New horse in Town.

Eric chuckled "Don't blush" He brushed the back of his palm against her cheek and smiled. Monty made a sound that interupted Eric. He turned to see Monty's ears pricked as he watched a little bird. Eric shook his head a chuckled again. He grabbed Monty's reins and Erins hand and started walking again.

Erin walked next to Eric in silence, "So, what's your story?" She scuffed the ground with her socked feet and looked at him with her chocolate-brown eyes. A bird darted past her ear and made her jump. She laughed nervously and continued to walk, watching the blackbird fly away. Erin admired the shine the bird's wings gave out.

Eric smiled slightly and looked at the ground. He didn't like talking about what happened. "One night I was out with my best mate, he got drunk and needed to get home. I told him to stay with me but he didn't listen" Eric swallowed the lump in his throat "The roads were wet since it had just been raining. When I went to check if his car was still there it wasn't. I panicked. I rang everyone that we had been with that night but no one had seen him" He looked and Monty so he wouldn't cry. "As I drove towards his house, ambulance sped past me. I got around the next corner and his car was wrapped around a tree. He had died instantly. I could have prevented it." Both his hands were trembling. He hadn't really spoken to anyone about the accident.

Erin's heart sank. Eric's stroy made her troubles seem so little. She felt like a brat, her throat closed up; rendering her incapable of speech. The girl touched Eric's cheek and turned his head towards her. Erin's eyes swam with empathy for him. She wrapped her arms around him, "I'm sorry."

Eric smiled a little at Erin "It's fine I just wish I could have prevented it but if I did I wouldn't be here today" He told her softly. He wrapped his arms around her as well and breathed in slowly. He had been mean to her before and now they felt closer. Was it because they had both lost there best friend? He blinked away tears and his arm tightened around her. He let go off her and smiled.

Erin smiled at Eric and took his hand, "Lets walk, we're almost at the lake." She walked onwards. All of a sudden, she began to laugh. The girl gave Eric an apologetic look, "I know this is no time for laughter, but this puts all of me and my friend's arguements into perspective. We used to get so annoyed with one another over trivial matters such as who would be the best Thoroughbred at our 'Racing Stables'."

Eric grinnd at her but didn't speak. He watched her for a while and sighed. He let Monty's reins go but Monty kept on walking with them. He kept holding Erin's hand and he smiled. This is what he wanted. Them to be friends. Or even more then that. He looked at the trees as they walked, there were birds singing to eachother. It was peaceful and beautiful.

"Solo kept me going," Erin whispered, her throat tightening, "She kept me from joining my friend. I got her when I found out my friend was diagnosed with cancer. We made it our project to train Solo up so she could be 'the most amazingest horse in the world' " She quoted her own words with a bitter smile, "That's why she can Piaffe, Shoulder-In, et cetera. We used to sneak out a night to see her." Erin rested her head against Eric's shoulder and sighed.

Eric smiled as she talked about making her horse perfect "You have certainly made her an amazing horse." He told her softly. He rested his cheek on her head. He thought about how he wanted to make Monty the perfect horse. "I wanted to make Monty perfect for me. He kept me going as well. I don't think I did that good of a job but he is still young." He muttered queitly. When Monty heard his name he raised his head more and pricked his ears. Eric smiled at him.

Erin exhaled quietly, "Monty is perfect in my eyes, you've done a brilliant job with him." She grinned, glad she could talk to someone who could empathise with her. The girl looked at Monty. He was an exquisite horse. "And he's got the perfect owner."

Eric chuckled "I wouldn't say he has a perfect owner. I get frustrated with him a lot. Just like today" He walked with his arm around Erin. Monty was walking at their pace next to Eric. Eric stretched out his hand and patted Monty on the neck. He reached into his pocket and took out a quarter of an apple. He held the apple out to Monty and the colt took it gently out of his hand. Eric smiled. Maybe he did have the perfect horse.

"Well I would," Erin said, standing on her tiptoes(yes, Erin's a midget. XD) and kissing Eric's cheek. She smiled at him and continued to walk, "Everyone gets fustrated with their horses once in a while, but remember: Develope through praise. You'll see the positive impact kindness can have, rather than dealing a horse with cruelty."

