What If's | Arthur Morgan x Reader

Two

The first thing you did was have him help you back up on your skittish horse, seeing as every time you lifted your left leg, it felt like pins. You made a mental note to ask your father to patch you up when you got home.

"I can't do any heavy lifting with this gash in my back," you gave him an accusing sode glance before facing forward. "Until I'm all healed up, I want you to help me out back at home." The man sighed heavily.

"Alright miss. Fine. Just until then, and I'll split." He whistled, and his own riding companion came. You were amazed, seeing as you could never make your own horses come when you called. He mounted his horse.

"That's fine by me," you started. "I don't need you anymore 'till after I heal up."

"Yeah, sure. Just go on, 'n lead the way." He gestured for you to go on ahead. He wouldn't admit it, but he had a big heart. You didn't completely trust that he wouldn't take the first chance to run off.

"Just follow me. It's a ways away up north of Valentine." You took it as fast as you could, which wasn't too fast. Every harsh step seemed to send little heat waves through your side. You could take a good deal of pain, but you couldn't take it all on. You were thankful for the rush of adrenaline that numbed the pain.

"Uhuh. What's your name anyway, lady?" He kept pace with you, but made sure not to get too much in the way.

"What's yours," you asked in turn.

"I asked you first." It went silent. You were deing stubborn, he noticed. A strong woman. He sighed. You weren't going to let up, he could see that.

"My name 's Arthur," he said. If he was going to be around her for a while, he thought he might as well attempt to get along with her. You didn't say anything back, just a grunt and a nod, as you turned right onto a side path near Cumberland Forest.

"(F/N)," you said quietly, glancing quickly at him.

"Excuse me?"

"My name. My Name is (F/N)." A thick silence fell over them as they rode on, and instead favoring to either watch the scenery or stare off into nothingness. Finally, a small fenced in cottage like home could be seen, in the setting sunlight with a dog barking excitedly.

"C'mon, we're here." You picked up the pace, a light smile on your face at the thought of finally being home after such a long day. The first thing you planned to do was take a nice warm bath and toss your clothes into a wash bin to be soaked and cleaned and sewn up. Arthur followed behind.

"Nice place you got here," he said, scanning your quaint little home, and took the chance to dismount his horse to take a full look around the house, when he saw you somewhat struggling to get off your new horse. Sighing, he went over, and held his tongue. Any other situation with the girls back at camp, he would've let the snide comment loose. The girl looked like a kid standing next to the work horse. Of course, this was just over exaggeration.

He made sure to be gentle, so he didn't hurt you any more than you already were, while you took your first good look at the man. He looked in his mid thirties, with neatly trimmed facial hair, and a set of dark blue eyes a love sick puppy could've gotten lost in. In the light of the sunset, he looked younger than he was. In societies standards, he could be considered attractive. And he was. If he noticed your staring, he diddn't say anything, as he set you on the ground, and promptly let go of you.

Critter, your ever faithful Border Collie, torn between chasing after that dragonfly he saw earlier and running up to you stood whining for a second before finally deciding that greeting his owner was more important ran over to you. He circled around your legs, as you pet him.

"It's nice to see you too, Critter," you said kneeling down to give the dog a big hug, as he frantically licked your face. He was happy you came back. It was only after Critter had bounded off to chase a lizard that caught his eye that you noticed a certain cowboy had disappeared. His horse aas still here, so he couldn't have gone too far.

There was a thud from inside your home, and a loude curse that followed. You decided that you'd go see your dad after you found the man that had wondered off. You took careful steps and went around your house to see Arthur looking at the somewhat vast backyard you had. He understood why you wanted him to come back with you. There was a lot of things to do here.

"Arthur, what're you doin' back here? I though you up'n ran off?" You stepped closer to him. Startled out of his thoughts, his hand itched to grab his gun as he'd done many times. With the group he was in with, it was almost natural to shoot the first thing that moved. Instead, he crossed his arms and fiddled his fingers, looking down at the ground.

"Just takin' a look around," he said, coming off as defensive and closed off when he hadn't meant to. He mumbled a quick apology under his breath as we went back up front with you following. You felt confused on why he would react like that. Had you seem too untrusting? You dismissed the thought.

"Come inside," you said opening the door as Critter runs right in. Arthur hesitantly steps in. He wasnt sure what he was expecting when he stepped inside, but standing near the fireplace was a kind looking older man stirring a stew. He had thought that a woman like her would have had a sweetheart she lived with.

"(Y/N), welcome back," her father said, with a short laugh as he pulled the woman into a tight hug. (Y/n pulled herself away from her dad, as she moved Arthur to the side a bit and closed the door. Arthur stood, almost awkwardly without knowing what to do.

"Thank you daddy," you said. "I managed to get everything." You said, removing your jacket and letting your hair down. "I ran into that man over there, his name is Arthur, and he's gonna help me out while I heal," you explained. For the first time, your dad staired at him, giving him a good look. He almost looked familiar to him. He shook it off.

"Nice to meet ya, Arthur. I go by Dennis." He held out his hand for Arthur to shake.

"Arthur." He quickly shook his hand, and then let his hand fall back to his side. Dennis went to a cabinet and brought out an extra bowl for Arthur.

"We wasn't planning on having a visitor, but I think we have enough for ya." He filled the bowl with the meaty stew and handed it to him. He mumbled a quiet 'thank you' under his breath. He was used to being shot at or asked for favors, but being cared  for by a womans father aas farthest from what he would ever expect. It was then he noticed that (Y/N) had slipped out of the room, and if you listened hard enough, you could hear the sounds of the soft splashing of water over the crackling fire and his own nervous heartbeat. He hadn't felt like this since he was being sized up by his ex-lovers father.

"So," Dennis, (Y/N)'S father, not grandfather as he originally thought upon seeing him with his grey hairs, spoke up.

"What's your reason for being here?" There's something he was familiar with.