No Time To Die- ARTHURMORGAN x O/C

part 20- Exile

"What the fuck," Jesse yells his heart still racing from the event as Claudia sits on the bed. They both rented a hotel room again after leaving the boat, "what the fuck, your family are outlaws."
Calling the gang a family, makes her stomach churn. She only been running with them for 2 months, and already feels safe with them.
"No not outlaws, just people trying to get money" She twists her words trying not to give loads of information to him. He sighs sitting next to her. Claudia takes his hand and holds it in hers, "but I don't do anything like they do, I just hang about as my daddy don't want me to get hurt."
Once again another lie, even though the man she loves thinks she is speaking the truth.
"Why did you hide it from me though?" Jesse asks his eye pleading for an answer.
"To protect you, I don't want you mixed in this business" Claudia yells standing up from her place. She paces the room holding her head in her hands. Claudia never wanted him to know, she thought she could run away at some point with him and leave her past behind.
Jesse runs his hands through his hair re-thinking how the girl he loves runs with outlaws, "I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything, I just want us to be as it was okay but you don't have to carry on what he had" Claudia turns her head around not looking at the man.
"Claudia," Jesse pauses getting up from the bed and making his way to her, "I will never leave you, you are the most wonderful thing that has happened to me in a while. I just don't want you to get hurt and no more lies please, for the love of god."
"Ok, no more lies" she says smiling. No more lies, that's what she said and she can't take that back. She didn't tell him how she was the daughter of one of the most dangerous man in America, or how she has a high bounty over her head in many states, or how she lied saying no more lies. Claudia knew she couldn't promise him but she didn't want to lose him, she didn't want him to think different of her.
"Now, come on. Today has been very hectic" he says making his way to the bed, smirking dragging Claudia behind him. He lies on the bed and so does Claudia, she moves her head to his chest feeling his heart beat. Jesse runs his hand through her hair feeling the soft black hair in his fingers. "Beautiful girl" He whispers in her ear planting a kiss on her forehead as Claudia's eyes close. 

            Light shines across Claudia's pale face, her eyes twitch open. She sprawls across the bed finding it empty. Jesse gone. She sits up quickly looking around the room, he is not here. Her eyes wander to the piece of paper folded on the bedside table. Unfolding she reads out his cursive handwriting, her brows furrow his disappointment.
'Claudia
I have got some business to attend to with my father. I hope that we can see each other again.
Love
Jesse.'
Claudia folds the piece of paper back up and places it into her purse that he took with her last night. Her dress neatly folded on the chair in the corner of the room. She gets changed and makes her way out of the hotel thanking the clerk on her way out. She really didn't mind staying in a grand hotel with Jesse, he always pays for it but she wishes that they could go somewhere else than a hotel. She makes her way strolling over to her horse until someone catches her eyes.
Brown, blond ish hair. Green eyes. Tall. Rifles hanging around his shoulder.
Arthur.
What is he doing here in Saint Denis?
Claudia looks around then sees a beautiful woman. Brown hair. Mid height.
Claudia's heart skips a beat as she feels a wave of emotions wash over her. She wonders why she is feeling like this, jealous. Why is she feeling jealous? She has Jesse. She spins around mounting Nyrah, desperate to escape the sight. The city streets blur together as she hurries back to camp. She can't bear to stay in the city anymore. Seeing how happy Arthur looked as he walked side by side with a woman that looked way prettier than herself. As she rides back to camp, the wind whipping through her long hair, she feels like she is drowning in a sea of uncertainty. She thought she found her sense of freedom with Jesse, but now it seems like it's just another fleeting illusion.
Claudia canters into the camp, her mind whirl pooling of emotions. The familiar sights of the Van Der Linde camp greeting her, the laughter of her fellow camp mates. Dutch watches her from a distance, his keen eyes staring at the way her head hangs slightly down, avoiding the curious glances of others. He could tell something is on her mind, the way she is walking and the way she goes straight to the beer crate by pearsons'. "How about a ride? Just you and me?"
Her eyes flicker with a hint of surprise as she takes a sip of the beer in her hand even though it's 11 in the morning. Claudia hesitates. Dutch hasn't really been a father to her; he has been a figure shrouded in the distance, a negative person in tales told by her Mother. "Alright," she replies softly, her voice sounding timid.
Dutch smiles. A gesture that feels foreign to him on his rugged face but also strangely genuine. They both saddle their horses not making a sound or any eye contact. For several minutes, they ride in silence. Claudia focusing on the thud of Nyrah's hooves against the earth and the rustle of leaves, trying to steady her thoughts. Dutch, for his part, steals glances at her but says nothing, he isn't quite sure how to break the ice between them, nor he is ready to unearth the layers of their fractured past.
Finally, he clears his throat as they go North of Lemoyne. "You know, I didn't... I didn't expect to see you on your saddle quite so soon. Your mother used to ride like the wind," he says, trying to spark a connection. "Could have sworn she could outrun bullets.."
Claudia manages a faint smile, but barely touches her eyes, "I learned from the best," she replies, forcing levity into her voice. "Though I don't think I could outrun her."
Dutch chuckles, more to fill the silence than anything. Then quieter, he ventures, "You alright, Claudia? Looks like something weighing you down."
Her breath hitches in her throat, and she pauses not knowing what to say, "I'm fine."
He notices her discomfort and decides not to push any further. Instead, he guides the Count towards a clearing where they could pause for a moment. The vibrant greens of the summer grass breathe life into the otherwise desolate feeling that envelopes Claudia.
"That's a beautiful view," Dutch says as they halt to a stop. The cliff edge offers a breathtaking vista, a panorama of flourishing hills, rolling like waves into the horizon. "Just like those mountains in life," he adds thoughtfully, "you have to step back sometimes to see what's truly there."
Claudia turns to him, her gaze drifting from the sweeping landscape to his face, "what do you mean?"
He takes a breath, trying to frame his thoughts, "Life gives us plenty of distractions," he replies, "Sometimes it takes a little distance to understand our priorities. What we really want."
In that moment, her heart aches again for Jesse but then her emotions travel to Arthur and how she was jealous today.
"There's... someone I care about very much but I don't love him the way he loves me," she sighs, "and he doesn't realise that he is my friend and I love someone else."
Dutch nods slowly, "love can be complicated, kid," he says, shifting slightly in his saddle. "It can drive you, inspire you, break you. What's important to understand that love doesn't fit neatly into boxes."
"Jesse is everything my mother would want for me, a stable life, wealth and security. But sometimes I feel like that's not the life for me" Claudia rambles on not thinking through what she is saying.
The corner of his lips pulling upwards as if struggling to form a smile. "That's the essence of it, isn't it? You know the safer choice, but your heart pulls you in a different direction. It sounds like you're searching for your path, which is something I respect." His honesty catches Claudia off guard.
"You know, Claudia," he says, looking at her seriously now, "when I made choices, I didn't think about the consequences. I took off when your mother needed me the most and maybe I was running from myself too. It took me a long time to realise the wreckage I left behind" Dutch frowns remembering what he did.
For the first time since they met, Claudia sees a glimpse of the man behind the outlaw persona.