December 24th, 1898
"Is you gonna tell her how you feel yet or what?" A nosy Tilly Jackson pestered Danny Matthews while they sat by the campfire.
"Tell her what?" Danny asked, feigning annoyance.
To their company was the mistress of one of the head gang members - formerly a woman passed around in order to make a living, now an official member of the gang - by the name of Abigail Roberts.
In addition to the company was a former clergyman by the name of Orville Swanson, whom Dutch was grateful for for saving his skin. And by repaying him, Dutch accepted him into his gang.
It was clear to everybody at camp that Danny Matthews was in love with Mary-Beth Gaskill, ironically unclear to the book-lover herself.
Around the campfire were those four gang members, all celebrating Christmas Eve by spending time with one another - despite being the regular occasion, the presence of Christmas made the moment stand out compared to the daily habits of Dutch's boys and girls whenever they weren't working to throw money into the pile they were saving up; especially after losing most of their funds which they'd stolen on previous jobs on renovating the camp.
"Tell Mary-Beth that you're in lo-"
Before Tilly Jackson could finish her sentence, Danny clapped his hand over her mouth - the girl was directly beside him to his left while Abigail and Orville, adjacent to her, both of whom sat on the floor in front of two tents.
"I want to tell her. I-I really do. But I'm..." Danny stammered. He knew of the words he wished to say but his mouth failed to express his thoughts aloud.
"But what? Too yellow?" Abigail teased.
"No! I'm not yellow! Stop teasin' me like that."
"Ohh, I know what it is," said Tilly in a mischievous tone. "You're scared she'll reject you."
Danny's face flushed completely red, almost making him resemble a tomato with how embarrassed he was. Everyone reacted by chortling and wheezing at Danny's reaction, not merely for the fact that he was afraid of being put down by the girl who unknowingly captured his heart.
Bowing his head in shame, Danny raised a hand up to his face and concealed Abigail and Orville from his line of sight, while leaving Tilly exposed to catch a glimpse at him cringing and shrivelling up in his metaphorical shell.
"It's alright. We're just playing." Abigail chuckled calmly.
"Don't feel like it..." Danny grumbled under his breath.
"Look, Danny. What's the worst that could happen? You know Mary-Beth better than any of us - you tell us how you think she'll react. And be serious." Tinny encouraged.
Danny sighed. "I-I don't rightly know. She's never one to be so rude and outcasting but I just can't help but fear her disapproving of me asking for us to become romantically involved with one another. I know she wouldn't do that, but..."
"You can't help but fear the worst. I understand, Danny. Just take a few deep breaths." Abigail consoled.
"B-B-But you guys don't understand! This is Mary-Beth we're talkin' about. Comparing her to me, she's like this angel. I just love everything about her: from her looks to her personality. I love the way she smiles. It's like watching the sun glisten over frosty grass. Or like the way the sun perfectly reflects off of water during morning rises. Her eyes are so pretty. And she has the cutest laugh. She's just perfect, and I'm... well, I'm just... me. Ordinary Danny Matthews, who's got nothing good to say about him."
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Red Dead Reborn
FanfictionThe Wild West had seen it's fair share of gunslingers, whoremongers and murderers. It's in the late 1880's and a new gang has arisen: the Van der Linde Gang. This is the story of how Dutch grew his infamous family of misfits and outlaws, all workin...
