THE BREAKFAST IS amazing, turns out Tonia really knows what she's doing in the kitchen. It's a meal of toast, eggs, and sausage. There's a fruit salad at the table too. Milk and Orange juice carton. I eat with smiles, answering any questions they have but inside I'm about to implode.

I have so many questions. Are Tonia and Rick imposters or is Ian just answering a different surname? Why would Ian lie about his parents and where are the real Mr and Mrs Maurice? Is Ian Maurice even his real name?!

I notice Ian casting subtle and none subtle glances as me and I smile. The questions would have to wait. Right now I'm having breakfast with the family and that's all it should be. Ian's a mystery, I've always known that. The way he acts, his name, his tattoo, everything about him is mysterious but that doesn't worry me as much as it should. I like him anyway and what matters is that I feel safe around him. I don't feel as left out as I literally am.

"So, Anna, how long have you known our Ian?" Tonia asks.

I purse my lips, "A month and some days now. I met him on his first day at our school."

"Oh that's show him around? Because that's how I met Rick." Tonia said giving her husband a playful nudge. Rick sighs through his nose, giving his wife a small smile.

"No no, unfortunately not." I shake my head and smile fondly. "I was caught snooping around on his computer and he wasn't pleased."

"Oh." Tonia says and even Rick looks up, intrigued.

"Yea." I blush, "but I've quit my snooping days."

"That's wonderful." Rick says. "What about your parents?"

"My mum's the school principal and Mr Dad's a doctor."

"Wonderful."

And that's how the breakfast goes, some more questions come forth and I in turn answer a few. Ian remain silent as if in deep thoughts and only speaks when spoken to. After breakfast he excuses himself, Rick does too and Tonia starts clearing the table. I decide to help her.

"Oh dear Anna, you don't have to." Tonia says as I walk into the kitchen with the remaining plates.

"Its fine. It's the least I can do after the wonderful breakfast." I'm rewarded with a smile and silence falls over us as Tonia washes while I rinse.

"I'm guessing by that look on your face that you have questions to ask?" Tonia speaks up, turning to look at me.

I'm surprised and I open my mouth to deny it but I just give in and sigh. "Actually I have a lot."

She shakes her head and I don't know if its amusingly or not. "Of course, you should ask those questions to Ian, would help you guys get a lot more closer. I think."

I nod, "I will. It's just, Ian's so... I don't know how to put it."

"Closed off?" Tonia supplies and I look down at her. I'm taller than her, she's pretty short.

"Yea," I slowly agree. "And mysterious. We all love a mysterious guy but I can't help the curiosity you know."

Tonia wipes her hand and turns to me. "Go slowly. Give him time. Our Ian, my Ian have been through quite a lot and its very very surprisingly and wonderful that he has you. If you've gotten this close already then surely you'll eventually get all your questions answered. Don't rush him. You're good for him and pretty too"

She goes back to washing and I hear her mutter, "I'll be crushed if you don't get to stay in his life longer."

Okay.

**

I walk back into Ian's room once the dishes are over. After Tonia and I got that complicated talk out of the way, the atmosphere became livelier as she talked about her young days. About school and about her and Rick. She is a happy woman and I like her.

"Hey," Ian says snapping me out of my thoughts. I see him looking at me and I respond by moving my brows at him. The room is warmer now from his bath and he's dressed in jeans and a black top. I can see his tattoos on the uncovered part of his arm. "Done bonding?"

"Yea. Your mum's great." I say walking towards him.

He pokes his tongue into his cheek and sighs, "Yea, she is."

I'm now standing really close to him my hand reaches out touching over his tattoo. Its then I notice a difference. This part of his skin is parch. I guess I didn't notice it before became I was busy sucking his face off. Before my hand can move any further though, Ian flinches and moves away from me. I look down at the ground.

"I'm sorry."

"Roxanna?"

I bit down on my lip, to talk or not talk? I finally look at him. "Ian, I have questions. I'm confused."

He frowns, "What questions?"

Sigh. "Where's your brother? Your nine months old brother? Tonia look like a mother of a baby." Any mother would mention her child one way or another. Especially a baby.

Ian blinks a bit surprised. Like he doesn't remember telling me about his brother. I know he didn't lie about that, I could the care in his eyes and softness in his voice. His face slowly morphs into another frown, a closed off one.

I'm not giving up though. The frown doesn't scare me. I know I'm supposed to go slow but I honestly can't right now. "Why isn't there any of your pictures? I know it isn't compulsory to have pictures but isn't it strange? Not even one picture, of you or your brother."

"And finally, I heard Rick on the phone. Why the hell did he introduce himself as Rick Howard?"

Ian doesn't say anything and after a moment he turns around and start picking things on the table. I feel like screaming and tearing my hair off.

"Ian? What you're just going to ignore me now?"

"Did you bring your car?" He asks his back turned to me.

"What?"

"Did you bring you car?" He repeats slowly.

"Yea. It's outside." I answer confused as to why he's asking me that.

He finally turns to me and stretches his hand forward, giving me a bag. I collect it. "That's your things. Your phone, dress and shoes. Your mum called you some minutes before you came in. You should go."

My jaw slacks. "Ian--"

"You can keep my clothes, they look better on you. Here are flops if you can't wear your heels."

"Ian." I snap. "Listen to me."

"I do not want to!" He snaps back, the veins on his skin popping out as he glares at me.

I step back realizing that instructing me and gathering my things was a way of keeping his cool and I just made him snap.

Ian groans, running a hand through his hair and walking around. "Please go, Roxanna."

"Ian, I deserve an explanation."

