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Secondary Blog - @detectivefoureleven

[choclateshortcake02]

First

Word Count: 9k, no edits aside from Google Docs

Summary: You go on your first official date and sparks fly.

Warnings: Mentions of masturbation, stealing of personal property, none.

Today was the day. It was your first official date. Beth insisted on you rescheduling it since you missed it yesterday. She was really pushy when she wanted to be, a quality you both adored and hated. She was confident in a way you weren’t either, something you wished had instilled inside yourself, but you knew it would come in time. It’s not something to be forced. 

You got up at 6 in the morning, did your morning routine and went downstairs to get breakfast. When you got down there, you greeted everyone before seeing that Beth was up early as well. It seemed to shock and confuse everyone at the table as well.

“Hey. You’re up early. Why?” You greeted the girl.

“Why is it such a shock that I would be up so early?”

“Beth, in all the time you’ve been alive, you have never once been ‘up early’. Not even for your own birth.” John quipped quickly to his daughter.

John then looked down at the table, a faraway look in his eyes, remembering when Evelyn told him she was pregnant again. He remembered taking her to the hospital for checkups, hearing her heartbeat. It was so strong. He remembered being told that the baby was going to be a girl and he felt just a bit disappointed, but then the day came. The labor was long and painful for Evelyn but she pushed through it. And after 17 long hours and 1 epidural later, ‘Bethany Dutton’ emerged crying loudly like a siren. Letting everyone know of her existence. 

When he cut the cord and the nurses cleaned her off and handed her to Evelyn so she could be fed, he felt something. Then Evelyn handed the small child to him and as he held her, her eyes trying to peek open, he knew. He knew at that moment that she was going to be strong enough. Strong enough to handle anything life threw at her. 

And suddenly he didn’t feel disappointed. He felt proud. He had a girl. Someone to truly carry the line on into the world. Lee and Jamie wouldn’t be the last Duttons in this world. The Dutton line would truly continue.

“Right dad?”

John shook his head of those beautiful memories, refocusing on the conversation. Samuel took notice of his behavior having been in his shoes more than once.

“What?” 

“I was just saying that it would be best if Beth got an internship somewhere or at least got a job, since she’s not comfortable at the ranch.” Jamie spoke up, John nodded in agreement.

“Shut up Jamie! Not everyone wants to be a cowboy like you or Lee.”

“You know it’s not a bad idea. You’re going to be 14 soon, I'm sure we can go up to Bozeman's town hall, get you a work permit and get you a job. It’ll get you a good work ethic, best to start young.” 

“That’s what I was thinking daddy. Now back to you Y/N, what are you thinking of doing for your date since you had to reschedule?” Beth totally changed her thoughts on the job issue the second her father was on board.

Beside her, Jamie exclaimed a loud “What?!” at Beth’s switch up. Beth did that a lot, say one thing was terrible and then do it anyway, especially if her dad was on board.

“I was thinking of going to the park or something around 12. Maybe go to the movies?”

Jamie made a sour face, something John and Lee took notice of. Lee elbowed his brother in his ribs, making him let out a loud grunt. He looked over at Lee, anger and confusion in his eyes, yet Lee only shook his head in response. 

The two brothers had a silent conversation, as you and Beth continued your conversation in the background.

“Why don’t you just go to a party or something? Go dancing?”

“Because I don't want to, we’re in the ‘Get to know each other’ phase, dancing comes later. Right dad?” You then thought of Rip, and especially what happened last night. You blinked your eyes twice, trying to rid yourself of the memory, focusing back on the conversation.

“Sweetie, it’s not up to me. Just do what you feel you’re ready for.” Sam swallowed his food, before responding. He seemed somewhat nervous, like the conversation was affecting him personally as well.

“See. He gets it.”

Beth scoffed, "I would go dancing. It's fun.”

“It is fun, but dancing should be for special moments. Not just for any random day.”

“You’re so sappy.”

“Not sappy, just romantic.”

“Whatever you call it, don’t bring it over here. I don’t want to catch whatever sickness you have for him.”

Your heart pounded in your chest, “For who?”

“Jacob, who else?”

“Oh, right.”

Beth narrowed her green eyes, before taking a bite out of her toast. Samuel got up after breakfast, kissed your forehead and headed outside.

Outside, Rip was filling a trough with water, all whilst thinking of you. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about what happened last night. He could feel his face start to warm up just thinking about it. The feel of your lips on him, the taste of your strawberry mango lip balm. The shape of your waist as he pulled you towards him. 

The way you softly spoke his name. Like velvet and honey. He could still hear it.

“Rip. Rip. Rip!” 

The boy's attention focused back onto the task at hand, just as he felt water splashing onto his feet.

“Shit!” He jumped back, turning towards the voice that was yelling his name. It was your dad. Dr. Mr. Samuel. Although no one ever really addressed him as a doctor for some reason.

“Sorry kid. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Samuel quickly grabbed the hose from his hand and turned it off.

“It’s ok, sir. I guess I was a little distracted.”

“Yeah, deep in thought. What were you thinking about?”

“Your rank.” Rip lied, “What rank were you in the military?”

Sam narrowed his eyes at the young boy. He never mentioned his military service to the bunkhouse crew. The only people who knew he was in the military was, John, Lloyd and you.

He realized in a second, that you must’ve mentioned it when you were hanging out with him at some point. He sighed inwardly.

“Lieutenant General.”

“That’s cool, what’s that like?”

Sam curled his lips upward, but not into a smile, he was uncomfortable. He hated talking about his military service. It caused scars that he couldn’t entirely come back from. It caused him to have a dark side that he hoped his family would never have to see.

“You're a leader, people depend on you. And not just the people that surround you in the moment, the people on the other side as well. You have people counting on you to get them home to their families. And to make sure they’re mentally well in the middle of it.”

Rip listened intently to him speaking. He found Sam interesting and mysterious in a way that was unnerving. Like he had so many secrets that if they were found out the world would end. It’s why Rip gets so nervous around him aside from Sam being your father.

“I want to be a leader.”

“Yeah? Try being a ranch foreman. You can talk to Lloyd, he’s Foreman, I’m sure he’d be happy to help show you the ropes of being a leader around here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you want to be a leader, do it. Some people are born leaders, others gain it from experience. I know I did. My father always told me, ‘You have to learn to follow before you can lead.’ I never understood what he meant by that until I joined the military during the Cold War.”

Rip hummed in acknowledgment and that gave him the push he needed, he wanted to be the top ranch hand. He’ll work hard. Harder than he ever thought possible just to reach that goal. But again life wouldn’t turn out exactly as he planned.

In the house Beth went back upstairs after breakfast, already ready to nap after eating but she forced herself to stay up. She wanted to really help you stick to this first date landing, despite her never having been on a date before herself. She knew she was being pushy about it, but that’s because she cared about you and she wanted you happy.

She planned the whole day for you. Movie date at 1, possible lunch at 2:30, then bring him over to your place for a night cap and first kiss. She figured since you were going to be working until 12 today, she could get everything set up. She just needed some help. So, to Jamie she went.

Knocking on his door, she waited for an answer, after a couple seconds she knocked again. Quickly getting annoyed she burst into his room and looked around, seeing that he wasn’t there, she rolled her eyes.

Just as she was about to turn around and walk out of his room, something caught her eye. She walked over to his bed and picked up the item. She held the item up, examining it for a second, thinking maybe her brain was deceiving her, but she was correct.

“Oh, my god.”

“What are you doing in my room?!”

“Oh, my god!” Beth quickly turned around, seeing Jamie in the doorway. She put her hands behind her back hoping he didn’t see what she had in her hands, but he did.

“Give me that!” He marched over to her, snatching the item out of her hands.

“Why do you have Y/N’s underwear?!”

“Shhh!” He quickly ran to shut the door, not wanting anyone, especially you to hear this conversation.

“Why do you have her underwear?!”

“I’m- I’m holding them for her.”

“You’re holding them for her?” Beth gave him an unconvinced look, rolling her eyes. “She has her own room in here, why would you be ‘holding her underwear’ for her? I swear, of all the excuses you could’ve come up with, that was the worst.”

“I am! I am holding them for her.” His voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. Even he didn’t believe that.

“Are you jacking off, with her panties? Ugh, that’s a new low, even for you.” 

“Oh, shut up! Get out of my room. What are you even in here for?” He gets defensive, not denying the accusation though.

“Well, I was in here to get your help with Y/N’s date with Jacob, but seeing as you have extracurricular activities with her underwear, I think I'll hold off and ask someone else.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best, because I would love to help you, help Y/N go out with another guy.”

“Hey, I just thought you might want to help. I mean, just because she’s going on a date with this guy now, doesn’t mean she’ll be with him forever. Maybe you’re her forever. I mean daddy wants you to marry her for a reason, right?”

“Right.” 

Maybe Jamie didn’t need to be jealous of Jacob. Maybe this is a one-time thing, maybe it was a temporary relationship, just to reach forever with you.

“So, will you help?”

“Yeah. Anything for my future wife.”

“Ew, Great!” Cringing, Beth turned and opened the door, but before she walked out of the door, she turned back, “You know, the underwear thing? That is why we think you’re creepy and obsessive.”

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Yes.”

“Ok then, don’t mention this to anyone ever. Especially Y/N.”

“I would never, it’s too disturbing.”

Beth then walked out, satisfied with being able to get Jamie to help her with your date.

Downstairs, you and Lee and John were discussing what you were going to do today, at least until 12 rolled around. You all settled on learning to break some horses. Just the one, so far though. You went to your room quickly grabbing some chaps and putting them on.

John and Sam had been thinking of getting you your own horse, they just had to figure out if you had gained enough experience on the ranch to care for one. 

You had never gone solo when caring for the animals before. Let alone breaking a horse in. It was exciting and nerve racking all in one. Yet despite all your nerves and possible fears, you knew that like humans, not all animals can be tamed, so you weren’t going to put all your eggs in one basket.

As you walk outside to the pen you see a brown and white horse inside it. You smile softly, ready to take on this adventure. You could see some of the cowboys standing there, ready and waiting to help, if you need it. Rowdy was there, Lloyd was there, Rip was there. And of course your dad was there. 

You slowly enter the pen, the horse automatically getting irate at feeling another presence. He whinnied and ran in circles, almost knocking you down.

“Woah, woah, easy there!” You jump back yelling at the horse. When the horse slowed down and seemed to calm down, just a little, you hopped onto his back.

“Remember Y/N, you are the one in control.” Your dad reminded you softly, concern in his eyes. John and Lloyd nodded, agreeing with that sentiment.

You let out a breath and kicked the horse in the belly softly. It immediately began bucking, trying to get you off of his back, but you held steady. You could feel your legs aching, from the constant force of going up and down repeatedly. As you grasped at the reins to keep a hold onto the horse, the only thing that could go into your mind was, ‘how did they get the saddle onto the horse.’ 

As it continued, your thoughts changed to Jacob. What would you say on the date? How would it go? Did you really want to go on a date with him? 

“He’s going over!” You heard a voice call out, and the horse did exactly that, but you remained steady. You remained in the seat. You can distantly hear cheers and claps. Eventually the cheers stopped. The bucking continued though. It kept going for almost an hour.

As you continued to question your motivations on the dating scene, one thought popped up into the back of your mind. 

I can’t wait to tell Jacob about this.

Your body eventually relaxed as a small smile came onto your face. The horse slowed down, finally calm. He was broken. In a way, you both were.

How you survived that long in the saddle surprised even you. When you were back home the most you would go on a horse is 30 minutes. And that’s even on a good horse, but as you got down from this horse, your dad ran in, hugging you. You realized the only reason you stuck was because you were afraid, afraid of being with someone because of your parents.

Riding a horse is a lot like being in a relationship. You're both counting on the other, trying to communicate effectively and make each other happy. 

You hugged your dad back and walked out of the pen, shaking out your aching legs. John gave you a nod of approval, smiling at you, in the back you could see Rip standing there, a look of awe on his face.

You gave him a small smile, him returning the gesture. You then looked at your watch, and saw the time was 9 o’clock.

As your dad grabbed the horse, taking him to the back, you followed after him. 

“Dad?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Why didn’t you answer me when I asked you that question at dinner the other night?”

Sam sighed, leading the horse towards the hay pen, with the other horses.

“Do you really want to have this conversation now? I mean, you're coming off from a high that you’ve only seen in movies.”

Your breath hitched, you weren’t sure how to answer that question. Deep down, you didn’t want to have this conversation. It was too much for your heart to bear and you didn’t know if you would be able to accept his answer.

“You’re right. It’s early, I’m excited for my date. I guess I have a lot of emotions running through me.”

Sam turned around pursing his lips, before smiling. 

“It’s ok. Hey, why don’t you get washed up, take the rest of the day to pamper yourself for your date. I know it’s what Beth would want you to do. That girl has probably been planning this since we showed up on their doorstep.”

You both chuckled at the thought. You nodded, turning and heading to the main house. As you walked towards the house you were stopped by Rowdy and another cowboy.

“Hey girl, that was pretty badass, you know that?”

You rolled your eyes, muttering under your breath that you told him your name once before. Deciding to be kind about it and move on, you only replied with a simple ‘thank you’.

Rowdy continued to compliment you, while the other cowboy looked at you up and down, desire obvious in his eyes.

“You know, a few of us cowboys are going into town for a drink tonight, if you want to come?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. But thank you for the offer.”

You shifted uncomfortable under his gaze, before looking behind him, seeing Rip watching the interaction intently. Catching your eye, he knew what he needed to do.

Rip started marching over to the three of you, determination growing in his eyes, lips turning into a soft scowl. As he reaches you, he quickly interrupts the very obvious one-sided conversation.

“Hey, ‘hate to break up this wonderful conversation, but Beth needs you to help her with something. Said something about getting cut up from the inside out.”

You turned to Rip with a confused look growing on your face. “What?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said. Told me to come get you, that it was an emergency only you would understand.” 

It was then that you caught on. “Oh, yeah! Sorry boys, I gotta go. It’s a girl issue. Thanks for letting me know that life saving information Rip.”

“Oh, well, try and swing by, won’t ya!?”

As you turned and walked away, you shouted back, “Yeah, definitely!”

“Definitely not.” you muttered under your breath, just then you entered the main house.

As you headed upstairs to go to your room, you could hear Beth in her room, on her ‘personal’ landline phone. You knocked gently on her door, and she looked up waving you inside.

“Hey Jenette, I’m gonna call you back, ok. I have to help the charity case with her date.”

You made a sour face. You thought you had moved past the name calling and petty grievances, but I guess not.

After a second Beth hung up the phone, turning to you, an apologetic look on her face.

“Sorry, you would think after you have been here for almost a year and a half now, some people would move on from the pettiness.”

“Yeah. Thanks, I guess. For you know, being somewhat mature about it.”

“Oh, whatever. Now it’s 9:13, we have 2 hours to get you ready.”

“But the date isn’t until 1.”

“No, the movie I picked for you guys doesn’t start until 1. We want you up and ready by 11:30. At the theatre by 12.”

“Right and by we, you mean you?”

“No. Well yes, but I did have help, and with the curfew going on I figured the date could end with Ice cream or something at your place.”

“Who helped you?”

“Don’t get bent up out of shape, but since you only went out with one other person, no matter how fleeting and awkward, I decided to ask him.”

You automatically knew she was speaking of Jamie. He was the only other boy you’ve ever gone out with. At least in public. But he wasn’t the one that mattered to you, at least not in that way. You cared about him, but you didn’t see him that way.

You sighed “That’s fine. I don’t agree with it, but I’ll allow it. And remember this is my date. You’re just my fairy god friend.”

Beth chuckles and nods, before walking over to her closet and handing you the dress you picked from her closet.

“I’ll take it.” 

You went to your room and took your clothes off to hop in the shower. You decided to truly pamper yourself by shaving your legs, and when you hopped out of the shower, you moisturized your body and put your lotion on. Then you did your nails.

After they dried, you checked the time. It was 10:03, you put the dress on and sprayed some light perfume.

You adjusted the dress around your midsection and chest area. You grabbed some black low heeled boots and put them on. You then walked over to the little vanity that you had in your room and put some light lipstick on with some chapstick and lipgloss to cover it and leave your lips moisturized.

You checked the time again, it was 10:12. You wished the time would speed up. You really wanted to see Jacob. 

Just as you were about to head out the door to go downstairs, you grabbed a small purse and put your chapstick inside it along with the knife and pepper spray your dad gave you a while ago.

Beth arranged for Jacob to pick you up at the ranch, just for everyone to see the two of you together. She wanted you to show him off. And you actually agreed, a little. Anything to get the bunkhouse guys off you.

You left your room and closed the door, heading downstairs to show everyone your outfit. You found most of them in the great room, watching TV or reading books.

“So, what do you think?”

Everyone looked up from what they were doing, and stared at you for a while. Beth stood up and smiled.

“You look amazing. Doesn’t she?” Beth turned towards everyone, spinning you around to show off more of your body.

