The Stranger

Author's note: Thank you to my usuals: CandyCaner, Saige, and Ikkichi, for reviewing and thank you to Dark Delta for also reviewing.

Saige! I promise to review your stuff once I get to reading it! I will start tonight, I promise! :)

Here ya go!

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We continued talking for quite a while. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but the sun had moved westward, slowly sinking towards the horizon.

She was becoming more and more relaxed the longer we talked. Her face was no longer stony, but soft, even though it was still mostly expressionless. She had gotten rid of the wheat when she chewed its stem all the way down.

“Why have you been calling me Miss Sheafer? I thought I told you to call me Millie.” I was teasing her and she seemed a bit uncomfortable with my taunt.

“I thought it inappropriate to be too friendly with you. I had just met you and all, so I didn’t think it proper. Does it offend you when I call you Miss Sheafer?” She seemed worried.

“No!” I shook my head. “Not at all, but, I think we could be friends so, I’d appreciate it if you’d call me Millie from now on. I mean, I get to call you Lynn, so you might as well reciprocate.” She nodded her head slowly.

“All right then… Millie.” I grinned at her.

“Is there anything you want to ask me, Lynn?” I cocked my head at her, curiously.

“Well…” I grinned when she answered me.

“C’mon Lynn, let me hear it!” She paused a moment before answering.

“Why do you want to know so much about me Millie?” I shrugged.

“You interest me. The moment you walked in this town, you caught my eye, and you just keep me up at night with all the things I want to learn about you. I like the challenge of trying to figure you out, see what makes you tick. You are just one big puzzle for me, and I can’t wait to see what’s inside.” I answered as sincerely as possible. She laughed through her nose and turned to watch her horse for a bit.

I bit my lip. I wanted to try something, satisfy something I had been wondering about since I first saw her.

“Can… Can I see something?”

“What?” She turned her face towards me and I slowly reached for her. She backed away a bit as my hand approached her body.

“I, uh… well, I’d like to see you with your hair down, if you don’t mind.” I nervously chewed the inside of my cheek. I hoped I hadn’t overstepped my boundaries this time.

She looked at me warily, almost as if she thought I was going to attack her. She sighed slowly and reached up to the tie in her hair.

“N-no!” Quick as a flash, I grabbed her arm, stilling its movements. “Could I do it?” She gulped, and I watched the muscles of her throat contract and relax. She almost seemed… anxious. I hastily let go of her arm, smiling sheepishly in apology.

There was a very long pause before she nodded. She turned her head until the leather tie of her hair faced me.

I excitedly got on my knees and toddled my way closer to her body on my kneecaps. The air seemed tense for some reason and I had difficulty breathing. I reached up slowly, gently grabbed the strings, and deftly undid the perfect knot she had tied there.

As soon as the tie came undone, her hair sprung loose, happy to be freed from the prison it had been in all day. I sat back on my legs and she slowly, almost hesitantly, turned her face towards me.

I was right.

Her hair beautifully framed her face, accentuating the valleys and hills of her sharp cheekbones and her rounded forehead. She brushed a bit of the hair between her fingers and her eyes were cast downwards. She looked demure and proper like a fine lady. She could have been nobility.

“You look wonderful.” My voice was quiet, but sincere. I wanted her to know that I was speaking the truth.

She looked back up at me and those eyes were intense and swimming with so much emotion. I saw shock and bashfulness, making her seem so much more fragile than the cowboys she emulated. The dark, rich blackness of her eyes was swirling and pulling me in.

I reached towards her once again and ran a lock of her dark hair between my fingers. It was soft and smooth, but the ends were rough and split. Her breath had hitched and I looked back into her eyes.

They were hooded with an emotion I had never seen before. They swooped down my face to my chin (I think), stared for a moment, and came back up to look me intently in the eyes.

She began to lean forward, bringing her face towards mine. The lids of her eyes were slowly slipping closed.

Oh god. My heart began to race. My breath became short. I felt an intensity in my chest that I had never experienced before. What was this feeling I was having? Why was she still leaning in? I liked having her close, but her face was only inches away from mine.

“What’ca doin, Lynn?” I asked. I was genuinely curious. My voice (which was wavering from the thick, heavy emotions I was feeling) seemed to break some sort of spell over her.

She shook her head and her entire body snapped backwards quicker than a bullet. A look of shock and anger came over her features for a split-second, but then her eyes and face were guarded again. Damn.

