Between Two Trees (Mush Meyers x Reader)

II

You considered the matter for a brief moment. "You don't mind?" 

Mush lifted one shoulder and let it drop with a slightly crooked grin. "Wouldn't've offered if I did."

"Alright." You smiled, walking around the railing to the gap in the porch.

"Uh-uh." Peggy shook her head, jumping in front of you. "You can't go off with them like that." She said, gesturing to your dress.

"Why not?" You wondered, looking down. You quite liked that dress, and thought it actually looked rather nice on you.

"It'll be absolutely destroyed." Peggy said. "I'm assuming you're going picking?"

Mush nodded. "Just the wild ones."

"The ones by the creek?" Peggy clarified.

"Yeah." Mush said.

"Exactly." Peggy tsked. "There's no way you can wear that... not if you ever want to wear it again."

"So... what'm I supposed to wear?" You queried. 

Peggy sized you up. "I have a spare pair of overalls that'll fit you." (just pretend she's your size okay)

You blinked in surprise. Overalls? You had never in your wildest dreams considered such a thing. Especially not in front of a boy you... a boy.

"Come on." Peggy jumped off the railing. You followed her slowly, still debating with yourself. Peggy walked past the dining room, so you decided to ask your mother. 

After explaining the situation to her, she looked at you and said simply, "Do it."

Come to think of it, of course that was what she would say. Your mother greatly admired Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the other women's rights suffragists, and had even gone so far as to join a few protests. You agreed with her... but you had never imagined wearing trousers.

"Go on." Your mother whispered with a smile. So you did, following Peggy to the three girls' room. 

"Here." Peggy pulled a folded denim bundle and a clean light yellow shirt from the trunk at the foot of one of the beds, handing them to you. You accepted with a nod of thanks, and Peggy turned her back so you could change, keeping up a steady stream of chatter.

"Have you never worn overalls before? I wear them all the time, especially since I work on the farm a lot. I have to, really, since there's only Da and Mushy to do the work, and goodness knows they can't do it all. So I help too. You'll probably have to as well, considering. Unless you have three hidden  brothers somewhere?"

"No older brothers." You shake your head, stepping into the overalls.

"Hm. Just the two of you, then. I wonder what that's like. I only remember a little bit when it was just me an' Mush, and even less when it was just me. But that comes with having a large family." Peggy shrugged as you buttoned the shoulder straps, looking down at yourself.

They honestly weren't as... revealing as you thought they would be, which was definitely good, and they fit you well enough.

"You done?" Peggy asked. 

"Yes." You replied, putting your hands into the spacious pockets. Oo, you could get used to this.

"Perfect." Peggy said, scanning you up and down. "Let me braid your hair real quick, or it'll get in the way."

You sat down on a chair as Peggy quickly whipped your hair into a braid. 

"There, you're a proper country girl now." Peggy patted your head. "Now go pick berries, don't eat too many, and if you must kiss my cousin, don't do it in front of his friend." 

Your head whipped around, but Peggy had made a quick exit out of the room, leaving only slight laughter in her wake. 

You retrieved your package of gum from the dress pocket and stuck it into the overalls, folding the dress nicely and dropping it off in the bedroom you and James were to stay in before heading back out to the porch. 

Mush is waiting there, and he smiled slightly when he sees you. "Hi." He said.

"Hi." You echoed, stepping off the porch.

"You ready?" He asked, eyes flickering up and down you briefly.

"Yeah." You replied, nodding.

"Great, then." Mush smiled again. "Let's go." He started off across a field, and you quickened your pace to match his.

"What berries are we going to pick?" You asked.

"Honeyberries and strawberries are all that's ready." Mush replied.

"I love strawberries!" You said. Realizing that while you loved them, you were completely unaware as to how they were grown, what the plant looked like, and how they were picked.

"Yeah? Me too." Mush grinned. "And raspberries, but those come later, more in the fall."

"Blackberries are my very favorite though." You said.

"Blackberry season's coming up. Mid-summer-ish is the best time to pick, which is good 'cause there's not much work to do then."

You nodded. "So what else do you do in mid-summer-ish around here?"

"Lots of things." Mush said. "Berry picking; hunting sometimes, depending on the weather; swimming... the swimming's really nice around here, we have this great river."

His words reminded you of how people generally went swimming, which caused your cheeks to turn a slight pink as you recalled the first run-in you had had with the boy.

"Also in mid-summer-ish we start on the peaches. Oh! And sometimes we make ice cream. Have you ever had peach ice cream?" Mush continued on, seemingly unnoticing of your blush.

You shook your head. "Why, is it good?"

"It's incredible!" Mush said. "We need to make some for sure this summer, so you can try it."

You smiled. "I'll look forward to it."

Mush smiled again at you. "Great. Also sometimes we have dances in the barn. Lots of people come. There's quite a few farms around with kids our age."

You nodded. "Like Mary Ann from earlier?" You asked, a slightly teasing tone in your voice.

"Uh. Yeah." Mush said, a slightly pink coating dusting his cheeks. "I don't like her or anything." He said quickly, not wanting you to get the wrong impression. "She's just annoying. Not as much as her brother, but still. If the Raleigh's found out I had a lisp a while ago, that'd be... bad."

"I won't tell them." You promised, smiling again. You felt like you had known Mush for much longer than a few hours. "Don't worry."

Mush smiled at you. "Thanks, Y/N. I knew I could trust you." He said happily, before directing his gaze ahead. "Hey, look, there's Blink."

You looked where he was and saw a tall blond boy standing with his hands in his pockets near a long tree line. Even from here you could see he had a patch of sorts covering one of his eyes. 

"Let's go pick some strawberries." Mush said, smiling again.