Snake Skin | John Marston

God Knows I Tried

First light hit the camp, woke everyone up quickly enough. Everyone had a job to do there, except Y/N. She refused to cook and clean. The girl was not used to that kind of labor, she would much rather gallop across the flowered field and shoot animals but none of that was even remotely close to possible without being suspicious.

Ever since Micah had his childish outburst, Dutch been more careful around her. She knew he was suspicious, but how much? Not enough to kick her out or kill her. Suspicious of what? She wasn't even a threat to those people.

Deep down she regretted sticking around, but she did it for John.

Y/N got out of her tent and stretched, yawning in the process. Everyone was getting up too. She looked around at the people. To her, those people were normal, but outside of camp, they were wanted outlaws to everyone else. They were mothers, children, fathers, and father figures. Friends and family. They made everything seem normal as if Y/N wasn't on the run.

Y/N stood outside her tent and took in the environment. She noticed Tilly walk her way with two cups of coffee. Y/N smiled at her, "Good morning, Miss Jackson,"

"Morning, Colter," Tilly greeted her and offered her a cup. Y/N accepted it.

Tilly took a sip of her coffee, "Y/N, when was the last time you got a haircut?"

That took Y/N by surprise, just a bit, "Why are you asking? Does my hair look bad?"

Tilly smiled, "Not at all. I was just thinking since you're a big deal with the law you might want to get a cut. Change something in your appearance, maybe even pick up new rags. I'm sick of doing Grimshaw's bidding like some slave. That bitch can eat it,"

Y/N nodded and took a sip of the coffee, "I'll think about it,"

Tilly signed and left the woman. Y/N finished her hot drink and tossed the empty cup. She noticed Charles and Uncle grooming their horses, clearly getting ready to head out so she made her way to them. The woman was clearly looking to play her part in the gang even if it was temporary.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she greeted them.

"It is, Y/N. How are you?" Charles spoke as he adjusted the saddle of his mount.

"I'm good, sure. You two going somewhere?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Mhm. We're going to be out huntin'," Uncle answered before Charles could, "not that you'd be interested,"

Y/N raised her eyebrow at the old man, "Not interested? I'm a great hunter, old man. I spent my whole life hunting out there,"

"Mornin'," Arthur said as he passed the trio and made his way to his horse. He quickly mounted up and got to leaving.

"Where are you off to now, Morgan?" Uncle questioned as he leaned on his horse.

"Business in town. Dutch will come up with a plan soon involving the two wealthy families of Rhodes. He says we might be looking at a ticket out of here soon,"

Y/N nodded and looked around, "Arthur, have you seen John?"

Arthur pointed at John's tent, "He's usually up by now, but he might still be sleeping. Why don't you go check on him, Y/N?"

Y/N nodded once more and rushed to his tent.

"Hey, do we wait for you?" Charles asked the woman as she fled their presence.

"Yes, please!" she answered and stuck her thumb in the air. She made her way to John's tent confidently. She was about to open it but stopped and cleared her throat, "John? John, are you awake?"
Unexpectedly opening his tent would be rude, right? They were not that close to barge into one another's privacy out of the blue.

She didn't get an answer so she slowly opened the tent, peeking in. The woman saw a sleeping John Marston, the blanket covering only half of his body. The corners of her mouth curled upwards as she watched his back rise and fall while he took breaths.

She couldn't help but stare. That was the first time she saw him at such peace. Usually, he was tense and slightly agitated.

"I'm awake," he suddenly whispered. He caught her by surprise and she stepped back from his tent.

"Sorry," she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"Y/N," he spoke again.

She peeked into the tent again and saw him slowly sitting up. He waved for her to get in. She hesitated at first but then bit her lip and slid in. The tent fell shut after her and she hesitantly sat down next to John, their shoulders barely touching. Intense air filled the tent, but they were good at pretending not to notice.
John yawned and faced Y/N without saying another word.

"Good morning, John," she whispered to him.

He nodded and took a deep breath.

"Arthur said I should check up on you. We're heading out soon. Huntin-" Y/N was interrupted when she saw John's hand reach for her face ever so slow. She let him carefully caress her cheek and move down to her neck.

Y/N froze at the touch, her upper body tensing up in the process. Making her uncomfortable was the last thing he wanted to do. He wasn't thinking about sleeping with the woman. He simply wanted to feel her skin at his fingertips. An innocent, soft touch.
John had conflicted feelings towards Y/N and that action just made it clear.

He looked her in the eyes and slowly pulled his hand away, but Y/N grabbed it and held it, gradually minimizing the distance between the two. John was taken aback by her move, but it didn't take long for him to completely understand the situation. He leaned in, nervously opening his mouth. Y/N closed her eyes when she saw him get closer. Just as he was inches away from her lips they were startled by somebody outside of his tent.

"We're gonna leave without you!" Charles spoke loudly as he banged on the side of the tent, making the pair inside jump away from each other. Y/N eyes widened as she looked at John and she left the tent in a hurry.
She nodded at Charles and flashed him a very nervous smile as if she was caught doing something bad.
They both walked back to Uncle who was waiting on his horse.

"Did you wake him up?" Charles asked.

Y/N shook that redness off her face and answered, "God knows I tried,"