“Take your time,” she smiled gently, sensing the stress and discomfort radiating off of him. “I’m gonna let Foster know we’re leaving, I’ll meet you out front.” She left him to his own devices, over-analyzing his words as her feet resumed a steady pace, one step in front of the other. I haven’t been to the rodeo in years. She wondered how many years it had been, and if there was a story behind why he went, or why he stopped going. Maybe he had been raised on the rodeo like their family, winning the mutton busting and horseshoe throwing contests before horses took over. Maybe he’d gone with a girl, or for a girl. Even if the dressage princess she’d met earlier was his girlfriend, she didn’t get the impression that they had been together forever. There was definitely a Sebastian before Emma-Lynn, she could tell there was so much more depth to him than he let on, and only the kind that came from self-investment. Though she hadn’t met many of his siblings, Cheyenne already felt a sense of peace at the prospect of spending all her early mornings and late nights working beside him rather than someone else. Even if they hadn’t been paired together because their jobs were exact replicas of each other, something deep down told her that she would have chosen Sebastian anyway, if given a choice.

“We’re headed out.” Foster barely glanced up to greet his sister. It was the same scene he saw every night, only in a different office. The woman was leaning against the doorframe, hand on the knob, swinging back and forth in her boots idly. He never stopped typing as she uttered those words, nor as he replied.

“Joseph come back?”

“Not that I’ve seen, I’m taking Sebastian.”

“Oh.” He looked up, surprised. Mentally, Cheyenne snickered to herself, wanting to make a snide comment about finally figuring out how to get him to look up from his work. She knew better.

“Where’s Caroline? You two have been busy bees out here all day. I think God pressed copy-paste on the two of your personalities.”

He sneered, disgusted at the idea. “She went in hours ago. Clearly God didn’t, or he would’ve given us both exceptional work ethics.”

“Mm, I guess I was wrong. If you were similar, you would both be as humble as she is.” She smirked cooly at him and stood up, preparing to leave. She saw Sebastian’s figure standing off in the distance, under the porch light. “Have fun with your work.”

“Have fun with your date.”

“Not a date,” she called over her shoulder amusedly.

After a few minutes of walking guided by her flashlight, Cheyenne made it back to the main house and driveway, where Sebastian was patiently waiting for her. He seemed pensive, trapped in his mind between negligent sips of black coffee. “Hey,” she greeted as softly as she could, trying not to spook his unflinching frame. He didn’t seem to mind. “Ready?”

“Is he participating? Chase, I mean, in the rodeo,” Sebastian asked. He had a way of clarifying everything he said. Cheyenne wasn’t sure yet if she found it endearing or annoying.

“Depends on how drunk he is, and how bent out of shape he is about all this.” She glanced over at Chase as she backed the truck up, one arm behind the seat he was sitting in. “I don’t know how Caroline broke the news to y’all, but let’s just say Foster isn’t much of a ‘family discussion’ kind of individual. Or the kind of individual who takes other people’s opinions into consideration, like, at all. Joseph and I manage, but Chase doesn’t take it very well. Especially when it comes to big, impactful things like this. So, he’s on a bit of a self-destructive bender at the moment, and he needs saving. Hence, this,” she gestured to the two of them.

The drive into town was filled with gentle, flowing small talk that filled the truck with a calm air of safety. The pair easily fell into a rhythm that made Cheyenne feel even more confident in her suspicion that they would work well together, and made her excited for the future. After some time had passed, there was a lull in the conversation, and she saw his body language deflate out of her peripheral vision. He seemed stuck in his mind again, but less safe there now.

“Hey, are you good?” She touched his hand in a soft, unassuming manner. She felt some sense of deranged pride, knowing she was the first person to ask him that in a long time. It felt to her as if Caroline pretended to be the rock of their family, but Sebastian was carrying all of them on his shoulders. She could tell he had been strong for everyone else for too long. “I’ve been here for less than a day and I can tell you’ve got your hands more than full balancing everything at the ranch. I want to be there for you, we’re a team now. And teammates have each other’s backs.”

—

Well after dark, Joseph returned to the house hoping to find it empty and silent with everyone in bed. Cheyenne had sent him a text earlier mentioning that she’d gone to get Chase, but he’d been away and hadn’t felt compelled to respond. Now he was home, one of the cattle horses calmly tucked away in her stall for the night, all the gates and latches checked one last time by his expert eye. As he crept around the house in the dark, trying to find the coffee pot to put some on, he turned, to find himself face to face with a shorter woman who appeared rather afraid of him. He towered over her, and after a few minutes of staring at one another in the dark, Ellie more concernedly and Joseph quite indifferently, he simply extended his right hand and flipped the light switch on without looking away from her.

He had to have been a strange sight for the girl, and to make matters worse, he was soaking wet for a reason not one person could explain. Still, he carried himself insouciantly, and as if it were perfectly normal for him to be standing in her kitchen, water dripping off of him, at an ungodly evening hour. He didn’t think once to explain himself, only to search his pockets for the trinkets he’d found in the pasture earlier that day. “I found what you were looking for, I think,” he extended the palm of his hand to her, revealing several things. There was a bracelet that seemed impossible for him to have found in such a big, open area, as well as a few other things. A bell boot, a horseshoe, and an equine earplug among them. “I left the smaller stuff in the bin outside Caroline’s office.” Lazily, his gaze wandered from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel, clicked the coffee back on, then vanished to his room in the upstairs to shower and change his clothes, not returning until he was sure the girl was gone.

Sebastian listened to Cheyanne’s explanation of her brother and his motives in silence, nodding along as she went. He didn't think drinking and the rodeo were a good combination, though he knew the two often coincided. He also knew better than to voice this thought to Cheyanne, surely she was worried enough as it was, she didn’t need his commentary on the situation as well.

“Care broke the news as you’d expect, I suppose.” he sighed, trying to remember how things happened, it wasn’t a particularly memorable evening if he was being honest. “We knew things were getting a little stressful. I knew Care was struggling to make ends meet, between boarder expectations, parents expectations for the lesson kids, and the required things. I think most of us were expecting her to tell us we were closing, or moving to a private farm and dropping the lesson program. I think most of us were pretty glad when it was just moving into a partnership. My sisters are a little shy, but that's just because we’re used to doing it on our own. It’ll just take them a little time to settle into having a little more help around the farm.” He gave her a warm smile as he finished speaking, though he didn't expect her to return it, she was driving after all. He quickly returned his attention to the road around them.

As they drove they settled into more casual conversation, but in the back of his mind a reminder of Chase’s potential situation just kept nagging at him. He tried to push it away as they spoke, picking anything but the rodeo they were driving towards to speak about, but the reminder kept popping to the forefront of his mind. He gulped down his coffee, and the mug was empty around their halfway mark. Caffeinated yet still exhausted, he began bouncing his right leg, trying to work off the caffeine jitters he had just subjected himself to. History doesn't repeat itself, what would be the odds, he told himself.

When Cheyanne asked if he was alright, his first instinct was to say “Yeah, all good,” and he did just that. He turned to look at her, and made a little frown before trying again to answer her question. “I’m fine, I’m just not looking to get into an… altercation, this evening. The memories of the last time I was here are a little sour, at best.” He offered a smile as reassuring as he could manage and held it for a second before nodding his head and turning to look back out the front windshield in a manner that suggested he didn’t want to go any further with that particular conversation.

__________________________________________

With her phone lying on the table, screen up facing her, Ellie had been reading a webcomic while she ate dinner. She didn’t love reading off her phone, and would swear up and down if asked that she preferred the feel of a physical book in her hands, but the pictures while she read were very appealing for her sleepy brain.

As she finished her pasta, she placed her silverware on the plate and picked it up with one hand, picking her phone up with the other. She was almost done this chapter, and figured she would finish it while washing up. She didn’t look up as she moved away from the table and towards the kitchen sink. Until she saw a pair of feet on the floor beyond, she could just see them in the dark above her phone screen. She panicked for a split second, and her eyes shot up from the phone on her hand to the stranger in front of her. Her chest tightened as she searched the face of the person before her, trying to identify them. It only took her a second to recognise him as one of the Bichlers, but which one specifically she couldn't remember at that second. Silently, she cursed herself for being so panicked at first, but she still wasn't completely at ease.

She looked him up and down with cautious eyes, taking in his wet close and messy damp hair. As her gaze returned to his face, she realised just how much taller he was than her, and how close they were together. She felt like she was looking straight up at him. He looked like he had tried to swim in the ditch, was her first thought. That was rude, she thought instantly after. She looked away from him, and down at the phone in hand, turning the screen off.

She was a little startled when he finally spoke, and watched in fascination as he showed the things he had found in the pasture. “Thank you…” she finally managed, the words seeming to nearly squeak out of her, though she tried to say them politely, she looked up at him to offer a thankful smile, but was distracted when she met his eyes again. Then, he was gone. He moved so swiftly she stepped back slightly to get out of the way, though he wouldn't have bumped her even if she hadn't.

A little startled, and more than a little curious, she shook her head, tucked her ginger hair behind her ears, and returned to her mission of washing up her dishes and going to get. On her way out of the kitchen, she picked up the trinkets that had been left by the Bichler boy.

As she crept to her bedroom, she peered into the bedrooms of her siblings, and noticed they were all asleep, with the exception of Sebastian who was missing all together. She didn’t think much about it, assuming he had most likely gone to Emma-Lynn’s for the night. When she made it to her room, she stepped inside, deposited the trinkets on the corner of her dresser, and got in the shower. Twenty minutes later, she was fast asleep.

