Red Dead Redemption II Preferences and Oneshots

Hosea Matthews: Childish Theft

Hosea Matthews & Child Reader

Summary: Dutch and Hosea find a lost child and decide to make them a new member of the family, and the child gets a attached to Hosea.

Word Count: 1400

You weaved in and out between people, passing through the crowd pretty much unnoticed. You managed snatch a coin purse or two on your way through the crowd, at least there was one upside to people never paying any attention to you.

You tugged your small satchel further onto your shoulder when it was nearly knocked to the floor. You looked up and saw two men walking towards you. The one with neat black hair had a coin pouch attached to his belt, easy money.

Unfortunately they were walking away from the crowd but you were willing to take the risk. You kept your head down as you approached them, reaching for the pouch. You wrapped your hand around it and detached it from his belt. You went to dart away from them but you felt a large hand wrap around your thin wrist.

You gasped as the man spun you around to face him. You felt the fear running through your body as he dragged you away from the main street, keeping a firm hold on your wrist as he stepped into a secluded spot and looked down at you.

"Give me that back" the dark haired man ordered sternly.

"I-I'm s-sorry" you stuttered as you handed him the coin pouch, letting him grab it from your hand. "P-please, don't hurt me, mister. I-I have more, y-you can have it" you felt the tears brimming in your eyes as you fumbled though your satchel, holding out the rest of the money you had stolen that day.

"Where did you get this, Kid?" the man asked.

"I-I stole it! I'm sorry! I-I...please don't tell anyone" you begged, feeling the tears rolling down your cheeks.

"Dutch, take it easy" the other man spoke, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

'Dutch' nodded before letting go of your wrist. "Did you steal all of that today?" he asked you, sounding calmer now. You just nodded, quickly wiping the tears away from your cheeks as you looked up at the two men. "Where are your damn parents?" Dutch asked, furrowing his brow at you.

"They...uh, they're dead...they were killing by some bad men" you sniffled, hanging your head.

Dutch looked at Hosea, like he was asking for permission. Hosea nodded, not even hesitating. Dutch held out his hand towards you but you flinched away, assuming that he was going to grab you again. He hummed before nodding at Hosea and walking away.

Hosea frowned as he knelt down to match your height, speaking once Dutch was out of sight. It broke his heart to see you in this state. He took a moment to examine your torn and filthy clothes that looked too big for you, your matted hair, your dirt covered hands and face, your wide scared and innocent eyes. You were too thin, which is probably why your clothes don't fit. He frowned when he noticed that your fragile wrist had already bruised slightly from Dutch's grip, he figured that you were bruising so easily because you hadn't been eating enough. Hosea wouldn't be surprised if you had other bruises covering your body.

"What's your name?" the older man asked gently.

"...Y/N" you paused before answering him. He seemed nice, kinder than his friend.

"Hey, Y/N. My name is Hosea Matthews, that is my friend Dutch Van der Linde. We have a camp where people who don't have families come to live with us. We are like a family. Would you like to come with us?" Hosea asked, his voice kind and soft.

"I...my ma used to tell me not to trust strangers..." you whispered, shuffling your feet.

"She sounds like a smart woman. We have helped other children before, we have a child at the camp right now. He is a little younger than you but...you can trust us" Hosea assured you and you believed him. "Or you cam stay here, make a living out of stealing" he shrugged as he stood up.

"No! No...I-I'll come..." you jumped forward with wide eyes.

Hosea just smiled down at you and held out his hand, you hesitated for a moment before wrapping your hand around his much larger one.

"I know that Dutch scared you before but he is a good man, he doesn't normally do things like that" Hosea promised you.

"...I believe you...he was mad..." you nodded, in all fairness you did steal from him. Hosea smiled as he walked you over to the horses where Dutch was waiting. You rode back to the camp they were talking about on Hosea's horse.

-----

After you got to the camp you were introduced to the other members, but you just stayed beside Hosea, even hiding behind him when you felt intimidated. Dutch apologised for the way he acted towards you and you forgave him with a smile.

Hosea introduced you to Mrs Grimshaw, who got you cleaned up. She brushed and trimmed your hair, tying it up if you had long hair. You thanked her with a smile, you already liked her.

Some members of the camp, you think their names were Arthur and Mary-Beth, had gone into town and brought back some clothes for you.

Things were looking better for you already. You were clean and dressed in clean clothes. You weren't alone anymore. And Mr Pearson had made you some food, best food you have eaten in a long time.

A strange man with an accent that you didn't recognise had spoken to you. He was loud and energetic, it scared you a little at first but he soon had you laughing at his stupid jokes. He told you that his name was Sean.

The camp even had a dog! Jack had introduced you to the dog they named Cain.

The best part was that night you got too sleep on a bedroll with a real blanket. Sure, it wasn't a bed but it was better than the damp ground of a dark alleyway. You got to fall asleep to the sound of the guitar, you think the guitarist's name was Javier. He seemed nice. Actually, all of them seemed nice.

-----

You had been part of the Van der Linde gang for about two months now and you hadn't been this happy since you lost your parents and became homeless.

"Hosea!" you shouted with a bright smile on your face when you saw some of the men returning. You didn't know where they went, something about looking into a score. You ran over to the man, wrapping your arms around his waist.

"Hey, Y/N. Are you alright?" Hosea asked with a smile as he returned your hug, letting the other men return to the camp.

"Yep! I'm good. How was the..the score?" you asked with a slightly furrowed brow, trying to remember what they called it.

"It went well. Did you do anything today?" he asked as you both walked back into the camp.

"Uncle Javier said that he would teach me how to play his guitar!" you told him excitedly, jumping up and down slightly in excitement.

"That's great" Hosea chuckled to himself.

Even though you had come to like all of the gang, you had always been closer to Hosea. After all, it was him that brought you here in the first place. You saw him as your father figure in the camp, you just enjoyed spending time with him. He was kind and he was teaching you how to read more advanced than you could. Hosea hadn't said anything to the other members of the gang but everyone knew that he had unofficially adopted you. He got protective over you and you two had very clearly formed a child/parent attachment.

"Y/N, have you ever been fishing?" Hosea asked, deciding to get you out of the camp. You hadn't left the camp in quite a while recently.

"Nope. My Da used to fish but he never took me" you shook your head. It still upset you to talk about your parents but it was getting easier.

"I'm going to take you, I'm sure Jack will let you borrow his fishing rod" he suggested with a smile.

You smiled brightly and nodded excitedly at him. "I'll go ask him!" you exclaimed before hurrying off to find Jack.

Hosea smiled to himself as he watched you run off, before going to grab the things he needed. He and Dutch had taken in a lot of lost young people and orphans that would have died without them but he hadn't felt the same connection that he felt with you. In his mind you were practically his child and he would treat you as such, he would care for you as such.

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