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“I just need a goddamn break, John Marston!” Her black hair bounced on her shoulders as she stomped past her tent, low-heeled boots clacking on the hardwood floor of their dusty old room in the large plantation house. She turned around just before getting to the end of the room, staring John right in the eyes, “You’re insufferable, just try to watch the boy for a night,” and shut the door behind her. Abigail was not a mean woman in the slightest; a little short-tempered, maybe, but mean? No, not at all. She simply just struggled to put up with her loud-mouthed, asshole of a husband and father to her son, one that she had to give birth to only for him to leave her with. She was tired, was all. Raising a son in a gang of devilish outlaws, all of which were all trying to get their grubby man hands all over her at all times. She might not have minded it(or rather she put up with it, before) if it weren’t for the fact that she was a mother now, and she didn’t particularly want to risk having to go through the ‘miracle of childbirth’ again. She was tired of John, and she was tired of Jack, and she was tired of men altogether. It’d been far too long since Abigail had spent the day out with any girl, and she desperately missed it. She missed having gossipy conversations and being able to confide her feelings in someone that wouldn’t just think she’s doing it to get in their pants. So when Sadie happened to be standing at the bottom of the staircase looking bored as could be, she practically ripped her from her spot and dragged her out the front door. “W-what’s going on, Abigail?” Sadie asked, concern laced in her voice as the cigarette in her mouth tumbled out onto the floor. Despite not understanding the situation, she walked alongside the brunette, trying to keep up with her fast pace in the muddy dirt of Shady Belle. Abigail made a straight A-line towards Bob, pushing past all the gang in her way. “Abigail, would ya’ at least answer me?” “ I just need to be away from men,” after getting right up next to Bob, Abigail finally turned to look at Sadie, her face looked so exhausted, her eyes were red and looked laced with tears. Sadie sighed, hopping on bob and reaching her hand out to grab Abigail’s, who took it without a shadow of a doubt and clambered onto Bob’s back. The two rode out of Shady Belle’s harrowing nature, taking their time to tell Lenny, who was on guard, that they’d be back eventually. Abigail’s arms were tightly wrapped around Sadie’s waist, her pale legs straddling her own lightly tanner ones. The touch was innocent and Sadie didn’t think too much of it, it was just another person riding on her horse, nothing new. What was new though, was the scent. She was used to musk and sweat and general shitty scents that radiated off of the men in her life, but Abigail was different. She smelled like tea tree and roses, hiding off the stench of the swampy wilderness that surrounded them constantly. Refreshing, to say the least. Abigail began to shift in her spot, resting her head on Sadie’s back and whispering a deep sigh, reminding Sadie that she needed to ask some things before they simply road off into the sunset. “Abi?” Sadie turned her head a bit in an attempt to get Abigail’s attention. “Hm?” Her voice sounded less upset than before, more drained of all emotion now. Sadie felt awful, and knew she had to help. “So uh, where exactly are we going? I mean, clearly Saint Denis don’t seem too bad right now,” The billows of smoke in the distance turned the sky grey, but it wasn’t awful, and they knew that the main road was pretty clear and fun to explore. “I ain’t really been to Saint Denis much, too much of a worry to take Jack in the city,” Her voice was hopeful, she definitely seemed interested in going, which was a start. “Anything in particular you want to do?” “Well, I’ve been meaning to get a new dress, and I took some money off of Jo- some man, and now feels like the best time to spend it!” Sadie chuckled at the thought, ‘retail therapy always works’. Sadie nodded her head and sped up to the local tailor. -- “The purple or the blue?” The two women had been in there for a good thirty minutes just trying to find something that Abigail liked. Sadie didn’t mind all that much, though, seeing Abi’s face crinkle whenever Sadie told her she looked pretty in whatever she was holding up to her body made it all worthwhile. “The blue is just so… me? Or the old me, rather,”. “Then do the purple, it looks great with your eyes,” Abi slapped Sadie on the shoulder, a redness blooming on her cheeks as her smile grew. “I meant it, I swear Abi,”. “Oh you shush, now come with me to pay for the damn thang,”. The two of them ambled to the front, giggling and mumbling incoherent things about the outfit and fashion in general. “‘Scuse me, sir, how much for this lilac pinstripe walkin’ skirt?” The man turned around, giving a long look from head to toe of both ladies before giving a grimy smirk, his face turning to a look of greed. “You sure you can buy your own dress, ma’am?” Abigail’s eyebrows raised and her jaw dropped, her voice a stuttering mess as she stood in disbelief. Sadie was equally as upset, hers showing a bit less, as she was more concerned about Abigail. She was just about to butt in and tell the man off when Abigail took in straight into her own hands. “I surely can. I can buy it with my own money,” Sadie knew this wasn’t true, but she was still equally convinced at the show Abigail was putting on. “ Without a man or not. Men are just absolutely wretched, and if I have to hear another thing out of your little pickle peckered mouth that ain’t ‘thank you, please come back soon’, I will not be afraid to pull my knife out without hesitation, good sir,”. She threw the money down on the desk, not caring all too much if it was the right cost, seeing as the man looked a little too in shock to really care all that much, anyway. They walked out of the store, the night swooning over the sky and engulfing everything in its path. “Abi, that was one slick move you pulled back there, I am mighty impressed!” Sadie looked down at Abigail, who was gleaming in the moonlight, her black hair illuminated beautifully. She felt her own face blush, and her hands began to fidget with the ends of her shirt as she got back onto Bob, pulling her accomplice up with