Cheyenne listened intently to his comments, and the way his body language suddenly became tense and uneasy at the mention of the rodeo. She realized quickly that, as she had previously suspected, there was quite a story behind Sebastian’s absence from the rodeo scene. She wondered if it was a big deal that he’d decided to go with her, and if his sisters would be surprised. Secretly, something within her hoped that this was the case. Maybe it was the newness of the partnership and the need to prove her worth to the team, or perhaps it was solely his reserved nature. Either way, she felt a strong sense of longing to be respected by Sebastian, to receive the part of him that he was so reluctant to give. She knew it would take time, but the prospect of being someone to him was exciting. It was a new adventure. She hoped she would feel the same way about the rest of his family, that she’d want to invest just as much in the other members of their new partnership as she did in him. It was for this reason that she chose to stay quiet, murmuring a word of acknowledgement here and there, letting Sebastian steer the conversation. She didn’t pry, hoping he would feel more comfortable if she took a soft, equally reserved approach. Deep down, she was afraid that she’d never break through to him, but she kept those fears pushed all the way down to the deepest depths of herself, not to be brought to the surface until they were proven correct. Of course she would win him over. It had been a long day, and she had to stop reading into things so much. This debate continued all the way to the fairgrounds, her thoughts at war within her mind. She barely noticed when he drained the entirety of his coffee, only when she glanced down and saw the empty thermos. If he was already nervous about being here, she wondered how his reaction to caffeine would contribute to his already edgy temperament.

As she got out of the truck, Cheyenne pulled her jacket tighter, bracing herself for the chill that would follow. Though the days were beginning to get warmer, it was still early spring in Wyoming, and the nights were brutal with no indication of letting up anytime soon. She glanced over to Sebastian, meeting and scanning his eyes briefly before resuming her observation of the grounds.

“Fancy seeing you here,” a cowboy grinned at Cheyenne, hopping over the fence to approach the pair. A fluffy mop of red hair was shoveled under a pale stetson, and two large scars slashed across his pale face. Though his face showed that he was a seasoned outdoorsman that had seen more than his share of adventure, it was soft and kind when addressing the woman. His eyes held genuine adoration that answered questions Sebastian wouldn’t ask. Still, there was a hint of hurt there that answered more questions yet.

“Shaye,” Cheyenne hugged the man warmly, then stepped back, gesturing to Sebastian. “Sebastian, this is Shaye. We grew up together. Shaye, this is Sebastian, one of our new business partners. I’m sure you’ve heard something by now.”

He gave a soft nod, leaning against the fence. Though he’d murmured the expected pleasantries to Sebastian and shook his hand, it was clear he was primarily invested in Cheyenne and what she had to say. “Joseph came by the other day. How’re you feeling about all of it?”

“Okay,” she replied faintly, without glancing up at Sebastian. “Better than the boys. I’m sure Joseph told you Foster didn’t say anything until after he signed the papers. We had two days to pack up the whole property and move. So, could’ve been better, but, we’re managing.” Her smile was as minimally convincing as her words. “Speaking of, have you seen Chase?”

“Not in some time,” Shaye replied. “Since the start of this thing, I think. If I see him, I’ll let you know. Sadly, I have to get back, but hey, let’s go for coffee sometime. Unless you’re too good for us now,” he smiled, but pain lingered behind his eyes. “It was nice meeting you, Sebastian.”

As the pair made their way from the parking lot to the grounds, it quickly became obvious that Cheyenne was very popular amongst the rodeo crowd. Almost every drunken cowboy to cross paths with them had something to say, each more brazen than the last. None of them were strangers, either. They all knew her by name, as if she were a local celebrity. She took it all in stride, offering a kind smile or an understated greeting to each that she came across. As the number of men who had fallen all over her started climbing into the teens or twenties, she felt the need to address it with Sebastian. He didn’t know her or her story well enough to understand, and she didn’t want all of the male attention to affect his opinion of her. “Sorry about all of them,” she couldn’t help a delicate laugh. “It’s a small town, as you know, and I grew up with most of these guys. We went to school together, competed against each other on the circuit, all of it. It seems a lot of them are still living in the past.” She paused, waiting for reassurance, then added, “where did you grow up? Here? I don’t remember seeing your family around anywhere, or hearing about you guys until recently.”

After a few more minutes of walking, Cheyenne saw a familiar sight in the distance. Chase was being thrown out of the bar that sat at the edge of the grounds. He’d been knocked down by someone, and was looking for a fight to pick. He was banging on the doors by the time Cheyenne marched across the grounds, weaving in between traffic and glancing back to ensure that Bastian was still following her. “Hey, stay here, okay? If he starts swinging at someone again, I don’t want it to be you. And, for obvious reasons, I can’t promise that it wouldn’t be.” She smiled gently, not failing to notice the panic in his face. He’d gotten paler since they’d been there, and especially at the mention of a fight. She assumed it had to do with whatever his history was here, or elsewhere.

“Chase,” she had an edge to her voice that sounded like strength. Only those closest to her could recognize it as bottled-up fear. He was persistent, trying to pick a fight with anyone he could. “Chase!” Her arms were crossed, and she looked up at him with all the strength she could muster despite the obvious height and strength difference.

“Get out of here, Cheyenne,” he threatened. “I’m not going anywhere today, tomorrow, or the next day. So don’t try.”

“I’m not asking. It’s time, Chase.”

He cocked his head, a devilish look in his eye amongst the pain. “Your choice.” Before she could stop him, he was already throwing punches at some innocent bystander who was too drunk to remove himself. Chase already had blood dripping from various cuts on his face and hands, and his arms were covered in bruises he was trying to hide under his jacket. It was obvious he’d been here for the entirety of his absence from the Edwards’ farm.

“Stop,” she demanded, grabbing his wrist. He pulled away from her belligerently, but didn’t go to pick his nth fight. He seemed to cower now, pain flashing in his eyes.

“What’s the matter, Cheyenne? Can’t take it? This is who I am. If you think I’m a monster, then look away.” He had assumed his aggression once more, this time taking it out on Cheyenne. He was in her face, but she didn’t budge. She didn’t back down.

“I don’t, I think you’re hurting, and I think you need to come home.”

Just as he was about to refute her statement, a tall, looming figure came from the side, injecting him with a mystery substance. “That’s it, easy buddy,” the man braced Chase’s lack of balance like a natural. Cheyenne, who’d taken notice of the plan minutes prior, nodded grimly.

“Good work, Joseph. Did someone call you?”

“No, just a hunch,” he replied. “I didn’t give him much, so I’m gonna walk him to the truck before he gets all righteous again. I’ll see you back on the front lines,” he muttered, and with a cool smile, he started dragging his younger brother back towards the parking lot, one step at a time.

Taking a deep breath, Cheyenne tried to compose herself. Though she’d stepped back and avoided the fighting, she was still close enough to have lost her composure. Her hands were still shaking when she reached Sebastian, trying to be strong. She couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind. “Are you okay? Sorry you had to see all that.” Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittering with the lights and a touch of fear. Still, it was him she was worried about, perhaps irrationally. She followed his gaze down to the shaking in her hands and quickly discarded them, folding them behind her back. “Sorry,” she apologized again, shaky and breathless. The slightest evidence of a tear began to well up in her eye, but she blinked it back before it could become anything. Her eyes begged him to see her in her fragile state, just as they begged him to pretend everything was fine. Just as before, her thoughts were at war within her mind, contradicting her and willing her insanity.

The rest of the ride to the rodeo was silent, but not the uncomfortable sort of silence. Sebastian felt at peace in the silence, glad with it over what could have been: prying questions he didn’t want to answer. As they reached the fairgrounds, his head was nearly empty, thoughts for the most part silenced. As they pulled in his eyes glanced over the things they passed, not lingering long on anything in particular. He took in the number of trucks, and trailers, though it seemed like there was an infinite amount more trucks than trailers. His eyes skimmed over most of the passersby, lingering on none of them for more than a second. It seemed like a relatively normal night at the rodeo from where he was sitting.

As they stopped, Sebastian zipped up his light jacket. He hadn't bothered changing out of the one he had been wearing all day around the barn, a black windbreaker that was lined on the inside; not his warmest choice, but not particularly awful in the given weather. When they were parked, he got out of the vehicle at the same time Cheyanne did. After standing, and stretching a little, he readjusted his jacket and crossed around the front of the truck to meet Cheyanne again. He looked around, once again stopping to look at nothing particular, as he walked.

When the ginger called out, Sebastian’s head shot up, though he knew that the voice wasn’t calling over to him. He looked from the ginger, who had a genuine happy expression on his face and appeared generally nonthreatening, to Cheyanne, who didn’t seem phased by the approaching bystander. Sebastian put his hands into his pockets, stood tall, and put a content smile on his face as the stranger approached them.

He listened to Cheyanne’s introduction of the man standing before them, and when she introduced him he offered his hand for a handshake. They shook hands, Sebastian giving a “hello” nod, and then he took a half step back and settled his hands back into his pockets. “Nice to meet you, Shaye” he said as he returned comfortably to his place beside Cheyanne. He couldn't help but notice how similar their names were.

He listened almost absently as Cheyanne and Shaye exchanged pleasantries, uninterested in eavesdropping on a somewhat personal conversation, and then about possible sightings of Chase, but he caught all the important information. Hadn’t seen him, let them know if Chase was sighted, everything a friend would be expected to say when they can’t be of any additional use. Sebastian didn’t hold that against Shaye, just made a note of it.

As they wandered off in search of Chase, Sebastian became subtly more and more annoyed with the amount of men that approached them; more specifically, approached Cheyanne. He felt like he was walking with his youngest sisters, always having to scare off unpleasant bystanders, who his sisters always seem to know the names of, when they got too close.

Just as he had when Shaye approached, he carefully eyed each stranger on their approach, and then flicked his eyes to Cheyanne to assess her reaction to them as well. When she seemed unbothered, he returned to a neutral expression and greeted each stranger. He shook hands with those who offered them, and nodded at the rest when he was acknowledged. He was just about to make a comment about her being popular when she decided to explain all their encounters.

