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Arthur Morgan was a man not to mess with. A life of crime and countless near-death experiences had him hardened more than diamond, but anyone close to him could confirm his heart of gold, and soul of pure devotion.
For years Arthur had believed that nothing could truly touch him. Nothing could break and pull out his true gooey, sugary-sweet interior.
All that changed the second he laid eyes on you.
You had been in camp for a few weeks now, instantly hitting it off with most of the other girls in camp. Over the past few weeks, you had grown particularly close with Mary-Beth and Sadie. All very different in personality and taste but still comfortable in each other’s company. You were frequently seen in Mary-Beth’s lap, her fingers intertwined in your hair, always giving you some elaborate style.
As you stood from the ground a mirror was placed in your hand, courtesy of your friend.
As you checked yourself out in the small handheld mirror, your mouth widened into a smile.
“Aww, Mary-Beth you’re too sweet. Thank you!” you gushed.
“Don’t mention it y/n, glad you like it. You look gorgeous,” she replied.
A broad man who lingered in the background took an immediate liking to your new hairstyle. A man who you were barely acquainted with, other than awkward run-ins. Too many times you had bumped into him, or he raced over to help if you had shown any difficulty with a chore. You didn’t know him all too well, but he seemed like a wreck. If he wasn’t stammering over his words and making a fool of himself, he’d be on the other side of camp. Ignoring you, out of sight but never out of mind. If anything, you had consumed him. Most of his thoughts were related to you in some manner, even though less than a hundred of his words were spoken to you.
This man of mystery stood alongside his older of two fathers. They were deep in conversation before you appeared. As soon as you caught his eye, his mind transported a million miles away.
His eyes dawdled towards you, following your every step towards your other camp friends.
“arthur…?” an ignored voice said as his eyes continued to follow you.
“Arthur..?” the aged voice continued.
“ARTHUR!” the voice continued, causing Arthur to jump.
“Christ! I’m here.”
“Have you even been listening to me the past few minutes? You’re..gone,”
Arthur inhaled and began to nod, before giving up and shaking his head.
Hosea sighed, glancing over in your direction before looking up at Arthur’s eyes.
Hosea chuckled, “You’re head over heels for that girl, son. Do you even know her name?”
“Yeah, y/n,” He replied.
“Have you spoken to her?”
“Yeah, but- I...I’ve….mumbled...few things.”
Hosea sighed again, “You’re killing me, Arthur,”
“I think you should talk to her... think you’d get along well.”
“I’ve tried Hosea. I feel like I can talk to her, but the second I see her eyes I just…”
“Feel stupid?” Hosea questioned.
“Yeah...feel stupid.” Arthur trailed off.
“That’s how you’re supposed to feel…
...you’re in love with her, son”
Arthur sighed, scratching the back of his neck.
“I’ll..I’ll talk to her, Arthur.”
“Thanks, Hosea,” he said.
A few days passed with no word.
No word from Hosea, and only a few words from a painfully shy, y/n.
He was never good at hiding these types of feelings, other camp members began to notice the way you’d make the Arthur Morgan sweat bullets and shake in his boots.
A slender, grey-haired man approached the end of your cot.
“y/n? Can I speak with you for a moment?” He said.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Do you have something to hide? You didn’t do anything, come on” the man said, forming a “come here” motion with his hands.
You stood and quietly followed Hosea to his tent, standing at the side for good measure.
“Come in!” he exclaimed.
“y/n, have you frequently spoken to my boy? Arthur?”
A puzzling thought crossed your face.
“Arthur..arthur..?” you thought as an “aw shit” look crossed your face.
“That the real tall one, right? Broad? Long hair?”
“That’s the one!” he exclaimed.
“Aw, shit. Is he mad at me? I may have bumped into him a few times, swear it was an accident. I didn’t mean anyth-” your face went red.
“Woah! No! He’s not angry. I just wanted to show you something.”
“I’ve noticed your liking to my husband’s gramophone. Don’t fully understand how, makes me want to shoot him sometimes but to each his own.”
Hosea walked towards a pile of aged records, taking a sleeve and placing it in your hands. It wasn’t one you recognized.
As you inspected the sleeve, Hosea shared the history of the record in your hands.”
“That one’s a real important piece in this camp, been one of Arthur’s favorites since he was young.”
You smiled softly, still admiring the record in the worn sleeve.
“Can we listen to it sometime?” you asked.
“Sure,” Hosea nodded. “Would be a nice change from the two songs Dutch constantly plays. We haven’t heard this one in a while,”
You returned the worn record to Hosea and spoke about various camp-related topics before both exiting the tent and scattering away.
Arthur peered over at you before shaking his head, laughing at himself at the idea of making a move.
