Rural

Chapter 10: Helping Paint. Helping Me. Helping Sawyer.

       I looked over at Monica. "Want to try walking over?"

       "I don't know," Monica said. "He's acting a bit hostile. Maybe it would be best to hold it off for another day."

       "I think it will be okay," I said. "If he starts freaking out again, then we'll stop."

       Monica hesitated before nodding then hopping off of the fence. She stood there watching, not sure if she really should walk over or not. After a few moments of deciding, she slowly walked over, making sure Paint could see her so he wouldn't be startled by her sudden appearance beside him and make things worse.

       Paint clearly saw her and this time, he didn't do anything to try to stop her from getting closer. He allowed it to happen and once she was close enough, I gently grabbed her hand and placed it on Paint so he would understand that I trusted her.

       He still didn't continue to act hostile near her. He just stood there, allowing her to rub his neck.

       Monica smiled. "I can't believe he's letting me do this. He never lets me touch him unless I have to clean him. Even then, it takes a long time for him to allow it. You are a miracle worker."

       "I know," I said. "He still might be okay with it because I'm here so it we'll probably have to keep doing this until he's okay being around you without me being here as well."

       "Hey, at least he's letting me pet him right now," Monica said. "That's a huge improvement. It's good that you're back in Ruralburgh. He definitely needed you around."

       "Yeah, I missed him a lot," I said. "Don't tell Sawyer."

       "I'm pretty sure Sawyer already knows," Monica said. "You know, considering you told Paint you missed him while Sawyer was standing right beside you."

       "...Touche."

       "Hey, can I ask you something?" Monica asked.

       "Sure."

       "It's... kind of personal, though. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I'm just curious."

       "You can still ask it," I said.

       "Okay..." Monica said slowly. "So... Is there anything going on between you and Sawyer? Because I saw you two slow dance at the fair and you seemed very close."

       I took a while to answer so Monica probably knew what the true answer was. Not the one I gave her. "There was nothing to that dance. We were just bored standing off to the side and it was a slow song playing."

       "It didn't seem like it was nothing," Monica said. "...Sorry. I shouldn't be too pushy about it. If you say it's nothing, it's nothing."

       "Why did you ask anyway?" I asked.

       "Because Sawyer was completely ruined after what happened to Kitty," Monica said. "It took him a long time to do a lot of things. Get back on a horse, trust people. Even after he recovered, he hasn't really been too happy."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Really? He always seems happy."

       "And he wasn't before you moved back," Monica said. "Seriously, the day you moved here, he was happy again. Really happy. You make him happy and that's all any sister wants for their brother. To be happy again."

       "Friends can make each other happy," I said. "I mean, I sure hope friends make each other happy otherwise they're not really friends."

       "I know but... Sawyer has been a lot more happy than I have ever seen him," Monica said. "Even happier than when first started dating when he really liked her. If there is something going on, I promise I won't say anything."

       Even though my own trust was completely shattered, I knew Monica was such a genuine and sweet person. Even when she was younger when I first lived in Ruralburgh, she was very sweet and always tried her best to make people smile.

       I knew I could trust her.

       "If I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure if there is anything going on between me and Sawyer," I said. "But... I do like him. A lot."

       Monica smiled. "I had a feeling you did. I just didn't want to say anything."

       "Right, which is why you asked if anything was going on between me and Sawyer," I pointed out.

       "Fair enough," Monica said. 

       "But..." I said slowly. "Even if there was something, I don't know if I want to do anything about it."

       "Is it because of Sawyer's break up?" Monica asked.

       "Partly, yes," I said. "I doubt he would want to date someone so soon after what happened with Kitty. And the other part... I actually had a pretty rough break up before I moved back here. I don't want to get into detail but I will tell you that it happened shortly after my dad passed away."

       "Oh," Monica said. "Just by saying when it happened, I can tell it was bad."

       "Yeah, it was," I said. "And I just think I need to wait for a bit before I'm ready for a relationship. Especially with someone I really care about because I don't want to jeopardize everything."

       "I don't think you will but it's your choice," Monica said. "What's important is that you feel ready. One hundred percent ready. So this will be the last time I ask you about Sawyer. In fact, I don't remember the conversation that just happened. I think I just blacked out. What were we talking about?"

       I chuckled. "Thanks for that. But just know that I might have to turn to you if I need advice since you know Sawyer the best and I can't really ask anyone else."

       "What about Lulu and Beau?"

       "Beau doesn't even know what to do with his own love life and Lulu's advice would probably be for me to just forget about everything and bang Sawyer so I'd rather ask you for advice. Like I said, you know Sawyer. You're really the best person to talk to. And thank you."

       "For what?" 

       "Just listening," I said. "And helping out with Paint. He might be a lot closer to handling interaction with other humans and so enough, I could move on to other horses."

       "I'll always help if you need me to," Monica said. "And listen. People tell me I'm a very good listener."

       "I definitely believe that," I said.

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monica is added to my beloved cinnamon rolls list of this book, right at the top with beau uwu

but yes, we're going to see monica a lot more because she's so precious and just wants what is best for everybody <3

and oof, i got this up a lot earlier than i have the past couple days despite playing zelda until midnight (and i'm still playing lol)(i was mulitasking but i put a pause on zelda to complete this chapter)(i'm going to get back to play despite it being 1:45 am save me)