He nods, "Maybe but you're not getting any. This was a mistake. You weren't supposed to come here. You're not supposed to know this much. I've ruined things. Me and You," he gestures between us. "This would never work. This is a mistake. I'm not supposed..." Sigh. "Goodbye."

"Ian, I'm..."

"Just go!" He yells at the wall, not looking at me and this I flinch.

My legs move into the flops and soon I'm out of the room and running down the stairs. Tonia and Rick are downstairs, pretending to have not heard us. I smile.

"Bye Mr and Mrs Howard. Thanks again for the breakfast." They both nod and just then we hear a loud crash from upstairs. I look up sharply, then back at the parents, Tonia gives me a small apologetic smile and one that basically says 'leave it be'.

I rush into my car, throw my things into the back seat and screech out of the neighborhood. As I drive, my mind remains numb, playing over what just went down.

Ian and I are over before we even started.

I've ruined things. I shouldn't have asked.

I pushed him over and he kicked me out of this house.

This was a mistake.

Me and him... It was never going to work.

I'm too curious for my own good and he's too secretive for his. I just wanted to know.

I pull into our driveway. Get out my car and bolt in. My mother calls but I ignore her, heading up my room. I ignore Juliet and carefully shed the clothes away. I hop into the bathtub and as the water pools in. My feelings pool over and I finally let go, letting myself break down. Letting it soak in.

Ian and I are over.

**

My thoughts are all over the place. I feel this pain and emptiness and it hurts.

It hurts that Ian can't and doesn't trust me with his secrets. It hurts that a part of me thinks this... breakup was for the best. Maybe Finn, my mum and even Christine was right. Everything about him is just overwhelming. Maybe the last thing I need right now – my senior and most important year in school – is a relationship. Maybe I'm just meant to be alone. I mean what good can Ian Maurice really do for me. My and his life is probably already complicated enough.

So then if it was the right thing. If it was meant to be, why then do I feel like crawling into a hole and crying till next summer?

"Whoa whoa, easily there cowgirl." I hear Tyler say and I distractedly turn to him. He rushes to me and pulls me off. Its then that I see that Exodus was done eating off the sugar I was feeding to him and was now chewing on the brown gloves on my hand.

Tyler rips the brown leather glove off the horses mouth and turns to me with a questioning slash amused raised brow.

"Oh God," I say pulling the cowgirl hat off and running my hand through my hair. Half of three fingers in the gloves are gone. "That won't kill him right?"

Tyler looks down at the gloves, "I don't think so but its you I'm concerned about."

I sigh, plopping down on a hay stack. "I'm so sorry. My mind is all over the place right now."

"What's wrong?" He asks coming to sit beside me.

I look up at Exodus and sigh again. "Its surprising how a day that a started so well could turn so horrible." Tyler doesn't say anything and I find myself sighing again. "I had a fight, a quarrel, an argument, whatever with... a guy and we sort of broke up."

"A guy?" Tyler slowly asks and I laugh humorlessly.

"We weren't even together and now we're over."

"That sucks."

I turn to him. "I know right?" Another sigh. "What's your most painful breakup?"

Tyler rests his head on the wall. "Um, you've got to be more specific than that. I'm a breakup stud."

I chuckle, it slowly dies and I sigh again.

"I could tell you about one with your sister."

"Please do."

"So her birthday was coming up and there was this diamond pendant she's been eying for ages. Like every time we go or just pass by the store, Rachelle must stop to see if the pendant was still there and it was. Its like the pendant was waiting for her." He smiles shaking his head. "Anyway it was her birthday and I bought it for her, it cost a lot so I used up all my saving. Every last drop. Rachelle knew and when I gave her the pendant, she couldn't stop crying. She cried and cried and hit me asking why I did it. She said the relationship wasn't so I could finish up all my money on her and then when she's going off to college, I'll be stuck here on the farm penniless and wondering where and how my life went wrong."

"She broke up with me then and there and when I asked her why, she said, her exact words were. 'I'm you a favour Ty. This pendant isn't going to do you any good, just me. Next time don't finish everything on a girl, put your self first' and with that she ran back in. She didn't toss the necklace back or anything, she went up with it." He concluded, chuckling to himself.

I laugh, "I remember that. She cried and you guys got back a week later."

"Yup. I learnt my lesson though. Never share your saving amount with your girlfriend."

"I'm not sure that's the lesson Rachelle wanted you to learn." I say, remnants of the laugh on my face. "That didn't sound like a painful breakup."

"It wasn't." Tyler shrugs, "I don't remember anything painful about my time with Rachelle. Just the wonderful and happy times. I mean, I remember everything, every moment with her but what I once thought painful and sad, isn't so anymore."

I place my hand on his, "Me too."

We fall into comfortable silence. Our presence just enough to comfort each other.

"You could go home, rest out today." Tyler speaks.

"Uhuh, no way. This place is the best for me." I say, "even though I nearly got my hand chewed off."

Tyler smiles and pats my hand, standing up. "okay then, let's go racing. What me beat you?"

"Is that a joke? You're joking?" I asks standing up with a smile.

"I'm not. I'm pretty good at racing now."

I crack my knuckles and shrug my shoulders. "Let's see how good then."

Tyler takes Exodus and I take Psalm. We walk them out to the wide field with nothing but green grass for miles. Tyler and both mount our horses.

"Ready?" He asks, swaying a little.

I smirk. We the Richard girls always beat Tyler Fordman and something tells me this time isn't going to be any different. "Set?"

"Go." He says and kicks Exodus's side, taking off.

I watch him run for a minute.

"Ready Psalm?" I ask rubbing her side. She grunts and I smile.

"Hiyah."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Thoughts?

We saw a little more of Tyler Fordman and Rachelle *sniffle*

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