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bellarkeselection · 5 months

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Breathe With Me

Request from @val2557 imagine of Kayce Dutton and he is helping the reader when she has a an anxiety attack when there is a lot of people at a dinner they are attending?

Everybody that knew who the Dutton family were had started making their own judgments about my relationship with Kayce. His father John always asked his kids to show up to the Livestock dinner party but it was rare that they all showed up. Beth didn’t see the point in it, Lee was focusing on running the ranch, Jaime was trying to run for office and that left the reason Kayce didn’t go to them….me.

I wanted to attend the dinners I really did. There was just one problem. I had anxiety when it came to large crowds who I felt were judging me. Running my hands down the light orange dress I was wearing I sighed letting my mind wander with my thoughts. “Come on Y/n. You can make it through this.”

“Y/n, are you ready….wow.” Whipping my head around I heard my boyfriend’s voice enter the bedroom.

I turned around making my short brown boots screech against the wooden floor. Normally I had my hair up in a braid but I decided to leave it loose and just put some curls on the ends. “Is it too much. I don’t know how you dress for a livestock dinner.”

“It’s not that. You….damn you look good.” Kayce gasped slowly crossing the floor until he was standing in front of me.

I smiled eyeing him in a tux for once. “You clean up rather good too, Dutton.” He had his normal black cowboy hat on his head paired with a white dress shirt and a black suit jacket.

“Are you sure you’re up for tonight. We can just stay home. My father will understand why.” He suggested to me.

I teased him trying to not have the conversation. “You just want to stay home so we can lay in bed all night.”

“I mean you weren’t complaining last time when we had sex for hours….but I am being serious about not wanting you to be nervous.” Kayce pointed out to me with a smirk on his face leaning closer to me kissing my forehead. He wrapped his arms around my waist tugging me against his chest gently.

Shaking my head in disagreement I draped my arms over his shoulders kissing his cheek. “I’ll be fine, Kayce. Tonight is important for your father and he want him to keep liking me if you ever want to put your mother’s ring on my finger.” He nodded looping his arm through mine leading me to his truck since we said we would meet him there later.

The drive wasn’t that bad since we just listened to county music until we parked the truck outside the building. He helped me out of the truck and we walked in together not holding hands since I wanted to appear confident during the dinner. Kayce had me walk in front of him opening the next door wheee I gulped coming into contact with a room of livestock members all talking. “Hey, look at me. Just tap me if you need to go and we will.”

“I got it, Kayce.” I nodded moving through the crowd of people finding our table and name tags at the very front.

John walked out onto the stage nodding his head down at us as a silent thank you for being here the second we sat down in our chairs. Lee was there but Beth and Jaime’s spots were still empty. “Since 1886 every Dutton who died is buried 300 yards from my back porch. My great, great, grandfather, to my wife, and someday I will be there myself. When a tree grows on my ranch, I know exactly what fed it. That’s the best we can hope for because nothing we do is for today. Ranching is the only business where the goal is to break even. Survive another season. Last long enough for your children to continue the cycle, and maybe just maybe, the land is still there when a tree sprouts from you…lord god give us rain and a little luck and we’ll do the rest, amen.”

I smiled, watching his speech feeling fine until I heard someone next to our table whispering. "I can't believe they came tonight."

"My boys were joking that they don't come because she might be pregnant." Another mumbled to their friend.

Reaching for the fork on the table I attempted to push past the tightness I could feel beginning to surface in my chest. "But there is someone I'd like to recognize tonight because she has been a great member of the family for a while now. Y/n L/n, I appreciate everything you do for this family."

"Hey are you okay?” Kayce shifted his gaze over to me seeing my chest heaving up and down. I was also clutching the fork in my hand until my fingers were almost turning white.

Lee glanced our direction beginning to clap at the end of his speech. “Congrats to Y/n and my father.”

Everybody around us joined in the clapping and cheering while John made his way over to our table. He sat down in the chair next to me. I shifted my gaze around the room quickly in a panic seeing my vision start to get blurry. “Y/n?” Kayce calls my name the second I dropped the fork and it clattered to the floor and I jumped up rushing through the crowd to the bathroom.

Shutting the door quickly I gasped for breath sliding down onto the floor to catch my breath. Gripping my hair in between my fingers I was so annoyed at myself. I shouldn’t have ran out of the room like that but I didn’t know what else to do. “Y/n, darling. Can I come in?”

“Yeah…” I croaked out wiping away the and getting up from the ground floor when he opened the door and shut it so nobody would see me crying in there.

Kayce stared at me silently for a moment seeing that I was shaking in my boots. Wrapping my arms around myself I felt like I still couldn’t breathe even though the tightness in my chest had gone away. He opened his arms and tilted his head telling me to com here. “Sssh I’ve got you. I’m right here…it’s gonna be okay.”

“Is it….how badly do you think I embarrassed your father leaving like that?” I sniffed through tears gripping onto his dress shirt as tightly as possible.

He just keeps me close to his chest resting his chin on top of my head. He knew that I was going to worry about this when there was something more important like my well being going on. He wasn’t concerned with what the others out there thought, he just wanted me to be okay. “It doesn’t matter right now. Just breathe in and out with me until you’re better. Can you do that for me?”

“Mmm.” I made a noise barley breaking the hug where he was holding onto my forearms since I still didn’t have good balance. Taking in a couple of long breaths in and out I finally started feeling better where I laid my head back down on his chest and he kissed my forehead.

Kayce smiled lightly squeezing my hand in his. “Let’s get you out of here. I’ll explain what happened to my dad later.”

“Are you sure he won’t be upset?” I questioned him where he leads me through the hallway and out to his truck. He helped me back into the vehicle before getting in on his own side.

He reached over taking my hand in his once more. “I’m sure, baby. I just want you to feel better.”

“Thanks Kayce.” I smiled laying my head on his shoulder and we stayed in the parking lot just enjoying the silence before we went home for the evening. Both calm in the others presence and away from the busy livestock diner.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

#kayce dutton #kayce dutton x fem!reader #kayce dutton x reader #kayce dutton imagine #luke grimes #yellowstone series #yellowstone #yellowstone imagine #yellowstone masterlist #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone x reader #ask box is open for anything #requests open #comments really appreciated #anxiety attack #yellowstone one shot

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moeitsu · 2 months

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The Tie Which Linked My Soul To Thee

Summary: The battle begins, and the past is revealed.

Ao3 Wattpad Masterlist - All Chapters Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.7 Ch.8 Ch.9 Ch.10

Warning: Graphic depictions of violence, blood and gore. Tags: Arthur Morgan/Original Female Character, Widowed, Original Character, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, High Honor Arthur Morgan, Friends to Lovers, Child Loss, Trauma, Canon-Typical Violence, Arthur Morgan Does Not Have Tuberculosis, Arthur Morgan Deserves Happiness, Chubby Arthur Morgan, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Ch 6 - As When The Summer Days Were Nigh

“I’d known death since I was a child. It’s everywhere. In every form you can imagine. And a few your worst nightmare couldn’t muster. As if death was not the result of accidents and disease, death was its own disease. But it had never touched me. It had never placed its rotten finger on my heart. Yes, freedom has fangs. And it sunk them in me. ” ~ Elsa Dutton 1883

Lorena's hooves pounded against the slope, carrying Kate down into the valley where a few wagons had come to a halt, isolated from the main caravan. Raiders swarmed around them, gunfire echoing in the night as chaos unfolded. With the sun sinking below the horizon, Kate strained to discern the attackers' numbers in the darkness.

Six horsemen emerged from the west, joined by several more riding over the slope from the north. Kate's mind raced as she tried to make sense of the situation. What are raiders doing this far south in the plains? She asked herself, trying to plan a course of action.

They used the cover of night to their advantage, weaving between trees and shrubs, it was difficult to get a clear shot of them. But she witnessed Charles and Arthur spring into action. Their guns blazed as they lit up the night with each round sending orange sparks into the darkness. As Lorena closed the distance, Kate spotted two wagons left behind: one belonging to John and Abigail, and the other a supply wagon driven by Lenny and Sean. She knew the raiders would target the supplies and likely attempt to steal their horses too.

This left the fighting to Arthur, Charles, and Javier. Who turned back at the sound of the commotion. Lenny and Sean leapt into the wagon for cover as they began shooting blind into the night, the horses crying out in fear. Kate couldn't see Abigail, and she prayed she was well hidden in the wagon with Jack. She made headway to his wagon first.

She pulled her rifle from her saddle and called out to John, who was firing round after round from his revolver, doing no good against the fast riding raiders.

“John!” she shouted, catching his attention, he looked down from his seat in the wagon.

“Kate?” He said, taken back by the sight of her, “you need to find cover!” Concern laced his voice.

She ignored his statement, holding the rifle up for him, “take this, it's a better shot. Aim for the shrubs, they're using them as cover.” She urged.

John nodded and took the weapon without hesitation, quickly counting the rounds in the ammunition, “thanks, what will you use?” He asked, already getting in position to take aim.

“Don’t worry about me,” she answered, determination in her voice, “protect your family.”

