Jesse didn't know what exactly it was about the barn's hayloft that made it so special. Maybe it was the sounds of the horses below her, the occasional stomp of a hoof or flutter of nostrils. Maybe it was the tiny gaps in the planks she could peek through, that allowed her to look out across the green meadows without being visible from the outside. The smell of hay and straw. The peacefulness of it all.

Or perhaps all of those factors thrown together made up the reason she loved it so much.

Whatever it was, Jesse found herself up there more often than not. Sometimes she'd sit hidden away between the bales of hay with a good book on her lap, or lay on her stomach and speak to the animals below her. There were days where she just lay on the straw covered planks and stared up into the cobwebbed wooden columns above her, contemplating life in silence. And sometimes, she just wanted to find a quiet corner she could sit in and forget about the world around her.

Despite the fact that it was a beautiful summers day outside, Jesse had chosen to spend her morning up in the hayloft once more. She was sitting nestled in between a few hay bales, on top of an old blanket that she had taken with her in case she needed some extra warmth. After all the sun had barely risen when she snuck out there in the first place.

Strands of Jesse's uncombed chestnut hair dangled in her eyes as she gazed down at the object she had resting in her lap. There was a distant and almost sad look in her eyes as she slowly paged through the old photo album, reliving each of the memories as her eyes came to rest on the small moments captured in time. Every now and then she would gulp thickly to combat a forming lump in her throat, or blink her eyes a few times when she thought tears were threatening.

It wasn't the way Jesse had originally wanted to spend that day, but she couldn't help herself. She missed the past too much to enjoy the present.

One of the horses in the stable below let out an excited whinny, quickly followed by a chorus of the others. Jesse lifted her head, holding her breath for a moment. She had a feeling she wasn't as alone as she wanted to be any more.

The sound of hay crunching beneath footsteps confirmed Jesse's suspicion all too soon. She sighed softly, shrinking back into the bales of hay. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her friend, she just wanted to be alone for a moment longer.

Jesse quickly lifted a corner of the blanket she was sitting on, slipping the photo album underneath it. She pulled her knees closer and rested her arms on them, trying to look relaxed and casual as the person below began making their way up the ladder. When a familiar face peeked into the loft and met Jesse's eyes, she forced herself to give them a bright and cheerful smile in greeting.

"Thought I'd find you here!" Petra said, clambering out and inviting herself to sit in front of Jesse. "What's with the sudden disappearing act?"

"I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep." Jesse brushed off the redhead's question with a light shrug. "Thought I'd come spend some time in here."

"Right." Petra raised on eyebrow, seemingly not buying Jesse's story completely. "That's it?"

"What more would there be to it?" Jesse asked, leaning back against the hay bale behind her and absent-mindedly fiddling with a piece of straw.

Petra didn't look convinced, a frown edged on her freckled forehead. Her blue eye were focused on Jesse, taking in her dishevelled appearance, the dark circles beneath her eyes, and the lack of excitement her gaze held despite what day it was. Jesse didn't notice as Petra's eyes transitioned down to the blanket she was sitting on. When she realised what the redhead was reaching for, it was too late to stop her.

"What's this?" Petra asked curiously, taking the photo album before Jesse could snatch it.

She looked down at her hands in her lap awkwardly, biting her lip as she listened to Petra slowly open and start paging through the album. Jesse didn't dare look Petra in the eye as the redhead glanced up at her, her blue eyes possessing a more serious look.

"I know, I know." Jesse said softly, before Petra could speak. "I need to get over it."

"You know that wasn't what I was going to say." Petra said, reaching a hand out and resting it on Jesse's arm. "This isn't easy for you, that's understandable."

She looked back down at the album that rested on her lap. Every page was plastered with photographs, all taken several years back. Happy faces stared back at her from the glossy paper, memories of times when it wasn't just her and Jesse.

