"Why don't you try the blue dress on?" Sam asked Lauren. "Blue? You can see color? How come you never told me?! Who's your soulmate? Is it a romantic or platonic soulmate? PLEASE tell me it's a cute boy!" Lauren exclaimed excitedly.

Lauren was Sam's college roommate, and they had only known each other for a couple of weeks. Lauren had asked Sam to go shopping with her so that Lauren could find a dress for a wedding she would be attending.

Sam sighed, knowing the exact conversation that would follow.

Growing up, Sam had thought that everyone had a Jake. A boy who lived next door and knew everything there was to know about horses. A boy who told the best stories and played in the river with you. A boy who bossed you around but was always there to help you out of trouble. A boy who was your soulmate.

The world had always been in color for Sam. She thought that was normal; that was how everyone else saw the world too. But when she was

She had heard the story countless times. The story of when she first came home from the hospital and Mrs. Ely visited, bringing her youngest son with her. "Would you like to see the baby?" Maxine had asked her son as Louise had placed her daughter into Maxine's arms. Jake had leaned over his mother's arm to look at the newborn baby and had met Sam's eyes. A horse's neigh from outside had made Jake look up, and he had pointed at the chestnut horse and said, "Look Mama! Baby's hair like that horse! Same color!"

Jake had been too young to understand what had just happened. But the two had been inseparable for as long as either of them could remember. Their relationship certainly had its ups and downs, but they had always been there for each other.

Sam explained all of this to Lauren and internally rolled her eyes at the sappy expression on her roommate's face. Lauren was a nice girl, and even though they didn't have much in common Sam liked her well enough. But she had tried to explain the relationship she had with Jake a million times and had gotten the same response every single time. Frankly, it was kind of irritating.

"So when will you get married?"

"We actually haven't discussed it," Sam replied. "We decided to go to different colleges to get some space from each other."

"Space?" Lauren asked. "Why would you want space? You tell me your soulmate is a hot cowboy who you've known your entire life, and instead of marrying him yesterday you want to get away from him? Do you know what I would do to find my soulmate? Anything. I would do anything."

Sam gave Lauren a strained smile, trying not to let on how exasperated she was by the whole conversation.

"Jake and I, we've not only known each other our whole lives, we've also known that we're soulmates," Sam tried to explain. "As you know, soulmates can either be romantic or platonic. Due to the age difference and the fact that we've been practically raised as siblings for most of our lives, Jake and I aren't exactly sure what kind of soulmates we are. We've decided that some time apart to have different experiences and meet different people might help clarify things for us."

"What a fascinating problem to have," Lauren said as she began to look through dresses on the sale rack.

"It's really not that big of a deal," Sam responded, "it's only the people around us who make it a big deal."

As school continued the next few weeks, Sam missed her best friend but tried to stay busy. Jake had already been away from home for two years, but being both without Jake and away from home was harder on Sam than she thought it would be.

Sam was heading to the cafeteria when she felt a buzz indicating a text and pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.

Dad thinks Witch will foal in the next couple days. Want to head home this weekend and help me? Sam grinned as she read Jake's text. She knew he was nervous about how his mare would do.

Of course! Sam typed out. I don't have class on Friday, so I'll pack a bag and plan to drive home tomorrow after my film studies class.

She put her phone away and strode into the dining hall with a smile. Witch could have a bit of an attitude, but she was a beautiful horse with wonderful conformation and good cow sense. Jake had decided to breed her to a liver chestnut Quarter Horse stallion named Royal Fletch. He only had two years of college left, so he had decided that now would be a good time to breed Witch. That way when he was done with school the foal would be a two-year-old and ready to begin serious training, and Witch will have had time to recover from having her foal.

Sam made her way over to the salad bar. Sam loved the bright colors of fruit, especially the red that strawberries gave off. She piled a plate high with a salad and extra strawberries on the side. She grabbed a bottle of water before making her way to an empty corner booth to eat.

"Guys! You'll never believe it!" Sam looked up to see a girl wearing a shirt emblazoned with Greek letters, clearly belonging to a sorority, rushing towards the group sitting in the booth behind Sam.