“I grew up a few towns over. We had a much smaller property that was mostly private. After dad remarried, he and the new wife wanted to get into the business a little more so they bought the farm we had now. We still had the small farm, and kept personal horses there. Years later, the little farm was starting to get a little run down, repairs were not really worth their costs anymore, we sold the little farm and moved full time to our current property. Dad and Scarlet moved out to their own little place, and we have the farm with them as “investors”,” He added airquotese. He concluded his brief life’s story with a smile in Cheyanne’s direction, and a shrug. “So I guess we sort of grew up here, but we didn’t really. And we definitely didn’t grow up around here,” he gestured around the rodeo. “Dad rode english, so we rode english, and Dad and Scarlet were more than willing to drive wherever they needed to drive for competitions, so we didn’t feel the pressure of needing to conform to what was offered locally.” He was content babbling almost pointlessly about his life, the conversation flowed easily and the topics were impersonal enough.

After he finished, there was a moment or two of silence, and then Cheyanne stopped him. And he quickly realised why. When she told him to stop and stay, he nodded, and when he explained why, he nodded again. It wouldn't have been the first time he’d been swung at, but he wasn’t interested in unneeded injuries and if she wanted him to stay out of it, he respected her decision.

He watched as she approached Chase, in his less than controllable state, and couldn't help but wonder if all brothers felt the same about their sisters as he did. He may not love them all the time, he may not even like them some of the time, but he would never raise a hand to one of his sisters and he would be less than merciful to anyone who was stupid enough to raise a to one of his sisters.

When Chase lunged at a bystander, Sebastian whipped his hands out of his pockets, ready to take a step forward, but he remembered Cheyanne had told him to stay out of it, so he remained. His hands balled into fists at his sides, his slightly too long nails biting into the skin of his palms. He would have looked away, but he needed to make certain Chase kept his anger redirected. Sebastian’s eyes flickered to Cheyanne. If he so much as lifts a hand too quickly… he thought, he’ll look a whole lot worse than he does now.

Then, out of nowhere, another figure appeared, and Sebastian instantly recognized it as another of the Bichler children. He relaxed, and watched as Chase slumped a little more than he already was in his state.

He watched Chayanne talk with her brother, and then as she returned. He shrugged off her apology, offering a smile that suggested he didn’t mind much. His eyes dropped to her hands, which were shaking at her sides, but he didn’t know how to address it so instead he looked around them, determined to keep away any other uncomfortable interactions until she had time to recollect herself.

“Your brother is a bit of an arrogant arse, no?” he asked seriously as he returned his hands to his pockets. He turned to start their walk back to the truck, if that's what she wanted to do. He didn't see much point in hanging around, they had done what they needed to do. Though he supposed maybe, just maybe, there was a chance she would want to go watch some of her childhood friends participate in the events of the night.

Cheyenne noticed the way Sebastian’s posture lingered, stuck somewhere between staying and going. She knew it was because of her, and that, after everything that had transpired today, he would still respect her wishes and follow her lead. She knew for a fact that if she asked him to stay, he would, no questions asked. But, it had been a long day for all parties involved, and she had long since decided that the next time she brought a non-relative to the rodeo, it would be to have fun, and they would be in good spirits before they left the house. If they stayed now, one would feel indebted to the other for staying too long or leaving early, or something awkward would happen–someone would run into an ex, or an enemy–and the drive home would be filled with more awkward silence than anyone could stomach. She didn’t want that to be her first experience with her new partner. Though she knew it was going to take time based on his stoic introversion, Cheyenne wanted to get to know him. On his terms. As a professional acquaintance or as a friend. But, until he took the lead, she could only see him as a man who had been dragged here against his will to rescue her brother. And the intrinsic shame Cheyenne felt to experience an awkward interaction, namely one where she didn’t feel wanted or desired, that was enough to easily make the decision for her. “Ready to head back?”

As they turned to head back towards the parking lot, Sebastian made a comment about Chase’s behavior. She was still in a slightly sour mood, her fear turning to bitterness and resentment in the presence of silence. She answered with a neutral expression on her face. “Which one?” She turned and glanced up, letting him know in her own way that she was joking. Deep down, she hoped there wouldn’t be any animosity between the pair. The feeling remained that any hope should diminish–if it wasn’t this, it’d be something else. Chase could be ruthless and stubborn when he was mad, and he was furious. He’d keep going after the Edwards siblings until he got a reaction.

Breathing a deep, withdrawn sigh, she conceded, “he’s difficult. Worse now than he’s been in a while. He’ll get over it, though, and when he does, I hope he won’t have ruined any chances at making nice with you and your sisters.” Soon, she fell into a sleepy, worn silence, demonstrating the weight of the day. Sebastian didn’t seem to mind, though she was still anxious. How did he want her to act? Which version of her would be the most appealing to him? She couldn’t decide, and his general aura of distant impartiality wasn’t helping. She was used to strong personalities who said exactly what was on their minds at all times, never soft-spoken silence. Never this.

The silence maintained until they got a few miles down the road, the communication between the pair little more than nods and murmurs. Despite the wearied understanding that it was nothing personal, only well past when either would have liked to have been in bed and well past the level of drama either would have liked to deal with, both seemed on edge in different ways. Cheyenne assumed Sebastian’s was the caffeination paired with whatever he’d endured prior to this. Cheyenne’s was a mix between the uncertainty of what she was going home to and trying to get inside Sebastian’s mind at the expense of her sanity. She needed to get out of her mind, and she needed to stop trying to get in his. “So, what are your interests outside of horses?” She breathed the words as if they were a sigh, sleepily and with minimal effort. She just knew it was her responsibility to try to keep the conversation flowing, regardless of her energy level.

When they pulled up to the house, Joseph was on the porch, cleaning a rifle. “Good God,” she murmured, more in resignation than in shock. “They’re really showing off for you, I’d be flattered.” She swung the truck door open, then slammed it shut, not as conscientious of whether or not Sebastian was behind her this time. He could find his own way inside, and she had her own business to tend to.

“Howdy,” Joseph greeted, a particularly humored sparkle in his eye. When he looked up, the ice blue of his irises was illuminated by the moonlight.

“What’re you doing, Joseph?” She crossed her arms, staring down at him. He shrugged.

“Nice night for cleaning guns, ain’t it?”

She didn’t respond. It wasn’t worth her breath. It wasn’t like he was going to say much, anyway. “Where’s Chase?”

“In bed,” he replied in the same even tone, slightly antagonizing and paired with the gentle undertones of a smirk. “All tucked in with a little somethin’ to get him through the night. Well, keep him down.”

“How was the ride home?”

“Shaye helped me shove him into the truck, and past that, nothing anyone could do or say would’ve made it more tolerable. He was all nonsense, talkin’ ‘bout mom again. How everything’s his fault, how he’d rather burn in hell than be apart of this family, the usual. Talked himself right to sleep. I reckon he won’t fuss too much tomorrow. And if he does, there’s plenty more where tonight came from. Or, I just take him into the woods and keep him there ‘til he sorts his mind out.”

“I wish what you just said sounded more crazy and less comforting.” They exchanged a very weak, weary high-five and something about teamwork was muttered. They lingered for a few moments, then Cheyenne kissed the top of his head, said goodnight, then went inside.

When she entered, Sebastian was still lingering on the first floor, though it seemed everyone else was fast asleep. It was no surprise given the time. He looked up from whatever he was doing, so Chey smiled gently at him. “Are you gonna be able to sleep after all the coffee you drank?” Then, less lightly, “thank you for coming with me today. I can tell you had a long day, and it means a lot that you made the effort. We didn’t exactly talk about work with everything that was going on, but I’m sure I’ll see you in the morning, and we can talk shop then?” Her eyes wandered off to the stove clock, to the microwave, to the dim lighting in the kitchen. It still didn’t feel like home, and these people didn’t. Not yet. She hoped this feeling of unease wouldn’t last forever, and that this was just a season. It had to just be a season.

When Cheyenne asked which brother he meant, there was a split second of confusion that washed over him before he realised she had only been joking with him. Of course she knew which one he was talking about. He listened to Cheyenne’s explanation of her brother in silence, nodding along and offering a hum every now and then in response.

“...I hope he won’t have ruined any chances at making nice with you and your sisters.” she finished. To this, Sebastian had an actual response.

“He hasn’t yet,” Sebastian offered supportively, he cast a sideways glance to Cheyenne with a smile. But Heaven won’t be able to help him if that temper gets anywhere near my sisters, he thought. He kept any hints of that thought from showing through to his expression, which was majorly ruled by a look of exhaustion.

He didn’t want to have to think of the Bichler boys as potential problems for the future, but after seeing Chase’s outburst tonight, he couldn't help but wonder what the other children had in stores when they were less than level headed. As they walked, his thoughts drifted further and further into the abyss of unlikely probabilities, all of the imaginary scenarios ending unpleasantly for someone. He tried to distract himself from thinking about the worst case scenario by looking around the parking lot as they returned to the truck, and then watching distantly out the window for most of the drive home. At some point in their drive, he had managed to turn his thoughts completely away, and when he came back to reality they were pulling into the driveway.

The first thing he registered was Joseph on the porch. Cheyenne’s comment drew a soft chuckle from him, but he didn’t look away from Joseph. He didn’t watch as she jumped out of the truck, but heard the door slam shut a split second before his own door did the same. Coffee mug in hand, he walked around the front of the truck.

He nodded to Joseph as he walked past him, “Evening,” he said, and continued through and into the house. He shut the door as quietly behind him as he could, afraid of waking one of his siblings' dogs. He loved the creatures, envied their abilities to hear the door close even from upstairs, but they did make it a little difficult to sneak in without waking anyone up.

He kicked his boots off onto the plastic mat beside the door, and bent down to straighten them so there would be room for another set. When he stood up again, Heinz was standing in the darkness that led into the kitchen, his massive furry tail wagging slowly behind him. Sebastian could barely see the bear of a dog minus his outline, but he could hear the panting, and Heinz’s heavy steps as he walked up.

Sebastian reached out to pet the dog, dropping his hand into Heinz’s thick, soft fur and rubbed his side. “What’s up big guy?” Sebastian whispered, stepping over the dog to head into the kitchen. Heinz followed him with heavy footsteps. The dog hovered beside him as Sebastian washed out his coffee mug and set it aside to dry, watching him all the while. “What, bud? Did you scarf down your dinner and now there’s nothing left for a midnight snack?” He turned to look at the dog, resting back against the counter top for a moment, and then walked to the end and checked the food bowls. Not to his surprise, they were empty.

