Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
"I pick boring films? I'm sure that you do most of the movie picking." She managed another half smile at his words, "I think you're confused," but honestly he was quite right; she tried to get him to pick as often as she could but he frequently handed her back the report and refused it. She had enjoyed watching things together with him though, finding a TV show that they both equally enjoyed and settling down to catch up with it tucked into his side.
She caught the raise of his eyebrow at her attire and frowned slightly, glancing down at herself as if to already remind herself of what she'd put on. "What?" She asked, though not annoyed, just wondering what it was about her clothes he was looking at. She mooched over toward him all the same as she asked about helping. When he nodded to the toaster, she changed direction toward it instead. "Can you grab that and take it to the table?" Amber nodded and took the toast out, bringing it over to the table and popping it on to a plate all set up.
Amber hadn't yet sat before Mik spoke again. "Going back to our conversation last night. I still think offering him a pay off is the best way to end his reign." She tensed at first with his words, wondering if he was about to bring up the whole thing about her trying - and failing - to run. She wasn't ready to discuss it yet, still a turmoil of emotions. She swallowed and picked up her mug, taking a long, slow swallow of coffee as an excuse to take her time to respond. "We've been through this before though... I can't afford to pay you back, and once he's got that kind of money, he'll only come back for more..."
She caught the eye brow raise but didn't comment when he didn't - as if they both didn't know it was true. They couldn't keep going round in circles about it though and she wasn't ready to accept anything other than this being her fault. She heard the growl of his stomach as she mentioned food and she managed a small smile from it. At least his body approved of the idea. She knew she'd likely stew on things all day but if anything was going to take her mind off things if was something like that. "I'll even let you pick the movie, even if you won't stay awake for the entirety of it." She managed another smile at that, well aware that it was a terrible habit of hers to fall asleep about ten minutes in. "I can't help it if you just lull me to sleep...and pick boring films." she teased, some of her humour returning. It wasn't true either, apart from the lulling to sleep part, cuddled into him with her head on his shoulder or chest and his arm around her she found it easy to drift off. Unless he was taunting her with her hands and then she was very much wide awake. Not recently though, she wanted him to concentrate on healing.
She raised a brow at his pouting, knowing how much he hated it but how firm she was going to stand by the doctors orders. "You could come by the barn around lunchtime, we could go for a run?" She contemplated it for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay, yeah that would be good." She agreed, at least then she might be able to run some of her thoughts out and she could keep tabs on how hard her boyfriend was pushing himself. "Coffee and toast it is." Amber nodded and gave a brief smile as she returned his kiss and watched him head to the bathroom. Whilst he got himself ready she did too. She didn't think she'd be able to stew whilst he left for the day and she pulled on some clothes - just a loose t-shirt she thought might have once been Mik's and a pair of baggy joggers. She always went comfy clothes on a bad mood day.
Amber followed her nose to the kitchen, a faint headache banging behind her eyes as she begged for caffeine. "You sure I can't entice you in some scrambled eggs?" She shook her head and slid into a chair, wanting to help but seeing that he'd already done everything that was needed. "No thanks, I don't think I can stomach anything more right now. Can I help?" She asked, knowing he was going to say no but needing to ask as she watched.
She felt him shrug and she knew what his answer was going to be - not good. "On an off." She frowned slightly, her brow furrowing. "You need to rest," She said gently, he was still healing after all. "There was a lot going on in my head, so I let them fight it out. The battle was epic." She bit her lip, taking a moment to look at him. "That's my fault, I'm sorry." She took a moment to gather her own messy thoughts. "Maybe tonight we'll have pizza, movie and early night?" She suggested, and it was her way of letting him know she wasn't going to be running. She couldn't do it, she didn't want to leave him. She couldn't promise she wouldn't think about it again, but Amber didn't think she'd ever be able to go through with it unless he told her to leave.