"Even though I know they're happy and... and we're happy, I just can't help but miss them." Jesse whispered, still refusing to look up at Petra. "Things were so absolutely perfect back then, no matter what life threw at us, we were ready to handle it all together." She sniffed softly. "Then they started to disappear, one by one. Leaving to live their own lives, without me."

"I know this hurts, but at least we stuck together. Right?" Petra tried, looking back over at Jesse. "The two of us still have each other, and I won't ever leave your side."

Jesse nodded, managing a faint and somewhat shaky smile.

"Look, Jesse, I know you miss how things used to be." Petra said, shuffling over so she could sit beside Jesse. "There are days where I miss them too. I just... I wish I knew how I could help you move past that, it hurts seeing you like this. Today especially, I hate that you aren't happy."

"Can we just not make a big deal out of it?" Jesse asked softly, finally looking up at Petra. Her dark brown eyes held a desperate look. "I'd really rather just treat this day like any other, no fuss. Please."

"Alright." Petra was unable to hide the disappointment in her voice, but she still gave Jesse an understanding smile. "But on one condition, you're not going to spend the entire day cooped up in here, okay? It's beautiful outside, we should at least go for a ride."

Jesse nodded, managing another faint smile. Both of them stiffly got up from the wooden surface they had been seated on, Petra handing her the album back in silence. Jesse looked down at it for a moment, taking a deep breath before lifting her head again.

"Hey." Petra said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. "Regular day or not, I'm still going to say it. Happy birthday, Jesse."

Jesse smiled over at Petra, leaning her head over against her friend's shoulder for a moment. Even though she hadn't said it, she was incredibly grateful to still have one of the most important people in her life by her side. Hopefully nothing ever came between them.

It was mostly silent between her and Petra as they made their way back to the wooden house they had settled in a while back. Inside, the delicious smells of freshly baked pancakes and cinnamon wafted from the kitchen. Jesse cast Petra knowing glance, guessing the redhead wanted to surprise her with it.

"What? I craved pancakes, okay!" Petra tried brushing Jesse off, while her grin gave her away.

"And I thought I was the dork." Jesse said, nudging her friend playfully.

She was already starting to feel better, her mind wandering away from the photo album and the memories that lay within it. Jesse didn't know how she did it, but Petra always found a way to cheer her up.

By the time the two girls had finished breakfast, the sun had risen even higher into the sky, blanketing the landscape in golden rays of warmth. A soft breeze had started blowing, keeping the day from getting too hot.

"Come on." Petra said excitedly as she dragged Jesse back out of the house. "I refuse to stay inside for a moment longer while it's this gorgeous outside, let's go get two horses saddled."

Jesse smiled as she followed her friend out into the warm summer sun, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the fresh outdoor air. The smell of the forest around them filled her nostrils, and she let out a contented sigh. It was so amazing out there so...

No, not perfect. Not without them.

Jesse's smile faded as she opened her eyes again, walking after Petra in silence. She remembered how, back in the day, the five of them would spend a warm day like that together, each with a popsicle or ice cream cone. Why did those times have to pass so soon?

"Earth to Jesse!" Petra's voice made her head shot up. "I asked who are you going to ride?"

"Oh, uh." Jesse looked around at all the horses who had their heads poking over their stall doors, watching them with pricked ears. "I'll take Amulet."

The buckskin gelding pricked his ears eagerly as he recognised his name. Jesse gave him an affectionate scratch beneath his chin, before letting herself into his stall. Her mind started to wander again as she quietly gave the horse a quick brush down, before beginning to saddle him up.

"I hope you haven't already decided where you want to ride, because I'm dying to ride up the Birch-Wood trail." Petra said with a grin.

"Doesn't matter to me." Jesse replied vaguely, before leading her horse from the stall.

"Come on, cheer up." Petra said, giving Jesse a nudge with her elbow. "This is going to be fun!"