“You god damn fool,” He murmured to himself.
Over the course of the day, the vibe of his fathers did a complete 180. Once semi-approachable men now turned schoolgirls whenever their son was in sight. Hiding their mouths as they whispered to each other, followed by incessant giggling.
You’d taken notice of these new mannerisms from Dutch and Hosea, and the way Arthur’s face turned a bright red out of embarrassment and fear from it. But, there was nothing to do or say to shake them off Arthur’s back or make him feel better. Hell, you’d probably make him feel worse.
The night crept into the night as a handful of fellow camp members gathered around a fire, sitting on various logs and other items they came across in travel. The only seat remaining was the place on your right, and Arthur was nowhere to be found.
Soft footsteps filled the void in a few feet away as Hosea glanced towards the source.
“Arthur, my boy! Come join us! There’s an empty seat next to y/n.”
Arthur quickly looked you in the eyes and grew flustered before you flashed a shy smile.
“Nothing to be anxious about, come over,”
Sighing in defeat, Arthur came over and sat beside you, Irregularly bouncing his leg out of nervousness.
The night carried on as you and your fellow camp members told stories, listened to Dutch’s gramophone, and cracked jokes.
After a while, most of the camp had gone to bed. Remaining members including Arthur, Hosea, Dutch, Charles, and you.
Gravity began to take its toll on your eyelids, begging you to go to sleep.
You started to nod off in your seat and slowly tilted towards your right, as you fell against a startled muscled torso, you jolted upwards.
“Shit! I’m sorry” You said
“Got nothing to say sorry for” He murmured, “I- you’re welcome to lay on me if you like. You ain’t doing any harm ”
You nodded and returned your head back to his shoulder as you both exhaled.
He silently and carefully tucked a few stray strands of hair behind your ear.
Arthur looked up at his older of two fathers, who had mouthed “good job” to him, to which he blushed and rolled his eyes.
As you laid against each other, Hosea stood to attend to the gramophone, changing out the soon ending record to something more appropriate for the late evening.
Hosea sat back down at the fire and waited for a reaction as the new song began to play.
You felt Arthur jump in his seat as the song began to play.
Arthur glanced over at Hosea.
“I believe in you. Do what feels right,” he mouthed.
Hosea and Dutch stood from their seats,
‘Arthur, y/n, think it’s time we packed it in for the night. You’re free to stay here though.”
After exchanging your good nights, the curious couple disappeared for the night, their unruly son silently sitting beside you.
“Haven’t heard this one in a while” He chuckled.
“Y’know, this...song’s real important to me,” he said.
“Been one of my favorites since I joined this gang”
“Is that so?” you questioned.
“Mhm,” he pleasantly said.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air.
“Y/n, will...will you dance with me?” He quickly spat out.
“Arthur..I,”
“I’m sorry for asking, sorry for bother-”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” He questioned.
“Yes.” You repeated.
“Yes, Arthur. I’ll gladly dance with you,” you said with a smile.
Arthur stood up, taking your hand to help you to your feet.
Your hands brushed as you walked a few feet away from the fire, gramophone still audible.
You nervously looked at each other in the eyes before he took your hand again, pulling you into him as you mutually swayed along to the song that had meant the world to him. Occasionally you separated, allowing you to twirl.
“To be honest y/n, I...I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” he mumbled into your hair.
“Me too,” you said.
With your arms wrapped around each other, you lovingly danced under the buffet of brightly lit stars throughout the majority of the song before Arthur stood dead in his tracks and pulled you away.
The soul-piercing eye contact continued for a quick moment.
“y/n, can I..can I kiss you?” he asked.
You exhaled with a smile and nodded, pulling him closer to you.
You stood on your toes as he returned his arm around your waist, ever so slightly raising you off the ground. Your lips met slowly for the very first time, but hopefully not the last.
You began to melt into his comforting embrace as time appeared to stand still. Neither of you could say if the song had ended or somehow was still continuing.
Time resumed as you finally pulled away, both mildly chuckling out of awkwardness.
“Thank you,” you said with a shy smile.
“Don’t mention it, thank you as well,” he responded.
“It’s getting real late now, we should probably head to sleep.” he said.
You nodded, “Goodnight Arthur, see you tomorrow,”
“See you tomorrow,” he said.
Your tents were on the opposite ends of camp. As he turned around towards his tent, he pumped his fist in victory.
A nearby eye peeked around outside his tent flap and over at his victorious son.
“He did it,” Hosea said to Dutch.
“Mission accomplished?” Dutch mumbled.
“Mission accomplished,” Hosea said.
For years Arthur had believed that nothing could truly touch him. Nothing could break and pull out his true gooey, sugary-sweet interior.
All that changed the second he laid eyes on you.