Lorena brought her around to the back of the wagon and she peered inside, sure enough Abigail was clutching Jack to her breast, white knuckled and face scrunched in silent fear. As if she was hoping this was just a bad dream they would wake from. Jack, trying to be brave, trembled in his mother's arms. Without hesitation, Kate leaped into the wagon, placing a comforting hand on Abigail's shoulder. She startled at her touch, “easy Abigail, it's just me, you need to take this.” She held out her own revolver. Abigail opened her eyes and shook her head with a sob. Kate's heart throbbed at the sight of her.

"I’m not letting go of him!" she cried, her voice quivering with emotion. "When is this going to end?" Her plea carried the weight of past traumas, threatening to overwhelm her.

Knowing they had no time to waste, Kate pressed the revolver into Abigail's trembling hand. She needed a means to defend herself if the worst was going to happen. Jack whimpered at the sounds of gunfire coming from John at the seat of the wagon. She gave him a reassuring look, “be brave for your momma okay? If anybody comes, you shout for me and I’ll come runnin’,” she added with a smile, placing a hand on his little head. He nodded in understanding.

Lorena waited at the back of the wagon as Kate mounted her and took off towards the fray. She needed to come up with a plan, and fast. She gave her firearms to the Marston family. Which left her with only close range weapons. She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a tomahawk. It had been a long time since she’s used an old weapon of war.

With determination she nudged her mare in the belly and took off. The familiar leather grip of her tomahawk left her with a sense of bitter nostalgia. Memories of an old friend came flooding back, and old instincts she had long buried bubbled to the surface.

In the distance, she spotted Arthur, locked in combat with a raider. His skill and ferocity were undeniable as he dispatched two foes with swift precision. Kate watched, her heart heavy with unspoken truths.

Arthur is wrestling with a giant, Charles' words sounded in her mind. She had faced her own giants, and kept them at bay like a hunter taming a wild beast. She never got the chance to tell him. She would release her giant tonight, and if they survived, she vowed to share her secrets with Arthur, laying bare the depths of her soul.

━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━

Under the cloak of night, time seemed to stretch endlessly, though mere minutes had passed. The raiders fell one by one, a testament to their careful strategy. It dawned on the others that shooting wildly was futile; they needed to close the gap.

For Kate, the chaos played to her strengths. While she lacked skill with a gun, in close combat, she was unparalleled. The sickening crunch of bone echoed as her tomahawk met the skull of a raider, sending him crashing to the ground. The scene before her, once familiar yet now unsettling, reminded her of the darkness she had left behind. Yet, there was no joy in the violence; only relief that she no longer found pleasure in such brutality.

With only a few foes left standing, Arthur's gaze found hers, his worry palpable. She reassured him with a nod, urging him to focus on the task at hand.

Scanning the chaotic scene, Kate spotted a lone raider sneaking up on John's wagon, his focus fixed on protecting his brother. With a swift movement, she sprang into action.

She hollered to get the man's attention, as well as Johns. It didn't matter who took him down, as long as he was stopped. Closing the distance, she gripped her weapon high, readying for the strike. The raider turned just as Kate swung, narrowly missing his head as a shot rang out. She was unsure if it was John’s or the bandits until pain shot through her side. The man barely squeezed by her horse and the wagon, and took off in the opposite direction. Ignoring the pain, Kate followed.

Arthur joined the chase, and together they pursued the raider. Lorena surged forward, fueled by the thrill of the chase. Leaning down to her horse's ear, Kate whispered, "Feels like old times, huh, girl?" Lorena snorted in agreement. Despite her clingy and skittish nature. She was bred to be a war horse, and in her blood she fought just as savagely as her rider.

She closed in and brought her mare tauntingly close to the last man. With a swift motion she collided the blade with the man's ankle, nearly cutting his own foot off, causing him to fall out of the saddle. He did not reach for his weapon, as he used his last round in an attempt to kill her, instead he lay on his back and put his hands out in mercy.

Kate dismounted and trudged over to him.

“I-I’m unarmed!” He pleaded, “please miss you wouldn’t kill an unarmed man!”

She tossed the tomahawk to the ground and the man eased for a moment, until she pulled her hunting knife out of her belt. His eyes widened and he tried to stand, but his ankle was only holding on by a bit of flesh.

Arthur finally caught up to them and dismounted, “don’t kill him yet Kate, we need to find out who they are. They could be O’Driscolls.” Kate ignored him, the pain in her side igniting into a blazing fire. The metallic tang of her own blood filled her senses, but she pushed past it with a fierce glare.

“Don’t look like an O'Driscoll to me,” she rasped. Fighting the urge to drive her knife into his belly. Echoes of an old mantra rang in her ears, “our job is to ensure our enemies fear is greater than their greed.”

“I-I aint an O’Driscoll, we’re just a couple of horse thieves. That’s all,” the man pleaded, using his forearms to distance himself from her.

The world felt dizzy, her memories of her past began mixing with the present. “That’s all?” She mocked, “you would take these people’s lives,” her voice hoarse, “just for a few horses?” Before he could answer she forcefully kicked him in the belly, hard enough to break a few ribs. The man rolled onto his stomach and spit up blood.

In a flash, Kate mounted the man from behind, gripping a fistfull of his hair and forcefully pulling back towards her chest. She placed the knife at the edge of his throat, Arthur saw the fire in her eyes as she ended the man's life, sickeningly slow.

As she drew the blade over his neck she muttered the words low in his ear, “what you take from the land will be taken from you. Know that I am the land, and the land is killing you.”

As the raider choked on his own blood, Kate dropped his head in the dirt. The wound was not deep enough to kill him quickly. He would asphyxiate for the next several hours, a combination of bleeding out and choking to death. He would teeter on the brink of consciousness, not knowing if he is alive or dead. It was a slow sentence, a merciless one. It was pure torture.

Arthur stood in stunned silence, his gaze fixed on Kate. He had witnessed his fair share of violence, and dealt with his own. But the intensity in her eyes was unfamiliar, unsettling. She seemed transformed, a wildness emanating from her like a primal force.

“I didn’t know you could fight like that,” he said awkwardly, unsure if it was the right thing to say at the moment. He had seen a different side of her. And he had a feeling it was one that she was clearly trying to keep buried. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted between them, and he was left grappling with the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

Kate retrieved her tomahawk and mounted her horse, her movements strained with pain. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Morgan," she replied tersely, her usual sharpness replaced by a somber tone. "We need to keep moving," she added, urging her horse forward. She felt sick to her stomach, the pain mixed with rage and shame and fear. A whirlwind of emotions, it had been years since she killed somebody. She vowed to give that life up. And now, she was riding off with a bunch of outlaws. Leaving behind a bloody battlefield. Arthur watched her ride off, a knot of worry forming in his stomach.

━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━

They rode past Dewberry Creek and down to Clemens Point. A hidden spot on the peninsula of the lake, only a few miles from Rhodes. It was a decent hiding spot. As the last of the caravan pulled in, the members who made it ahead of the chaos came rushing out to greet them.

As Kate was the last to reach Clemens Point, the weight of the recent events hung heavy on her shoulders. She gazed out at the lake, its surface reflecting the dim light of the moonlit sky. A secluded spot on the beach offered a brief respite from the chaos that had engulfed them, and Kate welcomed the solitude.

Dismounting her horse, she felt the exhaustion settle into her bones like a heavy blanket. Her hands, streaked with dirt and blood, trembled slightly as she reached for the saddle buckles. With a heavy sigh, she removed the burden from Lorena's back, the weight of it suddenly feeling unbearable. As Lorena trotted off to the water's edge, letting out a contented sigh as the coolness soothed her weary joints, Kate couldn’t help but chuckle. Perhaps she had pushed her loyal mare a bit too hard today.

Grabbing a brush from her saddlebag, Kate set to work cleaning Lorena's coat, the rhythmic motion a comforting distraction from the chaos that had unfolded. In the distance, she could hear the other members of the gang recounting the night's events, their voices a mix of concern, exhaustion, and celebration.

As a pair of hooves approached, Kate knew without looking that it was Arthur. Dismounting, he joined her by the water's edge, letting Belle cool herself alongside Lorena. "Mind if I join ya?" he asked quietly, uncertainty lacing his voice. Kate nodded in response, and Arthur settled onto the sand beside her, kicking off his boots to let the water lap at his feet.

The air was thick with humidity, and the sounds of frogs and cicadas filling the night. It felt strange to be going back east, but somehow it didn’t bother her that her journey had been interrupted.

After a moment of silence, Kate broached the subject that had been weighing on her mind. "You wanna tell me what happened in Valentine?" she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity and concern.

Arthur sighed heavily, his gaze distant as he recounted the events of the day. "It started with the train job. The law showed up fast, too fast, and we barely made it out of there," he explained. "Cornwall's men nearly killed John the next morning. We made it out, but not without killing half the town.”

Kate shook her head in disbelief, her heart heavy with the weight of Arthur's words. Before she could respond, Arthur spoke again, his voice filled with remorse. "I'm so sorry, Kate. I never wanted to drag you into all this mess. Especially after what Micah did," he added with a bitter scoff. "I don’t know why you turned back."

