Breaking Free

Chapter 16

"What is going on?" Serenity asks after a long beat of silence.

"Let's go inside, it's a little chilly out here," Corrine suggests, ignoring Serenity's question. I nod, and clasp hands with Carter, who holds me right against his side.

We all walks towards the house, Serenity keeping a puzzled expression on her face for the entirety of our stroll.
Beau plods after us, not wanting to be left behind.

Once in the house, we sit in the living room- Carter and I on the love seat, Corrine and Serenity on the couch. Beau has made himself perfectly comfortable beneath the coffee table.

"Someone explain to me what's going on," Serenity orders, her voice shaky.

I let Corrine catch Serenity up, while I lean into Carter. His eyes meet mine, wordlessly reassuring me that everything is going to be alright. As if to back that up, he lightly squeezes my hand in his.

"Oh my god," Serenity whispers once Corrine is done explaining. "Just- oh my god."

"You're taking it much better than Taylor did," Carter chuckles, ruffling my hair. I pout at him, crossing my arms.

"Why, what did she do?" This time, Corrine is the one who asks the question.

"Nothing," I groan.

"Well yeah, if nothing means running out of the house to ride away on your horse- who, by the way, wasn't supposed to be riding 'rough,'" Carter chuckles. I playfully punch his arms, and narrow my eyes at him.

"It was a big shock to me," I mumble.

"It must have been," Corrine agrees. "You sound just like your mother, too. I remember, back when your parents were in high school, our dad wouldn't let her date your father. So she went into the barn and rode away. No one could find her for two days! Your grandfather almost killed her."

I smile, amused by the story. I guess that's where I get my impulsiveness from.

"It's getting late," Serenity points out. She's right- it's already 10 PM. That may not seem too late, but when you have to wake up at 5 to feed the horses, it is.

"Your right," Corrine agrees. "Okay- Carter, Taylor you two can stay in one of the cottages. They each have two beds- one for each of you," she states strictly, clearly implying that we are to sleep in separate beds. I chuckle internally at her maternal instinct.

"Don't worry Corrine," I laugh, brushing her off. "I get what you're saying."

Carter's face turns crimson, a rarity that is almost never seen. It's so hard to embarrass him, though Corrine seems to have done just that.

"Okay well- I'll see you two in the morning," she murmurs, giving me a hug. She whispers into my hair, "I'm so glad you've finally come back."

"Me too," I sigh.

Carter and I leave the house, Beau trailing behind us.

"That was- interesting," he mumbles.

"Yeah. Its weird for me to think that a week ago I believed my parents were dead and I had no living relatives, and now-" I trail off. Carter stops me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I slink my arms around his neck.

"I know what you mean," he murmurs, lightly kissing my forehead. I smile up at him once he looks down at me.

We stand like that for a moment, before Beau distracts us with his yapping. I giggle at him, patting his furry head.

Carter and I walk into the first cabin, and flick on the lights. I climb into the bed closest to the window, while he takes the other one.

Once the lights are out, I try to drift to sleep, but fail miserably. My thoughts are clouded with my parents and Corrine and the awful thought of seeing Chloe again while I'm here. After an hour or so, I can't take it anymore.

"Carter," I whisper, checking if he's awake.

"Yeah," he groggily replies.

"You awake?"

"No, I'm sleep talking," he chuckles. "What's up?"

"I'm just thinking about stuff. I can't fall asleep," I murmur. After a few moments of comfortable silence, he speaks again.

"Do you ever think about the future?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Like what you want to do with your life," he explains.

"Sometimes," I answer. "Why, what do you want to do?"

"I've always wanted to be a vet," he answers sheepishly.

"A vet?" I question, turning to face him, even though I can't see him in the darkness.

"Yeah. What about you."

"I want to help troubled children and teens. I'm not sure how though. Maybe a therapeutic riding barn, or maybe I'll be a social worker," I honestly answer "I remember what it's like feeling like nobody wants you, and I want to help those kids."

Though it's dark, I can see him smile at my words.

"You'd be good at that. Night, Taylor."

"Goodnight," I mumble, tugging my blankets up around me. Though sleep seemed impossible just minutes ago, it's comfortable darkness quickly envelopes me.

A/N

Thanks for being patient!

And please go check out 'The Horse Whisperer and the Football Star' by gabbygabbers51. She just started it and it doesn't have many reads!