Chapter 7
Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't updated, I was away in Norfolk with no Internet. However this does mean that I have written quite a lot of chapters. I'm not going to upload them all at once but I will upload more quickly. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and nagged me to keep writing it really does help me, so thank you. Also I realised that I have used a couple of words that people who spend time with horses will know but others might not.
Tack= Bridle and saddle which is the headset and seat that horses wear.
Bit= this is what goes inside the horses mouth and is attached to the bridle. (You can buy bridles without bits but they are rarely used).
Eventing= this is a competition that involves Dressage, show jumping and cross-country.
Bareback= Riding without a bridle or saddle.
Any hoo I hope you enjoy this new chapter and that you have all had a fantastic summer.
Disclaimer
I don't own any of Joss Stirling's fantastically written storylines and characters. ENJOY AND SMILE!
I ran through the entrance gates and spotted Fern leaning against the lamppost with one earphone in. She looked so cool and relaxed. Okay Seth just play it cool. Try and walk over real smooth. I took a deep breath and made my way toward her. I was hoping she would notice me like in the movies but she seemed too engrossed in her music to see. I decided to go for the less dorky approach.
"Hey lab partner. What you listening to? You looked absorbed into it." I said hoping I sounded cool rather than awkward.
"Oh God!" She jumped away from the lamppost hand on her heart in fright.
"I'm so sorry. Did I scare you? I didn't mean to scare you. I swear all ever seem to do is scare you." I frantically grabbed her arms in some attempt to calm her down. When she realised it was just me I let go with some reluctance.
"No it's alright. I'm so sorry for jumping. I really need to be more alert. My friend Eve moved to London a couple of months ago to study music and she's put up some recordings on Facebook. She's an awesome guitarist. Want to listen?"
"Sure sounds awesome" I bent down a little so that I could get the other earphone in my ear. Fern was considerably shorter than me but I didn't care, I liked her height. The music was amazing and Fern's friend was incredibly talented, but I could only focus on that for a couple of seconds. I suddenly became incredibly aware of the small distance between Fern and I. The length of the earphones meant that we had to stand close together and all I could focus on was the warmth and comfort radiating off of her, her gentle breathing and the my heart beating frantically. I thought I was imagining it but I felt as though when I got closer, her breathing hitched. Then the music stopped and Fern's brother Glen arrived. Fern gave me a nervous smile and we both removed our headphones.
"Hey is that Eve? Mind if I listen?" He said as he caught a glimpse of what was on the phone.
"Sure go for it. She's great isn't she?" she said directing her question to me.
"Who? Oh you mean your friend." Nice one Seth. I couldn't help it. The only thing I had focused on in the song was Fern. "Yeah she's amazing. How long has she played guitar for?" I asked for small talk. I didn't want to seem as though I wasn't interested because I was interested. Her friend really was talented I had just been easily distracted.
"I think she's played since she could hold a baby guitar. She was nice to everybody and she would hang out with everyone. She had no limits or cliques. She just got along with everyone. She was in Glen's year and he's had a huge crush on her for a long time." I smiled a little as she seemed to be babbling due to being nervous. Her shyness was very cute sometimes. "Oh here's Charlie. It might be a little tight; it's only a pickup truck."
"It's alright. I don't mind." Actually, I was petrified. When I had been heartless and laughed a little at Fern introducing herself, Charlie had glared at me for pretty much the whole of the dinner. I don't blame him I would've done the same to me but now I knew that I was going to have to work hard to gain Charlie's trust. I could tell that both of Fern's brothers were incredibly protective over her. I could relate to how they felt. All I wanted to do was kick the ass of anyone who tried to take advantage of her, and a couple of days ago I had acted like the kind of guy who might take advantage of her, and I hated that they even thought I would do that to Fern.
"Hey guys, how was school?" Charlie called from his window. He hadn't noticed me yet.
"It was good thanks. You remember Seth right? He's coming back with us to the ranch. I'm going to take him over to the Fall's this afternoon." Fern said as she got in to the seat next to Charlie.
The pick up had two seats in the front, three behind and then a long open trunk.
The three seats at the back were small so I knew legroom for me was going to be tight. I slid in behind Fern as Glen got in behind Charlie and I saw Charlie glare at me through the rear-view mirror. Great.