"My little met her soulmate!" the girl exclaimed as squeezed in to sit at the end of the booth.

"Oh my god!"

"How did they meet?"

"She is so lucky!"

"Is it a platonic or romantic soulmate?"

The rest of the girls erupted into excited chatter.

"Ok, ok! One at a time," said the first girl. "Sarah thinks it could be a romantic soul mate."

At this, all the girls squealed excitedly.

"She's been struggling in her organic chemistry class, so she's been going to tutoring," the girl continued. "The girl who usually tutors her was sick today, so she was partnered up with another guy. Their eyes met, and that was it!"

Inevitable sighs of "That is so cute!" commenced, and Sam quickly finished her salad before exiting the cafeteria.

Soulmates were pretty uncommon. The likelihood of actually being born was pretty small. So the chance that there was someone out there who was alive at the same time as you and who's soul complimented your's perfectly was rare. Platonic soul mates were more common. One in about one hundred people had met their platonic soulmate. But while romantic soulmates existed, there were far less of them. One in about ten thousand people knew their romantic soulmate.

Given the odds, the fact that Sam had simply grown up next to her soulmate and never had to wonder about who he was was completely unheard of. If that hadn't been the case for Sam she might view things differently, but given her experiences, she found soulmates more trouble than their worth.

Most people hoped to one day find their soulmate, but because it was so rare almost everyone found love their own and married someone who wasn't their soulmate. But Sam and Jake would always be in each other's lives. It would be almost impossible for either of them to marry anyone else because their lives were so entwined. Sometimes Sam wondered what it would be like to have found Jake on her own at a later time in her life. What it would be like to have to tell him about herself, and not have him already know everything about her.

Sam stopped at her dorm to pick up her backpack then headed to her Art History class. She couldn't wait until she could go home tomorrow.

"Hey, Brat." Sam turned at the familiar voice and grinned as Jake came out of the barn towards her. She had left school immediately after her film studies class earlier that day. Even though it was late in the afternoon when she got home, she had texted Jake that she was on her way before tacking up Ace and heading over to Three Ponies.

"How's Witch doing?" Sam asked as she gave Jake a hug.

"Pretty good," he replied as they walked back into the barn, Ace trailing at the end of his reins behind them. "I don't think she'll foal tonight. But maybe tomorrow."

Sam untacked Ace and put him into an empty stall before heading to the last stall in the barn where Jake was standing to look in on Witch. The black mare ignored them as she continued munching of her hay. Sam couldn't believe at how round the normally lean mare was.

"I'll be she'll be happy to have that foal out of her," Sam said. Jake, who never spoke when he didn't have to, just smiled an nodded.

Sam knew she had missed him while they had been apart, but she didn't realize just how much she had missed him until right now when he was back by her side where he was supposed to be.

Hearing footsteps coming towards them, Sam turned to see Jake's father enter the barn. He nodded in greeting to them before saying, "Maxine wanted me to ask you if you wanted to stay for dinner. Jake could drive you home after since it's getting late."

"I'd love to," Sam replied with a smile. She never passed up an opportunity to spend time with Jake's family. With so many siblings every meal was practically a party compared to the quiet, sedate, Forster family dinners.

After giving Witch one last pat, Sam and Jake made their way up to the large stone ranch house. Jake opened the door and nodded Sam on through before him, just as he always did.

"Sammy!" Quinn exclaimed as he looked up from where he was helping Bryan set the table. "You're back! Couldn't stay away, could you!" Sam laughed as Quinn came to give her a giant hug, picking her up and spinning her around in the kitchen.

"Quinn! Set Samatha down. You're making her dizzy!" Mrs. Ely admonished, clearly struggling to keep a straight face. "How have you been Sam? We've certainly missed seeing your face around here! Now you and Jake go get washed up. Dinner's just about ready." Maxine gave Sam a quick hug before shooing her and Jake towards the bathroom down the hall.

Over a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, Sam listened as the Elys told her about everything that had been happening on the ranch and in Darton. She told them about her roommate and her classes and being a part of the school's newspaper. It was wonderful for Sam to be around people she felt so comfortable with. The fact that she and Jake were soulmates had made the families close. It was like having two houses and two sets of parents and grandparents.