Jesse raised one eyebrow, glancing sideways at Petra. Her friend was looking a little too excited for a simple trail ride, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Are you sure you don't know something I don't?" Jesse asked, putting her foot in the stirrup and hauling herself onto the buckskin.

"What gives you that idea?" Petra asked, failing to hide a smile as she mounted as well. "I'm just excited to go for a ride, we haven't been out there together in a while."

"I suppose that's true." Jesse said, managing a small smile. "Let's go."

The two horses excitedly tossed their heads as they walked out into the woods on the riding trail together, eagerly pulling at their bits. Jesse sat back in the saddle, closing her eyes and taking another deep breath of the warm air. She could feel the dappled light from above shining down on her, the breeze gently blowing through her loose chestnut hair.

Petra was looking over at Jesse from where she rode, a smile playing on her lips. She was so happy that she was able to coax Jesse out for the ride that day, clearly it was what she needed. Already some colour had flooded back into her tan skin, the rays of sunlight bringing out a golden tone in her dark hair. She was so beautiful.

Shifting in the saddle, the redhead focused her gaze on the trail ahead of them again. She tightened her grip on her reins excitedly. Even though Jesse had asked her to treat the special day as they would any other, she obviously had other plans.

The blissful moment was interrupted when Jesse's horse let out an impatient snort, tugging at his bit again. She reached down, patting his neck while whispering out a few calming words.

"I think both of them have a little too much pent up energy." Petra said, her own horse dancing beneath her restlessly. "They need to run."

"You're probably right." Jesse agreed, continuing to stroke her horse's neck. "Thanks to all the rain we've had, they've been spending too much time inside the barn."

"I have an idea." A fresh grin was starting to play on Petra's lips. "How do you feel about a race?"

Jesse hesitated for a moment, part of her preferring the peaceful trail ride. But both the horses needed a good gallop, and she did love the thrill of speeding through the woods.

"I'm in." Jesse replied, grinning back over at Petra.

"Trail's end, our favourite spot. Last one there gets to muck out the stalls next."

"Oh, it's on."

The girls exchanged excited glances once more, before both of them loosened their grip on the reins and squeezed their horse's sides. Neither needed to be told twice, leaping forward and charging down the trail.

Jesse stood up in her stirrups, leaning low over her horse's neck. A large grin had spread across her face, her eyes fixed on the trail ahead of them. Petra had already taken the lead, her dappled grey horse galloping a few strides in front of Jesse. She glanced over her shoulder, meeting Jesse's eyes for a moment before facing forwards again.

"Come on boy, we can do this!" Jesse urged her horse on excitedly as they flew around the bend in the trail. "We can- woah!"

Jesse sat back in the saddle with surprise, her horse immediately slowing to a canter. They had galloped into a small clearing, bathed in the dappled light that broke through the canopy of leaves above them. However the clearing had transformed since the last time Jesse had ridden through there. Several logs were laid out and stacked along the trail, spaced just far enough apart to make for the perfect small jumping course.

"Something to spice up the competition a bit!" Petra called over her shoulder with a grin.

"Wait, you built this?" Jesse asked in surprise.

Petra didn't reply, simply cantering her horse up to the first of the jumps and effortlessly soaring over it. Jesse only laughed and shook her head, adjusting her seat in the saddle and pointing her horse at the jumps as well.

The gelding pricked his ears eagerly, settling into an even stride as they approached the first jump. At the right moment his front hooves lifted off the ground and cleared the small pile of logs. Jesse's face lit up as they landed on the other side, involuntarily letting out a whoop of excitement. She absolutely loved jumping.

Petra was still in the lead, making her way around the course swiftly. Jesse followed a short distance behind her, enjoying the thrill of every jump. She almost felt disappointed when they approached the last pile of logs and flew over it.

Pressing her legs to her horse's sides, Jesse cantered up to Petra until they were riding side by side.

"Having fun yet?" Petra called over to her with a grin.

"Are you kidding me, that was incredible!" Jesse replied, laughing. "Were you behind it?"