"How about we get up, I cook us breakfast and we work out a game plan, then I'll head to the barn and you can come back to bed? I wonder if Naomi will allow me to do any heavy lifting today." She gave a nod, a game plan would help, it might make her feel better about what was going on for them. "Naomi shouldn't allow you to do any heavy lifting." She added, and though bed sounded good for her, she didn't think she'd be able to do anything other than wallow and feel restless. "I'll probably get some chores done," She said, thinking of the washing pile and such that could do with sorting. She watched him stretch and sit up, returning his kiss with a fleeting tired smile. "I still think the idea of setting him up would be the best way. What do you want for breakfast?" She gave a small nod and then went to sit up herself. "It's probably the only way, we'll just need to get this right to make sure we win." Knowing how Tristan was, it had to be a solid plan. "I don't know if I can eat right now, maybe just some toast. Coffee would be good though."
She had assumed he was sleeping. Throughout her disturbed sleep of being in and out, she had heard his deep and even breathing, and felt the stillness of him tucked into her side and had assumed that he was out. She'd wanted him to be asleep, she hated the idea that she'd given him a restless night. He still needed to rest, he was still healing and he didn't need this on top of everything else. She'd thought she'd known the change to him when he was asleep - it was something you tended to pick up when you slept beside someone every night. You got to know their patterns, and the difference between them being asleep and not. Maybe not, either that or she had managed to wake him by shifting - she felt his gaze on her before he spoke.
"Did you manage any sleep?" She turned her head to look at him, feeling the well of yesterday's emotions rush up to meet her when she looked at his handsome face. She shoved them back, expelling what she could with a heavy sigh. "I slept a little. Did you?" She asked, glancing at the appearance of slight bags under his eyes. Maybe not. She raised a hand from under the duvet and touched his cheek gently, shifting again to roll onto her other side so that she was facing him, peering at him with her head still pressed against the pillow. Her lips turned down at the corners though as those thoughts that she couldn't get rid of kept bumping the front of her brain. "What are we going to do, Mik?"
"I know." She heard him say, though she knew he knew - she was going to leave for him, she wasn't doing ti for herself. She wouldn't care so much if she didn't love him more than anyone she'd loved before. She was relieved when he reached out to her. She shifted back toward him, wiggling into his arms, her back pressing against his front. She curled her arm over his, drawing him closer. "Sleep. Now it's my turn to keep watch over you, like you've watched over me since I got out of hospital." She wanted to, but also she didn't. She was scared to see what would come in the morning, if she might be able to go through with leaving and if not, what to do with herself.
It took her time to drift off. Even secure in his arms, she still felt the anxiety and the high emotions of her evening thrumming through her. Her blood was up, her heart still pounding, her limbs finally began to relax one by one and at some point her eyes closed. She woke what felt like only a couple of minutes later, but it was at least a couple of hours. She hadn't moved, though that didn't surprise her - she hadn't wanted to move from Mik's arms, afraid to be without them. A yawn escaped her as she blinked open her gritty eyes and shifted, stretching out her muscles a little. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, her brain began to buzz back and forth almost immediately, trying to figure out what to do. Even the morning light hadn't fixed anything for her, and she rolled carefully, not wanting to stir Mik as she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
The bed felt cold as she curled up under the covers, it felt weird for some reason - perhaps because usually they went to sleep together, or on the nights they didn't when one was working, the other would slide in and wake them up pulling them close. They rarely fought, nothing more than the odd tetchy snipe at each other after a stressful day, or a domestic about washing and tidying up. This hadn't even been an argument but Amber was a tidal wave of emotions still, despite being exhausted by them. They swept her this way and that, pulling her from angry to despairing to upset and couldn't decide where to settle. She felt ashamed for trying to run, for try to run out on Mik after everything, for giving in to her ex, but then angry that she hadn't done it when she needed to, and then upset that she hadn't, upset deep down that though she knew Mik wanted her to stay, he hadn't said it. Stay. She'd do anything for him really, even that.