He had just stood up from refilling the dog food bowls, the dog food scoop, which had been stolen out of the feedroom in the barn, still in his hand, when Cheyenne came into the house. He went back to the cupboard that held the dog food and dropped the scoop into the large bucket, shutting the bucket lid and then the cupboard door.

He chuckled, “We’re going to see what that coffee is going to do to me.” he listened to her thank him for accompanying her to the rodeo to retrieve her brother, and then said “Of course, no worries. Seeing now how your brother behaves, I’m glad I went, and if it happens again I would rather if you didn’t go alone.” He said the last bit as an after thought, reaching down to pat Heinz on the head one last time before beginning to head out of the kitchen.

He paused at the doorway that would lead upstairs to his room, “We’ll talk work tomorrow morning. I have an 8 a.m. lesson tomorrow to teach, if you can’t find me after that I’m sure one of my sister’s will know. Ellie is scary good at knowing where everyone is. Goodnight, Cheyenne.” And with that, he turned and kept walking to his bedroom, ready to finally fall asleep for the night.

I’m glad I went. The words echoed in Cheyenne’s mind all night. I’d rather if you didn’t go alone. They had only been there for two nights. She’d only known him for one day. She was unsettled by him, and by the way he acted around her. Neutrally, as if he didn’t care. Her mind ran in circles, stopping in certain sections along its route. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have gone. He had a long day. He has a girlfriend, and he’s probably just being careful. He might be just as cautious as Chase and Joseph in letting their family in. On the other hand, normally people were immediately enamored by her. If he was dazzled by her, she would know. He didn’t treat her the way Shaye did, or the way any of the men in this town did. He treated her more like her brothers did. And that, the idea that he wasn’t impressed, that he didn’t think highly of her, that he didn’t respect her, that was terrifying. The only thing scarier than that notion was that she genuinely had no clue what he was feeling towards her, and if she couldn’t make something out of this–a friendship, at minimum–she didn’t know what she was going to do.

She tossed and turned all night, and finally fell asleep around five. Unfortunately, this meant that she slept through all her alarms, missing her opportunity to talk to Sebastian before his lesson. Her eyes fluttered open at 08:02, and she jumped out of bed in a panic. Her hair was still in messy braids from the day before, and she pulled on black shorts and an olive green pullover in an effort to at least make a late breakfast with Joseph before he went off to his own little world for the morning and afternoon.

“Well look what the cat dragged in,” Joseph glanced over his shoulder, a familiar glint of humor in his eyes. He placed a plate of eggs on the table for himself. “If you had come any earlier, you would’ve been able to catch up on the news. I just turned the TV off.” He dove into a forkful of his breakfast as his sister’s eyes went wide.

“Why? Is everything okay?”

“Fortunately. I was hoping they’d have live coverage of hell freezing over since you slept in for the first time in twenty years.”

She sighed, physically tired but even more tired of Joseph’s antics, then slid into a chair beside him at the kitchen table. He slid her a glass of orange juice before she could reply in any manner of substance. “Chase up yet?”

“What do you think?”

“Good. Foster?”

“Coming.”

“So, he’s working and not joining us.”

“Precisely.”

Three minutes of drowsy silence occurred, followed by the side door opening. Foster entered, and the pair exchanged a look. “I’m here, but let’s make this quick. I have more important things to do.”

Cheyenne got up to blend a protein smoothie for her breakfast while Foster poured what they assumed was his second or third cup of coffee already. Joseph nursed his with an unfeeling expression on his face before replying. “Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be sure to rush through it. Don’t let family time get in the way of ‘more important things.’”

Foster turned, glancing at Joseph to decipher whether he was being sarcastic or not, then glanced back to the task at hand. The hand he was pouring with was shaky from his first cup of coffee on an empty stomach. He found a seat at the other end of the table, far from his siblings.

“You know, you could get rid of the shakes if you had more than coffee for breakfast. You know, like the rest of America.”

“Aren’t you full of good ideas this morning.”

“Guys-” Cheyenne began to break up their bickering, but her eyes soon drifted to the hallway, where Chase had emerged. He was still dressed in the clothes he was in the night before, jeans and a white t-shirt. A large belt buckle hung from his waist, though he’d lost the leather jacket somewhere between Joseph’s truck and this house. “Chase,” she began, in an entirely too cheery tone. Her voice waivered, and Joseph rolled his eyes.

“Don’t,” he grumbled. He looked groggy, which she knew was a side effect, a result of being hung over and slightly sedated still.

“Coffee?”

“Please.”

Chase slid into the seat across from Cheyenne, next to Joseph on the other side. Boyishly, Joseph pretended to flinch and shift his body away from Chase, acting like he didn’t want to share space with him. Cheyenne had her back turned, finishing her breakfast and pouring coffee into a mug for Chase. At around that time, a brunette woman came down the hall. Joseph turned his head, ice blue eyes flicking up and down, looking her over in a lazy, casual manner. “You’re new, who’re you?”

Cheyenne shot Joseph a look, then smiled in a charming, friendly manner at the girl. “Don’t mind him, he’s harmless. I’m Cheyenne, that’s Joseph, Foster, and Chase. I don’t know who you’ve met so far.”

“Nice to meet you,” Foster greeted politely. Chase stared at her coldly, and Joseph recanted Foster’s statement.

“Don’t say that, we don’t know if it is yet.”

“Is what?”

“Nice to meet her.” He whispered it loudly under his breath, though Foster was at the opposite end of the table, so the conversation was more of a yell than a whisper. “Only one way to find out, though.” His voice got louder, and more fake, mocking Cheyenne’s. “There’s some empty chairs yet, care to join us?”

Once the girl agreed, a bit of an awkward silence fell upon the group, so Cheyenne worked at fixing it. “So, Jessica, I’ve met Sebastian and Caroline so far, and I’ve gotten a bit of a sense of what they do around here. What about you, what are you in charge of? What are your main responsibilities?”

A bit later, Cheyenne responded. “Back at our farm, I manage the english side of things, and a lot of the competition aspect. I compete a lot of the young horses and work on the resales. I also teach the more advanced lessons, and the adults. Joseph works with the really young horses, manages the breeding program, does tune-up rides on pretty much all our horses, does more of the horsemanship aspect, and teaches the beginner and intermediate lessons. Chase is a pro rider in a lot of western events, so he pretty much solely focuses on that, and Foster manages the paperwork, the staffing, the scheduling, and that kind of stuff.” Cheyenne gestured to each brother as she spoke of them. Foster listened attentively, nodding every so often and looking as if he had something to correct, Joseph had zoned out and was solely focused on his eggs, and Chase glared at the girl icily, malevolently, from across the table. “Because we’re all on very different schedules, breakfast and dinner are the only times we really get to see each other and catch up. I don’t know if your family has family meals, but we’d love to have you all join us whenever you’d like.” She paused for a minute, glancing over at Chase, then back to Jessica, then smiled softly, apologetically, before continuing. “Usually we talk about the day ahead at breakfast and the day behind at dinner, but we didn’t get to talk yesterday because we were settling in, so we’ll probably recap our days now before we go off to get things done. Joseph, do you want to go first?”

“Doesn’t sound like I have a choice. Uh, I went exploring in the back part of this land. Tracked some elk prints and watched one give birth, fished in the river way back there and cooked some, had it for lunch, found some bad plants growing in those parts, marked them to go back and remove later, planted some seeds I found, walked along the highway for a while, uhh, I dunno.” He got a smug look on his face. “Oh, I went to see dad.” Chase flinched, staring daggers into Joseph now. Without a word, he got up from the table and went out the side door, letting it slam behind him.

“Joseph,” Chey warned. Foster went to get up and she spoke up, once again. “Let him go, not a good idea to go picking fights this early.”

“Mmm, these are some good eggs,” Joseph said, scarfing down the remainder of his plate. He’d been eating morsels for over an hour, trying to make them last the duration of their breakfast, which was dragging on. It was around nine by now. He finished his coffee, then glanced over at Jessica. “You like eggs?” He paused, then continued. “If eggs were a person, I’d marry her.”

At exactly 6 am, Ellie’s alarm went off like it always did. She reached for her phone on the bedside table with one hand to shut off the alarm while her other hand threw aside the covers of her bed. With the alarm shut off, she stood and quickly got dressed, throwing on a pair of thin black breeches she produced from the pile of clean laundry in a basket beside the door, a form fitting grey tee shirt, and an oversized black and white flannel. She was sure she wouldn't need the overshirt later in the day, but the mornings were still cool. Crooks, her large, ginger mainecoon cat, was still sprawled across the foot of the bed, asleep and completely unbothered by her activity. She smiled down at the precious feline, and bent to kiss his furry forehead. The cat let out a heavy exhale, but he never opened his eyes. Turning to the standing mirror mounted on the back of her door, Ellie ripped a brush through the tangled locks of copper hair that hung all around her head, and gathered it all into a tight ponytail.

When her hair was contained, she looked at herself in the mirror, contemplating. She wondered if she should put makeup on, but thought better of it quickly. But still in the back of her mind, she was worried that the Bichlers would get the wrong impression of her if she looked homeless. Of course she knew they knew she wasn’t homeless, they were sharing her home with her now, but she wanted to make a good impression. Steeling herself, determined to convince herself that she didnt care what the Bichlers thought of her, she left her room, leaving the door open behind her so that Crooks could leave later.

It was barely 6:20 as she crept quietly down the hall of bedrooms and towards the front door, and outside into the chilly morning air. With long steps she strode towards the barn, through the main door, and into the feedroom to begin mixing morning grain for the horses.

As she was nearing the end of her feed chart, she noticed that she didn’t have any new horses on her list. Had the Bichlers not brought any horses with them? She hadn't been told about it if they had, which seemed odd. Or did their horses not get grain in the morning, maybe? She wondered as she danced around the feed room, checking on top of and under all the scattered piles of papers for something that would give her answer. When she failed to find anything, she sighed, pulled out her phone which read 7:18 am, and decided that she wasn’t going to find one of the Bichlers yet to ask. It was too early.