“Yes, Beth. Y/N, you truly do look like the young woman I know you’d grow into.”

Beth’s face soured a bit, wishing he would say something like that to her. But she pushed the jealous feeling down, deciding to focus on the positive. She was broken out of her thoughts by you speaking.

“Thank you, Mr.- John.”

“You don’t need to thank me, it’s true.”

Your face warmed up at the compliment. You felt like you were becoming better, even though some glimpses of your past, more specifically your mother, showed up inside.

“You really look great Y/N. What do you think Jamie?” Lee spoke up, taking a long look at you, before smiling widely at Jamie, a mischievous look in his eye.

“You l-look amazing.” Jamie’s voice cracked when he spoke, which he hated. He cleared his throat before repeating himself speaking more clearly the second time.

“Come on, let’s go show your dad!” Beth exclaimed excitedly. She grabbed your hand and started pulling you outside past the pen, where the cowboys were roping steers for practice, towards the barn where your dad was, giving the rest of the horses their medicine.

“Dr-Mr. Y/L/N! Look!” 

After feeding Marlow her medicine, Sam put the liquid syringe away and turned towards the barn entrance where he had heard the young girl's voice.

“Yes, Beth? What did you- Oh, wow. Baby you look beautiful.” 

“Thanks dad.” You were nervous, but you felt confident in yourself, especially knowing you had his approval of your current outfit, which was not your usual outfit of choice.

“Don’t thank me, it’s true.” Sam ironically reiterated John’s words, causing Beth's mood to darken slightly. 

How could her own father treat another girl better than his own biological daughter? His own flesh and blood?

You glanced at your watch noticing it was now 10:37, almost 20 or so minutes away from your date with Jacob. Just as you were pondering over your messy thoughts, trying to find a way to get out of this date, despite you desperately wanting to go, you hear a truck pull up, the loud engine roaring as it pulls into the main house's driveway.

Beth turned and pulled you away, back towards the main house. It seemed like everything stopped. The cowboys stopped roping the steers, trying to get a good look as to who would ever come to the ranch, when it was a small group of people who worked here.

The truck was a simple Chevy C1500. Jacob stepped out of the truck, in a simple hoodie with a jean jacket over it along with jeans and a snap back hat on. He looked amazing, you gripped Beth’s hand a bit tighter, wanting to clench your thighs together. Your heart pounded faster, you wanted to jump on him, but you held off. 

Jacob walked over to you with a look of awe and slight giddyness. The cowboys watching started talking to themselves. Rip was watching as well, his eyes narrowed. Lee, Jamie and John stepped out of the house, with Lee walking towards the cowboys telling them to get back to work. 

Lee walked over to Rip, slapping him on the shoulder. He smiled warmly looking at the younger boy, his eyes sprinkling with mischief.

“So that’s the boyfriend huh. Blood boiling, heat going to the face, rage in the eyes. That’s jealousy for ya huh?”

Rip turned towards Lee for a second, “Why would I be jealous, we ain't ever been nothing.”

Lee smirked a little bit, before going back to his friendly facade. “I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about Jamie. Why would I be talking about you?”

Rip gasped silently, shaking his head and ignoring his question, instead choosing to go back to the limited work he was allowed to do.

Jamie was watching, jealousy obvious in his body language and all over his face. He tried not to be jealous, but he couldn’t help it. He saw how you looked at Jacob and how Jacob looked at you.

What did Jacob have that he didn’t? What made him special?

John took notice of this for a second but ignored it. He instead watched as Samuel walked over to greet the young man that was taking you out on your first date. He secretly wished he had an open relationship with his kids like that, where they could do simple things like this again, but things changed when Evelyn died.

Beth gave an awkward smile towards Jacob which he gave a nod in return. Jacob turned his attention back to you.

“H-Hi. You look beautiful. I hope I look up to par.”

“You look amazing.” It went silent for a moment, the two of you just staring at each other for a while. Beth rolled her eyes, taking a glance at Samuel who was watching with a bemused smile on his face. 

“Ok, stop eye-fucking each other and go. The movie’s gonna start in,” Beth lifted your arm and took a glance at your watch, “An hour and a half.”

Your attention snapped towards Beth, an angry and embarrassed look coming across your face. Your dad was right there, you didn’t want him to hear that. You took a small glance at him, seeing him make an uncomfortable face. You could hear him sigh softly, turning away, you start shaking your head.

“Make sure you have her back by 6:30.”

Jacob then nodded, chuckling nervously. The two of you walked towards his truck, with him opening your side of the door. He waited, watching you buckle yourself in before closing the door and going to the drivers side.

The two of you drove to the movies in a comfortable silence, listening to Babyface, something you recommended. The ride was comfortable and not that long. 22 minutes at best. 

When the two of you reached the movie theatre, you both stood in line at the concession stand, you ordered some chocolate, despite wanting popcorn, you didn’t want the kernels to get into your teeth. That would make for an awkward first kiss, especially on your first date.

Jacob ordered some nachos and two milkshakes, one for you and one for himself. Just as you went to pay for your own item, Jacob stopped you. 

“It’s my treat. If-If you don’t mind?”

Your face felt warm, heat rising to your cheeks and neck. You nodded curtly, unable to speak.

Is this what the girls at home always raved on about? Being taken care of by someone outside of your family. It feels pretty great.

The two of you quickly decided which movie piqued your interests, The Truman Show.

You decided to split on the tickets since he paid for the snacks, something you insisted on. As the two of you walked into the slightly dense theatre room, you quietly found your seats and got comfortable.

After a couple minutes of people entering the theatre and finding their own seats, the theatre darkened and the previews and coming attractions began to play. A trailer that definitely piqued your interest was Blade, which was due to come out in August.

A black male vampire superhero. Alex would love this almost as much as me.

You smile to yourself thinking of your brother. You then take a glance at Jacob, wondering what he was thinking of.

Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head towards you, his blue eyes glinting with the screen. He smiles at, leaning his head towards your ear before speaking quietly.

“Would you want to see that with me sometime?”

“Absolutely.” You respond in kind, you take a bite out of your chocolate bar as the movie starts. 

Back at the ranch, things were less than ideal. Rip got into an argument with one of the older cowboys over his situation. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten upset, it was one of the many things that could jeopardize his stay at the ranch.

Samuel had to break it up, reminding everyone that Rip was still a kid. That he was just going through something no kid should ever have to go through. And they backed off, but it didn’t stop them completely. 

Samuel walked him to the main house, and into the great room. Rip looked around in interest and awe, he’d never been anywhere like this before. 

“Sit down kid.” Rip nodded, taking a seat on the leather couch. It was silent for a second as he watched Sam walk away somewhere.

He found John in the kitchen sipping on some coffee, reading the paper. Reaching into the cabinet, he grabbed a mug and poured himself some coffee, taking a peek at what John was reading. 

“Looking for a job for Beth?”

John nodded, taking a long sip of his coffee, sighing inwardly. “It’s hard to find a job that would entice Beth into actually working.”

“Just find something she would be into, it can’t be that hard. Just ask her what she’s interested in.”

“No, I need her in a job that can help protect this place, even after I die.”

Sam sighed slightly disappointed, shaking his head. “The more you push your kids to seek your approval, the more they’re going to break themselves hoping you’ll give it to them.”

“They’ll be fine. The more they seek, the harder they work. I need them to work. The ranch comes first.”

Sam sighed again. “At least treat them equally. Don’t put one above the other, especially Beth, just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she should be held to a higher standard.”

“You put Y/N above Alex a lot. It could be good for them, give them some in-house competition.”

“I’m focusing on her a bit more currently because she is in a fragile place. I’ve pushed for her to go to therapy but she thinks she can tough it out. Alex is working to better himself. Y/N is a great girl, but she’s not in the best headspace all the time, she thinks I don't notice but I do. I just choose not to make such a big deal about it, I’m letting her choose.”

“How’s that any better than what I'm going to do?”

“It’s not, but I know to focus on both of my children equally. Even when one of my kids is 2,000 miles away. I give them both equal attention and I don’t have to make them fight for my love. They’re my kids, I give it to them automatically but I also know when to draw the line.”

“So what you’re saying is to give them unconditional support and love but don’t let them run wild.”

“Yes.”

“No, I like my idea better.”

Sam chuckled, shaking his head. “Of course you do. Listen, some of the guys in the bunkhouse were trying to get on Rip, I’m going to have a talk with him, he’s in the great room right now.”

“Alright. I don’t like it but I'll allow it for now.”

“Well that’s good, thanks.”

Sam walked back to the great room, seeing Rip sitting on the couch nervously, he was rubbing his hands back and forth, rocking slightly in nervousness. 

He sat down sipping his coffee. He wondered how Rip got into this situation. He knew the story John told him but he wanted to hear it from Rip, the person that was actually there.

“How did you get here, huh?”

“W-what?” 

“How did you get here? What’s a kid like you doing here on this ranch? For as long as I've been friends with this family, hell for as long as I've been alive, they’ve never hired teenagers.”

Rip gasps softly before clearing his throat, “I killed my family.” He turned his head to the ground in shame. Samuel was silent for a moment. Rip took a peek at the older man’s reaction only to find him, watching him with a blank expression. It sent chills down his spine.

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“My father. He found my mama and she spent so long trying to get away from him. My little brother ran into the house, just happy that he was there, even though he didn’t know him. I tried to stop him, but he was too fast, so I ran after him. One second they were yelling at each other, next thing I know, I hear screams. So blood curdling. He looked at me and the anger in his eyes, it was so strong. Next thing I remember is waking up to more screams, my little brother was,” Rip had tears coming down his face again, he was getting upset and sad all at the same time. “He was laid across the stove, just there, his eyes were so, so dead. I knew he was dead. He was smaller, so there was no way he could’ve survived any of that right? I got up and saw him stabbing her and it was like something took control of my whole body. I remember grabbing a pan and hitting him with it, over and over. I didn’t stop until he did.”

Samuels face changed into one of empathy and compassion, just a bit before going blank again.

“I ran away after that. I couldn’t face what I had done. And then some ranch hand found me, then John showed up and hired me.”

“Did he tell you why he hired you?”

Rip made a quizzical face, wondering why Samuel asked that specific question.

“It’s because I was on the run, he said people were looking for me, that it was in the news. No one knew I existed.”

“If that’s true then it wouldn’t have been in the news. Did you ever ask how they knew about you? Did you have any pictures growing up?”

Rip thought over Samuel's questions, they all seemed very logical. Why didn’t he ask? He was running on emotion and adrenaline that’s why.

“No, no pictures.”

Samuel hummed at the boy's answer, taking note of how he only answered the second question.

“Why did you go with John, a stranger to you? He could’ve been just like your father and you wouldn’t have known until it was too late.”

Rip's eyes darkened a little, an unsettling feeling crawling into his chest. He straightened up, narrowed his eyes and curled his hand into a fist. 

“He saved me. He gave me food and a place to work.”

“Ah, food and a place to ‘work’. But not safety and reassurance huh? Not a new home? You didn’t question why he didn’t send you, a minor, to foster care? Or to a hospital? You just trusted a random man with a badge and a gun. How do you know the badge was real? How do you know that the ‘people’ John said were looking for you were bad? You’re a minor, it’s not like you would’ve gone to jail.”

This caused a tsunami of questions and doubts to enter Rip's mind. He started overthinking his entire relationship with the Duttons. 

Was all of it a lie? Did he get caught in a scheme? Was he safe?

“Why are you asking me these questions?”

“Because I want you to start questioning things. Fight back. And I want to show you how quickly emotion can take over everything about you as a person. It’s ok to follow orders, to do your job and especially to express emotions, but you have to know when to fight back. Take a breath, question things, realize your environment. Come to your own conclusion of things, don’t just mindlessly follow orders. That’s how you become a pet. Those guys in the bunkhouse want to see if they can push you enough to see which one you are. A pet or a person.”

Rip’s heart was pounding in his chest. No one had ever cared about him like this before. Told him to think for himself.

“So, what should I do?”

“Learn to read the room. Analyze the situation, if you can leave, leave. Trust me, I know that people say things that will absolutely get under your skin. But you have to realize that’s exactly what they want, to get under your skin, get you emotional. The more emotion you show, the less you think, the more you’re going to react. And in the chance that it gets physical, fight back, and if it gets to the point where you feel your life is being threatened, use whatever is around as a weapon. That’s my logical advice.”

“What about your emotional advice?”

“Emotional advice? Find a hobby. And not ranching. Try painting, cooking, writing in a journal or playing an instrument. Hell, even dancing is a great way to relieve stress.”

“Find a hobby. Got it.”

“Good. Now get outta here.”

“Yes, sir. And thank you.” With that he left the room, and exited the house, a new perspective on how to get through life running through his mind.

Back at the theatre, you and Jacob began to leave, just as the credits started rolling and the lights turned back on, the two of you talked excitedly about your own theories about the movie and how it ended. 

You took a glance at your watch, it was only 3:20. You then took a quick look around, seeing the busy, near city-like life of Bozeman Montana. You decided you weren’t hungry.

“Are you hungry?” Jacob asked, like he had heard you. You shake your head, and he confirms that he isn’t either. The two of you stand outside the movie theatre in silence, as other movie goers either leave or enter. Jacob watches around him nervously.

“Hey, do you know any cool places to hang out after a movie?” You speak up.

Jacob turned his attention to you, taken back by the question. He then pondered for a second, before stretching out his hand.

“I know the perfect place.”

You glanced at it warily for a second, before taking it with an odd rush of excitement running through you.

Your face warmed up a bit as you smiled at him, trust burning in your eyes. The two of you then ran back to the truck laughing, with passerbys watching in judgement. 

The two of you hopped into the truck quickly buckling up, and heading out to this ‘Perfect place.’

Back at the ranch, John found Samuel sipping on some whiskey and staring into the endless abyss of nothingness. His face was devoid of all emotion and his eyes held a secret, something even John didn’t know.

“He’ll be alright, if that’s what you were wondering.”

“Jesus. How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Samuel turns his attention onto John, his face and eyes lighting up just a bit to show some humanity.

“That. Not be aware of your surroundings but still be so aware, how do you do it?”

“I don’t know, I’ve always been that way I guess.”

“Yeah, I know. Carly told me, you guys would always play hide and seek with her, she always lost though. That woman couldn’t hide if her life depended on it.”

Samuel’s face darkened a bit, something John noticed. “Sorry.”

Samuel shrugged in indifference. “Rip will be ok.”

“That’s good. Thank you.”

“He’ll be physically ok. There’s still a matter of his papers.”

“What about them? He’s good, declared ‘Missing.’. He’s set, right?”

“No. If he’s going to stay here and work on the ranch, he needs something to fall back on. Rip Wheeler might not entirely exist but, I can get him some papers so he can have a legal identity.”

“Hmm. Ok. You have the juice to do that?”

“I’ve got enough for things you shouldn’t worry about. Especially for rats and beggars that belong in the trash.”

“I understand. Well let’s see how long he lasts here first. I mean hell, the boys have been trying to get at him for a while. Jamie’s trying to get him to go to school, Kayce wants to help try to teach Rip the ranch, and Lee has to keep a handle on the Bunkhouse.”

John let out a soft chuckle, with Sam smiling softly at the thought. He then wondered how a man could be so oblivious to what his daughter is doing, but then thought of you and then he understood.

If Sam went through what John went through his entire life, he hates to admit it but he’d be the same. He’d be worse. 

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, the ticking of a clock distantly ringing in their ears, reminding them that time was still going, the world was still moving and it wasn’t going to stop.

“How did you do it?” John spoke up, after a minute, Samuel grunted in response, not understanding the question. “How’d you move on?”

“I didn’t. I have to. I want to. After everything, don’t we old dogs deserve some peace too?”

“Who are you calling old, need I remind you, you’re three years older than me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry your highness. Does someone need a diaper change?”

The two of them let out light laughter, something that rarely occurred. Especially with John.

Eventually the laughter slowed and Sam went back to sipping his whiskey.

“Did you ever forgive her?”

Samuel let out a dry chuckle, his eyes going distant. “I don’t think I can. I can’t forgive her, but I want to understand. I wish she had said something. Why didn’t she? Every time I look at Y/N, I see her and then I see Y/N bleeding and in pain, crying for her mom. And Alex-. I can’t forgive her, I just can’t.”

John remained silent, letting his ‘brother’ get his feelings out. He could tell Sam needed to say this, he wanted to say this, just that he couldn't say it around you.

In the car, Jacob drove you to a private and blocked off park, close to the mountains, yet far enough to still see the landscape of them. You both got out, and as you looked around a smile inched its way onto your face. It took a little while to get there, about half an hour. The sun was slowly starting to set despite it only being 4:30.

“Did you bring me here to kill me?”

Jacob chuckled, “No. This is my favorite place.”

You glanced around the park, seeing a swing set, a ferris wheel and some other old park amusements. 

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, it is.” He was gazing at you as he said this, his face flushed as he spoke the words. You glanced back at him, smiling wildly. He quickly turned away, his face turning red. “Come on, I wanna show you something.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise.”

