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!.
She smiled, closing her eyes for a moment as he kissed her forehead, cherishing the sweet gesture. "I was hoping it would be a yes, but there's always that little seed of doubt that you'll surprise me and say no. I thank your brother for keeping it quiet though." She snorted and fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I love you, of course I was always going to say yes." She said with a smile, nudging his shoulder gently. It was cute he had asked her eldest brother permission for her hand, she knew her brother wouldn't have denied his request but even if he did, she'd have hoped he would have asked her regardless. She was her own woman and didn't need anyone's blessing to be married. Ashley snuggled into his side as he wrapped his arm around her, allowing him to pull her in close. "I'm glad, it's hard to get perfect but I wanted it to be close as - because you're perfect to me, and you deserve nothing less." She let out a soft laugh and glanced up at him. "I'm far from perfect"
"i'm sorry it all turned out like this." She sighed and gave the woman a weak smile. "Me too. .I really appreciate your friendship Heidi. . I don't want to lose it". She said honestly. After Ashley had left for America she had only really kept in touch with her family and had only managed to salvage a couple of friendships when she returned home so she really didn't want to lose Heidi as a friend. "As much as it's the last thing on earth that I want to do, I think the four of us need to sit down and talk.. if I can even get Damon in the same room as him." She would either have to trick Damon into being in the same place as Jason or try and reason with him. She didn't see either option going down well but the situation needed dealing with once and for all.
Ashley reluctantly let Damon pull away, lowering her hands from his face as he did. "Well, I can sleep tonight at least. I thought for sure you would figure out something was up soon enough... I was even surprised James didn't give the game away." Well at least one of them would be sleeping. She was practically buzzing at the moment and doubted she would be able to sleep any time soon. She smiled and shook her head. "I was wondering why you were getting nervous as the night went on but other than that I was oblivious. . and clearly James can keep a secret when he needs to." She said, impressed her brother had been able to keep the surprise to himself. She shifted so she was sitting comfortably on the blanket and rested her head against her fiancé's shoulder. "tonight was perfect." She murmured.
"Oh thank God," Ashley let out her own laugh at his words. She couldn’t believe he’d even think for a second that she would turn him down. It made her wonder if she had she been slacking in telling him how much she adored him. She often forgot that he wasn’t a mind reader and didn’t know how she felt without actually expressing it all of the time. She was a more hands on, less words woman. She practically beamed as her fiancé - yes she was already calling him it – slid the ring onto her finger, which was a perfect fit. He had clearly done his homework. The brunette lifted a hand, placing it on one of Damon’s as he cupped her face. "I love you so much, Ash," She smiled, bringing her own lips to his. ”You and Josh are my world.” She murmured, in-between kisses.
She held the mug of tea in between her hands, focusing on the warmth that radiated into her skin while she waited for Heidi to speak, which felt like forever. "no, no questions. at least none that i can think of." She almost sighed in relief, glad to be nearly done with the conversation. It wasn’t something she enjoyed talking about. "but i do have to be honest with you. you said you didn't want to find out who the father was?" Her heart thudded against her chest as her adrenaline spiked at the question. This was what she had been dreading. The reason she had avoided talking about her past. Fear of the truth getting out. ”As far as I’m concerned, Damon is Joshua’s father and nothing will change that.” That was something she was never going to budge on. "i'm not going to try and talk jason out of trying to find out if he wants to." She gave a stiff nod, already expecting that to be her decision ever since she had found out she was with Jason. ”I know, I wouldn’t expect you to. . but I am not turning my son’s life upside down.”
"I intend on it, can't let you get away now." She turned to face him and gently reached up to run a hand through his hair. ”I’m not going anywhere. .you’re stuck with me forever.” She smiled. He’d have a hard time getting rid of her. She’d been through the pain of losing him once and she was adamant she was never going through that again. She took a sip of the bubbles in her hand as she looked back out at the calming waves, enjoying the moment. "Ashley," His voice brought her attention back to him, her breath catching in her throat as he shifted to be on one knee. I fell in love with you the moment I laid my eyes on you, and I know it hasn't always been easy, but I couldn't imagine my life without you there by my side. I want to wake up next to you always, I want to come home to you every evening, I want to work to be the man you deserve every day."
