"Give it back!"

"Come and get it!"

"Why do you have to be so childish?"

"Why do you have to be so grumpy?"

"Just give it back."

"Only if you can catch me!"

Tina ran away, full of giggles, as Jamie chased after her. Turning on her heel, she stuck out her tongue at him and waved the stolen item above her head. Jamie gruffed, how could he have his hat stolen by such a childish, hopeless rancher? With out his hat, the sunlight seemed unnaturally bright in his eyes. He shook his head and proceeded to follow her. Tina was already approaching Sunny Lake.

"C'mon Jamie, you'll have to be faster than that if you wanna catch me!" She pulled his hat tightly down on her head and crossed her arms, giving a slight chance to catch up. She rapidly tapped the tip of her boot and raised an eyebrow playfully at him.

"Maybe if you were more cheerful, you wouldn't have lost your hat?"

"Who says I've lost it?" Having said that, he ran straight towards her . . .

. . . And tripped over a tree root.

The two of them toppled over right into the lake. Tina rose to the surface, soaking wet and gasping for air. She looked to her right and saw Jamie treading water beside her, slapping the droopy hat back onto his head. They both swam to the bank and pulled themselves onto the shore. Sighing, Tina plooped down in the grass. Beside her, Jamie looked like a sodden and very grumpy cat. He jumped, hearing her laugh quietly to herself. Apperently, his expression was humorous to her because she burst out into a louder round of giggles.

"What so funny?"

"It's just you . . . and your soaked . . . " she managed between laughs, "Sorry . . . but it's just so funny . . ."

He raise an eyebrow and looked at himself. His poncho was soaking wet, as was the rest of his clothing. His eyes turned to her; her pigtails were dripping water and her clothes stuck to her skin. She looked bedraggled but cheery. Jamie would never admit it, but he found her adorable in that hopeless kind of way and her company pleasent.

"Don't be sorry; it's fine . . ."

Tina stopped laughing and stared at Jamie. He . . . wasn't angry? Quickly, she moved close to him until her forehead was touching his. He froze in place.

"Wha-What are you doing?" he stammered out, trying desperately to stop from blushing.

"Huh . . . you don't seem to have a fever . . . " she trailed off softly to herself.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" He had nowhere to look except her eyes since she still hadn't moved away from him.

"Well, I guess I'm shocked. I mean, aren't you gonna yell at me for laughing at you?" How could she look so innocent while saying that?

"Why would I yell at you?" he raised an eyebrow. "Don't say pointless things . . ."

Tina pouted and stuck out her bottom lip. "Are you sure you're not sick?"

He decieded to step out on a branch here, so to speak. "And if I was? What would you do?" he said in a low voice.

"Well, I would take you home, and then put you in bed, and then fix some-" Jamie's lips crashed into hers, cutting her off mid-sentence. She froze in surprise as he kissed her harder. After a moment, she closed her eyes and kissed back. Tina's heart was beating furiously in her chest. Secretly, she had always felt attracted to the reclusive rancher. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck; fingers knotting in the purple locks of hair at the base of his neck.

Gasping heavily, they broke apart from the kiss, their faces both blushing bright red. They remained like that for a moment, staring at each other. Jamie was the first to speak.

"I . . . ah . . . s-sorry . . . . . ." he mumbled softly, looking down at the ground. He sighed and started to rise to his feet.

"Don't be!" she exclaimed frantically while grabbing onto his arm. "Don't be sorry! I'm not!" she looked away, her entire face going red from embaressment. "Maybe it wasn't good for you," she said softly, "But for me, it was a good kiss. A really . . . really good . . . f-first k-kiss . . . ." her voice drifted off into the wind and a saddened look glazed its way into her eyes.

Seeing her look so depressed nearly broke his rusty heart. He sighed and pulled her to her feet. "C'mon, lets go. If you stay in those wet clothes much longer you really will get sick." She stared at her blankly and sighed again before picking her up.

"Jamie! What are you doing?"

"Carrying you. Isn't that obvious? Apperently, a hopeless rancher like you is incappable of walking on her own."

She looked up at him for a moment before tucking her head as she snuggled into the warmth of his chest.

"And also, Tina . . ." she tensed, hearing him actually use her name.

"Don't go decieding what is and isn't good for me."

She laughed silently to herself and decieded that she ought to steal Jamie's hat more often.