A/N I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE TAKEN FROM SEANSON 4 EPISODE 5 I DO NOT OWN IT! HAPPY EASTER! Thanks to my beta Elena Rain!

It took a few days but Kris healed fast and was back to work in no time. She was so excited for today because she got to help Matt train the Dirty Dozen as well as help Noah examine them. It was going to be a good day.

When they got to RainTree the Dirty Dozen were all in the paddock. Matt came running over with a few leashes.

"Sorry, I'm late. Let me just round them up and you can get started."

He quickly ran off. Kris looked to Noah with a small pleading smile.

He smiled. "Go, have fun."

"Yes!" Kris cheered. "WhooHoo!"

She quickly grabbed the other leashes and helped Matt chase after the horses. It was always something fun they had done together when she lived there. They always did it together and had fun doing. Sometimes, when there were only one or two horses in the paddock Matt got silly and chased Kris around. But this time they worked together and got all the horses together and tied up, laughing with each other all the while.

"Wow, that was quite a performance. " Noah said as she brought over the last two horses.

"I haven't felt like that in a really long time." Kris said panting a little.

"You were plugged into something, you know that right?"

She nodded. "For the first time in a long time, I knew exactly what I wanted and where I was supposed to be."

"Maybe this is where you're supposed to be, Kris. " Noah said.

Kris nodded and just smiled. "Someday I'm coming back here. I just haven't figured out how…yet."

Matt had to go help his mom with the dude ranch so Noah and Kris got to work helping the horses.

When they were finished Kris was packing up there things, when Noah walked over. "Headed to Davis Ranch next."

"Ok, Great, everything is packed and ready to go. Let me just go say goodbye to Wildfire and Matt."

Noah nodded and Kris ran off.

They were just about finished at Davis Farms when one of the ranch hands came over and told Kris Mr. Davis was looking for her. SO Kris walked out of the barn. To her surprise, "Mr. Davis" was really Junior.

She playfully smacked his arm. "Mr. Davis really? You scared me; I thought he was going to fire me or something."

Junior laughed. "I just wanted to sound professional, but anyway, here, I just wanted to give you this." He said handing her a note.

She opened and smiled at the wedding invite. "Thanks, of course I'll be there."

They shared a friendly hug before she burst into giggles. "You're middle name is Walter?"

He chuckled with her but said "Watch it, Furillo, Matt told me how ticklish you are." He said poking her side to prove a point.

She squealed and jumped back. "I'm sorry!"

He laughed. "So I'll see you later, then?"

"Yep, I'll see you later."

Kris went back into the barn to help Noah. She smiled. It was nice to be friends with Junior again.

Once she was finished with Noah he dropped her back at RainTree to help with training the horses.

"What are we doing here? I thought we had more work to do." Kris said.

"This was our last run for the day, why don't you stay here. I'm sure Matt can use you." Noah said.

"Are you sure, don't you want my help?"

"All I'm going to be doing is filling out paper work."

Kris smiled and nodded. "All right, thanks, Noah, I'll be in at 6 tomorrow."

"All right, see you then."

Noah drove away and Matt walked over with Flame.

"Hey," he greeted.

She kissed his cheek and smiled. "Hey you, How's training?"

"Rough, I tried to race Flame but he won't move."

"You just don't have the family connection like I do. I've know Flame since birth, I've know his daddy for years, he'll run for me." Kris said rubbing Flame on his nose.

"I've got an hour until the next trial ride, would you mind trying to race him now?"

"No, not at all."

"Great."

They both went to the track. Kris quickly got ready and climbed onto Flame.

She tapped him with her heals and tried to encourage him to move. "Come on, Flame, let's go buddy. You can do this, come on let's go, you can do, let's go"

Flame didn't move.

Matt came over with two other horses, and Taz.

"So much for my magic touch, he won't move for me, either." She sighed.

"He's herd bound. Maybe he's bonded with them." Matt suggested.

"Maybe's bonded with them so much he won't ride alone."

"Safety in numbers, come on, let's start off slow."

They all slowly started to walk together. Matt was on Taz leading one of the other horses and another rider was next to Kris on the other side riding the other race horse.

"All right, let's trot."

Together they were trotting and Flame was following right alongside them.

"This is working." Kris smiled.

They were moving faster cantering now.

"All right, when we get around this first turn, I need you to push him a little, try to get him to break away from the pack."

"OK." Kris nodded.

As they rounded the corner Kris pushed Flame to go faster as Matt held the other horses back….needless to say it didn't work. They were all a bit upset but Kris was more so than Matt.

Later that night at the hotel, he found out why.

They were cuddled together on the bed, "Matt, what if…what if the reason, Flame won't break away is because of me. What if I lost my touch? I mean, he wants to break I can feel it, he just won't do it. What if I'm the reason?" she asked softly, her fear of showing her vulnerability, shining through brighter than ever.

Matt held her tighter. "Kris, you're a great jockey. Flame is just herd bound and has a hard time racing without his friends at his side. Think about it, you learned to ride on Wildfire, he was the only horse you road for a long time. Didn't it feel weird when you had to ride someone else?"

"I guess but…"

"No, no buts, this isn't because of you. It's Flame's fear of being without the herd and honestly, I'm not surprised, after all they've been through, I'd be surprised if he was quick and easy to be away from them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Kris, trust me, I've been doing this my whole life. It's just going to take some time. We need to earn his trust, like we did with Wildfire when you first got to RainTree."

"Matt, that sounds great but…I can't do that and stay here. I'd need to go back and live at RainTree. Otherwise, things are going to get harder and more stressful on me."

Matt sighed and nodded. "I can't make any promises, but I will talk to my mom about it. You and I have always made a great team."

