A love story Inspired by the show Yellowstone. After being away for years May Dutton, a paramedic, meets Ryan, a cowboy that works on her family's ranch.
May spent hours getting ready, she didn't know what to expect, dinner? A movie? She hated not being in control, but she remembered what Andy said, it was about time she just did something because she wanted to, It didn't have to affect her whole life and she didn't need to approval of her father. May was doing some finishing touches to her makeup when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to see Ryan dressed very dapper with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He thought she looked so beautiful he forgot how to breathe. "Wow, you clean up nice" May joked. "Uh yeah...You look so beautiful" he said flustered, he stood there staring for second before snapping out of it, "oh! These are for you" he hands her the flowers. "Thank you, they're beautiful" "you ready to go?" "Yeah" she chuckles.
After a couple of minutes of driving May looks over at Ryan and smiles, "why are you so nervous around me all of a sudden?" "What? I'm not nervous" he lied, She gives him a look. "Fine. I've never technically been on a real date before" "So you're telling me you've never asked a woman out before?" "I told you, I just wasn't that type of guy" "Spoken like a true cowboy" she teased. "So where you are taking me?" "It's a surprise" "A surprise huh?" "what?" "I just didn't think you were the type of guy that does surprises" she smiles.
They pulled up to an open spot next to the river, Ryan parked his truck right up against the water. "You know I've never had to ask someone this twice but, you're not going murder me out here are you?" "Just shut up and get in the back" Ryan laughed, he pulled out some blankets and a bag of food from the truck. "You made dinner?" May asked sceptically, "no I had gator make us dinner, I don't think you want me going anywhere near a kitchen" "I'm sure it's not that bad" "Oh it is, trust me." Ryan sits for a moment lost in her eyes, "do you know why I brought you here?" "No, why?" "Just listen, what do you hear?" "I hear the river, and- that's all I hear actually" "And what do you see" "The grass, trees, the river, and stars. Gosh, I forgot how clear the sky was out here, in Chicago you can barely see past the buildings, but here, here there's not a building in sight. I love that" "I knew you would." May turned her head, trying to hide her smile, "you are too good for me" "How so?" "This, All of this. It's really sweet, and I don't think I deserve it" Ryan grabs her hands and looks her in the eyes, "whoever made you believe that you don't deserve every bit of happiness this world has to offer I want to put their head through a fucking wall" May smiles, "Spoken like a-" "Don't even say it!" They both laugh.
A little while later, Ryan and May were laying down looking up at the stars. "So what about you?" "What about me?" "What's your story" May says turning on her side to look at him. Ryan let's out a sigh, "well I grew up in Fort Benton, and when I was eighteen I ended up at the Yellowstone and I've been there ever since" "Seriously?" "What?" "You know so much about me without me having to tell you, It's aggravating. And I can't even get a straight answer from you" "Okay fine what do you want to know?" "Hmm. Family?" "I'm an only child. My parents died when I was very young so my grandpa raised me. And when I was sixteen he passed, I drifted though the foster system for a while but I was pretty much on my own until I found the Yellowstone." "I'm sorry" "Don't be. Sometimes life's a bitch, but we find our way. That's what I did, I found a stable job when all the odds were against me, and with that I found a family" "Well I'm glad you did." "I am too, And I don't know if I believe in destiny or all that crap, but I'm sure glad all the shit I went through, led to you" May smiles then suddenly gets an idea, "hey what do you say we keep the night going, have some more fun" she says jumping down from the truck bed. "Where do you want to go" "You'll see, let's go!"
Ryan drives up to the address May gave him. He looks up to see a big neon sign, "The ole Honky-Tonk?" He read out loud. "Yup!" She says unbuckling her seatbelt and rushing inside.
"Two yellow jackets please" Ryan says, sitting down at the bar, "I'll just have a ginger ale please" May interrupted. "So when you said you don't drink, you meant..." "I don't drink" Ryan nods, "but it's totally okay if you do, I'm fine" "Are you sure?" "Of course." The bartender comes back with their drinks, "so how long?" "It'll be three years next week" "Congratulations" he says raising his glass, "thank you" she chuckled. "But if you don't mind me asking, why did you want to come to a bar if you don't drink" "Because people don't just come here for the booze Ryan. They come here for that" she says pointing at the stage, where a band was setting up with a backdrop that says "Whiskey Myers." "Whiskey Myers?" Ryan said surprised, "yeah, do you know them" "Do I know them? What kind of question is that?" May laughs, "what the hell are they doing performing here" "Here is where the party is at" she says grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor. "Come dance with me cowboy." The band starts playing "Stone" as Ryan pulls May close for a dance.
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Even after the song was over neither of them seemed to let go of each other. May has never felt so safe and Ryan has never felt like he needed someone this much. "Excuse me miss, can I have this next dance" some cowboy interrupted, May turned to see a huge and intimidating man. "No thanks I'm good" she said dismissing him. "Yeah we're kind of in the middle of something" Ryan chimed In, he completely ignores him and holds out his hand to May. "Fuck off" She said sternly, "what was that? Young lady" "Fuck. Off" she said stepping up to him, the man aggressively grabbed her wrist causing Ryan to sucker punch him. The whole place broke out into a brawl, Ryan took two blows to the face from the man before May grabbed a push broom and jammed it into his stomach breaking a bottle over his head as he went down. They took that opportunity to get the hell out of there, they both ran to the car while being chased by two men. They jumped in and Ryan sped out of the parking lot. "Jesus Christ! Trouble follows you everywhere doesn't it?" Ryan joked, "yeah pretty much" she laughed as she looked back.
They stopped at a gas station on the way back to the ranch to get some first aid supplies for Ryan's face. May cleaned up his wounds in the truck while he iced his hand. "I think it's broken" he said looking at his knuckles, "here let me see" she said taking his hand, "squeeze. Does this hurt?" "No, that's fine" "Well it's not broken, just keep icing it. How the hell did you get this gash on your head" she said picking at it. "Ow!" He exclaimed, "sorry" "I think a bottle might have hit my head at some point, but I'm not sure" he laughed. "We had no business picking a fight with that man. He's twice your size" May laughed, "hey we didn't do anything. He's the one who was being an asshole" "I know. Thank you, by the way. I don't know what I would have done without you there" "I'm sure you would have been fine without me. I mean, the way you stepped up to him...Badass" "Yeah well I was terrified, I only did that because I knew you were there to back me" she laughs, "Well there is no one else I would want to back me up in a bar fight" they both stare into each other's eyes smiling, then Mays smile slowly fades away when she realizes this night wouldn't last forever. "Hey, what's wrong? Where'd you go?" Ryan said putting his hand on her cheek. "I just don't want to go back. Because I know when we go back to the ranch everything gets complicated. It isn't just me and you anymore." "So let's just stay here for a bit. We've got all night" May hooks her arm under his, rests her head on his shoulder and they sat there for hours.