"Sounds great Fern." He said without taking his eyes off of me. "Make sure to take the short route so that it's not dark by the time you get back." I knew by the look in his eyes that his intentions weren't to get us back before dark but to minimise the time Fern spent with me.
"I wouldn't worry about that Charlie. It's summer so its doesn't get dark until nine at the earliest." Fern said, oblivious to the staring match Charlie and I were having.
"Alright… Just be careful okay." He said with a heavy dose of warning.
"Sure… okay." Fern gave him a confused look. "Charlie, are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine little sis" Charlie sighed and started the truck, ignoring me in the process. Well, at least I thought he would ignore me but then the questions came. "So, Seth. What brings you and your family back to Colorado?" he asked cautiously.
"Well we were in England for a couple of years due to my mum missing her home country but our entire family lives here, even my English grandparents, so we moved back." I decided to leave out the part where I had become too violent and messed up for my last school to handle me.
"Any other reason?" Charlie hedged. I suddenly panicked thinking maybe he was a mind reader but I didn't want to bring up my issues to a car of three other people so I lied instead.
"Nope nothing else." Charlie grunted a little in disgust. Now I was sure he was a mind reader of some sort. Great he now thinks I'm a liar, although I still preferred it that way than discussing my personal issues with him. The only person I had talked to about it was Fern.
He gave me another glare and then he continued to ignore me for the rest of the ride. I was hoping that either Glen or Fern would fill in the silence but Fern had put in her earphones after Charlie's questions and Glen seemed to have talked telepathically with Charlie because he too glared at me and then stared out of the window. I decided to calm myself down from the pressure of Fern's brother's hatred by focusing on Fern instead. I saw her calm face through the side mirrors of the car and saw that she had fallen asleep listening to her music. She looked so peaceful and happy. Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her thick dark eyelashes fluttered a little on her skin. The corners of her mouth were pulled up into the smallest of smiles and I couldn't help but wish I knew what she was dreaming about.
The truck came to a halt and Charlie and Glen got out of the truck. We were back at the ranch. I was just about to gently shake Ferns shoulders from behind when Charlie opened Fern's door and glared at me to back off. I did so and he turned his attention back to Fern and woke her up.
"Come on kid naptimes over, we're home." He said gently and shook her shoulders a little. Jealousy slapped me in the face. I wanted to be the one to look after her. I took a deep breath and went to sit on the porch steps to wait for Fern. She came round to the steps yawning.
"Are you sure you want to go for a ride this afternoon? I would understand if your tired and don't want to." I said concerned. Although I knew I would be incredibly disappointed. I hadn't forgotten about my mission to speak telepathically to her.
"No don't worry, I always have a nap on the way home from school. I'm just going to get changed for the ride. You can borrow some of Glen and Charlie's clothes if you want?" I felt myself light up a little at her not giving up on the ride.
"It's alright I've got some spare clothes in my tack closet for last minute rides so I'll wear those." I said. I was pretty sure that Charlie wouldn't want me near his stuff.
"Okay I'll see you in the barn in five minutes." She seemed excited. I had seen that same glint in her eyes the last time we had ridden together. When she was around horses it was like you saw a completely different side to her. She was more confident and energetic. I loved it.
She ran inside and I made my way to the barn changing quickly in Athena's stable in case anyone came in. Just as I took my shirt off and grabbed my new one Fern walked into the barn and saw me.
Fern's POV
I stared at him. He was beautiful. His muscles were taut and he had a strong six-pack running down his torso. Every muscle flexed as he stood up straight and saw me. I could almost imagine magnificent wings expanding out from his shoulder blades. I shook my head to remove my weird imaginings and realised that I was still staring. His face showed as much shock as mine did and we both seemed to be blushing. At first I couldn't look away but he cleared his throat and my body kicked into action. I swiftly turned around and started to walk outside.
"I'm sorry. I'll wait outside until your done." I heard the shakiness in my voice and wished it would be still.
"Wait it's okay I'm decent." He called after me. I turned around and saw he had thrown his shirt on but it was the kind of shirt that was tight and still showed off his build. I swallowed and walked past Athena's stable again in the other direction towards the fields.