You personally didn’t like surprises, especially after what happened with your mother, but since you’ve moved here, you started becoming more open to them.

“Ok.” Jacob grabbed your hand and pulled you towards a clearing in the park. 

“Stay here, I'll be right back.”

“Cool. I'll be here.”

Jacob ran back to the truck, quickly getting a blanket he had left in his backseat for personal reasons, along with some pillows.

“Here, we can lay on this and watch the sun go down.” He laid the blanket down before lightly tossing the pillows across the blanket. Once the pillows were down, you both laid down and got comfortable, sitting in silence for a few moments.

“Hey, how’d you find out about this place?”

Jacob turned his head towards you, swallowing thickly, he inhaled sharply before responding.

“My mom. She brought me here when I was younger. It was always our place to go whenever we needed a break from reality.”

You chuckled softly, nodding in some understanding. “That’s what my treehouse does for me.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, I have a tree house at the ranch.”

“John Dutton let you have a treehouse on his property?”

“Yeah, I can be very persuasive when I want to be.”

“Well that’s cool. I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Thank you.” 

He smiled softly at you, the sun surrounded the two of you creating a soft halo as the shadows followed closely behind, lingering like death.

“What was your mom like?”

“Hm? What?”

“I’m sorry,” Jacob apologized, sitting up. “I just noticed that you don’t talk about her much, not that we’ve gone out long enough for me to make that inference but– y’know what, I’m sorry. Forget it.”

You glanced at him from your peripheral vision, wondering if you should open up to him. You sighed and decided this could be a good thing, opening up to someone outside of your circle.

“My mom is-. My mom is someone that I would rather not know. I’m sure she was a great person, but I can’t.”

“You don’t have the best relationship with her do you?”

“No.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that.”

“Me too.” Your tone was cold, but in the back he heard the longing inside your voice. You laid back across the blanket staring at the darkening sky. Very fitting since it matched your current mood.

As he followed your actions he continued to gaze at you strongly. He then turned his attention towards the sky watching it turn dark. This was always his favorite part.

As the sky continued to darken, the park lights started to turn on, lighting up slowly.

You watched with tears glowing in your eyes, ready to fall. It was beautiful, as the feeling continued you felt something touch your hand. You glanced down, your head following along to see Jacob's hand on top of yours. 

You felt your heart start to pound, closing your eyes you intertwined your fingers with his, Jacob glanced over at you rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.

“How’d you find this place? It’s too beautiful to be hidden away.”

Yes, yes you are.

“My mom would bring me here whenever we both needed to escape. When I was 8, she sat me and Grandmama down, then told us she had cancer, I didn’t entirely understand what it meant but-I, I could feel it was bad. She would bring me and my brother here whenever we needed a break. Honestly, I really miss her sometimes.”

“That’s beautiful. You have a brother? What’s his name?”

“Yeah, Ruben, I just don’t talk to him much. He’s not the best guy, a bit like my grandpa. My grandpa was-, well he was my grandpa.”

“You don’t have the best relationship with him do you?” You mirror his earlier words. You see him shake his head in the growing darkness.

“No. No I don’t, I want to have a better relationship with him, but it’s just not meant for now, I guess.”

“Hm. I'm sorry about that.”

Jacob scoffed earnestly, “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

The two of you laid in silence for a while after. Watching the sky eventually turn completely dark. You knew you had to go home soon, but you didn’t want to. You wanted to stay here with Jacob. But eventually the two of you got up and went back to the truck.

Jacob drove you back to the ranch in a comfortable silence, as he pulled up to the main house he stopped the truck, a little while away from the entrance and cut the car off.

You opened your mouth to speak but no words came out. You glanced over at him to find him staring at you.

“Can we do this again?” Jacob asks quietly, his tone nervous and having a slight tremble. He rolled his fingers together in anxiety. 

You chuckled softly, shrugging. “Do what? Hang out.”

“No. Go on a date. I want to go on a date with you again.” Jacob spoke with confidence and intensity.

The air seemed to change, becoming more charged and electric. Your heart started to pound and your thighs clenched again. You squeezed your thighs together. His intensity got to you for some reason. 

“Yeah, I'd like that. What did you have in mind?”

In the main house your father was pacing back and forth constantly looking at the clock. It was past 6:30, it was almost half past 7. He couldn’t stop all the bad thoughts running through his head.

John watched him silently, he was also concerned but didn’t show it. Beth was sitting by the window reading a book on emotional intelligence, something John found odd. He didn’t understand it. 

Jamie and Lee were roping in the background for practice, while Kayce was sleeping on the couch. Eventually Jamie stopped, taking a look around his surroundings and then at Samuel. 

“Where’s Y/N, it’s almost 7:30. She should’ve been back by now.”

“Yes, Jamie, we realize that. Thank you.” John spoke up sarcastically, giving him a warning look. Jamie shrugged his shoulders innocently.

Beth looked up from her book, giving him an annoyed look. She then looked over at Samuel with concern showing in her deep set pale green eyes. 

“She’s fine, Dr. Y/L/N, I’m sure of it.” She then took a peak outside and saw the truck. She was going to say something but decided against it, opting to only watch for a while.

You step outside the truck and start walking towards the main house, with Jacob watching you walk, making sure you stay safe.

As you walked away from the truck you slowed down, deciding to be bold for once. Jacob stepped out of the truck in concern, wondering why you stopped walking towards the house, but as you stood there gazing at each other intensely, he felt it. You stomped over to him and gave him a kiss, he pulled away in surprise but then gazed into your eyes, seeing the assurance and permission in them. He then leaned in, with you following his action. Your lips met and it was beautiful. Jacob’s hand slid to your waist in the moment. 

In the house, Beth smirked and called Jamie over, wanting to torture him a little, as well as give him some motivation to go after what he wanted. 

The two of them watched you and Jacob kiss passionately, with Jamie wishing it was him who was kissing you so. 

After a few moments, you parted from Jacob, needing to breathe. You then glanced up at him shyly, from under your eyelashes, blushing softly.

“Good night, Jake."

“Good night, Y/N.” You then walked away from him feeling more confident than before. You walked up to the main door and watched Jacob drive away, seeing his tail lights grow more distant as he drove away.

Just as you were about to use your key to open the door, it was ripped open by Beth, who had a wide smile on her face, and mischief in her eyes.

“Hey, boys, our girl’s home!”

Multiple footsteps were heard moving through the house as you and Beth walked through the foyer, towards the great room.

Your dad looked at you in concern, you could feel his anxiousness rolling from his body, John stood quiet, with Jamie and Lee watching the interaction.

“Where were you? You were supposed to be back by 6:30, not-” Samuel checked his watch, it was now 7:12. Samuel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Beth reached forward and grabbed your hand, pulling you towards her. 

“I’m sorry dad. I'll do better, we just lost track of time.”

Samuel shook his head, then looked for everyone else’s opinion. John shrugged, while Lee and Jamie nodded.

“Don’t do it again, when I tell you to be somewhere at a certain time, I expect you to uphold it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ok, go on.”

Beth pulled you upstairs, ready to talk about how your first official date went.

“So, how was your date? Based on that kiss, I would assume it went very well.”

“Stalker.” You chuckled at the younger girl. Beth shook her head, walking over to her makeup vanity, she took a seat and put on some lip gloss.

“I wasn’t the only one watching, Jamie was too you know.”

“Ugh, truly stalker.”

“It’s not my fault he can’t let go. Truly there is something about you that we can’t let go of.”

“We?”

“We, fine. I like you too.”

You smiled widely, before going over to her T.V. and turning on her dvr. You put on a movie, deciding to relax in her room for a little bit.

Beth eventually went into the shower and put on her nightgown. She then laid beside you and slowly started to fall asleep.

Once she fell asleep, you shut the T.V. off and went to your room, where you showered and got ready for bed. Just as you were about to lay down there was a knock on your door. You slowly got off your bed and opened the door. 

“Hey.”

“Hey, Jamie. What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just- I was wondering how your day went.”

“It was good. I had fun, thank you for your help with the date.”

“Beth told you?”

“Yup.”

“Hm, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Y- Have a good night.”

“You too.”

A/N

sorry for the long wait. Work was a bitch, and the motivation wasn't there.

Not too much of Rip. The next chapter will be very steamy and angsty.

hopefully you like it.

like and comment.

see you next time ;)

[choclateshortcake02]

You know what, I forgot the most important thing about x reader stories.

IMAGINATION

Fuck the face claims, I can’t think of anyone anyway.

[choclateshortcake02]

This chapter is taking much longer than I expected, and not entirely because of the length. Sorry for making y’all wait. Work and family have been kicking me in my ass.

Hopefully I’ll have it out by Saturday Night.

[choclateshortcake02]

New chapter coming tomorrow morning hopefully.

As well as face claims. But again this is a x reader thing so, imagine yourself as that person.

The face claim I put is from my ethnicity and as I said/wrote, since I am African American/Black, the way I write my characters (x reader) will most likely be for black women. But I do try to not have the ethnicity be explicit.

If I fail, oh well.🤷🏽‍♀️

[talesofanemerald]

Idc, normalize kink shaming. Cause y'all be using “don’t kink shame” and “it’s fiction” to excuse being into incest, pedophilia, cannibalism, etc. Like, be so fr, you ship a 14 year old with a 30 year, want to get railed by your dad and want to see two brothers f*ck each other. I don’t engage with things fictionally that I don’t like/wouldn’t want to do in real life. Yes, I’m judging you.

[choclateshortcake02]

Just saw the first episode of Dutton Ranch and most of the shorts they’ve posted on their YouTube channel.

Why did they copy me????!!!

I can sue right?????lol

[choclateshortcake02]

Just saw the Dutton Ranch teaser. I love it.

I’m not mad at it. Hopefully it sticks the landing

[choclateshortcake02]

Snakes and Possible First Dates - R.W

WC: 7k, no edits aside from Google Docs

Warnings: Lying, OOC Beth, Cheating

Summary: Your relationship with Beth hits a small snag, first date plans (not yet) Snakes are in the garden, More lies are revealed. Yearning starts tenfold.

The next couple of days you would count as both the best and worst of your life. You invited Beth over and the two of you had a sleepover, prank calling the ranch and some of her ‘friends’. The two of you relaxed and watched cartoons most of the week, trying on each other's clothes and talking about boys. Though whenever you tried to bring up Jacob, she’d change the subject, something you took note of. You knew it was about what she’d done with him. 

It was on Tuesday afternoon when you decided to bring it up. You were getting annoyed that she wouldn’t let you talk about the boy you liked. Let alone that she wouldn’t tell you the truth.

“Why won’t you let me talk about Jacob? It’s like you don’t like him or something.”

“It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s just that.. I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure he’s for you.”

“Yeah, because you know what’s for me? You know Jacob told me what you did.”

“And you believed him? You actually believe I would touch that dork. He’s not even my type.”

You turned towards her in disbelief. You let out a scoff and turned to walk upstairs towards your room. 

“I didn’t say, he said you touched him, but now I know you did.” 

Beth jogged after you, as you moved faster trying to get away from her. You enter your room closing it but it quickly opens, Beth entering through the door.

“I’m sorry Ok. I’m sorry, I was upset and sad. That was the third funeral I've been to in my 13 years of living. The first was my Grandpa, then my mama, then his mom died and I got reminded of it all.”

“That’s not an excuse. It’s not me you should be apologizing to. You didn’t sexually assault me.”

“I didn’t sexually assault him. Men can’t get sexually assaulted. It’s not like he was complaining, he liked it.”

“You know what, I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. Just because he doesn’t say anything about it at the moment doesn’t mean he wasn’t sexually assaulted. You both were grieving, you should have just given him your condolences. But no, you took things too far, you always take things too far.”

Beth scowled and started breathing harshly, “My mother was the best thing about my family, you think just because some kids mom dies I should hug them and say it’s going to be ok? Jacob is lucky we even came to the funeral.”

“You really are a bitch sometimes you know that.” You scoffed out, sighing disappointedly. 

Beth felt tears come down her face, but she quickly wiped them away. The thing she feared would happen, did happen. Your relationship was fractioning over a boy. 

“I’m going home!”

“Yeah whatever.”

Beth called Jamie and she left back to the ranch, in a fit. On the drive home, Jamie took a moment to look at Beth, who was tearing up again.

“What happened?”

“She trusts a boy over me. How do I fix that?”

“What happened to make her trust a boy over you? Who’s the guy?”

She ignored his first question, only opting for answering the second one, “Jacob Reilly.”

“Oh. Wasn’t he that skinny kid whose mom died a couple months after mom? Doesn’t he have an older brother?”

Beth turned to him sharply, anger filled her face, turning it red. Jamie pulled into the entrance of the ranch, and parked by the main house. He ignored the look she gave him, getting out of the truck, only thinking of you and Jacob.

Did he ask you out? If he did would you say yes? He needed to stop it all, but how could he?

Beth got out of the car after a minute, walking after Jamie, pushing him out of the way she opened the door and walked through the foyer, passed the kitchen and dining room to the stairs and to her room.

Jamie tiredly followed after her, heading to his own room. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Beth told him. Her friendship with you broke over Jacob Reilly.

How could he fix this? He needed to ask you out before Jacob did. He needed to marry you to finally get his fathers approval.

The next day, Rip woke up and decided to officially speak to you. He hasn’t spoken to you in such a long time, he couldn’t speak to you directly after That Night but now, especially now, he needed to speak to you. He had been sleeping in the bunkhouse with the drifters and other cowboys for a little bit while they got to fixing the horse stalls. 

John had a few of the boys go into the barn while he and Sam went to put the horses in a small pen behind the main house for the meantime. Lee grabbed the measuring tape and called for Jamie to help him with the stall door, once it was fully measured Rip marked it. 

As the boys continued to measure and mark the stalls, another car pulled up. It was an old Voltswagen, definitely had to be Mr. Blue, John’s magic healer as he calls him.

Mr. Blue got out of his car and walked towards the barn seeing movement, as he walked he seemed to bask in the sun on his way. 

Everyone thought he was an odd man, not in a bad way though, more-so funny odd. Beth especially, she would call him Mr. Gypsy just to piss him off.

He made it into the barn, taking notice of the damaged horse stalls.

“Hey kid. Where’s your dad?”

Lee turned around and pointed towards the house. Mr. Blue nodded and started walking towards the house.

When he left the boys continued their work in silence, but the silence would only last so long.

Jamie looked towards Rip nervously, but relaxed seeing him work on marking the stalls.

“Hey, Lee?”

“What’s up?” Lee continued measuring his side of the stall, climbing onto the ladder to reach the top.

“How-how do you get a girl's attention after going on a bad date?”

“Is this about Y/N?”

“What the he- How do you know about that?” Jamie sighed, exasperated and annoyed. He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

Beth can’t keep her mouth shut. That’s why she shouldn’t know everything.

“Beth obviously. Plus you don’t make your feelings very obvious. Hey Rip?”

Rip was there pretending not to listen in on their conversation, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like that Jamie had feelings for you. He knew you guys had gone out one time but he didn’t know the boy had serious feelings for you. He hated that he felt this way, it wasn’t his place to feel whatever it was that he was feeling.

“Yeah?” He turned around and walked a little closer to them. 

“What would you do if you had feelings for a girl and wanted to get her attention after a bad date?”

“Well I don’t have feelings for-”

“It doesn’t matter, if you did. Hypothetically what would you do?” Lee quickly cut Rip off.

“Well, if I went on a bad date with a girl that I had genuine feelings for, I would ask her out again. Maybe buy her flowers or some jewelry if she’s into that type of stuff. Or at least let her know that I pay attention to what she says or take notice of how she does a certain thing.”

“My thoughts exactly. So, if you want to go out with Y/N again, just ask her. Who cares if you went on one bad date.” Lee glanced at Rip smirking trying to see his reaction.

In response Rip looked at the ground, his face turning red, lips contorting into a sneer. He inhaled silently and looked towards Jamie, ignoring Lee and his smirking face.

“You’re right. I’m just going to do it. I’m going to ask her out again.”

Lee nodded and gave him a supportive thumbs up, while Rip remained silent.

After the conversation the boys continued their work in silence, while Rip stewed in his own thoughts.

At the main house Mr. Blue finally found John and let him know he was going to be going out of town for a couple of weeks to visit his mother.

Samuel introduced himself and gave a firm handshake, and a nod of appreciation.

After Mr. Blue left, John and Samuel started to walk back towards the barn in a comfortable silence.

“I might have to take a loan out from the bank.” John stopped walking, breaking the silence.

“What for?” Samuel also stopped, turning to give him his full attention.

“The cattle. I don’t have enough money to pay it off.”

“Then just find a different revenue stream for the Ranch, you could sell some of it or something.”

“It’s a small ranch, I promised my daddy to never sell it. Ever.”

“Ok, then just turn a small part of it into a vegetable farm, I know a guy from the countryside that moved to New York because his family farm was foreclosed on and he got the farm back in two years, because he learned to work in urban farming as well.”

