Oglesby Norbert & Nice Cowboys
Stepping outside the guest house, Maka stretched out her long limbs - popping her back in the process - before relaxing again. She inhaled deeply; the sweet scent of dew as it rested on the grass wafted up her nose and tickled her tongue when she yawned. Sun rays peeked out behind the trees in the distance, coating the sky above in hues of pink and purple. A light mist floated above the earth like wisps of smoke creating an eerie - almost fairytale-like - feel to the ranch. Save for a few birds chirping in the trees, everything was silent.
It was serene, and beautiful.
Maka made her way over to where a patio sat behind the main house. Hanging flowers and trees concealed it so that one had to be standing at a certain place on the farm to see it. Vines climbed along the wood posts in a spiral as they reached out for sunlight, and a russet painted porch swing lazily swayed from silver chains. She sat down on it, tucking one leg under her rear while the other softly moved her back and forth.
A cry of a rooster broke through the calm of the ranch some distance away as a few animals woke from their slumber. In the field across from her, cows nudged their calves awake and horses slowly trotted out into the pasture to graze. The minutes ticked by as the sun took its sweet time to rise. Its rays thickened, painting the sky like a brush over a canvas in different shades of orange, yellow, purple, and pink. They casted a faint violet shade beneath the clouds above. Everything about it was gorgeous, and Maka felt herself falling in love with the countryside.
There were no honking cars or noisy pedestrians as they made their way to work like there was in the city. No one cursed or shouted or catcalled to each other as they fought to get their morning coffee. Texas had a different air to it that was peaceful. While she missed her apartment, she didn't miss it as much as she had expected herself to originally. She also hadn't grown sick of the rural area yet either. Being out there felt more like home than her cramped two by two apartment ever did.
Tucking her knees to her chest, Maka rested her chin in the space between them.
The morning hues vanished from the sky as they made way for blue, and the backdoor of the main house creaked open and closed. Her gaze drifted away from animals out in the pasture as she caught a glimpse of white hair from her peripheral. Soul had walked out of the house with a blonde man beside him. They seemed to be familiar with each other as they crossed over to where the paddock and horses were. Their voices carried as they passed by her hiding spot, but they didn't take notice of her as she sat there.
"Can't believe Marie thought it'd be a great idea to go horse backing riding," Soul grumbled, not at all like the tone he used when the cameras were on. "How much you wanna bet at least one of 'em cain't get on the saddle? End up havin' to help 'em."
The other man snorted. "Don't sound so excited there, ya might hurt somethin'."
"You'd feel the same way if it was you."
"No I wouldn't, little brother. I'd very much enjoy it. Unlike you." The other man reached out and playfully ruffled Soul's hair which earned him a low growl and a swat at the hand.
"Yea, well, bein' surrounded by girls all tryin' to get your attention'll do that to you."
"Hmm," the other man hummed, "I beg to differ, but okay. There's gotta be at least one ya like."
Soul's back was facing her, but she noticed the small movement of his head as he no doubt glared at who she supposed was his brother. Unless calling someone little brother was a term of endearment used in the south. Maka didn't know for sure which it was. Her knowledge of Texas and the southern states was limited for her to make a clear conclusion, but she made a mental note to ask Soul later.
"No," he said. But there was a slight ring in his voice that made it seem like he didn't mean it that the other man must have picked up on.
"Mmm, sure."
Their voices trailed off as they walked farther and farther away from her. Maka dropped her legs back down in front of her and debated on joining them or not. Technically her and the other bachelorettes weren't expected to be out for another half hour or so. The only reason she had come out so early was to enjoy the peace as well as to prevent an early morning battle for the bathroom.
She ended up opting to stay on the swing; she didn't want to ruin Soul and the other man's time together. If he really was his brother, they deserved to have some family bonding before they were invaded by the cameras and girls once again.
Plus, the sunrise was too beautiful not to miss.
Maka gathered with the other girls around the paddock while Soul and Wes placed saddles on the horses inside. The host of the show - who had never cleared his name with them or Maka hadn't paid attention when he did - stood in front of them with a few of the crew. They held the cameras toward the girls as the final portable mic was secured on the last girl. Marie was in the background with a clipboard to her chest, her pen beating rhythmically against it as she waited for them to be ready.
Stretching her arms out in front of her, Maka caught Soul staring at her. Warmth spread over her skin at being watched so closely and intently; embarrassment tingled as her face burned. She dropped her arms back to her die and gave him a little wave with a smile. His mouth fell open in surprise before he turned back to the saddle he was securing. From her vantage point, she watched as rose pink tinted his cheeks. Her lips twitched at the edges, and she felt herself flush for whatever reason as well.
Most likely at the fact that the cameras had been rolling a few seconds before the interaction. With her being in front of the others, they no doubt caught the moment.
