Aaaand I'm alive! Barely. Moral of the story: college is very time-consuming, especially when you're taking 21 hours of classes, working a part-time job, and living a full social life. Leaves no time for sleeping. Or fanfiction. Whoops. Hopefully I'll fall into a rhythm again!

P.S. First update of my college career!

P.P.S. omg guys i have boyfriend and he's a nerd too and it's fantastic

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (excluding A/N): 1617

Date Updated: 10-6-13

Current Review Count: 829

Chelsea woke up to the sound of knocking at her front door. She sighed and forced herself to get out of her almost-comfortable bed, her feet aching under her weight as she walked across the cold floor. The sun was just creeping up over the horizon, painting stripes of cool blue light across her barren house. The days were already getting shorter with the end of summer and the approaching fall.

Without even stopping to think about her disheveled appearance—which was something she'd stopped considering weeks ago—Chelsea pulled open her door. Taro stood there in front of her, his little eyes not quite as harsh as they usually were. His eyebrows tugged together when he saw her empty expression.

"Good morning, Chelsea," he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

"Morning, Taro," Chelsea said, her voice void of feeling. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to let you know that the fireworks festival that was scheduled for tonight is cancelled on account of a storm off the coast. It may hit the island, too, so you may want to—" he caught himself before he said 'put your animals inside'—"be aware."

Chelsea just nodded and gave no real sign that she comprehended what she'd just been told.

Taro shook his head at her slightly but didn't bother pressing her for information. She'd had the entire island worried sick, but it was worthless to try to talk to her about it at this point. If Julia couldn't even get her to open up, she wouldn't talk to anyone else.

Ooo

Riley woke up with the sunrise on the deck of the last passenger ferry to leave for Sunny Island. He and Vaughn had barely made it—but when Vaughn was committed to something, he was going to do it. He was stubborn like that.

Riley sat up and glanced around, quickly spotting his friend awake and leaning against the railing, looking out over the ocean. The skies were clear and the morning was crisp. The sea breeze whipped around the upper deck, threatening to swipe Vaughn's hat off of his head.

Somehow, Vaughn wouldn't care if his hat did fly away. He wouldn't care if he lost everything he came with, as long as he could just get to Sunny Island. He took in a deep breath of salty sea air, letting it fill his lungs as bite at his throat. As he exhaled, he saw Chelsea's expression again as he sailed away the last time—he saw all the hurt, the betrayal, the sadness.

He cursed under his breath. She didn't want to see him.

There was no way that she could miss him after what he'd done. Hell, she didn't even have to miss him—he just hoped that she would bear to let him be in her presence. He'd be lucky if she could stand that. He certainly didn't deserve it.

The worst part, he realized, was that he had no idea how to even begin making it up to her. The last three weeks had done nothing but clarify and intensify his feelings for her. He loved her so much. It was overwhelming how much he needed her. A year ago, he would have punched a guy for telling him that he would be reduced to this pathetically-sentimental state of dependency—and for him to be dependent on her, of all people! Chelsea, the super-klutz. The girl who drove him crazy.

He smiled at himself. What the hell? He was absolutely at her mercy. He depended entirely on her for his happiness—his happiness! He was happy!—and yet he wasn't upset about it. He'd lost his independence, his stoicism, his entire outlook on life, and he was fine with it. In fact, he was damn happy.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

Now, if only he could think of what to say to her when the boat finally made it to that damn island.

Ooo

The day went slowly and void of meaning for Chelsea, which was not unusual these days. She tended to her crops, thought vaguely about maybe eating a few shrubs she walked past, and then went back to her farmhouse. She knew she needed to eat more to fuel the kind of field work she'd been doing, but she just couldn't get herself to. She was usually too fatigued to forage for food, anyway.

Today, however, she felt a little different. After sitting in her house for a few hours, she mustered up the strength and the willpower to wander aimlessly around the island. Or maybe she'd just go visit Julia. Julia had been wanting to talk to her for a while, and even if Chelsea had nothing to say, she would still go be with her friend.

Slowly, Chelsea made her way off her farmland, cringing as her aching muscles screamed from the physical exertion.

Ooo

The ferry's whistle let out a long, loud gust as the vessel departed from Sunny Island. Vaughn didn't stay at the dock long enough to watch it go. As soon as his boots hit the sand of the beach, he was almost running up the path into town.

