Authors Note

I would have liked more reviews for the last chapter—because I loved it—but oh well. I am updating because this story is fun. RS Amy is tied for my favorite Amy with WS Amy… and now LR Amy. She's wacky and quirky in a cute kind of way. And Ty's so funny as well. Because Amy can torture him without even meaning to. And because Ty just gets so adorably confused and frustrated. But mainly because everyone loves a Bad Boy Ty. Me more then anyone. Yay.

I absolutely adore reviews,

Steph Malfoy

Disclaimer: did Ty have tattoos in Lauren Brooke's Heartland? Did he wear tight pants? There ya go.

RODEO STONER

Chapter 6: Ranch Family Fiasco

AMYPOV

Thursday

"So girls, was the rodeo a good option?" Mom peered back at us from the passenger seat.

Abbey bounced up and down in her seat, jabbing me in the side with her bony little elbows. I wasn't sure how she was still awake, but she was. Alive and kicking. Quite literally. "Yeah!"

Mom smiled. "And you, Lou?"

"It was great," she said sincerely.

"Yeah," I said under my breath, "only because Adam was there."

"Problem, Amy?" mom rose her eyebrows at me.

I smiled tersely. "No. None at all."

"That's what I thought," mom said knowingly. "And how did you enjoy the night?"

"I got a real big kick out of the whole calf tying thing," I said sarcastically. "Because that didn't look like it hurt at all."

"I'm glad to see everyone's in a good mood," dad said brightly from the front seat.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Abbey asked, oblivious to what had just passed.

"Yellowstone again, sweetie. We still have so much we haven't seen," mom said.

"Can we see a bear tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

"Adam saw one," she pointed out.

I slumped against the window, very ready to be back in our little cabin. It had been a long night. A long, very confusing night. If I wasn't so sure that I'd seen him with my own eyes, I would have convinced myself that it was a dream. Or that I was hallucinating. Who knew? I mean, seriously. I may only have met the guy sporadically, and never very pleasantly, over the last few days, but I thought I had been right in pegging him as a total non-cowboy. And then the rodeo fiasco happened and… and he wasn't even wearing a cowboy hat! He was like the ultimate anti-cowboy… so what was he doing at a rodeo? Rodeos were a cowboy heaven.

And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that I'd made a total fool out of myself. I don't think I've ever stuttered quite so much. Or run away. From a guy. One guy. Granted, he was a very mad guy holding a lead rope but… I'm not usually one to run away. He must think I'm… well, I don't actually care what he thinks. I really didn't. There was absolutely no reason as to why I should either. He was so… so… so… he was just so not my type. So it's really a good thing I didn't care. Because I didn't care. At all.

I was curious though. About the people that had arrived as I'd left, for one. Like whom they were. Not that it mattered, really. I'd probably never see them again. They had probably just got lost. Just because Ty looked pissed didn't mean anything. I'd come to realize that that was pretty common expression for him.

Back in the cabin, I chose to forgo a shower. I'd take one in the morning when no one else was up. I would be taking no part in the Shower Wars tonight. But, by all means, everyone else was free to squabble over the oddly, slim, rectangular bathroom. But I still had to brush my teeth so I was stuck in last place all the same.

I lounged on my twin bed, staring up at the ceiling. Abbey was already sleeping in her bed by the window. Lou was rummaging through her suitcase on the floor, waiting for her turn in the bathroom. Mom was still in. I had a long wait to go.

Forty-five minutes later I was still lying in bed, except now I was staring up at the dark ceiling. Abbey was still fast asleep and I was pretty sure Lou was too. In the next room, mom and dad were sleeping as well. As far as I knew, it was only me up. I knew I should be sleeping, but I wasn't even tired. Even though I knew we'd be up early again tomorrow. I felt like there were so many better things to do in Colorado then spend every day in Yellowstone. It was cool and all, but there was only so much national park experience I could take per day. My problem was that I just didn't know what else there was to do.

A sudden idea struck me and I sat up in my bed. At home, whenever I couldn't sleep, I go outside to see the horses for a while. Why couldn't I do the same here? Of course, getting out would be substantially more challenging here then it was at home. I looked at the window; I could probably fit through it. My hopes were dashed when I remembered Abbey was sleeping right under it. The front door was definitely out since mom and dad were right there. The bathroom window would have to do.

