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!.
there had to be somewhere in the uk that would let them get married then and there. if america could do it, then so could they. if he didn't have rocke in his arms he'd pull out his phone and google 'shotgun weddings uk' after all they already had kids, wasn't that a requirement of a shot gun wedding, babies out of wedlock. his brain had latched onto the idea and it was running with it, and it didn't seem willing to let it go. "it's not everyone's wedding .. it's ours." he said softly as he looked at her. he knew that people would be annoyed but he said let them. "they'll get over it." some quicker than others, but they would.
"i was thinking we'd get married in clothes. if we got married in the nude in england we might freeze to death." that's not what she meant and he knew it, but he couldn't resist teasing her a little. he saw the lips twitch and he chuckled a little as he settled rocke on his hip again. "how about we just see if it's even an option..." he said as he walked over to the boys cupboard and opened it. even if they didn't get married today, their boys needed clothes. as much as he knew they'd all love a pajama day.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
"tell me, Av, what's going on?" he didn't want to tell joel. no that was wrong, he didn't want to have to tell joel. he didn't want it to be happening at all. he'd honestly thought that when joe had come home that this would be the end. that would be the last time their family would have to put their lives on hold for a service that didn't appreciate them. he had no idea about the british army but .. he didn't think highly of the one he'd fought for. even if he had been convinced going back was what he needed to do, the people made the fight worth it, not the fat cats who sat in large offices, safe from the fighting and making choices that didn't effect them in the slightest. their families were safe in other countries so why should they care about the people beneath them. it was enough to make his blood boil.
he gripped the bottle so tightly his knuckles went white, he was afraid for a second he'd break the glass but it held up under the strain and he took another long drag of the golden liquid before he spoke again. "they've called dustin back to the front line." he said as he stood up, the tension in his body ready to snap, making it almost impossible for him to sit down and still. "his flight leaves tonight." he said as he started pacing in no particular pattern across the grass, focusing on everything and taking nothing in. his brother didn't deserve this, he had his family now, he had hayden and dean and a baby on the way for gods sake, hadn't dustin given enough to the army throughout his life? they'd given their parents, their home and their sense of security and now they wanted more. he didn't know how much more his family had to give.
he knew that dustin had told the rest of their family that it was just a conversation but avery knew better. he knew how they worked, the sneaky tricks they used to get their way. if his brother got on that plane, he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. he and dustin had actually been prepared for this for a while. they both had plans in place, in case anything were to happen to either of them. they'd needed it, they couldn't leave their family with nothing, no security and no plan for the future. they both had money stashed, separate to each others, deeds to homes, cars and insurances. he was hoping they'd never have to use them, but life had taught both of them that the world didn't work like that.
"our family .." he said as he drained the last of the beer and he tapped the bottle against his upper thigh, hard enough that it actually hurt a little. that was the point though, if something hurt he could focus on it, use it to keep his mind straight. "hayden's accepted it, just .. but heather, i don't think she'll cope again." it was taking him to long to open his mouth, the words dragging as his brain fought against voicing his thoughts. he was so used to internalizing but he knew that if anyone could see through him it was joel. "and dean .. god .. his face joel" the thought of his nephews face was something he'd never forget.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
internally he was a wreck. he could feel his heard thumping against his rib cage so hard he could have sworn that joe would have been able to see it had he looked hard enough. he wanted nothing more than to run over to his brother and wrap his arms around him, hold him close and tell him that everything would be okay but there were so many reasons why he couldn't do that. joe wouldn't accept it, he hadn't accepted their affection since the moment he'd come home and avery understood that, he'd been the same. he'd pushed them away when he'd come home in the chair, he'd felt miserable and sorry for himself and he'd hated the world for it and some tough love from his family and holly walking into his life had helped him through it. tough love wasn't something that came easy for avery but he knew about masking and feeling the need to hide away and he also knew what it was like to not feel himself. he couldn't begin to know excatly how joe was feeling but he had a small idea.
