save a horse, ride a cowboy

Hey! ok this forst chapter is an experiment to see how it's taken, please review and let me know what you think even if it's just one word because i'll be carrying on only if i get enough reviews asking me to, thank you!

Dedicated as always to my vampire kitten who is my main reason for living, love you darling!

The car slowly ground to a shuddering halt, groaning in protest as steam rose from the bonnet. The engine cut off and everything was silent until....."Are we there yet?!"

"Knoxville, I swear to god I'm gonna knock you the fuck out if you ask me that again." Bam growled, his hands clenching tightly around the steering wheel.

Bam had thought the idea of him, Knoxville, Dunn and Novak going on a mini road trip would be a good idea at first, but then again, he hadn't counted on taking a detour on the way home and breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

"Relax dude." Dunn said softly. "I'll call Glomb and and get him to come and tow us home."

"That's gonna take forever." Bam complained.

"Yeah well, it's all we have since we don't know how far away we are from any houses or stores."

The guys sat quietly waiting for Dunn to make the call, all of them disappointed and annoyed that they were so close to getting home but unable to complete the journey.

"Uh, guys?" Something in Dunn's tone made them all cringe and they turned to look at him warily. "We're so far out of the way that there's no signal."

"Shit. I guess that's it then, we leave the hummer here and start walking." Bam sighed, getting out of the car.

They started walking in silence apart from Knoxville, who continued to annoy everyone. "I can't believe this, we don't even know where we are or how far we're gonna have to walk, it's typical that the piece of crap you call a car would break down here instead of somewhere remotely populated."

"Fuck off. We would have been home by now if it wasn't for you and Novak bitching and whining about coming back the long way to see if the fucking brewery was open." Bam yelled, at the end of his patience.

About to respond, Johnny was cut off by Dunn clapping a hand over his mouth. "Can you two stop arguing for two seconds and just listen, I think I can hear a car or something."

Sure enough, a few minutes later an old black pick up truck came down the road towards them, thankfully slowing down as Dunn waved to get their attention. The car stopped next to them and the window was wound down but Bam was too pissed off to pay attention as Dunn explained what was going on. He finally shew a little interest though when Ryan came back over to them, a relieved smile on his face.

"Hey, get back in the car, this guy said he'd tow us back to his, so we can use his phone to call someone."

Ryan hooked up the two cars while everyone else got back into the hummer, a lot happier now that they were getting somewhere. As it turned out, it was a fifteen minute car journey before they reached any signs of life and they were glad that they hadn't had to walk.

They were towed to a rundown looking cottage with a couple of stables and a paddock with three beautiful horses grazing in it. Piling out of the car, Bam hesitantly made his way into the house looking around the hallway he was in with thinly veiled disgust.

"Dunn." Bam hissed. "Just get this guy to show us where the phone is so we can get out of here as soon as possible, this place is a shithole. I don't wanna touch anything in case I get infected, seriously who really lives in this filth? If the guy's even half as bad as the house I don't wanna meet him."

"Bam, shut up. Ok, so it's not as nice as your place but he didn't have to help us so be nice to him, yeah?" Dunn walked into a room off to the left of the tiny hallway and Bam followed reluctantly, making sure not to touch anything.

"......and this is Bam." He heard Dunn introduce him and he prepared himself to pretend to give a fuck but when he looked up, he found himself grabbing hold of the back of a chair to stop his legs from giving out. The guy was absolutely perfect. Wavy brown hair under a tan coloured cowboy hat, big green eyes and pouty lips all set within flawless pale skin and a delicate, almost feminine figure. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful creature could live in such a dump.

"Uh, Hi." He said in awe, grasping a delicate hand and shaking it gently, almost afraid that he would break it if he was rough.

"Yeah, Hi." The guy replied sullenly, turning back to Dunn before he'd even had a chance to say anything else.

"I'm Ville by the way." He said, smiling at Dunn.

"So, uh, Ville could you show me where the phone is so I can call our friend? We don't wanna be in your way longer than we have to." Bam said politely, trying to get the gorgeous guy to pay attention to him instead of his friends.

"Fine." Ville snapped, glaring at him before turning back to his friends and smiling sweetly. "Make yourself at home and I'll be back in a second."

