!!!TRIGGER WARNING!!! - SEXUAL ABUSE/ DOMESTIC ABUSE / VERBAL ABUSE {i am not in any way trying to romanticise this!! theses are very serious things and i have been through them myself x}
summary - when dutch no longer is in love with molly o'shea he meets you and treats you well. but when dutch turns into a stranger, charles is the only one who really seems to notice what's going on
{this story is written from the perspective of a cis female who uses she/her pronouns}
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Dutch Van Der Linde was charming. Extremely, extremely charming. So charming that even though you were suspicious of his intentions and his general interest in you, that you loved him.
He treated you to fancy (stolen) jewels and fine clothes, he was protective of you and everyday he would tell you how much he loved you.
The other women weren't big fans of you as Dutch really didn't make you do much work around the camp. You just sat around all day and made Dutch feel good about himself.
"Morning, Mary Beth," you greeted as she walked by.
The young woman just nodded in your direction. Sweet, kindly Mary Beth, who wouldn't hurt a fly, wasn't even that nice to you.
Charles was most certainly the nicest after Dutch. He often offered to take you hunting and he showed you different medicinal plants when you were ill. But Dutch hated the idea of you spending time with any man other than him so you never ended up going hunting with
Charles anyway.
You and Charles had always just been close, despite Dutch's efforts to keep you both apart. He thought if you so much as looked at another man, you would leave his side.
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Things first started going downhill one night beside the roaring campfire. Javier was playing a beautiful song on his guitar and you were talking to Sean about something or other.
"HAHAHA! Oh Y/N, you truly tell the best stories," Sean cackled, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. He casually placed a band on your knee and started talking about some stagecoach he robbed as you chuckled.
There was, of course, nothing wrong with this. You were simply having a good time talking to one of your friends.
Dutch squinted his eyes, watching as your eyes sparkled in the moonlight. He slowly walked up behind you, placing a firm hand on each of your shoulders.
You jumped a little and looked back at Dutch, who plastered a fake smile onto his face. "Come with me for a minute, would you, Y/N?" He said cheerily enough. But you noticed the slight sinister glint in his eye.
"Bye, Sean," you say as Dutch steers you into the tent you both share together.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Y/N?" Dutch hissed into your ear, grabbing your shirt collar and pulling you towards him.
"I'm sorry, what," you stumble backwards. What is he talking about?
"You know what you're doing, flirting was Sean over there behind my back, you whore," He said grabbing the folds of you skirt, and pulling you back towards him. Your eyes widen with shock. You were just laughing with Sean, having a good time. That was harmless, right?
"Dutch, please. I wasn't-" You stutter, but your words come to a halt as Dutch shoves you to the floor and your skirt gets caught on a table and tears. You let out a yelp. Dutch puts one hand over your mouth, while slapping the air out of you with the other,his eyes dark as your cheek turns bright red, all while your lying in the dirt on the ground. He slowly starts to unbutton your shirt while you try to wriggle to the opening of the tent.
"Stop moving, you bitch," he pulled you by your hair , again towards you. Tears stream down your face as you quietly start to cry and whimper. "I thought you loved me, Y/N." He pulled you by your wrist, which you already felt start to bruise. "Leave the camp for few days and come back when you're ready to love me again." With a harsh shove, you were pushed out of the tent.
With disheveled hair, a torn skirt, a half unbuttoned shirt, a bruised arm, and a red cheek you ran towards the woods. You didn't even have a horse of your own. You would have to run to the nearest town. You wouldn't even be able to say goodbye to Charles or Sean, the people that had been kindest to you.
Tears flooded down your cheeks as you darted over branches and tripped over rocks as you ran through the woods. All of a sudden, you tripped over a larger rock, and rolled you ankle.
You felt defeated, until you heard a voice.
"Hey, who goes there?" a familiar voice called out. Charles Smith.
You knew you had to get out of there. You couldn't have Charles knowing what Dutch had said. It would ruin his entire reputation in the gang.
You crouched down out of site, your ankle throbbing with pain, trying to keep back the sobs that we're stuck in there chest.
Charles was smart. He had a good sense of direction and he could tell when someone was hiding from him. "Come out and you won't get hurt." he called out again.
Suddenly, he laid eyes on you, lying on the ground.
"Y/N? What are you doing out here? Are you crying?" he put out his hand, offering to help you up, causing you to flinch. He slowly started taking in the sight of you, your tear stained cheeks, your ripped, muddy clothing.
"I'm not crying, I'm fine," You start to stand up but then start falling down, your ankle buckling beneath you. Shit.
Charles eyes go wide with concern for you as he kneels down to help you. "Y/N, do you want to go back to camp?" he asks you.
"No! I mean, no thanks, I just came out here for some alone time," you try not to let the tears flow but you simply can't help it.
"I'm going to take you to a little camp I have set up over the way. Is that ok with you?" Charles says softly.
You wipe your nose and nod your head. "Yeah... thank you Charles," you mumble.
Charles gets his horse and lifts you up from the ground onto it in front of him, keeping you steady with his big arms around you. You feel safe and secure in his arms, leaving into his chest. You realise you've never really felt this way with Dutch. Just safe.
The horse stops when you arrive in front of a small campfire.
"Here," Charles says lifting you down from the horse. "I come here when i just need to get away from everything. Seems like you might need that." You both silently sit down on there floor next to the fire and that's when it all comes spilling out.
"Dutch thought I was cheating on him," you said abruptly.
Charles brow furrows and says,"I'm going to assume that you weren't?" He gave you a soft smile. "Go on, you can tell me everything, if you're comfortable. I know that you're not that type of person, Y/N. You're amazing and sweet and kind. You wouldn't hurt somebody like that."
You're so suddenly taken aback at his kind words. He thinks I'm kind and sweet and amazing? No one has ever said something like that to you.
"Thank you, Charles. I-" you stop. What do you say to that? That Dutch hurt you and made you run away into the woods? You also start to become self conscious because half the buttons on your shirt are undone. You slowly fiddle with the buttons, doing them up with shaky hands. You're eyes well with tears again. You can't help it you're just an emotional person.
Charles moves over to you and puts his arms around you carefully. You relax, feeling comforted.
In a whisper, you tell him what Dutch did and how he told you to run away into the woods and come back when you were fixed up.
Charles listens, no interruptions, just listening and stroking your hair. "I'm so sorry for roping you into this, Charles. I should have just told you I was fine."
Charles gently placed both of his hands on your shoulders. Before you even realise what's happening, your lips land softly on one another. "Don't apologise. You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm taking you somewhere away from here, somewhere safe." He pauses for a moment before saying, "I love you, Y/N."
You stare into his big eyes, shining in the light of the campfire. "I love you too."