She heard him return, felt the change in the room. Her back was to him but her breath hitched, wondering if he might now be mad at her for what she'd done, like earlier. She'd never seen him mad before. Another day, another time, she might have pulled him to the bed for it instead, but not today - the mood wasn't there for that. Her eyes felt dry and gritty despite the well of tears that clogged her throat. Why wasn't he coming to bed, was he going to sleep in the spare room? Perhaps she should have instead. It felt like an age until he came over. "I think this is the time when I'm supposed to say some crap about going to sleep, and that everything will look brighter in the morning." If she could have, she would have laughed, but it wasn't in her. She bit her lip, somehow doubting that anything would look less bleak in the wintry morning life. "I love you." It nearly broke her again, those words, and she had to swallow hard twice before she could find her voice to respond. "I love you too," She croaked, clenching her eyes shut tight against the sudden onslaught of more salty tears. She wanted him to hold her; so tight she couldn't escape, but he didn't. She hated it - the not touching, but she couldn't bring herself to turn around and close the gap, so tensely caught in her fixed fetal position.
"Shows they were doing their job properly then." Amber would have smiled if she was in a better frame of mind, but she got what he meant. A part of her wondered if it was another thing she didn't know about Mik, but she dismissed the thought - he'd been more honest with her than other people, and she knew that to be true from what they knew about his past and his family. She couldn't imagine having bodyguards, she felt like her ex had been suffocating enough, controlling enough - perhaps that was similar to how Mik had felt, being watched all the time.
She knew he wanted to argue, she could see it, but she was so tired of arguing, and she was tired of running - she was tired of her past always coming back to bite her in the ass. Just tired. Maybe it would be easier for her to give up, to roll over and let whatever happened to her, happen. "I'm alright though." Yes he was, but it didn't make it any better, or any easier to accept; it should never have happened. It felt like no time at all had passed but at the same time hours before he returned, a tray suddenly on the ground beside her. She felt like she was stuck in some kind of half dream, deep down knowing it was the exhaustion of the emotions and everything that came with her, her mind shutting everything down.
"I'm going to go and have a shower. I'll need to go and have a talk with Moses. If nothing else, I need to make sure he's not buying into anything that's being said about me." She nodded vaguely. "I'll make sure they know it's because of me." She wouldn't let him lose his job for this, if she couldn't leave, then she'd shoulder the blame - even if it meant losing her job. She didn't realise the weight around her shoulders was a blanket until she went to move. She managed half the mug of hot chocolate before she had to give in; even that chocolatey goodness couldn't fix the vast knawing hole in the pit of her stomach, and she put it aside and rose. She didn't make it far, though her eyes looked to the door, she couldn't do it. Berating herself for being a coward, she slipping beneath the cover of the duvet instead, still fully clothed, and curled up on her side.
"Did you know I was being shadowed when I first arrived here?" She shook her head, "No, I didn't know." Refraining from adding 'why would I know that?' They had not known each other then, having become friends over time during work shifts, before things progressed to the odd run together and then hanging out in general. It showed how much he must have relaxed in the town, if he had known he was being tailed, but her ex had managed to get the jump on him. "We could attach one to the stacks, as well as putting one on the inside of the bag." She nodded, a little blankly as her emotions were spent, feeling drained and somewhat hopeless as her mind began to empty. She didn't know what more to add to his idea and so, did not speak further.
She felt a slight weight on top of her head, and she didn't want to admit it was comforting. She wanted to be wrapped in Mik, to not have to think about leaving him anymore. "Yeah, a grown ass man who would have ended up back in the hospital if you hadn't been here. You keep me grounded. We keep each other grounded." She swallowed at his words, true for her that he kept her grounded, on a good day, but she couldn't help but feel like nothing but turmoil and trouble for him. "It's my fault that you were even in the hospital, Mik." All of it was her fault, and it couldn't be denied. Whether Tristan was a grown man who made his own choices or not, she had brought him into their lives - Mik's life.