he did have to look away for a second as joe made his way to the leg he'd thrown and he rubbed his hand over his chin slightly and he cleared his throat when it tightened. he distracted himself from the scene in front of him by reaching down to run his hand along gadgets back now the dog had settled next to him. "i'm enjoying the sunshine" he said as he looked back at his brother and he followed him with his eyes as he made his way back to the house. he had to grab his dogs collar to stop him from running over to joe as he tried to stand, knowing that gadget would turn it into a game. he turned and ushered the dog inside once he had close the door he turned back to his little brother. "if i offered you a hand, would you bite it?"
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
the moment the floodgates opened and hot words spilled from his brother's mouth, avery let him go. he couldn't think of something joe needed more than to let go, to let what he was feeling out and maybe he'd been a bit of an ass about it but it had seemed to work. he could understand, he knew exactly what joe was talking about. their experiences were different but coming home was hard, getting back into the family mindset and it had taken avery meeting holly before he'd really settled back into life here. but she'd pushed him, she'd made him see and he hadn't been able to hide things from her. she'd got him talking and it was what he'd needed in the moment. he doubted that joe would have been as receptive to kind words, since he'd seemed to want to bite everyone's hands off that tried to offer them so he'd gone a different approach.
he sat there with his arms folded on his knees, watching his brother fall back to the ground. it took everything in him to stay where he was sitting and to not go over to see if he needed help but he did it. what happened next though, he wasn't expecting that. the moment that joe threw the leg across the yard, it clicked. it made sense, the trouble he'd had going upstairs and everything in between. he tried not to show the shock on his face because the last thing joe needed right now was to be molly coddled, or that was his thinking. he couldn't do the sympathetic routine, tell joe he was sorry it had happened. he was, but he doubted the words would mean anything to his brother in that moment.
he waited until it seemed like his brother was finished and he looked across at him and he leaned forward slightly, pressing his elbows into his knees as he looked at his brother. "feel a little better now you let go of some of it?" he asked him, knowing the answer could go either way. it could have helped or it could have made it worse but he'd felt like he had to try something different. "oh and i'd go grab your leg before gadget thinks it's a stick and runs away with it." was he still shocked at that? of course. was he still going to rein it in for now? fuck yes. he'd lose it over the fact his baby brother had gone through that on his own later.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
well that was true. if there was one skill he had that he couldn't take to the bank it was putting away ungodly amounts of food. he knew that there would probably be a day when he couldn't eat what he wanted anymore but he wasn't going to stress on it. there were more important things to worry about in life than the size that was on the tag of his clothes and it was something he and holly were on the same page when it came to the boys. he smiled softly as holly gently woke levi up and he couldn't help a little as their son blinked himself awake, his eyes all sleepy as he yawned and stretched, grumbling softly and doing his best to roll away from his mother's hands so he could tuck himself back into the blankets to fall back to sleep. "and there you are." he said jokingly as he bounced rocke gently in his arms to keep him settled while they were standing still.
"we bundle the boys in the car and we get breakfast on the way." he said, his brain working through the logistics as the thought turned through his head, the cogs working as quickly as he could, so he kept up with the pace. he wasn't joking. "i think we should. we go, just the four of us and we make the day about us and the boys." he said as he looked down at levi and then to her. "then we have a big party in a few weeks, something everyone can enjoy when things settle down." he chewed his lip a little. he knew that there would be people not thrilled about it, heather probably being the main one, but with everything going on at the moment, it seemed that wrangling everyone together and not having something blow up in their faces or something happening.
