Hurray for updates! You guys have probably been waiting for this chapter :P Oh, and I'm sorry if any of the legal crap in the chapter is wrong; I'm not a lawyer! Hmmmm, that might have given you a hint as to what this chapter is about *wink, wink*

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.

Three Stories

Beep, beep, beep… That's all I could hear. What is that? Beep, beep, beep… I tried to open my eyes, but it felt like they were glued shut. When I tried to move my arms or legs, they just wouldn't budge.

Beep, beep, beep… Ok, that was getting annoying. I continued to try and open my eyes. Finally, I managed to open them a crack.

All there was was white. Am I dead? I don't want to be dead! After a while, I managed to open my eyes all the way. Everything cleared, and I realized I was in a hospital.

I looked around, and saw that the beeping was coming from a heart monitor. On the other side of the bed was... was... My heart nearly stopped. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, beep, beep...

It was Vaughn.

Ok, I MUST be dead. There's no WAY Vaughn could be alive! Oh my God, I'm dead! Dead, dead, dead! What about my parents? Jill? Julia? What about them? Oh God no, I can't be dead! No, no, no, no!

"V-Vaughn?" I whispered, still in shock.

He nodded.

"I thought you were dead! Julia came to my house in tears and said so!" I gasped.

"I'm not dead," Vaughn said quietly. "I came close to it, though."

"How did you survive?" I asked. "Mirabelle said everyone on your ship died!"

"Not me," Vaughn said. "It seems I was the only one who had SOME common sense. When we hit those rocks, I jumped right on top of one of them. I was up there for days, until some fishermen found me."

"Days?" I asked. "But... How long was I asleep?"

"At least a full season," Vaughn said.

"Why is it that I'm always blacking out?" I asked.

Vaughn chuckled, and shook his head.

"So... I'm not dead?"

"You're very much alive. But you almost DID die." He said.

"Oh, Vaughn," I said quietly. "I was so scared when I heard you died. Then, I thought maybe you WANTED to die. But I kept thinking it was so unfair for you to die, and... and..." I couldn't go on. I broke down in tears.

Vaughn wrapped his arms tightly around me. I was shocked at first, but calmed down after a while. It felt good to be there in his arms... I stopped crying, and rested my head on his shoulder.

"You're different, Chelsea," Vaughn whispered. "You actually see me as a human being, not some creepy, anti-social cowboy with no feelings."

"Everyone has feelings, Vaughn," I said. I looked up at him. "When I first met you, I thought you were mean and cold."

Vaughn sighed. "I was, and I still am," he said. "I guess I'm just... scared to open up my heart to anyone."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well..." Vaughn said quietly. "After my parents died and I lost my memory, I felt different from everyone else; like I didn't belong anywhere. When I was in high school, I met this girl who I thought really knew how I felt. We dated for a few years, and then she broke my heart..."

"What did she do?" I asked.

Vaughn sighed again. "I don't exactly remember," he confessed. "I blocked her out of my memory, and became even more cruel, mean, and anti-social. People would make fun of me, and I would get really angry. One day, this guy was being really nasty to me..."

He paused, and sighed another time.

"I've never really told anyone this. Only Julia and Mirabelle know." He said.

"You can tell me Vaughn," I said. "I won't tell a soul."

Vaughn nodded. "Well, I got really angry with this guy. I started beating him up, and even after he begged me to stop, I didn't. Some other people had gathered around, and one finally decided to call the police."

I stared at him, my mouth wide open.

"They came and... I was arrested and charged with GBH with intent." He said quietly.

My eyes were practically bulging out of my head. Vaughn went to jail? Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA.

"How'd you get out?" I whispered.

There was silence for a few minutes, before Vaughn finally spoke.

"Mirabelle finally got enough money to bail me out..." he said quietly.

I just sat there, frozen. Vaughn... went to jail... I couldn't believe it.

"Why did you beat him up?" I asked.

"I was stupid," Vaughn said. "I didn't really understand what I was doing."

"Oh, Vaughn," I said. His eyes fell and looked at the floor. "What happened to the guy?"

"He recovered..." Vaughn said. "But he was scared of me afterwards. Everyone was. When I walked around school after I got out of jail, they all ran out of the way. I lost all my friends, and no one wanted to be around me. I eventually dropped out."

We both sat there in silence. The door suddenly burst open and in ran Julia.

"Chelsea!" she screeched when she saw I was awake. "Ohmigod, you're awake! You were out for a whole season! We thought you were dead! And then Vaughn showed up and... Eeeeeeeee!" she screamed and began jumping up and down. "I'm sooooo happy!"

"And hyper!" Mirabelle appeared in the doorway. "Young lady, sit down and calm yourself this instant before I beat you upside the head!"

Julia froze, and scurried over to the nearest chair. Yep, she was definitely a squirrel in a past life... one that liked coffee and sugar.

"Chelsea, dear, are you feeling all right?" Mirabelle asked, and walked over to the bed. "My Goddess, I was terrified when Vaughn showed up in town carrying your limp body in his arms."

"Wait, Vaughn found me?" I asked.

"Yes, didn't he tell you?" Mirabelle asked.

"No," I said.

"Well, when he heard no one could find you, he went looking for you. He looked everywhere. Eventually, he found you at the bottom of the cliff! I don't know HOW he got down there and back up, but by God he did it!" Mirabelle said, smiling. "He saved your life, Chelsea."

I looked at Vaughn, who was playing with his thumb. "Thank you, Vaughn," I said, smiling at him.

He looked up at me, nodded, and got up. He walked out the door, closing it behind him.

"He's so anti-social," Mirabelle whined. "You'll never get a word out of that boy!"

I smiled to myself, and looked at the door.

Me: Hello, and welcome to Ruins Talk Show!

Harvest Goddess: I am not that serious! Why did you make me serious in that last chapter?

Me: Because it seemed cool.

HG: Well I am not serious! I DEMAND a rewrite!

Me: You're not a Goddess in the real world; you're a collection of pixels formed together to make the image of a Goddess.

HG: Thanks for ruining my LIFE! *cried*

Me: Goddess, have you been drinking coffee... and talking to Julia?

HG: ...Maybe...

Me: No more!

HG: Ok...

Me: Oh, and about Julia... I know she's really not that hyper but it made the mood happier. Ok? Ok.

HG: -.- I'm tired... *yawns*

Me: Then go home!

HG: -.- Ok... *disappears*

Me: Wow, that was lame. Well... Bye! Oh, and review!