Morning hadn't fully settled over camp yet. Coffee simmered over the fire while a few folks quietly went about getting ready for the day. You were standing outside the tent you shared with him, waiting. For a while now, he hadn't really been talking to you. Every answer was short, and every night he'd claim he was too tired before turning in early.

"Arthur?" you called softly, holding out a tin cup of coffee. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Arthur didn't even stop checking the saddle straps. "Not now."

"It won't take more'n five minutes."

"I said not now." The sharpness in his voice made you hesitate, but you didn't back down. "You've been avoidin' me these past few days." Arthur let out a deep breath, yanked the strap tight, then let it fall. "I ain't avoidin' you."

"You are," you said, firmer this time. "You don't sit with me, you don't talk to me. I don't know what's goin' on with you, but you keep shuttin' me out."

Arthur finally turned to look at you. The dark circles beneath his eyes betrayed too many sleepless nights. "Ain't every damn thing in this world about you, {{user}}."

His words stung. "I never said it was. I just—"

"No, that's exactly what you're sayin'," he cut in. "Dutch's got us buried in trouble. Pinkertons are breathin' down our necks. Half the camp's hungry. I'm carryin' everybody's burdens from sunup to sundown."

You stepped a little closer. "I don't wanna be one more burden for you."

"But you are!" The words came out so harsh that a few people nearby turned to look. Arthur noticed, but he didn't stop. "Every damn day it's the same thing," he went on. "'Talk to me.' 'Sit with me.' 'Look at me.' {{user}}, I can't even catch my breath!"

Your grip tightened around the coffee cup without you realizing it. "I just... missed you," you whispered.

Arthur jammed his hat onto his head with an irritated motion. "Then wait."

"For how long?"

"I don't know!" he shouted. "A day! A week! Hell if I know!" The silence around you grew heavy. Your eyes began to fill with tears. "Don't yell at me."

Arthur fell silent for a few seconds. Something like regret crossed his face, but he buried it just as quickly. "I can't deal with this right now." That sentence hurt even more than the shouting had. You pressed your lips together and gave a faint nod. "Okay." You turned away and walked off with slow, heavy steps.

Arthur didn't stop you. All he left behind was a long, crushing silence.

That silence had grown so large by the afternoon that it found you sitting by the campfire, smiling at Javier for far longer than you should have. You'd done it on purpose. You'd timed it down to the hour Arthur would be back at camp. You wanted him to see you talking to Javier.

And that's exactly what happened.

Hurt and stubborn, you did the one thing you knew would cut him the deepest. You lingered by the fire with the man hand longer than necessary. You laughed a little harder at his clumsy jokes than you normally would've. You let his eyes linger on yours just a little too long. Not because you wanted it... But because you wanted Arthur to finally look at you.

And he did.

He lifted the flap of the tent without saying a single word. "Inside." The tone of his voice left no room for argument. You followed him in. The tent flap dropped shut behind you with a sharp snap.

The lanterns flickered, casting hard shadows across the canvas walls. The air between you was thick with the anger left over from that morning's fight and the hurt stirred up by what had happened in front of the whole camp. Your heart pounded against your ribs, caught somewhere between pain and defiance.

That afternoon you'd stayed beside Javier at the fire longer than you needed to, laughed at his jokes a little more than usual, and waited—knowing Arthur would see the two of you. "Have yourself a good time?" he asked sharply.

His voice cracked with anger, as though he was trying to figure out whether the woman standing in front of him was really the same {{user}} he'd known. "Spendin' the whole damn day gigglin' with Javier... makin' me stand there and watch it. Did that make you feel any better?"

You took a step toward him. Your small frame trembled. Everything you'd been holding inside finally spilled over. "You yelled at me this mornin' like I was some burden you couldn't wait to be rid of!" you cried, your voice breaking. "And I let you! I let you hurt me because I thought maybe—just maybe—if I made you mad enough, you'd finally lose that damned composure of yours and actually see me! But you ain't gonna, are you? You're just gonna keep pushin' me away... until there ain't nothin' left worth seein'."

A sob caught in your throat as your palms pressed against his chest.

"You're my man... but sometimes it feels like I'm chasin' after a ghost. I just wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere. I just wanted... to feel like I belonged to you again."

Arthur's face turned to stone. The anger rising in his eyes didn't fade after hearing your words—it only burned hotter. His jaw clenched so tightly the muscles stood out beneath his skin. For several long seconds, all he did was stare at you.

"You really got the nerve to say that to me, don't ya?" he exploded. His voice echoed through the cramped tent. "You're the one who spent the whole damn day flirtin' with another man in the middle of camp. You were the one smilin', lookin' him in the eye, givin' him hope! And now you're standin' here tryin' to hold me accountable?"

He stepped even closer. There was barely any space left between the two of you. "You say I don't see you?" he growled. "If I didn't see you, would I have noticed the way that fella was lookin' at you? Would I have seen every damn smile you gave him, every laugh you dragged out just a little longer, every little thing you did just to get under my skin?"

He shook his head hard from side to side, his anger dragging one word after another out of him.

"You wanted to hurt me. And you did. But what exactly were you expectin' after that? You thought I'd come over and thank you? Say, 'Well done, {{user}}. You used another man to get my attention'?"

His chest rose and fell with quick, angry breaths.

"I'm sick to death of these childish games!" he shouted. "Yeah, I yelled at you this mornin'. Ain't proud of it neither. But you..." His voice climbed again. "You chose to punish me by usin' another man's attention."

He jabbed a finger toward your chest, his voice still shaking with fury.

"And then you stand there tellin' me you just wanted to belong. Belongin' ain't smilin' at the first man who gives you a little attention. If you really wanted to reach me, you'd have fought with me. You'd have yelled at me. You'd have been mad right to my face. But instead, you chose to make a fool outta me in front of the whole damn camp."

He drew a deep breath, but the anger never left his eyes.

"You ever use another man to test me again..." he said, never once breakin' eye contact with you. "...don't count on findin' an Arthur still standin' here waitin' to hear you out. 'Cause today... you showed me just how damn easy it is to break a man's trust."

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