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“I really don’t want to,” Simon complained as Wille held his hand and dragged him towards the stables.
It was a crisp September morning and the trees had shifted from green to yellow, orange and red. The sun was shining and the sky a clear blue.
“You’ll be fine,” Wille smiled. “It will be fun!”
“For you maybe,” Simon muttered. “Until I fall off and die! You won’t be laughing then.”
“You will not die, and you won’t fall off,” WIlle said and squeezed Simon’s hand tightly as they finally arrived at the stables.
He turned around and laughed as he saw the look on Simon’s face. HIs boyfriends face was all wrinkled up and he looked skeptically at the open stable door. His nose was all scrunched up.
“Stop laughing,” Simon whined.
Wille laughed and brought Simon’s hand to his face and kissed his knuckles.
“I look stupid,” Simon complained and let go of Wille’s hand as he looked down at his own body and gesticulated towards the clothes he was wearing. Wille had lent him one of his old pairs of riding tights, a pair he hadn’t worn in years and had grown out of. In addition he was wearing Wille’s old riding boots and riding jacket. He looked absolutely adorable but clearly unhappy with the tight fit of the tights.
“Don’t say a thing!” Simon warned as Wille opened his mouth.
“You look beautiful,” Wille smiled.
“I don’t,” Simon poutted. “I don’t know why you made me do this. I don’t know how you made me agree to do this.”
“Because you love me,” Wille said and leaned forward and gave Simon’s mouth a quick peck before he took SImon’s hand again.
“C’mon, little cowboy,” he said as he led Simon inside.
When returning to school for the second year Wille had decided to pick up riding again after spending more and more time with Felice at the stables during spring and then riding regularly over summer. So when he moved back to Hillerska he also brought his horse Belle with him. She was a seven year old Swedish Warmblood. She was a big horse, measuring 173 centimeters and sorrel coloured with a thin white stripe and socks on all four feet. Despite being so young still she was a calming presence in his life. Whenever he spent time in the stables he always felt much calmer and his anxiety and been so much more manageable. Therefore it had not been difficult to convince his parents to let him take up riding again instead of rowing. They saw how much better he was doing and quickly arranged for Belle to come with him.
Now it had been two months and both him and Belle had fallen into a nice routine at Hillerska.
Belle was already in her box when they arrived. As were most of the other horses. Wille spotted Fredrika in Star’s box and he could hear Stella talk with someone in the saddle room.
“Hi, girl,” he said as he opened the box door and walked inside, leaving Simon outside.
He patted Belle’s neck gently and smiled when she rubbed her nose against his thigh.
“Aren’t you going to come and say hi?” he teased as he saw Simon stand outside with his hands in his pockets. “She won’t bite you, it’s okay.”
Simon let out a sigh as Wille opened the box door again to let him in but he stepped inside and put out a hand for Belle to sniff at.
“There you go,” Wille said encouragingly. “Look at you.”
It wasn’t the first time Simon had said hi to Belle but Wille knew it always made Simon a little nervous to be around her and the other horses so it made him happy and proud whenever Simon decided to join him in the stables. Simon smiled a bit and rubbed Belle’s head, tracing her stripe.
“Do you want to help groom her?” he asked.
“Do I have to?” Simon asked.
“I mean if you are going to ride you also have to groom her,” Wille said.
“Not the hooves right?” Simon asked and looked at Wille with a horrified look on his face. “I’m not going to do that. She’s going to kick me.”
“Well someone has to do it,” Wille said.
“You do it then, it’s your horse.”
“Alright, babe, I’ll do it but you have to help with everything else.”
A few minutes later they had Belle in the grooming stall and Simon was hesitantly helping him groom Belle by standing as far away from her as possible and brushing her neck with a soft brush with awkward movements.
“See,” Wille commented. “You are doing great.”
Together they finished the grooming and Simon looked as Wille picked the hooves.
