[2.1] THE BRIGHTEST LIGHTNING, tyler owens

Someone Else He Knew

When Tyler pulled the truck to a stop in the driveway, Jaymes immediately grabbed the crate and fast-walked to the barn alleyway.

"C'mon!" She yelled as she looked back and saw him casually walking while looking at her and smiling.

He kicked it up to a slow jog, eventually catching up with her.

Once he reached her, he took a look at the puppies inside and grabbed the retriever and cocker spaniel out while Jaymes grabbed the lab.

Tex, Rango, and Saige were all up to the gate of their pasture, clearly interested in the dogs.

Walking side by side to the gate, the pair held the dogs up to the horses muzzles. The pups were playful and licked the horses noses as the horses sniffed and them.

"What do you think we should name them?" Jaymes asked still looking at the encounter.

"Mhm, Cole?" He asked while holding the retriever a little higher.

Jaymes gave him a funny look. "Cole? For a dog?"

"I'm not good at this stuff, give me a break.

She smiled, "How about this," He turned to her intrigued. "Wrangler." She said, twirling her finger in the air, making his obvious symbol.

Tyler laughed at her childishness and nodded. "It's a pretty good name."

"What's your name?" She smiled as she looked down at the black lab in her arms.

"I want an R name." Tyler said with his pointer finger raised slightly in her direction, but not fully because of the puppy in his arms.

She looked up at the sky, thinking hard about the decision. "How about......Rory?"

She looked to him for approval.

"Music to my ears."

Jaymes laughed at the overused response and looked at the small golden puppy in his left arm. "What about her?"

Tyler smiled slightly looking into the sky before looking at her, his eyes full of remembrance. "Dolly."

Jaymes perked up at the name smiling widely, "It's perfect."

Saige let out a small whinnie of her approval, which made Jaymes laugh.

Then, Jaymes opened the gate wide enough for her and Tyler to slip in.

When they walked through, they were bumbarded with all three of the horses still sniffing the puppies.

After another five minutes of this, the pair sat on the ground with Tex, Rango, and Saige grazing quietly infront of them. Not to long after, they let Wrangler, Dolly, and Rory out of their grip and let them wander around the pasture.

They ran in-between the horses feet and played with each other while Tyler and Jaymes watched.

About 10 minutes later, Jaymes told Tyler to stay where he was as she got up and walked into the barn.

She soon came back with her favorite blanket that she had in the barn for when she got overwhelmed.

Ushering for Tyler to move onto the now flat blanket that was on the ground, Jaymes sat down once more. Tyler quickly moved beside her and relaxed once more.

After about another 10 minutes of quiet conversation and watching the horses and puppies, Jaymes and Tyler were not laying on their backs looking at the sky. The sun was starting to set and because of that, the sky was painted with colors of red, orange, yellow, purple, and blue.

He had his arm around her and only when she stopped answering his questions about different constilations (which he had no idea she had any idea about), did he look down at her.

Her dark hair cascaded her relaxed face as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were peacefully closed and her breathing was smooth and relaxed.

She was obviously asleep and Tyler draped his jacket over her with his one hand. It was now 8:45 and Tyler was very aware that Jaymes hadn't woken up yet.

Knowing that they hadn't done something fun for a while, Tyler carefully moved his arm from out under Jaymes and jogged to his truck.

After running to his truck, he walked into the house to grab a flashlight, blankets, pillows, and a box of Pop Tarts, s'mores flavor of course.

With the three person tent in his hands from his truck, he dropped that into the pasture quietly. He propped the flashlight on a wooden fence post and began to quietly set the tent up.

Once it was set up, he meticulously placed two blankets on the bottom, then put in the two-person sleeping bag in, quickly followed by two pillows, and one more blanket.

Turning the flashlight off, he walked towards the still sleeping Jaymes. She had been exhausted the past few days, with teaching Macy, getting the horses back into shape for regular trick rides, and helping Kathy.

He knelt down to her and brushed some hair out of her face. "Jaymes," he started, and proceeded to get no response. "Jaymieeeee..." Nothing. "Jaymieeeee..."

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she smiled at him as she began to yawn.

He held his hand out to her. "C'mon, I got a surprise."

She sleepily stumbled to her feet with his jacket wrapped tightly around her.

When they reached the tent just a few steps later, her mouth dropped open and she looked at him with wide eyes.

He smiled widely. "Do you like it?"

"Do I like it? Of course I love it! Tyler, this is amazing!" She said as she ran over and hugged him tightly.

He laughed at her response and she soon crawled in.

"Hey, don't you think we're forgetting somethings?"

Jaymes' eyes widened with realization. "Wrangler, Dolly, Rory!" She yelled into the night air. She began whistling too, and before long, they both saw the three of them trotting up to them.

She opened the flap to the tent and set them all in the dog bed that Tyler and her had bought ealier that day and Tyler had grabbed out of quick thinking.

Once everyone was in, Tyler zipped up the tent and took off his boots as Jaymes did the same.

Getting into the sleeping bag, Tyler held the flap up for Jaymes to crawl under. Without wasting any time, she did and snuggled up to Tyler's body heat. In all truth, the low was about 55 degrees that night, so she was happy to sleep next to a "literal human heater" as Jaymes called him.

The puppies were the first ones to fall asleep. The running around and excitement was obviously tiring for them. Before to long, Jaymes was sound asleep in Tyler's shoulder once more, just like she had been about an hour earlier. Tyler was the last to go, which he wasn't complaining about. He liked seeing Jaymes vulnerable with him, it made him feel beyond trusted and loved. Besides that fact, he enjoyed seeing nature at night. It brought him peace and comfort.

Just like someone else he knew.

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Chapter 19 done! Hope you enjoy!
Word Count: 1155