I got quietly out of bed and pulled a Heartland sweatshirt on over my head and picked my flip-flops up. I tiptoed in the bathroom and quietly closed the door. I eyed the window, wondering just how this was supposed to work. I carefully dulled up the blinds and then unlocked the window. I had to force the window up and it opened with an ominous creak. I froze and listened. All I heard were the crickets and bugs outside. I breathed a sigh of relief. I threw my sandals out before carefully maneuvering myself through the window. I sucked in my stomach to fit through and dropped silently down to the ground below. I hissed as I landed on a rock and hoped over to my shoes. I carefully shut the window all the way, leaving just a crack at the bottom so I could get back in.

I ran silently down the little path behind the cabins, going through a little grove of trees. I hopped easily over a little stream and continued running. I stopped as I came to the edge of the trees. The coral and barn were just in front of me, across the road. I looked around carefully, not sure if I'd get shot for being down here at night, before walking swiftly to the coral. A couple of the horses moved towards me and I stroked their silky muzzles, breathing in the scent of horse. I instantly felt better.

There was a slamming door and a crash in the back of the barn and I must have jumped a mile in the ear. My scream was muffled into a small squeak through my fear. I put a hand over my heart to still its racing when I heard raised voice coming towards me. I looked around, like a dear frozen in the headlights, before darting in through the open doors of the barn. I ducked down behind a feed box.

I leaned back against a stack of hay and settled down to wait.

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TYPOV

I stalked out of my rooms behind the barn and went to my truck, which was still rigged up to the trailer. I swung open the door on the side of trailer and jumped in. I picked up my saddle before exciting.

"Ty, come on. Just talk to us. That's all we want."

I slammed the door shut with more force than necessary. My mother flinched at the loud noise. My father and Lee were behind her now.

"No," I said, walking away.

"We're your family, Ty," my father's deep, know-it-all voice carried after me, "you can't run from us forever."

I tossed the saddle against the side of the barn and swung around. "Really? Is that what you call this?" I waved a hand between us. "A family? Because that's not what I think of this."

My mother stepped towards me. I stepped back. She sighed and hitched her purse higher up on her shoulder. "Of course we're a family, Ty."

"Really?" I said in disbelief. "Because I kind of got the impression that we weren't. You know, when you sent me here."

"That was for your own good, Ty," my father said roughly. "You were falling in with the wrong people, the wrong crowd. You were developing habits that would have only caused you trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "And so you sent me away. All the way across the country. What were you trying to do, hide your own son?" I grinned.

"We weren't—"

"Yes, you were," I interrupted. "You were scared of what I would do to your reputations. You didn't want people to know about me. So you sent me away. Now, I may be wrong, but that's usually not what a family does. What kind of a family do you have when you're hiding one of its so called 'members'?"

"Coming here was best for you," my mother tried again.

I laughed darkly. "Best for whom exactly? Me? Because I think it was for you."

"Small town life should have helped you," my mother pleaded. I switched my weight from foot to foot as I waited for her to finish. "City life isn't good for some people. Everything's much more open and fresh in a small town. Especially out here," she waved her arms around.

"You can't change who I am by sending me to the desert," I said wryly. "Changing my location isn't going to change me. But you all did a great job of running from it. This is the… what? The first time you've even considered visiting in four years?" I raised my eyebrows.

"We wanted to let you settle in," my mother said.

"Since when does it take four years to settle in?" I snapped back sharply. "Why can't you people just admit it? You were ashamed of me. Ashamed that I was your son."

"That's not true," my mother claimed, her voice rising now. "We could never be ashamed of our son."

"But as a brother, on the other hand, I certainly was," Lee spoke up now. I turned my glare on him and he met it with one of his own. "You couldn't be normal, could you? No. I got to say my brother was a stoner, and now a school dropout. Oh yeah, people just love that."

My anger boiled in my veins. "And that's exactly my point right there. None of you really ever cared about me. You care about what people think of me and how that will affect you."

Lee snickered and joyously said, "What's next, Ty? A gang?"