“Oh, isn’t that Bill Green from Green Family Farms. Yeah, I hear he grows a mean tomato. That’s a nice story but it’s not for me. I’m not selling the ranch or changing the business model, this way has worked for years.”

“Maybe in the 1800s but not now. You need to learn and grow if you want to keep this place. You need to learn how to play dirty and know when to back out of a war you can’t win. How do you think my family kept our place here, while dad and I went to Pennsylvania? Mom taught Carly to be mean when she needed to be.”

“So what you’re saying is I need knights?”

“Well, not knights, but that’s a start. You need people you can trust, people who are loyal to you and this ranch. You mentioned Beth was really good at math? I’m sure she can get a scholarship at some fancy school.”

“Maybe. I always had plans for my kids, I know what I need them to be to protect this place.”

“You shouldn’t tell them what they should be, they should decide.”

“Yeah, well they don’t get to. They live in my house, living under my rules, they’ll be whatever I want them to be, because the ranch comes first. That’s what my dad said.”

“Ok. I hope you know this way of thinking is going to ruin this place.”

“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. We’ll both be dead before we see that day.”

“I hope so, this place isn’t the worst, and it holds a lot of memories, good and bad.” Samuel took a long glance around him, before continuing to walk towards the barn. John sighed, rolling his eyes, following after him.

At the house, you stayed up most of the day thinking of what Beth told you the night before. You made yourself some pancakes for lunch, and had ice cream for a snack. You wondered if you had judged her too harshly, and taken Jacob's side too quickly.

Granted you have known her a little longer than him, but the story made you so sick that you couldn’t help but believe him. And Beth corroborated the story herself. You knew she could be mean, but to be evil like that, especially after losing her own mother 6 months prior, deeply concerned you.

You couldn’t help but think you were being a little hypocritical. Just as you headed to call Beth on the house phone to apologize, it began to ring. You let it ring for a second, wondering who could be calling, then you remembered you had given Jacob the house phone number.

You licked your dry lips and exhaled shakily, no boy had ever called you before. You wouldn’t know where to begin the conversation.

You slowly picked up the phone and inhaled softly.

“Hello.”

Silence.

“Hello?”

Silence again.

“Hello?!”

More silence. You were starting to get annoyed and very uncomfortable.

“Jacob, if this is you, it’s not funny.”

“You are very beautiful, you know that?” The voice on the other end finally spoke up.

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion.

You didn't recognize the voice. Who is this?

“Who is this?”

“Just, someone.”

“Ok, someone, I’m hanging up now.” You hung up the phone quickly after that.

It rings quickly after you hang it up. You let it ring and walk away. It goes off again and again and again, eventually stopping after the fifth attempted call.

You feel something in your gut telling you something was off but you ignore it, attempting to enjoy the rest of your day out of the summer heat. 

You wonder if you should’ve just gone to the ranch with your dad today. But you didn’t want to see Beth or Jamie. And especially Rip. 

Stupid Rip, with his beautiful green eyes and dark brown hair that somehow, sometimes looks almost auburn. Maybe his mother was a red head, must be a recessive gene.

You tried not to think about him, but it was impossible. Every time you saw something that reminded you of him, every time you saw something funny, you wished you could tell him about it just to hopefully see him laugh. 

You hate that you haven’t talked to him in a couple month’s. And honestly it had nothing to do with him choosing Beth anymore. You just genuinely didn’t want to talk to him at first but eventually you were doing it to be petty. But now, you missed him. You missed him so much. You prayed at night that God would give you the strength to talk to him again. 

When night fell and your dad got home, you had already made some mac and cheese for dinner. You had it ready on the table so the two of you could eat together and talk about your days.

As your dad mostly opened up about his, he took notice of your withdrawn demeanor and distracted eyes.

“Hey, you ok?”

Your eyes snapped up towards him, you nodded your head after a second processing his question.

Your dad hummed quietly, nodding in acknowledgement, but he made a mental note of your distant behavior. 

“How was your day?”

“It was ok. I had pancakes for lunch.”

“That’s all you did today? You didn’t go outside or anything?”

“Nope.” You were cautious about mentioning that weird phone call you got.

“I saw Beth today.” He watched you, waiting to see if you’d react.

You shrugged your shoulders indifferently. “Ok.”

“You guys haven’t hung out lately, did something happen?”

“No. She’s just a -,” You sighed, dropping your fork. “I don’t think we’re going to hang out much anymore.”

“Ok. Well what about Rip?”

You gasped softly, “Wh-What?” Your voice cracked a bit.

“You haven’t talked to him since about ... November. And I know I seem like an older man with no life experience but you have to remember I have two children. I know things, like when you or your brother is lying. And I know about you and Rip. I know you have something, I see the way you look at him.”

“Had.”

Your dad hummed in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

“We had something, but it was just a stupid crush. Besides, he wants Beth, not me. Guess Aunt Carly was right.” You scoffed out bitterly.

“What did Carly say?” 

“Nothing it’s just-, it’s nothing.”

“No it’s not nothing, what did she say?”

“She just said that guys like Rip wouldn’t love girls like us, well like me. That the most I would be was a crush to men like him.”

Samuel sighed, dropping his fork and walking around to your side of the table. He cradled your face in his hands softly.

“Baby, you are a wonderful young woman, you’re beautiful, strong and intelligent, and any man would be lucky to love you, let alone be loved by you. And any boy that wants to catch your heart, well they’re gonna have to ask me for it first. Don’t listen to what Aunt Carly said. I know this place isn’t like back home, but you’ve already made it so far here.”

You gave him a watery smile, tears running down your face. He gently wiped them away, kissing your forehead. 

“Thanks dad.”

“Don’t cry, it’s the truth.”

You gave him a big smile. Then you thought of something. You thought of her. 

Samuel goes back to his seat and eats the rest of his food.

“Hey dad?”

“Yeah sweetie?”

“Am I a lot like mom?”

Sam looked shocked at your question, he wasn’t expecting that.

He looked away from you and took a sip of his water.

The silence continued for a long while all the way until dinner was finished. He didn’t say anything for the rest of the night.

The next morning the two of you (mostly your dad) still reeling from the awkward question from last night's dinner, got dressed and headed over to the ranch for work.

You saw Rip immediately when you got there, he was filling a horse trough with a water hose. 

He looked up and saw you, he smiled at you completely forgetting that the two of you haven’t spoken in months. You smiled at him back, waving a little.

He could feel his heart begin to pound as he continued to stare, he eventually looked down, back at the trough as you started to walk away.

As you and Sam walked up to the main house, the door opened and Beth came running out jumping to give you a crushing hug. It was weird, especially since you two were currently icing each other out.

But still being the older girl around you hugged her back. You noticed over the summer she started getting a little taller, she’s almost around your height, now standing at 5 '4 to your 5' 6 ½.

Sam smiled watching the two of you for a second before he walked into the house.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing I just, I really needed that.”

Beth pulled away, looking at you, she smiled softly causing you to smile back.

“You have something you want to tell me?”

Beth nodded, “I called Jacob.”

“Oh. And how did that go?”

“Honestly, better than I expected. He said that he acknowledged my apology but that he couldn't forgive me just yet.”

The two of you started to walk into the house, heading up to her room, continuing the conversation now more silently.

“Then he asked me to ask you to go to the movies with him.”

Your head snapped at her, in shock. You enter her room, closing the door after she enters.

“What?”

“Yeah, he wants to go on a date with you. And you’re going, tomorrow, 3 o’clock, Merris Theatre. You're gonna put your hands in the popcorn at the same time and see what happens.”

“Why did you think I would agree to that?”

“Because you would agree to it. Look, I know I may have overstepped but I know you like him. And I missed you. I know it’s only been a day or so of not talking to each other but it feels like an eternity.”

“Are you going all soft on me? Don’t tell me you lost your fire because of me.”

“No, I'm just trying to be the woman my mother would’ve wanted me to be. Starting by fixing my mistakes and admitting when I'm wrong.”

“Well I'm glad. And you making mistakes doesn’t make you any less of a woman. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

Beth smiled at you again, then this time you initiated the hug. You hugged her for a minute.

“So tell me about your week? What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“You did nothing all week?”

“Well I laid in bed, watched TV, read a boring book most of it anyway and I had pancakes for lunch.”

“That’s so lame. See this is why we need each other, I can break you out of your shell, show you where all the best places to hang out are.”

“I don’t need to be broken out of my shell. Plus Alex does that enough for the both of us.”

“That’s your big brother right?”

“Yup.”

“What’s he like?”

“He is amazing. He’s kind, stubborn and scarily intelligent. I’d go to him for anything, because I know he’ll take care of me, just like I would for him.”

Beth chuckled, “I wish I could meet him, he sounds cool.”

“He’s alright.” You jokingly shrug indifferently. The two of you burst out laughing, then the two of you start planning outfits to wear for your date tomorrow. 

As you tried on the clothes, Beth asked you to model them for her, as you did she took notice of the scars on your abdomen. She stared for a long moment, suddenly feeling pity for you.

You could feel her staring at your scars, so you decided to change the subject.

“Ever watch Scooby Doo?”

“Isn’t that the cartoon we were watching last week?”

“No, that was, Looney Tunes.”

“Well I apologize for not knowing the different cartoons in the world. This is rural America after all, who cares about that?”

“That’s true. You guys are just different.” You both let out some quiet laughs.

Outside the room, John heard laughter coming from Beth's room. It made him smile. 

He knows she’s been having a very hard time since Evelyn died, and he also knows that it’s his fault. Maybe if he were a different man, a better man, he would’ve told her that none of it was her fault. That he was just happy she was safe, that Kayce was safe. But he didn’t. He doesn’t have a fatherly role towards his children and he can admit that. He’s not Samuel, someone who can openly make their children feel safe, while having a breakdown himself. 

While he was not in love with Evelyn, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t love her. She became a good friend of his, both of them willingly taking advantage of their arranged marriage. And while she was happy having her cake and eating healthily on the side, he was just dying from the diabetes her cake had given him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he continued listening in on the laughter you two shared. Beth needed another girl around. She needed you. John could see that.

God help anyone who’d think of hurting you, or they’ll have Beth and the Duttons to worry about, and vice versa.

When Beth finished helping you find a nice outfit from her closet, which ironically somehow fit, you decided to go outside to start your shadow work for the day. When you did the ranch work you were supposed to do, you went to the barn, seeing the mess of the unfinished horse stalls. 

You looked around, taking it all in. Your dad had mentioned that one of the drifters had accidentally broken a horse stall trying to get the horse he rode (Angus) out. Then they figured out it wasn’t the drifter or the horse that broke it. It was mice, chipping away at the wood. 

He also mentioned John had Rip staying in the bunkhouse in the meantime while they fixed the issue. 

As you continued to stand there, someone else entered. You turn seeing Rip, he seemed nervous.

“Oh. Hey, I can leave, if you want me too.”

“Who would ever want you to leave them?” Rip scoffed out in reply, as he walked up to you.

It was your turn to scoff, only it came out bitter.

The boy hasn't spoken to you in months and he says something like that and somehow your heart falls for it. You wanted to move on.

“They really tore this place apart huh.”

“Yeah.” 

There was an uncomfortable silence that filled the air, only being broken by the sounds of nature and the occasional horse whinnies.

“So how hav-”

“I heard-”

“Oh, sorry, you first.”

“After you.”

“Ok. How have you been, you know, since everything.”

“I’ve been better. Some days are definitely better than others. But that's the thing about chaos, we all need some in our lives. It doesn’t make life easier though. How about you? How are you doing?”

“I’ve been better.” You parrot his previous words, “I have a date tomorrow.”

“Jamie asked you out again?”

“Jamie, Wh-What? No. I asked some guy out. We’re going to the movies.”

“Oh, ok. Cool.” Rip sounded jealous, he turned his head as he curled his lips into a disgusted mug, he hated that he was jealous, he chose Beth, he shouldn’t be jealous of you and another guy.

“Yeah, I really like him. Hopefully it goes well.”

“If he’s smart, he would like you. And he’d do everything in his power to make sure the date did go well.”

“Thanks.”

Rip nodded in acknowledgment, giving a shy smile. Then you turned and walked away.

Rip lingered still feeling your presence even if you weren’t physically in the room. He could also smell the soap you used. Cherry Blossom and Honey, with a hint of almond.

After a minute he left the barn. The day continued as normal, well as normal as it could get.

When 6 o’clock came around, you and your dad decided to stick around until the morning to help put the stall doors on. 

As you all sat around the dinner table waiting for the supper to be served, you and Beth were making light conversation about the different types of shoes to wear in the summer time.

You could feel Jamie staring at you, but you ignored him. You didn’t want to open that door again.

When supper arrived, you ate your food in a comfortable silence, listening to your dad and the boys talk about when they were going to fix up the barn doors. Estimated time should be within the week.

As the boys continued talking about the barn, Beth listened quietly, rolling her eyes.

Snapping, she dropped her fork, grabbing everyone's attention.

“Yes, Beth?” John asked tiredly. Beth shrugged innocently, picking up her fork again, taking a bite out of her roasted potatoes.

She chewed quickly, but carefully, when she was done she swallowed. “I just want to let it be known that Y/N/N has a date tomorrow.”

Your head snapped towards her, shocked and confused. “Beth!”

That’s new. Y/N/N. You didn’t mind it though.

Jamie looked down at his food dejectedly. His mood quickly turned sour.

Samuel chuckled and smiled, “Is that true sweetheart? You have a date?”

“Yeah, but Beth set it up, so be mad at her.”

“Hey!” She was deeply offended that you would try to get her in trouble for her schemeness.

“I’m not mad, I’m happy. You're putting yourself out there. Even though Beth was the one to do it for you.”

“See he’s not mad. And you should be thanking me, he could be your boyfriend.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just see how one date goes.”

John let out a slight chuckle chewing his food, listening to this odd conversation. When supper was finished, the dishes were washed, everyone headed to bed. You and Samuel decided to stay over for the week, just to help out with everything, wherever you needed to. At least until the horse stalls were completed.

While everyone was in bed or presumed to be so, John and Samuel decided to go to the great room and have a drink.

“You’re really ok with your daughter dating?” John asked after taking a sip of his whiskey.

“Not really, but she’s 16. She’s going to date, whether I like it or not. I can embrace it and support her or push her away over something people go through everyday. And it’s not like anyone’s forcing her to do it. I went through it when Alex got his first girlfriend when he was 13, and it was obviously different, but I still had to give him That Talk. Just because they’re young doesn’t mean they don’t do stupid things. They’re learning and it’s best that they’re able to come to us, especially when they need help.”

“I wish I thought like you. If any of the boys got a girl pregnant they’d be married the next day. If Beth got pregnant, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“That’s why you need me. I help try to keep you sane, whether it’s working is to be seen.”

“Yeah, well thanks for all your help brother.”

“Ain’t no issue. I know you’d do the same for me.”

John smiled and nodded. The two of them continued to drink in comfortable silence. Until Sam broke it.

“How’s Rip getting on with everyone? He’s been here since late July of last year, right?”

“Yeah, the boy’s doing fine.”

“Mhmm. You didn’t want to enroll him in school or anything?”

John sighed, rolling his eyes. “What do you want to ask?”

“Why is he here? I’m sure he has family looking for him, doesn’t he?”

“Oh, he does. But I need him here.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just felt like I needed him here. Like how I knew I needed you here.”

“Who’s looking for him?”

“His grandmother, she’s from Georgia. That’s why I had to make sure there was no trace of him anywhere. So, no, no school, no nothing. He gets an allowance while working here, not on the payroll.”

“So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. This kid kills his dad in self defence for murdering his mom and little brother and instead of letting him know he’s not in trouble for it, you let him think that he is in trouble and he should be on the run, because people are looking for him. What happens when he gets older, decides to look up his family and realizes that you lied to him.”

“That won’t happen.”

“You’ve got a lot of faith in people.”

“Not faith, loyalty.”

“Forced loyalty. You can’t force loyalty, you have to earn it.”

“That’s not what my daddy said.”

“I hate to break it to you but life is going to be even harder to you if you continue to force things on people. It’s like constantly abusing a man and expecting him not to fight back after pushing him too far.”

“Oh, please. My life will be fine, it’s you I’m worried about.”

“Me.” Sam let out a scoffed laugh.

“When was the last time you got laid?”

“Is that a conversation you want to have?”

“No, but I bet if you had a lady you wouldn’t be so worried about me and what I’m doing.”

“Pot meet Kettle, besides I have a lady. And I worry about you either way. You’re a stubborn, stubborn man.”

“You’ve got a lady?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda new. I haven’t told the kids yet.”

“What’s her name?”

“Virginia. Virginia Carswell.”

“Oh, wasn’t she that super hot senior we knew when we were growing up?”

“Yeah. I think she was in the class of ‘69. She was still there when my dad and I left to go to the farm in Pennsylvania.”

“Dating an older woman, I like it.”