Marie counted down for when they were going to begin, using her fingers after she reached three, and at one the host started his usual polished spiel.
"Good morning, ladies," he smiled: cheesy and camera-ready.
"Good morning," the girls echoed back.
"Now today's activity is different from what we've done in the past. Instead of having you girls do something strenuous to win a date with our bachelor, we're sending you girls off horseback riding with him." He turned around and motioned toward Soul and Wes. "As you can see behind me our two professional ranchers are preparing the horses you'll be riding."
As he pivoted back toward the girls, Maka saw Soul roll his eyes in Wes' direction.
"But as with everything, there is a catch." He paused for dramatic affect. "Only four of you lucky ladies will be riding with our bachelor I'm afraid. Soul has pre-selected who he wants to get to know better, and if Soul will please come forward, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to announce who those girls will be."
She highly doubted he'd be happy to announce anything.
Her suspicions were correct as Soul took his sweet time to tighten the harness he had been working with before walking to the fence. He lazily blinked and stared blankly at them beneath his hat. Everyone waited for him to say something, but after a minute or so of nothing, it was clear that he was being an ass again. She wasn't sure if it was funny or cute or annoying - most likely the later if she wanted him to stick to his promise.
Cocking her head to the side, she pouted slightly when his eyes caught her eyes. She saw him reluctantly sigh a second afterward before he spoke.
"Right, so the four girls I'd like to spend time with today are Nicole, Jenna, Brittany, and Maka."
Blair nudged her shoulder when he said her name alerting her that she had heard him right. She looked over at the older woman and smiled. It felt wrong that she was getting another date with Soul, but at the same time she knew she had no control over it. He was free to spend time with whoever he pleased.
"Alright. So if those four girls can please choose a horse, we can get going," the host said.
"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" came Meredith's voice. "You wake us up early to tell us we don't get to do anything?"
The host turned to Marie, back to the girls, and smiled harder. "We have something special in mind for the rest of you. Since these four get a pass from a competition, we decided to have the rest of you compete for two more girls to get a date with him later on. It won't be the same thing these ladies will be doing, but it's still fair."
"Which is?"
"We'll be taking you ladies into town, have you pick out a bachelorette dresses that are under $50, and then participate in a paint gun war." He waved his hand in front of him. "I'll give you girls more details in a bit. first, we need to let the other girls leave on their date. Okay?"
There was a mumble of annoyance from Meredith, but she didn't say more on the matter.
"Alright. Ladies, please pick your horse," the host repeated.
Maka crossed the short distance to where the paddock and horses were. There was an extra one, but she assumed it was for Wes since he was the only other logical person to be joining them. What bugged her, though, was the fact that there weren't enough for all of them - The Bachelor crew included. Based on her knowledge of previous season, she knew they were a fan of aerial shots to give a more romantic feel for the viewers, but they hadn't set anything up to do so.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw a few of them packing up their equipment which meant they were planning on joining. It was the how they were travelling that was the question.
"How are they gonna follow us?" she asked to no one in particular.
It was Jenna who answered her. She hadn't even realized the woman was walking behind her.
"I think they're going in a truck? Probably use one of those fancy new drone things to film us riding there?" she offered. "They do still film everything so I know they have a plan."
"Mm," she hummed. "That's true. They had to have already thought it all through. I was just curious."
She didn't pay any mind where she was walking as she passed through the gate. Within a mere seconds of being inside, something soft but hard at the same time squished beneath her Converse as warmth seeped through the fabric. Maka stopped dead in her tracks as dread washed over her body because she knew without looking down what it was. A camera quickly turned on her as it zoomed in on the incident, and she wished for nothing except to be swallowed up by the ground.
"Please don't tell me I stepped in what I thought I did," she whispered to Jenna.
Jenna's hand had flown up to cover her mouth, but the curve of her cheeks gave away the smile.
"It's okay, though," the woman comforted. "We can always… You can always rub it off on the grass."
A small growl resounded from the back of her throat as she relaxed her body in defeat and stared down at the mess. Picking up her foot, little brown pieces of manure clung off her shoe and stained the white rubber soles. There was a collection of high-pitched giggles around her which she didn't bother to find out who they were coming from. Her only focus was the horse poop and walking around with a hint of horse mixed in with her body spray all day.
As well as going back to the guest house to wash it off later on.
"Shit," she said, half an expletive and half literal. "This is exactly what I need right now."
A low whistle blew near her, drawing her attention to the person, and she saw Wes motioning for Soul's attention.
"'ey, one of your girls stepped in horse shit," he said.
Soul finished tightening the strap of a saddle he had placed on a chestnut horse with white lines on its body that reminded her of a zebra. He stuck two fingers between the animal's stomach and the strap, tugged down, and smiled to himself before looking at Wes.
"What was that?" Maka noted that the accent she heard earlier had mysteriously vanished.
