WANTED // Sapnap X Reader

18

Outside, the air was warm - but not too humid yet, as it was still relatively early in the morning. The town was just waking up as you stepped out onto the saloon porch, people going about their morning routines. The blacksmith was just heating up his forge, and the farmers were heading out to the fields for the day. You were more concerned with whether or not the grocer would be open yet though.

The old wooden steps creaked under your feet as you stepped down onto the road, the dirt packed hard under your feet. Tucking your hands into your pockets, you turned right, starting down the road. The grocer wasn't too far of a walk, just through the town center, and hopefully by the time you got there, Mr. Weller would have opened up.

The sun peeked through the gaps in the houses that lined the street, illuminating patches of the road and the houses opposite. You took a deep breath of morning air - you could smell a trail of cigarette smoke in the breeze coming from a nearby porch. Turning your head, you nodded to Miss Janet as you passed.

"Mornin' Miss Janet!" You called.

"Mornin' sweetie-pie." Janet called from her porch. "Where you headin' off to this early?"

"Pickin' up some eggs for Perkins." You said. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course."

When you arrived at the grocer, Mr. Weller was just popping open his front window. He was around Perkins age - probably a little bit older, if you were being honest - but still the lively heart of the town. It was only natural, when everyone in the place came through his store now and again to pick up what they would need for their own homes. He was a spirited old man, and would talk your ear off for hours if you let him.

You smiled, taking one hand out of the pockets of your apron to wave at him. "Morning Mr. Weller!"

He looked up, smiling when he saw you approaching. "Good morning Y/N! Lovely to see you on such a pretty day." He paused, propping up the window so that it would stay open throughout the day. "What brings you here so early?"

"Would you believe that we're out of eggs?" You asked, coming to lean against the wall next to the window where Mr. Weller stood.

Mr. Weller grinned. "Well, when you eat as many as those Perkins's do in a week, it's no wonder." He said. "You stay right there, I'll fetch you a new carton." With that, he turned away from the window, wandering back into the recesses of his store with a lumbering gait.

You knew it would probably be a minute before he returned, so your attention wandered to the various flyers and things pinned to the wall of the grocers. There was always some new advertisement posted here - as people were always coming and going through here. There was a flyer for some traveling troupe of performers that were coming to town in a few weeks. Next to that, someone had posted an advertisement for a rodeo. A picture on the next flyer caught your eye, sparking as familiar.

Nick looked different in the photo. Younger, even though it couldn't have been taken that long ago. Maybe it was the way he was smiling at the camera, an arm around a younger boy as they stood against a wooden fence. What made your heart stop though, were the words printed on the rest of the page.

WANTED

Nick Sapnap, under accusation of robbing the Kempton bank

Reward: $25,000 (plus an additional $50 from the Sapnap family in return of their son)

Your heart stopped. That skeptical side of you that you had pushed away in order to care for him had been right. You had been an idiot for thinking that it was just a coincidence his ankle was damaged when the original poster had said he might have been walking with a limp. He had been so skittish, and you had been so, so naive.

How had they found out it was him? Had his family turned him in? He had been hiding in the attic with you for weeks now - and no one besides you, Anne and Perkins had known he was there. Who else would have given the authorities his identity? How-

"Y/N?"

You blinked back to reality at Mr. Weller's voice. He had returned to the window, and was holding out a carton of eggs to you, still smiling.

"Oh." You said, reaching out to take the carton from him. "Thank you Mr. Weller, what do I owe you-?"

"Nothin', sweetheart." Mr. Weller said. "You just tell Perkins to save me a seat at the bar this evenin' and we'll call it settled, yeah?"

"Will do." You said, forcing a smile as you turned to head back to the saloon. It took you conscious effort to not break the carton of eggs in your hands. You forced deep breaths of the fresh morning air, trying to calm your racing heart.

You were going to have to tell Anne and Perkins, and something would have to be done about Nick. He couldn't just stay in the spare bed anymore... not when he was a wanted criminal. But where else could he go? Just thinking about turning him in to the police made you break out into a sweat - you couldn't. Not when he was, well, him.

But what else could you do? Things had been easier when Nick and the man who had robbed the Kempton bank had been two separate people in your mind. Now that the curtain had been ripped away, it was a mess of emotion - wanting to do the right thing versus your feelings for Nick, knowing Anne and Perkins could get in serious trouble juxtaposed with the fact that Nick's ankle wasn't fully healed yet.

When you had left the saloon, your heart had been fluttering. Now, it was fluttering for a different reason.