"I didn't do it just for you," Kate replied after a moment, her gaze meeting Arthur's with unwavering determination. "I did it for Abigail and her boy. From one mother to another." Arthur looked at her, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He caught the new information, but his heart fluttered at the idea that she turned back for him as well.

“I’ve never seen a woman fight like that, it was,” he trailed and Kate was the one to interrupt this time.

“I know, you don't have to say it. I’m not exactly proud of it,” she looked down in shame.

Arthur offered a warm smile, “I was gonna say it was real brave.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head, “still don’t make it right.”

“It was either us or them Kate, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Arthur reassured her. “You know, I’d understand if you still want to leave. But we could surely use some of that bravery around here.”

Kate nodded and took a deep breath, steeling herself to share something important. “I’ll stay Arthur,” she began, “but, there’s some things I think you should know about me.”

“We all come from different places, your past is your past,” he said sincerely, “If you don’t wanna share that I don’t want you to think ya have to.” Her heart warmed at the gesture, he was being considerate. After everything he saw he would still grant her the privacy of her past, but that wasn't her plan.

“No, I want to tell you,” Kate paused, collecting her thoughts, “I think you’ll understand me better. And after what happened at the Downes ranch, I owe it to you.”

Arthur’s curiosity peaked, the conversation from a fortnight weighed heavy on his mind. And he wanted to know how her story tied into that. His mind already raced with assumptions, after seeing the way she fought he couldn't help but wonder if she was on the run from the law too. Or something worse.

“Alright,” he settled back against the sand, giving her his full attention. “I’m here to listen, Kate.”

With a heavy sigh, she decided to start from the beginning. “I’ve known death since I was a child. It began with a railway accident in Boston that took my mother and little sister from me, leaving behind my father and older brother. At the time, my father owned a ranch where we raised dairy cattle. He didn’t take their deaths well, and fell into a depression. My brother and I couldn't keep up with the work alone, so we were forced to sell and move. Thankfully, a family friend took us in on their farm. It was there I met my husband, and for a while, we were sweet on one another.”

Kate recalled the memories, her heart flooding with grief, “we lived there a few years. And when my brother was old enough he joined a mining company, and it was another accident that took his life too. It sent my father over the deep end, and so he hung himself in the barn. Like he suddenly forgot he still had a living child.”

Arthur's face softened, understanding the weight of her losses. To him, it sounded like Kate had a proper family—one that truly loved and cared for each other.

“I got married the next year, and finally things felt like they were turning for the better. My husband and I built a little ranch together. In a few years, we welcomed a baby girl into our home.” Her voice choked with emotion. “My life felt as perfect as it could get. I miss my family dearly, but I felt like I was carrying on their memory by starting my own.”

Arthur didn't want to think about where her story was going; it was painfully familiar to him. Kate shifted in the sand, wincing as a sharp pain shot up her side. She had forgotten about the bullet in her flesh. The area had gone numb, and the mixed feelings of grief and searing pain caused tears to stream down her cheeks.

“Lorena didn’t even make it through her first summer before disease took her from me, and as if death couldn't have enough, it took my husband from me too.” Her voice shook with pain.

Arthur sighed, his heart full of sympathy as he observed Kate's emotional turmoil. "Oh, Kate," he said softly, reaching out to comfort her. However, his concern heightened as he noticed the sand around her stained red. "Kate, you're bleeding!" His voice rose with worry.

She nodded, wincing as she reached around her side. "I got shot," she answered, her voice trembling.

"Why didn’t you say anything?" Arthur was already getting up to inspect the wound. "Let me see."

Kate untucked her shirt and lifted it up for Arthur to examine. The bullet had entered just above her hip bone, lodged in the fatty area of her waist. "How bad is it?" she asked, her voice still shaky.

With gentle fingers, Arthur prodded at the wound. It was angry and swollen, and she winced at his touch. He concluded that the bullet was still inside, "the bullet’s still in there, but I think I can get it out. I don't think it hit anything important," he noted, assessing the severity of her injury.

Kate nodded and lifted her shirt further, revealing deep faded scars scattered across her back in the moonlight. “Jesus, Kate,” Arthur muttered softly in surprise. He paused before touching her again, afraid that she might break beneath him like an old clay pot. "What happened?" His voice was as soft as a whisper, fearful of what her answer might reveal.

Closing her eyes, Kate winced once again as Arthur’s hands returned to her wound. “I’ll tell ya once you get this thing out of me,” she replied.

Arthur nodded and, with a gentle hand, held the front of her waist while using his other hand to extract the bullet like it was a cyst, squeezing it out agonizingly slow. Instinctively, she grabbed onto his hand around her waist for support, finding solace in his warmth.

“There, got it,” Arthur said, a hint of pride in his voice as he handed Kate the small pebble that had caused her so much discomfort. “Think of it like a souvenir,” he joked.

“I’ve got plenty of souvenirs,” she mused, tossing the bullet into the lake. Arthur understood she was referring to the scars.

“Come back to my tent,” Arthur suggested, “I’ll stitch you up while you continue to catch me up on the last 10 years of your life.” His tone was playful, an attempt to lighten her mood. Arthur could already tell that her life had been incredibly hard, and seeing the marks on her back only confirmed his fears. Kate nodded, and Arthur helped her walk back to his tent.

To her surprise, the camp was put together rather quickly. Most of the members had settled down around the fire or had gone to bed. Arthur’s things were off to the side of the small clearing, offering him some privacy. His wagon had not been completely unloaded, but there was a cot, as well as a milk crate and an oil lamp. It was no hospital but it would have to do. He gently helped her sit down on his cot while he rummaged through his belongings for the right supplies to stitch her wound. Kate took the opportunity to continue her story.

“Funny thing about this land,” she started, “our constitution says all men are created equal. But I’m a woman, a widow. They tell us our land is free, but what freedom do I have? I cannot own land, can’t take out a loan, can’t purchase anything in my own name. Choices come with freedom, but I had no choices at all.”

Arthur gave her a sympathetic look, he wasn't always proud of his sex. Most of the men in his life were not good role models, and he himself couldn't understand why some men treated women the way that they did.

“I had an aunt in Southern California, I never met her but my father had talked about her growing up. So I wrote to her, in a handful of pages I explained everything. And begged her to let me live with her,” she inhaled sharply as Arthur cleaned her wound with alcohol.

“I was a sorry sight,” she remarked, “I was so terrified to be on my own, and travel across the entire country just to avoid being sent to a nunnery or sold to another man as his bride. I had enough money to get me to Virginia, and after that I had to find my own way.”

In the dim light Arthur sat crouched on the ground beneath her while Kate sat in his cot. She looked down at him, working diligently and so tenderly to clean her wound as painless as possible. His gaze was fixed and intent while he worked, but Kate knew he was taking in every word she said.

“So I joined a caravan that was heading west to Arizona. I figured they could at least get me close enough. Only problem was they were all German, and had very little knowledge of how to travel across the American west," Kate said with a bitter chuckle, “there were a few ranchers that came with us, and we tried to teach them what we could. Most of them couldn't even ride a horse!” She exclaimed.

Arthur blew out a breath, “oh they were doomed from the start.”

“It started with 72 of us, and we began to lose people as soon as we hit the Appalachian trail. Their carelessness became contagious; sickness and snakes, bad horses and poison berries. But of all the perils awaiting us, there was one word so feared it was barely spoken and barely whispered… the river.”

Arthurs blood went cold. He couldn’t imagine the fear and terror as innocent families were ripped apart by dark waters. Punished simply for seeking a better life. The land was more merciless than any outlaw he knew. He noticed Kate relax under his touch, he worked gently as he ran the pad of his thumb over the flesh of her scars. Small bumps and lines, like tiny mountains in a cartography map. Like these scars mapped her history. Where she stood tall and brave in the face of danger. He admired her, being young and alone in this world was terrifying. He knew that feeling well.

“The Kanawha river nearly took all of us that day. We came out the other side with barely 15 people,” Kate shook her head at the memory, “I thought we had seen the worst. But it was only the beginning, Arthur.”

He looked up at the sound of his name, her voice trembling with fear. Their eyes locked and he saw a broken girl looking back at him. They shared a silent moment of understanding. He had heard stories from Appalachia, it was something a child could not muster even in their worst nightmares. Reaching for her arm, he squeezed her gently, “Kate,” he said softly, like he was crooning a baby, “you don’t have to tell me if the memories hurt.”

Warmth spread over her cheeks as silent tears fell, her heart was in her throat. It had been so long since she talked to someone about it. For the first time in years she felt like Arthur was the only person truly seeing her.

“We had crossed into Lakota hunting territory,” she continued, “there was a feud over the land between the tribe and the Virginia government. But it didn’t matter for us, the Indians came anyway. They killed all the men, leaving only myself and two other girls. I couldn’t do anything but watch it happen. I was no use with a gun and I had no idea where to go. So they took me.”

“And I knew I was going to die.”

