~~ Campfire Confessions ~~

"I think we should make camp Kid. We won't be doin' Jimmy any good if the horses are too tired to travel tomorrow." Lou said as she pulled Lightning to a stop and dismounted.

Kid pulled Katy to a stop beside her and nodded. "I agree, at least for a few hours anyway. We need to get this information back to Sam as soon as possible, but a few hours of rest won't matter any."

Kid and Lou went about cooling down their horses and making camp. Neither had spoken very much on the trip, both too lost in thought of the events of the past few days. It was easier that way. They didn't have to talk about the how uncomfortable they've both been feeling around each other lately. But now they would have to spend time together; something that had been harder and harder to do especially if they were alone.

Out of habit, Kid placed his bedroll close to Lou's. After riding three days straight without stopping, he was exhausted. He knew Lou had to be as well, but he couldn't wait any longer. He had to know what Lou had meant the other day when they'd been in the bunkhouse eating and he wasn't sure when they'd get the chance to be alone again.

"Lou? Can I ask ya somethin'?"

Annoyed Lou nodded. "Make it quick Kid, I just wanna get some sleep."

Kid thought carefully on what he wanted to say. He didn't want to make Lou angry, but he had to know. "What did you mean the other night?"

"About what Kid?" Lou sat down on her bedroll.

He leaned in closer towards her and whispered to her. He was uncomfortable talking about his feelings, always had been. "You know," he trailed off.

"No Kid, I don't. I've said a lot of things over the past few days. Ya wanna narrow it down for me?"

"Well, when you said that if I wait too long, the right time might pass me by."

"Who says I was talkin' about you?"

Kid shook his head. "Lou, I'm not like Jimmy. I just can't jump from one pretty girl to the next."

"I know you ain't Kid, but sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?"

"Never mind. 'Night Kid." Lou laid back on turned on her side away from Kid.

Kid sighed. He wasn't about to let her drop the subject. "Sometimes what Lou?" After a few minutes of silence, he gave up waiting for an answer. He laid back down and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he heard Lou turn over.

Lou rolled over and looked over at Kid and saw that he appeared to be sleeping. Kid would never understand how hard all of this was for her. The last thing she had ever expected when she signed on to be a rider was to fall in love.

But am I falling in love? She asked herself. She definitely had feelings for Kid, and she thought he felt something for her too. She could understand that he wanted to "take things slow and careful," after all she'd been through in life, she did too. But with Kid it was different, it was so frustrating. One minute he was turning a simple thank you kiss on the cheek and turning it into something more, or telling her how beautiful she was in a dress and the next minute he's pushing her away, or worse, acting as if she couldn't do her job just because she was a girl.

"Sometimes Kid," she whispered as she rolled over again. "Sometimes I wish you'd look at me the way Jimmy looks at Sarah so I knew how you felt. I don't want to be the first to die of a broken heart."

Kid opened his eyes as he heard Lou finally speak. So that's what's bothering her. He thought. How could she not notice the way I look at her? What was it Jimmy had said that night? "That ain't the look of a brother watchin' his sister when you stare at Lou now, is it?"

Kid knew he felt something for Lou, but he wasn't sure just what it was. There had only been one other girl he'd felt something like this for, but that was back in Virginia, and they had known each other almost all their lives. With Lou it was different. There was so much he didn't know about her, and the thought that he wanted to frightened him.

It was really hard for him to be around her when they were always around the others. He may have joked right along with Cody about Jimmy and Sarah, but he didn't want them to treat him and Lou that way. He could probably ignore it, but Lou was different. She was the only one who had been defending Jimmy.

If their lives were different, maybe things would be different. Had this been a regular run, maybe they would've had more time to get to know each other, maybe even have gone to dinner. They could've tried courting like a regular couple, but as long as Lou rode for the Express, he couldn't see how they could ever be that way.

"Trust me Lou," he said gathering the courage to tell her while she was asleep. "If things were different, I'd do more than look at you."

~~ ** ~~

"Kid wake up."

Kid slowly woke to a smiling Lou kneeling beside him shaking him. "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure, but we slept later than we intended. We need to get goin'." Lou stood up and started breaking down the camp. After hearing what Kid had confessed while he thought she was asleep, she had tossed and turned most of the night and was surprised when she finally did fall asleep.

"Lou about last night," Kid started as he walked up to Lou. He hadn't been able to get much sleep because he kept thinking about her. Thinking about what she had said. The last thing he remembered before he did fall asleep was that if he got the chance this morning, he would tell her how he felt.

Lou looked at him. She saw the emotion in his eyes and her heart melted. Maybe there is something between us. She thought as she leaned forward to kiss him. She was interrupted when she heard the horses behind them starting to fuss. She pulled back. "We need to go Kid. Sam is countin' on us to help save Jimmy. We can talk about last night later."

Kid groaned but nodded. He knew they wouldn't be able to talk about it later, but she was right. They needed to forget about themselves and help Jimmy.