you should see me in a crown

“I either need another tattoo, another piercing, or another drink. It’s 2pm on a Sunday. Do you see my problem?” 

oh, well, thank you. that’s really sweet. i like you too, you know? swallowing against the lump in his throat, todd looked at the dark-haired female and his teeth sank into his bottom lip. he took a deep breath, and blinked, looking down at his feet for a second. that was sweet; he thought and he licked his lips absentmindedly. todd liked to think he was a good guy –– a guy that would treat just about anyone right. okay, perfect. he nodded quickly and grabbed the stuff from brielle’s hands, while he watched her run her hand along apollo’s neck. apollo really seemed to like brielle. clearing his throat, he put the stuff down on the ground before turning around on his heels and walking over to where brielle was waiting. ❝ okay, so, ❞ he said and took a deep breath, rubbing his hands together before he placed both of his hands on either side of brielle’s waist, while standing behind her. ❝ uhh, okay, so let’s get you up on apollo, ❞ he said and nodded as he moved one of his hands from her waist to her arm. ❝ grab hold of this one, ❞ he said, ❝ hold on tight. use it to pull your body up and as you get up, you throw your leg over on the other side… ❞

brielle wasn’t expecting the sudden touch, so she jumped a little bit and, honestly, almost elbowed him but suddenly remembered that it was only todd trying to help out. still, she didn’t speak up, it took her a moment to get herself together despite hearing what he was saying. she nodded slowly, trying to make sense of what he was saying as best as she could. “right, uh, yeah...sorry, i wasn’t expecting you to-it doesn’t matter.” she said quickly. she was here now and whatever happened, it would happen because she was trying to, at least, have some sort of life outside of the vengeance and work. brielle made sure that his hands were still on her so that she wouldn’t fall when she did as he instructed her to. she jumped up and threw her leg over slowly, honestly surprised that she got it there. she huffed, impressed with herself. “oh my god. that was easier than i expected, wow.” she laughed a little, the sound coming more nervous than she’d ever admit and she held on for dear life. “Wait, I have to ride now? I hope you don’t expect me to do this by myself because I will fall, no doubt, todd.

     laughing nervously, todd moved a hand to rub against the back of his neck. ❝ uhh, ❞ he said and looked down at his feet for a split second as she had asked if this was how a horse back riding class went. ❝ it’s how it goes for people i really like, i guess, ❞ he spoke and his teeth pressed against his bottom lip. ❝ so, no, i don’t do this with just anyone, ❞ todd spoke and his dark-brown eyes locked with the brunette standing in front of him. you’re still sure he won’t bite my hand off? a soft laugh fell from todd’s mouth and he shook his head. ❝ i’m positive, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, ❞ todd said and he chuckled a little. i, uh… yeah, yeah. i can try. licking his lips absentmindedly, todd looked at her and nodded as he reached out and grabbed her stuff. ❝ i’ll put your stuff away and help you up. ❞

brielle would admit it, the more she spent time with todd, the more she understood why she’d decided to show up at the farm that day and it wasn’t only because she needed a friend. todd was sweet and in her daily life, she couldn’t say that she dealt with a lot of genuinely sweet people. “oh, well, thank you. that’s really sweet. i like you too, you know?” she murmured gently, he seemed like a nice guy, someone that had pure motives and that still cared for her despite how long it had been since their very first meeting. “okay, perfect.” she continued to run her hand over apollo’s neck carefully and only pulled back when todd went to take care of her things. things horse was gigantic, so she would absolutely need help getting up there. 

naomi closed the folder that she’d had open before her, a visual that she was more than prepared to give brielle her undivided attention. of course she was. it was the least she could do. “you know how i found you,” naomi reminded her gently, safely assuming that they why was what she was really getting at. “i picked you because i see a lot of myself in you – and the bits i don’t see of myself in you are because you’re much farther ahead than i was at your age.” naomi was quick to assure her immediately, meaning each word sincerely. “you’re not doubting yourself, are you?”

brielle bit down on her lower lip as she tried to figure out what to say without saying too much about herself. “no, no...it’s not that i just-things have never been easy for me. except for now, but there are a lot of things from my past that you don’t know or that you appear not to know and i always wondered if that had anything to do with it.” she had a dark mind, a dark way of seeing things and she always wondered if that was why naomi had picked her. 

