Blue

"Hmm?" Hal pried his eyes open halfway and gave Sam a sleepy look. Realizing what had just happened, he gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry... guess I'm more tired than I thought." He stifled a yawn and nestled down in the couch a little farther. He shifted a bit until he was leaning against Sam, his head resting just on the edge of her shoulder. Sighing deeply, he tried to keep his eyes open and focused on the television, but it was nearly impossible. "Don't let me sleep through the last battle," he mumbled. 


"Let it go? Are you kidding?" Zan spit out another little piece of grass, still grinning, and brushed off his jeans. "Never." Now with Destiny on the ground with him, he just looked at her for a moment, realizing just how blue her eyes were as the evening sun bounced off them.

Dropping his gaze, he cleared his throat and got to his feet, offering her a hand up as well. "I suppose we should grab the chair and get us a couple good spots to watch the movie," he mused. It was a little quieter now that it was close to dark - there were fewer kids, but there was still a good crowd. He helped get the rest of the stuff from their picnic back in the car, then carried the chairs to where the movie screen was, letting Destiny pick the spot. Once settled side-by-side in their chairs, it wasn't long before the movie began. It looked to be a family-friendly feel-good sort of film. 

Leaning over closer to Destiny, Zan whispered in her ear. "I forgot something. Be right back." Slipping away, he ran to the car, and was back in just a couple minutes, trying not to get in anyone's way. Once back in his chair, he handed her a little package of sour patch kids and tossed her a wink as he grinned. 


"Yes!" Jason played his last card and threw his arms in the air. His eyes shot over to Jeff. "You were saying?" 

"Oh, shut up." Jeff smirked before glancing across at Katie. "Where'd you dig him up at anyway?" 

Jason just laughed. "Don't blame her. Blame the Agency. If it wasn't for them, I never would have come to the ranch in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah." Jeff rattled the ice in his cup around before tipping it up to grab a piece in his mouth and suck on it. 

Once Jason and Katie had returned from their walk, word had spread quickly that they were on the mend. No one really knew what that meant for sure, but the atmosphere was already much lighter. Staying up late for some UNO was a good way to assure everyone that they really were okay, and... it offered some more fun, too. Even Mick and Rosetta had stuck around for a short while before going home like usual. 

Luke snickered and gathered up the cards for his turn to shuffle and deal. He didn't usually stay up late, but he was having a good evening, so was going to take advantage of it, since he hadn't even gotten out of bed until almost noon today. 

Travis nudged Ashlee with his elbow. "We got 'em next round." He shot a look at Jason and Katie. "They're cheating. I know it."

"Cheating?!" Jason's eyes widened and he glanced beside himself at Katie. "I don't see any cheaters? Do you?" 

At the far end, Dylan also sat to play, but had been fairly quiet. There wasn't quite as much tension when he and Travis were in the same room, but he usually fell silent, especially when Travis and Ashlee were together. It hadn't kept him from joining the card game tonight though, but now, his focus was mainly on Jason and Katie, whom he'd been studying for a while now. Seeing he was out of lemonade, he stood to go get some more. As he passed behind Katie, he stopped and bend a little to speak quietly only to her. "Sometime before you guys leave the ranch... I wanna talk to you... okay?"