All Things Considered, 35
Apr. 8th, 2012 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrobay1990Title: All Things Considered, 35
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
morrobay1990
Genre: mo!ennis
Word count: 1900
Disclaimer: Jack & Ennis are AP's.
♥ Jack
This is about Ennis moving on. Ennis with a man other than Jack. Ennis in a loving relationship, but not with Jack…with someone else. He's learning to live with his past...and he loves another man. Now he’s accepting that he can be happy with Travis, and still honor Jack’s memory.
Previously, on All Things Considered...
“…So you're gonna leave us, huh? Gonna go to some fancy show barn?” Ennis smiled at her so she wouldn't feel bad that she was leaving.
But she looked at him and frowned, “No, sir, I'm not leaving. I'll still be here, I'll just be training with Miss Strait.”
Travis pulled up to the house…he walked into the kitchen he saw Ennis sitting at the table, but before he could say anything Ennis spoke up, voice sharp as a razor.
“Anything new around here you'd like to let me in on?”
All Things Considered, 35
He knew.
"How did you find out?"
"Megan Malone told me. Looked at me like I was an idiot - like maybe I should know what's goin on in my own barn. So why don't you tell me what everybody else seems to know already - partner." His voice was low and menacing, lips pressed together in a tight grimace. It had been a long time since he'd been this mad.
"Ennis...Ennis...shit...let me tell you what happened...I just wanted to...look, I just..." He put a hand on his arm, but Ennis pulled away. Travis took a deep breath, it was going to be worse than he'd thought.
"Ennis, I'm sorry you found out this way...I was gonna tell you over the weekend, I swear I was...I just needed some time to...I mean, I knew you weren't gonna like it..."
"You knew I wasn't gonna like it." Ennis repeated, his voice flat. "Well then, I just have one question: why the hell did you do it?"
Travis started to answer, but Ennis was working up a pretty good head of steam and he just kept on going.
“I mean, what's she gonna do for this place? And what are we payin her? I mean, what are you payin her? Guess it's your place, you make the decisions around here, right?" The more he talked, the madder he got.
"What the hell were you thinkin? Or maybe you were thinkin with your dick, that it? Think you're gonna have two of us around to fuck?"
"No...just wait a minute and let me explain."
"Yeah, that should be good. Why don't you try to explain sneakin around and hirin your ex-girlfriend to run a training program we don't even have."
"Ennis, I'll tell her we reconsidered..." Travis was starting to panic at the tone in Ennis's voice, he'd never seen him so mad.
But Ennis just looked at him, "You can't back out of a deal. Not now, not after you told her she could work here. You gave her your word...what's wrong with you? People around here don't wanna deal with somebody who says “yes” one day and “no” the next. No. Thanks to you, we're stuck with her... but that’s not even the worst part...shit, I don't even wanna talk about it...”
He got up abruptly and said, "I'm not stayin here tonight", and left the house, slamming the door to make him feel better...but it didn't.
Well, Travis thought to himself, you really fucked up this time.
He could see now that he'd acted on impulse, hadn't thought it through at all, even though it hadn't seemed like a bad idea at the time. He thought he was making the right decision - but leaving Ennis out of it had been the clincher. If he'd only talked to him about, he probably could have convinced Ennis to go with Deborah and a dressage program at the ranch, but he did the worst thing he could do to Ennis...he had left him out of something to do with their ranch.
How the hell am I going to fix this one?
Ennis sat up in bed and put the light on. He'd been tossing and turning for the last hour, so he got out of bed and put on jeans and a shirt, figured he might as well sit outside where he could think better.
The cool air felt good on his skin after the stuffy heat of the house, and he sat on a chair on his back porch and put his feet up on the railing, and stared out into the night.
He couldn't figure out what the hell Travis had been thinking when he hired Deborah Strait. He knew Travis wanted to bring in more business with dressage, and Ennis didn't have a problem with that. He could even accept her working there - he could set his schedule so he'd rarely see her. But that wasn't the problem. He went behind Ennis's back to hire her without even talking about it. As if Travis knew it would be a problem, and instead of talking it over, he just went over Ennis's head and did it anyway. It wasn't like Travis, he talked to Ennis about everything.
Ennis hated what he was starting to think...that maybe Travis really was still interested in her. But had it just come out of nowhere? Or had they seen each other over the months? Ennis and Travis hardly spent any time apart any more...after working 14 hour days, they usually didn't have the energy to do more than eat dinner and fall into bed. He couldn't remember too many times that they weren't together...well, obviously there had been at least one damn time.
The thought that Travis might be sleeping with her made him sick, but he couldn't put it out of his mind. Surely after all the months Travis had spent trying to convince Ennis that they should be together, he wouldn't ruin it by sleeping with Deborah, would he? It didn't even sound like something Travis would do...and that's the only thing that was in his favor, the only thing that was making Ennis give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ennis knew what it was like to fuck up, he'd done it with Travis enough times - maybe this was just Travis making one big, fucking, honest mistake.
