.:Life's A Dance:.

[wildthing]

Andy and Lizzy had broken whatever 'thing' they'd had going off. Andy wasn't ready to give up the rodeo tour and leaving Lizzy for weeks at a time wouldn't be right. Besides, they'd really just slipped into being good friends anyway. Andy would come over for dinner or play catch with Tommy or just sit and talk on the porch swing. They hadn't gone very far physically. Andy didn't want to take advantage of her and Lizzy couldn't help still being a little wary of men. So they were settling into a close friendship, nothing more. Lizzy wasn't sure what she was going to do now. She had finally fallen into the routine of feeding and caring for horses. She still had tons to learn, but she was beginning to enjoy this life.

Only it still felt wrong living on Dan's charity. Yeah, she worked for him, but she felt like the ranch would get along just fine without her. What she did wasn't worth pay as well as room and board. And then there was Dan himself. He'd intimidated her from the beginning although at first it wasn't really his fault. She had been running scared from men at the time and he opened the door at the wrong time. Then, the whole thing with Andy. Dan had seemed to turn a cold shoulder on both of them and she didn't understand it. She had a child, but her experience with men was rather limited. She hadn't picked up on the jealousy that fueled his actions. And if she had, well, she still might have ran scared. With Andy, things stayed light and fun. There were no promises, no commitments. She knew she could count on him when it mattered, but she also knew he wasn't asking the moon from her.

Tommy was asleep and Pilot was probably curled up in bed with him. The sun had gone down and the only lights were the nearly full moon and lights on at the main house. Lizzy was curled up on the porch swing with a cup of coffee in her hand and a blanket over her legs. She was starting to feel that familiar itch. The one that said it was time to go. But Tommy was happy here. Riding had given him a new sense of confidence and Kelly was his first true friend. The girl was a Godsend. She was always patient and laughing and excited. She took a sip of the now lukewarm liquid and looked out over the ranch. It was a world she'd never known existed. A coyote yipped in the darkness. It had scared her at first, but now she found it strangely soothing. She could barely make out the form of horses and cattle grazing peacefully in the moonlight. She didn't think she could leave this place. But it was just so complicated. Andy had offered her a place at his folks' place, but that would feel just as wrong, especially with him gone so much. Whoever got a bridle on that boy would have something special, but it wasn't going to be her. She had given up on all of her Cinderella fantasies. She didn't want a man that needed taming.

[Carhartt]

Life has been slow lately as he felt like he was ageing way to fast. He was only 25 but hell he felt a lot older and that was not a good feeling at all. It was a bitch rather. He was wearing his body out quickly with being so rough on it working 24-7 on jobs you had to use your hands. He was growing tired off all the damn work but he enjoyed it at the end of the day when he sat down and looked over all what he had and has earned. A running ranch and the biggest independent one in the nation, what a feeling. Though one feeling that wasn’t so good was love. His love life was shit poor. He went on a few dates with that girl Ashleigh but she up and left and they didn’t click, and then he meet Lizzy. Now she was a different story, he did really admire her and wanted to get to know her and then she Andy seemed to steal her eyes so he went through the stage of denial, then to anger, and now he was going through acceptance. He was not aware they had turned into ‘just friends’ as if he did nothing would change. He wouldn’t go up and make his move on her—he wasn’t like that. Dan was too polite and respectful to do that and Lizzy seemed very timid around him like she was scared of him. Not a nice feeling when the girl you liked was scared of you.

Slowly Dan walked out of the barn with a white tank shirt with the sleeves cut off tucked into blue wranglers with his large PBR belt buckle, Justin boots and surprisingly no hat. Just very short cropped hair. He hadn’t shaved for two days or so his chin was lightly bristled with dark brown. Sighing his amazing blue optics scanned around the dark atmosphere as it must be past 9:30 pm as it was starting to get light later in the night—summer days were near. His optics caught sight at the guest house and saw Lizzy. Contemplating with his thoughts he started towards his house with hands in his pockets as he stopped. Slowly he took a side step cascading over to the right towards her house. It wouldn’t hurt to talk to her and make sure she was ok, especially Tommy.

