Fic: Big Time Cowboys 2/?

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Big Time Cowboys
Chapter Two
Word Count: 2,981
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Kendall/Jo, Logan/Camille, Ty/Amy, Lou/Peter (but don't expect that to last, I chose this setting for a reason), Lou/Scott, and possibly a bit of Jack/Lisa. As scary as that list might seem, this story is mostly about humorous antics and none of the pairings are a big focus of it, I promise. I just like to cover all the bases.
Disclaimer: I'm never going to grow up. That means... I'm not legally responsible for anything, right?
Summary: Four teenage boys. Two weeks. One ranch. Who will survive?
Spoilers: Nothing past Eye of the Wolf for Heartland, season 2 of Big Time Rush
Author's Note: I thought I'd try and let Heartland characters tell more of the story this chapter, but the guys from BTR just kind of... They were themselves and got into everything. :P

---

Adjustments

 

"Pillow fight?" Carlos asked after they were alone in their room at the dude ranch. He picked up the first one he could get his hands on and grinned. Kendall started to shake his head. He wasn't in the mood, and he was pretty sure he wasn't the only one.

"Not until Kendall figures out how to get us out of riding horses," Logan said, confirming Kendall's suspicion. He sat down on the other bed and faced away from everyone, folding his arms over his chest. Kendall sighed. It would be harder to convince him if he wasn't willing to look at them.

"Come on, Logan. I did come up with over a hundred different ways out of it when I got us banned from the ranches in the US. Unfortunately, Kelly documented them and gave them all to Lou, so they know that you're not allergic to horses and all of the rest. None of them will work now. What are you expecting from me, a miracle?"

Before Logan could answer that, James came out of the other room. "Hey, guys, what do you think our trail guide will think of this?"

Kendall and the others turned to take in the James Diamond version of a cowboy. It could be worse—Michael J. Fox' fifties version of a cowboy in Back to the Future III came to mind—and at least James wasn't wearing red and pink. Still, he'd been right before when he said the cowboy look didn't suit him. "The best part? Tight jeans."

"Did you miss the part where she had a scary boyfriend?" Kendall demanded, shaking his head. Was that the lumberjack shirt James was wearing? And why? "Wayne Wayne might have been acting like a bad boy, but that Ty guy is clearly a bad boy. I did my research on this place. Heartland occasionally takes in 'troubled' teens. You do know what 'troubled' is adult talk for, right?"

"Juvenile delinquents," Logan answered. "The term has been applied to us."

"Crazy," Carlos supplied a minute later.

"Also applied to us," Logan agreed.

"Guys, guys, come on," James said, studying himself in the mirror. "Why would she want that when she could have this?"

"Well, according to Mrs. K's magazine, sixty-eight percent of women are attracted to the bad boy type," Logan reminded them.

"I can be the bad boy type."

"No, you can't. We are not doing that again," Kendall insisted before they could start again "And, for the record, if you go after Amy, you are on your own. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go see if Jo has gotten here yet."

He left the room and headed outside. He knew that jo wouldn't be here until tomorrow—she had some scenes to shoot for New Town High before she left, but at least Jett was already on location shooting some B movie that he was staring in and was nowhere near her. No, Kendall just needed some time to think.

He took one look at the eco-friendly outhouse and shook his head. This brought back unpleasant ice fishing memories. Logan had been very wrong when he calculated the pressure of the methane in frozen poop, even if he insisted that it wasn't the methane that was the problem but some other gas that Kendall couldn't remember the name of. He shuddered. That had taken weeks to clean up, and they'd managed to get banned from all of Minnesota's ten thousand lakes. "This is hell."

"Oh, it's not so bad once you get used to it," a voice said, and Kendall turned around stiffly, forcing a smile. The bad boy boyfriend was there, with a big shovel and a wheelbarrow, and the thought that he could end up buried somewhere in the field crossed Kendall's mind. "At least you're not shoveling manure."

"That would make it worse," Kendall agreed, relieved that his job at the supermarket at least hadn't involved manure. "Hey, uh, Ty, is it? That's not a part of the riding program, is it?"

"No, but if you ask me, it should be."

A real smile crept over Kendall's face. He had an idea, and it was going to be good. Logan just might get his miracle. "You know what? I think you don't want us here as much as we don't want to be here, and if that's true, then we might be able to help each other out."

The other boy leaned against his shovel, studying Kendall for a moment. "What do you have in mind?"