I finally swung on him. "And you had better shut the hell up," I spat in his face. "Or maybe I could shut you up myself. I've learned a few things in the last four years."

My father pushed my away from Lee roughly as I raised my arm and I stumbled back a few steps. "Don't you ever threaten your brother!" he roared at me. Lee straightened up and I glared at him over my father's shoulder. Lee grinned. "You had better start showing some respect, boy, or so help me God—"

"What are you going to do to me?" I laughed in his face. "Send me somewhere else? Do we have a relative in Arkansas I don't know about? Well guess what," now my voice matched his, "you can't do anything to me anymore. I'm an adult and it's my life to control now. Not yours. So now you can just get in your fucking car and drive the hell away."

"Tyler Baldwin!" my father barked.

I took a step closer to him. "This is my home now," I said, jabbing a finger at my chest, "and I'm politely asking you to leave. Now," I said when they didn't move.

My mother stepped between us. "If we could all just calm down then maybe we could have a reasonable discussion together," she suggested in a shaking, falsely calm voice. "Now, Ty—"

I threw my arms up in the air. "I can't believe this. I can't believe you people. I'm finished here."

I heard their footsteps following me.

"You can't run away from your family, Ty!" my mother screeched behind me. I froze in my footsteps and clenched my hands into fists by my sides. "Your family is the people that love and care for you the most in the world. You can't reject us like this."

I turned around slowly. My father put his arm around my mother's shoulders. "If this is what the people that are supposed to care about me most are, then I don't need them."

"You disappoint us, Ty," my father said stiffly.

"Good. Then I've done something right in my life."

I continued on my way over to Blue and Red, my blood still boiling. I leaned against their small coral as I heard car doors slamming and an engine starting. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down. Blue and Red were watching me curiously and I stared back at them. I quickly scaled the fence and hoped into the coral with them. I leaned my head on Red's muscular neck and Blue came up behind me and put his great head on my shoulder, snuffling at the back of my hair. I sighed. The urge to hit something slowly faded away.

I only looked up when I heard gravel crunching. Someone was running down the driveway, back to the cabins. I had it in my mind to find out just who it was but I stopped before I was over the coral. I jumped back down and leaned against the wood. Blue and Red came up to me again and I placed a hand on each of their muzzles. I sighed and tilted my head forwards, my dark hair falling across my eyes when I looked back up them.

"Ain't life grand?"

The two answering snorts were all I needed as an answer.

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AMYPOV

Friday

"Where the hell were you last night?" Lou hissed into my ear as she pulled me farther away from mom and dad.

I shook her off of my arm. "Nowhere," I said and continued following mom, dad and Abbey up to the farmhouse for breakfast.

"Don't give me that, Amy," Lou said in a low voice. "I watched you get up and the bathroom window was open."

I sighed. "I went out," I said begrudgingly.

Lou rolled her eyes. "Yes, I kind of gathered that much. I should rephrase my question. Where did you go?"

"Nowhere, okay?" I hissed back. Lou looked at me skeptically. "I just went to see the horses for a couple minutes. I couldn't sleep. I didn't do anything illegal."

"Well let's try keeping the midnight romps to a minimum, shall we?" she said as she pushed me in through the front door to the farmhouse. I gave her a look before grabbing a glazed doughnut from the buffet table and dropping into a chair at the nearest tables.

Sulkily, I tore off a small bite and popped it into my mouth. I chewed it slowly and thoughtfully as I looked around the room. There was only one other family seated at the tables besides Rick and Cara at the head table with the baby. However, today there were three other people sitting with them. A smartly dressed man and woman who looked like they had absolutely no business on a dusty ranch, and a teenager. The man looked briefly at me and I choked on my bite of doughnut. I could recognize those eyes anywhere. It was the man I'd run into while fleeing Ty at the rodeo the day before. I ducked my head down and hid behind a curtain of my hair.

I ate through my doughnut very fast then, desperate to get out of the farmhouse before he recognized me. This day was definitely not off to a good start. It wasn't enough that I was already trying to forget about the fight I had unwillingly heard between Ty and his family—who they were, I still didn't know. But the fight had seemed pretty bad. At least no one had seen me.