"i don't care what i marry you in sweetheart." he said softly as he moved to settle himself down on the edge of levi's bed so he was closer to her. "like i said, we party later for them. we steal today for us." he said as he looked down at their boys and he smiled slightly, lifting rock up gently and using his fingers to move their baby's mouth softly. "marry daddy today mommy." he said in what he could only hope was his best rocke voice.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
normally he'd have some smart comment back for his friend as he called out that he wasn't a burglar but today there wasn't any. he didn't have the heart for it, he wasn't in the mood and he didn't think he could muster a smile even if the funniest person in the world was in front of him telling jokes. they'd just got their family back together. the last piece had just come home, as much as he didn't seem to want to be there, he was home and they were all okay and alive. damaged but alive. that was the main thing but it seemed that it was too much for the universe to allow, that they'd had some taste of what it was like to be a family again and it had thought, fuck that's too much hope for them, steal it away. he knew it was probably over dramatic but he couldn't help but think that way, there was only so much blood their family could give to the country he'd been born into. his parents blood was in the ground, his sisters blood was in the ground and his and dustin's blood was all over it. was it going to eventually want to take all of them?
he watched as gadget greeted joel with his usual energy, happy to have someone else to play with because his master didn't seem to want to cheer up, as much as the fluff ball had tried. "for once, it's not me." he said as he rubbed his hands across his face as joel came to sit down on the steps next to him, the dog abandoning both of them as he went to nose about in the garden. "no one's home to put me in it." he said as he took the beer that was offered to him. he closed his hand around the lid, taking a moment to relish in the way the sharp edges of the lid dug into his palm. he twisted it with his hand, his grip strong, the metal tearing his skin slightly as it gave with the force he'd put onto it. he dropped the cap to the ground with a metal twang as he brought the bottle to his lips and he took a long sip. "we got some news today."
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
avery couldn't help but frown as joe responded to his seemingly unwelcome words. he was used to working with difficult kids, kids who had problems and kids who had been through things that broke them, changed them and hurt them. he wouldn't say they were just like joe but there were definitely some similarities between them. normally he had the patience to let things roll off his back but with joe it was harder. the desire to shake him until he was joe again was strong but he knew he couldn't. he was dealing in the only way he knew how and if he didn't want to listen to them he wouldn't, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt that he didn't seem to have any interest in their family.
"i never called you an ass. don't forget some of us have a vague understanding on what you're going through. you don't have the monopoly on the army hurting you badly enough to change your life, so stop acting like a fucking martyr and that you're the only one whose ever come home hurt." okay so he might have been letting his patience slide a little but this whole woe is me attitude was getting a little old, he might have felt sorry for himself when he'd come home but he'd never tried to invalidate dustin's trauma by saying his own was worse.
"forgive me for wanting my brother to know his sister in law and his nephews." he frowned as he rubbed his hands over his knees lightly, fighting the urge to curl his hands into fists because he was taking the hits his brother was handing out more than a little personally. there was only so much ignoring and benefiting of the doubt he could do. "if you don't want to be a part of the family why are you here? a free roof over your head and food you don't have to pay for?" he asked him, honestly wanting to know the reason. "if your family is irrelevant, why put yourself through being around us." his eyes narrowed a little at the words of his sister and he really fought the urge to slap the back of joe's head. "don't." he snapped at him. "don't say that about her if you haven't cared enough to find out what she went through to make her bitter." he said as he stood up from the steps and he whistled sharply, loudly for gadget to head to the door. "you might not care about her but we do, this is her home and if you can't handle that fact, that's a you problem joe." he said as he started up the stairs to the back door.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
joel was one of the very few people that avery allowed himself to open up to. holly and dustin were the two other people on his list but joel, joel was probably the one he went to the most. he didn't like burdening holly, he was her partner which meant his job was to help her, not lump on her and dustin had his own shit going on, he was the head of the family and the main one responsible for keeping heather alive so the guy needed all the help he could get, so it was often joel that was avery's sounding board, his drinking buddy and the one he wanted to talk to when shit hit the fan. joel had helped him escape before, it was often when they did those stupid things that made the town think they were a few screws loose in the head but sometimes it was just what was needed. though he didn't think scaling a cliff would make today's problem go away.
