Keep My Heart Warm

Chapter Eight

"Come on, Savannah, are you still mad about what happened on Sunday? Can't we just get over it already?" Romeo asked, rolling his eyes at the girl as she quietly cleaned the horses' stables.

It had been a few days since the incident on the hill, and the relationship between the two teenagers was still quite awkward. They didn't fight like they did when Romeo first arrived, but they also didn't talk much. The comfort they were starting to feel around each other completely disappeared and was swapped with uneasiness and regret. They only talked about their chores, and would part ways as soon as they were over with them. Romeo was starting to get sick of this, because it made his stay at the farm a lot more unbearable. When he and Savannah were on good terms, he actually had a good time and had someone to talk to. Now all he did was work and sleep, and he couldn't be more bored.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "If you want to get over it, just stop talking about it. Sounds like a good start, don't you think?" She replied bitterly, not stopping her work.

Romeo groaned. That girl... He now knew she was actually pretty cool when she wanted to, but she could be such a pain in the ass. She was the most stubborn person he had ever made and it drove him crazy. Especially when she was being stubborn about him.

He decided to follow her advice and stay quiet, though. It hasn't even been a month since he arrived, so he was really hoped Savannah would just get over it so they could be friends again. He actually enjoyed hanging out with Savannah when she was her normal nice self.

Savannah hated the awkward mood between the two of them as well. She was starting to enjoy Romeo's company. She had always enjoyed working on her own, but having someone doing it with you was actually a lot more fun and made time pass a lot quicker. She also loved seeing the evolution in Romeo's relationship with animals and nature. When he first arrived, he was afraid of the big animals and obviously despised the small ones. Even with Boy, he'd rather keep his distance. He didn't see them as living breathing beings who had a strong will to live and survive; he didn't feel any kind of connection with animals. Now, not only he felt a lot more comfortable around them, but he also enjoyed spending time with them: he spoke to them, patted them, and generally respected them. Not that he admitted it, but Savannah could easily see that and she couldn't help but have a feeling of achievement in her stomach.

However, now it all felt ruined. How could a simple kiss affect a relationship like that? Savannah knew that she was probably overreacting and didn't know why, but she couldn't help it. Just looking back at it annoyed the hell out of her. Who did he think she was, kissing her out of the blue like that, without even liking her? Maybe that was how things went in the city, but not there in the country. There, people only kissed each other when they loved each other. And that would never happen between Romeo and Savannah. They were completely opposites. Sure, she was starting to like him as a friend, but never more than that. And it wasn't as if she was interested in a relationship at the moment anyway, because she would soon be leaving for college and wanted to focus only on that.

Savannah really wanted things to go back to how they were, but she needed time. She was pretty sure she could get over the kiss and move on, but not so quick. Romeo kissing her made her feel annoyed and confused at the same time, because she didn't know what his intentions were. Why would he kiss her? He obviously didn't like her. Did he kiss everyone who opened up to him? It was stupid. He seemed to regret it, but for some reason that only annoyed her more.

They continued quietly cleaning the stables. They were almost done when they heard a louse noise that sounded like a horse neighing.

"Savannah! Savannah! Give me a hand!" Jacob yelled from outside.