     i’ve been in plenty, you don’t wanna ask how much i pay in insurance, todd. todd looked at the dark-haired female as she let out a soft laugh, and he gave her a weak smile back. he had, for some reason, a feeling that she was telling the truth. he moved towards her, and he noticed how she looked up at him. he made sure to move forward slowly, just in case she wasn’t comfortable with him being as close to her as he would end up being. as he stood behind her, and watched apollo lean forward and take the carrot from her hand, the smile on his lips widened and he chuckled softly as he turned his head and looked at brielle. who to him seemed to enjoy it. ❝ look at that. a natural, ❞ he said and grinned. 

     i feel like such a child now, thank you. todd laughed and shrugged. ❝ i don’t think that necessarily has to be a bad thing, ❞ he spoke softly, rubbing his lips together as he reached down and grabbed an apple, moving his arms around her body and placing it on top of her hand. ❝ there you go, ❞ he said and nodded. ❝ when apollo leans in, make sure to add pressure so that he will be able to keep eating it from your hand, ❞ he said and smiled at brielle as she turned and looked at him. ❝ apollo’s a good boy. ❞ licking his lips, todd kept his brown eyes locked with brielle and that’s when he suddenly realized just how close the two of them were. ❝ uhh, ❞ he said and cleared his throat as his cheeks started to burn. ❝ do you wanna get on? ❞ he asked and took a step back, creating a little bit of space between the two of them. 

“this is how a horse-back riding class goes?” she asked slowly, letting him lead her movements since it was more than clear that she had no idea of what on earth she was really doing. she couldn’t say she had a lot of carefree moments in her life, not moments where her mind wasn’t clouded with all the plans and memories she always thought about. but doing something as simple as feeding a horse, listening to the sound of todd’s voice almost relaxed her to a point where she couldn’t think about anything aside from what they were doing. “you’re still sure he won’t bite my hand off?” she questioned teasingly as she turned her head to look back at him, only to find him as close to her as he could possibly be. she took in a sharp breath and immediately took a step forward, only to end up even closer to apollo which made her laugh nervously and step back once again. jesus, what the hell was going on? “i,uh...yeah, yeah. I can try.” she said quickly, her hands keeping busy in the pockets of her jeans. 

naomi looked up as soon as she heard a knock at her door, grinning as soon as she saw brielle. “oh, there you are. i have some good news regarding the rodgers case –” naomi cut herself off as soon as she saw the look on brielle’s face. as soon as she really saw brielle. she wasn’t okay. naomi could tell that much from a long shot. she frowned immediately, nodding as soon as the question was uttered out. “of course i don’t mind. is everything okay?”

brielle prided herself in her poker face the way that no else did, she worked so hard to hide her feelings, to be perfect and to appear happy but as soon as naomi stopped herself, she knew that she’d realized it. she’d realized it enough to ask about her well-being. clearing her throat, bri simply nodded, but let herself in and closed the door before she made her way to naomi’s desk and sat down in front of her. “naomi...why did you pick me to-work with you? how did you find me?”

     looking at brielle, the smile on todd’s lips widened and it was pretty fascinating to watch how she interacted with apollo. and how at ease she seemed to be. he swallowed and let his gaze drop to his feet for a few seconds before he gazed over at the dark-haired female. not scared of dying, scared of being bitten more than anything else. ❝ apollo would never bite anyone. you don’t have to worry about that, ❞ he said and smiled as he softly moved his hand up and down the horse’s mane, before patting the area a little. 

     ❝ horses don’t really attack humans, though. trust me, you would probably get in a car accident before getting bit by a horse, ❞ he spoke and looked at her with a teasing smile on his lips. todd watched as she raised her eyebrows when he began to instruct her to put her palm up. and once she did, todd placed the carrot on top of brielle’s hand. ❝ you’ll be fine, ❞ he said and smiled at her as he could see that she was nervous. ❝ here, ❞ he spoke as he jumped down on the other side, moving over to where she was. standing behind her, todd reached out and held his hand underneath brielle’s. ❝ you will be just fine, ❞ he spoke and smiled as he kept his chest pressed against her back. bringing her hand out and towards apollo, todd chuckled softly, nodding his head lightly as apollo leaned forward and sniffed her hand before taking the carrot into his mouth, chewing away happily as he stared at the ground. ❝ you don’t remember much from this place, huh? that makes sense. ❞

brielle was smiling as she pet apollo gently, her hands cautious as she did it since she wasn’t an expert or anything of the sorts. she prided herself in the knowledge that she had about almost everything, but she couldn’t say that animals were one of the topics, aside from ozzy, but he was different. he was the love of her life, or so she liked to think. “i’ve been in plenty, you don’t wanna ask how much i pay in insurance, todd.” she let out with a soft laugh, but she wasn’t joking. she was a terrible driver, always too distracted to do it honestly, these days she only drove when she had to. 

