Guns and Flames (RDR2)

29 - Back again

When they noticed her, they immediately asked how she was feeling.
"Kind of you to ask, but I'm doing just fine." -she answered. "But now I have a question." -she asked them. To which all three of them nodded, letting her know she can ask away.
"Who do I have to thank for bringing me back here alive?"
Charles quietly pointed at John who was chopping logs not so far away from them.

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't quite know why.
"He was the first one to find you after I found some clues about where you was." -Charles explained. "Out of all of us, I think he was the most worried about you. You have no idea how desperately he was looking for you." -he added.
"...thank you for telling me, Charles." -she replied a little slower than usual because she was trying to process the situation.
Both Dutch and Arthur have kept their silence in the meantime this conversation was going on.
"I'll...excuse myself out of here if you don't mind." -Charlotte said before she turned around and left them there at the table.

"You all did a good job finding her, truly. I would've been devastated to lose another one while we was moving..." -Dutch reminisced. Charles silently nodded.
"It would've been really hard to bear if she wasn't with us no more. Well, you know what I mean..." -Arthur explained in a sad tone.
Dutch gently patted Arthur's shoulders.
"I know exactly what you mean, son." -he said with his head down.
Charlotte slowly made her way to John and stopped behind him, who was deeply buried in their thoughts and didn't pay attention to his surroundings. But before she could say anything to him, she noticed Javier looking at her. He looked devastated but tried his best to not show it, eventually, he turned around, away from them, facing the waters.

"...John." -she said his name quietly. He stopped in motion, turned around, and dropped the axe out of his hands the moment he saw Charlotte standing right before him. His eyes visibly watered up.
"Charlotte?" -he asked because he fully believed the fact that she wasn't ever going to wake up. She slightly nodded and then John pulled her in for a tight hug.
"Missed me this much, huh?" -she whispered as she could barely keep herself back from crying.
"That I did..." -he whispered before he gently tightened his grip around her waist.

For a few seconds, they just stood there, hugging each other, under the huge oak tree with the setting Sun on the horizon.
As Javier caught a glimpse of this moment, he felt his heart break into a million pieces. All of a sudden he felt like he needed to sit down on the nearby fallen log.
Filled with anger and regret he hit the log he was sitting on.
"I could've had that! But no...! I had to fuck it up!" -he whispered angrily under his breath.
As Charles was walking by, he noticed Javier, sitting all alone there.
"You okay?" -he asked as he sat next to Javier.
"Do I look like I'm okay to you?" -he answered annoyedly.
"Look, if this bothers you to this extent, you should talk it over with her." -Charles explained.
"How?! She won't listen to me! The last time I asked, she didn't even care to hear what I had to say!"

Charles fell silent and just kept looking ahead of himself.
"Fine! I'll talk to her. Just...let me calm down first." -Javier sighed before he buried his face into his palms.
After Javier had calmed down he went over to Charlotte to talk to her, who was sitting at the table, talking with Dutch, Arthur, and John.
"Charlotte, I...want to talk to you." -he explained before he motioned at her to follow him.
She looked at him surprised, but she agreed and followed Javier to a secluded spot. Away from all of them.