“She’s not old, she’s in her prime. Besides she has a daughter and son, Y/N’s age. Maybe they’ll be friends.”

“Hm. When are you gonna tell them?”

“Hopefully soon. Alex’s internship is ending this month, he’s coming down for the summer, I'll tell them then.”

“Ok. Just don’t wait too long.”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice. I’m not gonna have my kids resent me for living my life. Thankfully they’re mostly supportive.”

“That’s nice, you have a family. Mine is broken.”

“It’s not broken, you’re just there, you need to try.”

“I am trying.” 

Sam scoffed unconvinced. “Sure.”

John chuckled lightly in response, “I’m happy you're here.”

“Me too.”

They finished their drinks in comfortable silence, before heading up to their own respective beds.

The next morning as the boys and Samuel helped John figure out which new barn stalls to install, the girls ate breakfast and talked about what their days would hopefully entail.

As Rip went to leave the barn to check on the horses, he noticed a long form slithering on the ground.

“Oh, Shit, a snake!” He quickly climbed onto the closest rafter and held on for dear life. Lee and Jamie went to follow, despite not seeing the snake themselves.

John and Sam ran further into the barn, hearing the commotion, quickly seeing the snake themselves.

Sam looked up towards the boys and rolled his eyes. “Really.” 

“It’s a Rattlesnake. Don’t judge.” 

“It’s not a Rattlesnake, it’s a Bullsnake. Notice the small head and the red blotches on its yellow body. It’s not even venomous.”

Samuel moved closer to the snake, intending to study it to get confirmation. In response, it hissed, sounding very close to a rattlesnake.

“Be careful, Sam.”

Sam let out an indifferent ‘uh huh’ in response. He calmly moved closer, just close enough to actually see it in the light. The boys watched in fear, nervous about the snake's reaction. 

The snake hissed once again and lunged at Sam in a bluff attack. In response, Sam quickly caught it in his hand.

This action even caught John by surprise, he jumped back, not wanting to be in the crossfire of this one sided battle.

“I need one of you to go tell Y/N to get that mini amphibian cage out of her room.”

Despite his fear of the snake, even after being told it was nonvenomous, Rip jumped down from the rafter he was holding onto. He shakily walked forward, volunteering to go.

John was a bit uncomfortable about letting a worker into his house, aside from Lloyd and Sam. They were the only two he trusted enough to willingly let walk around his house. John gave Rip directions around the house, and Rip ran to the house as quickly as he could. Lee and Jamie jumped down from where they were hanging, watching Rip run towards the house.

Samuel gleefully held the snake in his hands, feeling it slither around his arms, now calm.

“How the hell are you doing that Mr. Y/L/N?” Lee asked nervously, he inched closer in curiosity.

“Just remain calm. I had a snake growing up, remember?” He made that last remark towards John.

“Oh, yeah. Midnight.”

“Is no one concerned about a '15' year old boy in a house with two girls?” Jamie spoke up, jealously.

“Jamie stop.” Lee’s head snapped towards him, John watched the interaction curiously.

“What do you mean?” 

“Nothing. It’s fine dad.”

Rip came back just at that second. He held the small cage in his hands.

“I got it.”

“Open it for me.” Samuel turned to face Rip, snake in hand.

“Yes sir.” Rip unlocked the top part of the glass cage, and Samuel gently let the snake slither out of his hands and into the cage. He quickly locked it afterwards.

Everyone watched in silence.

“What do you plan to do with it?” John asked after a second.

“Nothing, we keep it. It’ll eat all the mice.”

“I know that, but what do you plan to do with it when we put the horses back into their stalls.”

“Do what you want with it. I say we keep it. It’ll kill the mice around.”

“Good. That’s what I was thinking, I just didn’t want to break your heart if you were to want to keep it as a pet.”

“That’s kind of you.”

John shrugged indifferently. After the snake fiasco everyone went about their business.

It was around 6 o’clock when Rip finished his work. And when he was done he went to the only place he could think. The tree house.

He saw the lamp light on in the tree house and went to inspect it. He froze seeing you there.

Despite him knowing it was your special private place, he had grown accustomed to going there whenever he needed to breathe or think, and with how awkward things had been the past few months he wasn’t expecting to see you there.

“H-hey.” He spoke up nervously yet quiet, you were wrapped up in a blanket, another one under you with some pillows surrounding you.

“Hey.”

“Can I um-?” He gestured towards the open space next to you. You nodded quickly.

“Yeah sure.”

“Thanks.” He climbed up the rest of the way and crawled into the treehouse. He automatically went to the wooden chest in the corner and grabbed an extra blanket. Despite it being summer, that is somehow when it gets the coldest at night, despite winter time.

The two of you sat in an awkward yet comfortable silence for a few moments.

“So, how have you been? Really?” You break the silence, turning your body to him.

Rip sighed, he thought about lying to you. He lies to almost everyone in the bunkhouse (mostly). But he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to lie to you, so he didn’t.

“I’m doin’ ok, but other days could be better. Your dad, Lee and Jamie are a big help.”

“I’m glad they’re around as well. What would make those days better for you?”

You being here more would always make those days better. He wanted to say, but he kept it inside. 

“I don’t know.”

“Well, how’s the bunkhouse? Are they still bothering you?”

“They don’t bother me. They’re just joking around.”

“Where I come from, calling someone ‘orphan boy’ and getting spit at by older people is not ‘joking around’. That’s bullying.”

“How’s that any different from what you do?”

“When have I ever bullied you?”

“You call me another guy's name half the time, you’ve called me Big Boy, Butch, Shane, Huckleberry and Green Eyes.”

“Hey, I have only called you two of those, out loud at least. And that’s not bullying. That’s teasing. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“You don’t hurt me. And they don’t hurt me. I’m ok.”

“Ok, that’s fine. But they’re gonna keep doing it, you know. You have to set boundaries, otherwise you’re gonna go through the same cycle, over and over until you break.”

Rip scoffed quietly. He shook his head, he needed to change the subject.

“How about you? What have you been up to these past few months.”

“Not much. I had a few weird moments over the weekend but overall, I am fine.”

“What was weird about it?”

“What?”

“What was weird about your weekend?”

“Well, I asked my dad if I was a lot like my mom and he just froze. He never freezes. It was weird, seeing him go silent like that.”

Rip noticed you never talk about your mother, so the fact that you were opening up to him about it made him feel special.

“Maybe you just caught him off guard.”

“Or maybe, I am like my mom, more than he’d like to admit.”

“Maybe you are.” You turn your head to him in shock, not expecting that response. “Maybe you remind him of her in some small way, but you’re still you and he just wants to keep you in a safe bubble. Far away from whatever it is that he was afraid to tell you.”

“Well now who’s perceptive.”

Rip smiled gently, winking at you. “What about the other weird thing?”

“Huh?”

“You said a few weird things happened, I may not be in school like Jamie or this Jacob kid but I do know a few is 2 or more.”

You sighed, looking at the ground. You decided, if you were going to tell someone, it may as well be him.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone. Especially my dad.”

“I promise.”

“Promise Me! Cross your heart and hope to die.” You emphasize the words.

“I promise. I cross my heart and hope to die, and if I am to go, I pray that if I break this promise that I go slow.”

“I got a weird phone call last week.”

“Weird like what?”

“Weird like, scary movie type, weird. I answered whoever called and there was silence. I kept pressing, trying to get whoever was on the other end to answer but they didn’t and when they finally did, they said and I quote ‘you are beautiful’. And I got a really weird feeling afterwards.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why are you telling me?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to worry. And I trust you, probably more than anyone.”

The two of you sat in silence again letting what you said sink in. After a minute, Rip decided to change the subject again.

“So you have a date?”

You nod in confirmation.

“Who’s the guy? If I can ask that?”

“You can. It’s Jacob Reilly.”

“Do you think he’s a good guy?”

You contemplated for a moment, before nodding silently. Rip watched you as you did this.

“Yeah, I do.”

Rip remained silent for a moment. He needed to move on.

“I was jealous at first.”

“What?” Your head turned towards him in surprise.

“I was jealous of Jamie and of this Jacob kid. And I realize that I have no right to be. We weren’t really- We never. Well you know.” You nodded in agreement.

“I was being petty.” You let out a quiet chuckle.

Rip let out a shocked chuckle, “What?”

“I was being petty. That’s why I haven’t talked to you. I mean at first, I just didn’t want to, but then I was just being petty. You deserve to be happy. You deserve happiness, in all of its forms. And if you can find that with Beth, I'm happy and I support it. And I'm only saying this because I-, I missed you. I miss talking to you.”

“I missed you too. More than you know.”

You lunged out from the blanket that was around your body and hugged him. He immediately melted into the hug, hugging you back.

The air around the two of you changed, the longer the two of you remained in the embrace. Rip pulled away first, his eyes quickly finding yours, before glancing down at your lips.

He leaned in slowly, he felt his lower region heat up and his pants started to feel tighter. He wanted to do this, he wanted to kiss you. So he did, he kissed you like he would do it forever and in the back of his mind he wished it was true. He gently pushed the blanket wrapped around you off and started to pull you onto him. He was going to go a little further, but he was stopped, not by his own conscience, but by you.

You pulled away quickly, gasping slightly, lips swollen. “We can’t. Beth.”

Rip looked around in realization, “Right, I'm sorry.” He cleared his throat and tugged at his pants, this feeling unfamiliar to him.

“No, I'm sorry.”

“It’s ok, we can forget about it.”

I can’t forget about it. I don’t want to.

“Yeah. Um- I’m going to go to bed, good night.”

“Good night.”

Rip watched you leave the treehouse in the dark, flashlight in hand.

Rip stayed in the treehouse for another 15 minutes longer. He couldn’t get you out of his head.

He had a girlfriend (sort of) and he couldn’t get another girl out of his head.

Mr. Y/L/N was right, this is going to blow up in our faces.

Back at home, inside your room, in the emptiness stood a shadow. A man’s figure. He was staring at a picture of you and your family. He then started rifling through your closet, eventually finding a picture of just you, in the 7th grade, hair freshly done in an updo for picture day. 

“You are so beautiful. I wonder what the inside of you looks like? I’ll find out soon enough.”

A/N

sorry this took so long. they switched my schedule around at work.

yes. i mentioned Big City Greens, my favorite cartoon show on disney as of late. sue me. (please don't disney)

I might update the banners soon. maybe tomorrow, if i can figure out how i did it in the first place.

and yes, I specifically looked up Montana area snakes, because rattlesnakes are not the only ones there.

like. comment, reblog.

[choclateshortcake02]

I can’t stand Ladybugs. I know they’re supposed to be good luck or whatever but I just can’t. 🥶😫

One of them somehow found its way into my room, with all the windows closed.

What does that mean??????????!!!!!!!!!

[choclateshortcake02]

New chapter coming out tonight. Most likely 11:15 or 11:30

Edit: tomorrow evening 6 to 6:30

[choclateshortcake02]

I started watching Wednesday today. On episode 6 of season 1 rn, I love it so far

Edit: finished onto season 2

[choclateshortcake02]

Summertime Girls

WC: 5k, no edits aside from Google docs. summary: Summer starts, exploration begins, rip lays in the bed he made, but for how long, Jamie shares a secret.

Warnings: Both in character and slightly OOC Beth, creepy older men. Incorrect ranching info.

When your dad’s 45th birthday passed and the new year began, your 16th birthday passed and the school year was over, you and your dad finally moved to the small ranch just by The Yellowstone. Just a small 15 minute drive. You still had your room in the Dutton house, same as the treehouse.

A gift from John, plus if you were to ever need somewhere to go, should something happen, it was just convenient. So now you have two places to sleep. Your new home and the Dutton ranch. You would switch between the two, when your dad would work long hours on the yellowstone and you were in the dutton household, you would sleep there, it was messy and a little uncomfortable but after a month, you’ve gotten used to it. You would see Rip and your heart would hurt, but you ignored it. Somehow you knew despite the emotional pain you were currently in, you would be ok.

The summer heat was scorching, it was the beginning of June, but somehow instead of being a mix of calm heat and some rain, it was as if the earth moved closer to the sun, causing the earth to boil over. Your self defense training was going well, and life seemed to be picking up, except those dark thoughts still lingered around, desperate to escape. You knew it had to be how you really felt, they are your thoughts after all. You were afraid something would push you over the edge, you just didn’t know when or what it would be.

Jamie watched you a little more, it was now definitely uncomfortable. He’s been doing it for months now, and you had a feeling it had to do with that whole ‘marriage’ business. He would look at you like a lost little puppy and you hated it. You didn’t want to be the one to tell him what to be, who he should be, especially since you didn’t know what you, yourself wanted to be.

It happened so often even Beth and Lee started taking notice. And if they notice it, others are sure to see it as well.

You and Beth had a conversation about it one day over hot chocolate just before the school year was over, and summer started. The two of you seemed to bond a bit better since that day.

“I think my brother likes you.”

“No.” You responded sarcastically. “He looks at me like a lost puppy and it’s annoying.”

“Just tell him to stop. Unless you actually like the attention?”

“No. I just don’t want to hurt him.”

Beth laughed softly, taking a sip of her cocoa, “I keep forgetting that you’re the sentimental type.”

“It’s not that I'm sentimental. Kind, sure but I'm not like you, I don't hurt people for fun.”

“I don’t do that for fun.”

You gave her an unimpressed look. 

“Ok maybe I do. But they deserve it. They’re all pussies.”

You nudge her head softly and she squeals and laughs again. “Watch your mouth.”

“Yes, ma’am. But don’t you curse?”

“Not often. Only when something really gets at me. You do it like you just learned how to, and now you do it to try and prove that you're grown up. You’re not, enjoy your teen years, it’s only going to happen once. I have to remember to do that myself.”

Beth smiled sadly, then an even sadder thought popped into her head. “Do you ever think about her?”

“Who?”

“You’re mom. Do you ever think about her?”

“You really want to get into that? What happened to not talking about it?”

“Maybe I want to talk about it. For once.”

“Ok.” You nodded, taking a sip of your hot chocolate. “I think about her, but I try not to do it too much. The sad part about it is, I can only remember the bad stuff about her. I don’t know who she was before. Was she an artist or a business woman? Did she have siblings? I don’t know much about her and my dad doesn’t talk about her much.”

Beth nodded, before taking a sip from her cup, “My mother was… well she was my mother. I remember she would read me stories at bedtime, she brought a light here. It was special.” Beth sighed, taking a large sip of her hot chocolate. “Sometimes, I think he hates me. Like he wishes it was me instead of her. I mean he doesn’t even talk about her. We didn’t even acknowledge her birthday.”

“Why do you think that? How’d she die?”

“I was scared. She died because I was scared. I promised myself after that day to never be scared again. I clearly haven’t lived up to that yet.” You took Beth's words in, not taking long to guess what happened and what she was referring to.

“Beth, you are 13 years old. You are a child, it’s normal to be afraid of things. I hope I’m not overstepping but if you made it known, she should’ve listened to you. If you’re not comfortable doing something, no one should force you to do it.” 

Beth looked you in your eyes, she saw the genuine concern and maybe even love in them. Something her mother never truly gave her.

She sighed again, “What about you? What happened between you and your mother?”

“That’s a complicated story.”

“Well, I'm listening if you want to tell me.”

“My mother was different. Most of the stories I know are from Alex, Aunt Carly or even the few from my dad. From what I've been told, she is a beautiful woman, almost like a goddess. Wild hair, perfect smile, even had an electric personality to match. She was fine. Then she wasn’t. It’s like she just broke. From what, I don't know. And honestly I'm not sure I want to know. She was a beautiful woman, but I guess after so long even beautiful women break.”

Beth now had some tears in her eyes, she quickly wiped them away, putting her cup down and hugging you.

“Thanks Beth.”

She pulled away, nodding. The two of you sat in silence for a moment, letting each other's stories sink in. Not that Beth would ever admit it, but she liked having you here. And with the news of you and your dad leaving to your own home, it hurt her. She saw the value of having you here, even at such a young age. 

You needed each other. The two of you are like polar opposites, you fight and fight, but like a magnet something pulls the two of you together. And with what happened that day solidified it. You were her sister. And she be damned if she let a boy come between you two. No matter how much she liked him.

But obviously that’s not how life went. Despite her now feeling like you two were sisters, she still said those fateful words. The ones that steered both your lives into a whole new direction.

“You should ask Jamie out. He may be like a lost confused puppy, but he’s not a bad guy.”

“I don’t know, I mean, he’s not really my type.”

“Well what is your type?”

“I don’t know.”

“Just ask him. Spend the night out with him, if you don’t like it, don’t do it again. No one can force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

“Look who’s learning.”

Beth smiled bashfully, “I try.”

That day you asked him out. You were nervous but did it anyway. You went to an arcade to play games and ate dinner after. The date wasn’t bad but you wouldn’t do it again. Not because of him, but because you didn’t feel anything. It would just be cruel to continue a relationship with someone you feel nothing towards. That sentiment was reiterated when you talked about it with your dad at your home.

