Red Dead Redemption 2 One-Shots

↬A.M.↭UNTITLED (4)↫

I tried for days but I couldn't find any of Van der Linde's men. Without them, I couldn't make the deal, and without the deal, I couldn't escape O'Driscoll. So I changed my strategy.

"Morgan, you wanna come with me to town?" I stood in front of the man, who by now looked almost ready to leave. My time was running out. He stood, a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

"Sure. Can I have my guns in case we get spotted?" I, after a moment, decided I trusted him not to shoot me in the back.

"Why not." I didn't think I'd be able to care about anyone, but for some odd reason, Arthur was really growing on me. It was probably because I was around him 24 hours a day, definitely not because I got this weird feeling in my gut around him and he was the first person to ever care about me (or at least faked it really well).

Arthur grinned like a schoolboy at finally getting his gun belt back around his waist. And to think when we first met he was glaring daggers at me. So much had changed in so little time. And soon he'll be gone and I--with any luck--will be on the other side of the country. Yet some part of me didn't want to leave him, some stupid emotional part of me I didn't even know existed. I shook my head. There was no use thinking about it right now, I had a job to complete.

Arthur got on Honey in front of me and we both rode into town, my arms securely around him the whole way there. "What are we getting?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Food. I also need to replace your bandages. And didn't you want to get a hat?" He looked at me with surprise.

"You don't have to."

I shrugged innocently. "I don't want you to forget about me that fast." He chuckled.

"That could never happen." That weird feeling in my gut was back. He rode over to a grocer and I slipped off Honey to go retrieve some items.

Arthur stroked Honey as he waited, wondering what would happen after: after he was healed, after he returned to Dutch, would he ever see (Y/N) again? With the O'Driscolls around, she would never be safe. She had to get as far away as she could. Was it selfish to want her to stay with him?

I came back to see Arthur staring intently at nothing. I decided not to question it and simply put the food in Honey's saddle bags and patted Arthur's leg. "C'mon, let's get you a hat." He nodded.

We entered a gentlemen's store to find a wide variety of hats, all much more than I wanted to pay. But this is what I needed to convince Arthur to tell me where their camp was so I'd willingly fork over the cash. He tried on a couple, all of which looked great, but there was none he had his heart set on.

"You really don't need to do this," Arthur said, putting another hat back on the shelf.

"But I want to do something nice for you before I go. It's not everyday you meet someone who actually enjoys your company." I grinned. "Unless you're faking it." He smiled and shook his head.

"I didn't have a choice."

"So you were faking it." He plopped a hat on my head, obscuring my view of him. I smiled brightly for what had to be the first time in years. When I tilted the hat up so I could see him, his eyes were fixated on the door. I followed his gaze and my smile dropped as I spotted some O'Driscolls. They turned in our direction. I grabbed Arthur's shirt and yanked him down to my height. Without a moment to rethink my decision, I smashed my lips against his.

I heard the door close behind them as they left the store, but I didn't want to stop. Unfortunately, he ended it too early.

"They're gone. What was that for?" He turned a questioning look my way.

"So they couldn't see us, my hat was blocking their view." He didn't feel the same spark I did?

"Good thinking." He looked back at the door as I tried to crush the disappointment rising in my stomach. "We should hurry up and get back home." I agreed and followed him out of the store, completely forgetting the hat still on my head. We got some more bandages and rode Honey back to the house in the span of a few minutes.

By now it was evening and the sun had disappeared below the horizon. We had a small supper and I touched up Arthur's bandages in silence. I wasn't sure if it was because of what I'd done at the gentlemen's store or if the O'Driscolls were the reason the atmosphere in the house was tense, but either way I was really uncomfortable. I retreated to the porch in the hope of sorting through my emotions, which had been missing until recently. I used to think of myself as emotionless; I never let anything get to me because nothing else mattered. But now I'm feeling love—I finally figured out what it was when I stupidly kissed Arthur—and for a man I met a few weeks ago no less! It was all so strange, completely new territory, and I had no clue how to handle it.

"Ma'am, I believe you stole that hat." I nearly jumped at the charming voice behind me. I plucked the hat from my head and examined it.

"I suppose I did." I held it up to him. "You can have it."

"Keep it. It looks better on you." Arthur sat beside me. "Do you want to talk?" Yes.

"What is there to talk about?"

He shrugged and stared out at the barren desert in front of us. "What happens after I'm all healed up and go back to Dutch?"

"I run far, far away."

"You could stay with us." I spun to face him. "I'm sure Dutch-"

"The day he lets an O'Driscoll into his camp is the day Colm cares about anyone but himself."

"We already have an O'Driscoll in our camp." My jaw was hanging on the ground.

"Well, uh..." I really wasn't sure how to say no to that offer. But around here I wasn't safe, and I couldn't rely on a gang of thieves to keep me alive. Besides, Arthur only cared about me because I kept him alive. Once he's back with his gang he'll forget all about that and I'll be alone again. Or at least that's what I kept telling myself so I don't back out of my perfect plan. Only look out for myself, I can't forget that now.

"You don't have to say yes tonight." Arthur stood and brushed off his pants. "But I can promise you'll be safe with us." He looked me in the eyes. I nodded. For a moment I could almost believe him.

I followed him inside for the night but stopped before getting into my sleeping bag. I looked back and forth from Arthur to my bed, sighed, then walked over to him. "You can take my bed for tonight." His eyebrows rose but he didn't complain as he got comfortable on the sleeping bag.

"Thanks (Y/N)."

"You're welcome," I whispered. I slid down so I sat with my back against the wall. I couldn't use him to get money from his gang. I'd just have to pull one last heist and I'd be free to run away and never deal with any of this again. I closed my eyes. Yeah, that's what I'll do.