Chapter 13

Amy woke up with a smile on her face. Despite still having a cast, she was really looking forward towards Christmas, which was only one week away. Her friendship with Soraya and Ashley was stronger than ever before, as was her relationship with Ty. She got dressed and ready for the day, and walked downstairs with a bounce in her step.

"What's got you so happy?" Marion asked curiously when Amy walked into the kitchen.

"Oh nothing much. Life is real good at the moment," Amy told her happily. "Well, minus the cast and stupid no riding policy. What about you? You've been all smiley lately too," she added.

Marion chuckled. "I've actually got something to tell you," she confessed. "Nothing too major."

Amy raised her eyebrow, so Marion continued.

"I met a guy.. His name's Mark. There's nothing going on between us, but he's been a real good friend so far," she explained.

"Oh. Tell me more about him," Amy urged, getting a cup of coffee. She was happy for Marion, she really was. But she just needed some time to actually process everything in her own head before getting excited.

"Well, he's my age," Marion began, "he's from Okotoks - still lives there. He used to be on the rodeo circuit until his mid-twenties, which is when he got put out with a leg injury. Now, he's a contractor...oh, and he has an ex-wife," she finished some time later.

"Okay. Wow. That is a lot to process!" Amy laughed. "He sounds really nice, Mom. Have you told Lou any of this?"

Marion smiled, happy that Amy was chill about the whole thing. "He is. Not yet," she said. "I know I need to, and I was planning on telling you two girls together and all, but you just picked up on it.. Do you reckon she'll be okay with it?"

"I do, I mean, it's been years since you and Dad got divorced, and she was totally fine with Dad and Miranda in the end, and that was years ago," Amy replied. "I'm sure she'll be fine, Mom," she reassured, getting up and giving Marion a hug.

"Thanks Amy." Marion smiled gratefully and kissed her cheek.

"You have nothing to thank me for." Amy grinned.

The two women set around to making breakfast, chatting happily.

"Are you going to Ty's today?" Marion asked curiously after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I'm helping him fill in some last-minute university applications," Amy replied, piling some scrambled eggs onto her plate.

"What about you? Do you still want to take a gap year?" Marion asked, setting her own plate on the table.

"Yeah... I don't know what to do, so why apply and waste the money, you know?" Amy replied.

"Yes, I know what you mean," Marion agreed. "Ty still hoping to get into the Uni of Calgary's Vet program?" She wondered aloud.

"Yeah, he doesn't really want to go anywhere else."

(x)

Just as Ty was coming back to the house from the barn, he saw Amy pull up in Jack's truck. He grinned and began to jog through the snow, which was beginning to fall more heavily.

"Driving with a cast?" Ty asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh shut up!" Amy laughed. "Nobody said I couldn't!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ty teased, wrapping his arms around her. "Did Dr Shepherd tell you when they're gonna take it off at your appointment earlier?" He asked curiously.

"Just after the new year, hopefully," Amy replied. "I honestly can't wait for it to come off!"

"I don't blame you," Ty said, leading her to the porch where they had shelter from the falling snow. He softly took Amy's chin in his right hand while his left arm snaked around her waist. Feeling his hand on her chin, Amy looked up at him. Ty smiled at her lovingly and looked into her eyes. "You're beautiful," he breathed. A blush rose to Amy's cheeks, but before she could reply, Ty softly pressed his lips to hers in a loving kiss.

"What was that for?" Amy asked when they broke apart, her warm breath creating white clouds in the cold air.

"Nothin'," Ty replied, "just wanted to kiss my girlfriend, or can I not do that anymore?" He grinned.

"Mmm, I suppose you can," Amy teased before kissing Ty softly. "Come on, lets go fill out those applications, Tyler James!" she jabbed him in the ribs and went inside. Ty laughed at her childishness and followed her inside.

Throughout the afternoon, the snowfall got worse and there had been announcements on both the television and the radio recommending people don't drive unless absolutely necessary. As soon as Amy heard the news, her cell phone began ringing.

"Hey Mom," she said into the receiver. "Yeah, I'll ask."

'Can I stay over?' she mouthed to Ty. He nodded in response; there was no way anyone in his family would let Amy drive in this type of weather. Amy smiled softly.

"Yeah, I can," she said to Marion. "Okay, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, love you."

She hung up and put the phone back into her jean pocket, then moved closer to Ty, her teeth chattering. Ty reached behind them to get a blanket, unfolded it, and wrapped in around her.

"Are you okay?" Ty asked, worried.

Amy shook her head. "This can't be happening," she muttered, "it's a week before Christmas."

