Okay, so I know you all absolutely hate me right now. I've had stuff written for FOREVER, but I haven't typed it. :/

So, I know you hate me, feel free to flame about it (Although if you could at least include a comment about the chapter?), but just don't kill me. Cuz then I can't finish the story.

I can't even describe it.

"Chelsea, what's wrong? Are you all right?" Then something occurred to me.

"Where's Vaughn?" (11)

Chelsea didn't say anything. She just looked at me, with a look in her eyes that made her look almost… broken. "Chelsea, are you alright? Please, say something!" Again, she just looked at me. But this time, I thought I heard something. "Chelsea, please…."

"I'm fine."

I started. She'd said it so quietly, I'd barely heard it. "Are you sure? You're not hurt or anything?"

I finally took the time to look her over. She didn't look hurt, but she didn't look 'fine' either. Her dress was badly torn, her hair was messed up, and she was missing a shoe.

"I'm fine." Again, it was so quiet that I almost missed it. "Well, if you say so… but where's Vaughn?
She just sat there for a minute, looking at me. Then-finally-she said, very quietly,

"Gone."

"Gone? What do you mean? He didn't leave you here, did he? If he did, I'll kill him!" She slowly shook her head.

"Gone."

"It's your fault, you know." The voice came from behind us. I jerked up, looking around. "Sabrina?" I gasped. I barely recognized her. She was wearing her usual outfit, but it was practically destroyed. Her purple dress was torn and muddy, her bow was half-untied, her glasses were bent and crooked, and her hair was tangled and matted. To top it all off, she was soaking wet.

"It's your fault." She repeated. "He pushed you out of the way so I hit him instead! It's your fault!" She yelled the last part, stamping her foot. Chelsea just sat there.

"I know." She whispered. "I know. It's my fault. He's gone. And I couldn't even tell him…" She trailed off, and I noticed her hand tighten around something. She pulled it out of her hand, and tucked it under her bandanna, behind her ear. I gasped.

"Chelsea, did-did Vaughn give you that?" Chelsea finished adjusting the blue feather, and then put her hands in her lap, speaking in the same quiet tone as earlier.

"Yes. He did. But I didn't get to tell him yes."

"No! No! You can't say yes! He's mine! MINE!" Sabrina was shouting and stamping, and basically acting like the spoiled little brat she is. "Chelsea, where's Vaughn?"

She looked at the cliff edge sadly. "Gone."

"Gone where? Chelsea, please, where is he?" She just kept looking at the cliff.

"Gone. He's gone. I'll keep waiting though. I need to tell him yes. I need to tell him I accept."

Sabrina stomped forward. "No! No you don't! You don't get to tell him that! He's mine! Stay away from him!" With this latest tantrum, Sabrina charged forward, headed towards Chelsea.

"Wha-? What is Sabrina doing? Oh gods! Is she trying to knock Chelsea over the edge?"

I leaned forward, tackling Chelsea to the ground. Sabrina tripped over us, slamming down into the ground next to us. I grabbed Chelsea by the arm and scrambled backwards, away from Sabrina.

"What the hell are you doing? You could've killed her!" Sabrina staggered up, glaring at me.

"Why'd you move her? You're protecting the reason my Vaughnie is gone." I glared back, and stood up in front of Chelsea.

"What are you talking about? Chelsea's the reason my dumb, cowboy of a cousin acts like a regular human being!"

Sabrina smiled. But it wasn't a nice smile. It was an "I know something you don't, and I think I'm right." Smile.

"Oh? I bet you I could've made him even happier, WITHOUT getting him knocked over a cliff."

I started. "Knocked over a-what the hell are you talking about?" I felt a hand tug at the bottom of my jeans. I looked down.

"Chelsea, what is she talking about?" She looked up at me, with the sad look again.

"He protected me. He protected me. Sabrina was going to knock me off the cliff, but he protected me. He protected me. And now he's gone."

Sabrina piped up again. "That's right! My Vaughnie's gone, and it's your fault!"

Chelsea reached up, touching the feather now tucked behind her ear and under her bandana. "I know. It's true."

She sat there, with such a sad look on her face.

"I need to wait until he comes back, so I can tell him. He never heard my answer. I need to wait until he comes back…." I lifted Chelsea up by the arm, and she didn't resist.

"Chelsea, you can't stay here. You need to go home and rest." As I said this, she tried to pull away.

"No, I have to wait! Sabrina made it back, so will Vaughn!" I looked at her sadly. No matter how much I want to deny it, if she hadn't seen him by now… Well, the chances of him coming back were pretty slim.

"Chelsea, you can wait for him back at your house, alright? I'm sure that's the first place he'll go if he shows up.

She looked at me.

"When." "Huh?" "When. You said 'if', but it's 'when'." I looked at her.

"Maybe she's in shock or something…"

"Uh, sure….When. Now, come on. You need to rest." I took her hand, and gently began leading her back towards town. When I got to the edge of the clearing with her, I turned.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, Sabrina. You caused all this, and there will be consequences."

She just glared. "You can't do anything. My daddy's richer than the rest of this island combined!"

I glared right back, and straightened up.

"Money won't buy everything, you know. It can't buy love. And it can't buy you a way out of jail."

