... lol jk here's two chapters in the same year! wow i'm really outdoing myself.

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (Excluding A/N): 1715

Date Updated: 3/27/18

Current Review Count: 948

Claire and Gray walked side-by-side in a comfortable silence on the dusty path to Forget-Me-Not. The hill was steep in places, but the path was so well-traveled that it was always an easy trek. The sun was hanging behind them, shining through the scattered clouds. A breeze picked up and rustled the trees, making the canopy of green and yellow leaves shudder above them.

Gray glanced over at his wife. She was studying the ground, clearly lost in thought. Her blue eyes were distant, as though she were looking through dozens of memories each second, searching for one vital moment that was long forgotten.

He knew her well. This was exactly what she'd been doing for the last several days—turning inward, reflecting, trying to identify one hint from the past that might reveal where Chelsea was. Was it hidden in the memory of that Winter, years ago, when Chelsea was sick with a fever and had to miss Starry Night with the town? Or was it just the Fall before last, when Chelsea had fallen asleep in the library and gotten herself locked in overnight? Maybe it was on her fourth birthday, when Gray had hoisted her up onto the horse with him and let her hold onto the reigns, too, so that she could be a real cowgirl.

She had to stop. Each memory felt so real—so close—it was like they were happening now, and she was in the midst of them. But they were all in the past, and they might be all she had of Chelsea now. How could it have been two years without her? How many memories did she miss in that time?

"Claire," Gray's gentle voice snapped her back to reality. "We're here—you're walking past the Inn."

"Oh," Claire said, blinking. "I'm sorry. I just…"

"I know," Gray said, exhaling heavily. He looked at her and his eyes showed more age than Claire had ever noticed in him before. The years of working on the farm and his worry-prone temperament were etched into his skin, plainly there for Claire to see. She was sure she was the same.

She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, which he returned. Then they pushed open the doors to the Inn and headed in. They had business to take care of before the ferries came in.

Ooo

Mirabelle was on the phone when Vaughn came back inside. The weather was taking a turn and Vaughn thought it best to wrap up for the day at Chelsea's. If he didn't leave, she'd insist on staying out and working with him, and he didn't want her cough getting any worse. So there he was, slightly damp from the drizzle outside, taking his hat off as he walked in through the door.

Mirabelle looked up at the sound of the bell, and her face lit up. She spoke into the receiver, "Oh! He's just come back. Hold on."

Vaughn furrowed his brow, giving her a suspicious glance as she held the phone out to him.

"It's Mr. Hayward," She said, answering his unspoken question.

Vaughn took the phone without hesitation and held it up to his ear. "Hayward."

"Vaughn," a deep, scratchy voice said from the other side of the line. "It's about damn time. What have you been doing on that island that keeps you away from Mirabelle's for so damn long?"

Vaughn didn't respond immediately, causing Hayward to let out a wheeze of a laugh. It quickly turned into a cigarette cough.

"What you do on your vacation time is your business," said Hayward. "But that brings me to why I called. I need you back here. It's been damn hellish trying to schedule shipments around you being gone and Charlie out with his new kid and sick wife. You have to get back on my clock."

"When?" Vaughn asked, easily concealing his disappointment. He knew it was inevitable that he'd get a call. He'd just been hoping he'd avoid it.

"As soon as you can. I'd have you tomorrow if you can make it."

Vaughn exhaled into the receiver.

"Look," Hayward said, his tone apologetic. "I know you've never taken so much as a damn sick day these last how ever many years you've been working for me. You're the best guy I've got. If I could afford to let you do—well, whatever the hell you're doin' out there—for another three weeks, I would. But you know damn well I can't. I've got a damn business to run."

"I'll be there."

"Great. Come up to the office when you get back to the city. I have some paperwork that needs to be updated and some other shit to take care of."

Vaughn grunted in acknowledgement then hung the phone back up on the wall. He ignored Mirabelle's questioning glance and headed back to the guest room, his mind turning over how he was going to tell Chelsea.

Ooo

The sun was well into its descent over Forget-Me-Not Valley, bathing the beach in a warm golden glow. The early autumn suited the valley well—the colorful wildflowers from summer were still lingering while the leaves on the trees were just barely turning their shades of red, orange, and yellow.

Claire and Gray had dozed off where they sat in the shade of an old tree, her head heavy on his shoulder. They had been keeping watch for any signs of a boat coming up to shore, and before long, the exhaustion and stress had caught up to them both. The pleasant cool breeze carried them into a gentle sleep to the lullaby of crashing waves ahead and rustling leaves above.

It was in this peaceful state that Riley happened upon them on his way up from the dock. He approached them quietly, unsure if they were alright—and, upon discerning that they were, in fact, fine—he was struck by how similar the woman's face was to Chelsea's. They both had the same small features—especially the nose.