"Hey now," Ty murmured, "you're going to be fine. We're gonna keep you nice and warm, out of the cold, and I'm going to go make you some tea, alright?"

"Okay," Amy slowly agreed, "but I'm really comfy right now."

Suddenly, Ty began sneezing.

"Oh no," Amy sighed. "Looks like we both need that cup of tea... Bless you," she finished when Ty stopped sneezing.

Before he had the chance to say anything, Lily walked into the living room. "'Oh no', what? Why do you both need a cup of tea?" She asked curiously.

"Looks like both Amy and I are getting sick," Ty muttered, wrapping the blanket tighter around Amy.

"Oh no.. You get a blanket around yourself too," she said to Ty, "and I'm going to go make you two some tea."

Amy and Ty both nodded. "Thank you," Amy managed to say before bursting into a coughing fit. Ty gave her a worried look, a rubbed his hand up and down her back. Lily waited until Amy's breathing was back to normal before she left the pair alone and went to the kitchen to make the two tea's.

Soon, Amy and Ty were curled up under two fleece blankets on the couch, each a mug of steaming hot tea in their hands. They all decided to watch a movie, seeing they couldn't do much because of the blizzard. They let Lee choose the movie, soon realizing he'd be the only one watching it since he chose Pixar's "Cars".

About half-way through the movie, Ty noticed Amy was asleep, so he stood up carefully, picked her up, carried her upstairs and tucked her into bed. He then sat at his desk and began filling the rest of his university applications.

(x)

Amy blinked back tears as she read a diary entry from nearly ten months ago; just before life began to get better.

April 4th

Dear Diary,
I just feel so alone. Like nobody's here for my and that when something comes up, when anything comes up, I just fade into the background and people just forget about me. I heard the girls talking in class today, and they have plans for the weekend - plans I wasn't even aware of. They seem to always have plans, whether it's shopping, a sleepover, going to see a movie, or other stuff, they never even bother to invite me. They just exclude me from everything, and even though I do have some other friends, I feel like an outsider most of the time. I don't know how to deal with any of this.. - Amy

Amy sat perched against her headboard, biting her lip in hope the tears would stop flowing.

Meanwhile, Ty knocked on the front door of the house before stepping inside the mudroom.

"Hey Ty!" Lou called out.

"Hey," he greeted in response, taking off his hat, scarf, heavy winter jacket and boots.

"What you got there?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Amy's Christmas present, we decided that we're gonna exchange gifts in our own privacy rather than in front of the gang," Ty said.

"That makes sense," Lou nodded, understanding why Amy and Ty wouldn't want to exchange gifts in front of their friends.

Ty headed up the stairs to Amy's room. What he wasn't expecting was to find her leaning against the headboard of her bed sobbing her heart out. He rushed to her side. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing," Amy managed to laugh a little. "I was reading through a diary entry from April and it just kind of got to me," she explained.

Ty sighed in relief. He was glad it wasn't anything else. He wrapped his arms around her petite body and kissed her forehead. "Hi," he whispered into her hair.

"Hey," Amy murmured, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" Ty asked curiously.

"For always being here for me," Amy replied, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Well, you're welcome, even though you don't need to thank me," Ty told her honestly as he kissed her temple. "How are you feeling? Your fever has gone down."

"Better," Amy murmured, "what about you? You haven't sneezed once since you got here."

"I'm feeling better too. I just have a stuffed nose every morning," he admitted. "I've got something for you." Amy lifted her head curiously while Ty reached for the box behind him. He gave it to her and kissed her softly. "I hope you like it."

Amy opened the box and grinned when she saw the personalized halter for Spartan. She started laughing and shaking her head.

"What? What's wrong? Do you not like it?" Ty asked, panicked.

"No, I love it," Amy replied. "One second." She got up and walked to her closet. There, she got a box which was really similar to the one Ty gave her. When she got back to her bed, she sat down and handed it to Ty. "Open it," she prompted. Ty opened the box and looked at Amy with a raised eyebrow when he saw what was inside - a personalized halter for Harley, like the one he got Amy for Spartan.

"I guess we are really 'meant to be', huh?" He asked, rubbing his nose against Amy's in an Eskimo kiss.

"Yeah, I guess we are," Amy replied happily, pressing her lips against his in a sweet kiss.

A/N; So this is a little shorter than the last chapter. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave a review, I love knowing what you guys think. Also, since I'm on here right now, I don't know when the next update will be even though I'm on summer break since I'm busy with the horses. I will try my best to give you another chapter as soon as possible! If you wanna talk, feel free to PM me here or my Tumblr (heartland-and-beyond) or my Instagram (hlandbeyond). 'Til next time, Heartlanders!