Abby dodged the punch. She pulled her arm from Gavin's hand and ran to Suns stall to call her down. She was tossing her head, kicking and squealing. Abby grabbed Rykers jacket and wrapped it around herself.

Ryker stalked even closer to Gavin, an angry tick in his jaw. "You don't come back to this stable again, you hear me? This is private property and you obviously aren't fit to be around horses!" With every words he pushed Gavin a little farther back, towards the exit.

He turned and took off to his truck. Abby stared at Ryker. She couldn't believe someone she didn't even know would protect her. She loved on Sun I order to calm her down

Ryker stood and watched Gavin drive away, favorite his left leg as his cold gaze followed the truck all the way out the drive. Once everything was quiet again he turned and quickly limped back to the stable, his face marred with concern now. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, absent-mindedly rubbing his knuckles where he had punched Gavin.

Abby nodded, her eyes wide with shock. She was even more scared of him because of how he punched Gavin, but she also felt a sense of hope. Sun thrust her head over the stall door, bobbing her head at the scratches she was getting from Abby's cold fingers. Sun's top lip sifted when she hit the good spot. The dappled mare nickered to Ryker and lengthened her neck, trying to see if he had any treats. Abby giggled a quiet giggle and threw her arms around Sun, hugging her neck.

Ryker dropped his eyes to the ground a little, glancing at Serpant who was currently sleeping. He wasn't leaving Abby now, but she also looked terrified of HIM. Maybe he should leave. Without a word he entered the stall, grabbing a brush before he entered and quietly grooming Serpant.

Abby watched Ryker. "Thank you, by the way" she said sheepishly

Ryker tried not to wince as his arm mare circular movements, twitching his ribs every single time. As Abby spoke he nodded a little, moving to the haunches. "No problem." He answered stoutly, not making eye contact.

Abby looked down "I mean it you know" her eyes looked back up at him. She didn't know why he wouldn't even look at her. "Did I do something to suddenly be shut out? You practically saved my life from who knows what and now you won't even look at me?" She felt hurt and confused, her tone growing more and more frustrated as she spoke. "I don't know what I did but please enlighten me. " Abby had always been shut off from the world by her parents. When Jessica and Abby became friends, Kessica started showing her what life was actually like. She had never had any real friends and was still struggling to find someone worth her while. She had obviously picked the wrong guy to put her heart in. She now felt the need to shut out any guy. She stepped back and shook her head " please..." she couldn't make eye contact anymore. She silently stroked Serpants head, gazing in his beautiful eyes

Ryker swallowed down a couple emotions, looking up as Abby spoke. "It's not you. I'm sorry. I've been abused, bullied, ridiculed, and made fun of, and apparently it messed me up more than I expected. Ever since I was 5 my dad drank and whenever he came home the torture would start. First it was just yelling, then hitting, then kicking. When I turned 10 it escalated into whipping." He slid his damp shirt off and turned to show the long, whiplike scars on his back. "In public school I was bullied and ridiculed. I was the laughingstock of the entire school because I was too scrawny and timid to fight back, and everyone knew my dad was a drunkard and my mom washed clothes for a living. When I turned 16 I thought things were finally going my way when I found a beautiful, kind girl. Her name was Lilah. I thought we had a relationship. I trusted her. One night I kissed her for the first time... honestly it was the biggest mistake of my life so far. The same night I overheard her talking with friends, saying that the dare was stupid and how she wanted to quit. She then continued, saying that although it was a silly dare it was hilarious watching me struggle and actually fall in love with her, and that she wanted to tell me the whole thing just to see how heartbroken I'd be. She ended up saying how it had been a dare from the very beginning... a dare to pretend to be the girlfriend of the most bullied wimp at school. At that time I still hadn't gone through the full growth spurt process... I was short, skinny, and barely showed any muscle. Everyone seemed to hate me and push me around like garbage. When I heard all those horrible words I was shocked at first, but then reality set in. I realized that it doesn't matter what I do or who I am... it only matters how people perceive me- and people always hate me. As an explanation for my seemingly weird behavior, I always try to help especially when I see bullying happening because I finally am big and strong enough to make a difference. That's my foolish heart that hasn't got the memo that nobody cares. Right now what you are seeing is my brain kicking in and reminding me." He paused and closed his eyes a moment before opening them and looking at Abby. "So yes, call me a wimp for averting my gaze. Make fun of me... I'm used to it, really, it is fine. I can't change who I am, all I can do is try to help and apologize when I fail. So I am sorry that I'm acting strangely, but I don't regret anything I did." Ryker finished In a quiet yet steady voice, not averting his gaze now.