After my confession, I was expecting something more from Savannah than just a casual shrug and brushing it under the carpet.

"Wanna help me bake a cake?" Savannah asks as she jumps down from the counter and pushes me out of the way to get to the cupboard behind me.

"What?" I mumble a little dumbfounded. I move to grab her wrist, but she shakes out of my grasp. "Savannah, do not ignore me."

"Why not?" She huffs. Taking the ingredients, she starts to carefully measure and pour the contents into a mixing bowl. "You've been ignoring me for the past how many years? Think of this as pay back."

I slam my hand down on the counter in annoyance and watch as Savannah flinches, sending the mixture all over her clothes. Covered head to toe in flour, Savannah turns to me and shoots me a glare that isn't hard to decipher.

She reaches over for the bag of flour, dips her hand inside and throws a fistful over me. I stand my ground and wipe the powder from my face, trying all the while to keep my temper in check. Noticing my reaction- or lack, thereof- I watched as she flung another measure of flour at me. With a smirk on her face, Savannah looked quite pleased with her handy work.

"Savannah-"

This time a cup of water was thrown over me, and let me tell you something, flour and water does not make a good mix. It turns to glue and gets stuck everywhere, and has a funny way of sticking you to the girl that you just professed to liking.

I wrapped my arms around Savannah's slight waist and pulled her to me, getting us both covered as she cracked an egg on my head. I dipped my head and grinned as the yolk flowed from my hair and dropped onto her nose. She squealed and tried to get out of my grasp but that only made me tighten my hold on her.

"Savannah, listen to me," I implore her, but all I get for my efforts is sugar flung in my face. I finally let her go and take a step away from her. I clench and unclench my fists as a way of controlling myself. "Ok, I get that you don't wanna talk to me, darlin'. That's fine, but you are damned well gonna listen."

She frowns and starts singing to herself as a way to block out my voice, but I carry on anyway.

"I like you, Savannah," I repeat to her. "I like you. Actually, I a little more than like you. Savannah, stop throwing food at me, will-" An egg hits the corner of my eye. "Seriously?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Caleb," she bites back at me. She pokes me in the shoulder and sends me backwards. "You think that I'm gonna stand here at let you make fun of me?"

"Make fun of you?" I manage to ask before Savannah goes on her rant.

"Yes, make fun of me," Savannah confirms. "You don't like or a little more than like me. You're just saying all this to see how the stupid dumb blonde reacts. Well, I'm not falling for it."

I sigh. "Savannah, I'm not tryin' to trick you here. And don't ever call yourself stupid and dumb, because you're not and I've been slowly seeing that these past few weeks. Look," I take a step closer to her, thankful that she doesn't try to back away from me. "I know I haven't behaved in a way that earns me any confidence with you, but I swear to you that this is not a joke. This is real, Savannah, and I'm not ashamed to say it. I like you."

"I need to get changed," is all she says in response.

She rounds me and walks towards the laundry room that's next to the kitchen. For some reason I followed her, and recoiled when I saw her changing her shirt in front of me. It wasn't because I was seeing her practically half naked, because that I could have rationalized. No, what staggered me was the long, white scar that practically ran down the whole length of Savannah's back.

She must have heard my sharp intake of breath because just as my eyes rose to meet hers Savannah leveled a furious glare on me. She stepped closer to the door and closed it in my face with a kick of her foot.

"Savannah?" I whisper her name through the door. "Can we talk about it?"

I hear her sob. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll think I'm a freak," she cries. I head her lean against the door and drop to the floor. I mimic her movements and press my ear to the door. "Caleb, can you leave, please?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me how you got that scar," I threaten. I sigh and wait, but Savannah doesn't offer me an explanation. "Savannah, please. You can trust me."

"Do you think I'm pretty?" She asks randomly.

"You know you're pretty," I tell her. Everyone in school labelled Savannah as the Pretty One of our graduating class, and all the guys fell in love with her, including me. "All the boys think you're pretty."

"That wasn't what I asked, Caleb," she sobs again. "What do you think? Am I pretty?"

I laugh. "You're beautiful, Savannah."

"You won't think that once you know the truth," she cries harder, and it breaks my heart to hear her. I stand up and open the door, pushing her body as I slip through the crack. I kneel down next to her and try to take her face in my hand, but she shies away. "Caleb, don't."

"Look at me," I demand. There must have been something in my voice, because as soon as the words leave my lips, she turns to face me. "You are so damned beautiful, Savannah, that sometimes it hurts to look at you. Nothing you can say or do will ever make me look at you differently."

Savanna blinks up at me, battling away the tears, but eventually she breaks down. She presses her face into my chest and cries. I wrap my arms around her and let her get it all out of her system, telling her that it was all ok and that she had nothing to worry about.

Seeing Savannah vulnerable like this was heartbreaking. She always seemed so strong; in all the years I had known Savannah Mayfield, I had never once seen her lose her composure like this. I used to think she was poised and serene and that nothing could ever get her down, but I guess it just goes to show that you really can judge a book by its cover.