"Your girl stepped in horse shit," Wes bluntly said.
"Don't use such foul language while the cameras are on!" Marie squawked from where she stood with one of the camera guys, but the rancher waved her off.
"So?" Soul asked, ignoring Marie as well. "What do you want me to do about it?" He attended to the horse - which Maka noticed was a mare - by rubbing her belly and cooing to her quietly.
"It's okay," Maka broke in. "Really. I'll just rub it off on something. Probably smell like a crapped my pants the rest of the day, but that's okay."
The last bit she mumbled to herself so that no one heard her.
Wes threw her a grin as she stared at him. A mischievous look gleamed in his blue eyes that she didn't quite understand the reason for before he turned back to Soul. "It's that cute blonde you kept blabberin' to Ma 'bout last night? Maka? I think that was her name."
Eyeing Maka again, he cupped his hand in front of his mouth and stage whispered, "You should hear the things he says 'bout you in private-"
Her cheeks burned with more embarrassment as a blur practically flew over to them. Soul slapped his hand over Wes' mouth.
"Ignore him," Soul said a little more frantic than necessary. "He's a liar and a right old awful brother."
"Uh, okay," Maka said a little dumbfounded.
Soul dropped his hand from Wes' mouth, glared at him, and pointed at one of the girls who was struggling to get on her horse. There must have been some brotherly communication going on because without saying a word, Wes apparently knew what Soul was telling him. He opened his mouth, but pouted instead when his brother's glare deepened.
"Party pooper," he mumbled before walking off.
"I'm gonna go get on one of the horses," Jenna said before leaving Maka alone with Soul.
"Sorry 'bout that." His gaze dropped down to her shoes. "That's not pretty."
"You're telling me." She looked down at her shoes as well. "At least now Liz finally has a reason for me to throw them away. There's no way she'll let me wear these for casual Friday's at work."
"And going to work smelling like a ranch isn't ideal either?" he grinned.
"Yeah, that too."
He nodded and there was a small pause between them that was filled with the sounds of the girls as they mounted their own horses and the host telling the others about their excursion.
"I think you're 'bout Ma's size. She might have some old boots you can wear instead, and she'll be able to warsh those for you as well."
She gaped at him for a moment - not entirely sure how she felt about the boots aspect of his promise - but nodded despite it. "Okay. Yeah. That sounds good."
"Follow me," he said.
None of the cameramen followed them as they headed toward the main house.
Soul opened the back door of the house and into a laundry room. There was a washer and dryer combo sitting on one side of the room beneath light brown wood cabinets. On the opposite side were four cubby-holes that held an assortment of things inside. A spare pair of boots sat in two of them and rope dangled from a peg in each of them. Plastered on top were oval silver name plates that had green cursive font that spelled out different names. Maka recognized all but one of them: Soul, Wes, and Blake. The fourth belonged to someone named Kilik who she hadn't met.
Someone she wasn't sure she ever would meet.
She was inspecting her new surroundings when not a minute inside, Maka heard the gallop of large paws as they skittered across hardwood. Little claws tip-tapped on linoleum as the source of the noised entered the room. Her gaze turned to the entrance in time to see a large black and white hairy dog bounding inside before it let out an excited bark and pressed two large paws against her chest. Maka squeaked at the impact, almost falling to the ground at the weight of the dog. Its wet nose sniffed her, and she snapped her eyes closed as a pink tongue gave her face small licks in random places.
"Oni! No!" Soul cried a little belatedly.
Between black, pink, white, and blinking to shield her eyes from dog slobber, Maka saw Soul maneuver behind the dog and tug on its collar as he tried to get him off her.
"Git off," he growled. The dog let out a small yelp as Soul forcibly yanked him back. "That's not how you greet people."
To Maka he said, "Sorry 'bout that. He's not used to havin' people over."
"It's okay. He didn't do anything too damaging," she said while wiping her face off with the back of her hand. Nevermind her aching chest from where the dog's paws had been. It took everything within her not rub them in front of Soul.
"Oglesby?" came a female voice from the room where the dog had come from.
Oni wiggled out of Soul's grasp, his tail wagging, and bounded forward to where the voice had come from. From around the corner, a blonde, stout woman no taller than Maka appeared carrying a slice of bacon which the dog gleefully accepted from her. His jaw bounced up and down as a little saliva dripped from the corner and he noisily chewed his food. The older woman smiled down at him, patted his head, and looked up toward Soul and Maka.
"Oh, hey, Soul. Didn't know you were coming back so soon." Her gaze fell to Maka; her smile turning warm and inviting as she did so. "Hello. Are you one of the girls from the show?"
Maka opened her mouth to respond, but Soul spoke first.
"Ma, what'd I tell you 'bout feedin' Oni table scraps?"
"I am not a child, Soul. I can feed whatev'r I want to this dog."