he didn't know how much more the country they'd left wanted from his and his family. it had taken their childhood, it had taken their parents and it had taken something from dustin and avery that they'd never get back. it had tried to take his legs and his life and with that he thought they'd be done with it. he'd left, dustin had left and they were settled here. their families were settled here and life was going on. it wasn't perfect, it was messy and sometimes stressful but it was better than it had been in years and now they were going to try and take more from them. he wanted to tell dustin he'd go for him, but he doubted dustin would let him.
he hadn't planned on clearing the house out but it had worked out that way. he didn't know where most of his siblings were but he knew that heather had taken his boys out to get some ice cream, she'd known joel was coming over and she'd thought it best to hightail it out of there. so he found himself sitting on the back steps, staring out at the garden where gadget was sniffing around everywhere, rolling himself over everything that smelled good and chomping his teeth on just about every kids toy that had been left outside. normally avery would stop him but today he didn't care. the world sucked and what was some dog slobber going to harm. when gadget lifted his head from the grass and barked, avery knew joel had arrived. he picked up his phone and shot off a quick text to joel 'out the back, doors open, bring beer.' he dropped his phone lightly back onto the stair he was sitting on and he waited for joel to come through.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
he smiled at the sound of her laughter and he wished he could bottle it. if there was anything that could cure anything he was feeling it was her laugh, her voice or the touch of her hand. she'd been what had gotten him through when he'd struggled. he'd come home damaged, broken and bitter and she'd pieced him back together slowly, weaving the threads that held him in one piece with the very fiber of her being. she was so much a part of who he was now he'd have no idea how to function without her. "i doubt we'd need to jaunt as far as vegas." he said with a chuckle as he thought about the churches they always had in movies that had the horrible pink decor and the old elvis impersonators doing the ceremony. he couldn't imagine that. what he could imagine though was he and holly standing somewhere together, their hands together and just giving themselves to each other without a second thought.
he didn't have much more time to dwell on it because their boys called for their attention. those two little people they'd made with each other and were very experienced in letting their parents know they were unhappy. he watched her walk from the room and he followed suit, holding rocke in his arms gently as the boy yawned wide, still adjusting to being in the land of the living rather than the land of sleep. he rocked him gently and he couldn't help but smile down at him, hoping to freeze frame the moment so it never ended. he knew that one day his boys would be too big for this, be too big for him to hold and too big for him to keep from the world that he knew would hurt them in some way. that was the worst part, he couldn't keep them from hurting, he couldn't keep them from feeling the sting of what being part of society offered. it was one of the things that kept him up at night.
"i knew i was in there somewhere." he said proudly as he looked across to the sleeping child. he was so much like his mother it wasn't funny. of course avery knew that he was in there but he could just see holly. he had her compassion, her curiosity and he had her ability to love anything, regardless of how broken it was. he had all the good parts of his mother and none of the bad parts of his father. apart from his ability to sleep like a log. he watched as holly bent down over their son, trying to stir him from his sleep and he was struck with an feeling that he didn't want to hide, he didn't want to ignore and he didn't want it to go away. "elope with me today holly." he said as he crossed to where she was. "we'll get the boys ready, get some clothes and find somewhere you can make an honest man out of me today."
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
telling her about the dream was just as good as being in it. she was there with him, she was close enough to touch and he could feel her under his hand. the only difference was she wasn't naked. but that wasn't the important part, the important part was that they were there together, their arms around each other as they started to greet the day. the most important thing was that he'd get to curl up with her in his arms later that night when they got into bed and the most important part was that she'd be there tomorrow when he woke up, ready to do it all again with her. some might think it was mundane but he couldn't have been happier. there was no better time in his life than when him, holly and their sons were laying in their bed watching a movie or sleeping in or just cuddling as a family while the day passed slowly. those were the important moments. "well it has to be a good beach." he said as he walked her fingers further down her back. "nice and calm, wind blown would ruin the look." he teased as he lifted his hand to fluff her hair a little with his fingers. "why did no one tell us that planning a wedding too so much effort?" he said as he groaned a little, dropping his head back a little as he looked at the ceiling. "some days i swear it would be easier if we just eloped."
