The path they were traveling on was close to a town where Stan kinda, basically, grew up in. His father was a cowboy, so he traveled and lived everywhere. Still, this town was where his father would stay and live the longest, where Stan made friends and went into his start before the highest peak of his Wild West days with those friends, but this one thing happened that cost him those childhood friends. Then he didn't visit that town at all. 

He was only making it through that town, because it was the most convenient route, and he knew they would have some genuine shelter instead of just sleeping on the ground, in the forest, next to hotshot and a fire.

But before he'd bring (y/n) through that town, a place uphill on this mountainside was special to him. And instead of (y/n) sliding off the saddle onto her feet like she had planned while they were talking about how many days they should spend in one town and trying to estimate when they should be in her village, Stan grabbed her by her waist and picked her up so easily with a little spin before setting her down on her feet, holding her by her waist, staring at her and saying through a teasing smile, ".. You think too much"

(y/n) grew into a lazy smile, shaking her head, "And you flirt too much" If she had to put it into percentages, it was eighty percent flirting with her, fifteen percent looking down her dress, and five percent traveling, and she started to pull away, taking her hands off his forearms to take the leash and pull it to the front to better guide Hotshot while they walked. 

"There's no such thing as flirting too much" Stan shook his head, watching her stand in front of his horse with the leash fiddled around in her hands, smiling at her while she furrowed her eyebrows and turned to hotshot, muttering a little, "You believe this crap?" 

And Hotshot sneezed while shaking his head, the smile she wore was so cute, such a smart ass, Stan crossed his arms to scoff gently at her smile and the response from his horse, bumping his shoulder gently against the side of Hotshot while he walked towards her, ".. You takin her side, hotshot?" Hotshot turned his head towards (y/n) to blow air through his nostrils and breathe on her which blew her hair off and made it a little messy she laughed, and snorted softly, settling into a smile while she smoothed and fixed her hair again. God, she was so cute. 

Stan couldn't believe what just happened, watching his wild horse breathe on her like she was family and taking her side, he shook his head, lifting his hand to lazily scratch his nose and bringing it back down, ".. It's just cause you're pretty" and he tried to believe that, but he wasn't so sure it was only because she was pretty now.

When they made it to the near top of the mountain on the path that led into the town that was hidden by trees, Stan took a detour to his favorite place in this town, ".. Go on up this road" 

It would've been a road that detoured from the road that went into the town, but (y/n) didn't understand this sudden turn, ".. Why? Couldn't we just continue straight?" And he thought for a second before shaking his head, ".. No, this way is quicker" sounding confident even though this road was a dead end and they'd have to turn around to continue on the road.

And (y/n) trusted his word, with a little shrug ".. Well, okay" Making the turn, pulling gently on the horse's leash, Stan didn't tell her that he knew of this place or that he lived in that town for years, always coming back to it when he stayed with his father because then she'd want to know everything about it, like why he left and never came back again, why it was easier to run away.

The place he was taking her to was Stan's little private place to think, clear his mind, and have some serenity in his world of chaos. It was really pretty, the grass stayed green, and there were so many flowers and butterflies, a stream of water, the most amazing gusts of winds when he would stand close to the edge that it's downstream. He wanted her to see it.

Her expression was exactly how he pictured it, her eyes lit up and she smiled so brightly at how pretty the place was, hearing the peaceful water streaming, she noticed the butterflies roaming around, ".. You knew about this place" turning to look at her a little over her shoulder while her cheek touched it softly, and Stan thought she was so pretty. 

He smiled softly at her, and nodded his head towards her, ".. I travel a lot" watching her keep her smile and turn forward again, stopping to let her eyes roam freely to take in the scenery. It was like she didn't want to disturb the natural beauty of it, the way she stood there with her hand gently petting Hotshot's mane. 

Stan filled his lungs with air before stepping forward to press his palm against her lower back, to push her forward a little, ".. Go on" following a little behind while she took hesitant steps towards the flowers, growing into a teasing smile "Butterflies don't have stingers" 

(y/n)  let out a little laugh at how he remembered that detail about her, shaking her head, she felt a little embarrassed about it now, ".. I know that" She blushed a little at the feeling of his fingertips gliding across her lower back, then standing in front of her with a bright smile at her, holding out his hands, palm side up, ".. Hold out your hands" and it completely captivates her at how excited he was about showing her something, (y/n) nodded her head, holding out her hands palm side up, getting a little closer to his hands which he completely closed the space between their hands by holding onto the backs of her hands, gently rubbing his thumb against her knuckles. 

Stan stared at their hands, waiting for a friendly butterfly to land on her palms, though feeling her eyes on him, he met her eyes. He noticed how a little shy she got, crawling a little back into herself with a softened smile, he couldn't help but laugh through his nose gently, shaking his head a little, "Don't look at me, you'll miss it" watching her nod her head towards him, muttering a soft, sorry, then look down at their hands, Stan stared at her now.

He took note of how he felt about her, how she felt so warm and inviting, so comforting and sweet like he could see himself immersed into her world, settling into the humdrum, boring life that he'd always run away from, how she made it feel so right for him to call it home, the gentleness that came with it and how slowly moving it was. 