She kept glaring, hands on her hips. "There's bail."

I gave her "the look."

"Uh-huh. And you think they post bail for mu-"I glanced at Chelsea. Now probably wasn't a good time to point out the odds. "-ATTEMPTED murder?"

At this, Sabrina backed down a little. "I had a perfectly good reason! She stole my Vaughnie!"

I was about to reply with something sarcastic, when I heard Chelsea call quietly-

"Hello, Shea."

I gave Sabrina one last good glare, then turned back to my shocked friend. Chelsea was facing Shea, talking quietly.

"Hello, Rancher-girl. Where's Cow-man?" MY eyes bugged out, and I started motioning to Shea-from behind Chelsea, of course-to shut up. "Va- Cow-man's gone. But he'll be back."

Shea grinned. "Oh, okay! Shea glad!"

Chelsea gave Shea a sad smile, and he headed off into the forest again. I took her hand again, and we worked our way out of the forest. After a few more minutes, we finally got back to town. Chelsea was just sort of following me listlessly, not walking on her own. I looked at her for a moment, then pulled her towards my house. She didn't complain. She just sort of watched.

I got to the door and swung it open. My mom was over by the counter, and looked up as we came in.

"Oh, you're back! Is Vaughn with you-" She cut off when she saw Chelsea. I could see she wanted to ask, but I shook my head just ever so slightly.

"I'll go get a blanket and some of your old clothes." She walked quickly off, and I led Chelsea over to the table and sat her down.

"Chelsea, would you like something to eat…?" I looked at her, but she didn't reply. She just looked at her hands, looked at the table. I walked over to the kitchen to start to make something for her.

"Look, you should sleep here tonight. It's dark out, and we don't know what Sabrina will try. Until she's in jail, she could keep attacking you. Chelsea-"

I turned around to look at her, with some simple chicken noodle soup ready for her. I was met by quiet, slow breathing.

"Aaaaaaand she's asleep. That's probably a good thing, though. I'll just save this for when she wakes up."

-End Flashback-

Chelsea's P.O.V.

I got to the door of my house, and went in quickly, locking the door behind me. I checked to make sure Vaighn's hat was on the table where I left it, as I had been doing for the past month. His hat… "I still don't know why they gave it to ME. I mean, he's assumed…assumed….assumed dead, so…they started giving out his stuff….But shouldn't it go to Mirabelle and Julia…?"

But for some reason, they gave it to me. And I will never lose it. I walked over and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked the same, but for the blue feather tucked into my bandana behind my ear. My farm was thriving, the island was prospering, everyone was happy. But something felt wrong. Missing. Life wasn't complete. And I knew why. There was one, single problem. Vaughn had been missing for a month. By now, he's considered dead. I walked away from the mirror and flopped on my bed.

"How can they have given up? He'll come back. He's Vaughn. He wouldn't die from that. Would he?" I lay there on my stomach, staring at Vaughn's hat. Browni came in through the doggie door, and jumped up onto my feet, licking my toes. I smiled a little, but it didn't last long.

What to do…My crops are watered, my animals are cared for, and I went to visit the others. There's not really much left to do. And it's only…

I glanced at my clock.

1:30. Maybe I should go fishing…

While I sat there, thinking about it, with Browni licking my toes, and started to get drowsy. "I guess I'll just take a nap for now…."

-The Next Morning-

"huh? What? Uggh….What time is it?"

I glanced over. 3:30 A.M.

"Gah, that's the problem with falling asleep mid-day. You wake up at some ungodly hour of the morning." I looked out the window overlooking my bed. The sun wasn't even up yet.

"What the heck. May as well get started." I headed outside with the watering can, ready to water the 2-dozen-something crops I have. (12)

I went back and forth, taking my time.

After all, I have an extra 2 and a half hours today, and I never use all my time anyway.

So I took my time, and finished around 4:20. Then I headed into the barn to take care of the animals. First, I put out fodder, as usual. Then I got my brush out of my rucksack, and began to brush-and talk to-my animals. I started with Foaly, my horse. "Hey there. Are you keeping your tail neat?" (13) Foaly neighed, and shook his head in that way horses have. I checked. His tail wasn't neat. As I gently worked at untangling it, I muttered

"I swear, sometimes I think you can understand me." Once I had finished with Foaly, I moved onto my other animals. My sheep, Cassandra and Vinyaya, and my cows, Opal and Shika. (14) Then I went over to the chicken coop. I grabbed a bag of feed and placed some of it in each compartment for my chickens. I smiled as they waddled over. I reached down and picked up each one of them, petting them and checking to make sure their feathers were clean. Once that was done, I headed back outside. It was about 6;00.

Well, I guess I'd better head down to town...There's not much left to do, really.

So yeah, I know you all hate me…But this is a tiny bit longer than normal (only a few hundred words), so I hope that at least makes up for it just a tiny bit. Just like, an inch out of the yards you guys must hate me.

Anyway, here:
(11)- Baaaaaad question, Julia.

(12)- I'm sorry, it's just that I always have a ton of crops, so Chelsea does too.

(13)-I always imagine Chelsea as someone who talks to her animals. For that matter, so does Vaughn. But that's not the point.

(14)- Are there any Artemis Fowl fans reading this? Recognize some of those names?

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