The wild, wild West (Arthur Morgan x f!reader)

CHAPTER 28 - Good and bad men

We sat by the campfire, watching the flames chasing away the night. We had been riding for about two hours before it got to dark to keep going. Arthur had pinned a piece of meat to his knife and was now holding it above the fire.

„Who's Mary?", I asked suddenly.

He avoided looking at me and for a moment I thought he wouldn't answer at all. Then he opened his mouth. „She's...An old friend."

I tilted my head. „I heard what you and Jamie were talkin' about."

With a sigh, he gave in. „Alright. We were a couple, wanted to get married and all that. Her father forbid it. Thought an outlaw wasn't... good enough for his daughter. Then she married some other guy and left. Haven't seen her since."

„You've missed her.", I determined.

„Guess I did.", he replied. „But she seems to think the same as her father about me now." The flames illuminated his unreadable features with their golden light.

„Maybe she does.", I agreed, thinking about her words back at the train station. Oh, you'll never change. It felt like something inside me finally snapped. „But that doesn't mean she's right about it. I mean... You can trust me when I say that I'm not tryin' to ignore all the bad things about you, I really hated you for a while. Tried to keep it up. But you're..." I gestured at him, desperately looking for words. „...'S hard to hate you. 'Cause deep down, you're a good man. You don't hurt people for fun. I guess that makes you a good person."

„I've killed people. That's not something a good man would do. Killin' folk is all I can.", he disagreed, eyes fixed on the fire. He looked pretty beaten down.

I was surprised to find that it actually bothered me to see him like this. „Yeah, so did I."

We were silent for a while.

„An outlaws life isn't something that easy to understand for those who don't live one.", I finally stated.

„That's true." Arthur cut the meat he had been cooking in two pieces and handed me one.

„Thank you." I took a bite and chewed for a while, then I observed him for a moment. Then I asked: „Arthur?"

„Yeah?"

„You know... I'm sorry for some things I've done. To ya, I mean. It's funny, but you're the closest thing to... a friend I have." Then I fell quiet again, embarrassed about the things I had just said.

He sighed quietly. „No, I'm sorry. I've been pretty unfair to you. I guess you're loyal and all that, I just... I think I trust you now. I shouldn't have punched you back then."

We stared at each other for a moment, unsure about how to continue. It reminded me of the moment we had shared after I had joined them up in the mountains. He had joined me in the cabin and threatened me, and then we had just sat there in silence and stared at each other. Now everything felt different. Sure, the hate and distrust had faded over time, but saying it out loud changed everything.

„So we're good now?", I asked after a while.

„I think so."

We didn't talk after that, but the silence was filled with newfound content. Friends was a big word, but that's what we were now. Friends. Partners. The life of outlaws went faster than that of a normal citizen. Mere days could decide about life or death, hatred or friendship.

It bonded people closer together.

It had bonded us together.

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