Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They are the original creation of Annie Proulx. I have not and will not make any monetary profit from the writing of this story. I am just borrowing the characters and settings for a bit.

A/N: This will either be a prologue to a much longer story or a one shot deal. Mostly it depends on what kind of feedback I get. It is my first attempt at fiction longer than 100 words. Please be gentle. :)

My Own Front Step

AU. Riverton, Wyoming. 1967

Ennis walked slowly up the wooden steps to his second floor apartment over the store. It was an alright place to live. Not like being out in the open, like he was used to. But, Alma had fixed it up fine, just like she said she would.

But, he did not want to be here. He wanted to be back in the tent with Jack. Back anywhere with Jack. Back where he felt comfortable. Where he could be himself. Where it felt like home. Jack fuckin' Twist. What was it about that man that made Ennis want him so much? It wasn't right. It wasn't how things were supposed to be. But, after four years of thinking about him day and night, he couldn't help himself. He'd had to have some time with him, alone, just the two of them. Time to show Jack how he felt. Show him how sorry he was to have left him after Brokeback.

He got to the front door and turned the knob, fully expecting the door to open. That's what doors did when you turned the knob. They opened. Except not this time. He ran smack dab into that door. Smacked the hell out of his nose in the process. He backed up a step, rubbing his nose.

"Alma!", he shouted as he pounded on the door with his fist. "Open up. It's me, Ennis".

There was no sound behind the locked door. Mumbling a few choice swear words under his breath, Ennis fumbled for his keys. Where were the damn things? He found them in the pocket of his jeans and tried pulling them out. Of course, they got tangled in the fabric of his pocket. He pulled hard and heard the fabric rip.

"Dammit", he mumbled under his breath.

He put the key into the lock and turned. Nothing happened. He pulled the key out and looked to make sure it was the right one. Yep, surely was. He put it in the lock again and tried turning it. Still nothing. Shocked, he pulled the key out and stared at it for a few seconds, wondering what was going on. That was when he noticed a bundle on the porch in the corner behind him. There was a folded piece of paper attached with a pin. It had his name written on the front. He snatched the paper up and opened it warily.

Ennis,

I got the locks changed while you was gone. I don't want you back in this house. I saw what you was doin' with that man on our front step. I saw it with my own eyes. On my own front step! I can't have a man like that in my life. I can't have a man like that around my girls. It ain't right. I ain't gonna stand for it. Take your clothes and get away from us. Don't be thinkin' you can sweet talk your way back in, neither. It won't work this time. I saw you kissin' that man. I saw him kissin' you back. Stay away from me and my girls.

Alma

"Fuck it all! Cain't believe she saw that!" Ennis exclaimed. He started kicking the bundle of clothes. Over and over and over. Venting his rage with Alma onto the most available object. He stood there, breathing hard, trying to think straight. "She prob'ly went t'er fuckin' sister's!" Ennis got down the stairs in two leaps. He ran around the building and started down the street, fulling intending to walk to Alma's sister's house.

There was Jack's truck, parked a block down. What was he doin' there? Ennis hurried to the passenger door and pulled it open. Jack was there, leaning on the steering wheel. His forehead resting on his hands. When the door opened suddenly, Jack jerked upright. Quickly swiping at his eyes.

"What're you doin', Ennis? What's wrong?" Jack asked, trying to pretend he hadn't just been crying.

"Alma had the fuckin' locks changed while we was fishin'. She saw us when you first got here. Says she won't have no man like that 'round her girls. HER GIRLS! Like they ain't part mine, too. Goddam, Jack! What am I gonna do?"

"The hell? Yur gonna come stay with me and my momma. Stay 'til you get things figured out."

"And, what'll yur daddy have to say about that, bein' such a hard ass'n all?"

"Told ya, he died a couple months back. Didn' think you was listenin'," Jack smiled for a second, and then his expression turned serious, "Was havin' a fit at one 'o the hands on the ranch and just keeled over. Doc said he had some kind of an'ur'ism or somethin'. No idea what that means. Jus' know he caused his death his own self. I had nothin' to do with it. Sure bet he's fit to be tied about that. But, momma's a sweetheart. She won't mind another body at the dinner table. Come on. You need a place to stay for now. Don' have to be permn'nt. Jus' a one time thing."

"Yeah, know 'bout you and yur one time things," Ennis mumbled. "Ok, fur now." Ennis slid into the seat and closed the door. He didn't look at Jack as he continued talking. "We're not ranchin' up together or nothin''. Jus' til I get back in with Alma. Damn that woman, anyhow. Wha's she think she's doin'?"

"Yeah, cause it was jus' me doin' all the work. You just laid there and never did nothin', right?" Jack asked with a smirk. But, when he turned and looked at Ennis, his expression changed. "Cain't believe she locked you out with nothin' but what you took campin'!" he said, shaking his head.

"Damn, Jack. Wait just a second, ok? She did leave me somethin' on the porch. Mus' be a bundle of my clothes. Be right back."