Slowly he approached the house as he smiled and le this hand up with on still in his pocket as he replied, [Evenin’.] He slowly walked to the end of stairs as he replied softly, [Mind if I sit?] He asked softly looking to the stairs. He most likely thought she wouldn’t want him to sit next to her on the swing—he didn’t want to scare her off. He just wanted to talk—nothing other then friends, he wouldn’t do that to Andy as he didn’t know they didn’t break up, or rather ‘grow to be just friends’. He smiled softly trying to reassure her he wasn’t any harm. It bothered him she was so timid around him but not around Andy or any one else, as it seemed. It kind of hurt—one reason he wanted to talk to her is he wanted to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about him. Dan was just a sweet, loving, and very respectful guy—no need for taming he was already tamed—his mom and dad taught him the respect. Oh Dan did party when he was younger and his had his fair share of women when he was on the road with Andy but… Ever since the accident he was called back home to take care of the ranch and so know his life was the ranch.

Dan needed to realize Life’s a Dance, you learn as you go. He was fallen fast for her and if he never told her and when she did move away she would have ever known. He needed to find the courage. He was learning quickly though, sink or swim he had to give it a whirl. Sometimes he followed but sometimes he lead. He needed to give and he would receive—he sometimes had to crawl after he was walking. It seemed Andy had gotten her first and Dan had to accept that. He had to worry about what he didn’t know, life was a dance—You learned as you go.

[wildthing]

They seemed to beon opposite wavelengths, Lizzy and Dan. Lizzy was finally allowing herself to slow down a little. She still looked over her shoulder, but not as often. Tommy was having the time of his life playing cowboy and Kelly was good for him. Lizzy had never experienced anything like ranch life before and she kind of liked the strict schedule of it. Horses and cattle ate no matter whether you woke up feeling poorly or not. Sometimes it was a pain, but mosly the stability of it felt good. Her son was happy and she had a good friend in Andy. And Dan too she supposed, even though they rarely exchanged words. He had done a lot for her. And Lizzy didn't like to be beholden to anyone. That might have been part of the problem.

Yeah, they always seemed to be on a different wavelength. Lizzy had started to doze lightly and Dan's voice startled her awake. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I must have drifted off. It was a nice night and...sure, go ahead." It wasn't just him, rather, Andy was one of the few, well, really only, guys she was comfortable around at all. Maybe it was because he hadn't given her a chance to be nervous. He didn't try to hide his intentions and that had made them less scary. He was really hot, but there was also a puppy dog quality about him. A little goofy, not quite grown into his feet yet. Lizzy knew he was no innocent, but he still had a sort of boyish quality about him. Or maybe it was just a cowboy thing. Matt wasn't like that though. And Dan wasn't either.

[Carhartt]

Dan wasn’t changing any pace so they weren’t totally opposite… Dan was confused at life as it seemed everything was getting worse for him and every one else it was better. Not really so much of Matt but hell that was a freak accident. But other then that every one was perfect. Dan was getting warned out mentally, not physically and that was the worse feeling ever. He was growing tired of it and didn’t know how long he could keep the wall of emotions up. He was a cowboy and never showed his emotions… Had to keep his head high and pride even higher. Dan and her weren’t friends… He felt so distant and it hurt cause he tried doing a lot for her and it seemed she kept just pushing him away. If she felt beholden on him, he no intensions of it. God Damn it seemed he couldn’t do anything right…

Dan was so confused, he was always taught respect and love was always number one with getting a women’s attention and Andy wasn’t the most respectful guy to women and had many one night stands but yet Lizzy seemed to love him to death as Dan was trying so damn hard but it seemed she had no attraction to him what so ever, what a horrible feeling. Seeing her jerk awake made him feel like an ass as he replied softly, [Oh I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to wake or startle you.] He smiled nervously, {Dumbass.} he scolded himself as he replied softly, [Thank you.] He sat on the stairs and looked to the moon and replied, [Sure is.] Referring to her saying it was a nice night. Dan was very shy… That was most likely his biggest problem. He was even shy to Andy—Dan has never been open and forward and not shy to any one but Carhartt. Dan feels he might say something stupid and scared of being criticized. Slowly Dan replied with his overpowering and deep southern vocals, [So how are you? We haven’t talked much. How’s Tommy?] He smiled softly looking at her with a respectful manner.

[wildthing]

Lizzy was kind of like the feral kittens Kelly had found. Her instincts were telling her to be nervous of a new situation, but at the same time she wanted to fit in and settle into this different life. It would just take a little while for the fight or flight instincts to wear off. She had been running for a while and Tommy's father was still out there somewhere. He probably hadn't thought about them for months, but she couldn't take that chance.

