Chelsea could feel her face burning red each time she took a step, or more like, each time Vaughn took a step as she was currently resting her weight on him. He didn't seem to mind at all, in fact, he didn't even seem to notice. She was half-considering that he may have forgotten that she was even there at all except the quick glances he kept stealing at her.

He would look at her for a second or two, like he was trying not to but couldn't help himself.

Vaughn could pretty much feel Chelsea's heart beating out of her chest, why is she so scared of me? He thought to himself. He tried not to think about the fact that he had totally alienated her, but couldn't help it. He alienated people, he didn't get close, that was who he was. Yet he was still bothered that Chelsea didn't trust him.

They finally made it back to Chelsea's house. Chelsea gently untangled herself from Vaughn while he stood there awkwardly waiting for her too get in. As soon as she was freed from his grip she lost her balance again and almost slipped, if it wasn't for a pair of strong arms catching her before she could fall.

Vaughn quickly grabbed Chelsea in alarm and steadied her before she could fall. He gripped her hips with her hands before he could realise what he was doing.

"Uh-" he began, not being able to take his eyes off of his hands on her body. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just didn't expect the weight. Thanks." He quickly dropped his hands.

"Are you okay now?" Chelsea noticed with a small grin that he was blushing.

"Yeah, thanks." She mailed politely and grabbed her house keys from her pocket. She quickly shoved the keys into the lock and tried to push the front door open. "Um," she gestured to the door "It gets stuck, I usually have to throw my weight against the door to get it open, can you..." She trailed off.

Vaughn nodded quickly and approached the door. He he pushed himself up against the door a few times before it swung open. The door opening caught him unexpectedly and he lost his footing slightly. Chelsea managed to catch him by the hips before he fell. "We're even now." Chelsea joked, before letting her hands fall when she was sure he had his footing back.

She was stronger than he thought she would be. He was embarrassed by almost falling over in front of her, so quickly brushed himself off and tried to act like it hadn't happened.

Chelsea made her way into the kitchen quickly and left Vaughn in the doorway, unsure of what to do. He quietly shut the door behind him and sat down on Chelsea's sofa.

"This is a nice place, it's...cosy,"

"Yeah it's tiny," Chelsea chuckled "but it's home."

"Oh no I didn't mean anything bad by it, it's nice." He began, scratching the back of his neck, "Mirabelle's place is always full of people, my bedroom there is the only place I can ever get privacy. And my place in the city is way too big for just me."

"What's it like in the city?" She asked, bringing the drinks over to the coffee table and sitting down.

Vaughn found himself lost for words, this was probably the most he'd spoken to anyone who wasn't Mirabelle or Julia in, well...since he could remember. "It's busy, much busier than this place."

"Most places are," Chelsea interjected, jokingly.

"Yeah, I guess," He chuckled nervously.

"I've always wanted to visit the city..." Chelsea sighed wistfully.

Vaughn was taken aback "What, you're not from the city? I know you said you lived on a farm but I assumed you weren't raised on one."

Chelsea smiled and rolled her eyes. "I know I come across like a city girl but, believe it or not, I was raised on farms." She admitted "I guess I never really paid much attention to what my parents were doing on the farm. I arrived here and the farm was practically forced upon me once Taro found out I was raised in farming. I guess I just wanted to make something out of my parent's memory- instead of finding an office job in the city I wanted to do something they loved, make them proud." She said longingly. Vaughn noticed the look in her eyes when she spoke of her parents, she gazed into the distance as if she was looking for something but couldn't quite find it. He could tell that she really wanted to make something of the farm, and he decided that he would help her. He tried to convince himself that it was because he wanted to see the farm prosper, and not because he wanted to see Chelsea succeed and be proud of herself.

Chelsea broke out of her daze "Sorry," She apologised, shaking her head. "I'm boring you, I go on like that sometimes- ignore me."

"No, no it's fine." Vaughn assured her, flustered. "Really, go on all you want, it's fine." He said uncertainly.

"Thank you," She said sincerely, "Not many people want to listen."

Silence was thick in the air. Not the deafening silence that hangs in the air and suffocates, a comfortable silence. Vaughn couldn't recall another person since his brother that he has been able to sit in comfortable silence with. Everyone else was so demanding for conversation, there was so mush pressure to be social and impress. It was refreshing to find someone who didn't exhaust him.

Surprisingly, it was him that spoke first. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that the other day."

Chelsea was taken aback slightly, not expecting him to even want to continue the conversation, let alone apologise to her.

"It's fine, really. I'm sorry for being useless..." She trailed off, only half-joking.

"No, you weren't. You were trying your best, I was just being an ass."

"I won't argue with you on that one." She stated with a smirk. As soon as she said it she was worried that he would take it the wrong way and they would be back where they started. To Chelsea's surprise, Vaughn actually shot her a small smile and nodded his head in agreement.

The conversation faded away naturally through the minutes. Both sat in perfect comfortable silence, enjoying the presence of another human being too much to disturb the moment.

Vaughn found himself half-gazing at the girl opposite him on the sofa. Now that he looked at her properly, she seemed different. Her pale skin looked alive in the warm, yellow glow cast from the lamps in the house, her blue eyes dancing in the moment. For the first time, he saw her with new eyes and a fresh perspective.

And he decided in that moment that if someone had to take his place in Mirabelle and Julia's family, he was happy it was her.

A/N how are you guys doing? I hope you like this chapter, it was one I really enjoyed writing. I really want to start updating more frequently but, as you're probably tired of hearing from me, school is killing me right now. I got accepted into university though! Just gotta get the grades to get my place now...

Anyway, hope you're all doing well.