It was 2 AM and Travis was pacing the floor of his bedroom, nerves stretched to breaking, stomach churning, sick at what he had done to drive a wedge between him and Ennis.
Ever since Ennis left, he realized the decision he'd made about hiring Deborah was turning out to be one of the stupidest things he'd ever done. What made him think that it was ok to hire her without talking to Ennis first? It was so obvious to him now that it was wrong, so how had he convinced himself to do it? All the time he had spent trying to talk Ennis into being with him, then talking him into being partners on the ranch - and now he had quite possibly ruined everything because of this.
He didn't know what it was going to take to make it up to him, but he would do whatever he had to do to make Ennis trust him again.
As Travis paced his bedroom, and Ennis returned to his bed to try to go back to sleep, Deborah was sleeping deep and dreamless after spending the evening with her best friend, celebrating her new job and a new chance at Travis.
Over dinner, Jennifer had warned her friend, "He never even said why he left your house that night. You gotta admit, that was pretty strange. Did you ever come out and just ask him what happened?"
Deborah sighed, "No. You know, he's the first guy I ever dated who makes me nervous. I mean, I'm not my usual pushy self with him. He makes me want to be," she paused, looking for the right words, "I don't know...better than that. You know as well as I do what it's like being around cowboys and rodeos, even dressage...what it takes to make it...you can't be a prom queen and get ahead in this business...shit, even you're a little rough around the edges."
Jennifer made a mock-horrified face, and Deborah laughed, "It's just the way it is, right? But it's different with Travis. I don’t want to be a smart-ass with him...God, I'm starting to sound like a Ladies Home Journal article....stop me!!"
Jennifer laughed, "I can't believe it. Next thing you'll be telling me you want a picket fence and kids and a dog."
"Close. Just the dog and the fence. And Travis."
When Ennis got to the barn the next day, he had calmed down considerably and, after thinking about it most of the night, had decided that this whole thing was just a big fuck-up. He wanted to hear the whole story so he could understand exactly what happened, but deep down he didn't think Travis would lie to him or cheat - it just wasn't in him.
He walked into Travis's office with the barn schedule for the day and saw him standing behind his desk staring out the window.
"Mornin."
Travis heard Ennis's voice and turned around so fast that some of the coffee in the cup he was holding slopped over the side onto the floor.
Ennis said, "You look like hell."
Travis was exhausted, his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and he hadn't shaved that morning.
"Yeah, I bet I do...didn't sleep." Travis's feelings actually frightened him, he was so relieved to see Ennis, but he forced himself to stay calm.
Ennis sat down and said quietly, "I think we better clear this up so we can get back to work. Why don't I stick around tonight, you can tell me the whole story."
"Yeah - ok - I want to. Come up to the house when you're done here." He paused and looked at Ennis, his feelings clear on his face. "The sooner the better."
"Ok, then. Here's the schedule for today." Ennis got up and reached across to hand him the paper, made sure their fingers touched briefly during the exchange.
"See you later."
"I only saw her the one time, the rest was all phone calls...actually I only called her twice. Ennis, nothing happened, nothing will ever happen between Deborah and me."
They were sitting at the table in Travis's kitchen. He had told Ennis what happened and had apologized more than once - he wanted to put this behind them and get back to the way it had been.
"I worked so hard to be with you...you and this ranch are all I want. I just screwed up."
"Gotta agree with you there." Ennis believed him. It just didn't seem possible that Travis had ulterior motives when he had approached Deborah with the job offer. And he had assured him that any decisions to be made from now on would be mutual - no exceptions.
Travis got up and walked over to Ennis, threaded his fingers through Ennis's hair, looked down at him and said, “I don't ever want to go through another night like last night.”
He leaned down and Ennis looked up and they kissed soft and slow, Travis savoring the taste and feel of Ennis's lips as if it were their first kiss. Then he pulled him to his feet, feverishly unbuttoned Ennis's shirt, breathed out a sigh as he touched his skin.
As they took a step to the bedroom, there was a knock on the door.
“Jesus, who the hell is that?” Travis was furious at the interruption; if anything was wrong down at the barn the night foreman should have been called.
He kissed Ennis and said, “Go get in bed, I'll be right there. Whatever it is, I'll tell them to call John.”
He went to the door and yanked it open, ready to send whoever it was back where they came from.
Deborah was on the porch, “I saw your lights on, I hope you don't mind that I stopped in.”
Author:
morrobay1990Genre: mo!ennis
Word count: 1900
Disclaimer: Jack & Ennis are AP's.