"Lets go get the horses then." I wanted to seem as though seeing him shirtless hadn't affected me but in truth it had made my stomach do somersaults. He followed after me at a relaxed pace.
When we reached the fields I put my fingers in my mouth and created a loud high-pitched whistle. Within a couple of seconds I heard Spirits hooves racing towards us and looked up to see Athena following in curiosity. When she saw Seth she quickened her pace and was neck and neck with Spirit. I thought her reaction was sweet and showed she had a lot of love for Seth.
"How long have you had Athena for?" I asked.
"I got her when I was eight. She was just over a year old and was being sent to an abattoir to be slaughtered." He said with a look of disgust.
"What? why?" I was shocked.
"Her previous owners had separated her from her mother at 6 months old and had been training her for racing by using oppressive methods. She would always fight them and wouldn't comply, no matter how much pain they bought down on her. She was known as a 'rogue' horse and they chose to discard her. My dad and I caught her as she was running away from the men leading her to the abattoir and I asked to buy her. She could walk fine and there was nothing wrong with her so I asked my dad and he agreed with me, he also didn't want to leave her in the hands of those men, so we took her." He seemed haunted by her past but relieved at her now.
"That's incredible. What you did for her. You saved her life." I looked at him with a new perspective and found a new respect for him. He really did love horses as much as me.
"Yeah well it's more like she saved me. When I started 'slipping', as they say, I should have been a lot worse but she kept me out of trouble. It was when I left for England and had to leave her in Colorado that I started to get in trouble more often."
"That's understandable. Your one true distraction was taken away from you. You've been all right, from what I've seen, since you got back. Are you alright now?" I asked suddenly concerned that he wasn't all right.
"Yeah I'm alright now but I don't think its just Athena that's helped"
"Oh really. What else?" I wanted to know if there was anyway I could contribute to helping him if he ever felt down. He looked at me intensely as if he was going to say something but changed his mind.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." Now that peaked my interest but I backed away not wanting to push him.
"Okay" I said simply. I opened the gate and let Spirit out to follow me back to the stable. Seth followed with Athena in a halter. I led Spirit into his stable and gave him some hay to munch on whilst I groomed him.
"Wait, don't tell me. You're actually going to put tack on him today?" Seth said with an amused smile. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"No, I'm just grooming him. He likes to be pampered." Spirit lifted his head up in a nodding motion in agreement and we laughed at him. "He does wear tack though we both just prefer not to." I explained.
"Are there any times that you would wear tack?" He asked seemingly intrigued by my wild spirited horse.
"Yeah. When I was younger I wanted to do pony club and go to shows and events and I'd put tack on him, but even then it would be a bridle without a bit and I would talk to him rather than kick him and use a whip and all sorts. Gradually though I realised that I too preferred to go bareback and that I wasn't all that into events. Everyone was so jealous of everyone. Now, we sometimes do little shows in the local area but not much. Have you ever competed?"
"It took me a while to fully gain Athena's trust but once I had I gently introduced to a new bridle and saddle. The ones she had previously been trained with had been too small and hurt her, so it took a while but we got there. We actually discovered that she's more of an eventing horse rather than a racehorse. If I wanted to we could've gone and done big events and gotten famous she's that good but savants can't do that so we just do mini events. She loves them though. She gets really excited when she sees jumps." Watching him talk about Athena and riding was magical. I knew that he knew Athena inside and out and enjoyed competing with her and his passion for horse riding was obvious.
"Well there are normally a couple of fallen trees on the route we're taking if you want to have a jump." I said. His eyes lit up and I saw his excitement.
"Really that'll be awesome." He started whispering to Athena soothingly probably telling her about it. My gift taught me that horses can actually understand humans they just can't talk back and sometimes just choose not to react but I saw Athena's ears move forward in anticipation. That's the thing about horses. Their reactions are subtle and fast. The more time you spend around them the more attuned you are to their movements.
Spirit gave me a small nudge and put his muzzle in my hand and I realised I had been staring at Seth and Athena so I gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and carried on grooming whilst humming soothingly to him.