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basiccortez · 1 year

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The Man in the Red Suit

pairing: Rip Wheeler x female!Dutton warnings: minor Yellowstone spoilers ahead (Lee's death, season five things), mentions of grief and death, Rip being a grinch Rip Wheeler Masterlist | Yellowstone Masterlist Yellowstone Taglist Form

Note: Merry Christmas to all! :)

“Why do I have to dress up?” Rip asked for probably the thousandth time since you pulled out the red santa suit, beard and hat.

“Because it’s Evelyn’s first Christmas and I want her to take a picture with Santa Clause,” You said, curling your hair in the mirror. It was Christmas Eve and your sister had invited the whole family to the house for dinner, drinks and gifts. It was yours and Rip's first Christmas as parents and you wanted it to be perfect. Evelyn was only seven months old so she wouldn’t be able to know if anything went wrong or not, but you would know.

“And your dad or Kayce can’t but on the ridiculous-”

“No! It has to be you!” You sighed, putting down the hot iron, “Evelyn won’t sit on my dads or Kayce’s lap. You saw how she acted when we took her to see Santa at the coffee shop.”

“Well he was a bit-” Rip shut up when you gave him a glare through the reflection of the mirror. He knew better than to argue with a Dutton woman, it was one sure way to get a fist to the face. Rip opened his mouth to say something just as Evelyn let out a cry, “We’ll discuss later.”

You smiled to yourself as you finished getting ready for the Christmas party. When you walked downstairs your heart warmed in your chest seeing Rip holding Evelyn and looking at the ornaments on the tree. She had his big brown eyes and dark curls, you were amazed how much hair she had at such a young age. She was really her father’s twin, there was no mistaking who she belonged to.

It was also amazing to see how quickly Rip took on the role of being a father. He had his reservations about it, he was young when his mother died and his father was a monster. It kept him up at night thinking about the type of parent he would be. Would he be mean like his old man? Would his child grow up to hate him? To be afraid of him? For those nine months you were carrying Evelyn, Rip read every single parenting book he could get his hands on. He asked Kayce and John for advice. None of it really made sense to him, but then he saw his babygirl for the first time, and it did. Rip was an amazing dad.

“Momma is staring at us again,” Rip whispered to Evelyn and kissed her cheek. She giggled at the feeling of his beard on her soft little cheek, “You ready? It’s cold out, and I don’t want her to sweat in the car seat and then go outside. That’s how kids get sick.”

“I am ready,” You nodded, “I just gotta get the baby bag, the gift for Dad and Beth, and the cookies for Tate.”

“All of that is in the car and it’s running,” Rip said.

“What would I do without you?” You asked with a smile on your face. You leaned up on your tiptoes and kissed his lips, “Can you put her in the car seat? I’ll grab the Santa suit.”

Rip rolled his eyes as you skipped back down the hall towards the bedroom, “Your mom is crazy,” He whispered to Evelyn and the little girl turned to face her father, showing him a gummy smile. Rip smiled at his daughter, kissing her cheek again and then going to put her in her car seat.

The Dutton house was decorated from floor to ceiling for Christmas, which was probably Beth’s doing. She may lie to your face and say she hates kids, but she would do anything to make her niece and nephew smile. Christmas also made her happy, despite what she says, it was the one time of year where all the Dutton siblings seemed to put their bullshit aside for a couple hours. Rip parked as close to the door as he could get, he didn’t want to carry Evelyn that far in the cold weather.

“You can put the Santa suit on after dinner,” You said as you walked up the path towards the front door, “While we’re cleaning up and setting up gifts, it will be perfect.” You opened the front door, and walked into the warm smelling house.

“Yeah,” Rip said as he walked in behind you.

“Aunt Y/N, you’re here!” Tate yelled running up to you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Hey bud,” You kissed the top of his head, “Have you grown again?”

“Probably,” Kayce said, and greeted you with a quick kiss on your head, “Wakes up five inches taller than the night before. Where’s the little one?”

“Rip’s got her,” You said and nodded your head over to the living room where Rip was taking Evelyn out of her car seat, Monica waiting for her chance at baby snuggles, “How is she?”

“Better,” Kayce sighed, “I think having Evelyn on Wednesdays helps. She might have gone a tad overboard with the gifts for her, but it’s her first Christmas.”

“If you think Monica has spoiled her, wait until you see what Beth has put under the tree,” Your dad said, also giving you a kiss on the head in greeting, “Gator is ready to serve dinner.”

“Sounds good, daddy,” You said and then walked over to your husband, who was watching Monica hold his daughter. Monica was slowly looking better since the loss of her son John. It was actually her that asked if she could babysit Evelyn for you while you were spending time going back to work for your dad’s new role as governor. It was nice to see her smile again.

“Dad wants us at the table,” You said to them.

“Thanks Y/N,” Monica said, and handed you your daughter, “She looks like she’s feeling better.”

“She is. Thank you very much for those tips,” You smiled at the woman before she walked off to go find her own family.

Gator probably spent the whole day working on the Christmas dinner for the Duttons. The table was stocked full of ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, all the fixings. John sat at the head of the table like he usually did, you and Beth on either side of him. Rip sat next to you, and Tate on the other side of him. Kayce sat on the other end, with Monica on his left. There usually was one more person at the table, but Jamie had turned down Beth’s (not so nice) invite. John had dug around in the basement for the high chair that they’ve had since you were a baby to put Evelyn in. She sat between you and John.

“So, Tate,” Beth said, taking a sip of her wine and looking up at you with a glint in her eye. She knew of your plan to get Rip into the Santa costume and hopefully telling Tate outloud will help seal the deal, “I hear Santa is coming by.”

“He’s not real,” Tate answered and Rip looked at you with a shit eating grin, “I’m not five anymore.”

“See, he’s not five, and Evelyn is too-”

“You are putting on the damn Santa outfit,” You harshly whispered to him, “If I have to stuff you in it myself, you’re putting it on.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Rip challenged and you glared at him. Kayce watched as the small stare down between you and Rip was broken up by Evelyn throwing a piece of bread on the floor. He could see that the whole Santa thing was somewhat bothering you, he knew you well enough to know how much Christmas means to you. You only got to spend one Christmas with your mother before her death, and you cherished the family moments like this.

“Act surprised when he gets here,” Kayce whispered to his son, “For Evelyn.”

“Why?” Tate asked, “She’s just a baby.”

“Because it means alot to Aunt Y/N,” Kayce said and then cleared his throat, “She only had one Christmas with our mom, and it meant a lot to her. The only pictures she really has are of her, Santa and our mom.”

Tate looked down at his food, and then up at his dad. In his short life, he had gone through a lot, and had witnessed loss at first hand. He looked over at his aunt who excused herself from the table to take care of his younger cousin. He thought to himself that there would’ve been two babies at Christmas, but instead, there’s just one.

Tate nodded, “Okay. I will, I promise.” Kayce smiled at his son and patted his shoulder.

When everyone's bellies were full, the family retired to the living room, where they started opening gifts from the large pile underneath the Christmas tree. You sat on the floor with Evelyn on your lap, helping her tear into the packages that Tate was handing her. She was having more fun sticking the wrapping paper in her mouth than trying to open the gifts. Both Beth and Monica had their phones out making sure to take pictures to capture the moments. The men all sat back with drinks in their hands, talking about cattle and giving the occasional “oh that’s cool” when it was needed.

“Tate, why don’t you help Evelyn open the gifts from us,” Monica and moved down on the floor next to the kids.

“I noticed you don’t have the Santa costume on,” You whispered to Rip.

“There’s no need to put the ridiculous suit on,” Rip said, sipping his whisky, “She’s not going to remember it.” You clenched your jaw as you looked at the ground, “She’s a baby. It can wait until-”

“It can’t wait!” You yelled and the eyes of your family members looked at you. You sucked in a breath to compose yourself and stood up from the floor, “I’m sorry. It’s just. . . its tradition.”

“Y/N,” Rip called out to you, trying to grab your hand as you walked away from the living room. He sighed and ran a hand over his beard.

“She believed in Santa until she was about fourteen,” John said, “Might’ve been partially my fault. I paid Paul Adler to dress up as Santa and come to the house. I guess it was my way of holding on to the things my Evelyn used to do.” John looked at the last family portrait that was sitting on the mantel above the fireplace. It was taken on Christmas eve of 1996. You were in your mothers arm with Lee looking over her shoulder at you. You were the closest with Lee growing up, and his death affected you much harder than anyone else.

“I never realized how much it meant,” Rip answered, “I just thought it was something silly that she wanted to do for the kids.”

“Everything that girl does has meaning to it. She just doesn’t do things ‘just because’. You’ll learn that soon enough.”

Rip nodded and then stood up from the couch, going down the hall after you. Monica smiled at her father-in-law. They hadn’t ever had a close relationship, John saw Monica as the woman who was going to take his son away from him, but they had bonded over the horrible shared grief between them. John looked at Monica, and the woman handed her his granddaughter.

“C’mere, Evie,” John said, lifting the baby from Monica’s arms, “How about you open this?” He grabbed the small box from the side table and helped the little one open it. It was her very first pair of cowboy boots, “Every girl needs a pair of boots.” He kissed her forehead and helped her put them on her feet.

