Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own Heartland, along with Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls, Daniel Kingsman and, most importantly, my dreams. As if. It is all the work of Lauren Brooke.

A/N: I hope you're all enjoying it so far, I love writing it! This chapter is going to be quite sad, true to Heartland form; we'll see how it goes. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it made my day! And I don't really know about the time in this chapter, just go with it!

The next morning Amy woke up with a heavy heart. She had to be at a meeting for her course at noon so they had to leave by 10am. That barely gave her time to finish packing and say goodbye to the horses.

She got out of bed, showered and dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast. Jack, Nancy, Lou, Scott, Ty, Joni (back from Canada the evening before) and even Ben were all there, wanting to see her off. Amy was surprised but pleased at this informal gathering. Apart from Soraya and Matt all her close friends and family were there. Amy was touched. She hadn't expected anyone to make a deal of it. It made her realise how much they cared about her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What are you all doing here? Don't you all have to be at work?"

"What, you don't want us here?" shot Ben slyly. "Well, in that case…" he walked towards the door.

"Of course I want you here! It's great! Only I only have a couple of hours before leaving and I still have loads to do!"

"It's no problem", said Joni in her lilting accent. "As long as we get to see you off we're happy!"

"Aw, thanks Joni!" said Amy, hugging her. They all sat down and proceeded to eat the fry-up that Lou, Jack and Nancy had cooked. It was delicious.

"So, when are we going to see you next?" inquired Scott. "And you know you're always welcome to come and help out on my rounds, right? It would be a great learning experience and I could always use a hand. Just don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

Amy nodded. "That would be great, Scott. Thank you!"

The chatter grew louder as people ate less. But eventually everyone had finished and it was time to press on with the packing. Amy really couldn't afford to be late.

"So, thanks for breakfast, Grandpa, it was great!" she said.

"Any time, Amy. Now, you just remember to let us know when you're going. We want to see you off."

"Will do!" Amy replied, heading upstairs to pack. "Later!"

After an hour, with Lou's help, Amy had packed all of the things she would need that weren't already at the campus, including a photo of her and Sundance which made a pang in her heart when she looked at it, already missing him, and another that Ben had taken before Christmas of everyone standing in front of the farmhouse. It was one of her favourites.

She made her way downstairs, dumped her bags by the door and went out onto the yard. Ty came over to her.

"You all right?" he asked. He knew her too well.

She nodded. "I just don't want to leave everyone here" she confessed. "I'm really going to miss it."

She looked at him. "Come round and say goodbye to all the horses with me?"

"Of course," he said, kissing the top of her head. With his arm around her they made their way to the back paddock.

20 minutes later they had said goodbye to all of the 17 horses and ponies, including Sassy, Spindle and Madge. Amy was a bit teary when it came to Sassy, not knowing where she'd end up, who would buy her or even if she'd ever see her again. She fed the mare a horse cookie, slowly stroking her nose, talking to her quietly. She felt happy that she'd had that wonderful ride on her yesterday, but sad as well. She hugged the mare and kissed her nose, then whispered a quiet "goodbye" and turned her back on the mare, walking with Ty back to the farmhouse.

"You ready to leave then?" asked Jack Bartlett.

"Yeah, we need to go now. I don't want to miss my lecture", Amy answered, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Ty and Scott heaved her bags to the jeep and everyone came over to say goodbye.

"So, I guess this is it." Amy said, blinking back the tears. "I just want you all to know that I've had a really good vacation and I'm gonna miss you all so, so much."

"We'll miss you too, Amy", Joni spoke. "It's not the same with you away."

"Thanks", Amy managed to get out. She hugged Joni, Ben, Scott and Nancy, now blatantly crying. She would miss them all a lot.

She came to Lou and her sister's arms folded around her, hugging her tightly.

"You stay out of trouble, ok Amy?" Lou told her. Amy smiled weakly.

"I'll try. But, if there's an ill horse or something, keep an empty stable…?"