he wasn't serious, at least he didn't think so. it would save the hassle of planning but then their family wouldn't be there. although with everything their family was going through right now, maybe it would become an option that they'd think about. with joe coming home and being as broken as he was, with hayden pregnant and heather still driving both joe and dustin crazy and he wasn't sure what was happening with kara and jasper because the rest of the house was as crazy as it was. he rocked rocke gently in his arms as he saw holly touch his cheek and his smile softened. watching her with the boys was one of his favourite things to do. she'd been so worried when they'd first had levi that she wouldn't be able to handle taking care of him, her OCD had been the source of her worry, but she'd flourished and become the best mother he'd even seen and he didn't think he was the slight bit biased. it was certainly the lesser of two evils because one thing about him was that he was competitive and it might have been a tad early to start making bets like that.
he followed behind her with rocke cuddled in his arms, the baby slowly falling back into a light sleep, obviously feeling safe and comfortable in his father's arms. he leaned his shoulder on the door frame of his son and dean's room and he smiled as he watched her cross to the bed levi was sleeping in. he glanced towards dean's bed and was a little glad to see it was already empty, they didn't have to worry about waking him up. he looked back at their son, who was still snoring, spread out on his back with his blankets all kicked off the bed and his pillow half falling towards the floor. he had to admit that's how he slept some nights. he didn't sleep still like most people, he tossed and turned even when he wasn't plagued by the nightmares he often dealt with. "well we'd have both lost the bet." he said as he smiled into the room.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
he knew what it was like to come back to a place that felt just as foreign as the place he'd been sent to. he'd bene different when he'd come home, his legs hadn't worked. he'd been an invalid. he'd needed everyone's help and he'd had to rely on everyone. it had made him bitter and snappish so he knew what joe was going through, as much as his brother didn't want to think it. he didn't know exactly because everyone handled it differently but the basic feeling was the same. the disconnect, the changes that had happened. his little sister had grown up while he'd been gone, had grown an attitude and that was only the start of the changes. but then he'd met someone that had changed it all. she'd worked on him slowly, had broken through the walls he'd thrown up to protect himself from the hurt that had come from being a stranger in a familiar land and she'd brought him home. now they were planning a wedding, raising two boys and he didn't think life could be better. his brother just needed to give it time, that was the one thing he needed but the hardest thing he could do.
"it's a different place for you now. it's still in our family and you are still a very important part of it but it's not the same part as before because none of us are the same people. you need to slot into roles you didn't have before. you're an uncle, your older, your injured, there is new people in the house and that's just the start. you just need to give yourself time. it's a lot to take in but shutting the door on it isn't the answer." he didn't mean to lay it on a heavy but he could see what it was doing to his brother, the inner turmoil he tried so hard to hide and avery knew that while he'd seen it in his brothers eyes what he'd seen was barely a scratch on the surface to what must have been going on in his brothers head.
he couldn't help but let out a chuckle at joe's answer and the way his brothers jaw was set made him feel like he might regret it in a second but it had just amused him a little. "well that's a good start but considering we sent you photos of the kids, information about our partners and all the adorable puppy pictures, you might need to dig a little deeper than that." he said as he rested his elbows down on his knees gently. "heather isn't that bad. believe it or not, she's mellowed a little in the last year or so." it had been touch and go on whether his sister would settle, but sam seemed to be making a difference in how wild she was. her and dustin still butted heads but there was still something none of them could figure out that triggered her.
TWENTY SIX | YOUTH WORKER | HOLLY MILEY EVANS LEVI MACCARRAN | 3 ROCKE MACCARRAN | 1