brielle turned to look back at him as she felt him move closer to her. it was a miracle that she didn’t jump at the feeling of his body against hers, because she was so not used to that sort of contact. brielle was closed off, but even more so to the closeness. because closeness made people comfortable and she didn’t want to be comfortable. she wanted to be mad. seeing apollo begin to eat out of the palm of her hand, quite literally, brought a small smile to her face, a nervous one at that. “i feel like such a child now, thank you.” she almost giggled, turning her head a little bit to try get a good look at him. “he’s a good boy.”

waking up sweating in the morning wasn’t unusual, but it was unusual that it hit her as hard as it did that day. she couldn’t stop thinking about it, about her nightmare, about how it was more a memory than anything else. she’d graduated last month, therefore she was now at naomi’s office full-time and she’d been off her game for most of the morning. up until the point where she couldn’t find papers that she knew that she’d put somewhere only the day before. after lunch, brielle just decided to go for it and with a knock at the door, she poked her head inside, eyes locking on the blonde. “naomi?” she let herself in and blinked several times. “do you mind if i go home early today? i just- i’m not feeling well.”

     staring at the dark-haired female, todd was honestly surprised that she had decided to stop by. that she had actually taken his offer up. when she asked if this was where he spent most of his time, he chuckled and nodded. ❝ yep, sure is, ❞ he said and grinned as she was in a talking distance to him now, which made him not have to yell anymore. it was nice to see her again; todd thought and he bit his bottom lip ever so gently. ❝ welcome to my humble abode, i guess, ❞ he said and rolled his eyes a little. 

     ❝ i’m glad you’re here, ❞ todd spoke and nodded, smiling brightly at him as he jumped down from the fence, his feet hitting the ground. he kept his brown eyes on brielle as she looked over towards the horse. am i right to believe that is, my old friend, apollo? chuckling softly, todd nodded and turned to look at apollo who was standing behind him. ❝ sure is, ❞ he said as he reached out and grabbed apollo, pulling him towards the fence. ❝ come and say hi, ❞ he said and smirked as he patted the horse’s neck softly. 

she was nervous even though she wasn’t showing it. brielle didn’t get close to people that she didn’t need to get close to. because she knew better than to have anyone in their mess of decisions and what she wanted to do. when you hung out with other people, questions became normal and there were only so many lies that you could tell without it playing against you. “thank you. it’s beautiful, todd.” she looked around herself, taking note of the details that she’d yet to notice. “i can see why you like it so much.” she couldn’t say she was into nature a lot or even being outdoors. she was so much into technology and was dependent on her phone and laptop like no other, but there was something so relaxing about the farm that she could enjoy it.

“okay.” she let out a shaky breath as he pulled apollo closer to where she was, not really worried, she figured that she could trust him on this because he’d been doing it his entire life. she considered herself a brave person, so she wasn’t sure where all the nerves were coming from as she lifted her hand to gently touch apollo’s neck carefully. she was aware that the horse could probably barely feel it really, but she was cautious when it came to the unknown. “thanks for inviting me, by the way. it’s definitely different to what i do on the daily.”

     todd was out back, making sure that his current class were doing what they were supposed to. ❝ that’s great, ❞ he said and smiled, watching them approach the horse one by one, letting the animal smell them before patting them. ❝ you need to make sure that you have a relationship with the horse, a relationship built on trust. if they can sense that you’re not comfortable around them, they’re not going to be comfortable around you, you know? ❞ he said and smiled as the younger adults seemed to really listen to what he was saying. he looked down at his watch, when he quickly realized that the class was over and he smiled at them. ❝ alright, i think this is enough for today. i’ll see you guys this weekend, yeah? ❞

    the kids talked amongst each other as they walked away from the horse and towards the parking lot, where their parents were already waiting. shaking his head, todd walked up to where apollo was and he grabbed him, gently patting his neck. ❝ good boy, apollo, ❞ todd spoke, looking at the horse’s face with a proud expression on his face. tilting his head a little to the side, todd always wondered what was going through his horse’s mind. did he miss competing as much as todd did? or was he happy where he was? 