You were laying on your childhood bed, staring up at the ceiling where there were once glow in the dark stars that Lee helped you put up. Your father was livid and worried that they would pull the paint off the ceiling, but Lee assured him that it wouldn’t. The next person in this house who loved the Christmas traditions besides you was Lee. He would stay up late with you to wrap presents as you would write in fancy handwriting ‘To who, from Santa.” When you were younger, he would be the one to eat the cookies, and leave “snowy” (which was actually flour) footprints by the fireplace as if good Ol’ Saint Nick had actually come down the chimney to leave gifts. One time, he even brought a horse up from the barn to leave “reindeer” prints in the fresh snow (however, you knew a horse track when you saw one).

You thought that overtime, the grief of losing your mother and brother would slowly start to subside, but it seemed as if this Christmas, it had come back in full blast. Maybe it was because you were a mother now, and you knew how fragile life could be and change with a snap of a finger.

“Baby?” You heard Rip’s voice before you saw him. You just sighed, and listened as his heavy boots walked over to you, “I’m sorry about the Santa stuff.”

“My dad tell you I believed in Santa until I was thirteen.”

“He said fourteen.”

“He’s a fucking liar. Jamie told me on my thirteenth birthday that I can’t believe Santa was real anymore,” You said and sat up from your bed, “I should be apologizing to you.”

“For what?” Rip asked, and sat next to you on the bed.

“I know the holidays aren’t your thing,” You said and grabbed his hand. Your nervous habit was playing with his hands, “And I shouldn’t have pushed you so much into doing it.”

Rip smiled sadly at you, and grabbed your hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of it, “The holidays are my thing because they are your thing. They make you happy, and anything that makes you happy makes me happy. Besides, Evelyn seems to love it.”

You giggled and shook your head, moving closer to your husband. He wrapped his strong arms around you, “You’re right, Evelyn won’t remember this. She’s spending more time shoving wrapping paper in her mouth than knowing what's going on.”

“But we will remember,” Rip said and kissed your cheek, “We will remember Evelyn’s first Christmas and that’s what matters.”

“Thank you,” You said, looking up at him.

“For what, baby? I nearly ruined this shit.”

“For giving me the best Christmas present ever,” You smiled up at him. He caressed your face and then placed a kiss on your lips. You hummed into the kiss, and ran your fingers through his brown curls. He moved you in his lap, so you were straddling him, and he laid back against the bed. His hands roamed your body, going down to your hips. Your tongues moved against one another, you being able to taste the whiskey on his tongue.

A knock on the door startled you both as you lifted your head up to see Beth standing in the doorway, “Oh don’t stop on my account,” She had a smirk on her face and you rolled your eyes, “But there’s someone here to see you.”

You furrowed your eyebrows and climbed off of Rip and your bed. You walked down towards the living room and stopped in your tracks seeing,

“Santa?”

“Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!” Santa said, standing in the middle of your living room. You looked at your sister and Rip.

“I made a call,” Beth smiled, and you threw your arms around her, hugging her tightly, “Oh-”

“Thank you, Bethy,” You said and then went towards your child who was back in Monica’s arms. Rip looked a bit confused as he watched you place Evelyn in Santa’s arms. He looked around the living room spotting Kayce, John, and Gator all standing around.

“Who did-” Rip asked Beth but then he heard Santa speak again, “Lloyd?”

Beth shrugged, “He owed me a favor.”

Rip shook his head, and then walked towards his family. Beth let out a breath in relief as she watched her family gather around to talk to “Santa”. Evelyn surprisingly didn’t cry when she was set on Santa’s lap, probably because she was too distracted by all the movement around her.

“Get together you three,” Monica said, grabbing your phone from you, “I’ll take a picture.”

“Rip, sit on the other side of Santa’s lap,” You said and he gave you a deadpanned look, “It’s for the memories, sweetheart.”

“Only for you, honey,” Rip gave you a fake smile as he carefully sat on Lloyd’s other knee.

“Don’t break me bossman,” Lloyd said and Rip also gave him a glare, “It’s for the kid, don’t be a grinch! Smile!”

“Call me a grinch again and I’ll have you scrapping shit-”

“Okay, smile!” Monica said, “1. . . 2. . . 3!”

You, Rip and “Santa” smiled at the camera as Evelyn was still looking up amazed at Santa. You took her from Santa’s lap and looked at the pictures Monica took.

“They’re perfect!” You cheered, “Thank you so much, Santa.”

“No problem! Ho, ho, ho!” Santa said and Beth led him out the front door.

Rip put his arm around your shoulders, “You know what they say about Mistletoe.”

You looked up above your head to see the green twig hanging above you. You smiled and grabbed Rip’s face, bringing him down to you for a kiss, “Merry Christmas, Mr. Wheeler.”

“Merry Christmas to you, Mrs. Wheeler.

#Yellowstone #Yellowstone fan fic #yellowstone fan fiction #Yellowstone imagine #rip wheeler #rip wheeler fan fic #rip wheeler fan fiction #rip wheeler imagine #rip wheeler x reader #rip wheeler x you #rip wheeler x y/n

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madhattervanessa · 9 months

Text

Kill You To Try (Chapter 2)

Summary: It's time to settle back into your life at the ranch - even more than you had in the past.

Warnings: Overbearing care, alcohol consumption, some minor injuries but no graphic details

Words: 2389

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“Hey.”

You clutch your reins tighter as Rip rides up next to you.

“You’re asleep in the saddle, Bones. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You still sleeping at the family lodge?”

You don’t dignify that with an answer. Instead, you take another swig from your water bottle.

You squint at one of the cows from underneath your brim, putting your horse in trot to get a closer look.

You hear Rip coming after you, following like a shadow. You lean backward towards your saddle to fish for your notebook, eyes still fixed on one of the cows, your nose scrunching as you try to see if that was a stumble or a limp.

You slip, mismanaging where your bag is. Your hand gives a protesting crunch as your palm skits over the leather and the burn of the material catching on your skin makes you hiss. Your horse whinnies, nervously bounding against you.

“Shit-”, you hiss, leaning forward and shushing your horse, losing sight of the cow you’d wanted to look up as you focus on staying in your saddle.. “-goddamnit.”

“That's exactly what I’m talking about,” Rip calls over, keeping his distance until your horse is back under control.

You curse under your breath again, hat low as you try to get your hands to stop shaking.

He bumps your elbow with a hand and pushes your notebook into your left hand. He doesn’t say anything else, blessedly.

You take a deep breath and lean forward to rub at Milton’s neck. He whinnies again and you get a look from Lee. You dismiss him with a nod before turning your eyes back toward the herd.

“What were you looking at?”

“Cows, dipshit.” You hiss, the past few sleepless nights at the lodge stirring your blood to rush through your veins.

“Well, what am I looking for, doll?”

Doll. It's been years since he last called you that. It doesn't sit right with you. It never did. Too delicate. Saccharine sweet.

It doesn't fit you, the you with grime and blood under your nails.

When you look at Rip again, the memories feel even more vivid.

It's like you can feel the dirt underneath your nails again, the tug of your muscle from shoveling the whole night.

He doesn't let up, stubbornly meeting your gaze. Your next exhale hisses through your nose.

"Front left limp. I think. Might have just been a stumble, though."

He hums and finally, the weight of his gaze lifts from you.

Your head is pounding insistently, the pain throbbing behind your eyes. You fall back to the back of the herd, hoping to find the limping cow there.

Your eyes wander again. First over the herd of cows, then the bright, lush green of the trees, the pale blue of the mountains behind them as if they were keeping a close watch.

The terrain feels like a close hug.

One Pennsylvania could never offer.

Well, most of it.

"Hiking is good for you, you should try it."

"Yeah, well it's good for wild girls like you, honey."

"Don't tell me you aren't a wild thing, Tess."

"Not wild enough for whatever you are doing out there, running around with those men with guns, bears, wolves, and whatever else roaming the woods. For all I know, you could be a murderer and I’d never know, all the corpses buried in the woods."

You had laughed then because admitting to the blood you had spilled in the Dutton name to a dying woman hadn't felt right. Even though it was the only thing you had ever kept from your godmother.

"Whenever you write that book... You better put me in the dedications."

"What are you thinking about?"

Your eyes drift over to Rip. You take another last look at the mountains in the distance before focusing back on your job, following Rip's lead.

"Thinking about how you should probably be babysitting the new farmhand."

"I don't care if that boy falls out of his saddle. You, however, I care about."

"The pills are working just fine. I'm guessing I should thank you for those."

"You don’t need to thank me you just need to take ‘em and get better."

You hum.

“So why are you sleeping there anyways, don’t you have that place down in the city?”

“I’m still trying to get that place sold. Nathan already sold all of the furniture.”

You squint against the rising sun from underneath your hat. The memory of your ex-fiancé is still bitter. The breakup still feels fresh despite the whole year that has gone by in the meantime.

“Maybe Beth could help?”

