Texas
"Texas." Zay steps off the tour bus, the heel of his boots sinking into the soft mud. It had rained recently, and the morning dew was still shining on the grass. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, inhaling the fresh, crisp scent of nature.
Riley follows, along with Maya and Smackle. They had been invited to stay with Lucas, Zay's best friend from Texas, and that's where they had stopped first thing when arriving to Austin. Lucas waves from the porch, and Zay smiles, waving not back. Riley places a gently hand on Zay's should. "You gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Zay nods, leading the way.
Lucas stands, shaking each girl's hands firmly. "I'm Lucas Friar. But I'm sure you all already knew that."
"I'm Riley."
"Maya."
"Isadora Smackle."
"All very lovely names," he says with a smile, stepping aside to let them into the house. Which, house was an overestimation. It was more of a cabin. But it was nice.
"So you said you wanted to show us something?" Zay says, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms expectantly.
"Tonight," Lucas nods. "Right now I was thinking I could show these here city slickers what it's like to rough it on the farm."
"Dude," Zay says, reaching out touch Lucas' should. He shakes his head in faux disappointment. "Cut the overdone accent and phony southern words."
"Sorry," Lucas laughs. "Anyways, what I meant was that maybe we could go down the trail on horseback. It's not too awful hard to ride, even if you're a beginner."
Lucas let's them each pick out their own horse. Riley chooses a cream one with chestnut hair named Honey. Maya chooses a dark black horse with white hair, Calamity. Isadora decides to just ride with Zay, who chooses his favorite, the one he always picked, one with a burnt umber hide and black hair named... Babineaux.
"Really?" Maya says, rolling her eyes as she hops up on to the horse.
Zay shrugs. "Lucas said I could name him whatever I wanted."
"What's yours named, huckleberry?" Maya asks, eyeing the spotted horse.
"Lucky," Lucas says, patting the horses side lovingly.
"Ah, c'mon." Maya says, feigning exasperation. "How much more cliche could you get?"
"Well, we have a horse named black beauty we let roam the fields. Bit of a wild one." Lucas offers, tipping his cowboy hat. Maya narrows her eyes, tugging the reigns so that the horse begins in a slow trot, following Lucas' horse. Riley comes in behind her, then Smackle and Zay bring up the rear. It's safer that way, Lucas and Zay had agreed, sandwiching the two inexperienced riders in the middle.
They follow the trail for about half an hour, Lucas telling them all about his life on the way.
"I'm sure it's not much different from his you grew up," Lucas begins. "although we couldn't be any more different now. Zay and I grew up together on this farm, went to school, did everything. We learned a lot, especially about love. You'll never know true love until you give birth to a horse."
"Are we still on that?" Zay asks. "He uses this story to impress girls. Although, I thought he knew you two were dating, and that Smackle has a boyfriend."
"It was a defining moment in my life," Lucas counters. "Its what made me want to become a vet."
"Aww," Smackle and Riley coo at the same time.
"That's adorable," Riley comments, and Lucas raised his eyebrows at his best friend.
"See," Zay says. Lucas rolls his eyes, tugging on the reins to pull the horse to a halt. He jumps off, then helps Riley off while Zay helps Maya and Smackle.
"It is really beautiful out here," Smackle says, smiling softly. She takes a seat by the river bank, taking off her shoes to dip her toes in the water.
Maya nods her agreement. "Yeah Riles, we could just keep going and never look back."
"It looks like something you would paint," Riley remarks, taking a seat next to Smackle.
Maya laughs softly. "Hey Luke, I wanna steal your friend here for a minute."
Zay looks at her curiously, but Lucas shrugs. "Go ahead."
They begin to walk farther down the trail, five minutes pass, six minutes, all the while Zay wondering what this is all about. Finally Maya stops, taking a seat against a tree. Zay sits against one opposite her, a questioning look still on his face.
"So ya gonna tell him or what?" Maya looks completely unphased.
"What?" Zay asks after a moment.
"That you're in love with him," Maya clarifies, although they both knew.
"Riley told you?" Zay shoots an accusatory glance in the general direction of the others.
"Nobody had to tell me," she says, standing up. She shakes her head, sighing as she leans a hand against one of the other trees. "Trust me, I know what it feels like. And I know it's scary. But at least you have the comfort of privacy. I had no choice in keeping this private. Not if I really wanted it to work."
"You kind of did," Zay argues, but doesn't say anything else. He starts to head back and Maya follows.
