Wild Eyes (E. Olsen)

A Wild Horse

Alycia makes her way down the stairs the next morning, smiling softly at herself when she hears the rest of her friends chatting away in the kitchen. 

"Hey sleepyhead," Scarlett greets her and everyone follows with a good morning which Alycia returns.

"Rose and Colin left?" Alycia asks Scarlett as she fills her mug with fresh coffee. "Yeah they left at like 5 am, Rose did not like it but I heard she's asleep now so." 

Scarlett goes back to chatting with the boys and as Alycia makes her coffee Lizzie walks up beside her asking, "how was your sleep?" 

"It was good, thanks." Alycia replies before taking a sip of her coffee and closing her eyes as the caffeine fills her lungs. "I mean what I said last night, you know I'm always here." Lizzie reassures her which Alycia responded with a hum of acknowledgment. 

The group stopped what they were doing when something loud and frantic caught their attention. They all walk towards where the sound was coming from which led them to their back door. "It's a horse!" Sebastian states as they look out the big bay window. "I guess that makes sense since we are out in the country," Mackie comments which make Alycia roll her eyes. 

Alycia sees Evans put his shoes on, "where do you think you're going?" she asks as she puts her coffee down and goes over to put her combat boots on. 

"I'm going to calm the horse down and hopefully give the horse back to their owner," Evans states matter of factly. "Have you ever dealt with a horse?" Alycia asks him which Evans shrugs in response, "I've gone horseback riding." 

"Horseback riding isn't the same as dealing with a horse. That horse isn't tamed yet, meaning he's still a wild horse that no people should engage with unless you know what you're doing." Alycia states as she makes her way to the door.

"And you do?" Scarlett questions Alycia with almost an accusing tone. Alycia grabs her hoodie from the hook near the door and slips it on. She opens the back door and before she steps out she turns back to her friends with a smirk, "I grew up with horses." 

With that Alycia slowly and quietly made her way down the field towards the horse while everyone else stayed inside and watch through the large window. Everyone can see Alycia start saying things to the horse then they all gasps when the horse started rearing and they hear the horse roaring at Alycia. 

"She didn't even flinch," Seb states to the group as they watch. "And is it me or does she seem relaxed too?" Mackie asks, "she does and I don't know how. I'd be terrified," Lizzie comments. 

"Y'all she's getting closer," Scarlett informs them as if the rest isn't watching. They watch as the horse calms down and Alycia slowly walks closer and talk, after a few minutes Alycia holds her hand out and the horse seems to settle his head on her hand. 

"Wow," Lizzie breathes out and everyone else had their mouth slightly open as they were all shocked with what they were witnessing. Alycia rests her forehead against the horse's head as she softly pets the horse's neck. 

From the distance they see two people on their horses galloping to where Alycia and the wild horse were at. The group sees the shocked look from the two strangers as they come closer to Alycia and their wild horse. 

Everyone scurries to put their shoes on and slowly make their way outside. They stop at a good distance between them and Alycia, not wanting to scare the horse away. One of the guys who's on a horse comes down and walks carefully towards Alycia and the wild horse. 

As the man approaches the two, the wild horse backs up making a whining noise and Alycia goes back into action calming the horse down. 

"May I?" Alycia asks the man who stares at her with a concerned look before nodding and giving Alycia the bridle. The group watches as Alycia carefully walks back to the horse whispering things, reassuring the horse that they can trust Alycia not to hurt them. Alycia tries to slide the bridle on but the horse whines and backs up slightly though Alycia tried again and by the third try, she successfully slips the bridle on the horse. 

Once the horse is secured, she leads the horse to the two strangers. 

"We apologize for intruding and trespassing. One of our men forgot to lock the gate properly and Ivy here ran away," one of the men informs Alycia and her group of friends that they see slowly approaching them. The two guys introduced themselves as Daniel and Mike, who seemed to be the youngest out of the two. 

"I understand, that's no problem at all. Ivy here is amazing," Alycia says softly as she continues to pet Ivy's head. "Did you just receive her?" she asks the two men who nodded in response. 

"No one has been able to come near her since we brought her home two weeks ago, I'm utterly surprised that you aren't trampled by her." Daniel states and Alycia smiles softly, "I guess we connected." 

"You know what you're doing, you've dealt with a horse before" Mike voices out his observation. 

"Horses. I've dealt with horses before," she corrects the young guy before facing Ivy who's she's still petting, "and it's not just knowing what you're doing, but also connecting to the horse that helps you create that special bond." 

Daniel and Mike tell the group that they can always come down and check out their horses and Alycia smiled at the offer, knowing she'd like to see Ivy again. When Daniel and Mike disappear with their horses, Alycia turns around to walk back to the house but she stops when she sees her friends staring at her. 

"What?" she questions as she makes her way towards them.

"I didn't know you grew up with horses! What the hell!" Evans exclaims which the group agreed to. 

"Yeah what the heck? I'm your best friend and I didn't even know." Lizzie comments making Alycia chuckle in response. 

"Y'all never asked," Alycia simply says. "And how the hell were we suppose to know to ask?" Scarlett questions her which makes her smirk before asking, "and how the hell am I suppose to know to let y'all know?" 

"Stop answering questions with more questions!" Scarlett groans as they all enter their house and make their way back to the kitchen. 

Alycia picks up her abandoned coffee before facing her friends again, "my grandparents owned a farm back home and I was always over at their house especially during the summertime. My papa trained horses himself and I've always watched him until I was old enough for him to teach." 

"That is so cool!" Mackie says. "Now we can see horses whenever we can!" Seb adds which makes Alycia roll her eyes playfully. 

"Anyways, we have a set to get to so we should really get ready," Alycia reminds them, and with that everyone went to their rooms to get ready. 

After Alycia got into her comfy clothes for the day she starts gathering her hair to put in a bun when there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she says and the door opens revealing Lizzie as she finishes her messy bun.  

"Hey," Lizzie says softly and walks more into the room before asking Alycia, "can I borrow one of your hoodies again?" 

Alycia chuckles, "how can I say no to your puppy eyes?" 

Lizzie smiles and triumphantly walks over to Alycia's closet and picks out a hoodie and slips it on her body. "You have like five of my hoodies," Alycia states. 

"Well can you blame me? They're so soft and comfy. Plus they smell like you and your scent calms me down." Lizzie states with a hint of blush on her cheeks. 

Alycia's heart melts away hearing her best friend's words towards her. She walks over to Lizzie and rests her forearms on the blonde's shoulders while Lizzie instinctively wraps her arms around Alycia's waist. "I'm glad to hear that," Alycia tells her softly as her fingers play with the baby hairs on the back of Lizzie's neck, unbeknownst to Alycia her actions send shivers down the blonde's spine.

The two stay in their position while looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Alycia then kisses Lizzie's forehead, "we gotta go," she says above a whisper. All Lizzie could do was nod and follow her best friend out of the room, confused at the flutter she felt in her stomach.