“I think she has bigger projects than selling a small apartment.” You sigh, following Rip’s lead blindly, your eyes still on the herd. “And it’s not like I have found a new place, yet.”

there’s a brief moment of silence between you and you’re about to look at him to check if he is actually still there, he speaks up again.

"You know, your father used to live on the property during busy seasons. Maybe you can ask Mr. Dutton about it."

You scoff at him and manage to look at him briefly but he seems serious about it, his eyebrow barely quirking.

"I would rather die."

"Don't be stubborn."

"I'm not. I just…", you trail off, realizing that you have no excuse or a plan that's any better.

All you know is that you can't live in another of the places where you have failed miserably at life.

Rip looks like he knows. He tips his hat and leaves you to mull over the thought by yourself.

"Hey, Jamie."

You smile as you knock against the doorframe of the generous living room. He turns from his laptop to look at you, still in suit and tie. He knits his eyebrows together at the sight of you and you bite at your cheek.

You'd really thought the restless sleep of the past weeks had done at least something for your appearance.

"Oh, uh, hi."

"D'you have a minute?"

"Yeah, sure. Have a seat."

You turn the couch and sit on the edge of the armchair opposite him. He squirms when he meets your eyes and it's so characteristically him that your smile is sincere this time.

"I hate to ask this, and I know it's not really your thing but I'm having trouble selling my old apartment. I heard about the deal my dad had with yours about living on the farm during a busy season. I was hoping maybe… if you guys would be able to sell my apartment and I could move into the old cabin?"

He scratches at his jaw, eyes flitting back and forth between you and the laptop on his lap as he considers.

"You know you'll have to talk about it with Dad."

"Yeah, I know. Needed to gauge your reaction first, though."

"The worth should cover the price increase. I’m thinking he’ll agree as long as you don’t catch him in an extraordinarily bad mood."

“Why would that be?”

He just blows a breath out and scratches the back of his head. You hold up a hand and shake your head at him.

"You know what, I actually don't even need or want to know. Is the old man in his office?"

"Yeah. He just got back."

You nod and slap your hands on your knees before to the office.

You let your knuckles rap against the door in a quick knock and listen for an answer.

The telltale sound of his receiver clacking down hisses through the door before you hear a low grunt of Come in!.

You peek through a thin crack as you open the door, double checking you are actually welcome to come in.

"Come on in, girl, I don't have all day."

Got one of the bad moods, then.

"Just making sure I'm not interrupting, Sir."

He sighs and leans onto his arm, his hand dragging over his face before he looks up at you.

"No, no, any distraction is welcome. What's going on?"

The door falls shut behind you with a quick flick of the wrist. You prop yourself up against the back of the chair in front of the Dutton patriarch's desk.

"I just wanted to start off by saying that I'm really grateful that you let me stay here for so long inside your home."

"You're practically family, kid. You know it's the least I could do for what your father has done for this family."

The reassurance makes you smile. You take a seat and drop your shoulders as you meet his eyes again.

"I actually wanted to talk about that- Rip mentioned the cabin my father was living in, on the property?"

John doesn't say anything, simply watching you with his chin in his hand.

"I'm having trouble finding something close enough to the farm for me to be able to continue working like I have been. And my old apartment still hasn't sold so maybe we can... I don't know, Jamie said the market worth is still good-" you fumble with your words now, your skin itching uncomfortably at John Dutton's unchanging expression.

"Are you trying to buy the cabin or live in it?"

You feel yourself falter for a moment before grinding your teeth.

"I'd never try to wrangle land off of you, sir."

He grunts, rubbing his hand over his chin as he regards you thoughtfully.

"It wouldn't be too different from the deal I cut with your father."

You wring your hands underneath the table, sitting very still as you watch the cogs in John Dutton's head turn. He nods to himself, pursing his lips as he lets his hand fall to the table.

"We'll rent the apartment out. Just in case."

In case of what? you want to ask but you know better than to ask. It wasn't a question. It wouldn't be any of your concerns any longer anyways.

"You can move in tomorrow. Take the day off and let someone help you."

"Thank you, Sir."

"I'll have Jamie draw up some papers you can sign tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you."

He just nods.

"Have you eaten?"

You furrow your brows, eyes snapping up to his. He sighs.

"Gator is still here. Get some food before you move over to the cabin."

"You need help moving your things?"

"Not enough left for that. But thanks, Gator."

"You and I both know that wasn't an actual question. How about this, then, I'll help you clean up the cabin, carry a few boxes for you. Wouldn't want our vet out of order for tomorrow."

After returning from your impromptu move, it's already late and the sun is setting, tinting everything into a soft, golden hue, the red glare of the sun almost biting.

You'd joined the guys at the bunkhouse hours ago, "celebrating you moving in with the family" as Lloyd had said before Ted and Rip had dragged you inside to play poker.

Three beers later, you are already 50 dollars poorer but your cheeks are warm and hurt from smiling.

"You guys are so full of shit- How are there so many aces?"

That gets you another round of raucous laughter.

"You have got to learn how to cheat better, Bones!"

"Ain't no thing such as cheating in medicine! You guys won't make a dishonest woman of me", you disagree vehemently, pushing Ted next to you when he tries to sneak a look into your cards again.

He gives a short woah as the stool underneath him wobbles dangerously- and then crashes, putting Ted onto the floor with a holler from everyone around.

"Jesus, Bones!" Lloyd laughs, already hauling Ted back up - you grab his other arm and haul him up, flustered beyond belief.

"You okay Ted?"

"Yeah I'm good, 'side my chipped pride-"

"Only thing that got chipped is your ass, Ted! Now get yourself another chair", Rip immediately interjects- it gets Ted to his feet and from complaining much faster than your gentle words of care and checking to see if he is alright. As he walks off, however, you know, you won't be spared from another comment.

"I think I at least get some of those snacks you got from the city for that, Bones!", Ted calls out as he turns towards the bunks.

You groan, waving off the slew of agreements.

"Bring some of that expensive whiskey, too, while you're at it!"

You lift a middle finger as you stand in the door and grin before you slam it shut to keep the warmth inside.

You hurry, jogging through the cool night air towards the house of the Dutton's where your last few things still remain until you can ride up to the cabin and get them there.

You smile at the thought of getting some peace and alone time in the cabin, all the projects you are already set on, cleaning and repairing- it will be good for you, you think.

Your therapist would probably agree.

If you would actually call her back.

It's been months.

You bump into something solid and almost shriek but Gator's arms keep you still and you bite your lip as you look at him.

"Oh- hi-"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine, I- what are you doing? You're usually gone by this time."

"Wanted to make you a few things to keep in the fridge now that you're out of the house."

Oh.

Oh...

"Uh, thanks, Gator-"

"Gabriel."

You tilt your head at him.

"It's Gabriel, actually. Figured you should at least know my first name."

"What would I need that for?"

He just smirks before turning back to the Tupperware in front of him.

"Just grab whatever you were here for. I'll drop these off in the cabin for you, later."

"You coming back with the goods or did you get lost, Bones?", you hear Rip calling through the window of the kitchen - you both jump, and you can't help the guilt that makes your cheeks flush as you turn towards the pantry that you had hid your snacks the previous few weeks.

Gabriel shares another cheeky look with you as you leave that makes your stomach do funny things.

But that might just be the alcohol.

Taglist: @graniairish

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#Kill You To Try #yellowstone #yellowstone tv #rip wheeler #rip wheeler x reader

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ifelllikeastar · 1 year

Text

1883, 1923, and Yellowstone Dutton Family Tree

#1883 #1923 #yellowstone #the duttons #cara dutton #john dutton #james dutton #montana #love #spencer dutton #beth dutton #tim mcgraw #kevin costner #rip and beth #rip wheeler

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jungle-angel · 6 months

Note

Going to pick out the Christmas tree with rhett! please and thank you <333

(cue the aliens from Toy Story) Rachel I must say......you chose......wisely (lol).

You were a little wary about heading out into the middle of nowhere to the Christmas tree farm, but as long as it was with Rhett, you didn't care. You knew the guy like he was a member of your own family and would've done anything to help him out.

"Freezin ma balls off!!" Rhett loudly exclaimed as you pulled into the lot.

You almost spat out the chocolate peppermint coffee you had been drinking. Typical of Rhett to come out with something random like that at the most inopportune times.

Sure enough, there was Dusty Robertson and his young grandkids, the owner of the lot who had known Royal, John Dutton, Thomas Rainwater, Mo and the rest of their cohorts since they were knee high. Rhett never forgot the first time you had introduced Amy to him, the little one thinking that he was indeed Santa from the bushy white beard and wire rimmed glasses.

"Well, well, if it ain't Rhett and (Y/n) Abbott," Dusty greeted happily, shaking Rhett's hand. "How ya'll doin this afternoon?"

"Better'n ever Dusty," Rhett answered. "How's Rosa doin?"

"Much better'n where she was before," Dusty answered. "Just needs to keep that leg'o hers up and she'll be good to go. Now whatcha lookin for this afternoon? Balsam? Cedar? Blue Fir?"

"Whatever's fullest and smells nicest," Rhett chuckled.

"Well then I'll take ya'll over here and show ya," Dusty told him.

