A/N: Back again, my wonderful readers! I would have saved this for this weekend, but I'm not going to be around...gonna be living it up at BETA convention! I have a Spelling competition. Fun. It's pretty fitting, and I think I'll do well. The rest of the weekend, though: THAT will be spent doing whatever the heck we want! It'll be a blast, and I'm excited!

Anyway, I thought it would be best to upload this now instead of waiting until after I get back. This has been sitting on my laptop for some time now, just waiting to be unleashed for you all to read. Enjoy!

"Back again," Cassie said, a hint of petulance evident in her tone.

Horace kept walking to the open kitchen. "Yep," he said, grabbing a fresh apple, taking a bite from it, and purposefully avoided her gaze that she cut her eyes at him. She sighed dramatically.

"You'd left pretty hastily." Cassie was more than obviously trying to keep her voice as sugary and pleasant as possible. "I haven't seen you since real early. About six o'clock this morning, if I'm right."

"I already told you this morning," he explained wearily. "I needed a few minutes for myself. You know. Me time."

In frustration, she ran her tongue along her front teeth. "Yes, I know. This isn't the first time. You've been taking your few minutes of your me time," she spat, "every single day. And guess what," she added sarcastically.

Horace turned to face her and raised his eyebrows in false expectance. "I give up."

"It's four in the afternoon!" the princess hissed.

"Cassie," he said, "I had other things to do." He was attempting to keep his temper in check. However, it was slipping. And obviously, hers was already long gone.

"Oh really now? And what things were so important?"

Oops. There it went. "Good grief, Cassie!" Horace said, throwing his hands up in the air. "What is the problem? I had other things to do! I do have things to do, you know! You're not the only one!"

Cassandra's eyes narrowed into furious slits. "Yeah. You're right—we both have things we have to do. But at least I don't sneak off without saying, like it's some big secret!"

Whatever else either of them was going to say was left up in smoke as Horace's apple hit the floor, and the door slammed behind the departing knight. Cassie stormed over to the partially eaten apple, picked it up, dug her nails in it and ripped a big chunk from it, and propelled both halves at the door in his wake.

"Have you seen my cloak?" Will called from the bedroom. Alyss glanced up from her work at the kitchen sink.

"It's folded up under the bed."

There was some thumping and banging around, and then it was quiet in the bedroom again. Before long, there was more noise, and finally Will sighed wearily and asked, "Alyss…where are my pants?"

She paused washing the dishes. "Hanging on the closet doorknob."

"…No, they're not." He sounded frustrated.

Alyss rolled her eyes. "The knob on the inside."

After a moment, the young Ranger emerged from the bedroom. He had obviously found his breeches—he was wearing them. Will started for the door, but paused with his hand on the knob. "Alyss," he said through clenched teeth. "What have you done with my boots now?"

"I already told you, honey. They're out on the verandah. Remember? I left them out to dry from last night."

Will let his hand drop from the knob. "No, I don't remember," he said with heat, "because you didn't tell me. And speaking of honey, you didn't tell me where you moved that to, either! Or the coffee! You just had to go and move the coffee. I need that to function!"

Alyss looked shocked, almost scared, that he was getting so worked up all of a sudden. "Didn't I tell you that I was going to clean up?" she asked meekly.

He shook his head in disdain. "Yes, you did tell me. But what you didn't tell me is that you were going to rearrange every important thing in this whole damn house!"

The diplomat's eyes were wide, her voice shaky. "But…but Will, I—"

"And by the way," he hissed, "in your stupid cleaning escapade, you—oh," he said, not hiding his anger, "this one ticks me off the most—you cleaned the damned rust off the hinges!"

"Honey, I didn't mean to—"

"Dammit, woman! Who gives a flying fig what you meant to do?" Will yelled. "You did it!" Alyss blinked rapidly and seemed like she was going to make another apology, but he wasn't about to be sidetracked now. "You're crazy! Do you want to be the reason some creep comes in the middle of the night and kills us? We wouldn't even hear anybody sneaking in! You signed our death warrants!"

Alyss tried to explain. "I'm so sorry, I just forgot! I won't do it again."

"Oho, I know you won't." Will then raised his hands, palms out. "You know what? I'm done. I'm done with it." He crouched down, yanking on his boots. "Some killer can sneak in here on these rust-free hinges," he snarled, "but you can bet that I won't be here to stop him." He opened the door, sticking his head out. "Come on, Tug!" he called outside. "We're going for a ride!"

"Honey, where are you going? Please!"

Will looked back at her. "Out," he said finally. And he was gone.

Not knowing what else to do, Alyss sluggishly shuffled back to the sink and started scrubbing dished halfheartedly. Before the young diplomat noticed, a tear traced a path down her cheek. She dashed it away. But she realized that any tears that fell from her face would mix into the dishwater anyway, so she just let them fall.

As Horace walked through the castle hallways, he couldn't help but feel his emotions jumble. What had made her so angry? Why hadn't he tried to do anything about it? And now, how could he make things better?

