Chapter 11

"Vaughn? Wake up." He reluctantly opened his eyes and groaned. I couldn't tell if it was because he was drunk and hated waking up, or because he was pissed to see me.

"Do you remember what room number you got, Vaughn?" He lazily raised an eyebrow.

"Your room number." He shook his head slowly. I sighed. Brushing my teeth would have to wait a little longer.

After a thorough and extremely awkward search through his pockets, I had to conclude Vaughn didn't have the keys to his room on him. This meant both good and bad things. The good thing was, he couldn't have locked his room without a key. The bad thing was, we still didn't know his room number because the number was engraved into the key. I frowned and scratched the back of my head while Vaughn blankly stared at me as if I had all the answers, but refused to give them to him. Before outing my last resort, I thought a little longer about it, but gave up. I had only one solution. I sighed. All I had wanted were directions to the bathroom – and instead, I had gotten myself a drunk roommate.

With a lot of effort, I managed to get Vaughn to his feet, only to conclude that walking gets a bit more difficult when you're under the heavy influence of alcohol. I had actually wanted to let him walk by himself, so I could watch him trip over his own feet occasionally. That would have taught him why you shouldn't drink so much you don't remember how much you've drunk. But when he tripped and just sat there on the floor, completely dumb-founded and amazed at the same time, I didn't have the heart to let him trip anymore. I pulled him to his feet and offered him my shoulder. I found the weight of his arm around my shoulders and his warm breath against my cheek strangely comforting, although the distinct scent of alcohol disturbed me. Walking slowly, we left the ship's restaurant and the very much amused bartender. (If it hadn't been for Vaughn, I would've gone back to stomp on the bartender's big toe.)

After about half an hour, we managed to find my room. I quietly cursed the terrible floor-plan under my breath as I unlocked the door with a firm flick of my wrist. By now, Vaughn had let go of me to show he could walk on his own. I didn't know if he was just playing brave or being stupid.

"Why do you have a key?" he complained.

"Because I didn't leave it in my room like you did," I replied as I pushed the door open.

"But I didn't."

"Then where is it?" For some reason I was a little surprised by the fact everything still looked the way I left it. The dark red curtains closed halfway, my backpack next to the one of the beds and a lopsided painting hanging above the other. My clothes lay scattered through the room and I quickly picked them up to dump them in a corner. (I disliked folding my clothes; it seemed so pointless.) I looked at Vaughn, who still stood in the hallway like a statue.

"What are you waiting for? Come in." He nodded and entered the room.

"This isn't my room," he slowly said.

"No, it isn't." I answered.

"Oh," he remained silent for a moment, thinking this over, "Why can't I go to my room?"

"Because you forgot the keys and your room number."

"Did I?" I sighed and sat down on one of the beds, covering my face with my hands while I leaned on my knees with my elbows. It felt as if all the energy I had had when I helped Vaughn had been drained and flung out of the window. Vaughn sat down next to me and wrapped his arm for no apparent reason around my waist, pulling me close. It was different from when I helped him walk and I felt my cheeks heat up. The warmth of his body slowly seeped through my clothes and I felt my muscles slowly relax while my heart continued to beat against my chest. I could almost count my heartbeats.

"Vaughn, what are you doing?" I managed to say after a few minutes, my cheeks glowing.

"Not leaving you," he muttered. I looked at him confused, only to find out he was on the border of reality and dreams, his eyes already closed. I found the situation ironic and sad at the same time, knowing I would be the one leaving him. I looked at my hands, folded on my lap. I would be leaving Natalie, Sabrina, Vaughn, Mirabelle, Julia, Taro, Elliot, Felicia, Nick – everyone. I would be leaving my family and my parents. The tears started to sting behind my eyes. Not a single parents should ever, ever, have to bury their own child. I took a sharp breath and scolded myself for getting so emotional over three simple words.'Don't cry,' I told myself. I had cried enough. I had enough of crying. I felt the arm around me tighten a bit, and looked up surprised. Vaughn seemed to be asleep, his head leaning against the wall and his mouth slightly open. Hesitant, I laid my hand on the one he had wrapped around my waist. I noticed his hands were quite large, compared to mine. I softly rubbed his hand. It felt kind of rough, because he worked with his hands so much. I liked the feel of it. I slowly entangled my fingers with his and I heard Vaughn mutter something inaudible under his breath. I wasn't sure what he had said, but answered "Good night," before I nestled myself as close to him as I could.