You and Rhett listened intently to Dusty. There was no doubt that the man knew his trees and knew them well, almost as if he could speak to them and hear their words. Your eyes fell on a pretty little tree while the men were talking and while Dusty's grandkids all ran about and chased each other in the snow. It was such a pretty little thing, full as could be with the longest and softest needles you had ever seen, brushing under your fingertips like paintbrush bristles.

"Rhett what about this one?" you asked.

Rhett gently rubbed the needles in between his fingers and inhaled their sharp scent. "Not bad, not bad at all," he said.

"That there's a Western White Pine," Dusty explained. "Every year I give some to the smokejumper and the hotshot crews and they go out and plant'em after the fires are done."

You and Rhett were a little more than surprised to find that the tree hadn't yet dropped its pinecones. "What d you think sweetheart?" Rhett asked. "Think it's worth it?"

"So worth it," you told him.

"We'll take this one Dusty," Rhett told the old cowboy.

"Alright c'mon back with me, I've gotta saw ya'll can use if you need it," Dusty said.

You, Rhett and Dusty worked to get the tree as best you could and when the last cut had been made, you paid the old cowboy and loaded the tree into the bed of the truck.

"Can't wait to see the look on Ma and Dad's faces when we get home," Rhett said excitedly.

"Your dad is gonna flip when he sees it," you told him.

Rhett leaned in and gave you a kiss. "Love you sweetheart," he said.

"I love you too Rhett," you answered, hooking your arms around his bicep and resting your head on his shoulder for the long ride home.

#rhett abbott #rhett abbott x reader #amy abbott #royal abbott #cecelia abbott #royal x cecelia abbott #outer range

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kendallroydefender · 9 days

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Cowboy take me away (Kayce Dutton x Roy!Reader) Chapter 1

Summary: You’re Y/n Roy the youngest daughter of one of the richest men in America but all that money can’t make you happy and you decide to move to Montana for a while. But what happens when you meet the youngest son of another influential man?

A/n: it’s here!!! This is mainly a Yellowstone fanfic and you don’t have to watch Sucession to follow along!

You stepped out of the car. The car you bought a week ago, when you were sure leaving was the right thing to do. The warm weather hitting your skin. Breathing in the fresh air after a long drive.

You were the daughter of one of the most influential men in the country. Your father, Logan Roy, was a media mogul and owned one of the biggest news networks in the world. But that came with a price, you had always been in the public eye and on top of that your father wasn’t an easy person to grow up with. Now you’re siblings still fought over being his favorite, still fought for his love. A few weeks ago, after thanksgiving where he hit your nephew you finally realized that he would never change.

So you’d made the decision to leave New York behind, to take a few months off in the country side. Hopefully your mental health would get better out here. And you’ve always wanted to visit Yellowstone after seeing pictures of the stunning landscape. To no one’s surprise your family wasn’t the biggest fans of your decision to go, especially your father who always wanted his kids close to control them. But you were a grown woman, yes you were still in your twenties but an adult nonetheless.

Your siblings thought the idea was ridiculous except for your oldest brother Connor who loved that you would follow his footsteps (as he said). He had also bought a ranch in New Mexico where he spent most of his days.

Now you weren’t so sure anymore if this decision was the right one. You had never left the city for more than a few weeks, hell you were a city person. And you had never been alone anywhere. Your family and they’re staff or your personal staff were with you. But if you’d never tried you would never know.

You took your suitcases and brought the to the small house you were renting. You had put all your clothes into the closets and your toiletries in the bathroom before you went into the small garden behind the house. It was well kept, a bit whimsical and overgrown in some places but beautiful nonetheless. A set of chairs on the lawn and a swingseat under a tree. Yeah, you could do with this.

You made some food with the groceries you picked up on the way here and ate your dinner on the couch. Everything was nice until the evening arrived.

You should have seen it coming, It was your first night and you were already bored. 'Off to a great start' you thought to yourself.

After a quick google search you made your way to one of the bars in town.

Inside it was quite crowded. A band played country music and some people danced. You went to the counter and ordered a simple drink, nothing too fancy like you would have ordered in New York.

Your eyes scanned the crowd, it were mostly cowboys and cowgirls. You must have stood out quite a bit - not too much though since you’ve left your fancier Roy clothing in New York, taking only sweaters, shirts and jeans with you. It was nice though.

”Hey, Tom have you seen my sister?.“ a voice next to you said. You looked to your right and spotted a quite handsome man. He seemed to be around your age maybe a little older, with longish brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a trucker cap backwards on his head and a dark shirt. He looked rugged in the best way. His eyes landed on you and you quickly averted your eyes even though it was probably too late - he had caught you staring.

You felt his eyes linger on you for a moment and you waited a second before you looked back at him.

”'ve never seen you around here.“ he said

”Just got here today“ you told him with a shrug and a smirk appeared on his face hearing that you didn’t sounded like you were from Montana at all.

”Where’re you’re from?“ He asked

”Uh, New York.“ You said and he let out a low blow

”She’s over there.“ the barkeeper interrupted your conversation, pointing his finger in one direction

”Uh-huh. Thanks Tom.“ the man said before he turned to you again

”I’ll have to go but have fun in Montana.“ he said before he turned to leave. After a few steps he turned his head and your eyes met again, with a small nod he turned around once more.

You would lie if you said you weren’t disappointed by him having to leave so quickly. But it seemed like he was just here to pick his sister up anyway and you didn’t even knew if he was single.

The next few days you spend getting settled into the new house. You went to the grocery store, something you haven’t done in years since your family always had people to do these kind of things. But you liked it. Liked being responsible for yourself and you liked being able to meet and converse with others.

Your family always stayed in their circle, almost every meeting with someone you didn’t knew was business related and talk was always about work.

You took walks around town and enjoyed the scenery.

Today you had planned to go on a hike. You looked up the route beforehand so you wouldn’t end up lost. There were other people on a hike but not too many.

Everything was going well. That is until you must have stepped onto a stone.

You fell and felt a sharp pain shooting through your ankle. Shit, if this wasn’t the biggest city girl hurts herself while hiking was the biggest prejudice.

You started to get up when you heard the sound of a horse walking close to you. You looked up as the animal came into your view and felt yourself getting warm. Of course it was the hot Cowboy from the other night.

”You alright?“ He asked and you shrugged

”Yeah, I just sit in the dirt for fun.“

”Shit no reason to get all fuss .“ He said but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He got down from his horse and tied it on a nearby tree.

”Lemme see.“ his voice had softened as he crouched down next to you, carefully taking your foot in his hands. Twisting it gently and putting some pressure on some spots. At one point you let out an ”Ouch.“

”It’s not broken - just twisted. Come on let me bring you down.“ he offered his hand to you and you gladly took it. He helped you up, looping his arm around your back so you could lean on him.

Once you were sitting on the horse he got up too, sitting in front of you.

”You can hold onto me.“ he told you, voice kinder than you’d expected.

You intertwined your fingers in front of his stomach. You felt warmth spread in your stomach.

He took the reins and the horse started moving. You looked around, taking in the scenery.

”Wow it’s even more beautiful up here.“ you said in a low tone.

Kayce smiled at your words. To be honest he was maybe a little glad about the fact that it was you who he found. You had come to his mind a few times since he’d met you a few days ago.

You had intrigued him, there was an air about you that he liked and felt like he wanted to find out more about you.

”Where are we going by the way? Not that I think you’ll kidnap me on a horse.“

”My fathers Ranch. My cars there, I can drive you home.“

”Oh. Thank you.“ you said

”No need to. Just basic human decency.“ he said and you cold hear the smile in his voice.

”Yeah, I’m not used to that in the city.“ you chuckled in wich he joined in.

”Why’d you come here?“ he asked

”I needed a fresh start. I wasn’t happy in my, uhm, my living situation in New York. I knew I would get depressed if I stayed.“

He hummed

”Are you feeling better now?“

”To be honest I’m not sure. It feels great that I’m away from everything but I don’t know anyone here yet… so it’s kind of lonely.“

He hummed as an answer.

The rest of the ride to the ranch was filled with easy chatting. You found out about that his Dad owned a Ranch where he worked as a horsetrainer. You told him you worked in Media at your fathers company, not telling him who your father was.

The ranch was gorgeous. A big stone house as the main building, some stables and a few smaller houses. You earned a few looks from some of the cowboys leaning against a fence.

He got down and helped you safely get back to the ground.

”I’d show you around but I think your foot wouldn’t be too fond of that.“

”Maybe another time.“ you told him and he studied you for a second

”Yeah, another time.“

He had given the horse to one of the men standing close by, who was called Jimmy. Telling him to bring it back into the stable.

He helped you into his red truck and closed the door after you sat in the vehicle.

You told him where the place you stayed in was and he seemed to know where to go. The conversation was easy between you, he pointed out some places.

”You can get good burgers there.“ he said pointing to a diner

”We could do something if you’d like? I mean because you said you felt kind of lonely.“

”Oh? Yeah that be great.“ you smiled wich caused him to smile too

”Okay.“

He helped you up the front stairs of your place and you waved as he drove away. With a warm feeling and the thought that maybe you had made a friend you went inside.