     todd? turning his head, the young male looked towards where the voice had come from. you have a visitor. ❝ huh? ❞ todd said out loud, slightly confused. who on earth could it be coming to visit him; he wondered. ❝ well, just send them back here. i still have a few things i need to finish up on apollo before i can go anywhere, ❞ he yelled back as he gave apollo a gentle tap on the stomach before guiding him towards the fence, grabbing him a treat from the bag he had. ❝ here you go. ❞ and that’s when he saw who it was. and the shock on his face probably was possible to be seen far away. climbing the fence, he laughed loudly as he leaned forward, holding onto the wooden frame tightly. ❝ brielle? ❞

     ❝ wow. you came. ❞

brielle still wasn’t sure of her decision to show up at the farm and she tried to hide it the entire time that someone led her out to where todd was. very few things had changed about the place since the last time that she’d been there and she really didn’t feel as out of place as she thought she would. she could see todd from far away, close to his horse and surrounded by kids. the sight alone, was enough to let a small smile make its way onto her face. she was more than sure that she was about to meet apollo, and even from far away, she could already tell that he was absolutely magnificent. 

seeing as he was already at the wooden frame, brielle stepped forward until she was close enough and let out a soft laugh when she realized how surprised he genuinely was. but that was her plan all along, since she knew that he wouldn’t expect it. “so, this is where you spend all your time at...” she teased lightly as she was talking distance to him, one of her hands moving to rest on the frame as she looked up at him with  a soft smile. “i’m sorry i didn’t text or anything, i didn’t want to chicken out so i figured i’d just come here. hope for the best.” she admitted shamelessly before her eyes moved towards the horse. “am i right to believe that is, my old friend, apollo?”

“i’m all about compromise,” naomi informed her with a bright grin herself, finding herself genuinely looking forward to it. she was hoping to build a relationship with whoever ended up taking over for her. the fact that this seemed to be the case, well, naomi was thrilled. “sounds like a plan. i’ll text you a time when i get home?”

brielle smiled at her, nodding her head. “absolutely.” it seemed from what little she’d seen that the family, really, was that. they considered each other family and that naomi was a genuinely nice person for once, all things with the family aside, so she was looking forward to it as much as the blonde was. “thanks for inviting me.”

     fine i’ll come. and maybe, just maybe, will give it a try. the grin on todd’s lips widened when she said she would maybe give it a go. ❝hey, i’ll take it,❞ he said and chuckled softly, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip. ❝i’ll have apollo there and you can meet him. he’s the best one we’ve got,❞ he said and nodded. not only was he good at competing and winning but he was a great horse to be introduced to when it’s your first time. 

     ❝you don’t have to worry, i’ll be there. i won’t let anything happen to you.❞

     todd swallowed and blinked, looking down into the cup he had been drinking from. ❝so, you said you were an intern, right? are you working with someone i know?❞ he said and he tilted his head as he lifted his gaze and looked at brielle. he was from treeville after all, and maybe he didn’t know everyone, but he would know of them at least. right?

“apollo is your horse, i assume? the one that you used to compete with.” she clarified, not entirely sure. even if she’d knew it back in the day, it was hard to remember every single detail of that night. she’d been a young girl, looking for a way out, for some type of peace that she knew would only last a few hours before she had to come back to real life. but todd’s excitement about her coming over was endearing and she would try her best not to suck at something that he was obviously perfectly good at. 

“appreciate it.” she murmured before she lifted her cup to take a sip of her coffee and then smiled. “i work with naomi abram. she recently hired me as her legal assistant and that’s where i spend most of my day, but to be honest, it’s actually really exciting. especially because finding a job before you graduate is a huge deal for a law student, it’s basically a dream come true. and she’s the best lawyer in town, so i’m just learning as much as i can from her.” she admitted gently. she’d never been as excited as she’d been about naomi, even if half of it was to be kept secret from absolutely everyone, she couldn’t imagine herself doing another job anymore. 

“i’ll sweeten the deal for you and bring both pups, how about that?” naomi suggested easily, knowing that she’d be unable to pick between the two, really. naomi looked around for a moment as brielle shared her plans for the evening, immediately thinking of something even better. “why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? you, me, chris – have you met leo, andy, or jake? you’d love them.”

“two pups instead of the gym. okay, fine, i’ll take it.” brielle gave her a bright smile as she put some of the kitchen utensils in a drawer to figure out later when she didn’t have a guest. “i’ve only met leo, but okay, i’d love meet them all. i’ll bring something to drink?”