Chapter 1

She had to get away. She had to run, but for some reason, she was rooted to the spot. His eyes were so sincere and his mouth was so close to her, parted and expecting that she could do nothing but stand there and allow it to happen.

He leaned forward, ready to kiss her quivering lips, but a sudden footstep made them jump apart. "Matt." Junior spoke as if nothing had happened.

Kris looked back at Matt, and then turned to Junior half expecting them both to go into a frenzy, but neither moved, although Matt spoke first. "Kris, will you help me with these bags?" He motioned toward the feed bags and Kris half smiled, half frowned.

"Um…sure." She turned back to Junior, and nodded, then left him alone without so much as a second glance.

Junior watched her leave with a hurt expression in his eyes, as if his heart were breaking.

"You know, you can't keep doing this to Junior, Kris." Matt spoke as if what he'd just witnessed meant nothing to him. "He called off the wedding for you, and because of that, you avoid him. You're hurting him, Kris."

Kris kept her eyes to the ground and pretended not to hear the first part of Matt's speech, but she couldn't keep her opinion bottled on that last statement. "I'm hurting HIM?!" She nearly shouted, obvious rage escaping her mouth. "He's hurting himself! He's hurting me! Do you want to know the real reason I didn't get my racing license back, Matt?" Kris stopped so suddenly that Matt nearly dropped the feed bags, and she turned to get in his face. "I didn't get it back because his ex-fiancée's father gave the racing board his personal opinion on me, and because he's a senator, his word over ruled everyone else's opinion on the whole matter! Therefore, because of Junior's stupid decision to end it with Laura, my future got screwed over!" Kris fell to the ground on her knees and put her head in her shaking hands. "Just like that, my world has gone to hell. I should never have come back here. I should have known that something bad was going to happen because of me."

Matt looked down at Kris, then fell before her and took her in his arms. Kris allowed the contact, even hugged him back, but they both knew they would never let it go farther. "Kris, I'm so sorry, I had no idea. But you have to understand, he left Laura for you. He loves you, and I know you love him too. I know it will be hard for everyone to get over what's in the past, but you have to know that people WILL get over it. It just takes time."

"Time I don't think I can spare, Matt." Kris hugged him harder and then let go, and she took off toward the stables.

Matt didn't stop her but watched her go, knowing full well that Junior would still be there.

Kris ran her hardest to reach the stables without running into Junior. She needed to be with Wildfire, to tell him her troubles, and to convince herself that he was the only reason that she came back to Raintree. She needed to escape this whirlpool of madness that drove her to the brink of insanity. She needed to ride like the wind on the back of Flame in the races again. She needed…Junior.

Just as Kris rounded the stable doors, Wildfire's head poked out to meet her. She stopped dead, and blinked stupidly, confused that he was out. "Hey, boy." She whispered while she reached out to pet his head. "How did you get out?"

Wildfire pushed forward and moved past Kris without stopping. "Hey!" Kris turned back enter the stables, but slammed head first into Junior's chest. Instinctively, his arms surrounded her before she could fall back.

"Kris?" Junior's voice was hypnotic. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd left."

Kris looked up at him with a faint blush on her cheeks. "I did, but then I realized that I needed time to breath, so I came back to ride Wildfire." She turned toward the door, still locked in Junior's embrace. "But it seems you beat me to it, I guess."

Junior smiled, and Kris had to hold her breath to keep the soft gasp that was brewing from escaping. "I…needed some time to breathe too, but it's cool." He released her, and Kris almost wanted to pull him back, but she didn't.

She stared at the ground, but she could feel the heat of his gaze on her face. "Kris…I…"

"I should go…it's getting late, and I need to get Wildfire back in his…" Junior cut her off by grabbing her head with such force that she was too shocked to be afraid, and he brought her mouth to his own in a kiss that was filled with more desire and wanting than any other kiss they had shared in their troubled past.

(I've been hooked on this show since season 1, and I've been meaning to write a fanfic, but i haven't been able to get the time. Now that I have the time, I hope you all enjoy it.)