The girl that walked the hallways with that bright smile... The girl that could charm anyone with just a simple 'hello'... The girl who could make me, Caleb Townsend, fall for her... That girl had a vulnerability to her that had been hidden so well for a long time, and seeing her façade crumble made me scared.

What should I do? How do I deal with this? Should I go get help?

"Caleb?" Savannah's sweet voice mumbled my name. "Hold me, please?"

I lay us down on the laundry room floor and hold her tight to my body, resting her head on my shoulder as I kiss the crown of her head. She nudges closer to me, her nose ticking my jaw line as her lips press against the soft skin of my neck.

I groan. "Savannah, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," she says seconds before planting another kiss against me.

I move my head so I can get a better look at her face, but all I manage to do is press my lips against hers. I hadn't expected my first kiss with Savannah Mayfield to go quite like this- actually, I hadn't expected to kiss Savannah Mayfield, period- but on the laundry room floor...

As Savannah intensified our kiss, my mind went blank and the only thing I could think of was drinking in more of the girl that I more than liked. I moved my lips against hers, and let my tongue run across her bottom lip. She opened instantly and soon her tongue battled mine for control.

Savannah repositioned herself on top of me, straddling me as she dominated the kiss. I let my hands wander to her hips and I felt the soft, delicate skin of her lower back. I opened my eyes and broke away from the kiss, looking up at Savannah's shirtless chest.

"Where's your shirt, Savannah?" I whisper.

"Somewhere," she smiles as she kisses me again. "Do you want me to put it back on?"

Did I?

"Wait," I suddenly say, gathering my senses. "We can't do this here."

"Can't do this here?" Savannah frowns down at me, her hands pressing down on my shoulders. "Or can't do this at all?"

"Here," I nod decisively. "I want to do this, Lord knows I do, but I am not doing this on the floor in your laundry room when anyone can just walk in on us."

She pouts. "And here was I thinking that Caleb Townsend was a bad boy risk taker."

"Not when it comes to you, Savannah," I smirk up at her. "With you, this should be done right. And this," I motion to the whole scene, "is not right."

"Spoil sport," she pokes her tongue out at me. "You're kinda sweet in your own way, Mr. Townsend."

"Um, thanks?" I tease her, but I know that it's a compliment. "No, get up, put your shirt on and then we can talk."

"Talk?" Her simple question changes the playful atmosphere and I can see her eyes darken at my suggestion. "I don't wanna talk."

"Then you can listen," I smile at her, stealing another kiss as I help her to her feet. "And I'll do the talking."

I lead Savannah to the kitchen and force her to sit at the breakfast table. I take the seat opposite her and wait, hoping that maybe she would take the incentive to speak first. When she raises her eyebrow at me, I took that to mean that I really should be the one doing all the talking.

"I'm gonna put forward some scenarios," I tell Savannah how this conversation is going to go. "If my theory is right, you tell me the real story, ok?"

Savannah scoffs but nods her head anyway. "Like you'll ever get close."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Don't underestimate me, Savannah."

I start with the obvious. Savannah had been in an accident. She nodded her confirmation to me, but apart from that, didn't offer anything more. I guessed that the accident happened a while ago. About six years was my guess. When I see Savannah's eyes bug out, I took that as a 'yes.'

A car accident was my next guess. She didn't flinch.

Sporting accident? To this, Savannah cocked her head sideways.

Something to do with horses?

Savannah closed her eyes tightly, and a tear escapes. She wipes it away as quickly as it appeared and tries to smile her way out of the situation, but she doesn't fool me.

"Don't do that," I tell her, reaching my hand across to grasp hers. "Don't hide from me, Savannah."

"Caleb-"

"Lotus?" I blurt out the name of Savannah's old horse. "Does this have anything to do with him?"

Savannah nods. "Please, Caleb. Don't do this."

"You were riding Lotus when the accident happened, right?" I push forward, ignoring her pleas. "Am I right?"

"If I tell you," Savannah looks me directly in the eye. "It'll be the only time I talk about it. You sit and you listen, but you don't get to ask any questions, got it?"

I nod.

"You're right about the horse accident and it was six years ago," she tells me. She brushes her hair away from her face and a hardened look fixes on her face. "What do you remember about me when I was twelve?"

When we were twelve, I had known Savannah for almost four years. We went to different schools then, so the only time I saw her was when I accompanied Owen up to the Estate. Savannah had always been a live wire and full of life and she had this infectious personality. Everyone loved her.

It was around this time that Savannah's little sister was born. Having been an only child for years, Eleanor's arrival hit Savannah hard. She started to act up, disobeying her parents' rules and had an attitude with a lot of people. I'm pretty sure it was at this time that Savannah was excluded from school and had to be homeschooled until High School.