Amber felt his absence as he left, but she didn't make a motion to move. "I'll be right back." She nodded a little, shifting to bring her knees up to her chest instead, and then wrap her arms around them for comfort. Maybe it seemed juvenile to sit there, but she didn't want to move yet, it felt like admitting defeat. She was supposed to have left, and she couldn't even get that right.
"We could continue with the wonderful movie plot and have him followed?" She was so in a muddle, she didn't know if he was joking anymore or not. She didn't think he would, given her last response to him cracking jokes. "That would mean having to bring someone else in on it.. he'd notice if it was one of us." Plus, she didn't have a car, so she'd have to borrow one or use Mik's anyway. She bit her lip. "Is getting a tracking device possible? And putting it in the bag?" She knew that also might be too much of a movie thing, but she felt like surely it was something Mik might be able to pick up. He seemed to know about this whole money trick too.
She felt him kiss her head again, but not argue. She probably wouldn't accept it right now anyway, unable to help but argue back. "If you left though, who would make sure I take care of myself?" She gave a small shake of her head, "You're a g-grown ass m-man." She hiccuped, "Y-you'd be fine." She didn't make a comment about him only having her around to look after him, she knew that wasn't true. "How about I go make us a hot chocolate and then we go to bed? If you still feel you need to go in the morning..." The tears slowed as she started running out of them, and she scrubbed at her face before giving a slow nod. Maybe it was going to be better to sleep on it, and then she might be able to leave when he wasn't home.
She glanced at him, not wanting to sound negative about his idea but it felt far too simple for that to work - after everything that they had tried, everything that she had done to get rid of him, if that was all it took she would feel such a fool. Granted, she didn't have several thousand pounds to spend on this kind of plan, but if it had meant getting rid of him she probably would have found it somewhere. "In short, yes, that's the plan... Well, more I go to the police and tell them that a large sum of money went missing from my vehicle the night I was attacked." So really, it wasn't quite as simple as she made out. "We'll need to know where he takes it. If he fucks off and disappears, he'll still win - he'll have taken the money and be long gone." She didn't know his hide outs anymore, it had been too long.
Amber didn't expect him to comfort her, she thought he probably would, because it was who he was, but she didn't feel she deserved it, and a small part of her was still considering running out - which would be easier if he didn't hold her. But of course he did, and suddenly he was there beside her. She let him pull her in, though she felt she shouldn't, it was too hard to resist. "It's okay, love." She sniffed and tried to take a breath. "It's not." She argued. It wasn't okay, this was all just bullshit. "We'll get through this. We could both leave this place behind, move somewhere new, start over again." She shook her head, "No, the idea was that I left, not you."
"I know it's not a game, love, and I'm making a mess of trying to explain my method of handling things to you." She watched him take a breath, she'd rarely seen him frustrated, they didn't tend to argue and she didn't often see him get mad at the club - he had eternal patience, but then she guessed he probably cracked jokes instead of doing what she did and fly off the handle. "I'm sorry. I am taking this seriously, I just have a warped way of demonstrating that." She considered it for a second and gave a small nod, it wasn't what she was used to. The anger was, that bag throwing had been something she'd known how to handle - you made yourself smaller, weaker, so that they might not hit you this time. They normally did. But it worked better than to puff out your chest and talk back. But jokes and chuckles she didn't quite get, especially when she did know he loved her. No words came in response, she didn't know if there was anything left to say.
"You know how they use microchips on animals so that they can find their way home if they get lost? Well they have something a little like that for personal property too, they're called DataDots, invisible to the eye and unique, like DNA, to the owner. All we'd have to do is spray some on the bag you hand to him, and on the money itself because we both know he'll ditch the bag the first chance he gets." She felt stupid as she shook her head to his question, not being an animal person she had no idea what he was talking about. The closest she could get was from a few movies she'd seen when the money had ended up being stained, or something to that effect. "That sounds too simple. Give him money with some spray on it, and then what.. call the police?" It couldn't be that simple. Things didn't work like that in her life. Running, or just running him over with a car still seemed like her easiest options.