We set out on our ride 10 minutes later once Athena was groomed and tacked up. I couldn't wait to show Seth the Fall's. No one outside of my family has ever seen it but Seth seemed as though he understood the outdoors in a similar way to my family so I thought it was good place to show him. Plus it is my favourite place for forgetting about stresses and worries.
Our ride to the Fall's was relaxed. I was still revelling in the fact that I felt no need to try and fill the silence We talked a little and we jumped a couple of fallen trees. I could see what Seth meant about Athena's passion for jumping. She had a lot of power and surged forward yet she had an air of calculation so she could anticipate when to take off and with the right amount of power. Seth looked as though he was completely in control and happier than I had ever seen him since he arrived in Colorado.
"Hey Seth I just realised something. My mum does a little ranch competition each year for all the people who keep their horses at the ranch. I think it's taking place next month but you should enter." He looked a little exhilarated after the jumps and smiled.
"That would be awesome, I'd love too. Will you enter with me?"
"I don't know. I don't normally take part anymore in those kind of things." He didn't seem to want to give up on his idea.
"Oh come on don't worry about it. We can enter together. It'll be fun." I started to think about it and then remembered what it felt like to be watched in an arena and froze up. I just couldn't do it.
"I'm sorry Seth. I mean I'll think about it but I really don't feel confident enough for something like…" I trailed off as I saw the opening for the Fall's and smiled. "Look Seth, we're here." Spirit trotted towards the opening knowing the area well.
I looked at Seth's face when he saw the Fall's and grinned. It's possibly one of the most beautiful places in Colorado.
A sparkling stream runs from a huge waterfall that cascades mystically down a large rock face. The sun gleams against the rocks as though there are magic gems hidden within them. A willow tree stands by the side of the stream leaning into the waterfall as though they were having a conversation. Its long hanging branches swung in the light breeze, the silver green leaves whispering, beckoning us closer. I dismounted and Spirit ran into the stream and pawed at the water as though he was a young foal again and then without warning he rolled and splashed the water at me. I laughed and ran in splashing him back. I then realised that Athena and Seth had joined us and we were having a huge water fight.
When the water fight had finished Seth and I went and sat under the willow tree and listened to the waterfall. Spirit and Athena were lying down in the sun drying off, Seth having removed Athena's tack. I felt like I was in a movie and that none of it was real. It just seemed so magical here. Seth suddenly turned to me looking extremely nervous.
"I hope you don't mind but there's something I need to do." I was a little taken aback as I had no idea what he meant. I was almost going to laugh but he seemed so serious.
"Okay…? Do you need to go back because I know a shortcut?" He looked a bit confused about my reply.
"Nonono. Don't worry I don't need to go anywhere. I have to ask you a question." He looked at me intensely, which only confused me further but I just carried on.
"Sure what's up?" He then went very quiet contemplating what to do. He looked up at me staring me right in the eyes.
Are you my soulfinder? The message echoed through my brain like a fire spreading, yet it was a good fire, if that even exists. I wanted the fire to spread because I knew exactly what it meant. I realised I had my eyes closed. I opened them to see a world so bright it was blinding. Every rock face that glistened in the sun or droplet of water that refracted light into rainbows was so beautiful I almost wanted to cry and then there was the most beautiful thing of all. Seth's deep blue eyes looked back at me expectantly. I just sat for a minute staring at him, the most beautiful person I had ever met. I put my hand on his cheek and felt his smooth skin beneath my fingertips and realised that I was leaving him waiting. It was time to answer him.
Hello soulfinder. I watched as shock spread across his face and then settled in an expression that made my heart melt, as I knew he was experiencing exactly what I did. We both felt complete. He took my face in his hands and we just sat there staring at each other. I could feel light tears of happiness roll down my cheeks and Seth wiped them away with his thumb and bundled me up into his lap and held me.
"It's you, it's really you. I knew it was you." He whispered so gently I only just heard and he buried his face in my hair. I realised that my shyness was causing me to hold back and I hated it, so I pushed it away and wrapped my arms around Seth's torso and felt so happy in that moment that everything around me seemed to fall away and it was just me and Seth. Seth tightened his arms around me a little as though accepting and understanding that I had opened up to him. My entire heart felt like it was going to burst with happiness. I pushed back from his chest gently and looked at his face. This time I took his face in my hands.
