As he silently entered the barn, he heard the sounds of crying & his heart almost broke. 'She must of heard me' he thought. "Lou?" Buck whispered climbing up to the hayloft.
"Leave me alone, Buck." Lou sobbed.
"Lou, I wanted to tell you, & I was going to when Red Bear left, but everyone came back, so it was hard to explain to you what I was doing without everyone knowing! Please understand. I really wanted to tell you!" Buck pleaded. He hated the idea of hurting Lou. She had been hurt too much in her life already, now he was one of them.
"Look Buck, I can't live without you, & I'm going to worry about you everyday while you're gone. Everybody, especially Rachel is going to figure out why sooner or later, & I don't care. I just want to be with you, so when you come home, it better be in one piece!" Lou explained.
"I know sweet heart. I promise I'll come back in one piece, & I'll try to be home as soon as I can!" Buck encouraged.
"You'd better!" Lou replied, cuddling up to Buck. Buck nudged her head up to look at him, & kissed her with a deep hunger. In that kiss, he placed all his feelings in that kiss…feelings of desire, longing & passion. He was truly going to miss her.
As Buck prepared to leave, Lou remained quiet. Kid noticed this as he set about preparing for his run. "Hey, Lou. Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure Kid. Couldn't be better!" She announced, mock happiness plastered across her face.
He came over & sat beside her, feeling as if nothing had changed between them. "Lou, come on. I can tell there is something wrong. We were together for quite a while, remember?" Kid questioned.
"Look, Kid. Stay out of my business, it ain't your concern!" She yelled, standing up & pushing him away from her & running out the door, slamming the door behind her.
"Hey Buck, maybe you can talk to her. She seems to be pretty close to you these days" Cody exclaimed as the boys looked to the door.
Buck looked up startled at Cody's suggestion. Had they been that obvious? "What makes you say that, Cody?" Buck asked.
"Come on, Buck. You were the only one able to dance with her last night, & she finally looked happy. The happiest we've all seen her in a long time." Cody explained, looking at Kid with an accusing look.
"Why are you looking at me like that for, huh? She was the one who didn't want to marry me, so we agreed to go our separate ways. Don't blame me for movin' on!" Kid bellowed.
"Well it seems pretty convenient, Kid. You can move on, but when she's supposed to be a guy that doesn't give her much of a choice now does it. She has the pick of one of us. That ain't real fair!" Jimmy spoke up from the table where he was playing a game of poker with Cody, Noah, & Ike.
"What's wrong Jimmy? Jealous she's not in bed with you yet?" Kid said spitefully.
Jimmy jumped up from the table ready to finish this argument once & for all when Lou stormed in. She walked up to Kid, looking him in the eyes & then gave him a right hook. "How dare you. Who the hell do you think you are Kid? I'm glad I didn't marry you. I'd be hanged for murder by now. After I told you what Wicks did to me, I thought you'd be the last one to imply I'm a whore. You're the whore, you worthless ass." She glared at him, turned toward Buck, walked up to him & kissed him in a passionate fury. She couldn't deny she loved him any longer. Her kiss let him know that she would miss him & also that she was scared.
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