Not Expecting to Collide (COMPLETE) - ABP Fanfiction

Chapter 47 - Shrew and Neanderthal

Bam's giggles quickly turned into loud laughter that echoed in the clearing. Loud enough to wake a certain sleeping someone who had missed her ride to town.
October sat up before she was fully awake. She looked around until her eyes stopped on a bewildered Bam Brown and she swore. Bam had never before heard a curse word fall from her pretty lips. It wasn't clear if the shock of finding her there or the shock of hearing her swear was greater. Bam's mouth clamped shut and his laughter ceased immediately.
"How long exactly have you been out here?" Bam asked.
October checked her watch. "Maybe two hours."
"Alone?" He asked through clenched teeth.
October's eyes narrowed. "Do you see anybody else here?"
"Did it occur to you that you should be wary of bears?"
No it hadn't. Bears were the furthest thing from her mind when she entered the clearing earlier in the afternoon. She blanched a little at realizing the danger she had put herself in but she certainly wasn't going to let him see it. She held up her hand and scoffed. "I don't need one of your lectures. I can take care of myself." Surprisingly, he let it go.
"Come on. I was just about to start a fire."
October rose to her feet and pushed her chin out defiantly. "No."
Bam raised an eyebrow in challenge. "What?"
October straightened her stance and brought her eyes up to meet his. "I said no. I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Would you rather stay here and be grizzly food?"
"What do you care?" She shot back at him.
"What?"
She took one step toward him and glared insolently with her hands on her hips. "What do you care if I get eaten by a bear. You obviously don't want me anymore!"
His eyes practically gave off sparks. The first time she had witnessed his temper she hadn't been the subject of it. This time she wasn't so lucky. This time she had enough good sense to be a little afraid.
"Damn you woman!" He cursed loudly, then faster than she even had time to think, he lunged forward, grasped her roughly around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder.

Once the initial shock wore off, October started to yell. "Put me down you - you knuckle-dragging, mouth-breather! How dare you manhandle me." She beat upon his body with her small fists and kicked her feet. Her blows landed unheeded upon his back. He simply tightened his grip around her waist and trudged on through the forest. Bam remained silent as he made his way to the heart of Browntown and over to the trapper shack, although he was mildly amused at the creativity of her insults. She knew she was being a shrew and she hated it but she was too mad to do anything about it at the moment. He kicked open the door to the shack and dumped her unceremoniously on the floor.
"You Neanderthal! You can't just put your hands on me whenever you want." She screamed at him while rubbing her bruised posterior.
Bam towered over her with his feet apart and his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't seem to remember you complaining the last time I put my hands on you."
Her eyebrows shot up at his audacity. She opened her mouth to say something, then promptly clamped it shut, turned around and presented her back to him. Bam slid down the back of the door and let his legs fall beneath him to the floor, effectively blocking her only means of escape.
"I don't suppose you'd like to take me to town in the skiff?" She asked sullenly.
"I would if I could but the skiff is gone too. You're out of luck, sweetheart. You're stuck here with me." Bam replied.
He had never called her sweetheart before and personally she didn't really like the hint of sarcasm with which he used it. She remained sitting on the ground for a moment and clenched her hands in her lap. Several moments of silence passed. Finally, October spoke with a deliberate gentleness.
"I didn't come here to make things difficult for you, Bam. At first I took this assignment because I wanted to come here to rail at you. I wanted you to feel my anger."
Bam turned his head to look at her. He rubbed a hand along the back of his arm. He'd felt her anger alright, and tomorrow he'd have the bruises to prove it. "And now?" He asked softly.
"Now I just wish we could go back to that night in Seattle and pretend like all this never happened."
"But it did."
"Yes it did. And I'm still angry with you. And you still haven't told me why."
More silence passed between them. October thought Bam had fallen asleep by the evenness of his breathing.
"I was forced to choose."
"What?"
"I was given the choice between you and the rest of my family."
"How?" She asked meekly.
"The meeting in Seattle." He spoke brokenly. "Myra was forcing me to get a love interest on the show. I knew you would say no but I asked you anyway. Myra surprised me by bringing in Bambi. I refused. I said I would rather quit the show than pretend to be in love with another woman. Myra reminded me of how our contracts are written." He stopped talking then. The muscles in his hands tensed.
October turned around to face him. "Go on. What about your contracts?"
Bam scrubbed a hand along his beard. "The show is about our whole family. If one of us quits, we are all out. There is nine of us, or none of us."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" She asked quietly. Bam didn't answer.
Although it was June, the night air grew chilled and October involuntarily shivered and hugged her arms around her.
"Are you cold?" He asked. The genuine concern in his voice startled her. She nodded, hoping he might lend her a sweater. She'd left hers in the van earlier in the afternoon. Instead he reached for her and pulled her into his lap with his arms encircling her torso. October's breath hitched. He nuzzled his beard against her neck. "It's been hell without you." He whispered.
She ran a trembling finger along his jaw. "I've missed you so much, Bam, but I'm still very angry with you."
"I know and you have every right to be." He agreed.
"There's still something you're not telling me."
He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "Can we call a truce? Just for tonight. Tomorrow you can go back to hating me but let's not waste tonight."
She brought her hand up to tangle in his long curls.
"As angry as I am, Bam, I could never hate you."