You were munching on some ice cream, watching cartoons when Samuel came down in some pajama pants and a t- shirt with ‘Central High School’ written on it.

“How was your day out with Jamie?"

You shrugged indifferently, “It was ok. We went to the arcade, ate dinner afterwards.”

“Still not into him, huh.”

“Nope.”

“That’s ok. There are other fish for the boy.”

“Ugh, not the dad joke.”

“That was funny.”

“No, no it wasn’t.”

“Ok, it wasn’t. But he’ll be alright. Just like you. It just wasn’t meant to be with him.”

“Dad. Do you ever think you’ll find love again?”

“I’m not really worried about me right now. My biggest concern is you and Alex.”

“I think you should worry about yourself more. I worry about you enough, when are you going to do the same? You deserve love too, you know.”

Sam chuckled, “That’s sweet. Let’s just worry about you getting to graduation and college first then I'll get myself a girlfriend.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Not right now, no. And don’t go trying to set me up with anyone either.”

“I’m not a scheming type.”

“I know you, you’re my daughter. If you’re anything like me or your mother, you have some schemeness in you, good or bad.”

You chuckled lightly, offering him some ice cream. He grabbed your spoon, taking a large scoop. The two of you continued watching the cartoons in comfortable silence.

Since it was the summer time, your dad and John let you have most of the time off. During one of the days you were off and your dad was working, you decided to go to the music store. Trying to branch out in taste.

You asked Lee to take you, and during that ride into town, he decided to be a little nosey. 

“You haven’t spoken to Rip in a while, what’s that about?”

You turn towards him, eyebrows furrowed, you then shrugged trying to play it off.

“No reason.”

“Really? So it doesn’t have anything to do with my prickly firecracker of a little sister?”

You look at him in shock. “You know?”

“Everybody knows, at least they suspect. They don’t say anything out of respect for my family but we all can take a guess. Rip’s not the best liar either.”

“Beth and I finally reached a good place. I’ll be damned if I ruin our relationship over a boy. Besides, he chose her.”

The music store was coming up, he pulled over and sat there for a minute.

“Yeah, he chose her, for now. I’ve never been in love but even I know what they have ain’t it. Beth’s a great girl, really annoying and sometimes mean, but he didn’t really choose her.”

You scoffed out, “Really? What did he choose?”

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him.”

You scoffed softly, shaking your head. Just seeing him made your heart hurt. You don’t think you could talk to him just yet, especially after that night.

“I’ll call when I'm done.”

“Ok.” Lee unlocked the truck doors and let you out, watching as you entered the music store before he drove off.

As you look around the music store for cassettes to put into your new walkman that your dad had bought you, you bump into someone.

“Ouch, sorry about that, I wasn’t-” You begin to apologize to whomever you bumped into.

“Hey.” It was Jacob, standing right in front of you. He was holding some vinyls. 

“Hey, Jacob. I haven’t seen you in a while. What are you doing here? Well you're shopping for music obviously this is a music store. Duh.” You scolded yourself both out loud and in your head.

“Yeah, just stopped by for some more music to listen to.”

Your heart skipped a beat, and you smiled softly.

“Well, while we’re both here, do you have any recommendations? I’m trying to branch out.”

“Sure, over here is the rock section,” Jacob started walking you around the small store, showing you where everything was. You picked out anything that caught your eye.

You listened to him ramble on about where the different types of music were and as he started on about how the different genres came to be. You could listen to him all day. And you wanted to.

“How’d you get so interested in music?” You ask him as you take all the cassettes that you had picked up and filled into the little basket that you had to get, up at the register.

“My grandmother, she was a singer, same with my mom. They had me join the choir at church when I was 5. I guess it’s just in my blood.”

You smiled widely. When checkout was done, the two of you left the store, standing under the awning for a moment. Since you were finished, you thought about calling Lee. And just as you were about to Jacob asked you something.

“Hey, do you want some lunch? My treat.”

“I- I don’t know. I mean there’s still the curfew going around.”

“We’ll be finished in time. Come on, it’s just lunch.”

You sighed then thought about what Beth said, “Spend the night out with him, if you don’t like it, don’t do it again. No one can force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

“Sure, I'd love to.”

Jacob smiled, then the two of you walked to this bar restaurant, where he ordered a Chocolate milkshake and a medium well burger with roasted potatoes.

You ordered the same just well done with fries, crinkle cut. The two of you got to talking about your families. 

“So where do you live?”

“Just 3 miles outside Paradise Valley with my dad, it’s not too far.”

“That’s cool, my dad just bought a place close by. It’s by Yellowstone, so it’s not far from work for us.”

When the food came, the two of you continued talking, eventually venturing into what it was like living with the Duttons.

“Yeah, it’s an experience.”

“Yeah? How so?”

“Well, I'm sure you know Beth and Jamie.”

“Yeah, Jamie's not so bad. A little out of place and kinda obsessive sometimes, but not the worst. Then there’s drama queen Beth.”

“She’s not so bad.”

“Really, so she doesn’t call you names? Say you’re a broke city girl, whose daddy only came to live with them to get some money?”

You swallowed harshly, “I mean, she hasn’t said any of that lately. Maybe when I first came here but, we’re ok now.”

“You should’ve heard how she talked about you in front of her friends. She’s not the type of person who you can make feel better. She’s evil and in desperate need of approval.”

You felt offended. How can someone who doesn’t even know her say such horrible things.

“Hey! You don’t know her, you can’t say that.”

Jacob scoffed, “And you do? You know when her mom died, the whole town showed up. Everyone, even those who didn’t know her or even care. But they still showed up, still showed support. My mother was a close friend of her moms, do you know what Beth said to my mom when she came to her?” He inhaled a sharp breath, rolling out his shoulders before continuing, “She said ‘suck a dick and die.’ My mom had stage 4 liver cancer then, she died 6 months later. Just a couple weeks before you came here. We had her service in church, not a lot of people showed up, but they did, offering fake sympathies where ours were real. I sat in the back pew, when she came over. I don’t know what she was thinking or why she did it, but she took me out of my pants and gave me a hand job. At my mothers funeral. I tried confronting her about it the week after but I got called into the principal's office for making a disturbance.”

Your eyes softened when he was done. Beth never told you that. And why would she, the two of you didn’t know each other at the time. You didn’t know she was so evil. The two of you continued lunch in an uncomfortable silence.

When you two had finished lunch, you called Lee to come pick you up. Jacob waited outside with you, both of you still carrying small bags of cassettes and vinyls.  But when the truck arrived instead of Lee, it was your dad.

You hopped into the passenger seat, muttering a quick goodbye. But your dad didn’t pull off right away. Instead, he rolled down the passenger window and called out.

“Hey kid? Need a ride?”

Jacob, who had just turned to walk away, turned his head back. He shook his head.

“I’m ok. I can walk.”

“Yeah, no. Get in the truck, I’m driving you home.”

“Dad, if he said he’s fine, then he’s fine.”

“Nope, not around here, this isn’t a place where you can walk to town and walk home in 3 minutes. Plus there’s a serial killer around. It’s not safe. I’d feel better if I drove you.”

Jacob was now standing just at the truck, debating whether or not he should enter. He decided to just play it safe and listen. He opened the truck's back door and climbed in.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Oh, please. Call me Sam. So, where to?”

Jacob gave his address and your dad pulled off.

The car ride was silent, almost suffocating. The music didn’t help either. Damn you, Brian Mcknight. 

Your dad cleared his throat, “So, what did you kids do today?”

“Dad.” You spoke warningly to him, he shrugged innocently, taking a glance at Jacob in the rearview mirror. 

Jacob smiled awkwardly, catching his eye in the mirror. Your dad chuckled, you decided to ignore him, looking outside the window, the sun was starting to set. It looked beautiful. 

Distantly you heard them start talking, but you ignored them both continuing to look outside the window. You leaned your head against the window watching the large grass plain fields pass by quickly. 

“Isn’t that right Y/N?”

Your eyes slowly turn towards your dad, a confused look on your face.

“Hmm.”

“We were just talking about the differences in old school jazz and contemporary jazz.”

“Oh. Old school Jazz is better.”

Samuel nodded and smiled. Houses started to pass by, then the truck slowed down. 

Jacob pointed out where his house was and your dad pulled into the driveway. 

You took a moment to look at the house. It had a soft brown rustic style. You liked it.

Jacob got out of the truck, bag in hand and started walking up the driveway to the front door. Samuel then handed you a piece of paper, you glanced at it in the darkness, seeing numbers. The house phone number. You gave him a perplexed expression and all he did was nod in encouragement gesturing towards Jacob.

“Jake, wait!” You opened the passenger door and ran up to him, the paper still in hand. “Call me sometime?” You were nervous, nervous but giddy. Your heart was pounding, but you had a smile on your face. 

Jacob gave a wide smile, nodding before grabbing his keys out of his pocket and opening the door to his house. You gave another quick goodnight and ran back to the truck.

Your dad gave you a wide smile, pulling out of the driveway, heading back home.

“Alex called earlier.”

“Did he? What about?”

“Your mom, he said he saw her. But I'm sure you know that, right?”

You glanced at him, regret in your eyes. “Yeah.”

“I’m not mad. You deserve your secrets, just like your brother. I’m not going to ask. I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

Back at the ranch, Rip was becoming slightly depressed. What he thought he had with Beth wasn’t real. He couldn’t stop thinking about you. Even Beth noticed his distance whenever they were hanging out. It’s been going on for months, since that night. The night he chose her. 

She wanted to say something and normally she would, but then she’d go back home and catch her dad looking at pictures of her mom, and then the guilt would set in. And so began her and Rip’s on/off thing.

Deep down she knew, at some point he’d wake up and stop whatever they had all together. He’d realize he could do better. And he deserved it, while she might not know all the details of why he’s here, she knows he deserves to be happy. And it surely wasn’t going to be with her. So, she would take advantage of the situation while she could.

Rip was just finished with his chores, he walked to the bunkhouse showered, brushed his teeth then went to the barn. Beth was there. Her shoes on his bed, which he hated. And she knew he hated it. 

He sighs in annoyance, “I’m not in the mood for you.”

“You sayin’ you don’t want to kiss me?”

“Yes.”

She stood up and walked towards him in the small space, she leaned towards him, quickly pecking his lips.

“You sure.” 

“Yes, please leave.”

Beth stood back, trying to analyze his behavior. She then scoffed and shrugged indifferently.

“Whatever.”

She went back to the house while Rip stood there, a contemplative look on his face. Ever since that night he’s been wondering what he just got himself into. Every time he thought about you his heart hurt, every time he saw you he wanted to run and hug you, tell you he regretted his decision. But he doesn’t. He made his bed, he had to lie in it. 

In the main house Jamie was contemplating asking you out again (even though he didn’t the first time.). He was nervous but he wanted to make his dad proud, if this whole ‘marriage’ thing was successful, he could finally get the approval he’s been vying for since Evelyn died.

Beth knocked on his door on her way to her own room, seeing his concentrated face. He waved her inside.

“Hey. What're you thinking so hard about?”

“Do you ever feel like you’re destined to be something, but it doesn’t work out?”

“What do you mean? Like a doctor or something?”

“No, a husband.”

Beth gasped dramatically, she quickly peeked outside, then closed the door, she walked over to her brother eyes wide.

“Did you get a girl pregnant?”

“What?! No. If I did, do you really think I would tell you first?”

“Beats telling daddy. Who knows what he would do.” A concerned look crossed over Beth's face, she exhaled sharply. Jamie nodded in agreement.

“But, if you were supposed to be someone’s wife and you got pregnant, that wouldn’t be so bad would it? Especially if he set the marriage up.”

“Jamie, where’s all this coming from?”

“I’m just trying to figure out if I should ask this girl I like out again. The last time we hung out it didn’t go very well, I'm honestly not even sure she likes me.”

“If you like her, just be confident and ask her out, the worst she can say is ‘No.’ Or ‘I have a boyfriend’. Just don’t get so obsessive over it, we all know how you get when you really want something for yourself.”

“I don’t get obsessive. I just- I don’t know.”

“You get obsessive.”

Jamie rolled his eyes at his little sister. The only person he could genuinely have a conversation with, especially now that Evelyn's gone. He tries talking to his dad but he always has that gritty look that makes him afraid to even open his mouth, Lee is too busy learning the ropes of the ranch and Kayce is too young. It’s just these two now. They only have each other until they find themselves a way to get away from the ranch. Not that he really wants to. He likes learning to cowboy, he likes these little moments with Beth. 

He likes that he can have intelligent conversations with her, even despite her being 4 years older than her. She’s almost 14 now, she’s getting older, experimenting with life trying to push its limits. Even he’s proud of her for being bold enough for that.

“Fine. I get a little obsessive, but not overtly.”

“Oh, please. I remember when you had a crush on your teacher, you somehow found pictures of her, hung them all over your room and even had daddy send her gifts on teacher appreciation week, all with your name signed on them. Plus you gave her flowers which she thought her ex-husband gave to her.”

“One. Why were you in my room? Two. How do you know all that?”

“I was looking for your walkman. And Marissa told me.”

“Isn’t Marissa that redhead that’s related to Jessica.”

“Yup. They're cousins.”

Jamie hummed in acknowledgment. There was a long silence that filled the room, Beth looked at him expectantly.

“What?”

“Aren’t you gonna tell me who it is?”

“Who what is?”

“The girl. The girl that you want to date, marry and have kids with.”

“First of all, I didn’t say any of that. I said we hung out and it didn’t go very well.”

“You didn’t have to say it. I can see it on your face. And when you say ‘hung out’ you mean-”

“I mean we hung out at the arcade and had lunch, Jesus Beth.”

“Oh, my God. You like Y/N.”

Jamie turned red. He covered his face in embarrassment, sighing.

“Is it that obvious?”

“No. No one knows, just me and the whole world. Yes, dipshit, everyone knows.”

“Oh, God. This is embarrassing.”

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is.”

Beth bursts out laughing, “It is, it truly is. Why don’t you just tell her? She already asked you out, and I was the one to push her to do it.”

“Wait really? You got her to ask me out?”

“Yes. Look, you may lack direction and be obsessive and sometimes creepy and a little odd looking-”

“Beth.”

“Sorry. But you’re not a bad guy. I think she’d be stupid to not go out with you, but if she doesn’t feel anything for you, you can’t force it. No matter what you do, or what you say, if she doesn’t feel anything, if she doesn’t fight for you, it just shouldn’t be.”

“Well, look who's growing up.”

Beth smiled bashfully, waving her hand dismissively.

“If I’ve learned anything from the people I love, it’s that you can have all the physical chemistry in the world, what’s really important is the emotional connection. Sometimes people are just not supposed to be together, some people have the type of connection that gravitates them to each other. Like God, telling someone ‘here’s your soulmate go.’.”

“Yeah, cause you can learn that around here.”

“Shut up. That’s how I feel. That’s what I've been learning. Especially from Y/N.”

“Yeah, she’s great ain’t she.”

“She is.” Beth turned to leave the room, opening the door before realization dawned on her.

“Did daddy set you up so the two of you would get married?”

“That’s what he told me.”

“Does she know?”

Jamie shrugged, humming an ‘I don’t know’ response.

Beth hummed in acknowledgment, taking in the information before finally leaving the room, to hers. 

Once she entered her room, she closed the door thinking about what she just learned. 

Daddy set Jamie and Y/N up to be married. Does he have someone for me, someone for Kayce? I need to talk to Lee. But what if he’s in on it. The ranch always comes first, that’s what daddy said when mama died.

Just as she was starting to get her thoughts together, the phone in her room rang. Very few people called her, especially this late. 

She grabbed the phone off the hook and answered with a quick ‘hello’.

“Hey. It’s Y/N.”

“Oh. Hey. What’s up?”

“My dad and I just got in from dropping Jacob off at his house.”

Beth made a face, wondering why the name sounded so familiar.

“Who’s Jacob? Is he your new boyfriend?”

“No. He’s just a boy I met, remember a couple months ago, when I fell on the bus. He’s the boy who caught me.”

“I don’t know this Jacob. What’s his last name?”

“Reilly. Jacob Reilly.”

That’s when it clicked for her. The skinny boy in church. His mom’s funeral. The back pew.

“Oh, that’s cool. What did you guys do?”

“Nothing really, we just hung out at the music store, had dinner, then my dad picked us up. Well me, but he didn’t want to leave a defenseless boy out in the middle of nowhere with a serial killer around.”

“That’s very kind of him.”

“Yeah, then we dropped him off and I gave him the house phone number so he could call.”

“Do you think he will?”

“I hope so. He seems pretty cool.”

“I’m happy for you. Hey, I gotta go, my daddy’s calling me. Talk later, bye.” Beth then quickly hung up the phone.

She laid on top of her bed for a few minutes thinking of what to say. How could she spin this, did you know the truth? Did he tell you?

She thought of so many ways to spin it. Experimentation? No. Grief? No. Pedophelia? Definitely not. 

