Chapter Text
Bradley was sitting halfway upright before he even knew what was happening, his body reacting quicker than his mind. A tremendous crashing sound came from the woods around them.
Bradley reached over and shook Jake roughly, emotions be damned they had to get out of there right now.
“Jake,” he hissed under his breath, “Jake!”
The blonde stirred, dazed and blinking at the darkness around them. “What?” he asked, too loudly. Bradley held a finger to his lips.
In moments the raiders were visible as faint silhouettes approaching the camp on horseback. Five of them, they were badly outnumbered. Shit.
Jake’s eyes were wide with fear as he stared at Bradley for directions. Bradley motioned for him to stay still, the horses had wandered further into the meadow, unaware of the danger they were in.
Bradley crept forwards, keeping low to the ground and as quiet as he could, even then he felt hopeless. He could hear the whoops and hollers of the bandits getting closer and closer to their camp.
“Smokey,” he hissed under his breath. He whistled to get the horse’s attention. One quick sharp note.
A barrage of bullets broke through the underbrush.
“Fuck!” he exclaimed, dropping to the ground, his hand automatically going to his hip before he remembered that Jake’s pa didn’t like guns and hadn’t let Bradley carry his when he arrived at the ranch.
He lay with his cheek pressed to the earth beneath him sure he was going to die. Then a gentle hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped, whipping his head around to find Jake staring at him.
“What are you doing?” Bradley hissed.
“I couldn’t let you go by yourself,” Jake explained, sounding a hell of a lot more sober now, and scared out of his mind.
Bradley nodded even though Jake couldn’t see him in the dark. “Alright,” he whispered, it felt like a tentative truce.
Footsteps approached and both men ducked lower. Jake’s mare knickered in warning as the bandits grabbed her. Beside him, Jake flinched as they led his horse away.
“Reckon they’re around here somewhere,” one of the bandits muttered, his footsteps sweeping closer by the minute. “Fires’ still burning hot..”
With his stomach brushing the ground, Bradley felt remarkably like a deer-hunted, trapped, and outnumbered. Predator versus prey.
“They gotta be close,” the bandit grumbled, his voice low and deep. The footsteps were closer, too close. Bradley’s mind raced through the possibilities of what he could possibly do once they were caught and begging for his life seemed the only option left.
Then he felt Jake’s hand move, palm first, then his elbow down to his hip. He pulled out a pistol.
Bradley’s eyes widened. “On three,” he mouthed. Jake nodded.
One, he whispered.
Two
Three
Bang! Bang! Bang! Jake pulled the trigger, again and again up towards the man. Jake and Bradley both rolled away as gunfire returned.
“Go! Go! Go!” Bradley shouted, yanking Jake to his feet as the blonde kept firing. They stumbled out of the woods together, running through the darkness without a real plan.
Gunshots rang out all around them and Bradley couldn’t tell where they were coming from, it felt like everywhere at once. He grabbed Jake’s shirt and drug him along behind himself, running faster and faster away.
There were shouts and yells for revenge coming from behind him, the sound of horses fleeing and men screaming in pain.
Jake yelped, falling to the ground beside Bradley.
“Jake!” Bradley cried, he wrapped both of his arms around the man and heaved his dead weight up, struggling to keep running. Fuck they were both going to die here.
Jake groaned in pain, his eyes wide and rolling back in his head. Bradley could feel where the blood was seeping through his shirt, staining Bradley’s hands red.
“Holy shit,” he breathed.
Adrenaline alone kept Bradley running, running and running until he was sure the bandits were gone. Eventually he stopped hearing gunshots and shouting following them and Bradley slowed to a stop.
Gingerly, he lay Jake down in the dirt. His face had grown pale and Bradley didn’t need to take his shirt off to know that he’d lost a lot of blood.
“Jake,” he whispered, pained and quiet like a hurt animal.
Desperately, Bradley covered Jake’s bleeding side with his hands, pressing down as hard as he could like he might be able to anchor Jake to the earth.
“Stay with me,” he muttered.
Jake’s eyes fluttered open and met Bradley with their beautiful blueness. “Hey,” he croaked and Bradley could almost believe that this wasn’t as bad as he thought. “Am I dying?” Jake asked.
Bradley couldn’t lie to him, not when he was gazing into his eyes like that. He nodded, feeling tears rush down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry Jake…”
Jake frowned, looking confused. “It’s okay,” he muttered slowly, “don’t cry Bradley.”
Bradley nodded, gently brushing the blood stained hair off of Jake’s brow. “I’m not,” he promised, “I’m here, whatever you need.”
Jake considered that for a moment. “Talk to me?”
“Of course,” Bradley answered. He grabbed Jake’s clammy palm in his and held on tight, determined not to let the man be alone in his last moments.
He held Jake’s palms up to his own heart, pressing it there and spreading his fingers out. “There,” he whispered, “feel my heartbeat, focus on that and I’ll tell you a story,”
“Once upon a time,” Bradley started, “I was all alone and scared as hell and then I stumbled upon this ranch and I found you…”
So he told him everything, starting before they’d met and then after and all the way up until now. He even told him the secret he swore he’d never tell a living soul but then again, Jake didn’t have much more time in the living world left anyways.
Jake’s eyes filled with tears as he listened to Bradley recount all their adventures in the past weeks.
“I think I love you,” Bradley finished.
Jake stared back up at him, “I think I love you too,” he whispered.
Bradley held their hands tighter and pressed a soft kiss to Jake’s brow. The man was fading fast now, his eyes swam unfocused and his breaths sounded labored.
“It’s alright,” Bradley promised him. “I’ll be alright, you can let go now Jake..”
Jake heaved a big sigh, letting his eyes slip shut as he breathed his last breath. Bradley held him for a long, long time, one hand on his heart to feel it slowly stop and another on Jake’s hair, smoothing the blonde strands back again and again. Eventually Jake’s body grew cold and the sun rose on the horizon and Bradley had to let him go.
He stared down at Jake and up at the rising sun. How terrible, he thought, that the world could keep on spinning without Jake in it.
More terrible though he knew, would be to die without ever having been loved.