“Aren’t you scared that she’ll kick you?” he asked as Wille moved to the hind leg and picked up Belle’s hoof.
“Actually it’s more likely they will bite you when you do that. If they don’t like it.”
Simon looked absolutely horrified.
“I’m never doing that,” he said and Wille smiled.
“Belle don’t mind, though. But once August was trying to help Sara with Rousseau and he bit him in the butt when he tried to do it.”
Simon smirked.
“I like Rousseau,” he said. “Best horse ever.”
“Now be careful about what you say,” Wille said. “Belle might hear you and you are hurting her feelings. Don’t listen to him. You’re the best and prettiest horse.”
“I don’t even know how you can tell them apart,” Simon said. “They look exactly the same. What if you take the wrong one from the paddock? How do you know this is not Rousseau?”
“They do not,” Wille said. “First of all, I know my horse. Second of all Belle is a girl, so…you know…you can always just check.”
Before Simon had a chance to answer Sara, Felice and Marcus appeared. Sara immediately walked over to Belle’s head and scratched the horse’s head with a smile on her face.
“Looking good, Simon,” Marcus commented as he looked Simon up and down. “Never thought I’d ever see you in riding gear.”
“Shut up,” Simon muttered and shifted consciously.
“I can’t believe this is what it took to get you to ride a horse,” Sara said. “I’ve been riding since I was seven and you’ve not done it once. You screamed like a stuck pig when mum tried to make you when you were like six or something.”
“All for love, right?” Marcus teased with a small smile and hugged Felices waist.
“You’ll do great, Simon,” Felice said and smiled encouragingly. “You are probably a natural like Sara. And Belle is super nice.”
“See you’ll do amazing, baby,” Wille said and walked up to Simon. “I need to go get her tack but I’ll be right back.”
He gave Simon a quick kiss before he went to the saddle room to get her gear. When he returned Marcus and Felice had left but Sara was still standing by Belle’s head cuddling her but Simon had taken a step back and stood with his hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet nervously. It was fascinating to see the two siblings be so different. Since spending more time at the stables Wille had gotten to know Sara a lot better and she sometimes helped him with Belle too, especially now that Felice had actually begun enjoying riding Rousseau. She was a natural with horses and always seemed to be the most at ease when she was spending time with them.
“Do you need help, Wilhelm?” Sara asked. “I don’t think my brother will be of much help. He’ll probably put on the saddle backwards.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Simon snapped.
“No,” Sara shrugged. “Marcus and Felice are with Rousseau…”
She looked down and bit her lip.
“Can you help me with the boots?” Wille asked.
Sara nodded and smiled again as she gave Belle a final pat on the neck and took the boots from Wille’s hands.
-
“Do I have to?” SImon asked five minutes later when Belle was ready and Simon was dressed in a helmet, body protector and gloves.
“It will be fine,” Wille said as he led Belle with one hand and held Simon’s with his other, Sara following close behind as they made their way to the empty riding hall.
Wille led Belle to the middle of the hall while Sara went to retrieve the stepping stool from the corner.
“She’s so big,” Simon said nervously as Wille adjusted the stirrups. “Why can’t I ride the little one instead?”
“You mean Baltazar?” Wille smiled. “He’s a Shetland pony and he’s 1 meter tall. He’s too small even for you.”
“Sounds perfect to me,” Simon said. “Why do you have to have the biggest horse in the whole stable? She’s taller than I am. Is it because you are the Crown Prince? The bigger the better?”
“Actually Belle isn’t the biggest horse,” Sara chimed in and put down the stepping stool in front of her. “Storm is bigger. But she is bigger than Rousseau;” she added unhelpfully.
Wille rubbed Simon’s back as his boyfriend looked around nervously.
“You¨ll be okay, I’ll lead you. And you’ll even get to use a stool. Here, put your left foot here and I’ll help you. Then you’ll just have to put your right leg over the saddle and sit down. Be as careful as possible. You can hold on here.”
“Okay,” Simon said.
