Update for Chapter 26 :) I'm hoping it's alright, it's kind of a filler till the next update which will be pretty hectic :D I'm slowly winding down the story now, nearly over but I think there are still a few chapters to go so don't worry. Disclaimer – I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters x
Chapter 26 – Chelsea's P.O.V
I looked over the side of the ferry at the surf passing by as the warm summer sun bounced off my face. Vaughn can up behind me and placed his hands on my waist. I turned around to face him and leant up against the railing before reaching up and kissing him. The island was now coming into view so there were only minutes that I could spend with Vaughn before being ambushed by a group of people on the beach.
"So how we gonna play this cowboy?" I asked smiling at him, still attempting to raise that frickin eyebrow like Vaughn and Julia did oh so well. He chuckled before brushing my hair out of my face.
"Well we could start with this" He smiled, pulling out my red bandana from his pocket. I chuckled slightly before grabbing it out of his hand and fastening around my head. It had felt like ages since I'd last worn this thing and it felt good to have it with me once again. I looked up at him and smiled as I grabbed his hand and lead him inside towards the entrance. As we stood waiting for the ferry to pull in I leant up and kissed him for the last time.
"Don't you go disappearing on me cowboy" I joked, nudging him slightly. He chuckled and hugged me.
"Don't you go getting' yourself in hospital again" He laughed as I playfully punched his arm. As the ferry finally came to a stop I pulled my hand away from his as he went to go and get my luggage. The door slowly opened and let the sun shine on both of our faces. Vaughn motioned for me to go forward as he followed behind.
Walking down the decking towards the beach I was greeted by what looked like everybody on the island. I could see Elliot and his family all gathered around, Sabrina with Pierre and Mark, Denny who was with Mirabelle and finally Julia, who was now running towards me at full speed. I prepared for impact as she pulled me into a death hug.
"Chelsea I can't believe we nearly lost you everyone was upset and mum was worried sick and Denny was crying all the time and Natalie kept trying to find out what was happening and Sabrina was wondering if Vaughn was looking after you and your farm is alright we've all been looking after it and the kittens are fine we got them out straightaway and they're at mine and Gannon replaced your boiler and Chelsea I love you so much" She said, without taking a breath. I squeezed her tightly.
"3 thongs" I whispered into her ear, still squeezing her. She squirmed slightly but I didn't let go. Finally she managed to get free of my grasp and stood a foot away. She smiled sneakily before busting into a fit of laughter. Vaughn came and stood next to me but placed the suitcase in-between us and bowed his hat so that his face was almost hidden. I turned to face Denny who was making his way towards us. His eyes sparkled brown and seemed to be hungry for mine. As he approached me he lifted me into a tight hug which he didn't break.
"Chelsea. I've been so worried … I didn't know if … I had to return … I wanted …" He kept restarting his sentence, unsure what to say.
"Shh I know. Vaughn explained everything" I smiled into his chest soothingly; I didn't like it when people worried about me. He nodded before turning to face Vaughn.
"Thanks man. Thanks for looking after Chels. You're alright you know" He smiled at him. Vaughn grunted and shrugged his shoulders before walking off the decking towards Mirabelle who took him into a hug straightaway. I pulled away from Denny who took my hand and guided me onto the beach to meet the group of people eager to talk to me.
After hugging and talking to everyone who showed up on the beach I was finally able to get back home. Denny guided me all the way back to my farm and as I approached my jaw dropped to the floor. I'd only been gone over a week and a half and already my field was filled with luscious green plants with sprouts. I'd forgotten what I'd planted, if I had even planted anything at all. I smiled as everything seemed to be growing healthily. I led Denny over to my barn where I quickly poked my head inside. I suddenly saw Bells who was happily grazing on some fodder. As she heard the doors go her head snapped up and she turned her body around to see who it was. As her eyes came in contact with mine, I expected her to turn around again and huff of in a mood like she always used to. But instead she slowly but surely inched her way towards me and pushed up my hand with her head. A sign to show she was glad I was alright, before she trotted off again back to her food. I looked at her in amazement, that was probably the most amount of affection she'd ever shown me.
"She seems to be happy your back" He laughed pulling on my hand for us to go back outside. As the sun shone back onto my face I breathed in the fresh air of the islands. I did prefer it here a hell much more than the city. The gentle song from the birds in the trees beat the sound of revving engines any day.
"Chelsea?" Denny asked, turning to face me. His brown eyes searched mine as his curly chocolate hair stuck out from underneath his purple bandana.
"Yeah?" I asked, squinting as the sun got into my eyes.
"Do you remember when we were at the restaurant …?" He asked, looking down at our hands. I knitted my eyebrows together and stared at him in confusion.
"Erm … no, sorry. Why? Did anything happen?" I replied, truthfully honest. I didn't even know we went to a restaurant. He sighed and shook his head.
