Sorry for the delay in posting… Life is quite busy… So far I've written 27 chapters, so I'll be posting them quickly. There are not so many left after these, so hopefully I'll be able to finish the story soon.

Chapter 10

When they broke the hug they stared into each other's eyes, unaware of the world around them.

It was like Alex was in a trance, lost in Claire's glare. He felt like there was some magical power attracting him towards her, a centimetre per minute, not removing his gaze from the girl he had so close.

But then he stopped. He was about to kiss her like he did the last time they saw each other. For him it felt so right, every fibre of his body desired it, but maybe she didn't feel the same way. She was smiling and seemed happy to see him again, but guilt about the way he'd left her overwhelmed him.

Claire had noticed how Alex was looking at her and couldn't help but smile. She was still wondering if this was real, if he was actually in front of her.

Suddenly she saw Alex's gaze becoming very serious. She had had the feeling he was leaning forward to kiss her, but now she had to laugh at her own stupidity. Why on Earth he would have kissed her in these circumstances? Surely he didn't feel that way about her, he had proven that by not getting in touch for eight months!

Alex stood motionless, he wasn't saying or doing anything, so Claire didn't know what to do with him, this was definitely weird. Usually it was so easy to talk to him… But now she really couldn't tell what he was thinking at all…

Finally Alex tried to break the ice, but it didn't work.

"How are ya?" he asked

"Fine" she answered dryly, without asking him the same question.

Minutes later they were still staring at each other.

Claire was starting to be really mad at him, at the thought he actually let their friendship be thrown away. It was his fault if they were so awkward and she was really scared that nothing would ever be the same. The fact that he didn't say anything, not even to offer a late excuse, made all worse.

Just before anger overtook Claire, they heard a familiar voice not far off. Stevie had just reached them.

"Hey! You found each other I see…" The girl was glad to see them together (she felt like it could be some fun watching them hanging around each other…).

"Do ya know him?" asked Claire amazed.

Stevie laughed. "Yeah, it is definitely a small world!! I met him yesterday at the station…" she explained.

Then Alex remembered Stevie was competing, so he found his good manners and asked how her competition had gone.

Stevie smiled proudly. "I came in fifth"

Alex had his mouth wide open, so Claire started her congrats. "Wow! It's great! So young and you're already so damn good!" Claire already knew Stevie was on the Rodeo circuit, she told her while they were watching together, so it wasn't a complete shock for her, but this girl seems to always have surprises.

They chatted about all and nothing for a while, when Alex felt his stomach groan. Looking at his watch he saw it was past his lunchtime.

"Hey girls, how about lunch together? I'm starving and I know there's a nice pub just around the corner…" he suggested. His father was too busy to worry about where he would have lunch and his mother and brother had stayed at home.

Claire and Stevie suddenly agreed and followed him to the pub.

The lunch was fun. Each of them had their own reasons to be happy.

Stevie was so glad she finally found the kind of person that could help her forget her problems.

A couple of years before, she was quite popular. She was pretty and from the outside she seemed strong and self-confident too. She could have fun with boy hobbies like none of the other girls did and she was enjoyable to look at, so every girl envied her and every boy hung around her.

She liked having male friends more than female. She always knew what blokes were thinking and she could handle it, but she couldn't stand girl's chitchatting and gossiping. But Claire was not this kind of girl, not at all. She clearly was direct and loyal.

Alex was the kind of guy every girl her age could fancy, and he knew it. It was weird he would be hanging around someone like Claire, but obviously their relationship was more complex than any ordinary friendship or even a teenage crush.

Alex was just happy, nothing more, nothing less. He was happy to be back from Queensland, he was happy to see Claire again, he was happy he had met the red-haired girl. He knew that he had to talk to Claire, but right now it didn't matter, right now they had company. The time he spent with both Claire and Stevie allowed him to observe Claire peacefully and to think about what he wanted to tell her, about what he wanted overall.

Claire had woken up that morning thinking she was going to see Alex. There were a lot of times she had wondered what this moment would be like, sometimes she had even wondered how she could kill Alex… but when it finally happened… she didn't want to kill him, at all.

When he had hugged her she was happy. She really had missed him after all. But the feeling of betrayal she had was still there. He betrayed their friendship and whatever they could have been.