"Ask your questions later, the race is still on!" Petra urged her horse back into a gallop, once more taking the lead.

"Hey!" Laughing, Jesse squeezed her own horse into a gallop and followed after her friend.

Their laughter echoed through the trees as Jesse and Petra raced down the woodland trail, until their horses were almost matching strides beside each other. The edge of the woods approached way too soon, both of them reluctantly slowing their horses to a canter again.

"That was absolutely amazing!" Jesse called breathlessly as they pulled their horses up at the end of the trail. She began opening her mouth to say something else, but was unable to find her voice as she looked around.

The end of that specific trail was one of Jesse and Petra's favourite places to visit. A small clearing bathed in the shade from the surrounding birch trees, the perfect size to lay out a small picnic. Ahead of them the ground dipped down and disappeared into the forest below, clearing the view of the ocean in the distance in front of them. It was breathtaking.

However somebody had clearly already been there that day.

Brightly coloured ribbons were wound around the trunks of the birch trees, and dangling from the branches above. A few balloons were tied to the shrubbery, swaying gently in the breeze. And tucked away beneath one of the shrubs to be kept safe, was a handful of wrapped presents.

"I know you said to treat the day like any other." Petra said as she pulled her horse up beside Jesse's. "But I already had all this set up, as well as the jumping course. I couldn't resist surprising you with it."

"Petra, I... I absolutely love this!" Jesse exclaimed, looking over at the redhead with pure happiness written across her face. "You did all this for me?"

Petra's freckled cheeks reddened slightly, before she smiled and nodded her head.

Jesse swung her leg over the saddle, her feet meeting the grassy ground with a soft thud. She held onto her horse's reins with one hand, the other absent-mindedly reaching out to brush against one of the ribbons.

"Thank you so much." She said as her friend came up beside her, wrapping her arms around Petra in a tight embrace.

"Of course." Petra breathed, hugging Jesse back. "I wanted to make this day special for you, even though you don't have all your friends here to celebrate for it."

Jesse closed her eyes for a moment as she rested her head on Petra's shoulder. It was perfect, and she honestly didn't want to spend that day any other way. Or with anybody else.

"Thank you." Jesse said, pulling back so she could look Petra in the eye. "For making me realise I've been living in the past too much to realise what I have right in front of me."

Petra broke into a large smile, happiness gleaming in her blue eyes.

"Things were great back when we were part of a bigger group of friends." She said, not tearing her gaze from Jesse's. "But I wouldn't trade our life together for anything else in the world."

"Neither would I." Jesse replied, smiling back up at her. "If I could turn back time, I wouldn't change a thing. This is where I want to be. Just you, me, and the forest around us."

Finally she felt ready, ready to leave the past behind her and live every moment to the fullest with the person she loved most.

___

I've been really inactive recently, but I'm super glad that I was able to finish this Jesstra one shot before Pride Month was over! I absolutely love these two, I had to write something about them.

I had way, wayy too much fun writing this. After taking a bit of a break from writing over all, and then jumping back into it with my favourite girls- ahh I just had so much fun. And I love how this one shot turned out! Back in the day this type of writing would have been way out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it.

As for where I've been, life just got hectic with school and all. I lost a lot of motivation for writing and art, just because I was too burnt out. But! My writing motivation is returning after a break, and I've actually been really inspired to work on my fanfictions! And I'm forcing myself to take a proper break from art as well, I really need it, so that's going to clear up more time for writing. I'm hoping to post my next full fanfiction as soon as I finish the cover for it. Really looking forward to that!

I also dived back into a game I used to play every single day a few years ago, Star Stable Online, and it's been a huge stress reliever and just over all a lot of fun. That was actually what inspired me to write this one shot!

Anyway, enough rambles. Feel free to leave some suggestions, because I really want to write more one shots!

I really hope you guys enjoyed this Jesstra one shot, it's a little late, but I'm glad I finished it in time!