♥ Jack
This is about Ennis moving on. Ennis with a man other than Jack. Ennis in a loving relationship, but not with Jack…with someone else. He's learning to live with his past...and he loves another man. Now he’s accepting that he can be happy with Travis, and still honor Jack’s memory.
Previously, on All Things Considered...
“…So you're gonna leave us, huh? Gonna go to some fancy show barn?” Ennis smiled at her so she wouldn't feel bad that she was leaving.
But she looked at him and frowned, “No, sir, I'm not leaving. I'll still be here, I'll just be training with Miss Strait.”
Travis pulled up to the house…he walked into the kitchen he saw Ennis sitting at the table, but before he could say anything Ennis spoke up, voice sharp as a razor.
“Anything new around here you'd like to let me in on?”
All Things Considered, 35
He knew.
"How did you find out?"
"Megan Malone told me. Looked at me like I was an idiot - like maybe I should know what's goin on in my own barn. So why don't you tell me what everybody else seems to know already - partner." His voice was low and menacing, lips pressed together in a tight grimace. It had been a long time since he'd been this mad.
"Ennis...Ennis...shit...let me tell you what happened...I just wanted to...look, I just..." He put a hand on his arm, but Ennis pulled away. Travis took a deep breath, it was going to be worse than he'd thought.
"Ennis, I'm sorry you found out this way...I was gonna tell you over the weekend, I swear I was...I just needed some time to...I mean, I knew you weren't gonna like it..."
"You knew I wasn't gonna like it." Ennis repeated, his voice flat. "Well then, I just have one question: why the hell did you do it?"
Travis started to answer, but Ennis was working up a pretty good head of steam and he just kept on going.
“I mean, what's she gonna do for this place? And what are we payin her? I mean, what are you payin her? Guess it's your place, you make the decisions around here, right?" The more he talked, the madder he got.
"What the hell were you thinkin? Or maybe you were thinkin with your dick, that it? Think you're gonna have two of us around to fuck?"
"No...just wait a minute and let me explain."
"Yeah, that should be good. Why don't you try to explain sneakin around and hirin your ex-girlfriend to run a training program we don't even have."
"Ennis, I'll tell her we reconsidered..." Travis was starting to panic at the tone in Ennis's voice, he'd never seen him so mad.
But Ennis just looked at him, "You can't back out of a deal. Not now, not after you told her she could work here. You gave her your word...what's wrong with you? People around here don't wanna deal with somebody who says “yes” one day and “no” the next. No. Thanks to you, we're stuck with her... but that’s not even the worst part...shit, I don't even wanna talk about it...”
He got up abruptly and said, "I'm not stayin here tonight", and left the house, slamming the door to make him feel better...but it didn't.
Well, Travis thought to himself, you really fucked up this time.
He could see now that he'd acted on impulse, hadn't thought it through at all, even though it hadn't seemed like a bad idea at the time. He thought he was making the right decision - but leaving Ennis out of it had been the clincher. If he'd only talked to him about, he probably could have convinced Ennis to go with Deborah and a dressage program at the ranch, but he did the worst thing he could do to Ennis...he had left him out of something to do with their ranch.
How the hell am I going to fix this one?
Ennis sat up in bed and put the light on. He'd been tossing and turning for the last hour, so he got out of bed and put on jeans and a shirt, figured he might as well sit outside where he could think better.
The cool air felt good on his skin after the stuffy heat of the house, and he sat on a chair on his back porch and put his feet up on the railing, and stared out into the night.
He couldn't figure out what the hell Travis had been thinking when he hired Deborah Strait. He knew Travis wanted to bring in more business with dressage, and Ennis didn't have a problem with that. He could even accept her working there - he could set his schedule so he'd rarely see her. But that wasn't the problem. He went behind Ennis's back to hire her without even talking about it. As if Travis knew it would be a problem, and instead of talking it over, he just went over Ennis's head and did it anyway. It wasn't like Travis, he talked to Ennis about everything.
Ennis hated what he was starting to think...that maybe Travis really was still interested in her. But had it just come out of nowhere? Or had they seen each other over the months? Ennis and Travis hardly spent any time apart any more...after working 14 hour days, they usually didn't have the energy to do more than eat dinner and fall into bed. He couldn't remember too many times that they weren't together...well, obviously there had been at least one damn time.
The thought that Travis might be sleeping with her made him sick, but he couldn't put it out of his mind. Surely after all the months Travis had spent trying to convince Ennis that they should be together, he wouldn't ruin it by sleeping with Deborah, would he? It didn't even sound like something Travis would do...and that's the only thing that was in his favor, the only thing that was making Ennis give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ennis knew what it was like to fuck up, he'd done it with Travis enough times - maybe this was just Travis making one big, fucking, honest mistake.
It was 2 AM and Travis was pacing the floor of his bedroom, nerves stretched to breaking, stomach churning, sick at what he had done to drive a wedge between him and Ennis.