"Thank you for finding me." I spoke just as gently as he did before. "I'm so sorry that you suffered for so long and experienced so much pain with the cases you were solving. I promise that I will always be there for you. You won't have to be alone anymore." Very slowly and gently a tear rolled down his cheek and as he did for me I wiped it away and switched roles with him and held him as he had done for me. He buried his face in my hair again and it felt like we could stay there for an eternity and never get tired of one another's presence.
After a long while Seth shifted and I realised we had been there for some time, so I began to get off of his lap. "Wait, don't go yet. There's one more thing I have to do." With that he pulled me towards him and kissed me. I had never been kissed before but I knew that no other kiss from anyone else would ever compare to this kiss. His lips were soft and he held me so gently that I was afraid he was going to fade away from me. So I kissed him back and wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. When we parted we were both breathless. "That was incredible." His voice was a little hoarse. I couldn't help but blush and smile nervously.
"I've never been kissed before." I smiled shyly up at him. He looked shocked at my admission. I felt a little self-conscious by that.
"Seriously? Never? But you're so beautiful. I've wanted to kiss you for days now." I blushed even deeper at that and he chuckled and stroked my cheek. "The guys at our school are idiots although I must admit I'm grateful." If he carried on saying things like that my face might be on fire. I smiled nervously and said.
"I take it you've kissed plenty of girls in the past then." His expression changed to one of embarrassment.
"I've kissed a few and I hate saying it because it makes me feel like I've cheated on you." I laughed at that. He looked so sheepish in making his confession. His face softened. "I like your laugh it's pretty." I grinned.
"Are you trying to make up for the fact that you feel you've cheated on me?" This time he blushed and I laughed harder and kissed him on the cheek. "I wouldn't worry about the people from the past. We didn't even know each other then." He smiled then and pulled me in for another kiss.
We stayed for a few moments longer under the old willow before deciding to head back to the ranch.
"We should probably decide how we're going to tell our families about us." He said whilst putting Athena's tack back on
"Okay well maybe we can invite your parents over for dinner and we can announce it to all of them then." I looked at Seth and saw the glint of fear in his eyes. "Seth what's wrong? Are you alright?" He looked so terrified I almost laughed.
"I'm fine, it's just that your brothers hate me and your fathers not too far behind I imagine." This confused me to no end.
"What makes you think that?" I'm pretty sure that they had barely spoken and then realised that I had been asleep in the car and missed their conversation.
"Well, do you remember that time you introduced yourself to my family and I laughed." I giggled a little and nodded remembering how I had tried to hold a grudge against him. "Your brother Charlie spent the rest of the evening glaring at me and your dad wasn't much different. Also in the car today I held back the fact that the other reason for me leaving England was because I got too violent for the school to handle. I think your brother caught onto me lying and told Glen and then they both ignored me for the rest of the ride." I tried to suppress my smile as Charlie and Glen could be quite protective of the family. Seth caught my smile and groaned. "God dammit you probably think I'm an idiot now, but I want your family to like me." My smile softened at that and I put my arm around his waist and placed my head on his chest. He looped his arms around me in return and rested his chin on my head.
"They will. My mum already thinks your some sort of angel, my dad is really a softy so once he hears you're my soulfinder he'll immediately accept you. Unfortunately my brothers are still looking for their soulfinder's so it may take them some time, but they'll get used to you and realise that your not as bad as they think. Plus if they don't I'll set up some hard-core pranks against them." He laughed at that last bit and kissed the top of my head.
"Alright then, lets go before it gets dark." We both got on our horses and headed back.
We had just reached the barn when a realisation hit me and I groaned in despair. I fell forward and lay along Spirits neck who whinnied in amusement at my antics. Seth gave a crooked smile of amusement and lent over sideways so that his head was in the same position as mine.
"What's up beautiful?" I sat up straight feeling a little giddy about the way he had called me beautiful.
"It's nothing really. It's actually a little embarrassing."
"What?" He now had a glint of amusement in his eyes. I suddenly realised that I was going to have to explain this now even though I didn't want him to know.
