Thanks to Dlwritingproduction's idea for Beck's revenge. Enjoy!

. . .

Slam

Cat was perfectly content, despite her legs shaking with weariness. That was the fastest canter she'd ever gotten out of Sully, and even Mason who seemed unusually happy today said Sully looked totally cute when he was cantering like that. She'd worked with her babies and they were coming along fine; the filly Lily – everyone knew she was a girl, but just saying "filly Lily" made Cat smile – was totally able to go into a stall without panicking. She should bring her something, like maybe some apples, or carrots since Laurie served them every lunch and she really didn't like them –

When she opened the door to her cabin, she almost balked like one of her babies. Her bunk wasn't empty. But what was he doing here?

"Hey, Cat," he said, giving her one of his million-dollar smiles.

"Hi Beck," she said cautiously. Her legs were aching to sit down, but somehow sitting on a bed with Jade's boyfriend seemed . . . wrong. Slightly dangerous, too.

She was about to bolt. He could see it in her face. Maybe the reason the foals liked her so much was because she was a lot like them: strong but brittle, unsure of how to deal with things outside her black-and-white world. Like love.

Or revenge.

"Sorry, just waiting for Jade," he said casually, standing. Maybe he shouldn't have reminded her – or himself – of Jade, but he had to convince her everything was normal. Her legs were shaking, it had been a hard ride, she wanted to sit down but wouldn't with him on the bed. That was okay. She was just innocent, pure.

Unlike him.

Pushing his doubts aside, gestured for her to sit, glancing at the horrible fish clock on the wall. Every day without fail, she walked in five minutes after Cat. Two minutes, tops. "I saw you were working with the foals."

She brightened instantly, firm-footed once again. She described in detail each yearling, colt and filly's progress. She didn't seem to even notice him sinking down on the bed beside her. Until he tried to take her hands. "Wha-What are you doing?"

Crap. "Sorry," he muttered, his mind racing. "You just looked so tired . . ."

She bit her lip, looking at him like he was a wild mustang who could snap at any moment. She balled her fists loosely in his, but didn't pull completely away, which he took as a good sign. Moving right along. "Are you sore from riding?"

She nodded slowly. "Um, a little."

"Here – turn around." She did carefully, and he slid his hands up over her shoulders, and under his outspread palms she seemed impossibly small and delicate. He traced her shoulder blades with the balls of his thumbs. He could actually feel her heartbeat through her shirt, fluttering like a trapped bird. He pressed down, gently but firmly, working her muscles and smoothing red hair aside. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and something about her surrender gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Fuzzy, almost, making it hard to think.

He dug into the soft hollow between her shoulders and her spine, and a soft groan escaped from her lips. His blood raced, and his fingers hesitated. She must have felt it, because she twisted around suddenly. "No, Beck, we shouldn't be –"

"Shh," he murmured. They both froze, catching their breath. The liquid brown eyes seemed to catch him by the chest, and it was without any thought of Jade or revenge – or any thought at all, really – that he leaned forward and pressed his mouth into hers.

He kissed her with a hunger that surprised them both, and she surrendered instantly with a soft sound in the back of her throat. Her fingers twined around his throat, and he caught her by the hips, not caring that he could taste the dust of the horses on her lips or that he was probably no better off. Her eyelashes were so long they tickled his cheeks as he slid forward, her strawberry hair falling in a curtain over both their faces –

A ragged noise somewhere between a gasp and a scream made them break apart. Jade was standing in the doorway, for once her face devoid of any hostility. All that showed was confusion, shock, and a raw hurt that made Beck's stomach turn inside out. This was only right. This was revenge. It was what he wanted. Right?

Dead wrong.

"Jade," Cat cried, jumping up off the bed and already tearing up. "Jade, I'm so sorry!"

"It was my fault," Beck said quietly, standing up before Jade could turn her wrath on Cat. "She didn't want to."

Jade looked at him, eyes unreadable. "Why?"

A stirring of anger rippled under his roiling shame. "Why don't you ask Mason?" Comprehension brought a surge of red to her face. "On second thought, I think you already know."

"How could you?" she hissed.

"How could you?" he shot back, clenching his fists. "Is he a better kisser than me, Jade? Is he hotter than me? Or are you so desperate you'll crawl after anyone in a cowboy hat?"

The slap, when it came, was expected.

"I hate you," she choked, mascara-clogged tears streaking down her face. "I HATE YOU!" And she ran from the cabin, sobbing. Beck was breathing like he'd run a marathon, trying and failing to settle the feelings churning inside him, threatening to turn him inside out.

The second slap was unexpected.

"Ow!" He stumbled back, clutching his cheek and staring. "Cat, what the heck?"

"How could you?" she yelled back, brown eyes sparking and dainty pink nails clenched into fists. "How could you do that to me?"

"You?"

"You used me!" Beck had never seen her so angry. "You totally just used me to get back at her!"

"But she –"

"Yeah, I saw them too, okay? I know what she did. But that didn't mean you had to do that to me!"

"You saw them?"

"I like stargazing, okay?" Now she was just mad. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Um . . . no."

"Good. My point is that I know she hurt you. But seriously? Did you have to hurt her back? Did you have to hurt me?"

"Cat –"

"NO! No you did NOT! Especially with the way I feel about you and everything!"

His head was swimming, his ears ringing with the weight of two slaps. "How you feel? What do you mean?"

"Just go away, Beck! GO AWAY!" And she fled after Jade. He heard the first faint sob just before the door shut with a slam. He was alone in a girl's cabin, a ten-fingered mark on his face, burning from head to toe with icy shame.

He had to get out of here. Had to find somewhere, someone who didn't hate everything about him. And that's when he knew who he needed. It always seemed to come back to her anyway. Maybe visiting another girl wasn't the best idea right now, but he wanted to talk to Tori.

He got up, for some inexplicable reason, made the sheets up nicely where he and Cat had been, as if erasing the scene of the crime would straighten out the tangle he'd woven himself into. And he slouched down the dirt road to the Big House, kicking up dust and avoiding the horses' accusatory stares.

. . .

Tori, despite being bedridden, was having a pretty good day. André had exercised both Gray lady and Perrier, so one less thing to worry about there. He'd brought up enough lunch for twenty people, satisfyingly deep-fat fried, and they'd munched and talked and laughed together. He seemed perfectly content to sit in an overstuffed chair by her bed and talk and play guitar and sing until she could walk again.

Well, that among other things. She'd never forget the feel of his lips on hers when she first came out of it.

He was giving her an encore, as her brain was a little fuzzy on the details, when she realized the door was open. She shoved him away instantly before realizing it was Beck, not Laurie. "Oh, hey Beck," she said as André sat back down, red-faced.

"Um . . . I wanted to talk to you," he muttered, looking everywhere but her. "But you can stay," he added as André made to leave.

Tori studied him. He didn't look too good. And – "Is that a slap mark?"

He took a deep breath. "Two, actually," he said tonelessly. "From Jade. And Cat."

"Cat?" Tori laughed nervously. "What did you do, make out with her boyfriend?" No answer. "Holy crap, Beck, what did you do?"

Another deep breath. "She hit me for kissing her to get back at Jade for kissing Mason."

Tori blinked twice. "Start at the beginning. Slowly."

He didn't know when he started crying, but once the tears started there was no going back.

. . .

The plot thickens . . . what will happen next? Wish I knew ;) Come on, I need some readers' help! REVIEW!