A Little Hurt

Carson was silent for a few moments as he simply studied Misty's face. He reached over and ran his hand lightly over her face, pushing aside her stray locks of hair before resting his palm on her cheek. Where had time gone? It felt like just yesterday he was seeing her for the first time. He'd been captured and all he'd wanted was the easy way out. All he'd wanted was to escape anyone's wrath, no matter how he had to compromise to do it. But her eyes... her smile... they had captured him forever. And it also felt like a million years ago. 

"Breakfast sounds good," he finally responded a bit hoarsely. "I still feel cruddy but at least I don't have a fever." He rolled onto his back and yawned. "I prolly shouldn't be working in the kitchen yet... but maybe at least I can go to the house for a while." 

He turned his head to look back at Misty again. "If I don't collapse at some point, I'd like you to come see it today..." 


Gunner kept his focus on his shake instead of looking at Bree as he shrugged. "Sure. Yeah. I'm alright." He took another sip, but in spite of his efforts to keep a lid on his emotions, the tears surfaced and filled his eyes. 

"Dang it..." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and leaned his head back on the couch again. "They keep saying they're gonna figure me out." He forced a partial laugh. "They didn't know they were dealing with a vampire." He took another sip of his shake and sniffed, wiping his eyes again before finally looking over at Bree. 

"It's alright here," he admitted. "Better than Northside." He eyed Julie who was a short distance away and had obviously spied their shakes. She just smiled and shook her head though, then went back to concentrating on another patient. "I've got at least one ally around here. That helps."

He really was trying to be positive. It wasn't easy when his mood was so low. But he didn't want to make this any harder on Bree than it was already, either. Relaxing a little, he finally let his legs slide down so he was sitting cross-legged instead of having his knees separating them. "Do you... have time to go for a walk, maybe? When we're done with our shakes?"


Hunter was glad Ryan was enjoying her stay so far, and smiled. He hadn't thought about hooking her up with Clint, but it made sense now. He thought for a moment as he chewed. "Mm... I helped more with the horses, cleaned some stalls, helped fix a fence..." 

He grinned. "Might go riding here after lunch. You're more than welcome to come give it a try if you want. Or juts watch. Or stick with Clint." He wanted her to feel like she had freedom here - that she could do what she felt like or not do anything that made her uncomfortable. 


Travis nodded to Stacy gratefully. "Thank you... I'll go find her." Turning, he waked quickly into the barn and aimed for the tack room. 

Knocking on the door, he poked his head around the corner before stepping inside. Seeing Ashlee, he tucked his hands in his pockets and grinned. "Hi. I just got permission from your mom to eat lunch with you in the dining hall... if you want?" He glanced around the tack room and shrugged. "I mean... unless you wanna stay here, surrounded by saddles and bridles instead of spending any time with me. I might be a little hurt, but I'd get over it."