It's been a week since Shane arrived at the ranch. His body is falling into the routine of going to bed at nine at night and waking up at five in the morning (though he still isn't used to seven minute showers and having to brush his teeth at the same time Jason does). That's where the eighteen-year-old is now.
"Mmm," he hums with a mouthful of frothy paste, white toothbrush in his hand. He's elbowing Jason so that the older teen will move and he can spit into the single sink.
Jason, who's gotten rather friendly with Shane and has come to view his as a brother since he never had siblings, continues standing there, shaggy brown bangs hanging in his face as he cleanses his own mouth.
An angry Shane huffs, furrows his eyebrows and shoves Jason again, this time harder.
The ranch hand hits the wall, smiles and shoves the songwriter in return.
Shane nearly growls before spitting into the toilet and glaring at Jason playfully.
"Sorry," the nineteen-year-old replies with a grin after rinsing his teeth with water. Shane does the same and the two head into their coordinating bedroom.
"What am I doing today?" the singer wants to know as he slips on a pair of broken-in jeans over his underwear.
Jason walks out of the closet shirtless and Shane is kind of dumbstruck. He eyes the boy's perfect abs, toned chest and the way Jason's sharp hip bones stick out just above the waistband of his denim pants.
"Learnin' to ride," he replies, referring to riding a horse. "What?" Cindy's nephew asks in his soft, innocent homey voice.
"I-I, um, nothing," Shane stutters before shaking his head and clearing his wrongly inferred thoughts to Jason's answer. That's when he reminds himself that he has a boyfriend, his name is Carson and his body isn't that toned or gorgeous, but most of all that Jason likes girls.
The nineteen-year-old blinks indifferently and slowly slips his faded t-shirt on. "Alright," he replies strangely. He slips his boots on quickly and asks, "You ready?"
"I, well, no, actually I need- I can't ride horses. I can barely even brush them."
"You'll be fine," the older retorts before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the hallway.
They're out in the barn in less than two minutes and Shane is finally accustomed to the horse smell so he doesn't have to hold his breath or regulate it.
The nineteen-year-old retrieves his quarter horse mare from her stall and ties her out on the metal loop nailed to the stall frame.
"Are you riding too?" the eighteen-year-old asks curiously.
"Nah," Jason replies as he goes into the tack room.
Shane follows him and takes the heavy leather saddle before going back to Bella. "What-"
"Here," the other says as he's taking the seat from his charge and turning it to the correct side. A thick blanket is placed under the saddle before Shane is instructed to put it on the mare's back.
"Now what?" the eighteen-year-old asks after he does so.
"Watch me and then I'll let you do it, okay?"
"Mhm," Shane nods, eyes focusing on Jason's backside more so than on the saddle girth.
"Got it?" Jason asks before backing up and admiring his work.
"Uh, no," Shane mutters shyly.
With a soft sigh Jason chuckles. "Never mind, you can learn later." The teenager puts the horse's bridle on her, leads the mammal outside of the barn.
"How am I supposed to get up there?" Shane asks, a wave of self-consciousness washing over him.
Jason makes a stirrup out of his hands by interlacing his fingers and holding them lower than his western saddle's actual foothold. "Put your foot in and throw your other leg over."
Shane takes a deep breath and puts his foot into Jason's hands, pausing before saying, "I don't wanna hurt you."
"It ain't gonna hurt," Jason reassures him. "Just step up and throw your leg over."
"Okay," Shane agrees. He grabs the horse's mane and hops a bit before trying to throw his leg over but when it doesn't work Jason unhooks his hands, places one of them on Shane's butt and hoists him onto Bella's back.
"There," Jason grins triumphantly when he looks up at his roommate. He adjusts the stirrups on his saddle and puts Shane's feet in them. "Keep your heels down and keep your toes up."
"Why?" Shane asks curiously, looking down at Jason from up on the animal.
"It'll help keep your balance. Okay, hold the reins with your right hand and you're not supposed to but if you think you need to you can hold onto the saddle horn."
"Easy enough," Shane comments with a flirty smile that's quickly wiped away when an image of Carson enters the actor's mind. He places his hands in Jason's ordered positions and asks, "Now what?"
"Squeeze Bella with your legs a little but not too hard or she'll take off with you."
Shane follows the gentle commands and shrieks when the horse slowly begins to walk. The noise brings a delightful smile and a tiny laugh from Jason. He carefully catches up with the pair as to avoid startling the mare and takes Bella's bridle before leading her to an enclosed arena.