---

"Why did you really agree to this, Lou?" Amy asked, confronting her sister in the kitchen. She had been trying to get Lou alone ever since she made her little announcement at breakfast the other day, but between Peter leaving for Dubai and their guests arriving, Lou had been impossible to pin down. So was Ty, for that matter. Amy had been trying to talk to him about the plane crash, but he kept avoiding her. He tried to act like he wasn't, but he was. She would have to find him later. Right now, she had Lou to deal with. "Come on. The dude ranch was doing fine, and thanks to that 'Miracle Girl' video, I still have more horses than I can handle, and you've got me training a boy band how to ride."

"Hey, they seem like very nice boys," Lou began, but Amy wasn't about to be pacified.

"You're not the one they'll be hitting on if I manage to get them on a trail ride! We do not have the facilities or the staff or even the horses to be training beginning riders. I work with traumatized horses, remember?"

"I know that, Amy. I know, and I'm sorry. I really am," Lou said, leaning over the sink and hanging her head miserably. "I swear, I will help you in every way I can, and since Soraya is interested in business management, I asked her to help out with the dude ranch side of things. Mallory did so well teaching Ty to ride, I asked her to help you out. I promise, we will make this work."

Amy sighed. She knew that Lou was doing her best, and a few months ago, even, she wouldn't have asked for the help, just expected it or insisted they could do without it, but this was not going to be simple or easy. Two weeks. She did not have the time to spare. "Okay, I get why you agreed to the boys, but what about the two more? The girls?"

Lou looked a bit sheepish. "For the money. Their agent offered me twice what we're getting for the boys."

Amy winced. She knew that her sister knew financial stuff better than she ever wanted to, but sometimes she really hated how focused Lou seemed to be on money. "It should help off-set any expenses from the boys. They are teenage boys, after all."

"Oh, my god, this is, like, the best cake I've ever had," a voice said from behind them, and they turned to see one of the guys—Amy hadn't memorized their names yet, with fruit filling all over his face, the empty cake pan in his hands.

Lou's eyes got wide, and her hands went towards her mouth. "My pie!"

"Carlos!" the other three boys cried at the same time, rushing over to their friend and starting to pull him out of the kitchen.

"We are so sorry about this," the blond with the eyebrows said while the one with the long hair smiled at Amy, snapped his fingers, and gave her a how-you-doing look. "Carlito here is kind of a bottomless pit and tends to think with his stomach."

"I..." Lou began, at a loss for words.

"Is there maybe a store in town where we could stock up on corn dogs?" the other dark haired one asked hopefully.

"Logan, buddy, you're a genius, and ordinarily, that would be a great idea for keeping Carlos busy, but there's no oven or microwave or even a fridge in our room," the blond reminded him.

"Right," Logan said with a wince. "Perhaps a cooler?"

"You can't keep corn dogs in a cooler."

"It's Carlos! He'll eat them from the trash!"

"Enough," Lou said, holding up a hand. She looked stressed, and Amy bit her lip as she saw her sister rub the vein in her forehead. "There will be no more unauthorized trips into this kitchen. Are we clear?"

"Of course, Ms. Fleming. Absolutely," the blond agreed quickly, and Amy figured this must be the one Lou called the unofficial leader, Kendall.

"But I'm starving!" Carlos protested.

"We know, buddy, we'll fix this," Logan assured him quickly. "Uh, Kendall, how are we going to fix this?"

"As your host, I will make sure that you have plenty of food on hand in your room," Lou said, raising her voice a little. "Now, I do not have corn dogs as they are not on the typical menu for the equestrian retreat, but I will make sure there is food available."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Fleming," Kendall said with a smile. He hesitated for a moment. "Any chance of say, a bag of chips for the road? Carlos gets a little light headed if he hasn't eaten."

"He just ate the whole pie," Amy began.

"That's right," the long haired one said, and she jerked when she realized he was standing next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "But in the world of Carlos, one minute without food is too long. Oxygen doesn't get to his brain."

Amy reached up and pulled his arm off her shoulder. "Guys, I believe Mallory has some beginning tips for you before you start riding, so why don't you head out to the barn, and we'll get a picnic basket together for you?"

"Awesome, thank you so much," the boys said, Logan and Kendall dragging a protesting and hungry Carlos towards the door. James turned to her with a smile, and she knew he was about to say something about them being alone when Kendall came back and pulled James away.

Amy took a deep breath and looked over at Lou. "Do you really think this is going to work? How long did it take you to make that pie?"

"Hours," Lou said. She leaned over the sink again. "All right, I am going to the store, and I am going to spend all of the money I budgeted for the next month on snacks for the boys. You go out there and make sure that they don't hurt any of the horses or con Mallory into something disastrous."

"Lou—"

"I will fix it. I promise. Or I will make it work. I will ask Marnie to help out with some food, and I will get Soraya to come as soon as possible, and I don't know, maybe I'll even ask Ashley for some help."

