Pulling up in the apartment parking lot Tyson breathes a sigh as he shoots a text to Jaelyn. She sent him one saying that they had made it to her parents. A knock on his window makes him jump and his eyes grow wide. He looks out to see his roommate, Calvin, laughing hysterically. "Dang it Cal! You trying to give me a heart attack?" He cries after hopping from the cab of his pickup.

"Welcome back man!" Calvin declares as they shake hands.

Tyson nods. "Thanks man. Mind helpin' me take my bags in?"

"Sure." Calvin nods and they each grab a bag.

After entering the familiar apartment Tyson throws his bags in his room and flops on the full size bed he occupies at night. The fresh sheets he had put on before he left still held the cheap detergent smell. Not being able to stand it any longer he looks at his phone, still nothing from Jaelyn.

"So tell me the details of this week you skipped classes." Calvin's voice interrupts the mental debate as to whether to call her or not.

Tyson chuckles, "The gather went well-" He continues on with the usual details of the stock end of the week, checking his phone throughout. Usually he would throw it on the other side of the room and leave it there, but there is just too much he wants to know that has to come through the little device.

"Expecting someone?" Calvin motions to the phone.

Tyson sighs and smiles at the direct thought of her. "Eh, just wondering if I should call her."

His friend's eyebrows shoot up and a half smirk cocks his lips. "Her, huh?"

"Jaelyn," he murmurs her name, letting it softly roll off his tongue.

Calvin's eyebrows arch. "Like Jaelyn Maxwell? The one that you were too dumb to try and get back?"

He rolls his eyes at his roommates calling dumb. "We were too young even if I had tried to get her back."

"Well whatever, I am going to fix something to eat now that it is midnight. I would suggest you call her." Sautering out of the room his lips hold a smug grin.

Eleven rings later every possible scenario is popping out of thin air. She's ignoring him; everyone is engaged in a fist fight; Cane isn't the only one to flip; and the list continues on. A deep 'Hello' brings him back to reality. "Gary... right?"

A chuckle erupts through the phone. "Yeah, Little Lynn is here she's just not talking."

He is all ears now. Why isn't she talking? Is she not talking at all or just to him? "Hey, Jae Sweet."

"Hey Superman." Her voice is shaky telling him that she had been crying.

Lord, let everything be okay, he prays. "Sweet, why are you crying?"

"I'm not," she lies with a giggle.

"No, she's trying to turn my shirt into a swimming pool." Benjamin's voice meets his ear.

He chuckles. "I can take a couple days out of classes." He hears the fumbling of the phone before her soft voice comes back.

"No, Superman, I can wait till the weekend. You don't need to be skipping class with only seven months to graduation," she tells him.

He sighs. "Okay. So I am going to assume that you have already told them."

She sighs and nods then realizing he can't see her speaks, "Yeah, I guess you could say it went okay since everyone is still alive with no battle wounds. Cane is the only one that is totally against it, the others are good. Cane got mad that no one else was upset about it and-" She can't finish, the words won't come. "He's moving out." The words are like poison to her mouth. Why did he have to react so dramatically? And even though they fought a lot they were still close, they lived together.

"He's what?! Is it really that big of a deal?" This is turning from bad to worse.

She sniffles. "I don't know. He just got up and left. I have no clue about anything."

His mind begins racing with thoughts. "Jae why don't you stay with your parents this week?"

"Okay, I'll see if Gary or someone will give me a lift to get my pickup. I'll have to ask Brooke if she can cover a little longer," she rambles on about the list of things that have to be done.

He smiles. "Jaelyn, Sweet, come down. It will all work out."

"I know. You need to get to bed, you have class tomorrow," she tells him.

He laughs. "Jae Sweet, I'm fine."

"No you're not. It is two in the morning, you have classes in five hours." Her voice is harsh, but the yawn that follows takes away from the seriousness.

"Sweet I think you should go to bed." He chuckles as a yawn escapes his own mouth.

***

Jaelyn yawns and squints her eyes at the clock. Her eyes grow wide, three pm? Straggling out of the covers makes her way down the hall and to the kitchen where she finds a note from Gary.

Little Lynn,

I fed the horses. ~Gary

After eating a breakfast/lunch/snack combo she pulls out the last pair of clean jeans in her bag accompanying them with a black button up. Slipping on her boots, after filling her pockets with her knife and keys she heads out the back door, but not before sticking her hat on top of her braided hair.

Opening the shop door she spots her brothers and dad working on a project. "What are you working on?"

"Well! She did decide to wake up!" Benjamin declares.

She laughs. "I didn't hear a thing."

"We are working on a new latch for the gate out there." Andrew points to the gate to the field.

Nodding she turns back to the door. "I'm going to go ride," she calls over her shoulder.

In the pen with the horses she calls Cobalt over and vaults onto his back. Once out the gate and into the field she urges him into a trot. As the breeze plays with the brim of her hat the thoughts of betrayal, hurt and anger cloud her mind. Why is Cane making such a big deal about this? How is she going to make the bills? How is she going to get these colts done by herself? She is shaken from her thoughts when her phone beeps with a text, Tyson.

I love you, Sweet. Did you get to sleep in?

She smiles before replying. Yes, I didn't wake up till three. I feel bad since you had to get up and go to classes.

When he doesn't reply after thirty minutes she decides to call him.

"Hey Jae Sweet." His voice holds sleep as he speaks.

She chuckles. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yes, but it's okay. How are things today?" He asks, raking his hand across his face trying to rid sleep from his features.

She takes a deep breath and shifts her heels down making Cobalt stop. "Good, I guess. I still need to ask one of them to take me to get my ride, but nothing atrocious has happened. Of course when you sleep half the day away there is not a whole lot of time for it to."

"Good. This is going to be the longest week of my life."

She laughs. "Are you sure? Your life isn't over yet."

He sighs then laughs. "Okay, okay maybe not, but this is going to be an extremely long week."

"Yes it is. I am going to ask the brothers for a ride home so we can get there before it is dark. You are going to go back to sleep," she instructs, tapping her heels on Cobalt's sides urging him towards the barn.

"I can easily follow those orders." He laughs.