I couldn't imagine fighting like that with my parents, or with my sisters. Of course we fought sometimes but never like that. I couldn't even begin to picture it so it was shocking to hear such things being said to a family member.

The rest of my family joined me at the table I had selected and went their ways eating and chatting happily about the day ahead. Abbey, of course, was still convinced that we would see a bear. No one had the heart to tell her that maybe we wouldn't. I just watched them quietly for a few moments, tearing my napkin apart in strips in my lap. My family was acting no different this morning then they did every morning. But this morning I looked at them differently, taking in their actions and their kind words in a different way.

My reverie was broken by Rick's booming voice. "So did you guys ever catch up with Ty last night?"

There was a small pause. I glanced up in time to see the woman at the table give a tight smile and respond, "We found him."

Cara smiled at them as she bounced the baby on her lap. "Oh, that's good. We're so glad you've finally been able to make it out to visit. You've come at a good time; Ty's been doing so much better recently. He still has his moments of course, but he's really being doing better."

Rick slapped the table in a good natured way. "It's those horses of his," he said laughing, not noticing the stony faced couple he was speaking to. "I've always said that horses can do a wonder to kids."

Cara seemed to pick up on the terse couple at the table first. "He was alright, wasn't he?" she asked worriedly. "I mean, of course he was. It's just sometimes he disappears for a couple of hours and sometimes isn't so happy when he comes back."

"Where does he go?" the woman asked quickly.

Cara shrugged. "I don't know. He's an adult, I can't follow him around."

"Yes, yes of course," the woman said quickly with a wave of her hand."

Cara still looked worried. "But he was alright with you guys, wasn't he?" The answering silence made her nervous. "Oh please God, tell me he was okay."

The woman attempted to laugh. "He was Ty. Ty will be Ty no matter what," she tried to joke it off. "We're hoping to catch him again this morning so we can talk while everyone's calmer."

"Good," Cara seemed distracted. "That boy should know better…"

"Drugs screw with your head," the teenage boy said around a giant grin.

"Lee," the woman said softly but that was all. Then the dining room was silent once more.

I felt so stupid. I could have slapped myself. Of course those people were Ty's family. Now it all made sense. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it sooner. The eyes for one…

Suddenly I was out of my chair.

"Where are you going, Amy?" mom looked up at me, startled at my sudden movement.

"Uh," I stammered, that was a very good question. "Back down to the cabin, I want to make sure that I… uh… that I… erm, that I remembered to charge my iPod last night," I finally managed, rather unsurely.

Mom looked skeptical. "Well alright then…"

"Great," I said and was quickly out the door. I dashed down the hill, my eyes on the ground. All I knew was that I had to get out of that dining room before Ty's parents recognized me and said something that would inevitably incriminate me with my parents. My thoughts were so wrapped up that I didn't realize I was running straight towards someone until it was too late. I ran into a solid chest—one that I seemed to be getting very well acquainted with, if the last few days were any indication at all.

"Hey! Watch it!"

I jumped back, startled. I stumbled over a rock and started to fall. Two arms caught me before I was sitting in the dirt, however, and righted me back to my feet. I was blushing like mad. My face when deadly pale when I caught sight of the scuffed Converse and frayed jeans in my line of vision. I froze like a rabbit before jumping back again, my face once more burning. I started to fall again, thanks to my clumsy footwork and was once more caught.

"Whoa," this time his hands stayed on my shoulders. "Are you alright?"

I hesitatingly peeked up at him. I was so ready to see the anger behind those emerald eyes that I may have—or may not have—squeaked softly in surprise. Now they just looked amused… and slightly confused. Like he was wondering just who the heck the crazy girl who kept running into him and then falling was.

"Sorry," I groaned. I reached up a hand to crush some of the hair out of my eyes and my hand banged into his arms, knocking it off of my shoulder. I groaned and he let them both fall away. "Sorry… again."

He clasped his hands behind his back. "Maybe you should consider not running around with your eyes closed," he suggested. I winced, but not from the tone of his voice, from my own embarrassment, which was basically skyrocketing at that particular moment. "You know, just for future reference."