As he was examining her features, Claire's eyes fluttered open. She yawned and sat up straight, rubbing at her eyes. Riley's eyes widened. She was practically Chelsea's twin, only twice her age. It was then that he realized who they were.

"Oh no," Riley said, then winced when he realized he'd said it out loud.

Claire immediately looked up at him and let out a startled gasp. Gray's eyes shot open and he instinctively pushed himself in front of Claire, looking around wildly. His eyes narrowed as they landed on Riley.

"Who are you?" Gray asked suspiciously, pulling himself up. He reached behind him and pulled Claire up by her hand.

"Uh," Riley said dumbly, looking helplessly between them. They both somehow had the same pair of eyes as Chelsea.

"Well?" Gray prompted, giving Riley a scathing look.

"Riley," he finally said, blinking. Regaining his composure, he held out a hand to Gray, hoping he could play this off. "Nice to meet you. Are you all from the Valley?"

Gray eyed his hand before taking it, giving it a firm shake. "Gray. This is my wife, Claire. We're from Mineral Town."

Riley pretended to act surprised and nodded interestedly, dropping his hand. He gave Claire a smile. They were definitely her parents, alright.

"Do you know Vaughn?" Claire said suddenly, then bit her lip as though she realized she was being rude.

"Uh," Riley hesitated. "Vaughn? Vaughn… who?"

Gray gave Claire a quick glance before bringing his eyes back over to Riley's. "A travelling animal trader. He may work for your company."

"My company?" Riley repeated, his forehead starting to sweat. He didn't like lying. He was also not especially good at it. "What… company?"

"Oh, are you not also an animal trader?" Claire asked innocently, looking apologetic. "Sorry, we thought—"

"No, no, I am," Riley interrupted, waving his hands out in front of him. "I just—"

"So you do know him?" Gray said, his face hard.

"Him? Who?" Riley said, blinking rapidly.

"Vaughn," Gray said, his jaw tightening.

"Vaughn," Riley repeated. "Vaughn?"

Claire nodded. "We don't know his last name."

"Vaughn," Riley said again, this time, more slowly. "Um. I work with a lot of guys…"

"Guy's got silver hair," Gray said, his tone cold. "Hard to miss if you ask me."

"I might know him," Riley finally said, fidgeting in place.

"Really?" Claire said. Her entire face lit up. "Where is he? We're looking for him."

"I can't say I know for sure," Riley said, avoiding looking at her face. "He's been off for a while."

"Off?" Claire repeated, her brow furrowing. "Is he okay?"

Riley was surprised at the concern in her voice. She seemed genuinely worried about him. Had she also thought that his ship had gone down? How would she have even known about that? He shrugged it off—too many questions, no answers. They'd have to wait for another time.

"He's fine," Riley assured her. Then, realizing he'd been trying to feign ignorance, added, "He's just taking his vacation now. I'm filling in."

Gray rolled his eyes and muttered, "Great."

Claire elbowed him in the side. He winced.

An award silence filled the air.

"Well, it was nice talking to you," Riley said quickly, his voice jumping up an octave with nerves. "I have some work to do. I'll see you around, I'm sure!"

"Wait," Claire said, but Riley was already walking past them. She turned to Gray. "What do we do? Do we follow him?"

"No," Gray sighed, his fingers cradling the bridge of his nose. Finally, he shook his head. "The kid seemed pretty worthless."

"Gray!" Claire frowned, elbowing him again.

"I meant for getting information," Gray amended quickly, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him.

"At least we know Vaughn is okay," Claire said, looking out over the ocean. "Chelsea must be so relieved."

Gray watched her and his face softened. She was right. He knew that Vaughn being safe and "on vacation" meant that he was probably back with Chelsea, wherever she was—and even though he hated to think about it too much, that probably had her pretty happy.

"He's still a piece of shit," Gray muttered, earning another jab from his wife.

Honestly though, I'm in love with these characters. I want to write something original, but how could I possibly build my own characters that I'm as invested in as these? I guess that's why so few people actually write their own original fiction and are successful. Anywho, maybe I'll crank some more out. This whole thing is very cathartic for me. I doubt anyone is even going to read these updates or any future ones (do people even read VxC fanfiction anymore?), but if you do, kudos to you. Also, if you happened upon this fic recently because of my update and you are just now reading the whole thing-yikes how cringey is the first like 65% of this story? high school, man. (to be sung in the tune of amazing grace: i once was 14, but now i'm 22...)

Feel free to pm me if you want to catch up or hear the juicy deets of my life. if you're in new orleans maybe hmu. i'm going to try to reply to all of the reviews yall leave on these chapters, like back in the olden days. see y'all soon! xoxo RJB