Disclaimer: I do not own Heartland. I also do not own the song "Forgiven" by Relient K.

Falling Short:

Ty wanted to say something. He wanted to say something so bad it made him feel a little sick.

But he knew he couldn't. She had made her decision and it wasn't up to him to try to make her reconsider. And anyways, if she wanted to act like selfish and nasty that was her problem. He'd never thought that he would call Amy, the girl it seemed that he had always been in love with, selfish. But he had. And sadly, he believed it was true.

He wandered over to the barn to continue his chores. There was no point hanging on the fence and sulking all day. Besides some hard work would help him relax a little bit. Goodness knows he needed it.

But when he walked in to see Amy standing at Sundancer's stall patting him gently, he almost walked right out of the barn again. But instead he walked forward and walked right past her without even acknowledging her presence.

Oh yes, I know this tension that you speak of
We're in the palm of a hand making a fist
It'd be best for one of us to speak up
But we prefer to pretend it does not exist

And you can't see past the blood on my hands
To see that you've been aptly damned
To fail and fail again

He was hurt, she knew. She thought that he had wanted it as well… but he hadn't wanted them to break up. He was in love with her.

And he always would be… even if he didn't tell her that.

He was walking towards the door of another horse's stall when he felt a small hand on his arm. He turned to see Amy standing behind him looking hurt. It hurt his heart to see her this way, but it would hurt his heart even more to have to talk to her like everything was okay… because it wasn't. Not in the least.

"Ty, are you okay?" she asked, her gray eyes flickering with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to…" He motioned towards the stall, trying to look eyes with it instead of Amy. It hurt so much less that way.

"Ty… I forgive you for not liking me anymore. I'm just glad that it's mutual. Things would be so much harder if it wasn't you, know…?"

"I know." He said, his voice sounding hard. If only she did know. If only, if only.

"Amy… I think that we need to…" His voice fluttered away into the wind. He couldn't help thinking that that was where their relationship had gone as well. Into the wind – never to return again. It was surely lost.

"Ty, it's easier not to talk about it. It'll all start to seem normal in time." She told him.

If only, if only.

Cause we're all guilty of the same things
We think the thoughts whether or not we see them through
And You know that I have been forgiven
And I just hope I can forgive You too

So don't you dare blame me for
Prying open the door
That's unleashed the bitterness
That's here in the midst of this
Sometimes we live for no one but ourselves

"I, I know… Amy…" His voice fell quiet again. He was surprised that it had worked at all. She left him so breathless.

"Somewhere, we just fell short, Ty." Amy said, trying to sound comforting. He was confused. What had they fallen short of? Love? Not on his part they hadn't.

For a moment he looked straight into her eyes.

"Don't say the word we Amy. There was no we apparently. All this was your choice. I can pretend that I like it this way, Amy. But I don't."

She looked at him stunned.

"You didn't… you didn't want to break up?" she asked.

But he understood now that it was time.

"No, Amy, I didn't. But apparently you and I don't connect that well anymore. Because the old Amy, the Amy who loved me, would have known that." He looked her straight in the eyes, and felt his anger flare.

She didn't say anything more. But he still had something more to say.

"So, just remember, Amy – when you remember our relationship, remember that it was you who fell short. Not me."

He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Amy." He began to walk away.

"Ty, Don't!" she said, seeming to find her voice. She wrapped her arm around his. "If I would have known that than I wouldn't have done all this." She pleaded with him.

This confused him. He stopped and turned around for a second.

"What?" he snarled angrily. It took her aback. She was quiet for a moment.

"I didn't fall short on love, Ty. I feel short on understanding. I didn't understand that you didn't want me to go to college. I didn't understand that you didn't like that other girl. I didn't understand that you still loved me…" she said quietly.

He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth this time. It was a kiss full of passion and longing. His eyes burned with a fire she had never seen before.

"And that, is why we can't be together anymore. Because we used to understand each other, Amy. Somehow, somewhere along the way we lost that."

He pulled away from her.

"Someday, Amy. Someday when you can understand me, maybe then we can be together." He told her and walked away. she collapsed to the ground, and lay there for a moment.

But he didn't look back.

His words echoed in her brain. Someday, Amy. Someday when you can understand me, maybe then we can be together.

But she never could.

And what we've been striving for
Has turned into nothing more
Than bodies limp on the floor
Victims of falling short
We kiss goodbye the cheek of our true love

---

I'm really really sorry that I pulled them apart, but it seemed that the situation was calling for it. Keep in mind that I really am an AmyxTy shipper. I really am, but sometimes the stories just mutate on you : P

Healing horses, Healing hearts,

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