"Why didn't you want to stay with them for the night?" Javier asked. Helen had finished putting away the clean laundry when he spoke, making her sigh. "Can't be around him right now," she replied simply. She felt his gaze on her, but she didn't meet it, instead turning away.
"He's been alive...alive and safe this whole time while we was riskin' our necks tryin' to find him," she said. Helen then met Javier's gaze and frowned, sitting down on her cot.
"How am I supposed to happy when he didn't even try findin' me?" she asked quietly. Javier was silent for a few moments before replying, "You love him, Helen?"
She blinked in surprise at his bluntness, which made him smirk. "I don't think that was a trick question," he teased. Helen slumped over with a sigh; "Yah...as much as I'm pissed at him, I do love him," she muttered.
Javier's smirk turned into a smile; "Then go to him and talk everything out. If he loves you, too, then I don't see why this can't be worked out," he explained to her.
Helen sighed again, scratching the back of her neck and glancing out the window. "...fine." Javier grinned in triumph, standing up; "You get yourself ready for bed, I'll step out for a smoke. And you better go talk to him tomorrow."
~~~~
"The goddamn Skinner Brothers!" Helen spat, pacing outside the destroyed shack. "You heard o' them?" Uncle asked from where he sat at the campfire. Helen froze, and Javier gave Uncle a pointed look.
"Heard o' them? I'd like to say Javier and I put half o' them in the ground for tryin' to rob us! Nasty sons o' bitches," she boasted, patting Javier's shoulder. Uncle then stood up in excitement, yelling, "There they are!"
Helen whipped around to see two wagons pull in, John and Charles in the lead. The three of them approached, but faltered when they saw the dead body. "What happened?" Uncle asked. "Skinner Brothers, enough of 'em," Charles muttered, stepping down.
Helen was nudged forward, and she glanced back at Javier's knowing gaze. She walked over to Charles, catching his attention and making him straighten out. "Hey," he greeted.
"Are you okay? You're...all bloody," she asked, gesturing to his clothes. Charles nodded, looking back at the dead body. "It's his, not mine," he replied. "Good." Shamelessly she leapt at him, and he caught her in his arms with ease.
"I'm sorry, my love, I'm so sorry I left you alone for so long," he whispered. Helen shook her head, pulling away to look at him. "We have a lot to talk about...but now? Give me a damn kiss, Charlie."
~~~~
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Family in Shambles
FanfictionShe had been going it alone for three years, since her mother had passed away. She had been learning to survive and doing what she NEEDED to do to survive, no matter the consequences. She knew how to lie low and hide from the law, and she became a v...
