Thanks for your reviews! I got twenty of them! Haha, and they weren't even from the same people! Anywho, I like how all who reviewed either added this as favourite this story or alerted it!
This chapter is inspired by two of my reviewers. Most of you seemed to like the pig, so I was wondering how I could add it in. Then those two reviews came in then BAM, inspiration struck.
fooboo24 – Try making Denny some sashimi, but if that's too hard, just give him fish and fish related things. X) My cousin married him in…what, the end of Fall Year 3? ^-^
And because of HarvestMoonLuv, there is now a twist to who "brought Chelsea home".
Welcome to Vaughn's POV. Most of you said Vaughn, so, YES; this chapter is in his POV.
I do not own Harvest Moon. Maggie the dog belongs to Samantha, who I thank for owning an adorable little dog named Maggie.
NOTE: THIS IS
VAUGHN'S
POV!
Chapter 3: Vaughn Lies
"Pig, how do you tell a girl that you barely talk to that you like her?" I quickly asked the pig out in the back. It was rolling in the mud, lazily squealing and…crapping. Usually I didn't stick around for that kind of disturbance but today I stayed because Julia just kicked me out of her room, and there was nowhere else to go.
I made a face as the pig toppled into its own droppings, wishing that I hadn't asked for Chelsea's hot chocolate. She was sick after all, and I could have made some of my own hot chocolate. There was porridge cooking on the oven anyways. In Julia's room I was nervous all of a sudden, and freaked out, asking to have her hot chocolate. Jeez, Vaughn, you're so stupid. You could have stayed with her if you didn't ask that stupid question.
So here I was, talking to a pig with my girl problems. How unfortunate that he didn't have a mate, because his advice might have actually been useful. Snorting, it raised an eyebrow at me – if it had any eyebrows and said, "Oink, oink, oink."
"I should talk to her? You do know who I'm talking about, right? Her name is Chelsea, and she's the one who you dragged out of the mud earlier." It mighty enjoyed pulling her out, as well, for some messed up reason. After the pig replied with an oink, I said, "Fine, yes, I know you saved her from…death. But I kind of like her…and she likes…someone else."
She actually loved somebody else, and his name was Denny, and he was best friend on Sunny Island. He had no clue of my feelings for his ex girlfriend, and I'm glad of that. I didn't want Denny, Chelsea, and I to have tension between each other. Denny and Chelsea's tension was enough.
But now things were awkward with Chelsea and me. "You still love him, don't you, Chelsea?" I had asked yesterday. We had a little argument, and sort of fell on each other. Luckily Chelsea didn't feel anything hard poking her, or that would have been really embarrassing. To think that hard thing was coming from me…because of her…it's out of the question.
"Oink, oink, oink," rubbing its head in the mud, it snorted this. Mud flew in directions, all of them missing me.
Smirking, I told it, "Yes, he does smell like fish." No, I am not talking to a pig. Merely was I observing its movements and responding to them. Be friendly to animals, and they'll be friendly back, instead of ramming you with their horns or beaks or…whatever they have. When the pig responded, I snorted. "Dirt tastes exactly like mud, you stupid pig. Why would you want to eat dirt in the first place? You have mud here…"
If pigs could glare, this one did.
"Okay, you know what?" I threw my hands in the air. He wasn't being helpful anyways. Still had I not approached an idea of how to tell Chelsea my somewhat feelings for her, yet I wanted at the perfect time. Denny had to be out of the way first – I regretted to think – and Chelsea and I had to be on the friends or more bridge."I'm done. That'll do, pig, okay?"
With that said, I left.
()()()()()
I walked into my home, and the first thing I heard was, "Julia, stay away from the porridge." The words came from my mouth, weird enough, because the first thing I actually saw was Julia trying to scoop out some gooey porridge from the pot. I knew how much she loved it, but trying to eat some porridge without me there…well she had just crossed the line. One of my first instincts was to snap at how insensitive she was, but then I remembered I'd tried to maintain my anger since I once caused Charlie to cry.
Never would I hurt someone's feelings on purpose again. I was still working on it.
Julia innocently looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "Chelsea needed food, and Natalie went to get some from Chen." I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Maybe Chelsea could be an expectation to my porridge obsession. "Please, Vaughn? She's really hungry." So then I nodded, and as she spooned it in a moan uttered from the room Chelsea was staying in.
"I'll go check on her." I said. Fully aware of Julia glaring and silently saying "don't try anything on her" I stepped into her room. Julia didn't trust me well enough; she should know that I would never try anything on Chelsea… in this condition. "…you okay?" Chelsea's eyes were fluttering while her hands massaged her temples. Assuming her head was pounded hard, I called to Julia, "Get an ice pack!"
Coughing, Chelsea muttered, "Thanks, Vaughn." I acknowledged her with a smile, but she didn't see it. She was really sick, huh? How long would she stay at the house? "I hope I'm really not a bother."
Julia bustled in, hand with an ice pack, tea towel, and a bowl of porridge just as I protested, "We really don't mind you here Chelsea. I'd do anything to help." As soon as the words came out I blushed. Wrong choice of words, Vaughn… I would do anything to help…but so would Mirabelle and Julia.
