Lonesome | Arthur Morgan

Chapter 17

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After Lilian had freed herself of the tight corset and dress, she lay for a few moments, lost in her own mind with her fingers twirling softly in her curls. Her teeth catch her bottom lip as the feeling and image of Arthur's face so close to hers clouds her mind.

Arthur was in the same predicament as he grew tense, cracking his knuckles as his fists clenched. His memory scattered with images and fantasies of Lilian. He'd only ever felt this way for one other woman before, Mary Linton, and that ended painfully for him due to their differences in lifestyle. Her and her family's disapproval of Arthur's life as an outlaw resulted in Mary refusing Arthur's proposal and doing her best to let go of him, even when they were both deeply in love with each other. He feared this would end the same and the significant age gap was a worry for him too. He replayed their kiss in his head many nights and thought of how it would be to stroke and tease at her lips more, letting his male mind wander elsewhere.

The pair both slept with the last image of each other engrained their mind. The next morning having a new tension arise between the two whenever they made slight eye contact. It was quiet in camp, only having the presence of Jack, Abigail and Pearson around. Lilian had begun to cut vegetables at her common spot at the fallen log and Arthur typically had chosen to chop wood which was the job closer to wear she had sat. Lilian couldn't help but notice his bare chest as his muscles tended from the strength he used to axe at the logs. She did her best to look away, but couldn't help but have sneaky glances. 

Suddenly out of the blue, a smiley Jack appeared next to Lilian interrupting her loss of thought. "Lilian."  Lilian shuddered slightly as Jack made her jump slightly. "I think I'm getting this word wrong in my book. Can I get ya help?" Lilian nodded with a slight smile.

"Read to me then." Lilian huffs softly as she moves slightly on the log to make room for Jack to sit, continuing to peel her potatoes as Jack began to read slowly.

"The...the birds nest was im-imp." Jack continued and part way struggled with a word, hoping Lilian would pick up on it but she was in her own world as her and Arthur continued to share odd glances, one looking away when the other looked up. "Lilian!"

Lilian flinched and carelessly the knife from the carrot slides against her palm. "Ah!" Lilian yelps slightly, but quickly hushing herself so she doesn't attract Arthur's attention even if she did secretly want it. She knew that Arthur would make a fuss though so she didn't want him prancing over.

"Oh no! Lilian." Jack squeaked as he saw the trickling of crimson flow down Lilian's arm, seeping into her sleeve.

Lilian flusters slightly as she doesn't want to gain Arthur's attention. "Oh Jack don't w-worry." She stumbles her words slightly as the cut starts to sting and she panics on what to do first. "Go ahead and read your book a little more, I'll be back in a second."

Arthur can sense Lilian's wary movements. Looking up from the chopped wood, he sticks his axe in a the stump and watches as Lilian cradles her hand over to a wash bowl. He raises an eyebrow before looking over to Jack who sat with a worried expression as he tried to concentrate on his book. "Ay Jack, is Lilian alright?" Arthur called.

"Yeah um, she's cut herself. I was reading to her and you two kept staring at each other so she must of cut herself when she watched you." Jack sighed, speaking but not looking up from his book.

Arthur was surprised at Jack's abrupt answer but soon followed on with a chuckle. "Oh right so I'm getting the blame for this am I? Right." He strides his way towards Lilian who bit harshly on her lip as she tried to gently stroke away the blood from the cut with a cloth. He stares for a second to see what the issue but shuffles closer once hearing her hiss from the pain. "What have you done now?" Arthur lightly jokes.

"Oh uh nothing." Arthur rolls his eyes at Lilian's response and gets closer towards her taking her arm in his grip gently as he could. "Clearly doesn't look like nothing." He scoffs. "Come with me."  Hesitantly he let's go of her arm and she follows behind him.

Lilian naturally slouches onto his bed, waiting for him to retrieve some bandage and alcohol to treat the cut, just like the night she tried to escape. The cut on her thigh had healed but a scar remained; a memory to stay with her. As Arthur searched his supplies, Lillian looked around his sleeping spot more, admiring his bed and wondered how comfy it would be. "Now let me take a look."
Arthur sighs as he sits on a stool in front of her, lifting her bloody sleeve up slightly. The cut wasn't too deep, just a layer of skin which is why there was so much blood. "How did you manage that then?"

"I don't know, I must of just slipped when peeling." Lilian shrugs, watching Arthur's steady moves as he cleans away the blood.

"Oh alright." Arthur stops for a second to look at her, applying pressure to the cut with the damp flannel. He looked back down to the cloth once he realised that her eyes were scanning his bare shoulders and chest, mainly analysing each scare and bruise from his past. Arthur shivers slightly when he feels her fingers gently prick at one old scar on his bicep; it looked quite deep. He looks back to Lilian as she slightly scowls, he begins to get curious of her expressions. "What's the matter?"

"How did you get this scar?" She questions, not looking to his eyes just yet, but retrieving her hand back.

Arthur raised his eyebrow as he went to grab the bottle of spirit. "Uh why would you like to know?" He dampens a fresh cloth with the alcohol, quickly applying it to the cut, earning a yelp from her.

"J-Just curious." Lilian winces as the sting from the alcohol dab gets a little harsher.

"Well if you must know.." He sighed, leaning back to grab a bandage. "I simply tripped over a pent peg and sharp stick impaled me when I hit the floor."

Lilian smirked a little as she expected something a bit more spectacular. "Oh okay."

"What's the matter? It's not that adventurous , but I ain't just getting shot up all the time ya know." He smiled lightly as he wrapped up her wound. He noticed her soft smile from the corner of his eye as he focused on her hand. "You find it hard to stay mad at me don't you?" Lilian blinked a few times before taking her freshly wrapped hand back. She didn't have anything clever to reply with so she just rolled her eyes, making Arthur's point seem more accurate. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Thank you...Arthur." Lilian hesitantly stands up and so does Arthur. Her chest close to his as they stood in the confined space. Arthur doesn't say much as he watches her shift her way from him. When she walked away, his eyes watched every detail of her, from the baby curls on the back of her neck to the way her pink lips rubbed together out of nervousness.

"No need to thank me, m'am." Arthur sighs slightly, as his mind fogs with thoughts of Lilian, rubbing his hands together in a nearby bowl of water, to wash away her blood. His mood dulls slightly as he feels that adrenaline lift from Lilian's presence once again and how he wanted to be much closer to her.

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