Disguised In Lavender

Part 37

Bustling and hushed voices lulled Lauren from her sleep, her arm still around Ann and her foot hanging limply over the hammock. It was dead asleep from being pressed against the high fabric which sent pins up Lauren's entire leg. She grumbled under her breath, pressing the dead limb hard against the ground until it slowly regained feeling. "Are we at the show?" Lauren whispered to no one in particular, rubbing her forehead with her free hand and trying to remember where she was. "Yeah, Mr. Terence let all the students sleep in, it's six and Pancake Palace just opened." Tanner explained in a rush, obviously more excited for breakfast than worrying if he'd wake Lauren or Ann.

The rider nodded, covering her yawn and gently nudging Ann off of her chest, feeling slightly bad for waking her. Ann didn't say anything as she sat up, sitting cross legged on the stretched hammock and blinking around. "Pancake Palace is in South Dakota, we're in Wyoming, dumbass." Lauren sighed, running her hand under Ann's shirt as she turned on her phone to check the time. Tanner stopped going through his bags, big brown puppy eyes begging it not to be true but of course it was.

Wyoming's train station wasn't as nice as the one in Salt Lake City, it was crowded with stable hands and confused passengers. The stable hands had loose fitting slacks with dangling maroon or icy blue ribbons hanging from their suspenders. They looked unkempt and most were chewing tobacco and spitting it at each other's scuffed boots. Lauren swallowed her nerves and tried her best to keep her head down, her knuckles white from holding onto her backpack. Tanner walked calmly behind her, much more unaware of the nearly six foot men stalking around with harsh accents. Ann had shaken off her sleep and stuck close to Lauren, their hands brushing comfortingly in the chaos.

"There's Dalla, wish me luck." Tanner sighed, pointing to where Dalla stood with the same group of girls further up the tracks. Lauren just nodded, pressing her shoulder against the glass doors into the waiting room of the station. "I can go another lifetime without hearing that much northern cursing again." Ann scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder and shooting a glare back onto the tracks. "You can say that again, Ducky's going to lose his mind." Lauren agreed almost numbingly, plopping onto a nearly brown cushioned seat, crossing one leg over the other.

Maybe the station wasn't nice, neither was the near hour that it took all the stable hands to load the horses into trailers. Mr. Terence kept going back and forth into the waiting room to assure the group of students that it would be time to leave soon. It was seven PM with the sun making a rather glaring entrance over the hills when the students finally got back outside. This time, they could see their hotel without having to get into the trailer to train to trailer again. Lauren had her arm around Ann and an almost unfocused look on her face, too much noise making her quiet. "I want breakfast before we go to the room." Tanner pushed his way up to Lauren and Ann out of nowhere, making them both jump and separate.

"I'm starving." Lauren agreed, both looked to the trainer who rolled her eyes and wordlessly held out her hand for her girlfriend's bag. "Fine, wait in the lobby and I'll run our stuff up with Tanner. Ah, if there's a brunette with a blue badge, flirt with him and say you're me." Ann ducked Lauren's swat at her arm and stuck out her tongue teasingly, nudging Tanner to follow her towards the hotel. The rider tailed them more slowly, now that her hands were free she could find out what JK was up to for Tanner.

Pictures of the library and his parents popped up on his instagram, videos of him winning the math elite program on Tiktok. Everything seemed more normal than his boyfriend in Wyoming with Lauren and Ann, not to mention Dalla. Grant Creek wasn't far from Yellowstone and the hotel was definitely full of tourists from all over the country. Lauren tried to act normal but she was beginning Ann and Tanner to hurry up so they could go out to eat. Ann bounded out of the elevator just as the thought passed through Lauren's mind, looking much more awake. She threw her arms around the rider and kissed her lips softly, turning back around as Tanner followed more slowly.

"Ann." Lauren tried to gently push her off, glancing around at the people now looking over at the two girls. An older man with a wide brimmed straw hat made a face and covered the eyes of his two young daughters. Ann followed Lauren's glance in confusion and her face fell as her eyes circled the room of hushed terror. She looked back up to her girlfriend and took a steady step back, putting her hands in her pocket with a sigh. "I love you." Lauren swallowed nervously and tore her eyes from the watching crowd to Ann, fear glinting in the russet depths. "Ann." She whispered more harshly, trying to just get out and stop the staring so that her heart could stop racing.

Everyone was watching them, Ann could tell, Lauren could tell, even Tanner could tell and stood back with his head down. "I'm not going to say anything dumb, let's just go." The trainer managed to calm her fury and slipped her hand into Lauren's, gazing at her adoringly. "Kiss me?" Lauren pulled back as Ann tried to walk off, her eyes suddenly only on Ann and ignorant of the entire room. The trainer turned and stepped closer to her girlfriend, a slight smile crossing her stern lips as her free hand laid on Lauren's waist. She nodded with permission and leaned in until the warmth of her breath covered her girlfriend's cheeks.

Ann gently pressed her lips to Lauren's, being sure to pull away a second later so that she was comfortable. Now the heat in the rider's throat wasn't from everyone watching her, it was from kissing someone she truly loved. "Fuck you." Ann hissed under her breath as she intertwined her fingers with Lauren's and led her out of the hotel, middle finger over her shoulder. "Later." The purple haired whispered even softer, giggling as Tanner elbowed her, having heard, and made a face.