"He's a dog, though. He's s'pposed to eat dog food." Soul sighed and scratched in front of his ear. "You're gonna spoil him rotten."
"He's been spoiled since he was a puppy, you know that." She waved her hand in front of her as if fanning away the topic. "Doesn't matter, anyway. Let this girl introduce herself like she was gonna befor' you interrupted."
Mrs. Evans raised her eyebrows toward Maka indicating for her to speak. Soul looked at her over his shoulder and gave her an apologetic look.
"I'm Maka Albarn," she said with a little half wave and smile. "One of the girls from the show."
Soul's mom gave him a small smile before looking back at Maka. "Oh, so you're Maka. It's nice to put a face to a name finally. I'm Evelyn Evans, Soul's mom."
Evelyn walked toward Maka, and Maka immediately raised her hand for a handshake. The older woman came just above Maka's chest as she hugged her instead. Maka's hands flexed out beside her as she was unsure what to do for a few seconds before returning the hug. Soul's mom smelled like a mixture of apples and pie - a homely scent that comforted Maka and made her feel welcomed.
Giving her a tight squeeze, Evelyn released her from the hug and held her an arm's length away.
"We don't do handshakes in this family, dear. We do hugs," she smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. It faltered a bit as she sniffed the air. Directing it to Soul, she asked, "What's that smell?"
"The reason we came in here." He gestured down to Maka's shoes. "She stepped in horse poop. Thought you might have a pair of extra boots she can borrow."
Evelyn dropped her gaze to Maka's shoes and cringed. "Ah, I see. Take those off and leave them in here. I think I have some old boots up in my room. I'll be right back."
With that, she turned on her heel and left the room, patting Oni on the way out.
Maka sat down in a stool that was nearby and carefully took her shoes off so that she didn't get horse poop on her hands. That was the last thing she needed for the day. As she wiggled her foot out of her shoe, she looked over at Soul who was rubbing the top of Oni's head while the dog's eyes became relaxed.
"Your mom seems nice," she commented.
"Mmm," he hummed. "Thanks."
A short pause between them.
"What kinda dog is Oni?"
"He's a border collie an' German shepherd mix."
"He's really pretty."
"Thanks."
Another pause between them.
"So why'd she call Oni Oglesby?" she asked out of curiosity.
Soul sighed and patted the dog's head twice before standing up straighter and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "It's his real name. Oni's just a nickname."
"How'd you get Oni from Oglesby, though? Also, what kinda name is that for a dog? Most people just stick with Spot or Rexx. Simple names."
He snorted. "My parents named me Soul. Not exactly a normal name you hear everyday."
"But it's still a simple name. It's not Solomon or something weird. Like Maka."
"Maka's not a weird name," he said. He paused for a second as he no doubt mulled over her words before shrugging. "Guess you're right. If it was Wes who named me, probably would've ended up with somethin' like Oglesby Norbert Ichabod."
Her brows furrowed together in confusion.
"Wes named the dog. That's what Oni stands for. O for Oglesby, N for Norbert, and I for Ichabod."
"Oh. That makes sense." Her foot slipped out from the shoe she had been taking off, and she switched to work on the other one. "Still a weird name for a dog, though."
"That's Wes for ya. He likes doin' stuff like that."
"I'd hate to know what he'd name his kids."
Soul half-smiled at that. "He's not havin' kids, said so himself. Said that's why I'm here."
"That's good," she said as the other shoe came off easier than the first. "Would hate for them to be ridiculed for being called something like Oglesby."
"Yea, Oni gets picked on a lot from other animals for it enough already."
She stood up, her socked feet touching the cool linoleum floor, and smiled at him. "Imagine what kids'll say when they hear his real name."
He only smiled in response. She watched as he dropped his gaze down to his feet and the slight curve of his brows. "Cute socks."
Her eyes shot down to see which ones she had blindly chosen that morning and saw two different socks on her feet. The good news was that they were from the same bunch she had bought; the bad news was that they happened to be her Disney princess ones. One Rapunzel and the other Belle. She awkwardly tucked her feet toward her as she covered one with the other and felt a blush start over her cheeks.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
Soul opened his mouth to say something more, but Evelyn returned at that moment with a pair of light brown boots hanging from one hand.
"Here you go, sweetie," she said giving them to Maka. "Pair of clean ridin' boots you can wear 'round the farm." She stepped back and gave a small, knowing smile to her son who only rolled his eyes while the short exchange went over Maka's head.
Inspecting the shoes, she trailed her finger along the cotton candy and white stitching on the side. The design it made wasn't anything distinctive as it curved in and out on the sides, but it still looked pretty. She thanked Mrs. Evans before sitting back down in the chair to slide them on. They were a tad snug around her toes, only leaving enough room for her to wiggle them a bit, but they were still a good fit.
