Summary:
Based off of the movie Brokeback Mountain.
Chris' mother told him it was a chance to meet new people and make new friends.
His father said it was a chance for him to prove his worth.
And Chris just thought this was a chance for him to make some money before his wedding to his longtime sweetheart.
But after meeting Josh Washington, everything he thought he knew about the world–and himself–changes. And the events that occur on Blackwood Mountain between them will change both their lives forever, in a way they both never expected…
Note: You do not need to watch the movie in order to understand this. Please be aware of the warnings before continuing on. Possible spoilers for the movie.
Pairing(s): Chris/Josh Washington, Ashley/Chris, Josh/Sam, Mike/Josh, Chris/OFC'S, Josh/OMC'S
Warnings/Tags: Possible Happy Ending, Possible Tragic Ending, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Explicit Sexual Content, Anal Sex, Falling In Love, Recreational Drug Use, Alcohol Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Child Abuse, Brokeback Mountain AU, Explicit Language, Major Character Injury, Major Character Death, Major Angst, Gay Bashing, Gay Sex, Rough Sex, Secret Relationship, Sexually Confused Chris, 20 Years Over Time, Slow Burn (In a way), Romance, Closeted Chris, Denial of Feelings, Denial of Sexuality, Alternate Universe—1960's-1980's.
A/N: Hello!
This was requested by a Tumblr user, and I've decided to write it for her :) Some of you may know my blog or even follow me on there (UntilDawnClimbingClass-same as here)
Please note that this story WILL feature some quotes/moments from the movie that are either my favorite or just belong here. However, this will not 100% follow the movie. If you've never seen BBM and want to, I may suggest watching it before reading this, just in case of any spoilers. If you have seen it, I hope you don't mind some of the changes that will occur in this story. I don't want to completely copy the movie, but I would like to add some stuff from it.
So far the only major changes I've made are how Chris and Josh (Ennis and Jack) meet, and you might notice that I setup the mountain differently...If that makes any sense. I don't really know how to explain it. Basically I took away the ski lift and added in a ranch.
This story will probably be fairly long, so I hope you all will stick with me. I can't promise when I can update, but it's not going to take me a month to post a new chapter (at least I sincerely hope not.)
This story is also posted on AO3
Thank you!
CHAPTER 1-PROLOGUE
"Grandma?"
The old woman's fingers froze over the picture she was stroking and she glanced up at her young granddaughter.
"Yes, Anna?" She blinked back the tears in her eyes, not wanting the little girl to see her cry. "What is it, sweetheart?"
Anna stepped into the bedroom and glanced at the picture in her grandmother's hand.
"Nothing," she said with a small shrug, "I just wanted to see what you were doing."
The old woman, whose name was Emma, smiled at the ten year old and motioned for Anna to come over to her. Anna practically ran into her grandmother's arms, nearly knocking the old woman over onto the floor where she sat up against the bed. Her bones liked to protest against her sitting on the hard wooden floor, but luckily she wasn't so old that she needed help getting up. Though, give her a few more years and that would probably no longer be true.
"Careful, Anna!" Emma laughed, hugging the little girl close to her. "Grandma's not as young as she used to be."
"It's hard to picture you ever being young."
Emma snorted. "Gee, thanks."
"What are you looking at?" Anna looked at the picture. There were two men in it, one with slightly dark skin and black curly hair. He seemed to be looking down at something and there was the hint of a smile on his face while his eyes were closed. The other man had glasses and blond hair. One arm was wrapped around the other man's chest and he was staring at him, not exactly smiling but he looked…content.
"Who are those men?" Anna asked. "Why are they so close together like that?"
Emma sighed and stared at the picture for a moment before answering, carefully, "Those are your great-grandfathers."
"Great-grandfather's?" The little girl's eyebrows furrowed. "But, grandma, the one with the curly hair isn't my other grandpa's dad," she said, referring to her grandfather and great-grandfather on her father's side of the family.
"No, honey, he isn't. But you recognize my daddy, don't you? You saw him a couple times before he passed away."