"Ugh. Well, do you remember that morning where you helped me with my books when I fell over." He nodded and encouraged me to go on. "Afterwards Faheema came along and started teasing and making out that you and I liked each other and the truth is that… I… did like you." I spoke slowly after that, feeling the embarrassment kick in. We were now in the barn putting our horses in the stables. I had my back to Seth as I tried to hide my embarrassment. "Well… I kind of… sort of… told Faheema I had a crush on you… which I did, and now if she sees us together she will probably tease me a lot." I suddenly became nervous and spoke really fast and babbled. "However, you might not want to be seen with me at school and you know, be my boyfriend so I don't really know why I brought this up because it's just weird really and I was stupid to not think first before speak…"Suddenly, mid-sentence, Seth spun me around and kissed me. It was a deep kiss that lingered on my lips. He pulled away and looked me in the eyes.
"Sorry, you were nervous and babbling, it was the only thing I could think of to calm you down." I nodded slightly and gave him a small smile. "Of course I want to be seen with you at school and be your boyfriend." He suddenly went red. "That is of course… if you want me to be… you know… your boyfriend" he reached up and scratched the back of his head nervously. I reached up and kissed him on the cheek lightly and then nodded my head.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Suddenly from the door of Spirit's stable there was a scream. Spirit fled to the back of his stable in fright and Seth spun around standing protectively in front of me, only to find Faheema standing there with both hands on her cheeks grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. I sighed and looked at Seth "see, I told you she'd be like this." Waving my hand towards her.
"OH MY GOODNESS! I'm so happy right now I could cry. I mean seriously I can't believe what I just witnessed. It was like watching a really cute but slightly weird romance movie. You guys, I knew this would happen. Didn't I tell you he liked you?" I looked at Seth who blushed at that. She continued to gush and I figured she wasn't going to stop soon, so put my hand over her mouth. This backfired as she licked my hand.
"Eewww Faheema! I swear we talked about boundaries. No licking." I wiped my hand on her sleeve and then grabbed her hand and slapped it lightly.
"Whatever, Don't spoil my fun. You do realise that I have been waiting for you to get a boyfriend for me to tease you about since, oh I don't know, we first met." I laughed at that because it was kind of true. Even when I didn't talk to her she would chatter on to me about me getting a boyfriend one day.
"Yeah and the relationship might not last long if you scare him away with words like 'I knew he liked you'" I used a cookie monster voice to imitate her as a joke. Both Seth and I were going to the tack room to get food for the horses and Faheema was never too far behind. Seth was obviously finding the conversation hilarious.
"Um Excuse me but did I just detect a cookie monster voice. Now that is a hit below the belt. I was nine when I went through the phase of talking like that. It was one time and I haven't spoken with the cookie monster voice since." I swivelled around and looked at her with one eyebrow raised and said,
"Are you sure about that?" she groaned but laughed a little too and pushed me gently into Spirits stable to give him his feed. She then turned on her heels and started asking Seth questions that any crazy but loveable best friend would ask her friends boyfriend. Such as 'what's your idea of a perfect date? If you say movies then you are too simplistic and not aloud to date my friend' and 'do you have any hot friends I can date?'
After all the craziness Faheema got to the real reason why she was here and handed over the flowers her mum had bought for us, as we let Faheema stay round so often. She then left and Seth and I made our way to the house. I had called ahead telepathically, asking my mum if we could invite the Benedict's over for dinner. When she said yes Seth had sent a message to his family and they had arrived 5 minutes ago and both our families were inside.
I straightened out my clothes and brushed through my hair with my fingers wanting to look at least a little presentable to Seth's family.
"Do I look okay?" I asked Seth suddenly incredibly nervous. Not only did we have to tell both our families we were soulfinder's but we would have to stand up in front of both of them and say it. Kind of like a brief version of public speaking, which is definitely not my forte. Seth turned to look at me and smiled softly.
"You look beautiful Fern. You always do." I smiled. No one had ever said that to me before. I suddenly noticed the small hint of nervousness in him too as he straightened his clothes out like I had and stared at the front door worryingly. I took his hand and reached up with my other hand and ran it through his hair ruffling it ever so slightly.
"You look very handsome." I said trying to comfort him as he had done for me. He smiled at me still quite nervous.
"Thank you beautiful." With that we both turned and opened the front door and walked in.
It was time to face the parents.
