TBS and Newt Imagines

whitey winn (tbs on godless) || fiddling

This is for @fangirlfr0mhell, who never fails to make me smile with her genius requests.

Whitey Winn is Thomas' character from the Netflix series Godless, and this one contains a spoiler (though it is present in the trailer... it may have happened by a lake).

Here are a few notes both for those who have not and have watched the show: ((SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT))

1. I have only watched snippets of the show—I have no time to watch everything because of school.

2. In the show, Whitey is a sheriff deputy (meaning second-in-command to the sheriff). And in this fic, he's a bit older for several reasons.

3. Whitey has a love interest in this show named Louise, who lives in another town. When they meet they arrange to meet for a lesson—Whitey would go to her area to be taught how to play.

And in the show, they go to a lake one day and started flirting. Then Louise kisses Whitey.

This fic starts in that very scene. Work with me, this will have a happy ending. For the reader, at least.

Enjoy!

Whitey's POV

I couldn't move.

Each second was an hour long, and as my eyes grew wide as the saucers in my Mam's cupboard my mind flashed all the obvious signs of her fancyin' me, which I ignored.

I felt her hand grip the back of my neck, and that snapped me back to reality.

Only she touched me there.

I gently pushed her away. I may be deputy sheriff but if there's anythin' my Pap taught me it's to never be rash to women.

I fell back a few steps towards the water but I caught myself just fine. I looked to Louise to see her fiddlin' with her dress, a smile hintin' on her face.

"So how was that?" her smile widened into a grin and she was facin' me now.

I jus' wanted to leave. "I-I must go now, Louise. Thank ye kindly for the time, again."

"Not a problem, Whitey," she was blushin'. "'tis wise to part anyway, Poppa can be jus' 'round the corner,"

Better to leave with fewer words spoken when in a fight, jus' like she always told me, that wise girl.

I tipped my hat and left, each step feelin' like a ton of bricks.

Third Person POV

It's been three days.

Whitey always visited every other day for lessons, but now it's all glaringly obvious.

He's avoidin' her.

Which is why she arranged a shoppin' trip to La Belle with her friends, in hopes that she would see Whitey to check if he was all right.

After she split up with them, she began her searchin', but she didn't need to look much.

There stood Whitey in all his glory in front of a bookshop, arms wrapped 'round a woman who was gigglin' softly.

Louise knew she shouldn't intrude. But all be damned if she didn't want answers.

"Whitey?"

Louise cringed when Whitey tightened his hold on the woman who was quiet now.

"Louise? What're ya doin' here?"

"Shoppin' for cloths, for Momma." Louise looked at the girl then back to him, discreetly askin' for an explainin'.

"Louise," Whitey placed his hand on the girl's back and pulled her to his side. "this here is my wife, Y/N."

"Wife," Louise repeated dumbly. "yer married?"

Whitey nodded once. Y/N placed her small hand on his rough jaw, askin' a silent question.

"Sweeting," Whitey looked pointedly at Louise at the endearment, then back to his ladylove. "Louise here is from Blackdom. We became acquainted durin' her last shoppin' trip here."

Y/N was silent, and Whitey looked tormented.

"Why don't you get back to the bookshop? All this heat ain't good for ya," Whitey placed his palm on her stomach, showing a small bump. Y/N nodded and obliged.

Whitey led her to a bench nearby and invited her to sit, ever the gentleman.

Long gone was Louise's confident and humorous Whitey. This man wore a somber look as he stared at her emotionlessly.

"I never meant to lead ya on, Louise," Whitey spoke after a long silence.

"Then why, Whitey?" Louise looked to him with teary eyes. "Why'd you talk to me that day? Why'd you visit me on the regular if ya ain't interested?"

"My wife has a voice of gold," he said quietly as if that answered her question. "mornin' till night she'd sing to our babe. Afore she got with child she used ta go to them ranch houses to see them bands. She loved to watch folks dance and all that. I didn't care if I was tired from a day's work, goin' to the ranch house put a smile on her face and if it makes her smile then I'll do just that for the rest of my life."

"Why'd'ya ask me to teach you to fiddle?" Louise repeated, heart breakin' by the second.

"When she got with child I asked her to stay home. She grew gloomy and she only smiled to appease me. She was alone all day and didn't hear a single note for weeks. I wanted to change that, then you came along."

"Ya wanted to learn to please your wife." Saying it broke Louise's heart, but she warn't bout to break down in front of the man who broke it.

"That's right. And I'm sorry if I led ya on. I genuinely thought ya'd make a great friend and all that. So's I think it's best if we go out separate ways."

Knowing that Louise's heart has been torn into pieces, Whitey left without another word to avoid breaking it further.

His spirits lifted at the sight of his sweetheart, readin' a book by a window.

Once their eyes met, she returned her book to its shelf and went out, beckoning him to follow.

"This woman, Louise," Y/N said, looking at the people far away, avoiding her husband's gaze. "she looked stricken to see ya,"

"I'm not gonna beat 'round the bush, Y/N, I led her to think I had a fancying towards her, but that wasn't my intention at all."

"What exactly did ya do to make her think ya like her?" she looked at him briefly then looked away again.

"I asked her to teach me to fiddle."

This made Y/N's gaze soften and her eyes widen. "Oh, Whitey."

"I miss yer smile, darlin',"

"I do love ya, ya know. I'm perfectly happy without them bands."

"I know ya do," he smirked and she blushed. "don't get yer hopes high anyway, darlin', I think I've found the one thing my hands aren't good at."

"Oh, well," she sighed in mock resignation. "better compensate through the other things yer hands are good at then,"

"I always follow through, missus," with this, Whitey tickled his wife's neck gently before lifting her to his horse, as if lifting a crate of diamonds.

Y/N was still laughing as her husband mounted the horse behind her. Whitey kicked at the horse gently to get him movin', keepin' his adoring eyes on his wife.

From the distance, Louise was snapped back to reality by her friends, who were done shopping.

"Who were you starin' at, Lou? Looks like ya saw a ghost."

She sighed, keeping her eyes on the couple brokenly 'till they were out of sight.

"I guess ya could call it a ghost, Ally."

A ghost was Whitey Winn indeed. He would haunt her dreams forever, along with fantasies of what could have been.

I'm quite proud of this one. Thoughts?