Ty pulled into his driveway. He'd just came from family dinner at Heartland. He and Amy had decided to watch a movie afterwards. Now it was almost midnight. He'd regret it in the morning since he had an early class. He pulled up to the trailer shutting the engine off. His mind was still thinking about Amy as he slammed his truck door. He unlocked the door his keys clanking. He flipped on the light jumping in horror. There stood Jeremy. A smug smile on his face.
"I helped myself to a beer." He said taking a sip. Ty was still standing there by the door shocked. "I hope that's okay." Jeremy said bring Ty back to reality.
"Agh!" Ty screamed as he revealed Caleb's gun from under the comforter.
"Oh yeah, and I found your gun, too. You know, it turns out you're not the only one who knows how to pick a lock." He stood up and pointed it at Ty. "Look, I'm just looking for my laptop. I'm not looking for trouble."
Ty could hear his heart beating loud enough he was sure Jeremy could hear it. "Uh-huh. Well, you've got a funny way of not looking for trouble." He said finding a little courage. He knew he couldn't look afraid. Even if he was.
"Hand it over. I'm not kidding around!" Jeremy shouted stepping closer. Still waving the gun at him.
"All right! Relax, okay? Just relax. It's in my bag." He put his arms up to show he wasn't gonna try anything. He back stepped to his backpack slowing unzipping it and grabbing the laptop.
"Put it on the counter." He pointed as Ty obeyed. "Now sit down." Ty just stood frozen starring at him. His mind now wondering to Amy and how he put himself in this position. He is the one who stole it in the first place. He was better then that. He'd changed. "Sit down!" Jeremy yelled growing impatient.
Ty sat sighing fearfully. He thought about Amy. Her working alone with this guy before he put a stop to it. Him coaching Mallory. Even himself being friendly to him to help his horse. Now the guy was waving a gun at him. He'd never thought he'd be capable of doing something like this. But then again he did blackmail Amy and get her drunk. I should have knocked him on his ass when I had the chance. Screw the charges. He thought. For a second he wondered if he could tackle him now. Maybe get the gun back.
"You know, Cass told me some stories about your stepdad, and all the time you spent in juvie. I swear I could hear the violins."
"Watch it, man." Ty tried his best to hide his anger but it wasn't working. He stood up taking a step at him.
"All I'm saying is, you're standing real close to the edge. Don't make me push you." Jeremy hissed also stepping forward. "Oh, and um... thanks for the beer." He walked closer to the door as he grabbed his laptop.
"Wait! Tell me something. What was it like?" Ty seemed to be feeling gutsy all of a sudden.
"What?!" He asked confused. Ty took this opportunity to knock the gun out of his hand but he missed and hit the laptop instead. Jeremy turned quickly hitting Ty with the gun. Ty toppilled over by the sudden impact. Jeremy smiled as he reached for the door knob. But before he could get away Ty jumped him. But almost as if he was expecting it punched Ty with his elbow. He was getting mad and Ty wished he would have left well enough alone as he felt the blood drip down his cheek. Jeremy grabbed one of Ty's textbooks off the table and threw it through the window. The glass shattering. Ty glanced back and threw a punch at Jeremy. But he moved out of the way turning sharply. It seemed like it happened in slowmo. As he turned to avoid being hit Jeremy's finger slipped releasing the trigger. The gunshot echoed off the tin walls of the trailer. Ty's eyes grew wide for a second believing it somehow missed him. But the shocked and terrified look on Jeremy's face proved otherwise. His hand touching his side as he began to feel the pain. He sat back in the chair now looking at his hand covered in blood. By now Jeremy was long gone. Ty couldn't think straight anymore. The pain too much. He felt his eyes get heavy. He needed to call for help but his phone was laying on the floor nowhere near him. As it must have fallen out of his pocket. He tried to stay awake but knew no one would find him until late morning after he didn't show up to muck out the stalls. Amy. It wasn't fair to her. Not after everything they'd been through.
"Great. No signal." Amy says annoyed standing with the truck door open as Ty looks under the hood. "You know what? It's almost like you willed this to happen." She jumps out still looking at her phone.
"Now, why would I do that?"
Amy turns around angry. "Oh, I don't know, Ty. Maybe 'cause you didn't wanna go!"
"Okay, you're right. I didn't want to go." Ty admits.
"I know. You don't have to tell me!" She walks away toward the back of the truck. Ty follows after her.
"But not because I didn't wanna be with you, Amy! Because I do. You're the only one I wanna be with. Come're." Ty set down his rag and grabs Amy's hand.
"Ty..."
"Come on." He leads her to the tail gate of his truck. "Hold on." He picks her up.
"Ty, Ty! Ty, what're you doing?" Amy objects as Ty gets up onto the bed of the truck.
"Look. I'm sorry, okay? And I'm not much good at this, so don't laugh." He lets go of her hands to fix his tie. Amy glares at him still annoyed. "But if we were where we're supposed to be, then... I'd be asking you to dance right now. So? Do you wanna dance?"
"You can dance?" Amy asks now giggling slightly. "Okay, you can dance." She smiles as he starts to dance with her.
Ty stops dancing. "I got something for you. It took me a few trips into town to get what I wanted, hope you like it." He leans down and grabs a small box from his jacket.
"Ty... "
"Open it!" Amy takes the box from him. A huge smile spreads across her face as she opens it.
"Ty! A promise ring?"
"Is it okay?" he asks.
Amy smiles at him. "Yes, it's okay!" Ty takes back the box and grabs the ring.
"Like it?" He says as he places the ring on her finger.
"Yes!" She kisses his cheek as they start to dance again. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." They kiss softly while dancing on the back of his truck.
Lou noticed Amy still sitting on the couch. "I thought you went to bed long ago." She said walking over to her.
"Yeah, I...wait, why are you still up?"
"Katie." She didn't need to say anything else. Amy nodded.
"It's just Ty usually calls or texts me goodnight. He never did." Lou only now noticed the cell phone in her hand.
"He stayed late, Amy. Later then usual." She tried to reason.
"Yeah. I guess your right." Amy sighed standing up.
"You know, you could text him too. That thing does work both ways." She pointed at Amy's phone before walking into the kitchen. Amy sighed again as she looked at it now laying on the coffee table.
"He probably went straight to bed." She yelled in Lou's direction. She shook her head realizing she was acting like Lou when Peter is away. "Goodnight, Lou." She said as both headed to their bedrooms.
Caleb pulled his truck up to the trailer. Happy to see the lights still on meaning Ty must still be up. His smiled faded as he noticed the slightly ajar door and shards of glass on the porch. One of Ty's textbooks and a beer bottle. His mind assuming he'd been broken into. He slowly and cautiously opened the door. The odd kitchen item was laying on the floor. He then noticed Ty laying on the floor, blood everywhere. "Ty!" He shouted crouching down beside him. He was unconscious. "Come on man!" Caleb observed the bullet wound. As panic set in he reached for his phone.
