𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐭 ~ 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐝

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧

The next day, Laurie, Billy and Pat galloped through the plains in the direction of where Jesse and his gang were apparently now residing. Artax whinnied with glee upon feeling the wind in his mane, tossing his head around like an energetic colt with a snort. This caused Laurie to smile a little bit, she was feeling incredibly nervous about reuniting with Jesse, so it felt nice to have her best friend distract her for a moment, but she couldn't help but let her mind wonder back to how Jesse might react to seeing her after all these months.

Would he be mad at her?

Would he hate her more than he already did before she left?

As they approached the ranch, a man stood up with a shotgun, he seemed ready to shoot them dead until he recognized Pat and called out to his buddies, letting them know that their comrade had returned with guests. Artax skidded to a stop as Laurie turned to Billy, she was visibly nervous and Billy could tell right away. The outlaw gave her a reassuring smile and nod, letting her know that it'll be okay. It helped a little bit but it did not completely calm her nerves.

"Jesse, you may wanna come out here," a man that Laurie immediately recognized as Bob called out into the house, taking a drag of his tobacco filled cigarette as he did so. Laurie took a deep breath, stroking her horse's fur as she waited for Jesse to come out. Her heart was pounding and she felt like her blood vessels were going to burst due to the adrenaline.

Jesse walked out of the house, a cigar in his mouth. It was hard to tell what he was thinking when he saw Laurie and Billy on their horses, standing side-by-side. Laurie took another deep breath before she spoke.

"Hi, Jesse," she said, adjusting Artax's reins in her hands. Jesse didn't say anything as he took a drag of his cigarette, Laurie recognized the gaze that was plastered on Jesse's face.

And it was safe to say that the blond son of a bitch was beyond pissed at her.

"We met Pat Garret here out on the road, minding our own business," Billy jumped in, trying to take Jesse's glare away from the already nervous teenager. Jesse just hummed in response as Billy looked around at the small ranch. "It's a neat little hideout."

"Oh, I like it. Real private," Jesse answered, throwing away his cigarette, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked over. "You remember the boys?"

"Sure do," Billy answered, his horse subtly taking a step forward, almost acting like a shield for Laurie. "This okay, Jesse?"

Jesse simply smiled at Billy, nodding his head. "Sure it is, Kid. I'm really glad to see you, Billy. And I'm even more happy to know that Lauren is safe."

"She prefers Laurie," Billy said to Jesse, who simply nodded with a shrug.

"Surely fate's brought us back together again," Jesse continued, "You gonna ride with us this time?" Jesse looked over at Laurie. "And actually stay with us?"

"Depends, you gonna treat Laurie like a human bein' now?," Billy asked, glancing at Laurie and then at the cow that was in the process of being prepared for food. "Also depends on what you're cookin'."

"Rustling John Chisum's cattle. You've heard of John Chisum? They call him the Cattle King of America. He's got cattle here in Texas, in New Mexico, all over Lincoln County. He is one rich son of a bitch, and we're making good money selling his cattle to the army," Jesse replied, "And as I've said before. I am gonna make it my life's mission to make it up to Lauren for how I treated her. It was wrong." He paused for a moment. "You two back in?"

Laurie immediately called bullshit, she knew he didn't regret a single thing when it came to how he treated her. Men like that never feel bad for what they do to the people who trusted them. But she nodded, saying yes for Billy's sake. Because either it was to stay with the gang or go to some shitty orphanage.

The red headed girl dismounted Artax, stroking the stallion's neck before gently leading him to the water trough where she began to untack him. She gently tugged the bridle off of his face, giving him a mint before hanging it up on the fence post when she heard someone behind her. Laurie had memorized footsteps long enough to recognize it was Jesse who was approaching her. The young teenager whipped her head around to face him, she was still like a jumpy doe because of him.

"Runt," Jesse said.

"Jesse," Laurie sighed, hearing the all too familiar nickname never got any easier. Artax pinned his ears upon seeing Jesse, the stud never liked Jesse and the feeling was mutual on Jesse's end as well.

"The hell were you thinkin', running off like that?," he hissed. Laurie took a slight step back, afraid that he would hit her again.

No, he wouldn't do that.

Not when there were so many witnesses.

"I'm sorry, okay?," Laurie responded, swallowing as she turned back around, undoing the cinch on Artax's saddle. Jesse would've said more if Billy didn't walk over to them, leaning on the fence as he tilted his head to the side.

"Just getting reacquainted," Jesse reassured, seeing the look of suspicion on Billy's face. Billy nodded, the look on his face screamed 'better be.'

Laurie removed Artax's saddle and rested it on the fence before gently putting a rope over the horse's neck and leading him into the small pasture, but Artax didn't leave Jesse unharmed. The stud purposefully stood on his foot and once that was done, he swished his tail, directly hitting Jesse in the face, whinnying in amusement. Laurie giggled quietly, secretly giving him a treat for that as she let him go into the pasture.

ⅠⅠⅠⅠ

Later that night, Laurie sat at a table with Billy, eating her dinner quietly while the two friends engaged in conversation. She wasn't really contributing anything but she knew that the two older men knew that she was there and that she was also listening.

"What happened to Barbara?," Billy suddenly asked, Laurie lifted her head upon the name. Even though Barbara did little to nothing to stop the ongoing abuse that Laurie would receive from Jesse, she also couldn't help but wonder what happened to her, especially because she hadn't seen her around.

"Oh, you know, she, uh... moved on," Jesse explained, "She left not long after Lauren ran off."

"Moved on to where?," Billy asked, wanting to know more as Laurie reached over, taking his whiskey and drinking it.

"If you must know, she got herself a job as a schoolteacher," Jesse sighed, getting a little annoyed at the constant stream of questions about his ex. "Can you imagine that? Miss Jones."

Laurie shrugged, putting the bottle down and sharply inhaling. Her head becoming fuzzy as the alcohol clouded her mind, she shook her head, feeling rattled. SHe really needed to stop stealing drinks.

"Actually, I can," Billy chuckled, smiling a little bit at the thought.

"Is that right?," Jesse responded, "You didn't think for a second that she was too beautiful just to waste her life as a teacher in school?"

"It ain't a waste, Jesse," Billy countered, adjusting his posture in his seat. "There are plenty of kids out there who would kill to be able to learn how to do stuff like readin'. Besides, Barbara was always a teacher. Shit, I think she taught me and you more than we could ever know."

"Jesus Christ," Jesse scoffed, "What do you figure you can learn from a teacher in school you can't find out for yourself?"

"Reading," Laurie suddenly said, the alcohol she had just consumed making her a lot more confident now.

Jesse just shrugged once more, not really wanting to hear anymore of this as he got up. Billy looked over at Laurie, confused at her newfound confidence but when his eyes landed on the whiskey bottle he shook his head.

"Lightweight," he sighed, standing up and helping the drunk teenager to her feet, taking her to where she would be sleeping that night.