#kayce dutton fanfic #kayce dutton x reader #kayce dutton fic #kayce dutton imagine #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone imagine

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108garys · 1 year

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Grafting switchback

so for the most part I've figured out how to incorporate the other passengers into their respective model family trees, it helps that they officially have first names only so here's my added lastnames and connections below

-Anthony Nelson

the significantly younger brother of Tom Nelson

-Claudia Terigan

She's basically a recoloured Jaime so I thought why not make her Jaime's sister

-Scarlett Graves

Niece of Felicity Graves and sister to the student from tdim(who I named ebony to keep up the cool names)

-Robert(Clarke/Dutton?)

This is the one I'm still deciding on because I have so many more options, he could have come from a sibling of James Clarke or an uncle, Dutton is the name I chose for John from one of the in game books so he could easily be John's brother or cousin, in fact there are no fewer than four places I could graft him into the otherwise completed sukesh model tree

I have very spontaneously decided to make a poll for this

#The dark pictures anthology #The devil in me #Little hope #Hidden agenda #The dark pictures switchback #Supermassive games #I actually decided halfway through writing this post to throw in a poll lol #House of ashes #Man of Medan #Figured I'd tag a few of the other games

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roadtogracelandx45 · 1 month

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Current State of Affairs|3| Lee Dutton

part two

masterlist

Three: Lies Unraveled.

After the main course was served, Lee pushed his chair back away from the table and grasped Spencer's hand before standing up and pulling her with him. "Excuse us." He nodded at their fathers and his siblings. Lewis had been sat at another table and he was furious, especially after the showdown he had with Frank, John, Royal, and the boys where he got called out on all of the things that they thought they knew.

He had been under the impression that Spencer was a drama queen that acted out to get attention and what happened between them happened for a reason.

But of course, other people didn't see it that way, especially her father, uncle, and cousins. Before her second cousin Amy's birth, Spencer had been the only girl in the Abbott family so she was spoiled and used to getting things her way and Lewis was going out of his way to make sure that didn't happen with him.

Shaking his head he watched as the older Dutton boy led his fiancée out of the dining room. He wanted to follow but the murderous look that was being directed at him by her cousins and how one of the Ranch hands, Billy stabbed the end of his steak knife into the tablecloth near his fingers stopped him.

He would go after her when this was all over.

"Where are we going Lee?" she asked once all eyes were off of them and they were standing in the hallway.

"Just come on." He ordered as he led her out of the house and towards where the tree house, that Spencer had been begged to build when Beth started spending more time over at her house after her mother's death and her father eager to appease any burned feelings by his divorcing her mother who later died. Frank had it built. It was not only a getaway for Beth but for Lee, Jamie, Kayce, and to a point Rip.

"I am not climbing that ladder in this dress or shoes.'

"You have before." He smirked, remembering how they spent New Year the first year that she and Kayce seriously started dating and there had been a fight between Frank and John that they didn't want to see, and so the girls climbed the ladder barefooted, the material of the skirts hiked up way past their knees.

"I was also 16 and hadn't been drinking like I have tonight."

"I will be right behind you, you know I will never let you fall."

Glancing back once at the party and then at the man that was standing in front of her, she toed off her heels and gathered them in her hand before grabbing a hold of the ladder to start climbing, grumbling as she did so.

Lee smirked and glanced once back at the party himself then turned his attention back to Spencer who was about halfway up the ladder by then.

“Lee?” He shook his head and motioned for her to keep climbing, he didn’t want her to know that he was looking to see if Lewis followed them. But he knew that Rip and her cousins had it in hand and they would take care of it.

***

The treehouse hadn’t changed much since the last time that Spencer had been in it right before she left for Yale. The blankets and pillows that still lined the floor were still in blue and white, and the pictures from her days at the Rodeo still lined the walls along with her last crown still hanging on the corner of the picture frame.

“Wow, it hasn’t changed in 8 years,” Lee commented as he shrugged off his jacket and dropped it onto the hook.

“No, it hasn’t, I think Leighla kept it like this just in case I came back.” She returned going over to the crown and plucking it up and twirling it between her fingers.

“Why didn’t you come back before now?”

“Because Lee, it hurt too much being here.” Her blue eyes followed him as he pulled his shirt out of his pants and went over to where they had stashed the bottles of red wine.

“If I didn’t see my mama in the corners of the barn.”

She was the one who found her mother in the barn after she killed herself, and was haunted by it for years. Having nightmares that were only soothed by drinking half a bottle of wine. It drove Lewis crazy, he thought that she should get over it, it had been 15 years since it happened and she tried to explain everything to him but he didn’t listen, and just didn’t care. It had always been Lee and Kayce who comforted her throughout it all.

“I was reliving my relationship with Kayce. And the hurt of him picking Monica out of nowhere.” The crown went around again, the rhinestone sparkling in the dull fairy lights, “I was reliving the hurt that I had from you walking away from me after we had sex like it was nothing. It was reliving those.” She trailed off, her eyes finally dropping to the crown that was keeping her hands busy.

“Reliving what?’ He asked crossing the room handing her a full wine glass and taking the crown away from her, he wanted her to focus on their conversation and not on what was in her hands.

“The feelings I had for you, the overwhelming feelings of I needed to be with you every single day or I would go crazy type of thing.” She had heard Ryder’s husband Jax refer to their love like that one time and it just made a lot of sense, especially for how she felt about Lee. In an instant he was in front of her again, his hand stealing to her waist and pulling her into him.

“Spenc, I wanted to stay with you.” He started as she took several sips of her wine trying to slow down her rapidly beating heart. “I wanted to make you mine that day.” He paused to press a kiss to her forehead, “But I had to think how it would have looked.”

“How it would look? Since when did you care how anything would have looked?”

“Since being in love and wanting to marry my little brother’s girlfriend would have been seen as a slap in the face to him. And we are all under the microscope with our last names and our reputation in town.” His fingers were playing with the zipper that was on the small of her back.

“After mom’s death and your mother’s suicide, we didn’t need any more bad press.”

“Look at you.” She teased, her free hand trailing over the crisp white shirt smoothing out the invisible wrinkles. Trying to be all forwarded thinking.”

“Jamie is rubbing off on me.” He returned, “He wants good press for the Ranch and for his career.” Spencer rolled her eyes, that was one reason why she muted Jamie for so long, he did nothing but talk about his career and how he handled everything for Yellowstone.

“He hasn’t changed in 8 years. Maybe a bit more annoying.”

The older Dutton boy nodded his head with a laugh and slowly started lowering the zipper of the dress. By the end of the night, he was going to make sure she was his. And for her part, Spencer didn’t stop him, this is what she wanted.

She wanted Lee and wanted a relationship with him for years.

And maybe Ryder and Beth were right, she should do what makes her happy. For years Lee made her so happy. Once upon a time she would get giddy just thinking about him. Hell even seeing him standing in the foyer next to his father and brother gave her butterflies.

Butterflies she hadn’t felt in ages.

"We can stop." He started as the empty wine glass she had her hand dropped to the ground and he pulled her in closer to him.

"Don't you dare stop.' She muttered.

***

Lee trailed his fingers over the scars that lined her lower back and hips, scars that he had never seen before. "Lewis." She mumbled as she turned her head to look at him, "He won't ever leave marks where others can see them. He didn't want people to see what he did behind closed doors." Her fingers grabbed a hold of his and moved it to the still fading red line that was under her bust, "This one happened after I went to see Uncle Royal, and the boys and I did a barrel race. I went down hard and bruised my hip to knee."

"You have had worst.' He commented as he ran his fingers over the scar and the undersell of her breast, 'Broke your collarbone and your leg.'

"I remember." She returned with a shiver, "You went with me in the back of the ambulance with my collar bone."

She vaguely remembered a fight breaking out between him and Kayce and how the older Dutton appeared in her line of sight a few moments after the fight started.

She never thought to ask about it. It was never one of those things she ever thought to ask about. So she asked the one thing she could, "What're we going to do? I leave in 3 days to go back to New York."

Lee sighed heavily and rolled to where he was resting between her legs, his hand framing her face. "We will figure it out, Spence, I promise, I am not letting you go this time. Not without a fight."

Kayce Dutton flashed on the screen of Beth's phone causing her to sigh, they had just left the Abbott Ranch, and the last thing she wanted to do with her father, Jamie, and Rip in the car was talk to him, but she knew that she had too.

"Hey, now isn't really a good time."

'Is it true? Spencer is back home?" Kayce bulldozed.

"It is. Her father is getting married, she is Leighla's maid of honor.' The only Dutton girl admitted that the only thing that she was going to admit to was Lee and Spencer leaving together and not being seen again.

There had been enough fights between the two brothers over Spencer. “You made your choice when you picked Monica over her. Leave her alone.”

#ash writes #oc: spencer abbott #oc: spencer abbott dutton #series: angel of mercy #yellowstone tv fan fiction #yellowstone tv imagines #lee dutton fan fiction #lee dutton imagines #lee dutton

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