She had almost dropped off the radar, and if it weren't for the fleeting sights of her, I almost would have believed she had disappeared. Even when I saw her, and the very few times I spoke to her, Savannah wasn't like the girl I had known. Something about her was different, and I didn't like it.

"You changed," I finally answer her question.

"I was acting out," Savannah smiles sadly. "With Eleanor being born, my parent's attention went to her and I hated it. God, how bratty does that sound? I was jealous of my baby sister. I tried to get them to notice me, maybe remember that I was still around, but it never happened.

"So, one day, I took Lotus out," she continues, her voice void of any emotion. "He'd been a little jittery after an accident and Sherman and Owen told me not to ride him but I didn't listen. So, I tacked him up and took him along the trek that runs around the Estate. Have you ever been out there?"

I nod.

"You know the ridge?" Savannah asks.

The trek runs the perimeter of the Estate and along the way there are a few niggles that only the experienced rider could tackle. I'd taken my horse, Warrior, out on the trek only twice, and both times with Owen riding with me. I knew the ridge Savannah was talking about; it was the same one my uncle had warned me never to jump. There was a deep crevice at the bottom that was carpeted with stones and rubble with sharp edges, and it was a death trap.

"I know it," I nod to Savannah. "Owen showed it to me, but he told me to bypass it because it's too dangerous."

"It is," Savannah laughs bitterly. "It's very dangerous. I knew I shouldn't be riding through there because like you say, there's a trek that lets you bypass the ridge. But I was really stubborn and Lotus was a really good jumper. He would have made it, too. We were so close, Caleb."

"What happened, Savannah?" I prompt her when she goes quiet. I squeeze her hand tighter, letting her know that I'm here for her. "You can trust me, Savannah."

"Lotus wasn't himself," Savannah continues. "He refused to jump, but I made him. We were a little short of making it and we fell. I'm not really sure what happened, but I woke up in hospital five weeks later with a broken back."

Silence.

"You... broke your back?" I shake my head at her revelation. "How? I mean, you're perfectly fine."

"I was lucky," Savannah scoffs, wiping away the fresh tears from her cheeks. "They pinned my back, hence the scar, but thankfully my spinal cord was intact so there wasn't any paralysis. Rehabilitation took a while. Actually, it took almost two years. I missed most of Junior High because of it. Lotus wasn't so lucky."

Savannah's gaze flitted to the stable yard and her eyes clouded over with more tears.

"How bad?" I ask. I knew I needed to keep her talking otherwise she would never open up again. "Savannah? How bad?"

"Remember the comment you made last week?" Savannah looks at me, and I can't decipher it. Was she angry, disappointed or feeling guilty? "About me falling, breaking my neck and dying? Well, that's what happened to Lotus. My horse died and it was my fault because I was a brat who was jealous of a baby."

"Savannah," I whisper her name. "It wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for what happened to him."

"Yes I can," she tells me in no uncertain terms. "I can blame myself, and I do blame myself. Did you know that it has taken me almost six years to get back on a horse? Since Lotus, Phantom has been the only horse that I've been remotely interested in. Wanna know that sick and twisted reason why?"

I'm not sure I do, but I nod anyway.

"Because that horse out there," she points in the direction of Phantom's stable. "He's as broken and beaten and down and out as I am."

"You're not beaten and broken, Savannah," I say wearily. I rub my eyes with the heels of my hands and shake my head. "You and Phantom... you both survived something horrible and tragic. You fell off your horse and nearly died while his stable went up in flames and he almost died. If you see it from where I'm standing, you and that horse are both survivors."

"Are you trying to make me feel better?" Savannah asks with a frown.

I laugh, stand from where I'm sitting and round the table until I'm crouched down in front of her. I reach my hands up and wipe away the remaining tears from her face. "Do you feel any better?" I ask.

"Kinda, yeah," she laughs out her answer. She leans closer to my face, her eyes searching mine for permission, not that she needs to ask me because as soon as her lips are within kissing distance of mine, I press my lips to hers. We embrace like this for a long heartbeat before Savannah pulls away and scrunches up her nose to me. "You really need a shower, Caleb Townsend."

I raise my eyebrow to her. "Was that an invitation, Miss Mayfield?"

I was only teasing her, and I knew the answer before I had asked the question, but just in case there was any doubt, it vanished the second Savannah brought her hand down to crack against my cheek.

"Savannah?" I growl out her name. "You are so damned lucky that I more than like you, otherwise..."

"Otherwise?" She challenges me with a slight smirk on her face. "What?"

I stand, pull Savannah to her feet and toss her over my shoulder.

"You really need a shower, too, Savannah Mayfield," I tell her in the same voice she used on me.

"Was that an invitation, Mr. Townsend?" Savannah laughs as I carry her up the stairs and into her private bathroom.

*Ok, so I forgot to link a song to the last update... won't happen again. Here's Burnin' It Down by Jason Aldean.

Again, this is unedited so excuse the many mistakes!

Sarah, xx