"You want me..to use a bow and arrow?" Becky spoke quietly but nervously.

"Yep!" Finn flashed her a toothy grin.

"Uh—why this and not just a gun? A knife?" She questioned, looking over at him.

"We'll get to that after this. But, why not?" Finn tilted his head, "this is a fun break before we have hard stuff to do"

Becky went to speak but instead looked away and down at the weapon in her hands.

She looked ahead at a makeshift target that was on a tree in front of her as she rose the bow, closing one eye for a better view.

She bit her cheek nervously as she let the arrow go, feeling it rush past her face and watching it hit outward the target on the tree.

"Was that good??" She asked a little giddy as she moved the bow down, turning around to him.

"Perfect" he gave her a thumbs up with the same goofy smile, making her smile just slightly.

"Alright, that's enough of that. I wanna get comfier with it later" Becky carefully set the bow down.

She brushed her hands off and carefully sat in the grassy field they stood in, the comfortable silence that followed being pleasing to her ears before it got interrupted.

"Okay. Now, you have to hit me. You know that?" Finn spoke up.

"What?" Becky furrowed her brows, looking back over and up at him from her position on the ground.

"You've gotta hit me, Becky" he looks back at her, "a slap, a punch, you've gotta start on somebody"

"Wha—" she saw no point in repeating her question. She heard what he said no matter how much she didn't want to.

"I don't wanna hit you!" she shook her head, "why would I hit you?" She started to pout.

One thing Becky had to say she hated was hurting the ones she cared about, especially if it were physical.

Accidents happen—they still hurt her.

"You're gonna need to. Bags and bodies are not the same" he nods his head, "you can even choose your target, but you gotta practice"

"But-but" she started to get a little nervous. She really didn't wanna hit him. It wasn't like he had done anything anyway! She just cared too much. Even if she got permission to do it.

Why was he even asking her to?

Well, she knew why now, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't want to do it.

"Fergal, come on, please..I can't" Becky shook her head, "that's too much..you're asking too much, too fast now" her eyes got teary as she sunk her shoulders.

Becky was an emotional ball sometimes. Actually, most of the time.

She could step on a new pair of your shoes by mistake and the girl would burst into tears even after apologizing for it.

While she thought she was strong on wanting to say what she meant, she still sugarcoated a lot of things.

She'd try to give you some tough love, but instead, scrap it to soften the blow.

She didn't want to be like this knowing how she had been taken advantage of in several situations before.

How was she supposed to make it in the field of work she was trying to pursue if she couldn't grow a pair?

At the end of the day she could admit she was insanely over-sensitive, didn't like conflict or negativity, and simply didn't know how to deal with it.

The sole reason she's joining this business is for a learning experience. A lifelong one.

She wanted to be stronger, but her gut would never let her.

She didn't know it then, but that's what Finn wanted to change.

He knew she couldn't stay like this her entire life. Giving people everything and not enough for herself, or making sure she never hurt anyone's feelings.

He had thought she had a good sense of what the world was really like, but it just wasn't picking at the right part of her brain.

If they wanted success, they had to be hit with the hard truth fast.

But for this moment he would take a step back.

"No, no, come here" he opened her arms, sinking to his knees to be level with her and immediately feeling her fill the space of his arms as she held onto him.

"Now, don't cry please.."

He had a deep soft spot for her. Both of them did for each other. But he still needed to let her know what was up.

"Will you listen to me speak for a second, Bex?" He asks, twirling a piece of her hair in between his fingers as she begins to relax.

Becky sniffles, trying to stop her tears from actually falling down her face as she murmured a 'yes' in response.

"I'm asking you to do this because I love you. Life isn't so sweet, you know that. Especially as time goes on, and you may never know if you'll have to hurt someone you love, especially where we're going. Does that make sense?"

Becky tensed up a little bit at the 'I love you' he seemed to blurt. Was it true?

She stayed quiet for a second.

"It d—it makes sense" she fumbles over her words a little, "but...it's hard" she exhales.

"I know it is, Bex, but so is where we're going. You remember why you told me you wanted to do this?"

"To toughen my skin" she pouts, "and learn how to deal with hard situations"

"Exactly" he squeezes her in the hug a bit, "this thing will get easier with time, I promise"

"Nothing about this sounds easy" she complains.

"That's why we're doing this together. As long as we have each other, we will survive"

Becky purses her lips out, repositioning herself to still be in his grasp, but moving her head to rest on his shoulder.

"You're so wise, do you know that?" she comments.

"No" Finn chuckled a little bit at her, "cause I'm not. I'm just telling the truth"

"The truth?" Becky questions.

"Yep. Nothing but it"

"Then, can you answer my question truthfully?"

"I will" he rubs her shoulder, not really knowing what to expect now.

"Did you just mean it when you said you loved me, Fergal?" She spoke quietly. She was shy to ask but she wanted to know.

He chewed at his lip for a second before nodding his head—now also shy as well.

"I do" he responds, "that's the truth"

Becky closes her eyes for a second, "like..love me, love me?"

"Yep," he got a little quieter. This wasn't the day he was expecting to confess how he felt.

Neither was she, but hell, was she about to.

She lifted her head from his shoulder a bit, looking up at him.

"I love you too..love you, love you"

"You love me, love me, Rebecca?" He repeats like how she asked, making her chuckle a little bit.

"Yes...I do" she gently kisses his cheek, the both of them flustered out of their minds as they avoided each other's faces for a minute.

"So...because I—you know—love you," Becky starts

"do I still have to hit you?"