Wolf of the West

22

Since they were up much later into the night, Will slept after dawn and into the morning. He could've slept much later too, but once again, the sun shone through the boxcar and managed to strike him in the face.
He groaned and sat up, groggily rubbing the sleep from his eyes before he could even manage to open them. When he did, however, he remembered everything from the past day. He remembered Rusty and Chet being shot or stabbed at the hands of his father, and Buddy being shot into incapacitation in front of Kate. He remembered the way Virgil fell to the ground after he shot him, and then he suddenly became nauseated. Then he remembered his promise to Chet and hopping on the train with Curly. He seemed to get lost in his thoughts as he came to.
Rudy had changed back into his regular self early that morning as soon as dawn hit, but his body and mental psyche didn't seem to have much of a reaction to it. The boy was laying on the wooden floor of the boxcar, his face twitching into different emotions. It was obvious that he was enveloped into a nightmare, his claws digging into the floor as he let out partial breaths, even having some sobs come through. The dream consisted of many things. Green eyes, two bloodied bodies, the ever-present flashing colors, and Will. Everything that had gone wrong within a month's time was on a constant replay in his mind.
Will glanced to Rudy as soon as he'd heard his small, frightened noises and frowned, scooting closer to him. He put a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a shake. "Rudy, it's alright. It's time to wake up." He spoke softly, but loudly enough to stir his friend. He hated waking him up, and he felt nervous and unsure as to what would be said when the ginger awoke, but he couldn't let him sleep through another nightmare. "The train's gonna be stoppin' soon."
Rudy's eyes were shut tightly, but they slowly blinked open when he was shaken and stirred by Will's voice. He was confused. His mind scrambled to figure out where they were and what he remembered. He blinked, but within seconds, it all came rushing back to him—being chained in front of the town, hearing Virgil, and passing out. He should have been dead, not on a train with Will. His blue eyes flooded with tears as he processed this as he shakily sat up and covered his face, not wanting Will to look at him. "I'm so sorry, Will— I-I'm so sorry—!" He stammered out in a cry as his emotions overwhelmed him.
"What? No Ru, I'm sorry! You don't got a thing to be apologizing' for." Will shook his head and pulled his companion into a firm, sentimental hug, growing teary eyed just by the feel of him. "I-it's my fault, I shouldn't've said all that to you. None of it's even true! It ain't even half true." He told him, face burying into his shoulder as his hand rested on the back of his neck as he held him. "I was just— I was upset and I was takin' it out on you, and I'm sorry, Rudy. I'm really sorry I did that to you."
At first, he felt hesitant on hugging him back, but he soon found himself practically clinging onto him as he cried into their hug. "It ain't your fault, Will— I was the one that k-killed Dakota— and you don't deserve to be around me because I just get you into trouble a-and keep you on your feet," He sobbed into his arms, "You shouldn't be around someone like me, Will! You should be h-happy and safe with someone and settle down for yourself— not with a w-werewolf that puts you in danger and h-hurts you—!" He cried.
"No, you didn't! It was Curly. Y'all are completely different, and I know that. I promise you that! I don't want you to think about Dakota, because it ain't your fault. Even if it had been you, I wouldn't be any better than you are no more." Will's heart hurt as he thought of the stranger, but he no longer held any resentment or anger towards Rudy for it. He didn't want that, and he knew Dakota wouldn't want it either.
"And what in the world are you goin' on about? I've never been more happy in my life being on the road with you and meetin' all these people. You don't hurt me or put me in danger, I can take care of myself just fine out here. And I don't wanna settle down in Ft. Smith, I wanna settle down with you! 'Cause—" Will blabbered on, tears now dripping off of his cheeks and onto Rudy's bare shoulder. "'Cause I love you, Rudy. And I don't wanna be with nobody else."
Rudy's watery blue eyes opened as he heard Will say this, before they flooded with tears all over again and he squeezed him a little tighter. "I—I love you too, Will. I honest to God do." He mumbled out softly, voice cracking. "It's just— it's what yer pa said back in that damn train about us. I just don't want you to have to be stuck with a monster your entire life," He whispered out as he tried to fight the sobs coming out of his throat.
Will sniffled and shook his head as he gave Rudy's back a comforting rub. "You ain't a monster, Ru. And I ain't doin' nothin' I don't choose to do!" He was genuine, though the last part was said lightheartedly. "And I don't care about my pa, and I don't want you to worry about him no more, not what he said, not what he did, none of it. What he thought doesn't matter anymore." His tone got quieter and more serious, and he let out a small sigh through his nose. His heart hurt for Virgil too—he wasn't good to Will, or those around him, but he was still his father. The guilt of what happened hung on the boy's shoulders as well, and he wondered it it would ever go away.
Rudy glanced back at Will, though he couldn't see his face. He tried to rake through his brain to try and remember any information or things Curly had seen. Nothing came to mind, but he was worried Curly had done something again. "What? What happened?" His voice was still soft and cracking from tears, but he sounded more concerned now. Then it finally clicked to him that they were on a moving train, not back at Fort Smith. He internally wondered what had happened last night, but waited for Will to speak.
Will hesitated to tell him. He didn't even know how he himself felt about it, let alone how Rudy would. But he remembered what Chet had asked him to do, so he pulled away from the hug and held one of Rudy's hands. "He— he was on a rampage, Ru. Your pa tried to stand up for ya and keep him from hurtin' you, but my pa shot him in the shoulder. And then Rusty brought Buddy and Kate and Cybil to Fort Smith to help, and he stabbed Rusty right in the gut and shot Buddy in the knee in front of Kate. And so when I saw him goin' up there to try to hurt you again, somethin' felt different. I couldn't let him do it." He summed up the the events leading up to his father's death, but he struggled to get the rest out. "I—I shot him."