“I’ll count to three,” Wille said. “One, two, three.”
On three he hoisted Simon up into the saddle and before SImon knew it he was sitting in the saddle.
“See, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?” Wille said and patted Belle’s neck.
Simon was holding onto the saddle with a tight grip and his lips were pressed together into a thin line. Wille had probably never seen him look so nervous and scared before.
“Don’t let go,” Simon said warningly. “I’ll never forgive you if you let go.”
“I won’t let go, I promise. Do you want to grab the reins? Keep it between your pinky and ring finger. Yeah that’s it. And turn your hands so your thumbs are facing upwards. You don’t have to hold them that tight. Give her a little room to move her head and if you want to hold something else you can grab her mane so you don’t pull her mouth.”
Simon nodded silently and adjusted his hands.
“Are you ready?” Wille asked.
“No,” Simon said. “I’ll never be ready. Tell mum I love her.”
Sara rolled her eyes as she picked up the stool again but a small smile formed on her face as she looked at Simon.
They walked around for a few minutes with WIlle leading Belle. At first Simon was tense and nervous, sitting stick straight and gripping Belle’s mane so tightly his hands almost shook with the effort. After a while though he seemed to relax a little. Sara was watching them from the small stands.
“Do you want to try to go by yourself?” Wille asked.
“What? No? Are you insane?” Simon exclaimed. “You promised you wouldn’t let go.”
“And I won’t,” Wille said calmly. “But you are doing really well and Belle is not going to do anything. Even if I let go. You can even steer her if you want.”
“No,” Simon said stubbornly. “This is fine.”
“Okay,” Wille said. “You are doing great, though.”
They went like that for five more minutes with Wille leading Belle around the ring, lap after lap.
“Do you want to trot?” Wille asked.
Simon shook his head.
“But I might want to try by myself though. You know without you holding her.”
“Yeah, okay,” Wille smiled. “Shorten the reins a little then. Do you know how to steer?”
Simon nodded.
“You pull the reins right?”
“Yes, but you don’t have to pull hard at all. Start squeezing just a little and she’ll respond. And gently press your legs to make her move.”
Wille gave Simon some time to adjust and made sure his boyfriend was all set before he let go and took a few steps back.
From the stands Sara gave a supportive smile. Wille turned around and smiled back before he turned his attention back to Simon who was now steering Belle across the ring at a steady walk.
WIlle watched him with a swelling heart. He knew Simon wasn’t the most comfortable with horses, the opposite actually. And yet here he was. Doing something that meant so much to Wille just to make him happy. It made Wille feel warm inside and a huge grin formed on his face as he watched Simon interact with his horse, giving her a small pat and talking softly to her as they walked around the ring.
Another five minutes or so later SImon steered Belle towards Wille and made her stop just in front of him.
“Good job,” Wille said with a smile. “You are a natural after all.”
“Shut up,” Simon smiled.
“I’m so proud of you,” Wille said.
“Thank you,” Simon smiled. “It’s your turn now.”
He gave Belle another pat, stroking her neck.
Wille helped him down, steadying him as Simon stumbled a little by grabbing his waist. Simon turned around with a smile on his face. Wille moved his hand and cupped Simon’s face, fingers tracing Simon’s soft cheek.
“I love you,” he said quietly and moved his thumb along Simon’s lips, catching his smile.
“I love you, too,” Simon said.
Belle rubbed impatiently against Simon’s leg causing Simon to jump slightly before he relaxed a little and even moved his hand and rubbed her muzzle.
“No need to be jealous,” he said softly. “I like you too. You are alright for a horse, Don’t tell Rousseau but you are my favorite.”
Wille laughed again before he too reached out and patted Belle.
Then he looked back at Simon, into those beautiful brown eyes.
“I love you,” he repeated. “And I’m so proud of you for doing this. Thank you for doing this. It means the world to me.”
“And I love you,” Simon said, smiling back at him before leaning forward and kissing him.