Ville pushed past him and out of the lounge they had been in, storming off ahead and leaving Bam to try and catch him up. Finally he caught up to him and Ville gruffly pointed out where the phone is.

"I'm not gonna wait for you, you can find your own way back." He turned to leave but Bam grabbed hold of his arm, stopping him.

"What's your problem? You act all nice to my friends but you obviously have an issue with me but I don't even know you."

"You know, for a small brained city boy you sure have a big mouth. I could hear you telling your friend how disgusting and beneath you my home is and I don't appreciate it. Ryan was right, I didn't have to help you and I'm beginning to wish I never had. You're the type of guy who has everything he wants handed to him on a silver platter and expects everything to be perfect and beautiful just cos you've got money. Well here's news for you, you spoilt little brat, not everyone's as rich as you. Some of us have to scrape by with the little we have and that we work hard for."

He took a deep breath, looking down his nose at the stunned looking guy in front of him. "So hurry up and make your call so you can go back to your castle or mansion or whatever it is you live in, and I can continue trying to make enough money to make it through the month."

With those words, he turned and headed back to the lounge, leaving Bam completely shocked and for once in his life, uncertain of what to say and do. Still somewhat stunned, he realized his hands were shaking, no one had ever spoken to him like that before and he was angry at Ville but also horrified to find that his harsh words had actually upset him.

Still trembling slightly, started calling people and managed to use his influence, contacts and money to get someone to come out to them within a couple of hours so he wouldn't have to stay in the same house as the surly cowboy all night. Hanging up the phone, he slowly made his way back to the lounge determined to ignore Ville's attitude towards him but when he got to the door, he stopped, suddenly uncertain of himself.

Shaking it off with a flicker of annoyance at how he'd let it affect him, he pushed the door open and strode in confidently to see his friends sitting comfortably on the stained, battered couch laughing at some story Ville was telling them. Picking his way through empty beer bottles and other random debris covering the worn carpet, he hovered by the end of the sofa, not saying a word until Ville had finished talking.

".......and that's why Mige never brings sugar cubes for the horses when I'm not around to protect him any more!"

Everyone seemed to find the story hysterically funny apart from Bam who was just left confused and slightly annoyed that his friends were getting along so well with a guy that hated him.

"I've managed to get someone to come and tow us home. They'll be here in about two hours." He informed his friends, blatently ignoring Ville.

"Ok cool. Why don't you sit down, Ville's been telling us stories about living out here and they're fucking funny!" Novak grinned.

"Sounds fascinating." Bam muttered, not really caring. "I'm happy standing thanks."

He recieved a dirty look from Ville and a warning glance from Dunn but he ignored them both, pissed off with the whole situation and just wanting to go home where he wasn't afraid to touch anything in case he got infected.

"So, what do you all do for a living? Cause you don't look like the office worker types to me and there isn't much else in the city if you ask me, just a lot of walking, talking suits!"

"Well, we all work on a tv show and the millionaire over there skates as well." Novak replied, looking confused when Bam shot him an evil glare.

"Skating? Wow what a tough profession." Ville replied with a slight smirk. He was obviously being sarcastic but none of Bam's friends seemed to notice.

The tension between the two men was getting thicker all the time and it was tinged with an electricity that Bam didn't even want to think about. Luckily, Knoxville and his two second attention span had gotten bored and in his demand to be entertained, he managed to draw everyones attention away from it.

"So, can we go and see the horses? They're awsome."

"Yeah Johnny'll feel right at home, most of his girlfriends look like animals!" Dunn joked as they all got up to leave. They'd gotten to the front door when Ryan realized that Bam hadn't followed them.

"Hey Bam, are you coming?"

"No, I'm staying here." Came the short reply and Dunn sighed in annoyance.

"Stop being such a whining little brat and come outside rather than sulking about your broken car." He yelled back, assuming that's what had put Bam in such a bad mood.

"Fine stop yelling, I'll come and walk through horse shit with you." Bam grumbled, stomping his feet down as he walked like a child on the verge of a tantrum.

Even Ville had to repress a laugh at how melodramatic Bam was being and he made sure to take them the long way to the paddock, silently enjoying Bam's squeals of annoyance every time his expensive shoes ended up in mud or other more unpleasant things. All five of them stopped at the gate and leaned on the fence watching the elegant creatures.