"They look good on you," Evelyn commented. She folded her arms in front of her chest and smiled at both Maka and Soul. "You two got a show to get going to now. It was nice meetin' you Maka. Hopefully we'll meet again."
Maka looked up at the clock that was sitting over the washer and dryer. She wasn't sure how long they had spent in there, but it must've been at least fifteen minutes or so.
"Marie'll be mad at us if we waste anymore time in here," she said to Soul. "It was nice meeting you too, Mrs. Evans."
"Evelyn, please. No need for formalities."
"Thank you, Evelyn," she smiled.
"Now git. The both of you. Y'all don't need Marie bein' angry with y'all," she said waving them both off.
"Bye, Oglesby," Maka directed to the dog who happily barked.
"Don't call him that," Soul groaned.
He walked behind her as she exited the house and left one reality for another.
Once outside, Maka had another - entirely different - dilemma to deal with.
She stood in front of the only horse without a rider: the one Soul had put a saddle on last. It was gorgeous with its round and pudgy belly, beautiful cinnamon hair, and chestnut fur with white strips. The issues didn't stand with horse herself, though; the issue had more do with the fact that Maka had never ridden a horse in her life. There was a vague idea of how to get up on one from the many times she had watched The Saddle Club repeat episodes, but it wasn't the same as actually doing it.
Looking over at Soul and Wes - the latter who was already mounted on his own horse while the former stood by Spitfire - she debated asking for their assistance. She thought better of it, though, as she turned back to her horse.
"Soul and Wes will be leading you girls to your destination," Marie said from the other side of the fence. "There will be a few cameras following you guys in the truck, and we have a drone filming above for a bird's eye view so you guys won't be completely free. Once you're there, three of you will be free to eat at the faux picnic we set up while one of you go on your date with Soul. Everyone good?"
There was a collective head nodding from the other bachelorettes minus Maka who stared wide eyed at the saddle and tried to figure out a way to get on it.
"Soul, once everyone's ready, you can ahead and get going."
"Yeah, okay," she heard him mumbled.
Quickly glancing at him, she watched as he grabbed the horn of the saddle, placed his foot in the stirrup, and pulled himself up. He made it look so effortless that hope fluttered around her heart as she hurriedly mimicked him. Though she didn't think they would, a voice inside her head fretted over them leaving her behind if she wasn't fast enough.
"Okay," she whispered to the mare. "We can do this - I can do this. Just stay still, alright?"
The horse made grunting noises in response and raised a hoofed foot off the ground before placing it back down. She took it to mean yes as she pressed down on the stirrup and tucked the toe of her boot under the mare's belly. Maka prepared to hoist herself up, but was surprised when the horse whinnied and walked forward.
"Wait! No!" she said, hopping on one foot as she was dragged a few inches. It took everything in her to wiggle her foot out of the stirrup so as to avoid a twisted ankle. "I wasn't ready!"
Grabbing the straps of its bridle, she glared at the horse and determinedly said, "We're gonna try this again, but this time you aren't gonna run forward, okay?"
There were a couple of giggles behind her as she went back to her original position, but ignored them. She was going to get up on that horse without embarrassing herself in the least possible way if it was the last thing she did. As soon as she hooked the toe of her boot beneath the mare's belly, it did the same thing as before. Except this time she wasn't able to wiggle her foot out smoothly from the stirrup and her ass meet grass with a hard thump causing her to gasp at the impact.
"Ow," she whimpered as she slowly got up.
She prayed that there were no cameras on to capture her rubbing her butt from the pain. Glancing around, though, told her otherwise.
"Great," she groaned. Wiping grass off herself, she angrily mumbled, "Can't wait to see myself continuously fall on my ass and step in horse shit on YouTube. 'merica's gonna eat this shit up like they have nothing better to do."
"You need help?" came a voice behind her. It startled her as she squeaked and jumped forward a bit. "Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
Whipping her head around, she saw Soul standing there.
"You didn't scare me. Surprised me, maybe, but didn't scare me," she tried to cover up. Her rapid beating heart and heightened senses told a different story, though. "I thought you were getting on your own horse."
"Was," he said, "but saw you needed help and came over."
From her peripheral, she saw a cameraman maneuver himself into an open space to get a better shot of the pair and fought the urge to growl at it. Exactly what she needed in that moment was more footage of her making a fool of herself.
"Can we hurry it up, please?" one of the girls groaned.
"Gotta make sure all y'all are all on horses first," Soul said over his shoulder before turning back to Maka. He raised his brows at her, and it took her a few seconds to connect the action to a reason. She had forgotten he had said something to her before the interruption.
"I don't need any help, thanks. I can do it on my own," she huffed. She walked over to the mare and got back in the position she had been in twice already and paused for a moment, waiting for Soul to leave. When he didn't, she said, "Don't you have your own horse to get on?"