"Uh, yeah," I said, edging around him slowly. "That would probably be a good idea. I'm just going to… you know, go now…" I said as I began to walk away. And no, I didn't run. I wanted to, but I didn't… alright, so it was more of a fast walk but it was still a walk.

"I think I've seen more of your retreating back in the last twenty-four hours than anything else," he called out behind me.

I froze and slowly turned around. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"Well," he said, walking closer to me in a very casual hands in the pockets I-could-kill-you-right-now-really-fast-I'm-so-casual type of way. I gulped and back up slowly. He stopped walking towards me. "There was last night…" he frowned. "Both times."

I snapped my eyes up to his face. "Uh, both… times?" I said slowly.

"Yes," he said firmly. "Both times."

I gulped. Uh-oh. I guess that meant that someone had seen me fleeing the scene of the crime after all.

Still lost in thought, I hardly noticed when he spun around and continued on his way up to the farmhouse. Once his action did register in my thought process, however, I yelled out, quite as unexpected to me as it was to him… if not more. "You might not want to go up there."

He turned around to face me and I clamped my mouth shut in horror at what I had just said.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"Er…" I trailed off. "You might not want to go into the house," I said again in a rush.

He took a step closer to me again. "And just why would I not want to do that?"

"Well…" I said slowly. I weighed my options. Option one was to tell him his parents were there, which would further seal my fate as a witness of last night's arguments. Option two was to… run. And running didn't seem to be getting me too far these days. Either way, I rationalized I would come up looking like an idiot in the end. Again. I took a deep breath and plunged in. "Your, er, your parents are up there and they were… you know, uh… um, talking… about… you…" I got slower at the end of my sentence as I watched a dark cloud pass over his face. And we were back to the expression I'd come to expect.

"Well then," he said, walking briskly back towards me. "I'm sure the horses can spare some of their hay to me."

I'm not sure what made me do it. It might have been because I felt bad for him. Or it might have been because I was thankful for him for not bringing up the subject of last night. Or, you know, it might just have been because I'm an idiot. An idiot who really needs to start thinking before she blurts things out.

"I could get you something." He turned and looked at me questioningly. "Uh… a doughnut… or something… maybe."

His gaze was appraising as he stared at me. When he finally answered, it was like he had to force the word out. "Fine."

I was so shocked—at both my words and at his—that I just stood there, staring at him stupidly for another couple of seconds. "Right!" I said and whirled around and raced back up to the farmhouse. I could have sworn I heard him laughing behind me. I frowned. But hey, I would so be laughing at me too… if I wasn't me.

I think I swung the screen door to the house open with a bit more gusto then actually necessary because everyone stared at me as I jumped in. I froze and my face heated up. "I just… need another doughnut… apparently… I guess…" I mumbled incoherent phrases as I snatched up another doughnut and bolted for the door, leaving my spectators in a stunned silence.

I rushed back down the pathway. I stopped and looked around. I frowned when I didn't see Ty. I looked at the doughnut in my hand. Had I just hallucinated the whole thing? But the doughnut was real enough in my hand.

"That's not chocolate, is it?" a voice said from behind me said. I jumped about a mile up in the air before turning around. Sure enough, there Ty was, watching me with an amused expression on his… on his perfect face. "You ran right by me," he said as he sauntered up to me.

"Oh… sorry," I mumbled out again.

"That's not chocolate, is it?" he repeated, gesturing to the doughnut in my hands.

I looked down at it. "Uh… no… oh! Right, sorry… here you go." I handed it to him.

He eyed me before taking the doughnut from my outstretched hands. "Thanks." He looked down at it. "And it's not chocolate. Good. Chocolate doughnuts are gross. And sweet things are not good in the morning."

"Yeah," I said, not really agreeing with him—though, in theory, I totally did.

"What did you say your name was again?" he asked me eventually.

"Uh… Amy," I said.

"Hmmm," he said with a nod and started to walk back down the hill. I followed him, but only because that was the way I was going as well.

a/nphew. Sucky ending but oh well. School tomorrow… yay… and I would edit but, as I said, school tomorrow… yay… Reviews make me happy! So review, because the AmyTy fun starts in the next chapter… oh, you so want to review now. -Steph