Sam realized with a start how lucky she was. Maybe she didn't have what she thought of as a normal life. She hadn't found her best friend in a traditional way. But if she and Jake hadn't been soulmates, she wouldn't have been as close with the Elys as she was. The Elys were there for her family after her mom died, and who knows what kind of person Sam would have become without them.

Jake drove home after dinner, promising to pick her up the next day. They planned to camp out in the barn to help Witch when she gave birth.

Sam made sure to get to bed early so she would be well rested the next day.

Witch gave a final push as the rest of her foal slipped out. It had been a textbook delivery, but Jake looked almost as exhausted as Witch. Sam knew how close he and Witch were, and she couldn't remember ever seeing him looking so stressed. Jake toweled the foal off as Sam went to fill a bucket of water for the tired mare.

Witch drank and drank from the bucket of water Sam placed before her while her foal began to thrash around, struggling to get up. Sam and Jake exited the stall, giving the mare and foal some space. They watched as Witch nickered encouragingly to her foal, and nudged it, urging it to stand. Jake grinned as the foal made it's way shakily to it's feet. Witch heaved herself up then gently nudged her foal along her belly. The foal took a shakey step closer to the mare, swaying so much Sam thought it would topple over. But the foal stayed upright, and quickly began to nurse.

"Should we let them be?" Sam asked Jake.

He nodded then said, "Let's go for a walk." The early morning sun was rising over the mountains as they made their way towards the pastures where the majority of Three Ponnies' horses were being held.

Witch's brother Chocolate Chip saw them and whickered before making his way towards them. Sam reached over the fence to give Chip a pat when she noticed Jake staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I miss you."

"Oh Jake," Sam smiled, "I miss you too."

"No." Jake shook his head. He looked towards the sun then down at his boots. "I miss you too much when we're at school. I thought it would be okay, since I've already been away at school for two years, but I came home for the weekend last month and you weren;t here. It was just wrong."

"Jake... what are you saying?" Sam couldn't believe it. Jake had never talked this much. And certainly not about his feelings.

Jake took a deep breath before meeting her eyes. Sam looked back into his warm, brown, mustang eyes. Out of all the colors, even the vibrant colors of fruit, that brown was her favorite.

"I know we said we'd spend some time apart. Figure out who we are as individuals and all that," Jake was saying. "But... you're a huge part of who I am. You make me laugh, and you're always dragging me into some scheme you've cooked up, usually something involving those wild horses. Without you I never take a break. I spend all my time at school studying and training for the track team. I want to transfer to your school. Or for you to transfer to mine so we don't have to be apart anymore."

Jake took another deep breath and said softly, "I want to be more than just your best friend."

It was silent for a second as Sam registered what he had just said. Jake wanted to be more than friends? All she could do was blink at him, her jaw slack in a shocked expression. Slowly a smile spread over her face. She realized he was right. Without her, he was too quiet and too serious. But without him, her mind would be up with the clouds all the time. He brought her down. He grounded her.

She reached up to wrap her arms around Jake's neck and whispered, "I want that too."

Jake wrapped his arms around her waist and grinned before he leaned down to brush his lips gently against hers.

They broke apart and Jake wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulders as they made their way back to the barn to check on the foal. Sam looked up at the sky as it began to turn pink from the rising sun.

"Have any ideas for a name?" Jake asked as he went in the stall to check if the foal was a filly or a colt. "It's a boy," he said with a smile.

"How about Eagle?" Sam suggested. "You know, since the Eagles sang that song Witchy Woman."

"Eagle," Jake said slowly, "I like it."

They smiled at each other then gave Witch and Eagle one last glance before walking up to the house hand in hand for breakfast.

A/N: Not sure if anyone caught the part where Jake opens the door for Sam but has anyone else noticed he always does that for Sam in the books? I think that's adorable:)

Sorry this is a bit of a mess and all over the place. I'm not really sure what I expected of this one-shot, but I had the idea in my head and wanted to try writing it.