And how (y/n) was there, waiting for him, smiling at him, calling to him. 

Stan studied how her eyes roamed again before settling on his eyes, his heart stopped cold for a second and his chest tightened a little while she smiled softly at him, he opened his mouth for a second, then closed it quickly to look down at their hands, he could feel the back of his neck travel hotness that went to his ears, absolutely blushing at his thoughts than her gaze that made his heart stop for a second. 

A friendly orange monarch butterfly fluttered across until landing on (y/n)'s palm, the gentle sensation of the butterfly made her look down at their hands again, growing into a bright smile while the butterfly fluttered its wings. Her smile at the butterfly was so cute, and insanely adorable while she tried to stifle her smile by biting her bottom lip, it was probably his second favorite reaction.

Stan's first favorite reaction of hers was when he showed her the updraft by the river. When the butterfly flew away, he held onto one hand, nudging his head towards the direction he wanted them to go, ".. Come on" and (y/n) kept her smile, shaking her head a little, "Where are we going now?" she sounded a little excited about where they were going, she never really held a butterfly in her hands like that before, he made her a little braver since being afraid of holding a firefly in her hands when she was younger, she was so cautious about certain things, maybe even a little uptight.

".. Just humor me" (y/n) couldn't help but laugh a little when he said that, walking carefully through the flowers until reaching where the water streamed down the side of the mountain, hearing him say, "Be careful, there's an edge" 

she nodded her hand, holding onto his hand still, his hand was so much larger than hers, and a little colder compared to how warm hers was. The river was pretty, glistening with the sunlight, but (y/n) hadn't seen a river before, she turned to look at him with furrowed eyebrows, a little confused about what he was trying to show her, "..I've seen a river before" 

Stan shook his head at her, squinting his eyes gently at her, "Just give it a second" noting how she was a little impatient, smiling softly at her and studying how she turned forward again to look at the river.

(y/n)  waited until the updraft of wind blew through her clothes and her hair and she laughed, lifting a hand to try and push her hair away from her face, she was so cute. 

It was probably the most beautiful thing that Stan ever saw, the way her hair blew so messily and she laughed so much that her cheeks grew a soft rosy color, he let go of her hand to lift both his hands to smooth the sides of her hair down, holding her head in his hands while he smiled at her, speaking loudly enough for her to hear him, "It clears your mind, don't it?" 

He used the updraft of the river for serenity so many times, it cleared minds and gave peace to him. (y/n) nodded her head towards him, her laugh settling down into a smile, the wind eventually stopping, she couldn't help herself from selfishly giving into his touch when he stared at her with those eyes and moved one hand down the side of her head to hold under her ear and the other gently pushed hair behind her ear, feeling her earlobe with his thumb before holding onto her jawline, she leaned into his touch and closed her eyes if he wanted to kiss her, he would and for a moment, she absolutely would have kissed back.

But then he didn't. 

Stan studied her so carefully while he held her head in his hands, taking note of how she wanted him to kiss her, his thumb softly rubbing against her jawline like she was made of glass, so fragile, and he slowly leaned into her, feeling the side of her nose against his, her breath on his lips then he stopped. 

Suddenly, it felt so scary to her, to want to kiss someone so badly, to see an entirely different life with her than the one that he'd always known, to need her warmth like it was a safety blanket, it freaked him out. There was a lot of uncertainty that ran through his mind, Stan was afraid to sink himself into her, to let himself because he knew that she'd hold him so comfortingly long but he knew that he'd leave without a word after. It'd completely crush her and he didn't trust himself to stay because of the lifestyle that he lived for so long before, it was terrifying. 

Stan pulled away to look at her, how she waited for him to close the gap between them, he couldn't help but laugh through his nose gently. He felt a little more like an idiot, reaching his thumb to feel her bottom lip and how soft it was, studying how she blushed at the touch, ".. You blushin' at me, Elizabeth?" Making it into a joke felt easier to get past it.

(y/n)'s expression would've flattened as her eyes opened to look at him, furrowing her eyebrows and growing into a lazy smile while she shook her head out of his hands, she felt so embarrassed that she wanted him to kiss her when he had no intention of kissing her at all, it was annoying, "... No, I'm not," She thought he was such a jerk, while she watched him look so unconvinced towards her, his teasing expression annoyed her "..Quit teasin' me" she added quickly, touching her ear to her shoulder to rub his touch off. 

Stan thought this was a lot easier for the two of them, and he laughed, turning away to start to walk down from the river, "Come on, we have to turn back" 

(y/n) thought for a second, remembering how she mentioned to follow that path, she frowned, "Turn back to the straight path that I said to continue on?" 

And Stan looked over his shoulder to see her again, growing into a bright smile before shrugging at her, "Oops" She looked so cute when she knew that she was right. 

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2,271 words

Here's the thing...

I only have enough material for maybe 4 more chapters, and it's unlikely for me to continue.

I might come back around and make three chapters that wrap things up... butttttt...

I've always been of fickle heart, so I'm not sure unless there's an enormous need for me to continue.

In the last chapter, I'll share this again, and then probably mark this story as complete.