DEAD MEN PAY THEIR DEBTS.

THE BURDEN IS MINE.

He hasn't gone far. Casey stands on the road outside the saloon, staring up at the moon hanging in the sky.

"Casey!" Jesse calls, catching up to him. The gravel crunches under his boots as he stops next to him. "What happened there? Why are you out here?"

Casey doesn't respond, he simply breathes in and out, in and out, in and out. Finally, he sighs. "I lost my head," he mutters.

"I don't reckon we were talkin' about anything upsetting, were we? I -" Jesse sucks on his teeth. "Was Jordan a touchy subject for you?"

Casey gives him a one-shouldered shrug. "In a way," he says evasively, kicking at the pebbles on the ground.

"Hm? What did he do to you?" Jesse asks carefully. "Killed a sibling? A parent? Your wife? Girlfriend, perhaps?"

"I ain't got a wife. Or a girlfriend, Foster." His hands are deep in his pockets, and he keeps his gaze on the ground.

Jesse watches him for a moment, then nods slowly. "Don't wanna keep talkin' bout Jordan if you'd rather not," he says. "So...you're right. You ain't never had a woman. What, you too good? You too godly to have a woman yet?"

Casey's head snaps to Jesse, panicked. He had only been teasing, but instantly, Jesse feels terrible for poking him about that.

"N-no," Casey stammers. "I never said I ain't got a girl. I had one. I...I do have one. I lied, I do have a girl. I like girls, Foster. I love 'em."

"That so?"

"Y-yeah. She just ain't here now. Me an' Sierra had to leave her when we came here. But she was very nice. She was a girl. I liked her."

"Course you did," Jesse says conversationally, mirroring Casey and slipping his hands into his pockets. "Course you did."

Casey stares at him for a minute longer, before shaking his head, disgruntled. "I'm goin' home," he mutters. He turns and begins down the path.

"Here, let me take you home," Jesse says a little too quickly, catching up with him. "You had a lot to drink and all, I reckon it ain't safe for you to go home alone."

"You had more to drink than I did," Casey points out dryly, but doesn't try to stop Jesse from coming with him.

The moonlight throws long shadows onto Casey's face, making him look older than he really is. Jesse can't help but study him out of the corner of his eye - his serious grey eyes, the way his mouth naturally turns down at the edges, the way his brow seems to have a permanent furrow in it.

The leaves crunch under their feet as they walk through the town, but there's no sound other than the wind blowing through the shutters of the houses around them. Jesse looks over at the nearest house and imagines the rest of the town tucked snugly into their beds, thick covers pulled up to their chins and oil lamps quietly burning themselves out in the corners of the room.

He gives Casey a sideways look, and he can't help but wish that the two of them were like that. Like they used to every night. A wave of sadness hits him, and Jesse sighs and looks away.

"You alright there?" Casey asks as they stop in front of his house. He hesitates for a moment, then shrugs. "You...you, uh, you'd like to come inside? Maybe have some coffee or summat?"

"Haven't had coffee in a while," Jesse remarks as he follows Casey up the stairs and to the door.

"Everyone here prefers whiskey, that's why." Casey opens the door and lets Jesse in. The door creaks as he closes it behind him. The two of them walk down the dark hallway and into the living room. The house is neat, but there are books sitting everywhere Jesse looks. Most of them are textbooks.