Something flipped inside Amber again as she tried to work through it, tried to understand the angles, and what Mik was talking about, and her brain just couldn't handle it anymore. She burst into tears. They had already threatened plenty, and some had escaped, but all of a sudden her eyes were flooding, and they were pouring down her cheeks and she couldn't stop them as great heaving sobs came out of her chest. Too much. It was all bloody too much. The bed was right there but she dropped the bag and sank to the floor where she was, her palms going to cover her face.
She watched him raise his hands, looking at the cautious way he held his palms out to her. "I just wanted to talk it through." She looked at him for a moment and then nodded, not making a further comment. She got it, at least he hadn't hurt her.. and then her mind reminded her that that was not Mik, he didn't do that to her. She carefully picked her way over to the bag and picked it up, finally managing to finish zipping it up properly, hesitating. Now she had the bag and most of her stuff, she felt a bit stuck. Did she just... walk out? They were still in the middle of talking, she didn't feel like she could just leave. It would have been so much easier if he hadn't come home yet.
As she watched him drag his hand through his hair, at least maybe she'd finally gotten through to him that she wasn't playing, that this wasn't some silly joke to her. This was her life, and his as well. "Call it a knee-jerk reaction. When I was growing up, situations never seemed as dire, or punishments as painful, if I acted like it was all a game I was part of. Your feelings have never been a joke, even before I admitted to my own." She nodded again, deflating a little with his explanation, her head was coming back down from the heavens but instead, other emotions were settling in. Dread, fear, depression of the idea of being apart from him. "I know you have a sense of humour, it's one of the things I love about you, but this isn't a game." Her voice softened slightly, a strange sense of calm settling over her. She knew what she had to do.
She noticed the slight sign of pain on his face and she bit her lip, wanting to go to him but torn by her own inner turmoil. "We can get the money back though." She frowned, a slight shake of her head. "I don't understand, how are you going to get it back?"
"You may have thought about it, but this is the first time you've acted on it. And the fact you were in the process of doing it, tells me how much you care." Amber looked at him a little like he was nuts, she couldn't help it, her impatience was showing. "Of course I care! It's why I have to do this... we're just going around in circles now." She sighed and glanced at the bag again, "If I go to pick that up are you going to throw it again?" Her nerves were shot and she didn't think she'd be able to handle the anger, even not directed at her in the first place.
"I think the jury's still out on him being as stupid as he looks." Amber frowned, "He's gotten what he wants so far, he's been a step ahead the whole time." Like hurting Mik and getting his keys in the process, getting Amber out of the house so he had it to himself to search. "I'm just saying that with the cameras, even if he's wearing a cap and hides his face from all the cameras, our body shapes are different enough that it will be enough proof that's it's not me." Even that logic wasn't enough for Amber to believe it would be fine, misery had set in - with the idea of what she was doing, of how much she was going to lose. "He targeted me because I have something he wants. We could almost take it as a compliment, that he feels so threatened by us." Amber gave Mik a hard look. "Why do I feel like you're not taking this seriously at all? Is this just a joke to you? My feelings are a joke??" She felt like a fool, standing there terrified and heartbroken and Mik was cracking jokes about taking it like a compliment.
"I haven't told anyone who I am, because I'm hiding from my parents. Who cares if they know where I am? I'm an adult, it's not like they can tell me I have to come home." She shook her head, "I care. Because you're only doing this because of me. This hasn't come off the back of your own choice." She didn't want him to be forced, that was awful. "This could have actually been the push I've needed for a while now." She shook her head but his dark grin caught her off guard, wary as to what he was going to come out with. "Because, love, you're going to offer him a good sum of money. I was thinking somewhere around five grand, cash. Maybe the idea that you could throw the ring he is so keen on reclaiming into the offer too could tempt him. Yes, I know you've sold it, but can you describe the ring enough so that we could get something made?" Amber's brow furrowed. "I told you, I can't take your money." They'd had this conversation before after all. She was going to cut him off there before he could get ahead of himself.