her. “I’m not going to put up that that kind of bull shit any longer, I swear to God and all things holy, I am too tired of men for that,”. -- After some walking around in the neighborhood and seeing a short about the dangers of foreigners, the two decided it would be best to stay overnight in a hotel, stopping to get their dinner before they headed to sleep. Abigail ordered some kind of beef ragu dish, and Sadie got the same, deciding to splurge on a fancy dinner for the first time in what felt like decades, but was only a few months. It was really quite strange for her to think back on that time in her life, when she was married and spent all her time with Jake. It was a memory she cherished and would never forget for as long as she lived, but sitting there in the booth of the Saint Denis saloon, staring at one of the most beautiful people she’d ever seen, laugh and hold her hand from across the table, made it impossibly hard to think about her Jake right then. “Sadie, I just,” Abigail paused, setting her fork down on her plate as she glanced up to see the blonde in front of her going in for a bite of the mashed potatoes. “I suppose I just want- need, rather- to thank you for tonight. I-I know I didn’t tell you what happened earlier, but if I could now, I’d like to just… get it off my chest,”. She gazed into the brown eyes of the woman sitting across from her, who was also putting a hold on her meal to talk about things. “If it’ll help, I’m here to listen,”. Abigail nodded, breathing deep and shaky. “I was talking to John about us, and what we… are. It feels like every time I bring it up with him, he only ever talks about Jack and how we need to be there for Jack, as-as if it weren’t real when it was just the two of us,” She takes a break. “I mean, I suppose there weren’t really the two of us before Jack, but it makes me feel like I’m nothing but a mother, not a lover nor a wife, not even a girlfriend. Just a mother to his son,” She rubbed her hands on her face, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks and pooling around her eyes. Everything about her seemed relaxed, though, like she was relieved to finally tell someone about it. “Well, I for one think John is a bit of a ditz,” Sadie added in, making Abi giggle into her hands before setting them back in her lap. “He ain’t a bad man, just a misinformed one. Sure, he’s stupid as horse-shit, and can’t tell a woman’s feelings from a dogs, but he just needs time. And you do too, clearly. Maybe you two should take a break? Not like the one he forced, but a break from having to be around each other all the time. I can ask to have you move into my tent for a bit, if that helps at all,”. “I would love that, but Jack still seems-” “Jack can join, I don’t mind. I think John just needs to get over this fear of showing emotion right now,”. Abigail rubbed at her brows, closing her eyes and smiling for the first time in a while. “I think… I think I’d like that,”. Sadie’s vision turned soft while looking at Abigail then. Her features looked so… smooth and approachable. She looked angelic in the golden lighting of the Saint Denis bar. In a bold move, Sadie reached out and held onto Abigail’s hand, interlocking their fingers after the brunette didn’t flinch or stutter. “Could we head back to the hotel, I’m absolutely exhausted,” Sadie leaned back in her chair, throwing her napkin haphazardly onto her empty plate. Abi giggled yet again, squeezing Sadie’s hand a bit tighter then. “I thought you’d never ask,”. ---- Her eyes were closed, though she was not asleep, and based on the shifting in the blankets around her, it was clear that neither was Abigail. After the short walk to the hotel, they’d bought a room with only one bed, since Abigail insisted it would be better since it was ‘still cold at night’ and that ‘they needed to huddle to keep warm’(which is not true, since it was almost summer and the humidity of the swamps would make it warm enough). This idea of warmth being the driving factor was quickly thrown out when Abigail removed her main outfit, leaving her in just her romper underwear. She did it casually, eventually causing Sadie to do the same thing, since it was clear that the environment was safe enough to do that. Though once getting in bed, things had seemed to still. Sadie felt too hot, her skin was slick with sweat, and every time she felt Abigail move behind her back, her heart sped up a mile an hour. She knew was this meant, and she told herself she wouldn’t do anything. She had some self-control, knew to not overstep boundaries. That didn’t make it any less difficult when she felt Abigail’s arm sling around her waist and the woman’s hot breath floating down her neck. Suddenly, she felt two lips press against the nape of her neck. “Sadie?” The woman spoke in a whisper, lips still dancing on the skin. Sadie let out a wimpy ‘yes?’, her heart rate now beating at what could only be described as immeasurable. “Can I….” Her hand hovered slightly over Sadie’s shoulder, and the blonde turned her body around to look at the brunette, her breathe ghosting on the other’s nose. They both took a second to look down at one another’s lips, each seemingly glowing pink even through the dark embrace of night. Sadie was the one to lean in, the touch of their lips against each other igniting a fire deep in their hearts as she lifted her hand up to touch the side of Abigail’s soft face. She could feel the heat in her cheeks, causing her to smile into the kiss. The longer they stayed there, the better things felt, the more they kissed. They pulled away after what felt like an eternity, but was clearly not long enough, Abigail being the first to break the silence. “Ya know, I liked that a lot,” Sadie chuckled, pressing a small smooch to her cheeks and then her nose. “Me too, it was… it was refreshing,” The two wrapped their arms around each other, snuggling tight under the covers despite the heat surrounding them. They stayed like that for the rest of the night, in each other's arms, occasionally dozing back and forth from the dream world to the real world, always taking time to fall back into a kiss when awake. Things weren’t perfect, and they knew they were only about to be ten times more complicated, but it felt right. It felt warm and soft and under the caress of the moon and the cradle of each other, both women felt at home and safe.