Ennis hurriedly handed the note to Jack, pushed the truck door open and bounded back to the front door. There sat the bundle. And, it surely was his clothes. Actually, there was about three bundles. Two that Alma had obviously put out there and the one he had taken fishing. Looked like it was all the clothes he owned. He stood staring at them and shaking his head. It was just then he thought he saw movement behind the curtains in the only window looking onto the porch. It had to be Alma, watching him!

"Dammit, Alma, let me in!" Ennis shouted, banging on the door with his fist again. "This is my house, too. You let me in right now!"

"Ain't lettin' you in this house no more. Ain't lettin' you around the girls. Ain't lettin' you around me." Alma's voice was muffled through the closed door. It was obvious she had no intention of opening it with Ennis on the other side.

"They are my girls, too, Alma. My flesh and blood. Ya cain't take 'em away from me like this. I'm their daddy!"

"Won't be their daddy no more if I have anythin' to say about it. I'm divorcin' you, Ennis. 'N if you try anthin' like sneakin' back in, I'll make sure the judge knows exactly what I saw you doin' on my front step. 'N then you'll never see the girls no more. Ever."

Ennis slumped against the door, pressing his forehead against the wood. His hands splayed open and pressed against the door on either side of his head. "Alma, please. Cain't we talk about this? It ain't what you think. That didn' mean nothin'. We was jus' glad to see each other agin. Been four years since Brokeback."

"Since when do men kiss jus' 'cause they ain't seen each other in a few years? That wasn't no 'glad ta see ya buddy' type kissin' that I saw. You ain't never kissed me like that. Never. I know what it was and what it meant. I ain't stupid, Ennis. Now go away and leave me be, or I WILL call the sheriff."

He leaped back a step from the door, glaring all his anger into the wood. "Fine! I'm goin' for now. But, I will be back, Alma. You ain't keepin' me from my girls."

Ennis kicked the door a good one. And another. And, one more for the hell of it. Dammit, now his foot was hurtin'. He threw the bundles of clothes over the porch rail and down into the little bit of a yard in front of the apartment. With a slight limp, he slowly walked slowly down the stairs and picked up the clothes. The bundles had landed next to the set of swings he had put up for his girls to play on. They loved it when he pushed them on the swings, always begging for more. A breeze was blowing the swing seats back and forth, even though they were empty. They looked awful lonely to him. Ennis swiped his eyes as they started to fill up.

"Dammit, Alma," he mumbled. "Ya should'na gone and done that."

Jack was still sitting in his truck waiting when Ennis walked around the corner of the building. He walked over to the truck and threw his clothes in the back. A short, harsh breath forced it's way out of his lungs as he leaned down, his hands on the edge of the bed of the truck, head down, doing his best not to start bawlin' like a little girl. His daddy has always told him that only little girls cried like that.

Jack stayed where he was, when he saw Ennis leaning on the truck, lookin' out the windshield. He knew his buddy needed a minute to get himself together. Any man would with this happenin' to him. Ennis might not show his emotions much, but Jack knew they ran deep in the man. Deeper than most folks could ever guess.

When Ennis got into the truck, Jack started it up and drove towards Lightening Flat. He kept his eyes to the front, staring out the front window of the truck as Ennis stared out the passenger window. It was at least thirty minutes before either of them said anything. He figured Ennis would talk when he was ready. And, it wouldn't do any good to try to get anything out of him before that.

"She saw us kissin' when you first got here," Ennis said quietly, looking down at his hands, then back out the window.

If Jack hadn't been waiting and listening for him to talk, he might not have heard Ennis speak. His voice was almost a whisper.

"Yeah. Read it in her letter. Damn, cowboy, 'm sorry 'bout that." He wanted to comfort Ennis with more that words. But, this wasn't the time to touch him. He probably wouldn't welcome that for a bit. Not when the contents of that note were so raw.

Ennis kept staring out of the passenger window, gnawing on his fingernails. Staring at the scenery going by. Staring at nothing at all.

"It weren't your fault, Jack. We both know that. Was mine. Was jus' so happy ta see ya after four years of thinkin' it would never happen again. Thinkin' 'bout ya every day, every night. Couldn' get ya outta my damn head. Four fuckin' years." Ennis shook his head. "She was up there, watchin' through the window when I went back ta get my clothes. Said she would call the sheriff if I didn' leave. What the hell does she think I'd do ta her? I'd never hurt her. Never wanted to. Would never hurt the girls, neither!"

"Know that, Ennis. She knows it, too. She's jus' hurtin' right now. Tryin' ta figure out what's goin' on. Handlin' the situation the best way she can see to."

"Why'r you defendin' her, Jack? After what she jus' done?"

"Cause I know what it's like ta lose ya, cowboy," Jack said quietly as he turned and looked at Ennis. Ennis was staring at him, a pained expression on his face, his eyes filling up with unshed tears. He turned back toward the passenger side window.

"Reckon ya do, rodeo. Reckon ya do."

Jack turned back to the front windshield of the truck. They both stared out the windows as it began to rain. Both equally lost in deep thought. The only sound in the cab of the truck was the sound of the tires on the road and rain hitting the metal of the vehicle.