Chelsea barely nodded as Julia placed the ice pack embedded with a towel on her head. "Thanks, Vaughn. It means a lot." Leaning back against her many pillows, she closed her eyes. I stared at her soft brown hair, her blue lips, and the stillness of her fragile body. The Goddess knew if she caught pneumonia, and I assumed she did.
Lightly breathing, Chelsea seemed to be falling asleep. Julia set the porridge on the side table and muttered, "I hope she gets better."
I wished I could see to that, but unfortunately I was leaving for the city tonight at eleven which was…five hours away. It was part of my job, arriving at the island for two days a week, and then leaving for the city.
This sounded kind of selfish, but I wanted to be by her side when she woke up. Maybe I would have figured out my feelings by then. The pig suggested that I talk to her, and I guessed that was a start.
()()()()()
Six days later
The moment I stepped back into my home, Julia whispered, "She's gotten worse." At first I expected her to be in a corner, in an emo mood, but I saw her at the table, head in her hands, face shadowed with worry. Mirabelle was out back apparently, tending to our animals. From a farmland I had picked up an unwanted dog, and I wasn't sure who to thrust him to. Her name was Maggie, and she was a scrawny Yorkshire terrier. Eyes hazel and wide, she jumped on people when she was excited. So far I didn't know why she was unwanted, but I figured eventually I would.
Maggie bounded after me, and sniffed at Julia's hunched figure. "This is Maggie," I introduced. "She's unwanted by her original owners." Unloved and unwelcome animals were my pet peeve. What couldn't people see in loving animals? Sometimes, animals were the only ones who understood when no one else could.
To my amazement, Julia smiled when I thought nothing could at the moment. "We can give her to Chelsea when she gets better." The question hung in the air: Will she ever get better? Unfortunately, the case wasn't bad enough to call in Doctor Trent, who was not at the island. He came every…summer, I think. I didn't know, why would I notice Doctor Trent if he wasn't an animal doctor? Agreeing, I glanced at the stove where chicken soup was cooking. I opened my mouth to ask, but Julia beat me to it. "We made soup for her, if that's what you're asking."
Feeling awkward all of a sudden, Maggie and I edged out the door, and I said, "I'll just go visit Denny now…"
In a small voice, Julia said, "Next time when you arrive at the city, buy any medicine that can help, okay?" I could tell she was really worried and that everyone else was freaking out. When I nodded, she said with her tone like a knife, "Promise me, okay? This can't get any worse." Of course it couldn't, Chelsea already pushed herself to the limit. It wouldn't be long before she gave into the condition.
"I promise." I replied, and Julia looked up with a small smile. Then I saw the faint tears on her cheeks, the circles framing her eyes. No doubt she slept in my bed during my absence, Chelsea using hers and all that. "How's her farm doing?"
"Natalie's been taking care of it," she said a little crossly. "I think you should go check on her animals in case they're not feeling down without Chelsea."
That was the first time she had said Chelsea's name since I arrived.
Over the next two weeks…
Wisely I stayed away from Chelsea. It's not like she'd appreciate my visits anyways.
I brought medicine from the city two weeks ago, and it seemed to be taking effect by now.
Denny was someone I hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe he was getting off with Lanna or something. I needed to talk to him…where was he?
I wasn't there when Chelsea fully healed.
She was feeling good enough to farm, but she was not talking to me. Why? I walked into the room to find Chelsea sitting on our couch. "You're feeling much better." I stated. Glaring at me, she failed to respond. You want to ignore me – fine, two can play at that game. Scowling back, I left.
Julia and Mirabelle insisted that she stay here. How lovely, I obviously agreed with them. Could you note the sarcasm in there? Another few days Chelsea would hang out here, until her strength and energy returned. Judging by the looks she had been giving me, I had a feeling I knew why her energy was being decreased as the day passed. I was pretty beat down myself.
This trying to be calm because of my anger management thing was not working out. After two weeks of glaring, scowling, and not saying uttering a word to each other, I finally confronted Julia in the kitchen and demanded, "Why the hell isn't she talking to me?" Our silent argument had gone for far too long. I half expected her to apologize to me, and everything would be all right, and the other half thought that we would never make up.
Julia raised an eyebrow. "You mean why the hell you aren'ttalking to her." Now, she had our stories messed up! Chelsea was the one who ignored me when I spoke to her! I stayed silent, seething. Sensing this, Julia shot back, "She lay in bed for two weeks, and you never visited her!" Crap, I actually hadn't visited her. "Not to mention she was going to ask you something!"
"I was going to ask him who carried me home on Denny's wedding," a quiet voice said behind us. Julia and I whipped around at the same time, to find Chelsea in her red bandana, yellow t-shirt and black sweat pants. "I'd like to thank him for that."
It was me who carried her home.
But I didn't want her to know that. I never wanted her to know that, and failed to see her outburst coming. Of course she would like to know who carried her – I thought immediately she's think, Denny, but I thought that was stupid. Denny was at his own wedding!
Swallowing the gulp in my throat, I said, "It was Elliot."
I don't like this chapter as much.
Elizabeth, what do you think NOW? WHAT NOW, GIRL! :D (answer you inbox! D:)
anyways,
R
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V
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pleeeeeease! I want to see ALL of you in my email box once again! :D
~diego