Could he make things better?

Lost in his musings, the young knight found himself in the west wing of the castle, where much of the business was done. Duncan must have noticed him, because the king came over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Horace started and turned. "Oh, hullo, your majesty," he said with a slight bow.

Duncan raised his eyebrows in a knowing expression. "Something go on between you and Cassie?" he asked wisely.

"How did you know that?" Horace asked, amazed.

"I know that look," King Duncan explained, smiling. He grew serious once again. "So, what happened?"

Horace cast his eyes down. "Well, I got back this afternoon, and she just went off on me. She was mad at me for taking some time for myself, and being gone since this morning."

Nodding, Duncan said, "Horace, she misses you."

"What?"

"She never sees you," he said, "and she misses you. She loves you, Horace. Show her that you love her, too, and that you care about her."

With the forest rocketing past on his left side, Will spurred Tug faster still along the edge of the trees. Taking the time to slow down for safety, he turned into the forest, navigating around the trunks and foliage. "This feels good, doesn't it, boy?" Will said. "Much better than being back there at the cabin. I'm surprised I found your saddle."

But all of a sudden, Tug straightened out his legs and absolutely locked up. Will was almost thrown from the saddle as Tug skidded to an abrupt stop. "What was that about? Come on, let's go!" But Tug wouldn't budge. The little horse turned his head and rolled one large, intelligent brown eye at his master.

Think about it.

"What is there to think about, Tug? Let's keep going for a while. We can think about what we want when we go to an inn to get some dinner, and give me time to cool off." But Tug snorted in dissent.

Get your priorities straight, Will.

Because Tug brought it up—well, in his own way—it got Will to thinking. She really had been trying to help, and it's not like she did anything too big. Clothes can be found, coffee can be bought, and rust can be built up over time. But Alyss…she was one of a kind. She was back home; and he wasn't by her side when she needed him.

He rested his head on the saddle pommel. "What have I done this time?" he moaned. "What have I done?" Tug just shook his mane.

He just hoped that it wasn't too late for her to forgive him.

Will rose to a riding position. "Alright, Tug. Let's go home."

Horace stepped inside. "Cassie?" he called. The princess wasn't in the living room. And she wasn't answering; Cassie was obviously going to try to evade him. The knight peeked into the bedroom, and saw her, sitting on the bed, her back to him.

Risking getting her mad and the possibility of losing a limb, Horace crawled onto the bed behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Cassie," he said quietly.

Surprisingly, she turned into his embrace. "Me too," she said. "I shouldn't have gotten so upset. I just miss you."

"You know what's the smartest thing I've done?"

"Hmm?" Cassie was curious now.

"The smartest thing I ever did was make you mine. All mine."

Cassandra nodded sarcastically. "Oh, yeah, sure." She grinned.

"Evanlyn." Horace lifted her chin gently. "I'll never go anywhere. I will never leave you."

"…I love you. So much."

Will sighed as he put away Tug's saddle. The little horse looked at him.

Go on. Nothing will come from waiting.

"Yeah, I know you're right," the Ranger admitted. "I'm just afraid that she won't forgive me." Tug just snorted. "What? No response for that one?"

This is your battle.

He sighed again, patting Tug on the neck. "I know. Wish me luck, old friend. If it gets loud in there, don't look in. But if it gets really loud, and then goes quiet…go get help."

Will walked from the stables to the house, stepping in through the door. Alyss was sitting on the couch, her face tear-stained.

He went to her. "Alyss," he murmured, stroking her wet cheek. She didn't meet his eyes, didn't make a sound, but a new tear slid silently down her face and over his hand.

"You left me," she said, strained. "I didn't know when you were going to come home. If you were going to come home." Her lip trembled for half a moment before she brought it back under control. Her expression was resolute. "I have to go through that feeling every time you leave for work. I don't need it every other day." She let loose a strangled sob, quickly cut it off, and more unbidden tears flowed.

Will wiped them away as they came. "Baby, why do you want to cry? You really got to know that I just have to walk away sometimes." He made her look at him. "We're going to do what couples do. Every once in a while, we're going to fight. But we get stronger for it."

He opened his arms. "Silly woman, come here, let me hold you." Alyss leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Have I told you lately that I love you? You know, without you, I wouldn't last one day. I'd just fade into nothing." Will stroked her hair. "Without you, I'd lose my mind."

"You're just saying that."

"No, really, I'd go crazy. Just like you, crazy girl." Alyss looked at him, and he smiled. "I love you like crazy, girl."

Finis

A/N: Aw, that's so cute! Why do I always make Will so sappy? I see Horace as being the sweet one, and Will being kind of awkward, but in my writing they always seem to turn out like this...

Anyway, I thought it was adorable. Horace, to me, is a bit like the strong, silent type. I figured he would be the one to just say a few words, but mean the world, and Evanlyn would know that and understand. I love that song SO MUCH! Hence the reason I used some of the lyrics in the story…

Oh yeah, the song Crazy Girl belongs to Eli Young Band.