Riley watched him go. As much as he'd love to see his and Chelsea's reunion—and oh, what a reunion it was sure to be—he knew that they would want some privacy.

Also, there was a certain blonde that Riley wanted to spend a little more time with.

Ooo

Vaughn made it straight to Chelsea's farm without running into anyone in town. This was surprising, considering it was the middle of the day and usually incredibly busy. On the other hand, the weather was less than ideal. There was definitely a storm moving in, Vaughn realized, seeing the looming dark clouds pulls quickly over the island. A crack of thunder in the distance confirmed his suspicions. He was silently thankful that his ferry had gotten to the island before any inclement weather hit.

Vaughn slowed his pace as he approached the farmhouse door. Without a moment's hesitation, he knocked three times, each strong clunk resonating in his chest. He caught his breath as he waited.

The silence, broken only occasionally by the crackle of thunder in the distance, was deafening.

The cowboy let out a curse under his breath. If she wasn't here, where would she be? He had to find her—ideally before the storm started.

Ooo

Chelsea meandered out of the forest and towards the animal shop. She'd taken a long detour in the hopes of clearing her head. It only seemed to others that she was completely empty. On the contrary, her head was now constantly buzzing with a million scenarios in which she'd find Vaughn again.

Most of these scenarios involved incredible sadness and, more often than not, a coroner. Some of them, though, her favorite cowboy was alive and well and happy and there.

She sighed, forcing herself to stay positive. She couldn't keep dwelling on this. Hope was all she had, but sometimes she wondered if hope was too exhausting to try to keep up. She could only think up so many good scenarios before they were becoming ridiculously unlikely.

Oh, wait. All of the good scenarios were ridiculously unlikely.

She looked out over the village as she walked towards the shop. The sky was dark with an impending storm. The late-summer sun was making an effort to shine through in the late afternoon, painting the ground a strange, violet color. Chelsea pursed her lips.

The world was drenched in Vaughn.

Ooo

"I'm just so glad he's alive!"

Riley smiled at Julia and Mirabelle, who were both crying happy tears. He'd just finished explaining the situation to them. Vaughn was a fool for thinking no one cared about him when he had people like this who so obviously did.

"Where is he now, Riley?" Julia asked, wiping at her face and trying to regain her composure.

"I'm assuming Chelsea's farm," Riley shrugged. "He headed straight in that direction as soon as we docked. It's been a while now and I haven't seen him, so he must have found her."

"Ah," Mirabelle smiled. "I'm so glad! Chelsea has been taking this so badly."

Julia's smile pulled down slightly, concern leaking onto her face. "Yeah, she's ben starving herself, the poor thing. We've been trying so hard to take care of her, but she just didn't want to be helped."

Riley frowned. Poor girl. He couldn't imagine how Vaughn would have been if he'd thought Chelsea was dead for almost three weeks.

Suddenly, the door opened, sending the clang of a cowbell through the air. Everyone turned to see Chelsea walk inside.

Riley blinked.

She looked absolutely horrible. Her face was thinned out and pale, her body was withering away, and her face was so empty. She looked like she was just a shell of who she once was.

And then he realized the most obvious thing: Vaughn wasn't with her.

Ooo

Chelsea walked into Mirabelle's shop. The sound of a familiar male voice made her ears perk up—was that—?

"Riley?" She forced out, her voice hoarse. What did this mean?

Oh, Goddess.

No.

No, no, no—she couldn't believe it. Goddess, why?

Vaughn wasn't coming back. Riley was his replacement.

Vaughn was dead.

Chelsea couldn't hear anything except for the blood rushing into her head. She vaguely felt hot tears on her face, pouring in a steady stream. A sob ripped through her body. She took a step backwards and ran into the door.

Then, without giving it another thought, she pulled open the door and rushed into the sprinkling rain.

Whelp, this sucks for Chelsea. Things just are not looking up for her, huh?

By the way, you are guaranteed to not have to wait too incredibly long for the next chapter because - gasp - I've already written it! Expect it in the next week or two!

Again, I'm so sorry for the hiatus on this one, but y'all have to understand that I started college 2000 miles away from home. I've been absolutely swamped, but now, I have this update for y'all! I'm going to rework my whole writing schedule to accommodate to my being in college, so I'll let y'all know how that goes. Also, November is NaNoWriMo (look it up if you don't know what it is - it's great!), so that'll be a curve ball, I'm sure.

Anywho, I appreciate all y'all's reviews! Thank you for reading (: