Arthur Morgan X Female Reader
Summary: Arthur helps out during the women's march with Penelope and Beau and the reader falls for him.
Word Count: 2600
Arthur rode along beside Beau, following the odd man to where the women's march was suppose to begin. Soon a group of woman came into sight and Arthur recognised Penelope Braithwaite standing outside of the group, talking to another woman.
You stood with the other women, all of who were preparing to march for a woman's right to vote. You were talking to Penelope, both of you filled with adrenaline with smiles on your faces, ready to fight for something that you believe in.
You laughed at something that Penelope said but your laugh faded when you saw Beau Gray approaching from behind Penelope. He was on his horse and he had brought a stranger along with him, you definitely hadn't seen him before, you would have remembered him. The stranger was also riding towards you on his own horse.
"Uh...Penelope...isn't that Beau?" you asked, pointing over at the two approaching horses.
"Oh my...what is he doing?" Penelope asked with a small sigh as she turned to face her secret boyfriend. You had known about Penelope and Beau since the beginning, Penelope had told you about it. Plus, they weren't actually that great at hiding it well.
"Who is his friend?" you asked, assuming that Penelope would know about Beau hanging around with men like that. Everything about him just screamed outlaw, cowboy, no good. God, you already liked him.
Instead of answering you, Penelope hurried over to Beau as the two men dismounted their horses. You sighed and followed her over to the men.
Penelope stood in front of Beau while you stood slightly behind and to the side of her, glancing at the rugged man who seemed disconnected from the conversation. He was definitely a little older than you, and significantly taller than you. He had thick brown hair, falling messily from his head. You couldn't help but notice his blue eyes...or were they green? A mix of both perhaps. He stubble over his chin and jaw. He definitely wasn't as tidy as Beau or most other men you have met but he made it work, better than anyone could in your opinion.
"Beau, what are you doing here?" Penelope asked with slightly widened eyes.
"I cannot let you go through with this...you'll be killed" Beau warned her, reaching out to place his hand on her arm but she brushed him away.
"Y/N and I are prepared to die for the cause, Beau. You know that" Penelope sighed and you turned your attention to them, hearing your name snapped you out of the strange trance the unfamiliar outlaw had put you in.
"Do something, please" Beau pleaded with the stranger.
"Do what? Fight this mob? They'd eat me alive" the stranger joked with a straight face and you found yourself laughing softly. You smiled because he didn't sound like he was mocking you like most men you have met, he sounded like he would genuinely be hesitant to take on these women. You liked that he took you all seriously.
Arthur heard you soft laugh and he glanced at you. He figured that you were a friend of Penelope and that you would be involved in the women's march. He couldn't help but smiled slightly to himself when he realised that he had made you laugh. He couldn't deny that you were beautiful.
"This is no laughing matter, sir" Beau reminded him but the stranger just grunted in reply. "They need protecting from certain elements. Mostly my family" he sighed, trying to get the three of you to agree with him. "Penelope, I beg you" Beau pleaded, this time with Penelope as he took her hand in his.
"I'll tell you what...your friend here can drive the wagon for us. It'll allow us to shout all the louder" Penelope smiled as she pulled her hand out of Beau's and turning to the crowd of women.
"Sure" the stranger shrugged, you were pretty sure that he had just been dragged down here for some reason.
"Ms. Calhoon...my friend here says he can drive the wagon" Penelope informed the woman as she pushed through the crowd.
"Well...Olive Calhoon. Normally, I like to drive myself but today I feel like a man joining us sends the right message" Ms Calhoon smiled as she approached you and the two men."I think I will stand with the other woman today. Y/N, would you mind assisting Penelope's friend?" the older woman asked you.
"Not at all" you said with a smile, happy to have an an excuse to spend some time with the stranger.
You watched as the women all boarded the wagon with their signs. Soon it was just you and Arthur walking up to the wagon together.
"Well, I ain't never been in a protest march before, Miss" the stranger admitted as he climbed onto the wagon.
"You just get us to where we need to go and make sure nobody kills us...you'll be just fine. I'm sure you've done something similar before" you teased with a small smirk. That smirk turned into a smile as he reached his hand down to you.
"Alright, can't argue with that" he chuckled slightly as you placed your hand in his, letting him pull you up onto the wagon so that you were sitting beside him.
The women in the back of the wagon began singing as Arthur started the drive through Rhodes.
"Alright, just take us down Main Street, right through town to the steps of the Bank of Rhodes, Mr...oh...I never got your name, I'm sorry" you began to instruct him before you realised that you didn't know his name. How didn't you notice that earlier?
"It's Arthur Morgan...and you're Y/N, right?" the man asked as he glanced at you.
"Y/N L/N, but please just call me Y/N. It's a real pleasure to meet you" you smiled politely. "So...Mr Morgan-" you started but Arthur interrupted you.
"Arthur, please" he shook his head, he would much prefer you to call him Arthur.
"So, Arthur, are you a friend of the movement?" you asked curiously.
"I'm just a driver. Maybe a shotgun messenger if it comes to it...but I hope it won't" Arthur shrugged, that didn't exactly answer the question that you asked but you would take it.
"Our message is a peaceful one...it's the men around here that can be foolish, causing trouble for no good reason. Anyway, I'm certain that you are far more than a driver" you told him, smiling up at him.
"Well, men are usually foolish..." Arthur nodded, a small chuckle escaping him.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are some good ones...perhaps not around here...but somewhere. Like you and Beau" you shrugged.
"I am not like Mr Gray" he shook his head, holding back a scoff. He was not a good man, far from it.
"Oh no, of course not, I had no doubt that you are practically the opposite to that man...but that ain't a bad thing, not necessarily" you shrugged, keeping your eyes on the streets of Rhodes and the people shouting insults at you all. Arthur lost concentration on driving as he looked down at you.
He wasn't sure why but Arthur had already found himself interested in you. He took a moment to take in your soft features, the cut of your dress, the hair that framed your face, and the soft smile on your face. God, your lips looked so soft...
"Oh, here's the bank. Just stop right here" you smiled, pointing at the steps of the bank. Arthur broke out of his trance when he heard you speak. Arthur just nodded, deciding not to risk speaking right now, as he stopped the wagon in front of the church.
The women climbed down from the wagon, taking their positions in front of the bank with their signs held high. Arthur jumped down from the wagon before holding his hand out to you. You smiled as you placed your hand in his, letting him assist you down from the wagon. He might be and outlaw but apparently he is a gentleman as well. Oh, you knew that you were smiling like crazy at the realisation.
Arthur watched, his attention mostly settled on you, as you and the other women began protesting. Of course you were getting the usual backlash but, other than that, it was going pretty smoothly.
"Oh..oh no...Mr Morgan, I think we have a problem" Beau warned Arthur as he hurried over to the taller man.
"What is it?" Arthur asked, tearing his gaze away from you to look at the other man.
"See those two men?" Beau asked as he pointed towards the two men, Arthur looked their way and nodded. "They're my cousins. Complete morons, always causing trouble...could you do something?" he asked, looking up at Arthur with a pleading look on his face.
"I'll keep an eye on them" Arthur nodded. Beau just smiled before stepping away, watching to focus his attention on Penelope.
You were listening to what Ms Calhoon was saying, cheering her on when somebody bumped into you, nearly knocking you over. Arthur saw it happen, one of Beau's cousins bumped into you, clearly on purpose. Arthur cursed as he began to make his way towards you and the two men.
"Hey!" you huffed as you turned to face the two men, an annoyed look on your face.
"Equal and fair, eh? That's real funny, I ain't ever seen a group of women as foolish as you lot before" one of the two men laughed, both of them mocking you and the cause you believed in.
"Maybe you haven't met many forward thinking women because the only women you busy yourself with are your cousins" you scoffed, knowing that it would get under their skin.
Arthur let an amused smile appear on his face when he heard your comment, but that smile soon disappeared when he saw the anger drop over the faces of the two men.
"Alright, we're done here" Arthur interfered, stepping between you and the men.
