WANTED // Sapnap X Reader

6

"One, two, three... lift!"

You pushed upwards, straining against the weight of Sapnap's arm draped over your shoulders. Anne was holding his other arm, and Sapnap propped up between you, slowly working your way up the narrow stairs. The wood creaked under your combined weight, and you tried to use the banister as some leverage, but working your way up the stairs was still slow going.

Sapnap edged his good foot onto the next step up, and you got ready to lift again.

Anne counted you in. "One, two, three, lift!"

You stepped up, your shoulders straining under the weight of Sapnap dangling between you. Working together, you managed to lift him up enough that his bad ankle didn't hit the lip of the step. It still hurt him though, as he sucked in a breath between his teeth, doing his best to brace himself as you and Anne set him back down.

Anne huffed out a breath, glancing over at you. "This sucks."

"You were the one that told him he couldn't leave." You said.

"You agreed with me." Anne grumbled.

Between you, Sapnap stifled a laugh. "If you can get be back down the stairs, I'll go-"

"Hell nah." Anne said. "We're getting you up these goddamn stairs if it's the last thing we do."

You heaved Sapnap up another step, feeling the strain along your back muscles. At the rate this was going, it might as well actually be the last thing you do.

Eventually, with a lot of grumbling and cursing and bitten-back groans from Sapnap, you made it all the way to the attic that you lived in - and also where the spare bed was. At the top of the stairs, you slipped out from under Sapnap's arm to hold open the door while Anne helped him into the room, sitting him down on the bed you didn't use.

He looked a little out of place among your floral bedspreads and little jars of plants along the windowsil, but he seemed happier sitting down now, taking the opportunity to prop his ankle up on the soft mattress.

"Thank you." He said. "I know it was probably a big inconvenience, but thank you. I promise I'll be out of here bright and early tomorrow."

Anne rolled her eyes. "We'll see about that." She said, grabbing you by the wrist and pulling you back outside the room. You stepped out onto the little landing at the top of the stairs as the door swung shut behind you, separating Sapnap from the two of you. Out on the landing, Anne crossed her arms, looking at the door with concern etched in her brow.

"I know what you're thinking." You said. You had thought it too, outside. "There's a chance that he's the robber-"

"Yeah." Anne cut you off. "I'm not to worried about that though. That ankle looked really bad. He's not going to be going anywhere for a few weeks, at least."

"He's going to have to stay here then." You said, suddenly concerned for Sapnap again. "We can't just kick him out, he won't have anywhere to go."

You expected Anne to insist that he leave, but she just nodded along. "I'll have to tell my Pa. We're going to have to keep an eye on him too - both 'cause of the ankle and 'cause he could be that robber."

The air between you fell silent for a moment, and you could hear the gentle hum of the nighttime wildlife outside. You glanced back at the door to your left. You barely knew this man, but you didn't think he was the thief. You didn't know how to explain the feeling you'd gotten when you'd first seen him, but you had this innate feeling that he wasn't a bad person. Scared and lost, sure. But bad?

There was no way.

"I don't think he's the robber." You said.

"He turned up 'round back with a limp and seemed skittish when I asked 'im his name." Anne said, raising an eyebrow.

"I just have a feeling he isn't." You said. "I mean- look at him! He looked like a scared puppy!"

"Y/N..." Anne said. "We don't know anything about this guy. It's one thing to help a fella out when his ankles a mess and put him up in a room 'til it's healed, but it's another thing to trust a stranger. I still don't know how my Pa is gonna take all this."

"You don't think he'll kick him out, do you?" You asked.

"Not if I explain about the ankle, no." Anne said. "He'll let him stick around until it's healed at least. He might be a crotchety old man, but he's not a monster."

You grinned at that. "He's not crotchety, c'mon."

The corner of Anne's mouth turned up into a smile. "I'm allowed to make fun of my Pa, you know."

"And I'm allowed to stick up for him." You shot back.

Anne sighed, her gaze turning to the door once more. "I'm afraid he'll try to kill you in your sleep."

"He won't."

Her eyes slid over to you. "You sound too sure."

"He won't." You insisted. "And if he does try, you're only downstairs."

Anne hummed. "I guess." She said, turning to start back down the stairs. "I'm going to go finish cleaning up. And really though, if something happens, or if you need something-"

"I'll holler." You assured her.

"Alright." She said, tossing you one last smile over her shoulder before heading back down to the saloon floor. You listened to her footsteps creak down the stairs until she reached the bottom, and the house was silent again. For a moment, it was just you and the gentle buzz of the crickets outside.

But then you turned around heading back into your room as quietly as you could. Unsurprisingly, Sapnap was already conked out on the spare bed, his face mushed into the pillow as his back rose and fell slightly with his breaths. You grinned to yourself at his smushed face and flicked off the oil lamp as you climbed into your own.