"I do."
"So why aren't you going over there?"
He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "In no rush. Wanna see you get up there myself."
She didn't respond.
Instead she pursed her lips and glared at the saddle in front of her. She did want him to help her - it definitely would speed things along quicker - but with the cameras on her, she also didn't want him to. She was an independent woman who was fully capable of doing things on her own. Though it wasn't like she was close to getting up in the saddle on her own; she had the grass stains on her butt to prove that.
Pushing her pride away, Maka mumbled, "Can you help me get up?"
A low chuckle sounded from him. She peeked at him over her arm to see that he had dropped his arms and moved closer to her. "First you gotta know your mare's pregnant which is why she keeps movin' away from you," he quietly said to her.
"Pregnant?"
"Mhm, and you keep squishin' her belly which she doesn't like. Thinks you're hurting the baby."
"That makes sense."
Soul moved her foot back a few inches from where it sat in the stirrup and said, "Yeah. So what you wanna do is not use her to help hoist yourself up. Press down on the stirrup and use your own body strength to get your other leg over the saddle."
It definitely did make better sense now that she knew her horse was pregnant. It also explained why Soul had rubbed the mare's belly and made sure the saddle wasn't too tight around her middle.
"Alright," she nodded.
"And use your leg on the ground to help get you up too. You have muscle in your legs, right?" he teased.
"I can squeeze your head like a melon, if that's what you mean," she replied.
He chuckled at her response. "Okay then. Just gonna stand behind you in case you fall or anything."
"Not gonna fall this time, don't worry."
Maka counted down to three in her head - her arms feeling a bit tired from holding the horn for so long - and pulled herself up. She felt Soul's hands hovering a few inches away from her waist as she did so before swinging her other leg around. This time, her bottom met leather. Her heart pounded against her chest and her cheeks burned as she sat up on the horse grinning to herself. Tingles ran up her spine when she felt Soul's hand pressed against her lower back while the other one was on her hip.
Had he helped her up? She didn't remember.
Smiling down at him, she breathed out, "I did it."
"You good now?"
She nodded. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem." The brim of his hat tipped forward as he cordially nodded, but he didn't look back up at her when he spoke again. "See you out at the spot."
"See you."
She leaned forward, rubbed the side of her mare's neck and whispered, "Sorry 'bout hurting you earlier."
The horse only snorted in response.
Once Soul mounted Spitfire, Marie wasted no time in telling the crew that were going to be following them to start filming. Blake drove the truck that one of the cameras was set up on while a dark-skinned boy drove the other one. A drone buzzed overhead as it fly in the sky to give the show the aerial view they needed for the shot.
Maka spent a majority of her riding time admiring the pretty scenery as they followed Soul and Wes. Rolling blue skies went on for miles and miles with white clouds dusting the canvas in different spots. The sun brightly shone down on them as they went, its rays warming her exposed skin. A few cows with a variety of coat patterns grazed out in the pasture as they travelled further onto the property.
Taking a deep breath in, she exhaled with a small sigh. Everything was fresh and clean in her new environment, and she very much appreciated every second she was out there. She felt herself falling more and more in love with it as well. Even with the Hollywood-esque vibe from the camera crew that followed them around constantly, Texas still held a homely feel about it. It brought a smile to her face and warm feeling to her heart.
Facing forward again, Maka thought she saw carmine eyes staring at her beneath the brim of hat, but when she blinked, Soul had his back to her. She excused it as a trick of her imagination.
Maka clicked on the small portable camera sitting on a tripod at the spot that they rode to. Behind her, the trees and fields served as a replacement for the green screen, but the same blinking red light.
"Texas is so beautiful," she whispered. The girls and everyone else were yards away from her, but she still feared they were going to hear her somehow. "I've never been out in the south because Papa gets bad hay fever and Mama never cared to go over here, but it's prettier than I expected it to be. I love it out here, I really do. The ride out here was really nice, and I'm glad Marie thought of that."
She smiled to herself. Scenic destinations weren't that foreign to the show, and the Evans ranch gave them the perfect opportunity to use their favorite gimmick when it came to romance.
"I'm curious to know what my date with Soul will entail. Apparently we're all doing something different? I'm not entirely sure, but if Marie's behind it then it's bound to be fun and interesting. We'll see what happens." She paused to lick her lips. "I'm still not sure about Soul, though. How I feel about him, I mean. He's a nice guy, yes, but… It'll be interesting to see what happens."
Smiling, she clicked the camera off.
Soul led her down a dirt path deeper into the woods that bordered the ranch with a cameraman close behind them. He had taken the other girls the same way for their dates - conveniently leaving Maka for last like he did at every rose ceremony. She tried to ask him questions about where he was taking her, but he refused to give her a straight answer. All his responses had been vague and misleading: they were going for a swim, art supplies, stick figures. Nothing that was concrete enough for her to tie the strings together.
