I can't believe I'm keeping a really good schedule with this suddenly. This chapter was originally really huge, just like the last one, so I'm cutting it in half-just like the last one. Actually, these two and the last two are similar in a lot of ways. Hmmm. I didn't really think about that.

Oh, well. I'm not as in love with this pair as I was with the last pair, but they had to happen in order to get the ball rolling in the next few chapters! Basically, these are filler chapters, but only sort of? I don't know! All I know is that I have this one and the next one will come out later this week!

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (excluding A/N): 1345

Date Updated: 5-19-13

Current Review Count: 738

Julia sat at the counter in the animal shop, pushing her eggs around her plate. Her chin was resting in her palm, her elbow propped up on the table.

She let out an airy sigh.

"Julia, you haven't touched your breakfast," Mirabelle said as she walked by her daughter. "Are you feeling alright, dear?"

"I'm wonderful, Ma," Julia said, her face pulling up into a dazed smile. She couldn't stop thinking about Vaughn's friend. Who would have thought that such an antisocial grouch could be friends with such a charming, easygoing, handsome young man?

Mirabelle rolled her eyes at her daughter and went back into the kitchen to wash the dishes. She passed Vaughn as he walked into the room. "Morning, Vaughn. How are you this morning?"

Vaughn didn't seem to hear her and he kept ambling into the shop area, his gaze fixed on the floor. He seemed to be in some sort of daze.

"Vaughn?" Mirabelle repeated, "Vaughn, are you okay?"

He heard her then and snapped back to his senses. He visibly tensed and pulled his hat down over his eyes. "Sorry, ma'am—I was a little… distracted."

"I see," Mirabelle said, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. "Anyone in particular distracting you?"

His only reply was to shift uncomfortably and mutter something about having a lot of work to make up before slipping outside.

Mirabelle sat down and looked between the door where Vaughn had just left and the counter where her daughter was still zoned out. It seemed that the love bug was going around the island.

Ooo

Vaughn hurried outside into the mist of the morning. He had a lot of work to do today in order to make up for coming in so late yesterday.

He thought back to what had happened to make him so late. His face colored slightly.

Damn. They were so close.

He walked into the chicken coop and began to scatter feed for the clucking birds. He wasn't sure how to act now around Chelsea. It had to be obvious after yesterday that he had feelings for her, and based on what had happened—or, almost happened—she wasn't about to reject him.

Where did that leave them?

First and foremost, Vaughn felt… relieved. And excited. And—happy?

But then he also felt nervous and awkward and confused. He was no good at talking about much of anything, let alone things like feelings. And dense as he could be, even he knew that they wouldn't be able to have any sort of conversation without addressing the almost-kiss from yesterday.

He shivered. He really was so close…

He set down the bag of chicken feed and leaned against the wall. If he kept dwelling on that, he would get nothing done all day, and then he'd really be screwed for work. He had to think of something else—something like work. He would be headed out to Flowerbud that night, and then Monday he'd head back to Forget-Me-Not—

His eyes widened. He still had to tell Chelsea about her mom.

"Shit," he muttered, kicking up some of the dirt on the coop floor.

"Everything alright?"

Vaughn pushed off the wall in surprise, turning quickly to see Julia watching him from the entrance of the coop. He didn't reply and instead walked past her and out into the morning.

Julia watched him go, her eyebrows raised. Something was off with him, and she knew just who to ask about it.

Ooo

Chelsea set down her watering can and stretched her arms up above her head. She was ridiculously sore from yesterday and her hands were covered in blisters, making today's minimal work of watering seem ten times more difficult than it really was.

She'd be lying if the only reason it was hard to focus was her aching muscles, though.

She sighed as her mind yet again wandered back to yesterday's encounter with her favorite cowboy. They were so close—it would be so much easier if they had finally just kissed and gotten it over with, but now she had to figure out how to deal with telling him how she felt instead of showing him.

She grimaced. This was not going to be easy.

"Hey, Chelsea!"

Chelsea turned around to greet her blond friend. "Hey, Julia. What's up?"

"I think we need to talk," Julia said, raising her eyebrows. "About Vaughn."

Chelsea sighed. "Great."

"So what's going on?" Julia asked, smirking slightly. "Something obviously happened yesterday."

"What makes you say that?" Chelsea frowned slightly. "Did Vaughn say anything about it?"

"Vaughn? Say something? That's funny," Julia laughed. "But no, he was just acting really weird."

"Weird?" Chelsea repeated. "Weird how?"

"He just seemed off," Julia shrugged. "I don't know. Not quite upset, but… like something was bothering him."

Chelsea's frown deepened. Why would he be bothered by what happened yesterday? She blinked. What if he regretted it all—what if he didn't actually want to kiss her? What if she was right and he only liked her back when she was happy-go-lucky all the time?

"Chelsea?" Julia asked, her eyebrows knitting in concern. "What happened, anyway?"

"He almost kissed me," Chelsea said absently, these new revelations occupying her mind. "Again."

"Wait, what?" Julia blinked, her mouth dropping open. "What—how? Spill!"

Chelsea pursed her lips. "I just went to apologize to him for running away and everything and then—I don't know, it was like on Starry Night, only this time it seemed like he was going to go through with it."

"But he didn't?" Julia asked, frowning. "That doesn't make any sense."

"No, no, he was going to. I think." Chelsea sighed. "But Denny ran up and surprised us, basically ending it before it even happened."

"Damn it, Denny," Julia scowled lightly. "But I don't see what the problem here is—I mean, you two were totally going to kiss, right?"

"Well, yeah," Chelsea said, looking at the ground. "But—"

"But what?" Julia raised her eyebrows, smiling. "This is great, Chels! This is basically the same as telling each other how you feel!"

"But it's not, because we didn't tell each other how we feel, and we didn't actually kiss," Chelsea pointed out. "And you said Vaughn was acting like something was bothering him. What if he wishes it didn't happen? If this was a good thing, wouldn't he be here right now—or at least not be acting like something was wrong?"

"Vaughn is basically the hardest person to read on the face of the planet, Chelsea," Julia said, rolling her eyes. "He's probably just, I don't know, feeling awkward or something."

"But that's just it," Chelsea sighed, looking up sadly. "Why would he feel awkward if he wasn't trying to figure out how to reject me?"

"Because he's antisocial and has probably never really felt this way before?" Julia replied, raising her eyebrows. She placed a hand on Chelsea's shoulder. "Besides, why on earth would he reject you?"

"I'm not as happy as I used to be, Jules," Chelsea shrugged. "I mean, I'm getting better, but after what happened in the city—"

"What happened in the city?"

Chelsea stopped and really noticed Julia's worried expression. She hadn't told her about what had happened—she'd kept the explanation to a minimum, saying that Daisy had passed away and she needed to go clear her head. She said she'd just forgotten to leave a note, which was true—but for some reason it still felt like a lie.

She didn't particularly want to talk about that night in the rain, just because Chelsea had been so afraid and so broken. She wanted to forget it had ever happened. Bringing it up again just made her feel upset.

But she had to tell Julia.

"You know that Daisy—passed away." Chelsea started, focusing on her hands that she was wringing in front of her.

Julia nodded. "You were going away to clear your head for a little while."

"I was going back to Mineral Town, back to my parents. For good."

Not super exciting, and a little too angsty than what I was hoping for, but eh, I'll work it. Next chapter will be out soon! Review and let me know what you think of Chelsea's insecurities-do you think she's justified, or is she just being silly?