Her heart hammered in her chest as she listened to his words, her eyes beginning to water slightly – she had a reputation to uphold. She loosened her now vice like grip on the glass in her hand and placed it down onto the sand, not trusting herself to not spill it in the moment. As he popped open the ring box, she let out a soft gasp as she laid eyes on the ring. It was beautiful. "Ashley White, will you marry me?" She let out a small squeal of excitement as she leant forward quickly to kiss him just as he finished speaking only to pull away reluctantly to answer. ”Yes, hell yes!” She moved a hand to his cheek and let her eyes rest on his. ”I’d love nothing more than to be your wife.”
Ashley glanced down at her phone to check the time while she waited for Heidi to take in her side of the story. She needed to pick Josh up from a playdate she’d arranged in order to get him out of the flat for the afternoon but that wasn’t for another hour or so. She picked up her mug and took a drink of her green tea as another wave of sickness came over her. A part of her wondered if she was having a girl this time since the pregnancy with josh had been plain sailing. so it was love triangle and you chose damon?" She looked back up to Heidi and nodded. ”A brief love triangle. .yeah. .I chose Damon.” She’d always choose damon. ”Jason only went after me to hurt Damon. .I don’t know if his feelings changed as he got to know me or not but he did it out of spite.” She said with a slight frown. She’d known they hadn’t got along that much when they’d first met but she didn’t get how he could be so cruel to his own blood. The idea of hurting either of her brothers churned her stomach. ”Is there anything you want to ask?” She asked, chewing her lip lightly.
"I'm surprised you weren't hot on heels," She flashed him a grin and rested a hand briefly on her stomach. ”Well I’m carrying precious cargo” She said with a wink before heading outside. She watched him head over to the BBQ then turned her attention to Lexi. "Hey you two, how is everything?" She smiled and returned her sister-in-law’s hug, being careful of her niece. She glanced towards Damon as he chatted with her cousins and her smile widened. ”Good. . really good actually, how was the holiday?” She asked. "josh! avenge me!" She heard Chase and let out a laugh as Josh sprinted over, taking the water gun from his cousin and turning to Claire and Jare as they came over. ”Who are we chasing!?”
She waved back to Lily and smiled as Josh began running around with the other kids, confirming she’d made the right choice to come back home. sup? trying to be young and hip still are we ash?" She looked down at her brother with a smirk. ”I am young and hip old man.” She said, ruffling his hair. "yeah ashley, how're things going?" She couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face as discreetly fiddled with the new ring on her finger. She knew Damon had asked James for permission – he was old fashioned like that – but she wasn’t sure if he’d mentioned when he was popping the question. ”Things are great. .amazing even”
"Well, if that isn't the biggest compliment I've ever had." She snickered a little and glanced at him. ”Stick around, there’s plenty more where that came from if you play your cards right.” She teased back. She gave him a flirtatious look when he agreed with her having all the power. Women always seemed to hold all of the power. She wasn’t as seductive as some of the women in town but she knew how to get under Damon’s skin. As he did with her. Her heart gave a little flutter as he pulled out the blanket and helped her sit down. Dammit how did she get so lucky with him, he was a proper gentleman. She let her feet dig into the sand, enjoying the feeling while Damon pulled out more things from the bag, Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Who said romance was dead. She took the glass with a grin and gently tapped it against Damon’s. ”Cheers” She smiled, pecking him on the lips. She felt a sense of peace wash over her as took a sip of the bubbles whilst looking out at the waves, listening as they crashed into the sand.
She looked out of the window as they pulled out of the restaurant car park, trying to get a sense of where they were going. From the direction they were heading in, she figured it could only be a handful of places. Since they’d had one of their first dates on the beach, she was betting on that being their destination. "Now I feel like I've got your hopes up for something crazy," She looked at him with a smile ”Nah, I’d have been happy just going for drive. .I mean the company’s not that bad. .” She teased. As they pulled into the beach car park, she smiled smugly to herself, happy that she knew him, that they were on the same wavelength since she probably would have suggested the same. "You take the lead, my lady." She got out of the car and tipped her head towards Damon. ”Why thank you kind sir.” She took off her heels, holding them in one hand as she began the descent to the beach, taking one step at a time. "You can pick the spot," She grinned and looked around ”Ooh all the power . .” She joked before walking closer toward the water and stopping before the sand changed. ”Here?” She asked, glancing back to Damon.