Lou shook her head. "You'll never change. Now, just have fun and remember that we love you and you're to come back anytime you want."

Amy squeezed her sister hard then, last of all, came to her Grandfather. He grasped her into his arms and Amy held him tight for a moment, trying to forget that she was going away. He didn't say anything; just let her know how much he cared for her.

After a moment they broke apart.

"Bye, everyone", said Amy tearfully, climbing into the jeep. "Thanks again for coming!"

Ty pulled his door closed too and started up the engine. Amy leaned out the window, trying to make last memories of her family. They waved and blew her kisses, smiling at her and the tears streaming down her face dripped onto the ground. Then the jeep moved out, down the drive and she lost sight of them altogether.

She took one last glance at the pastures as they turned onto the road and, with deep, shuddering breaths, she looked straight ahead and forced herself to keep her thoughts on what was ahead of her – college and learning how to be a vet so she could help all the sick and injured horses she ever came across.

X X

When Ty and Amy arrived at Virginia Tech College after a long journey it was 11.30 and Amy had just enough time to get a quick coffee with Ty after dumping her bags in her empty room. India wasn't coming back for another day.

They bought coffees and sat down in the student lounge, which was nearly empty. Ty took a gulp of his coffee.

"Urgh", he said. "This is the worst coffee I've ever drunken. How do you cope?"

Amy grinned. "The wonder of the kettle and coffee bean."

Ty laughed. "I bet it tastes better than this."

Amy nodded.

"Yup. So, you heading straight back home then?"

"Not sure", answered Ty. "I might make a little detour, there's a special herb shop I found on the internet. It's only about 20 minutes away from here so I thought I'd go and check it out."

"Sounds fun!" said Amy. She was about to add, Can I come with you, but she remembered just in time that she couldn't. She sipped her coffee.

Ty gulped the rest of his down and stood up. Amy followed suit.

"I should go", he said, looking at her. "You need to get ready for your class."

Amy nodded slowly, the tears welling up behind her eyes. She really didn't want to say goodbye to Ty. He was the person that understood her best, who she could always talk to. He was always there for her.

They slowly walked back to the jeep together. As they approached it Ty turned to face her.

"I guess this is goodbye, then" he said. The tears ran down Amy's face as she nodded.

"I guess." She sniffed.

Ty drew her into a long hug. She clung onto him as if she'd never see him again. Ty squeezed her gently.

"I love you", he whispered. Amy looked at him.

"I love you too" she answered. Then they kissed. Amy felt Ty's lips on hers and kissed him back, experiencing a range of emotions, from love to homesickness to fear.

They broke apart and Ty released her gently, taking her hands in his.

"Just follow you're heart, Amy. You can't go wrong."

He pressed a little package into her hand. Amy could feel something hard in it.

"This is for you. Open it later."

Amy looked up at him, gazing into his eyes, pleading with him not go. "Thank you, Ty. I don't know how I'd get on without you."

"We've been through this before," Ty said gently. He opened the jeep door and got in. Amy leaned forwards and gave him a quick, tight hug, unable to say anything due to the big lump in her throat. He hugged her back and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then briefly leant his forehead against hers, before she stepped back and allowed him to close the door. Blowing a kiss at her he said, "Goodbye, Amy, I love you." Then he was gone.

Turning towards her dorm room, Amy let the tears stream freely down her face. It was back to work now. She had to forget about Ty, her family and, most of all, Heartland.

X X

Amy didn't really feel like sitting in a lecture, but she persuaded herself that it was the right thing to do and, carrying some books, a notepad and a pen she made her way to the room where it was due to be held.

As the lecture got underway Amy began to take notes, making lists of the causes of BSE and how to cure it. Her mind wasn't really on it and she began to doodle aimlessly in the margins, drawing horses running, jumping and standing still. She tried to concentrate, but she couldn't and told herself that she would copy the notes off her neighbour, Philippa, later that evening.