They reached an opening in the trees that seemed to be natural rather than man-made. In the middle laid a checkered blanket with a large storage box in the middle. Maka remembered seeing the crewmembers bring in four different ones in varying colors into the thicket of trees before the first girl left for their date. Everything had been planned down to the T apparently. Except she wasn't able to see what was inside; the grey bottom of the box concealed the contents inside and she was dying to know what was in there.
"So what are we doing?" she asked Soul for the hundredth time it seemed.
"Art supplies."
She sighed. "You said that already, and I know that's not what's in there."
"Go check for yourself then."
Maka thought about forcing him to tell her, but decided it was better not to.
"Alright," she huffed. "I'll play your game."
Walking over to the box, she kneeled down, popped the sides open, and pulled back the lid to reveal what was inside. There were about ten sketch pads inside - each of them with different page counts and sizes - along with colored pencils, markers, expensive sketching pencils, and other art supplies that she had back in her apartment.
"You were telling the truth," she said a little shocked.
"I was," he said as he sat down on the ground beside her. He took his hat off and rested on top of the blanket before speaking again. "You said you studied art in college, and I thought it'd be fun if you gave me some one-on-one art class."
"We didn't need all of these for that, though. You know that, right?"
He shrugged. "The crew were the ones who bought everything. Not me."
Maka looked at the cameraman. "We didn't need this many."
The man shrugged in response.
Taking out one of the sketchbooks, Maka handed it to Soul along with a pencil before taking one for herself. If she was going to teach him, she was going to do so properly. Which meant starting with the basics of drawing and working their way up from there. Though, in all honesty, she wasn't expecting this kind of date. It was more personal than the ones she had seen on the show in past seasons, and she felt Marie didn't have a say when it came to brainstorming what they were going to be doing. Soul seemed to have more control over what went on as far as dates than he let on; especially when she knew something as mundane as teaching someone how to draw wasn't what The Bachelor way.
Soul was able to pick up the basics of drawing fairly quickly which came by no surprise to her. In her experience, it was mostly children who found it difficult to begin drawing. They always wanted to rush things and get straight to drawing what they had in mind rather than sketching it out first. But Soul was a grown man; he had a general idea like most people did of what it took to actually draw.
What he had difficulty with was creating the clean lines from his sketch.
She leaned forward to look over his shoulder and saw that horse she had started him out with - because she felt animals were easier for beginners since they didn't have hands - looked less like a horse and more like a pig.
"That's good," she commented. "But maybe you should try to keep your lines a little straighter? Less curvy around the nose because horses have long noses… Not short ones."
He sighed and tilted back on his hands. "I know. It looks horrible. Why don't you show me how you do it."
"Well, I kinda got farther than you, but remember I went to school for this. This is your first time so I have a higher advantage." She showed him the page of her sketchbook she had been working on, and knew right away what he thought of her drawing.
Her lines were smoother, lighter than his as she knew how to work a pencil. She didn't press it hard against the paper as she drew out her lines unlike him. He had spent a good ten minutes breaking five pencils because he kept pressing them too hard on the paper.
"That looks good," he said. "Really good. You're definitely an artist."
"You can be good, too. It just takes time. People don't get better at things automatically. They work hard, and I've been drawing for years. You started, what, twenty minutes ago?"
Maka scooted closer to him and pulled his sketchbook closer to her. Taking his left hand with her right, she stuck her pencil between his fingers and guided his hand as she lightly traced over his original sketch. She was close enough to him that she felt the heat vibrate of his body and his chest grow still when her skin touched his. His breath was warm as it hit her face. With her other hand, she pulled her hair to the side so that it cascaded over her shoulder.
Heart pounding against her chest, she tried to focus on the task at hand rather than the intruding thoughts about bad breath and body odor.
"You wanna keep your lines light and easy the first time you go over them and do harder ones later so that it's easier to erase the sketch," she told him. She guided his hand with the pencil along the curve of the horse's snout. "This way you'll have cleaner lines as well."
"Mm," he hummed.
She didn't dare look at him was she led him along the lower jaw of the horse he had drawn. It wasn't until the line connected with the neck that she turned and smiled at him - green eyes meeting red. They were inches away from each other and her body felt weird as she stared at him wide eyed. Sucking in a deep breath, she released his hand from hers and scooted back to where she had been before. Their knees bumped against each other as she tucked her feet underneath her and she smiled.
"It's really simple once you get it down."
He lazily looked down at the sketchbook. "I can see that."
His cheeks turned a bright shade of red as he stared down at it, and she noticed the slight twitch of his mouth as he tried to fight back a smile. She needed a subject change - anything to draw their minds away from the moment before - so she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"I listened to your music, by the way." Slowly, he looked up and blankly stared at her. "The playlist on your iPod that you wanted me to listen to. I did it the other night, and I really liked it. It's no Taylor Swift or anything, but it's still good."