“Nothing… nothing. I’m sorry Miss Sheafer-“

“Millie!”

“Right, Millie.” She grabbed the tie from where I had dropped it on the blanket and quickly secured her hair in that low ponytail. I frowned, sad to see it be bound back up.

Why was she sorry? What had she been trying to do?

She pulled a pocket watch out of her pants pocket. My eyebrows shot up in shock. How did she get one of those? They were fairly expensive.

“It’s getting close to 6 o’clock Miss Shea… er, Millie. You need to be gettin back to your saloon.” She picked herself up off the blanket and went down to her horse which had felt comfortable enough to actually lie down and rest her legs. It wasn’t often one saw a horse do its sleeping lying down.

I was sad as I folded up the blanket and we made our way back to town. What happened back there? I wanted to ask her, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t tell me, no matter how annoying I was while asking her. I wanted her to be comfortable with me, not guarded. I need to break down those walls.

When my bar came into sight, I sighed, unhappy that this wonderful day, while strange at some times, had come to an almost-end. I still had to work the night crowd and take Stephen’s place, but all I wanted to do was go back to that hill and talk to my stranger more. I glanced at her.

“Will you be coming to the bar tomorrow?” She shook her head.

“No.” I frowned. “I don’t know when I’ll be coming back. I promised the Dine’s that I would take a look over all the people that may need a doctor and I’ll be staying over there for a while.”

I smiled sadly. I looked down and scuffed my shoe in the dirt. My stomach felt like it was doing that fluttering thing.

“Well then, I will see you at some point, right?” I looked up at her questioningly. She took a long pause, mulling it over, before she answered me.

“I’ll come by as soon as I get back. It may be a few days, or even a week, but I promise to visit as soon as I get back into town. Would that be all right with you?” I smiled again, my excitement reignited, and nodded.

“Uh-huh. I’ll see you then!” She tipped her head at me, got on her horse and rode home.

I sighed and made my way inside.

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I was rushing around the bar, taking all the orders, giving out drinks, and taking money along the way.

The men would always try to chat me up, but I would let them down gently. I was never interested in any of them like that.

It was a busy night and it seemed like everyone and their brothers were here, indulging in the sights of beautiful women, a jaunty piano, and the rounds of poker that had somehow broken out at some point in the night. I was standing still, facing away from the door, just trying to catch my breath and massaging a kink out of my neck when a hand rested itself on my should. I jumped, screamed like a little girl, and turned.

“Oh… Deputy. What can I do for ya?” I was still angry at him for telling me I couldn’t see Lynn.

“I-I, well, I just came to…” He trailed off, looking guilty. That’s right, you apologize to the tiny woman you attacked. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, waiting not-so-patiently.

“Got something to say, Deputy?” He groaned, rubbed his face with his hands.

“I’m sorry for flinging that bottle at ya, and for destroying some of your other bottles. Here’s the money to pay for the damages.” I took the money, but was still wary of him. He always apologized whenever he snapped, didn’t mean he learned his lesson, or that he was never going to do it again.

I quietly moved behind the bar and dropped the money in the drawer. He growled.

“What more do you want me to say Millie?!”

“I want you to apologize for saying that Lynn deserved a beating! That was wrong! She’s a sweet woman, once you get to know her.”

Oh shit. I fucked up again. See, this is one of the reason why I should have my lips sewed shut. His face had scrunched in anger the moment I brought Lynn up and it only got worse the longer I talked.

“You still been talking to that woman? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from her?”

I rolled my eyes and walked away, trying to stay away from him and his tantrum. I had already angered him; I would just make it worse by talking. He followed me, unfortunately. He waited until I had made it to the room that had the stairwell leading upstairs before grabbing my elbow.

“That woman, she’s a deviant. She deserves whatever is coming for her, and you need to stay away from her, you hear me?” He spat this out, his eyes glowing with hatred. I shivered in fear and he laughed, feeling powerful over my small form.

I gathered whatever tiny amount of courage I had left and let it fly.

“Fuck. You.” I growled right back at him.

He put his arms on either side of my body and slammed me up to the wall, pressing his body up to mine. I groaned in disgust and fear, turning my face from his. He bit my neck sharply, lathered his tongue over my skin and chuckled darkly.

I was pounding on his chest trying to get him off me, but he wasn’t budging. I had only been this scared once before in my life… I felt tears pricking behind my eyes and prayed to god to help me.