Hen the lecture had finished, although it was lunchtime she wasn't really hungry. She had a sort of hollow, empty feeling inside. She decided to go down to the stables and see if there were any horses that needed exercising. She was always in the mood for riding and it would help strengthen up her wrist again.

In the tack room she met Jake. He gave her a hug.

"Hi Amy! Good to see you again! Did you have a good vacation?"

"Great thanks!" she smiled at him. "I miss it already. What about you? How was skiing in Colorado?"

They chatted for a few minutes then Jake remembered something.

"Janice knew you'd be down here some time this afternoon and she told me to tell you that if you want to take Jester out he could do with some exercise. We could go round the common and through the woods if you want."

Amy nodded. "Sounds good!" she said. "I'll just tack up. Meet you in 5 minutes, ok?"

And through the whole afternoon she found a way to keep busy – making the feeds, filling the water buckets, sweeping the yard, eating dinner and doing her essay. By mid-evening she was exhausted.

She went up to her dorm and at the sight of the cold, empty room she felt a sudden wave of homesickness wash over her. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her phone, punching in the familiar number.

"Hello?" Came the deep, comforting voice she missed so much. Amy started to talk.

"Hi Grandpa, it's me."

"Amy! Wonderful! How's it going back at college so far?"

"It's okay, I guess. But I miss you and everyone so much."

They chatted for twenty minutes, about the horses and everything. Then Amy reluctantly said goodbye. She felt washed out and she still wanted to speak to Ty. She dialled his number and held her phone to her ear, leaning back on the pillows.

"Amy? Hi! How are you?" he asked. Amy felt tears coming. It was horrible to hear his voice and long for him so much, yet to know she couldn't see him.

"I'm okay", she answered. Ty didn't buy it though.

"No you're not; I can hear it in your voice."

Amy sighed. "It's just that it's so lonely and boring here. India's not back yet and I nearly didn't go to my lecture this afternoon. And I just miss you guys so much, you wouldn't believe it."

Ty sounded sympathetic.

"Look, Amy", he said gently. "I know it's hard, but look on the bright side. You've got load of friends there, you enjoy your course and when you've finished, you'll be able to cure all the sick horses that come to Heartland. And if you want, I can always come out to see you sometime. I'm sure Jack would let me take a day off. And I miss you too."

Amy sniffed. "Thanks, Ty. I'd love that. And I forgot to tell you, there's going to be a jumping competition at Chestnut Hill School and they've asked me to do a join-up demonstration. Irene told me this afternoon."

"That's great!" Ty sounded relieved. "Now, will you be okay? Just phone if you need anything, or just to talk."

"I will thanks" Amy said. "And don't forget, I love you."

"I love you too, Amy. Goodnight." And he put down the phone.

Amy lay back down on her bed, ready to go to sleep. But she felt something poke her bum from her back pocket and, remembering the envelope that Ty had given her, she extricated it from her jeans, slid her finger under the flap and tipped the envelope up. A beautiful pair of earrings fell out onto her palm.

Amy gasped. They were gorgeous – A silver heart with a small horse engraved onto it and tiny silver chains falling down to about 2 inches under her earlobe. She smiled and put them on her nightstand. She'd try them on in the morning.

Yawning, she found a note in the envelope. She unfolded it and started to read. It said:

Dear Amy,

I just want to say that I had a great time with you and, even though I won't see you every day, you'll always be in my heart. I hope you like these earrings. I saw them and immediately thought of you. I suppose they are a token of thanks for always being there.

Please keep on doing what your heart tells you. You won't go wrong.

All my love, from Ty.

Amy ignored the tears that were yet again falling down her face and pulled out her cell phone. She quickly typed in a text message to Ty to thank him then, fatigue overwhelming her, she lay back and fell straight asleep.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that! Let me know what you think – a review would be lovely…

Next chapter: College, homesickness and Ty (or whatever adds to that in my brain!)