"No, we aren't" you scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest.
"Yes, we are" Arthur said sternly, this time looking down at you.
"Keep your damn woman under control" one of the men demanded but that obviously didn't go down well with Arthur
"Watch your mouth" Arthur snapped, stepping towards the men which made them take a step back. You smiled slightly, knowing it was wrong to find it attractive that Arthur could intimidate those two men. "Come on" he encouraged, turning away from the men and back to you. He rested his hand on your elbow as he guided you away from the demonstration, getting you out of harms way.
"You're real funny" Arthur says with an amused chuckle once you are both away from the demonstration, referring to your earlier comment to the two men.
"Nothing I said was false" you smirked, making you both laugh as you wrapped your hand around his elbow, letting him walk you through Rhodes. You knew that it was probably a little foolish to trust a man you had just met, especially a man like Arthur who was so clearly an outlaw, but you did trust him. Actually, you quite liked him. You knew there was something from the moment you saw him with Beau.
"Well, being saved by a tough rugged cowboy probably isn't the most feminist thing I've ever done but, still, I'm charmed" you joked slightly as you smiled up at the man.
"Feminist?" Arthur questioned, raising an eyebrow at you.
"Never mind" you chuckled, shaking your head to tell him that it wasn't important.
"Why are you risking your damn life over this?" Arthur asked but he didn't sound like he was disrespecting what you fight for, he just seemed genuinely curious.
"You have to fight for what you believe in Arthur, or nothing will ever change" you shrugged as you walked beside the man, your body close to his. "Alright, I have a question...why are you helping Beau Gray?" you asked. You didn't want to jump to conclusions but you were pretty sure that they weren't friends.
"Honestly? The money" he admitted.
"I respect that..." you hummed, nodding your head.
"You do?" Arthur asked like he wasn't convinced, raising an eyebrow at you.
"Got to get work somewhere. I'm sure you make some dirty money but in this case you are just helping somebody, I can't judge you for that" you shrugged. You weren't stupid, you knew that Arthur's work was far from legal but you didn't care.
"Fair enough..." he nodded, a little surprised by you.
"Thank you, Arthur...for helping us and for helping me back there" you smiled up at the man, holding yourself a little closer to him.
"Don't mention it, it was Beau that told me to watch those men" Arthur shrugged and that reminded you that he probably had some money to collect.
"You aren't going to get your money from Beau?" you asked, thinking that he should head back to the demonstration rather than walking away from it with you.
Arthur considered your words, looking down at you and pausing for moment. As his gaze met yours he knew one thing. He would much rather be walking with you than speaking with Beau Gray.
"I'm sure I'll track him down later" Arthur shrugged casually but you just smiled.
"Are you...uh, will you come back to help us some more?" you asked, mainly hoping to just see the man again.
"You all seem to have it handled" he complimented without looking down at you, you were glad that he wasn't looking at you because it meant that he wouldn't see you frown.
"Oh...yeah...we've managed this long" you nodded, putting a smile back on your face. You had only met this man today but it was already difficult to say goodbye.
"I'm sure I'll be in Rhodes again though...on other business" Arthur assured you, noticing the look of conflict on your face. The truth was that he wanted to see you again as well. If he had it his way, he would stay in Rhodes all day long to get to know you but he also didn't want you to ruin your life by getting involved with a man like him.
"...right...yeah, I might see you then" you smiled up at him, hating that your composer was falling apart as you tried to maintain a smile.
"You might..." he hummed with a single nod, a strange tension surrounding you both.
"Again...thank you Arthur" you smiled as you both came to a halt, it was time to say goodbye. As you smiled at him, you stood on your toes and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. "Just so you know...I'll be in the saloon tomorrow evening...if you happen to be in town and want to drop by..." you informed him, trying to act as passive as possible.
Arthur just nodded at you and you swore that his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. You flashed him one last smile before turning around and walking away, hoping to see him tomorrow evening. Arthur just watched you leave with a smile on his face.
Arthur knew that you would be able to make him a fool...but he couldn't find it within himself to care.
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