It takes Shane a while to get used to the feeling of a moving beast under him. He's managed to let go of the saddle horn and pull his shoulders back like Jason told him to. His legs and hips are beginning to ache but he's excited because he's learned to steer using the reins by simply touching them to the sides of Bella's neck.
"You know, this is actually pretty fun," Shane admits on his twenty-second lap around the ring.
"I said you'd be fine," Jason comments as he leans back against the fence with crossed arms.
"I'm not scared anymore," the actor admits with a smile directed towards Jason. "I can't wait to tell Carson. He'll be uber shocked."
"Uber?" the nineteen-year-old asks.
"It means, like, a lot," Shane explains as he turns the horse around and trots towards Jason on her before stopping. "I wanna do something else. Walking and trotting are boring."
"I thought you were scared," Jason mocks childishly.
"I was," Shane agrees enthusiastically. "I'm not anymore though. Is there, like, a speed limit on this thing?"
Jason can't help but laugh. "You think you're ready?"
"Yeah, I think so," the eighteen-year-old confirms. "Can I canter? Isn't that what it's called?"
"Yeah, that's it. You sure?" he asks slowly.
"Definitely," Shane grins, flipping his bangs out of his face and licking his dry lips. "How do I do it?"
"All you gotta do is get her trottin' and then make a kissin' noise," Jason explains in a laid back manner. "And you gotta kick 'er a li'le bit. Just be real clear with your signals and she'll get the message."
"Alrighty," Shane agrees before turning Bella around and leading her to the edge of the arena before clucking softly to bring her into a trot. Once she's at a steady pace, the eighteen-year-old makes several kissing noises before the mare begins to canter obediently. All is smooth and the boy is baring well until Bella comes to an abrupt stop, rears up and Shane falls to the ground with a thud. The mare then gallops to the other side of the pen where she halts and is breathing sharply.
"Shane!" Jason cries out as he rushes to the fallen boy, accent coming through more than ever. "Oh my God, are you okay? I knew you weren't ready, I don't know why I thought you were."
The singer, whose air supply was knocked completely out of him looks up at the nineteen-year-old with a desperate expression. He tries to move his left leg and cries out in pain, "Fuck!"
Cindy's son figures this is not the time to correct Shane's foul language and touches the boy's calf before asking, "Where does it hurt?"
"Shit!" Shane hisses when the ranch hand touches his shin.
"Come on," Jason murmurs before putting an arm behind the actor's shoulders and hooking another one under his knees. The eighteen-year-old is holding back tears of pain as he's carried into the main house bridal-style. "Aunt Cindy!" the teenager hollers. "Aunt Cindy, we need you!"
Mrs. Kennedy rushes into the room, eyes popping out when she sees her house guest who's now on the sofa. "What happened?"
"He was ridin' Bella and he wanted to canter so I said he could and I guess somethin' spooked her and she reared," Jason babbles nervously. "It's all my fault, Aunt Cindy. I knew he wasn't ready to-"
"It's not your fault," Shane insists, propping his elbow up on the arm of the couch. "I insisted that I was ready-"
"It doesn't matter how it happened," Cindy says as she grabs a pillow from the loveseat and gently puts it under Shane's swelling leg. "Jason, go get some ice from the freezer."
The guilty teenager nods, looking at Shane regretfully before he leaves and returns with a cold pack. He lies it on the eighteen-year-old's leg and sits down. When Shane is settled Cindy leaves the room again and the two are free to talk.
"I'm real, real sorry," Jason says, sweet southern voice making Shane squeal internally. "I didn't mean-"
"I know you didn't mean for it to happen," Shane replies as he pulls his cell phone from his back pocket and dials Carson's cell phone.
"I-I guess I gotta go get Bella," Jason stammers before standing to leave the living room. "I'm sorry," he mumbles once more as Shane sits with his cell phone to his ear. He walks out silently.
"Shay," Carson gushes when he answers. "My God, we haven't talked in two days."
"I know," the eighteen-year-old says.
"What's up?"
"I fell off a horse today," Shane sighs as he lays his head back against the couch.
"Baby," Carson stresses dramatically. "Are you okay? Did you break anything?"
"I don't know. I hurt my leg pretty bad."
"I miss you so much already," he whines, voice annoying Shane with its highness.
"Me too," the songwriter replies half-heartedly. "I've been learning a lot. I know how to groom a horse and I had to clean out stalls but what's really awesome is-"
"Oh, hey, I gotta go to work. I'll call you later," Carson says before hanging up abruptly.
"Great," Shane sighs, flipping his cell phone closed and tossing it on the coffee table.