Ever since Ennis left, he realized the decision he'd made about hiring Deborah was turning out to be one of the stupidest things he'd ever done. What made him think that it was ok to hire her without talking to Ennis first? It was so obvious to him now that it was wrong, so how had he convinced himself to do it? All the time he had spent trying to talk Ennis into being with him, then talking him into being partners on the ranch - and now he had quite possibly ruined everything because of this.
He didn't know what it was going to take to make it up to him, but he would do whatever he had to do to make Ennis trust him again.
As Travis paced his bedroom, and Ennis returned to his bed to try to go back to sleep, Deborah was sleeping deep and dreamless after spending the evening with her best friend, celebrating her new job and a new chance at Travis.
Over dinner, Jennifer had warned her friend, "He never even said why he left your house that night. You gotta admit, that was pretty strange. Did you ever come out and just ask him what happened?"
Deborah sighed, "No. You know, he's the first guy I ever dated who makes me nervous. I mean, I'm not my usual pushy self with him. He makes me want to be," she paused, looking for the right words, "I don't know...better than that. You know as well as I do what it's like being around cowboys and rodeos, even dressage...what it takes to make it...you can't be a prom queen and get ahead in this business...shit, even you're a little rough around the edges."
Jennifer made a mock-horrified face, and Deborah laughed, "It's just the way it is, right? But it's different with Travis. I don’t want to be a smart-ass with him...God, I'm starting to sound like a Ladies Home Journal article....stop me!!"
Jennifer laughed, "I can't believe it. Next thing you'll be telling me you want a picket fence and kids and a dog."
"Close. Just the dog and the fence. And Travis."
When Ennis got to the barn the next day, he had calmed down considerably and, after thinking about it most of the night, had decided that this whole thing was just a big fuck-up. He wanted to hear the whole story so he could understand exactly what happened, but deep down he didn't think Travis would lie to him or cheat - it just wasn't in him.
He walked into Travis's office with the barn schedule for the day and saw him standing behind his desk staring out the window.
"Mornin."
Travis heard Ennis's voice and turned around so fast that some of the coffee in the cup he was holding slopped over the side onto the floor.
Ennis said, "You look like hell."
Travis was exhausted, his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and he hadn't shaved that morning.
"Yeah, I bet I do...didn't sleep." Travis's feelings actually frightened him, he was so relieved to see Ennis, but he forced himself to stay calm.
Ennis sat down and said quietly, "I think we better clear this up so we can get back to work. Why don't I stick around tonight, you can tell me the whole story."
"Yeah - ok - I want to. Come up to the house when you're done here." He paused and looked at Ennis, his feelings clear on his face. "The sooner the better."
"Ok, then. Here's the schedule for today." Ennis got up and reached across to hand him the paper, made sure their fingers touched briefly during the exchange.
"See you later."
"I only saw her the one time, the rest was all phone calls...actually I only called her twice. Ennis, nothing happened, nothing will ever happen between Deborah and me."
They were sitting at the table in Travis's kitchen. He had told Ennis what happened and had apologized more than once - he wanted to put this behind them and get back to the way it had been.
"I worked so hard to be with you...you and this ranch are all I want. I just screwed up."
"Gotta agree with you there." Ennis believed him. It just didn't seem possible that Travis had ulterior motives when he had approached Deborah with the job offer. And he had assured him that any decisions to be made from now on would be mutual - no exceptions.
Travis got up and walked over to Ennis, threaded his fingers through Ennis's hair, looked down at him and said, “I don't ever want to go through another night like last night.”
He leaned down and Ennis looked up and they kissed soft and slow, Travis savoring the taste and feel of Ennis's lips as if it were their first kiss. Then he pulled him to his feet, feverishly unbuttoned Ennis's shirt, breathed out a sigh as he touched his skin.
As they took a step to the bedroom, there was a knock on the door.
“Jesus, who the hell is that?” Travis was furious at the interruption; if anything was wrong down at the barn the night foreman should have been called.
He kissed Ennis and said, “Go get in bed, I'll be right there. Whatever it is, I'll tell them to call John.”
He went to the door and yanked it open, ready to send whoever it was back where they came from.
Deborah was on the porch, “I saw your lights on, I hope you don't mind that I stopped in.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-04-08 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-08 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-08 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-08 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-08 11:50 pm (UTC)Susan
Mistakes we make
Date: 2012-04-09 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-09 05:16 am (UTC)I thought from the beginning he should have told Deborah right up front he isn't interested in her any more- but perhaps he really never considered for her to have any feelings left?
she will not like this- oh no not at all
Paula
no subject
Date: 2012-04-09 08:47 am (UTC)i was happy that ennis reasoned so well.. but this might be a real problem now..
thank you for a great update again!
no subject
Date: 2012-04-09 11:45 am (UTC)