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Warning: This Post Contains Lethal Amounts of Sweet. Read At Your Own Risk.

Saturday, late morning.

Humming to herself, Alison walked towards the barn, trying to keep herself from smiling and failing each time - she finally gave up, chuckling ruefully to herself as she walked inside. Stopping at the entrance, she looked down the main alley to see if Sam was already there.

Sam was grooming Banjo, humming cheerfully as he worked, when he heard Alison coming up to the door of the stable. He looked up over the stall wall, grinning broadly. "Hey, Al! Ready to tack up?"

The smile already curving her lips widened at the sight of him, and she nodded in response to his question as she walked closer. Leaning on the side of the open stall door, she reached up to tug at his shirtfront gently, drawing him closer, all the while keeping an innocent expression.

He looked reluctant to put down his brush, and turned to her with it still in his hand. "Mmmm?"

Tilting her head to the side, smile fading as she eyed him pensively, Alison tugged him a bit closer, though not as much as she'd originally intended. After a moment, her lips quirked slightly and she let go of his shirt. Pressing her fingertips to her lips, she then laid them gently on Sam's in lieu of a kiss. "Just wanted to say hello," she murmured.

He raised his eyebrows at her fading smile and odd "kiss". He put the down the curry comb and reached out to her, pulling her close and kissing her once, soundly, on the lips. "Hello. And sorry. I'm just not used to being able to do that." He smiled lopsidedly, and winked, dropping his arms from around her waist and stepping back.

"Better get used to it," was the cheerful reply and she wrinkled her nose at him slightly, chuckling. She started to say something else but paused, blinking hard. "Wait... you mean..." she wondered, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

Sam cocked his head to the side, "Well. I mean, most people can't grab the most gorgeous girl in the world around the waist and kiss her silly, can they?" He tapped her nose with a finger, smiling mischievously.

Alison laughed at his words, stepping in closer to wrap her arms around his neck, rubbing her nose in his shirt before looking up at him smugly. "Mmm, flattery will get you another..." she trailed off, kissing him back slowly before stepping back with a faintly smug look.

"I thought you meant you'd just never-" she paused, shrugging at herself more than anything else.

"Never...had a girlfriend?" Sam looked down at his boots, scuffing them a little in the bedding of the stall. He tried to keep from blushing, but failed. "Um... Well, see, I... Erhm. I ain't, actually. Ever had one. A girlfriend, I mean."

An utterly blank stare met his words, as Alison processed his words. "Nev-" she stopped herself, eyes twinkling in amusement and fondness as he blushed. That's looking like never had a girlfriend or a boyfriend to me... Making her way to the logical conclusion, she bit her lip, repressing a wicked smile. Virgin. Oh my. "Don't know what those Kentucky girls were thinking," she said simply, tucking one finger under his chin and pushing up lightly to meet his eyes. "I'd have thought you had a whole troop of people running after you back home..."

He shrugged, still bashful. "Nope. Well, that ain't entirely true. There were a couple girls I knew of who, y'know, were sweet on me...but I just didn't have time. I had to work and stuff. Didn't really pay much attention to 'em. Don't think they liked that much though. Got kinda annoyed, sometimes."

He smiled, the blush dying down. "I was nice to 'em and all. But... Yeah. So you're the first. Oh, and I... Uh. Never went out with any boys, either. That wasn't really something you. Y'know, talked about. In school, back home." Although he wasn't blushing anymore, he still seemed more that a little awkward.

"I expect it wasn't," she agreed gently, taking his hand in hers and placing it on her waist before leaning into him with a pensive expression. "I am a very, very lucky girl, love." Resting her chin on his chest, she looked up at him with a serious look. "So tomorrow... that would be your first date?" She tried to stifle her amazement at that particular notion, biting her lip while waiting for his answer.

He nodded, smiling apologetically. "Yup. Sorry, Al, I don't really know the ropes yet. But I think it'll be pretty self-explanatory." Placing his other hand at her waist and cuddling up to her, he breathed in the scent of her hair. "Right?"

"Right," she wrapped an arm around his waist, chuckling. "You're doing just fine now, for one thing," she added with a contented sigh. After a moment of just enjoying the feel of his arms around her, she continued. "Sam, can I ask you something?"

"'Course you can, Alison. And you don't have to ask if you can ask." He smiled, resting his head atop hers.

Eyes half closed, unaware of the smile that kept tugging at the corner of her lips once more, she nodded against him. "If there's anything you're not sure about, whatever it is - just talk to me 'bout it?" she whispered. I don't ever want to be shut out again...

Sam's voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned down to press his lips lightly against her ear. "I promise." His breath stirred the tendrils of her hair, and he moved his mouth to touch lightly at the corner of her lips, brushing a kiss over them.

Arms sliding around his neck, Alison shifted slightly to catch his lips with her own, kissing him back with slow deliberateness.

Sam smiled, shaking his head. "Mm-mm. I think I'll like getting used to that."

Quiet laughter greeted those words, but before she could say anything else they were both nearly tipped over, as Banjo unceremoniously shoved his nose in Alison's side, snuffling at her inquiringly. "Greedy thing!" she exclaimed, pulling out a few paper wrapped lumps of sugar out of her pocket and showing them to Sam. "I think this is what he wants."

Laughing and nodding, he stepped out of the way so Banjo could have a clear go at the sugar. "You betcha. Give it to 'im before he attacks your hand..." he trailed off in chuckles.

It didn't take long for the sugar lumps to disappear, though the horse nudged at Alison's hands hopefully for more afterwards until Sam gently closed the stall door.

"I'd better get Dandelion's tack before we get distracted again," she grinned unrepentantly, poking Sam in the ribs gently before heading for the tack room with a lazy walk.

"Good idea..." he laughed, a deep chuckle. As she started off down the aisle, he thought out loud. "Y'know, it's hard to believe. That you'd want to be with me, when you're this...gorgeous, world famous rock star, and I'm just a country bumpkin from Kentucky who's never done s'much as date a girl before you came along."

Alison stopped dead in her tracks at his words, studying a stray bit of straw in the alley with apparent fascination. After a long moment, she looked up at him, an undecipherable expression on her face. "You don't treat me like a thing, Sammy. You never did, right from the start," she finally said quietly. Her gaze lowered, studying his shirt idly for a moment. "And you're not 'just a country bumpkin'," she said firmly, giving him a suddenly fierce look. "You're an amazing wonderful man, and when I say I'm lucky to be with you - I mean it. If I'd know it'd end up like this, I'd have given up my career sooner." She smiled crookedly, eyes shining with barely repressed emotions, and finished, voice tight yet as warm as he's ever heard her speak as she placed her hand above his heart. "Home is where the heart is."

Sam swallowed audibly, not knowing where to start. He knew exactly what her career meant to her, and couldn't possibly imagine that he could ever surpass that...but she'd just said it, and she wouldn't lie. "'Course you're not a thing. No one here treats you like a thing, Al. That's hardly somethin' special about just me." He placed his hand on top of hers and smiled. "And...home...that's what my Momma used to say. Nothin' truer." After a moment of just looking into her eyes, he dropped his hands and turned back to his work with a smirk. "Now. Get a move on, missy, we're late as it is."

"I'm in no rush," she chuckled to herself as she obediently resumed walking towards the tack room to fetch Dandelion's saddle and bridle, pausing once to sneak a look back at him as he worked. "No rush at all."