The only thing she could truly think of was to tell the truth. But she was terrified of what telling the truth would mean for everyone involved, especially her friendship with you.

Would you renounce it? Ignore her? Call her a bitch like everyone else does? You already have but this would be different.

The rest of the night she spent her waking hours trying to come up with a cunning way to twist whatever Jacob may have told you, if he did tell you anything.

She’s a Dutton, you would have to believe her over him.

Back at the barn, Rip lay wide awake in his bed. For some reason he couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about that night. The night he picked Beth. 

Flashes of you walking away as the rain started to pour filled his mind. He could see himself standing there in the rain wishing that he called after you. Instead he climbed back into the tree house, the only safety from the constant harsh rain going towards the ground.

His mind then flipped to the day he met Beth. It was, late July, about his second week there, he was still in his mind about how he’d seen his mother get killed and how he had killed his own father. 

Then here comes this fiery freshly turned 13 year old girl, insulting him, calling him a pet, but giving him a look of interest and desire. 

His mind flipped again, this time to John Dutton, the man who saved him. Who gave him a home. He remembered shaking with fear when the Livestock agents showed up, as if reliving the memory he could feel himself grab a stick in self defense, ready for whatever was to come. Except the livestock agents left. He could remember thinking ‘Just run idiot. Why are you still here?’ 

Then 30 minutes later He showed up, his voice gruff but calm, a mean stern look on his face, his body language commanding attention.

He remembers having a gun pointed at him. Or was it two? He remembers being told that his family’s murder made the news, that he was in trouble.

John asked him to speak. He remembers his voice cracking as he did. He wanted to be strong, he needed to be strong.

He remembers seeing you for the first time. It was early August, the sun was beaming, Jamie had just given him a book to read while in the barn. A nice gesture, but it’s all for naught, he couldn’t read.

The boy seemed to be his only friend around here, aside from young Kayce, but that’s more of a babysitting job than friendship. Jamie doesn’t call him ‘Orphan boy’ or spit at him. He treats him like any other person in the world. 

When he saw you that day, it’s like his world slowed down, and he could finally breathe. Your eyes locked and the way your eyes looked in the sun. 

God, It's like he made you specifically to be an angel.

Maybe you were an angel. But what does an angel want to do with a broken messed up orphan kid like him. A kid that can’t even read. He just flips through pages pretending to absorb the information and places a piece of paper in the book to make it appear as though it’s been read.

He wanted to go to you that day, but for some reason his feet couldn’t move. He saw you again when you were looking at him through the window. His heart skipped a beat when he saw you. Something about you made him feel safe, as if he could do anything, be anything.

When he first met your father, it was nerve racking. John had everyone meet in the bunkhouse after Samuel and Lloyd gave a quick hug of acknowledgement, John then gave an announcement and a specific set of rules.

Listen to Samuel, Do as Samuel says and Don’t lie to him, just like you don’t lie to me. Especially about being able to do something you can’t.

The most important rule was, ‘DO NOT TOUCH Y/N, WITHOUT HER PERMISSION.’

When the older men (minus Lloyd) in the bunkhouse found out Samuel had a 15 year old daughter, they seemed to go wild, talking about how she only had 3 more years until she was legal, then they could fuck her. Lloyd quickly got that out of all their heads by threatening them. But one comment that was made after, stuck with him.

“Bet you won’t beat on Orphan boy over there. Hell, he’s already got the farmer's daughter, why should he get the Vet’s daughter too?”

Lloyd only ignored the wrangler though, muttering something about how he didn’t have Beth. That Beth was just going through a rebellious phase.

He then recalled what Samuel told him just a few months ago, on that dreadful night.

‘Y/N will be ok. Beth, I don’t know about. Figure this all out before it blows up in our faces. I’ve seen this type of story before, it won’t go how you want it too.’

Rip wiped his eyes tiredly and reached above him, closing the blinds. 

That one statement kept running through his mind as he started to fall asleep. After a few moments of listening to the horses in their stalls, Rip slowly drifted off to sleep, thinking of how and when he could fix this, but it seems life had other plans.

[choclateshortcake02]

Alex’s Letter

WC:439

Warnings: None

Dear little sister, I heard from a big bird that you’re going through some bodily changes. I know it’s scary and you might not be sure of yourself but, let me say this, you will get through it. You are a Y/L/N, you’re not ordinary. You are something other worldly. In other news, how are you doing in Montana? You haven’t called, so I know nothing life threatening is going on at least, but you also haven’t written. So I really have no idea what’s going on. When you guys left, dad asked me if I wanted to come with, and while I'm not one to regret any of my decisions, I can't help but be unsure about this one. I know you can handle yourself and dad’s with you, so that’s extra protection, I just can’t help but be unsure of all this. And I guess I could've said something sooner but, you needed to get away. You weren't getting better here. Maybe Montana will do you some good. I can’t believe I'm saying this but maybe you’ll  meet someone. (If you do, I want his name and address.) 

I imagine you're happy and you’ve made friends and are in clubs and stuff. Life is too short to be worried about doing only good things. So while it is best that you do follow the rules, don’t be afraid to break them sometimes. God didn't give us the power to choose for no reason. 

I hope you have a wonderful coming of age week, and don’t be afraid to cry or scream at dad if you need to. I apologize for not being able to make it, the internship I applied for started early. I will see you hopefully sometime soon though, if neither of us are too busy. 

Enjoy this feeling little sister, it happens only a few times in a lifetime.

I love you,

Your big brother Alex.

(flip to the back!!!!)

I saw mom. I was going to call and tell you but that’s not the news you tell over the phone, or even write about but given the circumstances, i hope you understand.

I’m going to meet her for coffee in 3 days, she said she has to explain what she did, why she hurt us. I’m not entirely sure I believe her but I have to give her the benefit of doubt right? What would you do? 

I haven’t told dad I've seen her yet, so don’t tell him please. I want to see if I can get the information out of her first. Call or write back when you can.

[choclateshortcake02]

The Talk

WC: 5k, no edits aside from google docs. warnings: attempted s/a, suicidal thoughts, mentions of violence. Incorrect ranching info.

Summary: Bonding. Trauma. And an uncertain choice that leads to an uncertain future.

The next morning with all the nasty business of a serial killer still lingering but mostly off your mind, you did your regular routine then headed out to get dropped off at the bus stop with Beth and Jamie. You noticed Jamie glancing at you every once in a while. It was just a bit uncomfortable but you also kinda liked it. Back home, you didn’t get much attention from boys, like your friends did. Not that, that was a big concern for you, but it did make you less confident. 

You wanted to ask him what he was looking for but the bus started pulling up, so in the meantime you let it go. The three of you clambered into the smelly bus, filled with other kids, rowdy and loud, desperate for the day to be over. 

As you glanced around looking for an empty seat, Beth sat down next to her friend Veronique (though “friend” is used loosely. Very loosely). Jamie moved to sit into a random spot. The bus started moving as you continued to the back of the bus looking for an empty seat, causing you to jolt forward and slip. You awkwardly attempt to catch yourself, but are unable to, just as you are about to hit the ground, a hand catches you, moments from embarrassment. 

You pull yourself up and look around seeing the hand retreat back towards its owner. It was a boy, around Jamie’s age, he was quite beefy though. You noticed he had an empty spot next to him, so you gestured towards the empty spot. The boy nodded and you sat down next to him. 

The bus then stopped at a stop light, and you started settling into the seat. You smiled at the boy.

“Thank you for catching me.” 

He nodded and gave a small smile in response. You took this moment to take a glance at him. He had brown hair, a long Navy Blue jacket with an off-white hoodie on under it, navy blue pants and black boots on. He also had a pair of headphones around his neck, which was most definitely connected to a walkman.

“What are you listening to?”

“Music.”

You chuckled softly, surprised at his bluntness and also impressed. 

“I gathered that. What song?”

He sighed, slightly annoyed that you were ruining his quiet time. Instead of answering, he unwrapped the headphones from around his neck, he looked at you quietly questioning if it was ok, resulting in you nodding softly and leaning forward just a little and he placed them around your head, encapsulating your ears. 

The music filled your ears, loud and exciting. Where you were expecting some usual country song to be playing through the speakers, all you heard was the beautiful melody of one “Mr. Blue Sky” by the Electric Light Orchestra.

As you listened to the song, the boy beside you decided to take you in. You were wearing a long blue jacket with similar looking gloves and camouflage jeans with some work boots on. Not even the usual cowboy boots everyone wears. 

He found that intriguing, he knows you aren’t from here, not just from having never met you before August but because you were wearing Timberland boots. Not to say they never do wear those boots but if you didn’t ever work on a ranch, you really wouldn’t.

It’s also your accent, you have a small accent and you say words that they don’t. Like “jawn” or “drawling”  and especially “rumble”. In his 16 years of living he hasn’t heard anyone ever say those words and it’s actually funny. Maybe people do say it, maybe he’s just out of the loop.

You even say “bet.” A lot, he has no idea what you’re betting on but it’s been fun to watch.

You smiled at him and he smiled back. You handed him back his headphones and he placed them into his backpack. 

The two of you were now in your own little world, unaware of the still amped up existence outside. He decided to speak after a minute. 

“Do you believe it?” He took a shy glance your way, quickly looking towards the window when you turned your attention towards him.

“Believe what?”

“All that stuff on the news the other night. I mean it’s got to be fake right. Otherwise there’d have been reports of people missing.”

“Well I’m not sure, maybe this guy just goes after people who won’t be missed. Or at least people who no one really knows, I don’t know.”

The two of you continued to talk, eventually the conversation turned towards how school was going for you, since you’ve moved here.

Unbeknownst to the both of you, Jamie was watching. His face twisted into one of anger and jealousy. He wished it was him you were talking to and laughing with. He turned around shaking his head, wishing he was brave enough to just ask you out. 

8 minutes later the bus stopped outside the school. Everyone ran off the bus eager to get out of the chilly weather and into a warm building. 

The boy helped you down the stairs, holding his hand out to yours guiding you down the bus stairs. When you were down, you looked into each other's eyes for a second, and you turned and blushed.

“I’m Jacob by the way.” He then held his hand out for you to shake. You take it, nodding.

“Y/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, Jacob. Hopefully I'll see you around.”

“Maybe.” The two of you went your separate ways then. Headed to put your things into your respective lockers. And as you did, you turned looking for him, you could see him standing just a little while down at his own locker. You smiled and then walked to class. Jacob turned to look at you just as you turned away, smiling to himself. For once he felt like he could just be.

As he walked to class he looked back to where you were once standing at your locker.

There’s something about you. Something in your eyes.

At the ranch, Rip had started his day as he has since he’s been here. Get up at 4 am, go to the bunkhouse, shower, brush his teeth, get dressed and then head out to start his work. 

Today John had him buck out some 2 year olds and work on the fence line. There was something different today. He could feel it when he woke up. He just didn’t know what it was. He made sure to keep a watchful eye out for himself and what he was doing, to make sure he didn’t blow this opportunity. He feels he’s been doing well so far but who knows really. Someone from the bunkhouse could say he was causing trouble and Mr. Dutton might kick him off the ranch. 

Your dad was checking on some of the cattle that Mr. Dutton had bought a while ago, Rip could feel him staring sometimes, almost like he wanted to speak to him but continuously went back to his work in hopes of ignoring that. 

When most of the chores he had to do were done and your dad was finished checking the cattle, he was called over. It made Rip nervous, mostly because he had never had a one on one conversation with your father before. It scared him more than talking to Mr. Dutton. 

He walked over to where your father was at the yard and sat down when gestured to. Samuel moved around to sit down himself, it was silent for a moment. Almost like he was trying to come up with the words to say.

“I have two kids.”

Rip leaned forward just a bit, a dumb confused look making its way onto his face. Samuel nodded.

“I have two kids. My oldest boy Alex, and my little girl, Y/N. You know her.”

“Yes sir, we’ve met.” Rip nodded. Samuel shook his head, turning his attention to the boy.

“Yeah, you met, you’ve been invited to a party of hers. Now from what I hear, you’ve been hanging out quite a lot. She seems to like you. Do you like her?”

Rip didn’t know where to put his hands, he opened his mouth to speak but every time he went to, he couldn’t form the words.

“Relax kid. It’s not a trick question and you’re not in trouble.”

Rip nodded, letting out a shaky breath swallowing harshly. “Yes sir. She’s a very bright girl.”

“Yeah. Yes she is. I figured if anyone should know, it’s you.”

“Know what?”

“About her treehouse. John and I built her a treehouse, just off the ranch. You can walk there, but it’s best to get a horse. But that’s not what I called you in here for.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“I was a teenager once, I know what goes on at that age. Going through puberty, hormones all over the place, trying to find your place in the world, things happen. I know. All I'm asking of you, is that you be careful. There’s only two girls here. They're living in a place surrounded by men. John might not notice any of this stuff but I do.”

Rip looked at Samuel nervously. He knows about him and Beth. Worse, he knows about him and you. He could tell John.

“Sir-I.” 

“Like I said, you’re not in any trouble. I just want you to be careful. I don’t know what’s going on with you and Beth, or exactly what’s going on with you and my daughter but you as a young man need to be careful. These are two girls trying to figure out their place in the world, same as you. They don’t need relationship drama with it. If you want to be with one of them, pick. Or just end whatever it is that’s going on. If it feels like you’re being pressured into anything, just say “No.” you have that choice.  I’ve seen this type of story before, it’s not going to end the way you want it to. My daughter can handle herself, Beth, I don’t know much about. Whatever it is that’s going on, if you want to be friends with my daughter and hang out, that’s fine but if you want more, talk to her. You pick one or end it all.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, now get on out of here.”

“Sir. Mr. Du-.”

“Relax. I won’t tell him. He won’t need to know about any of this, just figure it out before this gets thrown back in all our faces.”

“Yes sir.” Rip nodded, and walked away, right back to work. He kept thinking about what your dad said the rest of the day.

“Pick one or end it all. You can say No.”

When he completely finished his chores he spent the rest of the day pondering and trying to pick. He hadn’t known either of you for long. When night fell, he’d lay awake in bed, still thinking. He sat up and then it clicked. He knew what he had to do.

When Rip went back to work Samuel walked up to the house. He had been thinking about it for a little while. Entering through the door, he called out for John.

“In the kitchen!” John responded loudly, Samuel made his way into the kitchen, seeing John drinking some coffee with eggs and toast. 

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Me too. What do you want to talk about?”

“I found a place not far from here. We'll be moving in a week or two. What’s your thing?”

“Well, a while ago, Lee made it known that your little girl is quite observant and she might know some things.”

“Yeah. She can be very suspicious of things. It’s ok though, if she asks, I’ll make something up.”

“Is it ok? What if she follows you when we're taking some trash out? Or when we’re making deals.”

“John, she’s 15, she doesn’t even have her permit yet. Besides she’s a very smart girl, if she finds out whether by someone telling her or on her own, she won’t say anything.”

“And you’re positive about this.”

“Absolutly.”

“It would be nice to have some reassurance though. Which brings me to my next topic. I want her to marry Jamie.”

“What?!”

“When she’s old enough, I want her to marry Jamie. It’ll be good for both of our families. You’ll have more of our political resources at hand and we’ll actually be family again. This time it’ll stick.”

“John, I'm not going to force my daughter to marry a kid she doesn’t even know, let alone might not ever love. This isn't the 70’s anymore.”

“She does know him, and we can push them to be around each other so they can get to know each other. This will be good for the ranch. If she does find out the truth, at least then she can’t testify against us or him.”

“I’ll think about it. But John, if you want to do this then you're going to have to tell that boy the truth.”

“Yeah, I know. I'll tell him when he’s ready.”

“When he’s ready or when you are? I just don’t want either of them to be miserable.”

John sighed, Samuel looked at him with concerned eyes.

“Look just, talk Jamie at least, see what he has to say, I’ll talk to Y/N, if they both agree then that’s that.”

“Fine. I'll talk to him.”

When you all got home from school, you immediately went up to your dad’s room and knocked on the door.

“Dad? Are you in there?” 

“Yeah baby, just give me a second.”

“Ok.”

You went to your room and left the door open. After a minute he came in. He sat down at the little desk he bought you.

“What’s up?”

“I want  to go shopping.”

“Ok. What did you need?”

“No dad. I want to go shopping.”

It took Samuel a second to understand what you were asking him. He nodded after a long pregnant pause.

“Ok. Well, here’s my card. Have fun.”

“Thanks.” 

“While we’re at it, take Beth with you.”

You turn towards him incredulously. “What?!”

Samuel nodded, “Mhm, with all that talk of serial killers looming around, it’d be good to have backup with you.”

“And you think Beth is good backup? A 13 year old, 5 '3 girl is good physical backup against a serial killer?”

“Well no, but it will give you two a chance to really get to know each other, talk about things girls talk about.”

“Well there is a chance if we do run into a serial killer or anyone really, she’ll run them off with her mouth.”

Samuel laughed softly, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, exactly. Here.” He handed you his card along with some pepper spray and one of his extra pocket knives.