Rudy listened to the events that had happened with wide eyes, shocked at the events that had apparently gone down just the night before. The fact that Rusty had brought them to help was shocking enough to him, but hearing about how Virgil could do such a thing to those three stunned him. His eyes focused on Will as he was told the fatal news, "Wait, he's... Virgil's dead?" He could hardly wrap his brain around hearing this, "You..." He pieced it together and frowned. "I'm so sorry, Will."
"It's alright." Will said, though he gave a small shake of his head, feeling sick to his stomach again. "I know I had to." He said, eyes focusing on the floor of the train. "He was just gonna keep hurtin' people until he could kill ya. He probably woulda shot me if I got too close. I couldn't let him hurt ya, Ru. I just couldn't." His voice grew shaky as the guilt bubbled up in his throat, and he began to cry again.
Rudy was at a lack of words, continuing to hold Will's hand and studying his expression. He didn't know what to say. He didn't think Will was wrong, and he definitely didn't think his close friend was bad for what he did. If anything, he was surprised. It was difficult for him to imagine Will doing something like that, especially against Virgil. "I hope this don't sound bad but... I'm proud of ya. I never thought of ya doin' somethin' like that and well... you've come a long way." He stated truthfully, remembering how Will behaved back at home just a month ago.
That was the last thing Will had expected to hear at that point in time, but he felt a huge a wave of relief wash over him. He wiped the tears from his own cheeks and gave Rudy's hand a gentle squeeze. "Thanks, Rudy. That means a whole lot." He said genuinely, before giving a small chuckle. "It's weird that neither of us are ever gonna be able to show our faces in Fort Smith ever again, though..." Will trailed off, before remembering what else he was supposed to tell him. "Oh, right! Your pa said for me to tell you that he ain't mad at ya. Him and the others are gonna meet us at the station, and he's bringin' ya some clean clothes. Which is good, 'cause I don't got a coat to give ya this time." Will informed him so he wasn't taken by surprise.
It seemed at that moment he finally realized that he was naked, looking down with a deep blush on his face. It was embarrassing every time for him to wake up naked, sitting in a small lump of shedded, curly fur. He let out a groggy sigh as he tried plucking some of the stray hairs from his body, "I need to start just goin' naked on full moons— I'm wastin' so many clothes." He sighed out, "And shavin'." He threw in the comment as he ran his clawed hand over his scruffy face, feeling how much hair had grown on him since they last left Idle Dune. Rudy also realized he had transformed right in front of a whole town, making him hold his forehead. "Good lord, an entire town saw me change, didn't they?"
   "Yeah, they did. And it wasn't exactly received well with all the stuff my pa was spewing about ya." Will nodded as he began to help him pull the extra shedded fur off of his body, being gentle as to not accidentally pull out ones that were still connected to him. He'd long stopped caring about Rudy being naked by then. "But don't let it get to ya. There's good news with Curly, too. He likes me now— sorta. Right after I—y'know—he got calm and just stared at me. And he was calm the whole time on the train and he even sniffed me. Til he got hungry—then I found him some eggs and he was fine." He recalled the odd bonding session with the wolf. "And if you want some more good news, you can walk naked all ya want to when we settle down, since we ain't gonna be livin' in a town no more." He teased, giving him a small nudge as he tried to help lighten the mood a bit more.
   Rudy listened as he spoke, feeling a twinge of thankfulness over Curly calming down around Will. The thought of the two settling down together made his freckled face go red, "Well that's good, that Curly's calmin' down. But on that note, I got something to say, Will... Gosh, this is so damn hard for me to explain," He muttered with a small flinch as he plucked out a hair that was in his shoulder. "What I said back in the woods... I uh, I... I honest to God think I'm in love with you." He told him, his face feeling hot as it went beet red, "I know it might sound odd or somethin'— I didn't even know I could have feelings like this but, I've been like this for uh, for months now." He mumbled as he wrung out his clawed hands.
"No, that ain't odd at all, Ru." Will's face blushed as well, but he smiled and shook his head. "I've been meanin' to tell ya since we were campin' with Dakota. I just didn't know how, 'cause to be honest, I guess was afraid you wouldn't wanna be around me no more. I don't feel about anybody like I do you—especially not ladies. At all, really. I mean, they're nice of course, but anything I've ever felt for anybody, I've felt for you, Rudy." He stammered a bit as he admitted the hard realization he'd come to at the campsite with Dakota, but he gently cupped Rudy's cheeks in his hands. "So I guess I'm tryna say that I'm in love with you too, Rudy, and I wanna be with ya if you'll let me."
A wave of relief practically drowned Rudy as he looked at him, thankful and bittersweet tears in his eyes as he smiled right back at him with his big, sharp teeth. "I still think ladies are nice, but there ain't been nothing like this when it's about you." He put his hand on top of one of Will's, "I know that sounds corny but I really mean it." His pink cheeks turned red as he realized how much of a fool he sounded.
   "You're always corny, anyway." Will giggled a bit and only fully took his eyes off of Rudy when he heard the hissing of the train wheels as it began to slow down and pull into the station. "Well, I guess this is our stop." He said, glancing back to him. Will's cheeks were flushed as he stayed quiet for a moment, but then he leaned in and pressed a short-lived kiss to Rudy's lips. He still held his cheeks after he pulled away. "There. Before we gotta get off and talk to everybody."