"Tell her there's cute guys involved. That used to work," Amy said, shaking her head and sighing as she walked out the back door, letting the screen slam against the frame.

---

"I'm not going in there," the short dark-haired one said, shaking his head. He started backing away and tripped over a hay bale, falling on his back. Ty watched them and tried not to laugh. He couldn't help the smile, though.

"You know," Kendall began, leaning over to help his friend up. "You might end up getting more injured out here than in there with the horses."

"Not likely. I have calculated the percentage chance of injury, and it is still greater when the horses are involved. I am not setting foot in that barn. You were supposed to fix this."

"You're the genius," Kendall reminded him. "I'm kind of planned out, so I am just going to make the best of it."

Ty looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. Kendall gave him a don't-pay-any-attention to me wave of his hand. Ty shook his head. It wasn't like he really cared. As long as the boys stayed out of his way, he didn't need to what they were up to. Well, the one with the long hair needed to stay away from Amy, too. Not that he thought Amy had any real interest in the cowboy wannabe, but it was not something Ty wanted to watch, either.

"Fine. You make the best of it. I am staying here," the other one said, sitting down on the hay bale and refusing to move.

"Horsies!" the kid with the helmet said, running to the fence again. The others instinctively braced for his impact, but he managed to slow down enough not to hit it head on. He jumped up on the ring and spooked Major to the other side of it. "She's so pretty."

"Carlos, that's a boy horse," the pretty boy said, patting the helmeted one on the back. "And he's not as pretty as me."

"You're all wearing the wrong shoes," Ty told them, looking down at their sneakers. Even the "cowboy" didn't have boots on. "Watch your step."

"Kendall!" the one on the hay bale cried out, and the other one shushed him.

"Calm down, Logan. It will work out," Kendall promised, moving over to Ty's side. "So, there was supposed to be a girl telling us about the horses... and any time we can start in on that plan would be good. I think we really pissed off Lou, and that was a complete accident."

"What did you do?" Ty demanded, looking towards the house. Amy was coming towards them now, looking frustrated. The pretty boy cowboy turned around, getting ready for another attempt.

"Carlos," Kendall said, and the boy with the helmet jumped off the fence and onto the "cowboy," knocking him into the mud. The two of them struggled, the one screaming about his hair and face as they did.

Amy looked at the fight and shook her head in disbelief. "Ty?"

He shrugged. "No one's paying me to be a babysitter."

"We do not need a babysitter, thank you very much," Kendall said. He looked over at the other two. "Guys, enough. James, if you need to go get pretty again, there is a hose right there. Carlos, do not move. You are not allowed to have the—"

Kendall winced as they raced towards the hose, starting to fight over it and spraying the yard in the process. "Never mind."

Ty looked at him. "You might be on your own for this."

The singer nodded unhappily. He turned to Amy. "So, about those horses...?"

"Where is Mallory?"

"I haven't seen her," Ty answered, trying to remember if he'd seen Copper in his stall or not. "If she's smart, she's nowhere near this place."

"Lou said she agreed to help teach the boys to ride."

"She's a good teacher," Ty agreed. He knew he'd never have gotten as far as he did without her help. "But she's not here."

"Let's get you two in to saddle a couple horses, and then we'll try with your friends," Amy said, frowning again at the water fight. Logan shook his head repeatedly, but Amy hauled him up by the arm and pulled him into the barn. Ty followed them inside. "We've got a few horses here that aren't really used to people, but the horses you'll be riding are gentler and used to the trails."

"That's good."

"Big, big horses," Logan said. "Kendall, I think they're planning on eating us."

"You know that's not true. They're... herbiewhatevers—plant eaters, remember?"

Ty frowned at the back stall. It was empty, and it shouldn't be empty. One of the ideas that he and the band leader had discussed was having one of the less social horses "traumatize" him, but they had decided against it. Dark Dancer was dangerous. Rearing was a bad habit, and it was only the start of that one's problems. "Amy, were you working with Dancer?"

She shook her head. "No. Have you boys been messing around in the stable?"

"No. Honestly, we have not been in here before," Kendall assured her, and Ty believed him. Logan looked nervous. "Is there... a problem?"

"One of our rescue horses isn't where he should be," Amy began. "Caleb wasn't working this morning, and if Mallory isn't here—"

"Copper's gone. She's out for a ride. She wouldn't have taken Dancer."

"Save us!" the other two boys said, rushing towards them. The one with the helmet's voice was louder. "Evil horse! Bad horsie! Save us!"

Ty looked at Amy. Well, they knew where the horse was now.