsea smiled hesitantly. "Yes. Well, I think so. Someone tried to buy out my dad and grandpa's blacksmith shop back in Mineral Town."
"Oh," Sabrina said, surprised. "Really? I hope that you still have the shop."
"We do," Chelsea replied, relaxing at Sabrina's response. She seemed to sympathize with Chelsea. "The mayor didn't issue the permit to Regis Mining."
"I remember that," Sabrina smiled softly, laughing slightly. "Father was absolutely irate."
"What does your father do in the company?" Chelsea asked, the curiosity getting to her. It must have been something in management.
"He's the head of the company," Sabrina smiled. "He's Regis."
Chelsea gasped slightly, her eyes widening. She was bad-mouthing the company and Sabrina's father was the big boss! "Oh—I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
Sabrina cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. He's a little hard to get used to."
"Okay," Chelsea said, smiling apologetically. "Well, I hope I'll see you around."
"Me too," Sabrina said, curtsying slightly and lifting the hem of her pink dress to stay out of the mud. "See you later!"
Ooo
Oh Goddess. Oh Goddess. Oh Goddess.
Vaughn had been in freak-out mode for the last day and a half. He didn't pay attention to where he was walking as he hurried off the pier of the city. His mind was already too busy freaking out. He was totally freaking out. Had he mentioned that he was freaking out?
"Vaughn, man—hey," Riley said, stepping in front of Vaughn outside of his apartment building. Vaughn didn't even notice he was so close to the building. "What's up? You look like you just saw a ghost or something."
Vaughn blinked, swallowed, and rubbed his sweaty palms on his black jeans. He glanced behind him and motioned for Riley to follow him as he walked into the lobby of the building. Riley looked at him like he was crazy—which, at this point, he probably was—but followed him anyway.
Ooo
"Okay," Riley sighed, closing the door behind him as the two men walked into the dirty apartment. He sat down on Vaughn's dusty recliner. "What's up?"
Vaughn was pacing around the small kitchenette. He stopped and leaned against the counter, throwing his hat next to the microwave and running his gloved hand through his hair. Where to begin?
Riley leaned forward. "Dang, man, you have some crazy bags under your eyes. Did you sleep last night?"
"Naw," Vaughn sighed, slumping back. He had been too busy freaking out to sleep.
"Why?" Riley asked, frowning. Vaughn had often gone nights without sleeping—Riley knew that to be true—but he was never this worried on top of that. Something was terribly wrong for him to be so perturbed and actually show it.
Vaughn sighed. Why was he so damn awful at articulating his feelings? Sure, he was sorely out of practice, but even he knew that if he kept this bottled up for much longer he would go completely insane. He'd only realized he was in love with Chelsea less than two days ago, but he was already past the point of being able to function properly. Friday, when he was at Forget-Me-Not, he had managed to start out the day groggy from little-to-no sleep. He put his boots on the wrong feet. He put salt in his coffee instead of sugar—and he didn't even usually put sugar in his coffee, which made that especially odd. He dropped bags of feed, accidentally left the door to the chicken coop open, and entered his weekly sales information in incorrectly.
And that was all in one day.
He had to figure something out or he was going to lose his job.
"Well?" Riley urged, standing up. "What is going on with you? You are acting seriously weird, man."
"You were right," Vaughn said, putting his hat back on. He looked at his lanky friend.
Riley raised his eyebrow. "Well, I generally am. But what about this time?"
"I love her," Vaughn sighed, looking at the floor as his face heated up. "I love her, Riley."
Riley was silent. The air in the room grew thick and Vaughn tried to regret everything that had happened in the last three seasons, from his reassignment to that damn island to this very moment when he told his best friend something that he apparently did not want to hear.
"Oh my goddess," Riley finally said. "Finally! Damn it Vaughn, it only took you about forever!"
Vaughn looked up at him, irritated. "This ain't a good thing, man."
"Like hell it isn't," Riley smiled, throwing his hands up. "This is great! Did you tell her?"
"T-Tell—?" Vaughn stuttered, his mind on the verge of exploding at the thought of actually telling the farmer about his new, weird, awful feelings. "Hell no!"
"When are you going to?" Riley pressed, his enthusiasm failing to be dampened.
"I'm not," Vaughn hissed, walking over and sitting down on his futon. "I just need a way to regain my sanity before this… thing passes."
"Aw, c'mon," Riley said, sitting down in the recliner again. "That's no way to think. You need to tell her. That's the only way you're ever going to get your sanity back."
"I can't tell her." Vaughn said, frowning. He rubbed at his tired eyes, feeling a headache coming on.
"Why not?" Riley argued. "I'd bet she'd be pretty happy to hear it."
"I doubt that," Vaughn mumbled, mainly to himself. Chelsea couldn't love him back. He was the epitome of unlovable. Just ask his father. Actually, scratch that—ask anyone. He was grouchy, mean, bad-tempered, antisocial, scary, closed-off… he could go on forever.
"Why?" Riley asked. "From what I hear—which is only what you tell me, and that isn't much—she acts like she likes you alright."
"She might like me," Vaughn said, gazing morosely at his boots, "but she sure as hell can't love me."
"I think you're wrong."
"I know I'm right."
Riley stood up. "Then you're more ignorant than I thought you were."
Vaughn stood up as well. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Riley frowned. He looked at Vaughn with disappointment—a look usually foreign to him. "Are you really just going to give up?"
Vaughn thought about it. "I reckon I am."
"Don't you think you deserve to be happy?"
"Not really."
Riley shook his head and headed for the door. He opened it but stopped halfway into the hallway. He turned around and let out a sigh. "Even if you don't think you deserve to be happy—think about her. Maybe she does love you. Even if she doesn't, maybe she will soon. Maybe she does and just doesn't know it yet. It doesn't matter if you don't think you deserve to be happy. If she has any sort of feelings for you—and you and I both know that there's something there—then you have to think about what she deserves. If you want her to be happy, then damn it, Vaughn, you're just going to have to suffer through happiness, too.
Before you go assuming that no one could ever love you, think about how she treats you and let logic do the rest. Maybe she just needs to realize it. Give her some time. Court her. Do whatever the hell you've been doing so far, because it seems to be working. For goddess' sake, just don't be so damn dense."
Vaughn watched the door slam behind his coworker, shocked. He sunk back onto the futon. What if Riley was right? He was right before. Could Chelsea actually care about him, too? The idea made Vaughn's stomach turn anxiously. He didn't think he deserved to be happy, but he knew that Chelsea did. Vaughn wanted her to be happy. If she was happy with him, then maybe he could be happy with her, too. Vaughn had never thought of it like that.
But there was also the possibility that Chelsea only saw him as a friend. Vaughn had just assumed that this was the case. What if he admitted his feelings to her and she rejected him? His heart beat uncomfortably and his stomach dropped at that thought. He would probably end up losing her friendship and then he'd fall back into his old life. He'd probably quit working on the island. He'd never see her again. His stomach dropped uncomfortably again.
He leaned forward, sighing heavily at this revelation.
The only problem now was determining if Chelsea really did have feelings for him.
…
How the hell was he supposed to figure that out?
Vaughn! You silly goose! You're so adorable when you're emotionally unstable :3
Alright, y'all. This is RJB signing off until December. Thanks for your patience, loyalty, and encouragement! Next chapter will be out soon(er than this one)!
P.S.
ZOMG OVER 500 REVIEWS I LOVE YOU ALL :D