Emmerdale : Bleeding Love (Ross Barton/OFC fanfic)

That Time When... Ollie and Dolly

Being around horses calmed Ollie's mind like nothing else could ever do. Just five minutes spent in the presence of the majestic animals was enough to wash away all her worries. Her father often used to joke that she had come out of the womb on horseback. From an early age her mother would take her out, the two of them riding double, she up front and her mother behind; until she was secure in the knowledge that her daughter was confident to ride alone. A few years later on Ollie's seventh birthday, her father bought her very first horse, a beautiful caramel coloured Welsh Pony, that she named Alfie. For over ten years girl and horse were joined at the hip, until Alfie became seriously ill and the heartbreaking decision to have him put to sleep was made.

Today, Ollie needed a little slice of that calm. After a restless night's sleep that consisted of clock watching, reading old text messages and staring out of the bedroom window; she was almost glad for the usual, noisy morning buzz of the White household. Lachlan leaving for school, the ringing of mobile phones, Lawrence's chatter and Chrissie's laughter over the breakfast table. Robert had returned from his business trip the night before and hadn't been able to keep his hands off his fiancée. Knowing what she did, it had been too much for Ollie to witness, and she had taken herself up to her room for the remainder of the evening.

Ross was playing on her mind, too. Their fight. If it could even be called that. She felt almost embarrassed by the way she'd treated him. Her behaviour had been unnecessary. He hadn't deserved it. He deserved to demand answers, and he had every right to be angry at her. But she had shut him down. Because it was the only way she knew how to keep herself, and her heart, protected. Without it, without that armour, she would surely fall apart. And in the past, falling apart usually meant staring down into the bottom of a bottle; and she didn't want to ever go back there.

Discovering Ross was back to his old ways, both criminal and otherwise, hadn't surprised Ollie. But it had disappointed her. Only yesterday he had accused her of lying, of forgetting everything she had said to him. But it seemed that he too was a victim of selective memory.

You make me want to be a better person.

And yet here they were. Back to square one. And yes, she knew it was her doing. It was all her doing. She could end all of this by talking to him. She could easily put things right between them. But to do that she would have to put herself out there. Lay bare all her feelings. Tell him how she -

No.

She forced herself to stop the thought before it took hold. She didn't want to be thinking about any of that. Feeling the tension rise between her shoulder blades, she rolled them out; quickly shaking it off.

Not today, she told herself.

At the stables, after indulging in a bit of mucking out, she set about preparing her favourite horse for a much needed ride, a pure white mare by the name of Dolly. Ollie had bonded with the beautiful horse the moment she'd set eyes on her. That first day it was almost as if Dolly understood why she had come here. Why she had taken refuge in her sister's home all those months ago. Ollie had taken her out and they had gone slow, animal and human getting used to one another, and when they both felt comfortable Dolly started to canter and Ollie had sank into the saddle; revelling in the wind, the freedom, the gentle rocking. From that moment on she and Dolly became the best of friends.

She was all saddled up and ready to go when she heard footsteps from out in the yard. Moments later Katie Sugden appeared in the doorway, her long blonde hair tied up in a loose ponytail. She greeted Ollie with a warm, friendly smile. Until recently Katie had been Chrissie's stables manager here at Home Farm. But after a disagreement her sister had made the decision to let her go.