"I've been ready to run at a moment's notice since I moved in here. We aren't that different." She shook her head sadly, "You are different. You wouldn't be thinking about leaving the person you love all the time." And yet didn't have the guts to do it half the time - selfish, because she wanted one more day with him, because she wanted to get to keep something she wanted for a change, because she knew she should go so that he could find someone else who deserved him and yet she was only now trying to leave - when everything had already gone to shit and his life was slowly falling to tatters around him. She glanced at the bag he'd thrown, but a part of her was too scared to go for it again, even if she knew it was irrational.
She shot him a look at his laugh, frowning. "You're laughing at me now?" She didn't understand him and what he was thinking. "There are now enough cameras around the barn that I think they'll know it wasn't me putting the stuff in the locker. And how did I become the golden boy?" Amber shook her head, thoughts coming so thick and fast it was hard to push them back. "Because you're the shining star, the one that can do no wrong. If you think he doesn't realise they'll be camera's... he'll have found some way around it. He's not as stupid as he looks." At least a little stupid but he had a few more brain cells than she liked, it was why she'd struggled to get clear of him for so long. "This isn't on you." She didn't know when it happened but suddenly he had her hands, and she looked down at them. "Yes, it is. He would never have come here otherwise, and he'd never have targeted your life."I was thinking more along the lines of no longer hiding from my past. If that douche really wanted to ruin things for me here, as he obviously knows everything about me. He could have just dropped to the media who I am."
She shook her head adamantly and tried to pull out of his grip. "No, see if you go and do that, then I've fucked up your life again." How he didn't see it, she couldn't figure out. "You haven't told anyone else that secret, and you didn't intent to, doing that will just ruin everything, and it'll be all my fault. That's why this is the only way. I have to leave." Amber felt his thumbs on her cheeks and she turned her face down, once again unable to look at him. Even now, so sweet, to try and comfort her. She shook her head when he sat and tried to get her to join him. She didn't trust herself not to be drawn into him, to forgo her plan to save him. "I've got an idea. You're totally going to hate it, but it's an idea. You need to call him, and arrange a meeting." Amber frowned, pausing for a moment in her crisis to try and figure out his words. "Why the hell would I do that?" She would lead him away but she had no intention of letting him catch her whilst doing it.
It felt like there was a moment of stillness as she looked at him, practically seeing the way he brought himself under control. She'd never seen him angry before, she didn't know what to do with it, or how he would respond to things. It was new territory for her and she felt her stomach clench in worry. His soft smile made her worry less though, despite the ache to know that he had expected her to run. "The fact that you knew that... what kind of person does that make me?" She scoffed and shook her head. "A not very nice one, clearly." She rolled her eyes. You don't run out on the people you love, although the irony was that is what she was doing right now. It still didn't make her feel better about herself.
"My locker key for BA was on my keyring, I wouldn't be surprised if a few expensive things that I don't own turned up in my locker." She shook her head slightly, "I don't know what he's done, but to bring you under question? The golden boy? How he's done it I can't imagine but if that's true he's not just trying to get you fired, he'd trying to get you jailed. Fuck," She raked her hands through her hair, even leaving Mik would still have to clear his name. "Maybe it's time to take my life back." She could feel herself spiraling, it felt like she was losing her mind, or her emotions, she didn't know how to hold onto it. "And the only way you can do that, is if I'm not here, fucking it up anymore for you."
His gentle kiss was heartbreaking, and her eyes filled with tears, spilling in quick succession as his words followed. "You are my life." That wasn't fair, how was she supposed to argue that. Amber trying to take a step back, needing space from him. It was too easy to cave when he was right there. "I shouldn't be. I'm not deserving." And he was hers. He was her entire life, and leaving him would break her but she couldn' see another way out of it.