"hi ashley." She returned her friend’s smile with a weak one of her own, closing the door behind her. "i just want to get this out of the way first ... i'm not here to cause problems. I just, want to get to the truth." Ashley felt the knot of worry and anxiety in her stomach start to ease at Heidi’s words and she visibly relaxed a little more, some tension dropped from her shoulders and the breathe she’d been holding was exhaled. ”okay..let’s sit down.” She headed back into the kitchen and pulled out a chair for the brunette before grabbing them both a bottle of water and placing them on the table. Sitting down, she fiddled with the ends of her hair as she tried to think of the best way to start. ”First off. . I just want to get out there, we don’t know for certain Josh is Jason’s. .and I don’t want to.” she knew deep down he was but she’d fight until the end to stop any tests being done on her son. He was happy how he was and that’s how he was staying.
She sighed and took a sip of water to prepare her for the lengthy explanation she was about to give. ”I was sixteen. . just moved to Hickstead where I met Damon. .we started dating, things were going well. . you get the gist. Damon lived with Jason which is how I met him. I don’t know what he’s like now but back then he had a temper and enjoyed winding Damon up. he was a charmer and a sweet talker. It started off with flirting when Damon wasn’t there. .he was twenty one, so of course I was flattered and surprised an older guy was interested in me. .I was naïve for thinking he liked me. .I found out later he’d done it all to hurt Damon”. She shook her head and took a moment before continuing. ”I was drawn in by him and I was pretty confident back then, I knew how to flirt and I liked it. . that’s when the affair started. .I saw another side to him, a sensitive side. .and I fell for him, which ruined me because I loved them both for completely different reasons. Damon eventually walked in on us and well the shit hit the fan.” She took another drink of water, giving Heidi time to process the past she’d been trying to forget for the past five years.
She hid a smirk as Damon opened his mouth to protest at her splitting the bill. She wasn’t a hard-core feminist; she loved to be treated but she believed in paying her own way when she felt like – tonight being one of those times. Plus it was fun to see Damon get a little flustered. She pretended to pout when he said the surprise wasn’t anything exciting. She knew money was tight at the moment, a romantic stroll around the park would have been a nice surprise and she’d be happy. "Your chariot awaits," She took his arm with a smile and kissed his cheek softly before heading out to the car. She almost swooned as he opened the door for her; chivalry clearly wasn’t dead with her boyfriend which made her love him all the more. She fastened her seatbelt with a click and glanced out of the window as they drove, trying to figure out their destination.
Ashley was sat at the kitchen table, her hand wrapped around a blue mug patterned with different dogs as she absentmindedly chewed her lip whilst waiting for her friend to knock at the door. At least she hoped they were still friends. It had been a shock to her when she’d seen Jason walk through the door of Heidi’s house. For a split-second she’d thought Heidi had been playing her the whole time, trying to get close to Josh for Jason. However the look on Heidi’s face had made it clear as day – she didn’t know a thing. She felt for the woman, it wasn’t a bombshell she’d want to be on the other end of either. It had been tough enough watching her son grow up and start to show more of jason’s features as a child than damon’s. Damon hadn’t wanted a paternity test though, choosing to love the child as his own regardless, which made her love him even more. She’d said the words only once, outwardly confirming her thoughts but it was never mentioned again.
The brunette tapped a finger against the mug as she waited anxiously. It had been a surprise to get the message from Heidi asking to meet. She figured Jason would have told her to stay well away which would be a shame since Josh had grown close to Demeter. She took a sip of her green tea, hoping to settle the growing nauseous feeling in her stomach. She didn’t know if it was the morning sickness starting to kick off again or the nerves she was feeling over what was to come; probably a mixture of both. Hearing the knock at the door, she placed the mug back down onto the table and pushed the chair out as she stood up to make her way over to the front door. She opened it and gave the other woman a weak smile ”Heidi. . come in.” She said, moving out of the way slightly to allow her in.