"It's all I can ask, Matt. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you feel a little better?"

Kris nodded. "Thank you, I'm sorry about my moment of self doubt."

"Hey, whenever you need an ego boost just let me know. You're a wonderful rider, Kris, and an even better jockey, don't let one bad ride make you forget that."

Kris nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They shared a kiss on the lips before closing their eyes and letting the darkness take over.

The next day, Kris took off from working with Noah and went to RainTree with Matt to help him.

Later on in the afternoon, Matt was tacking up one of the horses with Kris when he sighed. "Look, I talked to my mom, during lunch and…she still doesn't like the idea of you living here again. I'm so sorry, Kris. I tried. I really did."

"It's ok, thanks for trying." She sighed softly.

"She's gathering up a few guest and they want to watch Flame run. Maybe if she sees how good you are with him it will change her mind."

"Great, so no pressure." She teased.

He chuckled. "There is no pressure, either way I'll be with you. At the hotel, or here, it really doesn't matter."

She smiled softly and nodded. "All right, let's do this."

They all went back on the track with the same horses as last time.

"Just remember, when we get around the first turn, you need to get flame to gallop out."

Kris nodded. "I'm ready."

They all started off in a slow walk. When they reached the first turn Kris pushed him and slowly but surely Flame broke away from the group and he and Kris were off and galloping together, all the way to finish. She smiled widely, loving and missing the feeling of racing.

She finally came to a stop and climbed off Flame. "Good job, Buddy. I knew you could do it. Good job." He said rubbing his nose.

Matt caught up and climbed off Taz.

"He did it!" Kris cheered.

"We did!" Matt said.

She ran into his arms and they hugged tightly. Matt lifted her up, making her laugh. He laughed with her and set her down.

Jean and Pablo came over.

"Flame's speed is amazing." Jean said.

"The last horse I saw move like that was Wildfire. Congratulations." Pablo said to Kris.

"Thank you." She said softly. "Does this mean, Flame is staying her?" Kris asked.

"Flame isn't going anywhere." Matt smiled.

Jean nodded and smiled. She and Pablo walked away. Matt pulled Kris back into his arms and gave her a one arm hug. "So, practice tomorrow?"

"6am." Matt smiled.

Kris smiled. "Matt, I have such a good feeling about this."

"Me too."

They high fived and walked off. This was a reason to celebrate.

Matt started for the house. As he reached the front porch Kris stopped and pulled away. "Matt, stop."

He turned toward her and stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think I should go inside. Your mom only gave Flame permission to stay, not me."

"You're not staying, you're coming in for some ice cream, and we've got to celebrate."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea." Kris sighed.

"Kris, come on, you've be in this house a million times."

"Yeah, when I was allowed."

"Kris…"

"Matt, listen to her." Jean said as she walked out the front door. "I told you how I feel about Kris being here, don't make me repeat myself."

Matt shook his head. "Do you hate, Kris soo much you won't even let her inside for a bowl of ice cream? It's one bowl of ice cream, mom."

"Matt, its ok. I'm going to head home." Kris said as her voice cracked.

"This is your home, Kris. It always has been and it always will be." Matt said.

"No, it used to be my home. I'm sorry, Jean. I'll just go now."

Kris turned and started to run from RainTree. Matt looked to his mother and growled. "Why are you always pushing her away? She'd worked so hard to prove herself to you and to prove she's changed and you continue to push her away and treat her like that same troubled teen that came from a jail detention center. She's not that girl mom, yeah she made a mistake, but she's made up for it. Don't you think she's suffered enough?"

With that he turned around and caught Taz right before the ranch hand was about to un tack him. He quickly jumped on and raced after Kris. He'd never catch her on foot, but maybe on a horse, he could catch her before she reached the main road.

He just reached the end of the driveway and stopped. Kris was there with Junior. Laura was in the car Junior was standing outside the car hugging, Kris. She wasn't crying but Matt knew she wouldn't. Not until they were alone.

"Matt…" Laura said.

Kris and Junior looked up. She pulled away from Junior and ran over to Matt. He hopped off the horse and opened his arms and allowed her fall into his arms. He rubbed her back as she shook and sniffed trying desperately not to cry at Jean's harsh words.

"Look, I swear, this isn't what it looks like." Junior said quickly.

Kris chuckled softly.

"Really? Because it looks like you were comforting a friend in her time of need." Matt said.

"OH…then maybe it is what it looks like."

Matt chuckled. "What are you even doing here?"

"OH! Laura and I were talking and we realized that Laura and Kris haven't really met and don't know each other as well as the three of us do, so I was thinking we could double date before the wedding, that way it isn't weird during the wedding." Junior said.

"Yeah, sure, when?"

"Well, Saturday none of have to work or anything so…how about Saturday."

"Sure, but let's meet for dinner. Kris and I need to work on Flame as much as we can." Matt said.

"Sure, let's say around…six."

"All right, see you guys then."

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!

Junior got back in the car and drove away. Once the car was out of ear shot Kris clung tightly to Matt and cried into chest. He rubbed her back and kissed her head. He kept repeating how much he loved her in her ear. She knew he loved her but it was always a nice reminder.

Matt was so angry had his mother. RainTree had been Kris's home at one time and now because of one mistake Jean has disowned her for life. It wasn't fair and there was nothing he could to help her. He just hoped the double date would cheer her up and make her smile again. If he didn't, he honestly didn't know how to help her through it.

A/N all right, I need help, I had planned to make Laura mean and Junior to break up with her, but, that would leave Junior without a girlfriend. Matt and Kris would still be together of course but Junior wouldn't be with anyone. So I need help, should I make Laura good or bad, Please leave me your thoughts in a review.

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