"Look, I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries." Maya apologizes. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
"I know," Zay says. It's quiet until they find the group, Lucas sitting in between the two girls, laughing and smiling and genuinely enjoying their company. He sees Zay and his smile softens. And Zay knows that he's totally done for.
---
"A honkytonk bar?" Riley and Maya ask simultaneously, observing their surroundings. Tables of people dressed in plaid and cowboy boots, western music drifting grouch the air all with bits and pieces of conversation. An aroma of scents entice them, like a hand reaching out to pull them in.
"I think this place seems funny," Smackle comments, turning to look at Lucas.
"Thanks Smackle." Lucas says appreciatively, motions for them to follow him, taking a seat in his usual spot. Normally it was only room enough for two if he had a date, or three if he had come here with friends, but tonight he had arranged so they could all fit.
Immediately a plate of barbecue is brought out, piled high, along with a side of mashed potatoes, and a tray of corn. The food is good and he music is fun and they all dance and have a good time.
"You know, ranger Rick," Maya says, testing the nickname on her tongue. "We could use some of this choreography in our routines."
Lucas spins her once, then let's go, Riley catching her. Riley shakes her head furiously. "No way. I think we'd lose all of our fans."
"I was joking, honey," Maya says, brushing a hand through Riley's hair. They spin again, then Riley switches off so that Maya is with Smackle, she's with Zay, and Lucas is with some random girl that had joined the dance.
"Fancy seeing you here, sweetheart," Riley smiles at the nickname. She glances between her and Zay and then Lucas, a mischievous gleam coming to her eye. They spin once more and with the next switch off, Zay ends up with Lucas, Riley with Smackle, and Maya with the girl Lucas had been dancing with.
Zay looks at Lucas, feeling his hands start to sweat. "Sorry, Riley doesn't really understand..."
"It's alright, it's not like we haven't done this before," Lucas shrugs, spinning Zay once, then twice, then switches off.
They continue like this, Maya and Riley on an evil quest the entire time to get Zay to always, somehow, be the one who ends up with Lucas. If Lucas catches on, he doesn't say. Zay sincerely hopes he doesn't.
The music dies down, fading into another song.
"I think we should call it a night," Lucas says, yanking a thumb towards the clock. It's later, they would all agree.
"Uh, Riles and I were just gonna go for a walk," Maya says, then grabs Smackle's hand. "Why don't you come with us? Just us girls."
Zay watches them leave, then turns to face Lucas. "Girls, am I right?"
"I don't really know them, but I have to admit, they were acting weird all night," Lucas says, slipping his hands into his pockets. They were just a mile or so up from the cabin. Riley and Maya and Smackle had gone the other way, and he would've been worried had it been any other town. But he was sure they could find their way, and besides, they have each other.
"There's a reason for that," Zay confesses. Lucas quirks an eyebrow. "You know that person back in Texas I keep talking about?"
"Vanessa," Lucas nods, giving Zay a knowing look. Zay bites his lip, shaking his head.
"Nah," he sighs. "Vanessa is great and all, but she's not the person I'm in love with."
Lucas just stares at him. Stares at him with those big brown eyes he had looked at him with in first grade, the first moment he knew he wanted to be important to Lucas, and he thought that he just wanted to be Lucas' friend, because everyone wanted to be Lucas' friend. But really, he wants to be so much more.
"I'm in love with you," Zay says plainly. He's a romantic, but he's exhausted with these emotions. He can't spill his heart out and have or broken. So those words were enough. They just had to be.
"What?" Lucas looks... scared. Vulnerable. And Zay doesn't understand, but then, he never really has. Lucas is a mystery to him. Behind that perfect facade, there had to be something... something.
"I know this'll come as a shock to you," Zay turns away. He's not sure how much longer he could have faced Lucas, quite literally and metaphorically. "But I have been for a while.
"I know," Lucas says, his voice flat.
Zay doesn't look at him. "You did?"
"I guess I just tried to ignore it," Lucas admits. "I didn't want to hurt you."
"So you don't feel the same way," Zay clarifies what he already knew. Still, it felt nice to have all this off his shoulder, even if his chest felt tight
"I don't know," Lucas shrugs, kicking at a pile of rocks along the gravel road.
Zay nods, and neither talks. Neither knows what to say. Well, Lucas does, but he doesn't quite know if it's the truth, and he doesn't want to lead his best friend on. So he stays silent.
They're walking so slow, eventually the girls catch up with them. The laughter dies down as they fall in to step together. Somehow, everyone knows what was (and wasn't) said, and they walk silently back to the cabin.