"So, what are they?" Dunn asked curiously, watching a foal gallop around in circles.

"What do you think they are, they're horses idiot." Novak said, looking at Dunn oddly.

"I know that, dickweed, I meant, what breed are they?"

"Oh, right." Novak looked embarrassed by his mistake but recovered enough to ask what they're names were.

"Ok, the foal is called Iggy, his mother, Sabbath is over there eating the apples I threw in there this morning and his father, Ozzy is the one rolling around in the dust. They're all Palominos by the way."

"Your horses are called Iggy, Ozzy and Sabbath?" Bam suddenly piped up, looking at Ville in disbelief.

"Yeah. I know they're not exactly elegant or delicate names but I don't show them so they don't need posh names. They're named after...."

"I know who they're named after." Bam interupted him. "I'm a huge fan of Black Sabbath and Iggy Pop."

"Huh, nice taste in music." Ville grudgingly admitted.

Bam's reply was cut off by a large yawn. "Aah dude, I'm exhausted." He exclaimed, grinning at his friends. "Skating all day really takes it out of you."

Ville let out a short bark of laughter, shaking his head in apparent amusement. "You're tired because you skated for a little while? You've really never done hard work in your life have you?"

Bam immediately bristled with anger and didn't even think twice before retorting. "Neither have you by the looks of it, I mean seriously what do you do? Wake up, feed a few animals then do fuck all for the rest of the day."

"You wouldn't last one day working out here, the minute you got your expensive clothes dirty or chipped a nail you'd be crying to go back to your perfect little life." Ville smirked, giving Bam's body a quick once over with a burning gaze that made him feel exposed for some strange reason.

"Bullshit. I could do this for a week and I'd feel less tired than if I skated all week."

"Do it then." The words had slipped out of Ville's mouth before he could stop them and already he was regretting it. The last thing he wanted was to have to baby a spoilt, egotistical brat for a week and to have his peaceful life shattered. He wasn't about to take the challenge back though, it would be kind of fun to see how cocky the boy was after a few days of hard labour.

"What?" Bam laughed nervously, not sure he'd heard right.

"Prove it. I've got a spare room, stay here for the week and work for me, I'll pay you what normal farm hands get paid and we'll see how confident you are then."

Everyone fell silent and even Iggy stopped running round the paddock as they waited to see what Bam's response to Ville's challenge would be.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll go home with the guys first to get clothes and stuff that I'll need but I'll come back tomorrow to start a week here and I'll prove to you that you don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about."

"Are you sure about this dude?" Asked Novak. "It could be harder than it looks."

"Nah it'll be easy don't worry." Bam replied with a grin.

"Come on then, I might as well give you the guided tour now cos you're gonna be too busy working to have a proper chance to look round as of tomorrow." Ville said shortly walking away from the paddock and obviously expecting them to follow.

Bam rolled his eyes but followed him anyway, determined to remember where everything was so he wouldn't have to ask for help the next day. The ranch was actually quite big, set against a backdrop of forest and lush green fields. There were no other buildings in sight and it was lacking the constant sound of cars that Bam was used to but as they headed past the stables and the aviary, heading towards the backyard where the dogs were kept, Bam had to admit that the peacefulness was a nice change.

The tour continued until they heard the unmistakable sound of the horn on Glombs truck. Thankful to be able to leave, Bam practically ran to the vehicle and was already trying to hook it up to the hummer before Glomb had even gotten out.

He was also the first person back in the car and everyone shared a smirk as they heard him muttering about horse shit and wasting a perfectly good pair of shoes. Everyone else had the manners to say goodbye to Ville and thank him for all the help he'd given them before piling back in the car ready to go.

As he was waiting for Glomb to start his car up, Bam was slightly suprised when Ville knocked on his window and gestured for him to wind it down but he did it anyway, curious as to what the cowboy wanted.

"Just to let you know that I'm expecting you to be too much of a coward to actually come back but if you do bother, you will be working so try to wear something a little less...flamboyant." Ville said, eyeing Bam's velvet blazer and designer jeans pointedly.

"I'll turn up." Bam spat angrily. "I'm not about to lose to someone as arrogant as you." He rolled the window back up before Ville could retaliate and kept his gaze firmly ahead as Glomb finally started to tow them away, not wanting to look back at the place that was going to be his prison for the next week.