_____________

“Ellie! Happiness has arrived!” Penelope’s voice rang out singingly through the barn. In each hand she held a large travel mug of coffee. The one in her right hand was for herself, just a black coffee, but the other contained two cream and two sugar, just how Ellie liked her coffee. “I’m sure we forgot to bring more ground coffee down for the coffee maker in here, so I figured I’d bring you one!” Penelope said as she popped into the feedroom, a bright smile on her face. She extended Ellie’s coffee towards her while taking a sip from her own.

Ellie took the mug from her hand carefully, grasping it between two hands as she took a sip, and then followed it up with a chef’s kiss noise. “Thanks Penny.” She said, returning her sister's smile.

“Grain’s mixed, want some help handing it out?” Penelope asked, looking over her shoulder out into the barn where the horses were watching the feedroom carefully, waiting for breakfast to be served. Her attention was drawn back to her sister when she heard her laughing. “What?” Penelope questioned, a smile on her lips as she couldn't resist wanting to laugh as well.

“You’re really doing chores looking like a hobo, Penny.” Ellie laughed, “and here I was worried about putting mascara on.”

Penelope looked down at herself, taking in her baggy and stained grey sweatpants, and one of Sebastian’s old highschool track team hoodies that read “Edwards” around her left arm. Everything was hanging off her, too baggy. She did indeed look like a hobo, she couldn’t argue with Ellie about that one. With a sarcastic sigh, she looked back at Ellie. “What? Someone has to make the rest of you look good!” Penelope teased. She grabbed a stack of feed buckets off the counter Ellie used to prepare them, and set about reading the name off the bucket and distributing it to the correct horse. As she did so, she was glad for Ellie’s need to keep everything in order, as the buckets were in the exact same order as the stalls, despite the feed chart not being in that order.

By 7:45 they had given out grain, emptied, rinsed, and refilled water buckets, and were about to start cleaning stalls when Sebastain came into the barn.

_________________________________

“Mornin’, girls!” Sebastian called as he entered the barn. He was tired, more than tired. Part of it was mental exhaustion, he had been awake for longer than he had wanted to be after going to bed the night before, wondering what things were like when there wasn’t one of his siblings around to get involved during Chase’s meltdowns. He didn’t know what else to call it, besides a ‘rampage’, but he refused to let even his thoughts use that word. It made him sound dangerous, like a flight risk; like someone he didn’t want anywhere near his family. But he refused to let his mind make its own assumptions until he had proof to back them.

As he walked towards the feed room he found that moving each limb was like trying to drag a tree trunk up a hill, physically exhausting. He glanced at Ellie and Penelope standing side by side along the short end of the arena, the end closest to the feed room which was his destination. He was determined to find himself a coffee before his lesson began.

“If you’re looking for coffee you’re going to have to run back up to the house, there's none down here!” Penelope called back, “Unless you want to finish mine?” She wagged her coffee mug in the air so he could see it, and then extended the mug towards him despite him still being twenty feet away. He held up a hand, and shook his head.

“No thanks, I’ll pass on the cold coffee. I’ll just text Jess and ask if she can bring me one down when she comes, I don't have time to run back up.” He stopped where he was, still just as far from his sisters, and leaned against the wall of the indoor arena as he pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, and began typing a message to Jessica.

“I could go grab one for-?” Ellie began to offer, and Sebastian’s head snapped up to look at her, silencing the rest of whatever she was going to say. He didn’t look at her rudely, but he could feel the emotion drain from his eyes and couldn't be bothered to force it back there.

“Its fine. Just remember to bring some coffee down with you tomorrow morning.” He told her, and then dropped his eyes back to the phone. “...should have remembered some this morning.” he finished, muttering to himself. He sent the text to Jessica, and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He rubbed his hands up his face, settling the palms of his hands over his eyes.

“Gah, its too early for this. I really should move this lesson…” he said quietly to himself, and, as if on cue, his lesson student arrived. Clara, a sixteen year old who had been taking lessons with him since she turned ten, came into the barn with her helmet looped over one arm and her hands busy pulling her hair back into a bun that would impede her helmet. She smiled at him when they met eyes, a polite smile that said “hello” without her having to call too loudly through the barn. Sebastian replied silently with a returned smile and a nod, and then turned to his sisters.

“Alrighty girls, you know the rules, no peanut galleries during lessons. Make yourselves busy or make yourselves scarce.” He called to them, smiling. Despite being tired, he forced himself to appear upbeat and content in front of his student. He watched his sisters exchange a few words, likely deciding what they were doing, and then he turned his back to them and entered the indoor arena to begin setting up fences for his lesson with Clara.

“Clara, you can go get Appa. Don’t forget to put your helmet on before you go into the pasture,” he called as he dragged a pole towards a set of standards. Minors, or more specifically, minors who were also lesson students, were required to wear their helmets around the horses the entire time they were on the property. It was mostly for the safety of the students, but Caroline also hounded him about it because it was a liability she didn't want to have to worry about.

_________________________

Jessica woke up to the sun blazing in through her bedroom windows a little after 8 in the morning. She didn’t set an alarm, she almost never did. She trusted herself to be up at a reasonable hour, and so far that trust had never misled her. She got up and dressed, throwing on a pair of faded, straight cut levi’s with knees she had ripped out accidently ages ago, and a ragged Metallica tee shirt which she tucked in, before throwing her hair into a bun. She knew she would need to change later when she went to work the horses on her list for the day, but she couldn't be bothered to find riding clothes at the moment. They were likely still in the drier where she had left them the day before, assuming one of her siblings would bring them to her when they needed the drier.

As she walked down the hall in bare feet, her feet slapping against the hardwood hallway floor, Heinz appeared out of Sebastian’s room, tongue hanging out and tail wagging slowly.

“Good morning handsome!” she cooed, dropping to her knees to scratch the dog for a moment before standing again. “Are you comin’ to get some breakfast big boy? Come on!” she patted her thigh as she started down the hall again, and Heinz pranced along beside her, heavy paws alerting the rest of the house that he was on the move.

As she entered the kitchen to get herself a coffee, she noticed that it was already occupied. She barely had time to step into the room and breath before she felt like she was being interrogated.

“You’re new, who’re you?” she heard from the table. She had been avoiding looking at anyone in particular when she realised they were there, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on. She didn’t answer, partly because she was still trying to come up with an answer, and partly because Cheyenne beat her to it. Jessica listened to her introduce them all from where she stood just inside the entrance, Heinz standing beside her looking at the table, but not making a move towards it. She dropped a hand onto the dogs massive head, stroking his fur absently.

During the discussion of whether or not it was nice to meet her, Jessica came to the conclusion she didn’t appreciate feeling outnumbered and unwanted in her own home. “I’m Jessica. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cheyenne and Foster.” Jessica gave them each a warm smile, and then turned her eyes to the other two brothers and the smile was lost. “And you two,” she paused, willing herself to be pleasant when they had been everything but. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you if you have nothing nice to say, to keep your mouths shut?” She said it sweetly, making sure she met the eyes of the boys she was speaking to. When she finished talking, she flashed a mockingly sweet smile to Chase and Joseph and turned her backs on them to make herself a coffee before joining them at the table.

She was glad to be the one talking when Cheyenne asked about her responsibilities on the farm. It was better that she listen to her own voice then be forced to listen to either Chase or Joseph.

“I work with our homebreds, along with Ellie, the ginger.” She felt the need to add a physical description of her youngest sister, since she was the most easily identified of them. When she continued, she was speaking mostly to Cheyenne. “Ellie usually starts them, and once they’ve got the basics I usually take them on and finish them up. I’m in charge of which horses we keep for the lesson program, which might be worth hanging onto for potential breeding, though Caroline has the final say in that, and which are going to be sales horses.” she paused to sip from her coffee, looking around the table calmly. She wondered if the others had any interest in what she actually did around the farm, and then decided she didn't really care if they didn’t, they were going to learn one way or another.

“I’m also in charge of exercising boarder’s horses when they’re away. Sometimes I’ll do it, sometimes I can delegate tasks to my sisters. I shouldn't say sometimes, usually I’ll do it. Currently, I can do it on my own without anyone’s help. Sadly, when people found out we were going into busy with you guys we lost a lot of clients, so it's been pretty easy to keep up with the fitness of the horses when people go away. One of our biggest clients who left kept me busy three days a week with just their horses, but they left so I’ve had some free time as of late. Other than that, just the basics: turn out, and bring them in, extra hands if someone asks for help,” she ended with a shrug and took another sip of her coffee. She listened to Cheyenne explain what they all did, feeling Chase’s eyes bore a hole into the side of her skull. She refused to give him the satisfaction of her looking in his direction, and was beginning to get annoyed with his childish antics.

“We don’t really do family meals.” Jess started, trying her best not to sound unphased by it. They had almost never eaten meals together since they had grown up. When they were little of course they had eaten together, but now that they were all adults they just trusted that everyone had eaten by the end of the day. “I can’t say for certain there will ever be a day when we all join you, but I’m sure you’ll have some of us present during your family meals. I promise my siblings won’t debate the pleasantness of meeting you right in front of you.” Again, she refused to look at Chase. Instead, she was looking at Cheyenne again, occasionally glancing over to Foster so that he could be included in the conversation without having to verbally participate.

Jessica fell back into a content silence as the Bichlers began discussing the previous day. She sipped at her coffee, looking at each person around the table when they were speaking.

Eventually she spoke again, “I guess I like eggs, but not enough to marry them.” She laughed.