"Doesn't matter" He laughed as he pulled me towards my house. It looked exactly the same as it had when I left it, the red roof reflecting the sun's rays. As we came closer Denny pulled out a key and unlocked it for me before placing the key into my pocket. Opening the door I was greeted by the lovely scent of lilies which were placed in a vase in the middle of the table. Walking towards them I pulled off the little note attached. It read:
'To Chelsea, glad you're back home. We've all missed out little farm girl here, lots of love from Felicia, Natalie, Elliot and Taro xxx'
I rolled my eyes before breathing in the heavenly scent of the flowers in front of me. Lilies have always been my favourite flowers. I looked up and scanned the rest of my house. Everything seemed to be like I'd left it, except the cupboard above my kitchen was different. That was where my old boiler used to be. It was so generous of Gannon to fix it up for me. I'd have to go round and thank him later on. I turned around to Denny who was in deep concentration about something. I poked him playfully to snap him out of his trance and when he did he just laughed.
"Since you don't remember our little restaurant date …" He took a step closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "… How about Wednesday at the diner?" He asked, showing me a smile full of bright white teeth. I rolled my eyes and playfully punched his shoulder.
"Okay. But only because I don't remember this 'date' that we went on" I grinned. He smiled and leant in to kiss me but I swerved away and jumped into the kitchen.
"Erm … I'm starved, want something?" I asked, quickly making an excuse so he wasn't hurt. He rolled his eyes before coming up behind me and taking two plates out of the cupboard. I walked over to the fridge and searched the area for food but coming back empty handed. Pouting I moved towards the cupboard and opened them. There were a tin of peas, rice, a cupful of pasta and a packet of curry powder. Pretty disappointing.
"Porridge?" I asked turning to face him. His face scrunched up.
"I hate porridge" He said, disgusted. Denny was completely different to Vaughn, and not just in the food they ate. While Denny was loud, outgoing and confident in himself, Vaughn was quiet and understood people. He was down to earth and pulled at my heart strings.
"Well I don't have any food" I muttered as I leant up against the counter and folded my arms. Denny walked up to me and placed his arms around me.
"Well then, we're just going to have to get some"
Vaughn's P.O.V –
I opened the door to the Animal shop and walked over to the sofas before slumping down in one. Chelsea Edwards loved me, and I couldn't think of anything I could do to change that. I didn't want her to love me; I wasn't good enough for her. She deserved gold, and if Denny was enough to give her a good life, then who was I to take that away from her? I couldn't be the man that Denny was. I couldn't give her the life she deserved, what if I turned out to be just like my father? I couldn't do that to her, I wouldn't. Suddenly the door opened and Julia and Mirabelle walked in together. I closed my eyes and pulled down my hat just before Julia came bouncing over to me.
"Thanks for looking after Chels" She grinned. I grunted, trying to tune her out. She rolled her eyes before walking off towards her room. I breathed out heavily before stretching and knocking my hat onto the floor. Mirabelle slowly shifted her way towards me and took a seat on the sofa opposite me.
"Vaughn?" She asked looking at me. I opened my eyes and sat up to look at her.
"Yeah?" I asked, looking into her deep blue eyes. She smiled warmly before her face fell.
"What happened?" She asked, looking at me in a motherly way like she understood everything I said. I knitted my eyebrows together and looked at her.
"Chelsea was in hospital and now she's not" I said matter-of-factly. Her soft face didn't change as she continued to look at me.
"I mean between you and Chelsea?" She asked again. I looked down at the coffee table, not a lot of people could read me very well but Mirabelle seemed to be an expert in it. I suppose she felt like a mum to me and of course, mums knew everything. I didn't reply, I just stared at the table. Then she sighed, got up and took the seat next to me.
"Denny doesn't know does he?" She asked. Although she already knew the answer I thought it was best to at least have some input to the conversation.
"No" I admitted. She took my left hand in both of hers and gently stroked it. Just then Julia walked in back from her bedroom and flung herself onto the sofa.
"What doesn't Denny know?" She asked as she picked up a magazine off the table and flicked through it. I looked up at her and could think of a million come backs but decided to just stay quiet.
"Nothing" I muttered before leaning back into the sofa. Mirabelle chuckled before walking into the kitchen and pulling out a large pot out of the cupboard. Julia shrugged as she continued to flick through her magazine.
Suddenly there was a timid tap on the front door and a gush of warm air filled the room as the door opened. I picked up my hat off the floor and placed it on my head before retreating back to my original position.
"Vaughn, Sabrina's here for you" Mirabelle called from the kitchen. I suddenly sat up bolt right and caught Julia's eye. She was looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a smug expression on her face. Sabrina then walked in with her hands in front of her looking very timid.
"Hi" I mumbled, sitting forward in my chair. Not really showing much emotion in my voice. She smiled warmly at me and stepped closer.
"I was j-just wondering if y-you were still on for Wednesday?" She asked, playing with a stray strand on the edge of her dress before looking up into my eyes. Shit I'd completely forgotten about that.
"Erm … yeah sure" I muttered, still staring at her with my elbows resting on my knees. She blushed a deep shade or red before giggling.
"Okay I'll meet you in the d-diner at 6PM then" She smiled warmly before letting herself out. I grumbled before kicking back in the sofa and closing my eyes again.
"Vaughn and Sabrina kissing in a tree…" Julia whisperingly mocked. I didn't open my eyes to look at her; she was just being a knob.
"Fuck off Julia" I whispered in return before kicking my legs up onto the table, just as a white little fur ball hopped up onto my lap and curled up into a ball to go to sleep.
So yeah, hope you liked the filler and next Chapter should be interesting :D Thanks again for reading and please stay tuned for the next update which should be soon :) x