Anna's eyes widened and she stared down at the blond in shock. "That's Grandpa Chris?"
"Sure is, honey." Emma couldn't help but smile at the bewildered look on her granddaughter's face. "Even grandpa Chris was young at one point, too."
"So…who's the man he's holding?"
This would be the most difficult part to explain. Not that Emma was ashamed to tell anyone anymore. Far from it. Maybe at one point explaining the relationship between her father and Josh Washington had been…difficult for her, but that was when she still young and stupid and not as mature as she had thought she'd been at the time.
Like telling her fiancée that her father was queer. The words had rushed out of her mouth, harsh words that she wishes she could take back because at the time she thought this man she loved would be like most people and would be disgusted and angry at the thought of two men being together. She told him how ashamed she was of her father and this relationship he had with this man, had called her own daddy names that she'd like to slap herself for. But the only thing that had disgusted her fiancée was the way she talked about her father.
"Being queer ain't an issue to me," he had told her. "Maybe it ain't natural. I don't know. But I don't care if your daddy is one of them. You shouldn't, either."
And if that hadn't pulled her head out of her own ass…
Not to say that it was easy after that, but she had given Josh more of a chance. Hell, she'd even come to love the guy. And now here she was, many years later, and she was proud to tell her granddaughter about her daddy and his man. Anna was ten, and Emma knows she should have talked about Josh a lot sooner, but in truth she had wanted to wait until Anna was a little older so the girl could understand it all better. But things never did go as planned, and maybe now was as good a time as any.
"That's his partner, sweetheart," Emma said, looking at Anna to see what the little girl's reaction would be.
Anna's eyebrows furrowed. "So…that man is like what daddy is to mommy?"
"Exactly."
"But they're both men…" Anna knew that there were men who loved other men out there, and women who loved other women. She was ten, but she wasn't completely clueless. She even knew the bad names people called them.
"Fucking faggots!" She remembers hearing one man shout at two teenage boys when her daddy had taken her to get ice cream one night. "Fucking freaks!"
Her daddy had sat her down later that night and explained to her that being gay wasn't something anyone should be ashamed of. You couldn't help who you fall in love with, and it shouldn't matter, regardless of gender. But there were many people out there who thought differently.
He never took her back to that ice cream parlor again.
She didn't really have an opinion on gay people one way or the other. She didn't entirely understand the whole thing. It was confusing, the people who said being gay wasn't any big deal and the people who were completely against it. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel. And she certainly never expected her great-grandpa to be gay…
"I know your daddy's already talked to you about this," Emma replied gently, knowing the memory her granddaughter was thinking about. "Anna, it doesn't matter if two men or two women love one another. It doesn't make them any different or any less human. And believe it or not, being gay is much more accepted now than it was back then."
"Really?"
"Yes. Back when Grandpa Chris met Grandpa Josh, way back when they were young men, being gay was considered taboo–which means that it was considered unnatural and forbidden. A lot of people didn't want to associate with gay people or even talk about them. And if men were outed for being gay, a lot of times they were beaten or even killed for it–especially where I came from." Emma didn't see any reason to sugarcoat it, though maybe she should have. Anna was still young, after all…
"That's horrible!" Anna gasped. "Did that…did that happen to Grandpa Chris? Or…Grandpa Josh?"
Emma wanted to smile at the fact that her granddaughter was referring to Josh as "grandpa," but the memory of what happened all those years ago made her chest tighten painfully.
"Yes, Anna," Emma sighed softly, lump forming in her throat, "it is."
The little girl buried her face in her grandmother's neck and Emma was thankful for it, as one tear slipped down her cheek. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Is that how he died?" Anna whispered. "Is that why Grandpa Chris looked sad sometimes?"
Emma was quiet for a moment. Then she gently pulled Anna back to look at her.
"Do you want to hear the story of Grandpa Chris and Grandpa Josh, Anna?"
The little girl nodded eagerly.
"All right, then," Emma smiled slightly, setting the picture down so she could pull Anna onto her lap. "It all started on Blackwood Mountain, way back in 1963…"