Several weeks passed and things began to smooth out on the Edwards’ farm between both families. Foster and Caroline continued to work together in the office with minimal personal interaction, and Joseph continued to remain a mystery to the girls, appearing out of nowhere in the middle of night checks to reveal that he knew far too much about their lives while simultaneously revealing nothing about his own. Chase was still happily spewing hatred on anyone he could at any moment he could, unwilling to budge in any way regarding his thoughts on the current state of affairs. Sebastian and Cheyenne were the only pair that had really established any kind of partnership, and that was bleak at best. They managed well around each other, but Sebastian was distant. He was still keeping Cheyenne at arm’s length, and past the potential explanation of an overprotective girlfriend, Cheyenne couldn’t figure out why. Nobody had been this distant with her, possibly ever. Even Sebastian’s sisters made comments every now and again about the way he acted around her. Kind, cordial, but civil. Just civil. Like a divorced couple who’d seen a great love and a great loss, and tried to remain friends.

On this particular afternoon, a blizzard rolled through the mountains faster than anyone could prepare for. Joseph had called in sick to work, telling Cheyenne that the horses “told him a storm was coming.” Before he went off to wherever he goes, he warned her that it was in everyone’s best interests to cancel lessons and keep the horses in. Unreasonably skeptical given Joseph’s track record of one hundred percent accuracy, or perhaps just afraid of being judged more by Sebastian, Cheyenne waited to cancel. “Morning,” she greeted, finding Sebastian up and in the tack room preparing for his first lesson. She was planning to get a hack in beforehand, despite her brother’s warning. “Hey, I know it’s supposed to be a clear day and this might sound super strange, but if you see a storm rolling in, will you let me know? I know you would anyway, but,” she drew in a deep breath. He made her nervous and strung out and anxious. “Thanks.”

The first warning came fifteen minutes later, when the calmest, soundest gelding in the barn started pacing in his stall and whinnying loudly, stirring the other horses. The gelding was one of Joseph’s, the kind of horse that could be ridden in the middle of a grocery store, or a fire drill, or a tornado, and he wouldn’t even bat an eye. “Marshall?” She called over her shoulder as she finished clipping the throat latch on a big bay gelding. “Sebastian? If you’re still in here, can you check on him?” When he confirmed that everything was visibly fine in the horse’s stall, Cheyenne knew Joseph was right. As always.

The second warning came seven minutes after that, when the gelding she was hacking started performing aerial stunts, one of which hurled her into a fence headfirst. His owner was a sixteen year old girl with jumping anxiety, and Cheyenne was one of the strongest riders in the region, english and western. The fall had occurred before she’d even tried to pick up the trot. That was when she knew it was going to be a bad one.

Covered in arena dust and bleeding from several cuts on her face, Cheyenne tried to minimize the pain she felt as she prepared to face Sebastian again. This was the first fall she’d had at the property, and it was undoubtedly a bad one. On the horizon, big, fluffy white clouds had already started coming in, a flurry of white surrounding them. Town was already getting hit hard by the looks of it. “Sebastian? Sebastian!” She felt bad for bothering him, but this was urgent. They had a lot to do, and no time to prepare. Her calls got more frantic with each second.

Finally, she caught him as he entered the barn again, an unreadable expression on his face. When he saw her current state, his eyebrows furrowed and something that looked like concern flashed across his features. Feeling sweaty, she wiped her face with her jacket sleeve. The remnants of what brushed against her skin came up as blood on her palm. “It’s not me, I’m okay,” she replied, a bit more loudly than usual due to the adrenaline. “We need to cancel lessons and get the horses in, and try to prep before we lose power.” She gestured to the white mist in the distance, that was rolling over the plains faster with each second. The wind was already picking up on their property. “It’s coming in really, really fast. Where is everyone else?”

In the distance, Cheyenne spotted something worse than the imminent blizzard. Ranger’s bright chestnut coat stuck out against the plains of the back property, and beside Ranger, Joseph was ponying one of the Edwards’ horses. Penny’s she thought, or maybe Jessica’s. He was galloping faster than he usually would while ponying something, especially a horse that seemed like it’d never been ponied before. Especially a larger, much more massive horse that seemed like it’d never been ponied before. Yet, like always, Joseph seemed to have gotten through to the equine, as if the trio had done this every day of their lives.

As he finally made it to the barn, Cheyenne had finished untacking the gelding and making the phone calls she had to make. Joseph’s eyes showed concern they rarely showed, and Cheyenne knew whatever he knew or whatever he was going to do was not good news. He dismounted from Ranger sharply, handing over the reins of the other horse. “Here, take this,” he said, as if handing her a bottle of water. He glanced over her compromised state with the slightest hint of arrogance, as if it was her fault because she hadn’t heeded his warning. “I found it in the woods. The girl is still out there, so I’m getting supplies and going back.” She was mostly convinced he referred to her as ‘the girl’ because he had no idea which sister was which. Still, her blood ran cold at the concept of anyone being outside in the elements when the storm blew through, let alone Joseph. She could tell the visibility would be next to nothing, and the wind was whipping.

“No you’re not! There’s no way, it’s too dangerous.” She’d followed him into the house, where he idly listened to her concerns while stuffing supplies into a saddle bag and a backpack. Sebastian had taken Penny’s horse from Cheyenne, and Ranger casually stood in the driveway, unmoving.

“I said what I said, Chey. Don’t wait up for me, I reckon I won’t be back for a few days at the very least.” Gently, he kissed her on the forehead, and turned in the doorway before leaving. “I’ll come back, I always do. Trust me.”

—

The ride into the woods was a fast-paced venture, for Joseph knew he had to take advantage of the ability to gallop on a flat trail while he still could. The trail he’d found Penny’s horse on led to an extensive network of routes leading well into the mountains, and with his luck, she’d be halfway up a peak by the time he got to her. Only one trail maintained a fairly low elevation, and it was one he’d been pioneering to get him to his cabin without using main roads or dangerous mountain routes. The ice that covered the rockier mountain trails above the property was enough to make any horse slip, even one as sure-footed as Ranger. Or Marshall. Or Sheriff. Or any of his string of similarly-named, wise-beyond-their-years ranch horses. Yet, when he found the disheveled mount at the base of a network of trail patterns, there wasn’t so much as a scratch or a drop of blood on it. It might have been wishful thinking, but he proceeded on the route he’d been blazing with the hopes that he wouldn’t have to backtrack. With the weather the way it was, he didn’t have time to methodically track hoofprints–he had to ride hard and guess.

Sure enough, about three miles in, riding straight towards the blizzard, Joseph found a string someone had tied on his trail to mark where they were riding. He didn’t need such a thing, so he’d immediately attributed it to the girl he was trying to locate. As far as he knew, no one knew about this trail, or about his cabin, or any of it.

Another half mile passed, and he found another string on the opposite side of the trail. Either she was ambidextrous or she’d tried to turn around. He had no proof of either.

The snow was picking up now, and the wind had already made his face tingle with numbness. He pulled his stetson down further, trying to protect himself from the wind and the snow being pelted into his face. He knew it was only just beginning.

Now four miles in, the snow was beginning to stick. The visibility was so limited he had to keep Ranger at a crawling pace, and his eyes strained to see. He had almost resolved to turn around and go back to look in the mountains a hundred times, but his instinct kept him on this trail. Just when he was ready to give up, he found the girl beside the frozen creek, strewn over one of the large boulders. Red snow stuck out like a sore thumb in the gray wilderness he was riding in, hence how he’d located her. There wasn’t enough of it for him to think it was a life or death situation, but she’d certainly been here a while. He practically jumped off Ranger, walking with purpose to the lifeless body.

“Hey, kid. Kid? Kid.” He shook her a bit, enough to get a weak and incoherent response. He was concerned about her risk of concussion, especially considering the way she seemed to have fallen. He knew trying to keep her conscious was going to be no easy task. “I’m gonna get you out of here, but I need you to stay awake for me, okay?” He lifted her into his arms, watching her with an unreadable expression as she fought to keep her eyes open. “That’s it, good girl. You’re gonna be fine.” He couldn’t resist feeling the slightest bit of weakness for the way she melted into his arms. She was surprisingly light, and vulnerable. Despite the obvious concern, something about the situation stirred something in him.

He knew she was too out of it to stand, so he managed to lift her over the gelding’s neck, strewn over his withers while he mounted. Once he was securely in his saddle, he lifted her, seating her sideways on his lap and placing her arms around his midsection. Her body slowly fell forward into him, and her head found its way to his shoulder, looking backwards. Decidedly, this was as good of a position as any, and at the same ambling speed they’d set off in, Joseph led Ranger on.

Looking back, he wasn’t sure exactly what led him to go to the cabin instead of back to the ranch, but an hour into their ride to the cabin, Joseph knew he’d made the right choice. Because of a steep cliff overhang beside them, this section of the trail was protected from the wind and the snow. When he was able to maneuver Penny enough to look back, he realized that the section he’d ridden to find her was next to zero visibility. The past hour or two of riding had filled it with at least a foot of snow, and at the very least, far too much for Ranger to be ridden in. He was already a small horse carrying two riders and a moderate amount of supplies in exhaustive conditions, adding heavy snow would surely lead to exhaustion or worse.

Joseph wasn’t sure what time it was when they finally made it to his cabin, but it had been at least another several hours of travel. Ranger was covered in sweat and exhausted, but he stood patiently while Joseph lifted Penelope off of his back and carried her inside to the frigid shelter. It seemed as if a second wave of the storm was blowing through, or maybe as they’d reached the clearing, they’d been forced to face what they’d been sheltered from for the last few hours. If she hadn’t been shaking from the cold, he would’ve made her stay out there for a few minutes longer to keep her awake while he cared for his horse, but as soon as he’d lifted her off of him and the body heat they’d accumulated diminished, she was even more vulnerable than she had been. He started a fire as quickly as he could, placing her in its vicinity under a heavy blanket from his bed. He didn’t think he imagined the way she got noticeably less restless when he put her under the blanket, and for no other reason, he concluded, than the fact that it smelled like him. She’d only started stirring when he’d separated from her, and this blanket seemed to take his place well enough for the time being. “I’ll be right back,” he said softly, more to himself than to her. He was afraid to leave her, but he was afraid to leave Ranger in the elements, too.