“Just in case.” He shrugged. You chuckled and thanked him again, before walking out the door.

“Y/N, don’t forget about the curfew. 7 o’clock.”

“I won’t.”

With that you walked to Beth’s room and knocked on her door. A few seconds later, she opened the door.

“What?”

“Come on loser, we’re going shopping.” You held up your dad’s card with a nervous smile.

For once Beth actually smiled, she turned back into her room and grabbed a jacket. Lee dropped the two of you off on main street, promising to pick you guys up at 6:30 and the two of you went wild.

She showed you all of her favorite dress shops and even called you by your name. Not that she hadn’t before but there was always an underlying tone before.

The two of you walked into an old empty dress shop with Beth talking your ear off, you were slightly annoyed but also happy that she was happy and not well ‘Beth’.

You watched as she greeted the tailor that was there. “Hi, Mr. Avine.”

“Hey there Ms. Dutton, who’s your friend?”

“This is Y/N. She and her dad are staying with us. Her dad’s our new vet.”

“Oh, you’re Sammy’s little girl? I’ve heard so much about ya.”

You nodded and smiled politely. 

“Hey Beth, Marienne has some new dresses for you in the back, why don’t you go try them out. I’ll see if I can help find something for Sammy’s little girl here.”

Beth squealed in excitement and quickly ran to the back of the small store. You sigh and chuckle, before going to a rack filled with dresses more your style. 

You were so busy looking through the rack that you didn’t even notice that Mr. Avine was still there, staring at you.

“You’re really Samuel’s daughter?”

You jump in surprise, quickly turning around to face him. You let out a harsh breath and nod.

“Really? Samuel Y/L/N. That would make you the niece of Carly, right?”

You nod again. “Yes, Sir.”

Mr. Avine chuckled darkly. “Sir.” He started walking closer to you, causing you to lift the dress you had in your hand up closer to you, trying to cover yourself up. You back away slowly, feeling uncomfortable.

“Aren’t you a peach? You know, you don’t look like a little girl. Bet you’ve had tons of boys on you.”

Your heart started pounding, so loud you could hear it in your ears. You backed up again, and he moved closer, again, again. Then bam, you were cornered. 

Your eyes were darting around, like a scared animal. 

Where is Beth?

Somehow, in the midst of your internal panic you found your voice.

“Excuse me?”

“Are you just like your Auntie? A whore, just pretending to be a virgin. How many boys have been inside you?” 

“W-what?” Your voice cracked when you asked that question, your blood had turned to ice. You were terrified now. So many thoughts running in your mind.

Where is Beth? Is she safe? Has this happened to her before?

“That’s alright. You probably haven’t been able to feel them anyway. A girl like you needs a man to break her in.” He leaned in closer, right at your ear. You were shaking, tears coming to your eyes, you couldn’t speak, you felt like you were frozen.

“I’ll be gentle, it won’t hurt. Unless you want it to.” He reached up to touch you, and that’s when you snapped out of it.

“No!” You dropped the dress and kneed him in his balls. He fell to the floor groaning in pain. He let out some curses, and you ran to the back of the store, looking for Beth.

“Beth?! Beth? Where are you?”

Beth exited the dressing room stall, half naked, with a confused look on her face. She looked at you seeing there were tears coming down your face.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“We’re leaving. Get dressed, hurry up.” 

Beth for once nodded and did what she was told. She could feel something was wrong, despite her not having known you for long, she knows she can trust you.

She quickly put her clothes back on and the two of you walked back to the front, heading straight for the door. 

“Where do you think you’re going, you little bitch.”

Beth turned confused and heavily insulted. She heard Mr. Avine’s voice. He was marching towards the two of you.

“Mr. Avine?!”

“Shut up, little girl. No one is talking to you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You little fucking whore. Just like your Aunt, flaunting everything yet running away the moment you get some attention from a guy like me. No. No more. I deserve this. Come here.” He grabbed you by your hair harshly, pain erupting in your scalp. You cried out in pain, feeling fresh tears come to the surface.

“Let go! Get off of her!” Beth screamed at the top of her lungs, punching at Mr. Avine’s arms hoping he would break his hold of you. 

Mr. Avine pushed Beth away, she landed on the floor with a loud grunt. Mr. Avine pulled you up towards his face.

“You’re going to take it. And you’re going to like it.” He ripped your jacket off of your body, throwing it towards Beth.

He then looked in your eyes, seeing they were distant and distracted.

“Oh, No. You don’t get to get away from this. You're going to feel every bit of this.”

You shook your head, and Mr. Avine looked at you both confused and shocked “No. You are.”

He then cried out in pain. He let you go in surprise. Staggering backwards as he clutched his side. He was bleeding. He then looked down towards your hands, in the left one a bloody pocket knife.

You quickly grab your jacket, help Beth up and the two of you run out of the store. The two of you ran as far as your legs could take you. When you were sure you both were safe, you stopped. 

You heard sniffling and quickly turned to Beth and took her in your arms. She had tears coming down her face.

“It’s ok. You’re safe. You’re safe.”

“I’m sorry. He almost-.”

You pull away, looking at her with love. “He didn’t. He didn’t, ok. You’re safe. It’s over. You’re ok.”

You pull her back into your arms, repeating the same words over and over. Almost like you couldn’t believe them yourself. And you couldn’t. 

The two of you then go to a crowded restaurant, feeling it would be best to go somewhere where there’s a lot of people. You order a strawberry milkshake with a burger and fries. Beth ordered a salad with extra carrots and a virgin daiquiri. 

While waiting for the food, the two of you sat in an uncomfortable silence. More-so harsh than uncomfortable.

“We should tell someone.”

“No.”

“Why no? He almost assaulted you.”

“And he didn’t. We got out of there before anything could happen.”

“So you’re just going to do nothing about it?”

“What do you want me to do? Tell my dad so he can go to prison for murder? Tell your dad so he can tell my dad? No. I’m Ok. Nothing happened. There’s nothing to tell.”

“But-.”

“Beth, if I ever had to keep a very big secret for you from your dad, I would. Despite us not really getting along, I need you to keep this one to yourself. Please.”

“Ok. I'll stay quiet.”

“Thank you.” The food then came out and the two of you ate in silence. By the time 6:30 rolled around the two of you were ready to never speak of this day ever again.

Lee tried to start conversations but you just stayed quiet and Beth responded in her usual snarky ‘Beth’ way that made it seem like the day had not gone well. Which it didn’t.

When the truck pulled up to the house, you immediately jumped out of the car and went to your room. You even ignored your dad when he tried to speak to you. That night after you showered and just before you went to bed, those thoughts came back. Low but lingering waiting for the perfect chance to get louder.

The next morning you got up, showered and went to do your regular shadow work. You said hello to everyone, trying to remain cordial. The day dragged to you, when you were done with your shadow work, you and your dad went to the closest gun range in town. You shot and missed, then you shot and hit the target. Then you’re dad introduced you to Mrs. Bredene, Carly’s old knife teacher. You showed her what you could do, all that you’ve learned so far, which was surprisingly a lot.

Just when you were about to be distracted and soon swallowed whole by those low, angry, nasty thoughts, Mrs. Bredene and your dad gave you purpose again. Two hours after that, the two of you started driving home.

“So, how was yesterday?”

“Hmm?” you look up from your lap, with a questioning look on your face.

“How was yesterday? Did you and Beth find common ground or what?”

You turned away, looking out the window, seeing all the mountains and large open fields pass by.

“It was ok.” You shrugged indifferently, voice distant.

“Are you ok?”

You nodded. Your dad hummed but kept an eye on you not entirely believing you.

“You know, I have something to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

“It’s more of an old school thing, and you do have a say in this, but what would you say if, hypothetically, John and I thought it would be good if you married into the Dutton family.”

You chuckled dryly, “Ok. And hypothetically who would I marry?”

“Jamie.” 

You let out a loud dry laugh. Turning away from the window, to look at your father. You hoped to see humor in his face but it only remained neutral.

“You’re joking right?”

No response.

“Dad, please tell me you’re joking.”

Again, no response.

“Oh, my god. You want me to marry Jamie? I don’t even know him.” You inhaled shakily, your heart started pounding.

“You have a say, and it seems you’re saying no. So that’s that. It’s over.” Samuel glanced over at you quickly before focusing back on the road.

“I can’t marry him. I don’t want to marry him. I don’t want to get married. I can’t. I can’t.”

“Baby, it’s ok. It was just a thought no one is forcing you to marry anyone.”

He tried reassuring you but you couldn’t hear, your heart was too loud, and you couldn’t properly breathe. 

“Baby?”

“I can’t breathe.”

Samuel pulled the truck over, putting his hazard lights on, unbuckled you and quickly jumped out of the truck.

When he reached your side he pulled the truck door open and pulled you out.

“Baby breathe. Breathe.” 

Seeing that wasn’t working he had to do something else. He gently got you on the ground, the two of you kneeling on the hard gravel.

“Remember that Frog that you and Alex had when you guys were little? What was her name?”

“W-what?”

“What was the frog's name?”

“Ariel.”

“Why?”

“Because, I couldn't- I couldn’t come up with any other name and in the book I always imagined her as a red head, like Ariel.” Your breath started to come in slower.

“Ok, good. Who came up with the story of the frog prince?”

“The- The Brothers Grimm.” Slower.

“When?”

“1812.” Slower.

“Where?”

“Germany.” Slower.

“What was the lesson?”

“Not judging people on appearance.” Slower.

“And?”

“Keeping your word.”

“Good. Good.”

You looked at him after a minute of silence, catching your breath. 

“Dad, I don't want to get married.”

“Ok. No one is forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do.” He stood up, helping you do the same.

You got into the truck, your mind flashing to yesterday. Your face soured. You dad got into the driver's seat after you buckled yourself in.

“I don’t want to get married at all. Not to Jamie. Not to anyone.”

“Sweetheart?”

“No. I won't do it. I’m not going to end up like mommy.”

“Ok. Let’s get back to the ranch.”

Back at the ranch John had Jamie sit down with him, like a man, whiskey and all.

“What did you want to talk about?”

John sighed softly, sipping his whiskey, before turning and looking at the young man. The boy he and his wife took in. The boy his wife loved like a son, a feeling he felt, sometimes.

“Marriage.”

“What?”

“Do you ever want to get married? Have kids?”

“Uh-um, I think about it sometimes. But I don't think it’s really for me.”

John hummed, already feeling regret for starting the conversation, but he needed the possible leverage. 

“What if you met the right girl? For the good of the ranch, would you change your mind then?”

“For the right girl? Absolutely.”

“What do you think about Y/N?” John gauged Jamie's reaction when he mentioned the girl's name. His face turned beet red.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s pretty cool. Really pretty too.”

“What if I told you, you two were getting married?”

“We are? That’s-” Jamie chuckled before he realized, "I can't get married, I haven't even finished my trigonometry class project yet.”

“Not now, when you’re older.”

“Oh. That’s not so bad. Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good.”

That night Beth went to the barn to visit Rip, her mind was still lingering on what happened yesterday. Partly about how Mr. Avine tried to assault you, mostly about how you were more worried about her than yourself. She was terrified for you, and your only concern was her being safe.

She needed to take her mind off of it. She knocked on the barn door, and waited for it to open. After a couple seconds, it did.

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Kiss me.” Was her only response, she pushed herself into his arms, kissing him sloppily. 

“Wait, wait. I need to tell you something.” He muttered out in between kisses.

Beth sighed in annoyance but stepped back, only partially listening.

“I know who I want to be with.”

“What?”

“I know who I want to be with. It’s you. In spite of how you act and the things you say, I want to be with you.”

Beth scoffed, taking what he said into her mind. Her thoughts went haywire then.

He wanted to be with someone else. Who? Who else, she’s the only other girl here. She’s your only competition. She’s taking everything from you. 

Then she heard her mothers voice. Loud, drowning out every other thought she was thinking.

You deserve to have him taken away. Look at what you're lowering yourself to. Concerned about a boy's feelings, wondering if he likes you or the person you’re pretending to be. Be strong, hit him where it hurts. Let him know who’s in control.

“Do you have feelings for her?”

“I think so, but I want to be with you.”

“You are just what I imagined.”

“What?”

“For a pet. I’ve always known you’d come back. Men are loyal like that.”

“I’m not a pet!”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Beth then walked out of the barn, heading back home with a wicked smirk on her face.

Rip stood there for a moment, wondering what just happened. Deciding not to think too much about it he left the barn. He then remembered that Samuel said you had a tree house, so he went there.

When you and your dad got back to the ranch, you let him know that you would be going to your treehouse to think.

“Don’t stay out too late.”

“I won’t.”

With that, you started walking to the treehouse, keeping alert for any wolves or bears in the area. Once you were there, you could see one of your flashlights was on.

Weird, I swore I turned all those off.

You continued and saw a silhouette of a boy's figure. Once you were at the bottom of the tree, you called out to whoever was in the treehouse. Your treehouse.

“Y/N?”

“Rip? What are you doing here?”

“I needed to think.”

You climbed up the makeshift ladder, reaching the base, “No. I mean why are you here, in my treehouse? How’d you even know where it was?”

“Your dad told me.”

“Of course.”

“I can leave if you want me too?”

“No. No, it’s supposed to be a free country. Just stay.”

You then went over to the storage chest that you had put in, and pulled out some pillows and a blanket. You lay them across the wood and gesture for him to sit.

“Thanks.”

“Always be prepared. Or at least try to be.”

The two of you sat in silence then, your hand next to his .The two of you just staring up at the stars. 

“I wanted to tell you something.”

“What is it?” You turn your body towards him, giving him your full attention. Your hand unknowingly going onto his.

“I-, i’ve.” Then he looked down, seeing your hands on top of each other. His heart started pounding. Then he looked at you. He looked into your eyes and saw everything. Then he glanced down towards your lips.

“Yes?”

“I-.” The air changed, the two of you slowly leaning into each other. Closer, and closer until your lips touch.

It was soft yet electric, he didn’t want it to end. And he would’ve gotten his wish if he didn’t pull away.

“I’m in love with Beth.”

The tension in the air snapped like a pea. 

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry. I just needed to say it. I don’t ever want to hurt you. Since I've met you, I felt something for you. Now I know what it is.”

You pull away, backing away from him, “Oh. ok. I wasn’t aware there were choices to be made. Thank you so much for clearing that up. I should go.”

You start climbing down the ladder, when his hand stops you.

“Don’t go. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. You are right. You are my friend, shame on me for thinking it was more than that.”

You pull your hand out of his and continue the climb downward. You start to walk away.

“Y/N, don’t go.” He climbs down the ladder himself, feeling something wet fall onto his face.

Thunder claps loudly. More wet drops, followed quickly by a series of heavy rain drops. It starts pouring rain. Lightning flashes across the sky. Thunder claps once again.

Rip watches you leave, as he stands in the rain thinking of what he’s just done, he registers it. The pain in his chest. He clutches at his chest softly.

As he stands there clutching his chest, the rain starts building a pattern, it's almost like he can hear his mother.

He then recalls a memory. It was raining heavily one night, his little brother was sick and his mom was struggling trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

“Rip, sweetheart, when God and all the angels are sad, it rains. Hard. Just like this. It means they’re heartbroken by the choices we’ve made. And we have to figure out how to fix them, for the sun to come out again.”

It rained for two days straight. She figured out what was going on with him the next night and when she helped him through it, the next morning the rain was gone. The only remnants of the rain being the puddles and the rainbow you could see, here and there.

As you entered the house, the heavy rain pounding onto the house as if trying to break through, you went upstairs to your room.

You stood there for a moment, then quickly grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. You had no idea why this boy had such an effect on you. You hated it. 

You peeled off your wet clothes and took a hot shower, as you stood in front of the mirror, those thoughts started getting louder. 

Nearly assaulted and recently dumped by a boy who’s not even your boyfriend. Yeesh. I’d hate to be alive right now.

Shut up!

Why? You know I'm right, the only way out of all this pain is the correct way. I can make it painless for you. 

Shut up!

What are you thinking? Drowning, cutting, ‘accidental’ fall.

“Shut up.”

The voices quieted down. You went into your bed feeling worse than ever.

Just as you shut your eyes another thought popped in.

I’ll be back. Sooner or later. Don’t worry, you’ll be free soon. This is just the end of the beginning.

A/N

Part 2 is coming up. Yay🎉🎉🎉

I’m slowly becoming more and more proud of my work.

Just a heads up if you don’t read the warnings, since this is set in the Yellowstone universe it will be dark. It should be getting darker in part 2 and so on.

But other than that smut and fluff and angst and yearning.

Make sure to like, reblog and comment.

[alltoowsll]

GOD BLESS AMERICA. AND HE NAMED EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN COUNTRY

[choclateshortcake02]

Been so busy I almost forgot just as it is The month of love.

More importantly it’s…….

Black History Month

The world may try to erase us but we will always be here.

Happy Black History Month to all my brothers and sisters.!!!!!