"Give it some time, and maybe you'll like real music," he smirked.
Maka lightly hit his arm, but smiled nonetheless. "Don't be such a music snob. I probably can never get into the jazz songs that were on there, but I really liked the piano pieces. Do you remember who they were by? I checked, but there was no artist. Just vague song titles."
"Piano pieces?" he asked, eyes wide with fear.
Cocking her head to the side in confusion, she nodded. "Mhm. They were really eerie - reminded me of a Tim Burton film - so I know they aren't any well-known pianists."
The life seemed to drain out of him as he stared back down at the sketchpad. He scratched the side of his face, and if his cheeks hadn't been beet red before, they definitely were now. She found it difficult to connect the pieces together; it didn't make sense why he was reacting like this over the piano pieces. If she didn't know any better, she would have said they were his, but he didn't seem to be the type to play an instrument other than the guitar.
Her gaze dropped down to his fingers. While they were calloused like a musicians, he was also rancher and professional bullrider. She didn't know much about either one, but she was able to guess that he did a lot of work with his hands which explained the callouses. So why was he acting so strange?
Laying her hand over his forearm, she gave it a gentle squeeze. "What's the matter? You look like you saw a ghost or something."
Soul cleared his throat and picked his hat up off the ground, settling back on his head. When he spoke again, he hid his face beneath the brim like she had seen him do so many times before.
"You really liked it?"
"Mhm. It felt like the person who wrote the piece was trying to convey their emotions into the song, and it was personal. From the heart. I liked that about it."
He nodded once then twice. "There's another playlist on there with more if you wanna listen to them."
"Are they by the same artist?"
"Yea. It's the one titled Black Blood."
She snorted at the title. "Black Room and Black Blood? Where do you come up with these titles?"
His face was calm and composed as he looked back up at her with a small smile. "Not everything is what it seems on the surface, Maka."
"What do you-?" Her question was cut short when he stood up and dusted off his jeans.
"Guess we should be getting back now. Thanks for showing me how to draw."
Taking the hand he offered her, she allowed him to help her up. "You're welcome. And if you keep practicing, I'm sure you'll be able to improve in no time."
"You really are a teacher," he said before leading the way back out to the rest of the group.
Maka toyed with the edges of the iPod later that debating if she wanted to listen to the playlist Soul had recommended or not. She was a tad bit curious to hear more by the artist she had heard the other night. Sticking the end of her earphones into the jack of the device, she scrolled through it with the white pinwheel in the middle until she found the playlist in question.
The first song started out similar to the others. A pounding of the keys as the pianist hit the first chord before going into an almost manic performance, but there was something different about this song. It sounded more like the person had recorded themselves perform rather than it being in a studio with professionals. She listened as the pianist took in sharp breaths and breathed out with each chord he played making it sound like he was breathing in time with the music.
Emotions rolled through her as the mixture of music and sighs sounded in her ears. She felt the pain of the performer as they released everything they felt into that one song, saw the turmoil through the sinister notes that resonated from the piano. A deep desire to hug the person and remind them it was going to be okay in the end rushed through her. The person's pain and sorrow strung a chord within her as she remembered the dark times that had fallen over her home when her parents fought.
Closing her eyes, memories she had repressed for years flashed in her mind. Her papa sneaking off to meet up with his hooker friends, her mama packing a suitcase when she was done with her husband's antics, and a little girl who wished love was as easy as it was in books. They all flew to the forefront of her mind as the song finished. The performer's pants beat against her eardrums before they faded and went to the next one.
She didn't listen to it, though.
Instead, she paused the music and tucked the iPod under her pillow where she had hidden it from before. She didn't want to remember her past; she wanted to look forward to the future because it was always brighter on the other side. But even as she told herself that, her heart refused to believe it.
Liz's words were the last thing she heard before she fell asleep.
Give love a chance, Maka.
At the rose ceremony that week, Maka stood in the second row. Soul called the girls one by one like had done previously and stared at her with each name he said. Except this time he added a slight hint of a smirk that she couldn't help but return no matter how hard she fought against it. When he reached the final rose, she didn't have to guess who he was going to call because deep down she knew. She wasn't surprised when she heard her name float through his mouth, the same warm ring surrounding it as he did so.
"Maka."
She locked eyes with him as she slowly descended down the few steps and crossed the threshold. Her hand curled around the rose as she smiled up at him.
"Maka, will you accept this rose?" he asked, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips.
"Yes."
He released the flower and she walked over to stand beside Blair, standing tall as she continued on to the next week of being on The Bachelor. Slowly she felt her own walls start to fall as she stared at Soul from where she stood, and she made the decision that opening her heart might not be such a bad thing.