After putting all of his tack and supplies into the small cabin, Joseph led Ranger through the snow and down to the hot springs a few hundred feet away. He allowed the gelding to drink, but not to get wet. He brought him back, brushed him down as fast as he could, and put a stable blanket on him, leaving him in one of the empty stalls across from the cabin with hay. When he returned, he saw Penny had slumped over again, and dropped what he was doing to wake her up again.

“Hey, kid. Kid.” He gently touched her face, which was warm from the fire. Somewhere along the way her cut stopped bleeding, but it still needed to be disinfected and cleaned up. It didn’t seem as urgent as keeping her awake, though. “You’ve gotta stay up.” His voice was soft, more gentle than it typically was. Less defensive, less unfeeling. She reached out for him, so he continued speaking. “I’m here, I’m right here.” The fact that she was relying on her most basic survival instincts put fear in the pit of his stomach, but he remained calm on the outside. “Some fall you took, must’ve hit your head really hard.”

–

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Cheyenne, Chase, Sebastian, Foster, and Caroline had managed to get the majority of the tasks done before the storm hit. The few things they missed were able to be either written off or done from the comfort of the house or barn, and weren’t urgent. Cheyenne hadn’t cleaned up the blood on her face, or the cuts and bruises on her body she tried to pretend weren’t there. Still, she winced every time she stepped wrong, or touched something, and she’d switched jackets due to rips in the fabric of the one she’d taken the fall in. Several hours ago, they’d sent Jess into town to get some last minute supplies before the roads got bad, and they still hadn’t heard back. Cheyenne was pacing in the kitchen, for the fireplace was the only thing heating the house. The Edwards didn’t have a generator for the house, only the barns, so they were all stranded together on the first floor.

“Sooo, is someone gonna tell me to go into town and get the girl, or am I going to get labeled ‘reckless’ and ‘unsafe’ and ‘a villain’ for doing what you’re all expecting me to do anyway?”

Cheyenne’s eyes met Sebastian’s from across the room. They’d hardly spoken in hours, no one really had. Everyone was stressed for the same reasons. He offered to go. Chase declined. “The hell you will, Bastian. I’m not giving everyone here another person to worry about.” You’re worth something, I’m just a string of bad luck and consequences was implied. “You want to make yourself useful? Stop giving my sister more things to worry about.”

“Chase-”

“Not now, Cheyenne. This is between me and Sebastian.” His expression softened, as if he realized that it wasn’t his fight to pick. He changed his approach. “Look, she won’t listen to me, and I don’t feel like talking, but there’s literal blood pouring out of her skull right now, and she’s still more worried about your two sisters. So, that sounds like a you problem. I’ll be back when I solve my me problem.”

Grabbing his coat, Chase let the door slam behind him. “I’ll call when I know more,” was called over his shoulder, shortly before he made it to the truck. The roads were getting really bad by this point, and the visibility was very limited. Still, he was hellbent on going.

The next thing he knew, he was almost to town when he found a familiar truck parked on the side of the road, stuck in a snowbank. His best guess was that someone with worse driving skills than her had skidded into her lane, or that she was trying to pull over and overestimated where the road ended. Either way, she was stuck, and stranded. Pulling over, he rolled down his window. “Fancy meeting you here.” A smug, egotistical smirk hung on his face. “Get in.”

When she finally agreed after being a bit too stubborn for his liking, Chase casually asked, “so, did you get the stuff, or no? I’m not leaving until I get what you came for, even if it means spending the night in this truck on the side of the road in town. Don’t test my limits, you won’t find any.”

Over the several weeks that passed, life went on relatively the same for the Edwards’. Sebastian quickly adjusted to having an extra set of hands, and enjoyed that Cheyenne, of all her siblings, was the one he worked so closely with. Emma-Lynn didn’t appreciate it, but has kept mostly silent about it thus far, complaining only occasionally to Ellie or Penny in passing. The youngest sisters have kept mostly to themselves and their family

Sebastian stood in the tack room, coffee in one hand and the other on his hip, as he looked around the tack room. Apparently it had been a day or two too long since anyone had invested some time into cleaning the place; there was a clear layer of dust across the seats of many of the uncovered saddles in the tack room, and the saddles that were covered looked as if they had been coated in a light dusting of snow. Of course there were a few that were perfectly clean, the ones that were regularly used, but those mixed in amongst the dirty ones only made the dust seem worse in comparison. He hoped someone would stop and dust so he wouldn't have to hound anyone, but somehow it seemed mildly unlikely. Like him, they were probably waiting for someone else to do it.

“Morning,” Cheyenne’s voice cut through the dusty silence, and Sebastian turned to face her, dropping his hand from his hip.

“Morning,” he returned, nodding once in greeting as well. When she spoke about the weather, Sebastian couldn’t help but turn slightly to look out the small, also very dusty, window in the tack room. Outside the sun was shining, not particularly brightly, but it was there, and the clouds were just as white as fresh snow. He raised an eyebrow when he turned back to look at her, questioning but not voicing the question. When she finished, Sebastian gave a shrug and a nod. “Yeah, yeah I can let you know if I see anything weird with the weather. I’ll send you a text, keep your ringer on just in case.”

When they parted ways in the barn, Sebastian set himself to putting together a pole work exercise he wanted to use that day. With his coffee mug set haphazardly on the railing of the indoor arena, he began dragging poles through the dirt and counting the strides between them until he had established an intricate pattern of figure eights and circles that even he was struggling to remember the order of now. He had been about to walk over them and rediscover the pattern he had in his mind prior, when one of the horses began throwing what he could only call a tantrum.

“On it!” He called back to Cheyenne, and popped himself carefully over the railing of the arena and began down the aisle of stalls towards the gelding, who he had never heard a peep from before. As he reached the gelding’s stall, he wrapped his hand around on the bars and peered inside, asking the horse what was the matter as he did so. He had been expecting to see a rat or maybe a stray cat running around inside the stall, something that would explain the gelding's sudden antics, however there was nothing. He told Cheyenne as much as he stepped back from the stall, heading out to the parking lot to wait for the arrival of his first student of the day.

Not long after, he got a call from his student, who frantically apologised to him for not being able to make her lesson, however her mother had forbidden her from leaving the house that day, saying she was worried about the storm. Sebastian’s gut began to sink slowly, like a boat with a pinhole in the hull but no way to stop the water. He couldn’t fend off the uneasy feeling that was making itself more and more noticeable. As he turned to head back inside, he began to hear someone calling him. Unsure of who it was, but certain it was a woman, he strode back inside with long steps.

“Chey-?” his eyes went wide as she came into view. Blood was not something he saw often, and it was particularly concerning that it was her head that was bleeding. His older brother instincts kicked in a split second later and the look of concern faded to something more neutral as he tried to assess her injuries from where he was standing.

He nearly missed the flurry of words that flew out of her mouth next, he was too busy trying to decide if he needed to call an ambulance or if they had enough supplies to deal with her injuries on her own. However when her words registered with him, all other thoughts were gone.

“I don’t know where most of them are. I’m sure Care and Foster are within earshot of each other, but beyond that…” he trailed off, looking around him as if all the others would magically appear in the barn next to them. But they didn’t. He was so used to his siblings working independently that he almost never knew where they were, and today that was coming back to bite him. Anxiety began to gather in his chest, making him feel as though an anvil had been placed on him. He ran his fingers through his hair, and then shoved a hand into his pocket for his phone.

Into the family group message he sent “Barn. Now. Everyone.”

He set himself to calling his lesson students as quickly as he could, and thankfully he only had a few that day. By the time he had finished making calls, Ellie and Caroline had arrived at the barn and were running out to grab horses and bring them in, most often with one in each hand.

“Where’s Jess? Penny?” Sebastian yelled as Caroline came in and just before Ellie dipped out to grab another round of horses.

“Jess is loading hay in the tractor. She's coming into the arena with it!” Caroline called back. Sebastian saw Ellie’s ginger head freeze in place over the back of the horse Caroline was leading, and then slowly turn to face him, her face gone white.

“If Penny hasn’t come back yet, she’s still out with King…” Ellie’s voice grew quieter with each word, and it wasn’t until she finished that Sebastian realised why.

“Why is Penny out on your client’s horse?” Sebastian snapped. He hadn’t meant to, and knew that now wasn’t the time, but he couldn’t stop it. There had been too many feelings in too few minutes, he hadn’t had the time to process. He felt the heat rise to his face just as quickly as the words fell out of his mouth. “You stupid-!” he cut himself off with a groan just as Caroline snapped his name with a ferocity that would have matched their mother. “Im sorry,” he didn't sound it in the slightest, “now’s not the time. Now is not the time. Just get the rest of the horses in.” He didn’t wait to watch her leave the barn again, he knew she would.

And then Joseph entered, leading King. The dark bay stallion was thoroughly soaked, from sweat or snow Sebastian didn’t know, but he couldn’t be bothered with it. Sebastian wanted nothing more than to demand any information Joseph had, but something within him told him that now was not the time. He was not in a mood to be dealing with Joseph, and Joseph was rarely in a mood to deal with anyone, let alone Sebastian in his current state.

“I found it in the woods. The girl is still out there, so I’m getting supplies and going back.” It. The girl. Sebastian was ready to hit him, the audacity. But he didn’t even take a step towards him, not if he was willing to go back out after Penny; not if he was willing to save his sister. Sebastian could see the protest in Cheyenne the second Joseph had said he was going back out. He knew he shouldn't be mad at her for wanting Joseph to stay, but another part of him swore that if she convinced Joseph to stay at the house, he would never forgive her for leaving his sister out there when there was someone willing to help.

Cheyenne and Joseph left the barn, and Sebastian took to King. He did his best with shaking hands to untack and dry the gelding as his sisters brought in the rest of the horses.

______________________

Caroline was still fuming by the time she and Ellie had finished bringing the horses in. As soon as he was done with King, Caroline had sent Sebastian up to the house, and then she had followed Ellie back out into the field nearest to the barn, where Ellie had settled herself on the ground inside the shelter, her grey winter jacket pulled tightly around her and her head down on her knees.