Eric was surprised that she kissed him. He's cheeks felt hot and he realised he was blushing. "I would never hurt Monty. I wouldn't hurt anyone either" He told her. He grabbed her hand as she started walking again. He looked into her eyes to see if there really were any feelings for him there. He bent down and kissed her on the lips. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.

Erin smiled and flung her arms around Eric. She broke the contact and looked deeply into his eyes, then pressed her lips against his again. After a moment of silence, the girl pulled away from Eric's face, "I know you wouldn't hurt Monty; I can see how very much you love him."

Eric was glad that Erin kissed him back. He let go off her as she spoke. He smiled and looked ahead of them. Up ahead were stones and Erin was only in her socks. He looked towards her "Do you want to hop up on Monty or do you want me to carry you because we are coming up to a loads of stones" He told her with a grin on his face.

Erin giggled, "Nah, I'll be fine!" She jumped from stone to stone on her tiptoes, careful of the sharp edges on the rocks. The girl laughed with amusement as she tried to scramble onto a particular rock that was bigger than herself. She fell and cut her arm, but she couldn't care less. She was having fun! At last Erin triumphed and clambered onto the boulder. She whooped and danced on the rock.

Eric chuckled as he watched Erin having fun. He made sure Monty was taking it easy over the stones. Eric stood near Erin as she danced on the rock. "I think you should come done now, otherwise I will come get you" He told her with a grin on his face. He had his arms crossed over his chest.

Erin folded her arms and raised and eyebrow at Eric, "I'd like to see you try!" She jumped from the boulder to another rock and stuck her peirced tongue out at him, "Nyah! You can't get m-OOF" Erin shouted with glee as she fell backwards off the rock and landed with a quiet thud on the earth behind her. She laughed out of pure happiness as the crash jarred her jawbone.

Eric ran to the rock she had fallen from and saw her laughing, he frowned. "Don't scare me like that" He told her. Monty came up behind Eric and pushed him. Eric fell ontop of Erin. He didn't get up, he just laid there looking into her eyes. A smile came across his face.

"You're squishing me!" Erin squealed, breathless from laughter. She giggled and looked at Eric before kissing him on the lips again. The girl rolled out from underneath Eric and tried to climb back onto the rock she had fallen off. Her cut arm stung as she scraped it against the rock's surface, leaving a smear of blood behind.

.

Eric shook his head "Don't go back up there, I don't want you falling again." He took her hand in his and lifted her down "We should go back and get your arm covered up" There was worry in his voice as he spoke to Erin. He wouldn't let her say no. He heard hoof beats in the distance and let Erin go. He saw a girl in the distance and stepped next to Monty. He scratched his head while waiting for the other girl to come. He didn't want to embarrass Erin in front of anyone.

Erin ducked under Eric's arm. She ran at the boulder, jumped into the air and landed in a handstand. She flipped herself upright and landed on the boulder. The girl giggled and sat down cross-legged on the rock. Her arm stung, Erin looked at it. Copious amounts of blood was dripping onto the rock surface, she winced. "Ouch," she giggled, prodding the cut. Erin look across the horizon and spied someone's silhouette. The girl narrowed her eyes against the sun's blinding glare, "Who's that?"

Eric laughed under his breath "I told you not to go back up there!" He exclaimed. He let Monty go and climbed up on the rock. He saw that Erin's arm was hurting her. He sat behind her and wrapped one of his arms around her. "Let's go back to the stables we can go to the lake another day" Eric whispered in her ear. He kissed her neck while waiting for her answer.

Erin shook her head furiously, "Nope, we're going to the lake now. Beside, I've probably introduced around a hundred different types of bacteria to my body already." She rolled up her black skinny jeans and peeled off her socks. The girl dabbed her cut with one of the knee-length socks, then wrapped it with the other sock. Erin tied the other sock around her waist and grinned cunningly at Eric. She ran her hand down his leg, and ripped off one of his shoes. Erin jumped down from the rock and ran off, "Catch me if you can!" She ran bare-footed down the rock-encrusted hill. The girl slipped on a smooth rock and fell all the way down the hill, screaming in pain and joy as she went.