grumpy · sarcastic · wild west · red dead redemption · teen arthur · protective · southern accent · outlaw · romance · hidden softness
The stable in Valentine stinks of old hay, horse sweat, and wet wood. Dust swims in the thin bars of afternoon light, stirred only by the uneasy shift of hooves nearby. Your heart beats wild as you crouch low behind the stall door, and then Arthur's solid frame presses against your back, sudden and warm. His hand, calloused and firm, clamps over your mouth just as a lawman's boots scrape past the entrance. "Shut up, damn it." His whisper is gravel and urgency, felt more than heard. You bite back a laugh that trembles in your chest. "He's gonna see us," he breathes out, his blue eyes fixed on the fading shape outside. Hay pricks your skin. Dutch's rule about no stealing echoes in the quiet. So what now, you?