During the day she had noticed him looking at her in a way that couldn't help but make her melt inside, and this only made her feel more confused.

What did he want?

What did she want?

She couldn't decide if she was more happy or angry with him, so for now she was glad she had someone else to focus on.

Stevie was the only girl she ever met that could be pretty without make up, high heels or stupid things like these. She attracted boys without doing anything just for appearance. She was frank and direct, and this was something she definitely liked about her new mate.

After lunch the three came back to the bull-riding arena, commenting on everything they saw, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, it was already time for dinner.

Claire and Alex both had to meet their fathers in the same place, while Stevie had a tent waiting for her at the campsite.

Harry Ryan and Jack McLeod arrived at the same time; probably they had met each other on the way.

"Hi girls. Hi Alex, nice to have you here again" Jack greeted them.

"Thanks Jack, I'm glad to be back too"

"Jack and I just found out we both booked a room in the same motel! What a coincidence!" said Harry.

"So tonight we can have dinner together," Jack added. Claire glanced at her father, then Stevie. She knew Stevie was alone and she had no parents and no relatives or friends to dinner with.

Jack understood. "Stevie, you can join us if you're free this evening."

Stevie smiled surprised. "With pleasure Mr McLeod, I'd like that. Thanks for the offer."

"You're welcome and call me Jack, I'm not that old yet…" They both laugh and went to the motel.

An hour after they finished dinner Stevie was already gone to her tent and Jack and Harry snored loudly in their respective rooms. Claire was still wide-awake; she didn't feel like going to bed yet, so she decided to take a walk.

A few feet later she almost bumped into someone. She was ready to scream and hit the person when she heard a familiar voice.

"Claire!" yelled Alex. "What the hell are ya doing out here this late?"

"Alex, it's you…" she sighed

"Yeah, you're lucky. What if I was a robber or something?"

This statement made Claire roll her eyes. "Gosh Alex, I'm not some poor little lady who faints when someone looks at her!! I can watch out for myself! And you, what are you doing out here?" she asked back, just to change the subject.

"Off for a walk. I couldn't sleep… You?"

"The same. Anyway it's none of your business Ryan," she said as she started walking again, but Alex followed behind her. "Still here?"

"Yes Claire." He answered making another step toward her. "What if I join you? Just for a while…" he then suggested.

Claire simply shrugged her shoulders and started walking again, slowly. Alex quickly reached her, joining her pace.

The motel was not far from the city, which put up the rodeo, but the walk was taking them in the opposite direction. After half an hour they were surrounded by fields and the only illumination they got were the city lights. Claire was breathing deeply, savouring the smells of grass and plants, the same scents she smelled at Drovers.

They were alone now, and Alex knew he had to say something, but he didn't know where he should start. During his way back he had thought of a sort of speech he could make, actually more than one, depending on which reaction she might have. Just now, he couldn't remember a single word of these speeches.

When he finally found the courage to talk, Claire's reaction was unexpected.

"Claire, I wanna tell you something… I have to explain…" he started, still insecure about how he was going to handle this situation, about what he was going to say. But soon she interrupted him.

"Stop it Alex. I'm not mad at you, not anymore. I know your father decided and you had no choice but go away. Nothing to explain, you see" Alex could see there was actually something wrong because she was talking faster than usual.

"But I… I kissed you…" he tried again, and again she didn't let him explain anything.

"No need to worry. I know it was a deal for you. We're not married and I've never expected anything else from you, nothing at all. You don't owe me any explanation or excuse, so can we forget the whole thing? Please?" she said, finally looking up at him.

He couldn't read her glare; he didn't know what she was thinking. He could only see she had made a decision and he couldn't change it, at least not in the near future. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint her even more, so he kept his mouth shut. They simply kept walking for a while, enjoying the silence of the peaceful night.

Alex was a bit sad. He could handle 'angry Claire', but now she didn't seem angry, only very quiet.

Even Alex was smart enough to figure out that Claire could have only one of two reasons for acting like this: either she didn't care about him, or she did care but she was too stubborn to admit that she was disappointed by his not getting in touch with her.

Maybe she thought this was the better way to take away the embarrassment they both felt, or so he hoped. He had to know sooner or later, but for now, he'd just have to wait and see what was going to happen. For now, his only plan was enjoying the time he had with Claire.