It didn't even occur to me that I could have slept in the other bed.

The next morning, I was woken up early by warm air tickling my neck. It took me a while to recognise it as someones breath and even longer to remember everything that had happened the day before. The boat, the fight, the keys and yes, my drunk friend. I softly rubbed my temples before I tried to get up. Tried because I didn't succeed; a certain someone had possessively swung their arm around my waist and refused to let me go. I decided it wouldn't hurt to let Vaughn sleep a little longer with me in his arms, because I could barely imagine the headaches he would have when he woke up. (And because I found myself rather enjoying the warmth of his body and the feeling of him being near.)

After a while I finally got sick of lying in bed doing nothing and slowly slid out of Vaughn's grip. I collected my toiletries and clothing, and sneaked out of the room to go shower. I was lucky I wasn't the only one who was awake and managed to get my hands on some fine directions to the bathroom. Because it was still early and it would take another hour or two for the boat to arrive at Mineral Town, I took my time and actually showered longer than I would have dared to when I lived at my parents'.

By the time I returned to my room, Vaughn was already awake. He sat on the edge of the bed we had slept in, rubbing his hurting head in vain. He didn't even look up when I entered the room.

"How's your head?" I asked carefully, as I quietly shut the door. He looked up confused and blinked while I walked over to my backpack.

"What are you doing in my room?" He inquired.

"It's my room, actually," I corrected him as I stuffed my pajamas in my bag. He thought this over for a moment, while I removed my pajamas from the bag again to search for my medicines.

"Then what am I doing in your room?" He snapped, emphasizing the word 'your'. I finally found my medicines, buried under under my little stack of clean underwear.

"You went out last night, forgot to take your keys with you, got so drunk you couldn't even remember your room number anymore and spend the night in my room," I quickly explained as I opened the bottles with medicine one by one, taking out the tablets and pills I needed. Vaughn looked at me, for the first time since I had entered the room.

"Did we...?" He pointed at himself and me as if his question needed any further clarification. I shook my head.

"No." He sighed in relief and started to rub his temples.

"Want any painkillers for that headache of yours?" I offered. He raised an eyebrow and eyed the collection of colourful pills, tablets and bottles suspiciously. "I got plenty," I joked sourly. He nodded and I fished another bottle out of my backpack.

"So it's true?" He suddenly asked. I frowned and tilted my head. He cleared his throat. "You'll never turn 20."

"Perhaps I will. Although I admit 21 is a long shot. Why?" I screwed the top of the bottle with painkillers lose, took out two tablets and handed them to him. He swallowed them without any water and grimaced.

"I thought it might have been a dream," he admitted. I nodded slowly.

"Perhaps all of it is a dream."

"Perhaps," he answered and a comfortable silence dawned on us. I took a bottle of water out of my bag and flushed away all my medicines and vitamins, two tablets at a time.

"Why did you take over the ranch?"

"Because the Harvest Goddess shoved a once upon a lifetime opportunity in my mailbox," I replied, grinning sheepishly. He nodded and looked at my hands, which were busy screwing each top back on the bottles.

"Why start something you'll never be able to finish?" He frowned, trying to see through my motives.

"Is anything ever finished?" I reflected the question. He shrugged.

"You're about to be finished screwing the tops back on."

"I mean anything that matters," I corrected myself. He shook his head.

"No," he slowly answered. I contently stuffed all my belongings back in my bag and zipped it shut.

"How long does it take for these painkillers to start working? My head is about to split in two."

First of all, I proudly present to you... Chapter 11!

I don't know how long it has been since I updated, but I have this feeling it has been a looong time. I apologise to you all for that. I have been extremely busy lately with the final tests and exams of this school year and couldn't get a single sensible word onto paper. But, I have been thinking about the story all the time and by now I have thought most of the story out. (Something I should have done before I started writing the story...)

I will be busy for another two weeks, but I'll do my best not to let you down!
Oh, and before I forget, please check out the poll on my profile if you haven't done so yet!