“El?” Caroline called softly as she leaned into the side of the shelter. The wind was whipping her hair around her face wildly, making it hard for her to see. She missed the soft shaking of Ellie’s shoulders. When Ellie lifted her face, it was streaked with tears and her eyes were red and puffy.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Caroline…” she was crying so hard she was cut off by a hiccup, tears streaming down her face. “Please, I’m sorry, I didn't know it was going to snow. She was so excited when King came, hic, she really wanted to ride him. She was so excited when she asked if she could work him for me today, hic, I didn't have the heart to say no. I didn’t think anything was going to happen. I’m so sorry, hic…”

Caroline’s heart broke just a little bit more. She didn't know what to say at first. She was upset Penny was out, but that wasn’t Ellie’s fault. She was more than upset with Sebastian for how he acted. She was worried for Joseph for going out after Penny, and beyond thankful that he was willing. But above all, she was on the verge of tears watching her little sister convince herself that this was her fault.

Caroline settled herself in the soiled hay of the shelter next to Ellie, and threw her arms around her, pulling Ellie into her lap and covering her face with her sleeve. Ellie’s sobs shook her entire body. “I’m sorry…” Ellie whispered.

They stayed there, Ellie’s head in Caroline’s lap, until Caroline couldn’t feel her fingers or her face and Ellie had stopped shaking.

“Are you ready to come inside?”

“I don’t want to face Sebastian…”

Caroline squeezed her tightly. “Sebastian won’t say a word.” She promised, and there was an icy undertone to her voice.

__________________________

A jumble of noise pieced through the fog in her brain. She felt like her thoughts were tightly packed between cotton balls, a fuzz vibrating through her head like icy pinpricks. She felt like she was under water, noise and light dampened to being nearly nonexistent.

The noise came again, this time a little more coherent. It almost sounded like someone was talking to her. The fuzz was beginning to draw back, like she was on the verge of waking from a dream. She began to ache, a cool, dull ache that spread through her entire body.

“Kid.” she understood the word now, and heard the urgency behind it. She wanted desperately to answer, but her mind couldn't communicate that with her mouth.

“Mmm?” it was the best she could muster. A moment later she began to blink her eyes open, squinting hard against the unrelenting brightness that stabbed her eyes. Her eyes went wide for a second as she realised that she didn’t know the man above her, and then realisation dawned over her as she recognized one of the Bichler boys, however his name escaped her at the moment.

Stay awake? She didn't want to stay awake, she hurt, everything hurt. She just wanted to sleep it off, but as much as she wanted to go back to sleep, part of her knew that she needed to do as she was told. She did her best to nod that she understood, and buried her face against the snow covered material of his jacket, bringing one hand up to her face to shield herself from the snow. She could feel the warmth of his body trying to seep out from beneath the frozen material of his jacket.

She was almost oblivious to his moving her onto the horse, other than feeling the wind pick up against her once again. She made a noise of protest against the cold. Soon though, she was once again pressed tightly against his jacket and she could feel the familiar sway of a horse beneath her. Though her brain was still foggy, she was overwhelmed with gratitude.

As they rode, the familiar sway of the horse lulled her, and soon she was too cold to register the pain she had felt before. She was almost at peace, or as peaceful as she could be half frozen solid, when her thoughts of that morning began to come back. She suddenly realised that she hadn’t told anyone where she was going, or that she had gone at all. No one but Ellie, who had been delighted when she asked if she could ride King.

Oh my god, Ellie… that thought stuck with her for their entire ride. She didn’t know where they were going, not that she would have been able to recognize any of it even without the snow, but she got the feeling they weren’t heading in the direction of the house. She didn't have the energy to ask, nor was she worried enough about it to stress.

When they finally arrived, she was thankful to get off the horse. The pace they had kept was steady and consistent, but she was sore and stiff and very, very cold. She put her arms around his shoulders as he carried her inside of wherever they were. She knew for certain it was nowhere she had ever been before, but that knowledge didn’t unsettle her like she had expected it to. When he put her down, she couldn't fight off the frown that came to her face. She looked up at him with wide, glossy eyes, wishing that he would have sat down with her, but she understood that the horse needed his attention more than she did at that moment.

Next to the fire and beneath the blanket, she was beginning to regain movement of her fingers and toes. Her clothes were nearly soaked through from the snow, but she didn't dare remove any piece of them. Instead, she pulled the blanket tighter around her and cuddled her face into the soft material, breathing in the calming scent of the blanket. It smelt familiar, and it smelt safe.

“I’ll be right back,” she heard the words, and meant to respond to them, but no words ever came out. Soon, she had fallen into the warm embrace of sleep once again.

She protested waking up, but there was no stopping consciousness when it finally took hold of her. She let out a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh. “I don't want to stay awake…” She said, her voice hoarse from their time outside and still thick with sleep. She unwound one hand from where it had been tightly curled beneath her head and reached towards the direction of his voice, her fingers finding the fabric of his jacket and closing tightly around it. It was cold to the touch, but she held onto it tightly still.

When he mentioned her fall, she opened her eyes to look at him, confusion on her face as she tried to search back through her memories of the day.

“I don't even remember what happened…” she said with defeat, looking up at him with wide, searching eyes as if he would have the answer she was looking for.

________________________

Sebastian had lit the fireplace after being sent back up to the house, and when the others came up to join him it was already starting to warm the living room. When Caroline came up she had busied herself with boiling water in a kettle atop the fireplace to make coffee, hot chocolate, or tea, anything warm to reheat the group. The silence amongst them was almost unbearable, each stressed about something, some family member gone out in the storm. Or more than one. When Chase finally broke the silence, Caroline sighed in relief, hoping that just maybe he would break the tension that was building between them all. She quickly learned Sebastian had no intention of breaking the tension, only adding to it.

“You want to make yourself useful? Stop giving my sister more things to worry about.” The words made Carolines fingers tighten around the scalding mug of tea she was sipping at. Sebastian launched out of the loveseat he had been lounging across, waiting for a text from Jess that had now been forgotten.

“I swear to God, what the hell is with you people? Your brother!” He shouted, quickly clarifying that it was not Cheyenne he was mad at. His phone was forgotten on the loveseat now behind him, his arms spread wide in exasperation. “Your attitudes are all disgusting! Where were you when we were taking care of the horses? You high and mighty prick!” he spat the last words at Chase, praying that there was an ounce of humanity in Chase that he could wound.

“SEBASTIAN ALEXANDER EDWARDS!” Caroline practically shrieked. She slammed her mug onto the counter she was standing beside. He turned to face her with a look of exhaustion to meet a glare that would have scared the devil, and turned back around to face Chase, his head hung low, and his arms at his sides.

“I’m sorry, I am, really. I’m just worried about my sisters, and I have no reason to be projecting that onto you. I'm sorry, and I owe you my life if you’re willing to go out after Jess. You and Joseph both.” He raised his head to look at Chase almost sheepishly, like a child who was afraid his parents might scold him. He listened when Chase spoke next, and nodded when he finished. He couldn't argue with him, couldn’t say anything else. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure he could face Cheyenne after another outburst she had been witness to, but he was going to do what Chase asked him to do and take care of her.

Slowly, he turned to face Cheyenne. He offered a shy smile, though he wasn't sure she'd return it. He folded his hands in front of him, unsure of what else to do with them. "Please, let me make sure you're okay." He looked from her to the loveseat he had been seated on, and gestured towards it with one hand.

________________________

Sitting in her freezing truck, with her dead cellphone between frozen fingers, Jess tilted back the driver's seat back as far as it would go, pulled her toque as far down her face as she could, and resigned to waiting and hoping some good samaritan would come help her. The battery in the truck had died almost an hour ago, after she had stupidly left the heater since she had first gotten stuck. In her hurry to leave the house before the storm got too bad, she had neglected to check a few essentials; the first: her phone battery level, and the second: if she had a phone charger cord. She had gotten stuck on her way into town, and called a two truck, who never arrived. She waited on the line with the driver until, inevitably, her phone died.

She heard the sound of another vehicle coming through the snow, but after the few that had gone by and never showed a sign of stopping, she was slowly losing hope. She didn’t lift her hat from its place over her eyes, but she did return her seat to an upright position so that she could be seen if anyone stopped to look.

.“Fancy meeting you here.” Oh my god. She ripped her hat off, throwing her dishevelled hair everywhere. Inside, she felt like her guardian angel had finally come through to get her out of this mess, but outside she eyed his smirk, trying her best to hide a smirk herself. She was glad to see him, but that had developed an interesting relationship since they had met.

“Where were you going to get stuck out here in this weather?” She said jokingly, she did her best to smile, but she was freezing and she wasn’t entirely sure it was the prettiest smile. She laughed and pulled her hat onto her head again, shoving stray strands of hair away from her face. She made her best “I dont know…” face at his passenger seat, but soon the thought of a warm vehicle was too much to resist. She threw open the door of her truck, cell phone in hand, and dashed through the snow and to his passenger door, jumping in quickly.

When she first jumped in the truck she had a giddy smile on her face, excited for warmth and to get out of the weather, go home. As he spoke, her smile drooped, and she decided to look at her hands in her lap instead of at him.

“I… I didn’t make it to town…” she wasn’t entirely proud of not making it to town, but she wasn’t ready to try again to make it to town. Once was well enough, there were too many people who shouldn’t be driving in the snow. “But, can’t this wait until the morning? Surely we’ve got enough to get through the night at home. We can get through the night without freezing to death, like I thought I would in my truck, and I’ll come out and try again in the morning.” she looked at him, trying to reason with him, but she was almost certain she wasn’t doing anything more than ensuring that they were going into right now. But still, she tried. “Doesn’t that sound nicer than sleeping in the truck?” No, not with those nerves.

She sighed in resignation, and leaned her head back against the headrest, looking at the roof of the truck. “I changed my mind, there’s no convincing you, is there? Let’s just go to town and get this over with. If I’m going to get stuck in the snow again, it might as well be with someone I can talk to.”