Cold Day for Hunting

"Come. We are going hunting." Jamie smiled at me. Kaeden was already ready to go with his rifle. I nodded, picking up mine as well. After some distance into the wood, we began splitting up. Jamie and Roger went one way while the others split on their own as well. Kaeden and I were left to our own hunt as well. We stayed silent for a time before he finally spoke.

"Ye've been quiet the past two days. Will ye just talk to me, woman?" Kaeden groaned, stopping in his tracks. 

"About what, Kaeden?" I sighed, stopping as well.

"About John Gray. About ye two. About what he said to ye. I know ye were with him. That's not hard to see." His arms folded across his chest. 

"Kaeden-" My eyes darted to his face. He was hurt but not sad.

"It's ok. Yer not in the wrong for what happened. I was gone." He sighed, holding his hand up to get me to stop talking.

"He came to tell me he loved me. That's all." I stared at his boots. 

"And? Do ye love him?"

"No... I love you." My eyes met his again. 

"Did ye love him?"

"Maybe... But that doesn't matter now. You're here and I want to be with you." I took a few steps towards him. He took the same amount backwards. 

"I won't say I'm not hurt... I just need some time." He began walking again, around me this time. We continued to hunt around, catching on a few squirrels and rabbits here and there.

"Kaeden." I stopped walking and sat on a fallen tree. He stopped walking and sat next to me.

"I'm really sorry." His eyes focused on the field in the distance. 

"Hush." 

"No, I-"

"Faith, stop talking." I finally looked where he was looking. In the field was a pack of buffalo. We both grabbed our guns and snuck our way towards the tree line. I lined up my shot, waiting for Kaeden to fire first. He let his trigger go then I fired as well. Both of our shots stuck one of the large animals. The brown animal fell over while the others took off. Kaeden and I made quick work of figuring out how to take the animal back to the land.

We continued our silent trek back home with our kill. I couldn't think on anything other than how to fix things with Kaeden. He was clearly hurt by my relationship with John. But how could he be mad. He wasn't here. To everyone, he was dead. To me, he'd moved on. He wasn't coming back to me. It'd been so long since he'd promised to come home. I'd lost him, our child, then Murtagh. I wasn't in my right mind, I guess.

As we walked, I stared at the back of his head. His brown hair had grown since last I'd seen him. His short, curls brushed his collar now. The curls thickened with the new length. His shoulders seemed wider, broader. Even under his tunic and coat, I could see the muscles rippling with each pull of the large animal across the ground. He seemed like a giant with his height and size now. Someone who could snap a normal human in half with his bare hands. His breathing was heavy, no doubt from lugging the beast behind him. God, I wanted him. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair and drag my nails across his back. 

"Stop." His voice interrupted my unladylike thoughts.

"What?" I questioned, darting my eyes back down to the beast between us. 

"Stop staring at me."

"I wasn't."

He let out a small sigh and stopped walking. "Faith, I can feel yer eyes on me. I ken yer staring at me." Kaeden stopped walking, dropping the ropes that pulled the beast behind him. I stopped walking, releasing the ropes in front of me as well. His eyes found mine. 

"I'm sorry." I muttered, looking over him again. His eyes were the color of the ocean. Not the beach, but the ocean. Deep blue with a small hint of green. They were gorgeous in the sun. 

"Nothin to be sorry about." He groaned, leaning against a tree. "We're almost home." I nodded in agreement, looking down at the ground. 

"Will you ever look at me the same?"

"What are ye talking about?" 

"You look at me with anger and disgust now. Like I'm nothing but a common whore." I picked up his side of the ropes this time, beginning the slow walk and pull towards home. 

"Faith, I dinna look at ye like anything." He took my ropes and lifted the beast from behind me. I let out a huff of air, pulling more. I wanted to be home. In that moment, I wanted my mom. A strange feeling I'd never felt. But I wanted her to tell me everything would be alright. After many more minutes of silence, I could see my parents house between the trees. Once we made it past the trees, Fergus and Ian rode up with the wagon. I ignored the two and let the boys load up the beast. I continued to walk to my own house. I could hear Fergus calling my name but I didn't acknowledge him.

————————Later that night———————

The fire lit the small living room of my home. I chopped some vegetables Bri had brought me from the garden. Kaeden walked through the door, setting his rifle by the door as well as his boots. He then set the wrapped meat from our kill on the counter where I chopped vegetables. He stood, watching me. I looked up from my work, making eye contact. 

"Faith, can we talk?" Kaeden's eyes had softened slightly. I gave a small shrug, resuming my work with the carrot in front of me. 

"I canna say I'm not hurt..." He sighed, "but I wasna here. I canna be mad." Kaeden looked at his hands. They were red and bloodied from cutting up the buffalo.

"But you gave me that ring. I still wear it. I promised you... I'm sorry." I set the knife down on the table, staring at the chopped vegetables in front of me. 

"Stop apologizing." He shook his head. "I needa to be honest with ye as well." He paused, looking back up at me. "I wasna faithful either." My heart broke in my chest. He'd been gone a year. How could I expect anything less. Murtagh always did talk about "a man has needs." 

"Oh," I picked up the knife again, resuming my work. I really did want my mom now.

"It's not like that though." He stood closer to me now. "I didna love her. I just felt lonely. She reminded me of ye." With those words, the knife slipped, slicing through my hand. I let out a small yelp, dropping the carrot and knife. His hands suddenly grasped mine, wrapping a white piece of cloth around the wound I'd just created. "Now ye've done it lass." Kaeden let out a small laugh. 

"It's not funny, Kaeden. It hurts." I groaned. He escorted me over to the fire where Jamie had built me a rocking chair. Kaeden placed me in it before disappearing into our bedroom. He came back out with a small wooden box. 

"Now, I'm not yer mother. But I ken how to do this." He gave me a small smile before working on my hand. 

"What do you mean she reminded you of me?" I snapped. 

"She had red hair."

"That's it?!" I yelled, pulling my hand back from his grasp when he poured some whiskey onto it. "She was fiery too. But that's it. I dinna love her. I just... ye know."

"Wanted to get your cock wet?" My face was hot with anger. My hand hot with pain. He had begun stitching my hand up. Kaeden shook his head. 

"God, woman!" He let out a laugh. "I forget ye don't act like a lady." 

"Kaeden." I growled. My face twisted in pain as he continued to sew up my hand. 

"I'm sorry, lass. I'm almost done. But, yes, I was with her because I was lonely. I never thought I'd see ye again." He continued. 

"And I was with John because I didn't think you'd ever come back to me." I tore my eyes from him stitching the gash. I watched the fire dance. After a few seconds, his hand touched my chin. His warm hand pulled my face to look at his.

"Then... If I forgive ye, can ye forgive me?" He smiled slightly. I nodded, agreeing. His mouth drew close to mine. "I love ye, Faith Fraser." 

"I love you too, Kaeden Campbell." I brushed my lips against his. His mouth practically swallowed mine for a moment. 

"Now, I am going to finish making us some food. Why don't ye go get out of those clothes from hunting?" I nodded in agreement and left the room while he began cleaning up the remnants of my accident.