The physical work was something she'd had to get used to, but now she was proud of the toning she'd begun to aquire slowly. She was always exhausted by the time she went to sleep, but it felt good to have done something. Tommy was happier than he'd ever been and his impairment didn't seem as important out here although he always had to be extra careful since he couldn't hear a horse or cow coming up behind him. Pilot was always helpful in that area. The big dog was loving this new life. He'd never had so much room to run or new things to smell.

Andy was another new experience. He was very respectful, just usually short term. He'd never done anything to make Lizzy regret their relationship. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to cheat, though it sounded like his normal relationships didn't last long enough to even allow for dabbles on the side. He had a great sense of humor and didn't mind being laughed at. Which was something rare in a guy. She just didn't know about Dan. He always seemed so easily offended. Everything she did or said around him ended up turning it into an akward situation.

Lizzy quickly composed herself. "It's okay, I didn't mean to fall asleep out here anyway." She would have woke up with a terrible crick in her neck. "It's really different here. The docks always...well, it's different." Lizzy hadn't shared much of her past and she didn't plan to anytime soon. There were some things that were just better left behind and her ex-boyfriend was one of them. "Tommy is doing well. Kelly is really good for him. Thank you for letting her play with him." In some places she'd gone, people hadn't wanted there children around Tommy, like his deafness could rub off or something.

[Carhartt]

OOC:: It seems impossible…

Dan was like a good herding dog, always working and never stopping till the job was done and very loyal and respectful and actually listened but his downfall was he was timid around certain things. Dan hadn’t known of her past and he doubted she ever tell him since she seemed to be timid around him also. Hell Dan was trying to open up and not be so timid around her. Dan and her were opposite on that part, he never ran away from his problems always confronted them square up and battled them down until there was no problem left.

Physical work was ask for in this line of work. Dan hasn’t had a day off in about three years. Working on end—he had no reason to stop working he had no one special and he was just about to give up. He was growing tired of trying to get a girls attention specially Lizzy’s. Dan was just going to have to open up and realize there was nothing to be scared off, he had no need of impressing any one any more. That thought was over. He was physically and mentally tired of thinking that way he just needed to perk up and live life not work through it. He needed to take a break every now and then have a beer on the porch and just look over what he has earned. He was going to open up, laugh more, live more.

Dan smiled softly and replied with more friendly vocals not so timid, [Yeah—wouldn’t be to bad if you did. Pretty safe out here.] He smiled softly looking to the sky full of stars. Hearing her he smiled and nodded and replied, His vocals had changed drastically with more friendly tone and more cheerful not so damn melancholy. [They both are a cute pair. They fit each other well.] He smiled softly as he folded his hands and rested his elbows on knees. He then replied, [Hey no problem. She loves having someone her age to play with.] Dan loved Tommy, he was a great kid—very sweet and caring. [So how’s Andy?] Dan hadn’t seen Andy in a great deal of time and he was interested. His vocals were still friendly and cheery as he honestly wanted know how his best friend was doing. Dan was being quite open to her, hell if she asked him any question he most likely would tell her.

[wildthing]

Lizzy hadn't always been so nervous, always looking over her shoulder, but it had been a necessity for a long time and change took time. She had a playful side that hadn't shown itself in a while, but used to love to go to the movies or a dance or just hang out with her friends. Now life revolved around keeping her little boy safe. And there were worse fates.

It would take a lot for Lizzy to open up to someone enough to trust them with her past. She hadn't even told Andy, partly because she was afraid Andy would hunt her ex down and shoot him or maybe hang him high. Mostly she just wanted security. A good job and a roof over their heads. So things were good now. The guys around her were really cute, but she had long ago learned that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Dan didn't seem quite so scary out here in the soft evening air, relaxed even. "I'm not really worried about the wildlife, but my neck would be killing me in the morning." Lizzy followed his gaze to the sky. You couldn't see the stars like that in the city, too many surrounding lights. "I grew up in Seattle and I've moved around a lot since then. It's this open land that I've never seen before." Sometimes she missed the water, but there was little else about Seattle that she missed. "So does Tommy. The moving is hard on him sometimes, not that he would ever complain." Kelly was exactly what he needed. Someone his own age interested in the same things and thinking his impairment was cool rather than a hindrance. She was picking up sign language quickly and the pair had sort of started their own language. Lizzy tensed slightly at the mention of Andy. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that she had somehow caused the rift between the two. "Doing well. He's heading to Houston in a few weeks, for a rodeo." She would miss his company, but didn't blame him. Rodeoing was pretty much like his job.