Ride'em Cowboys

Chapter 8

You shouldn't Kick a Dog when it's Down


Three weeks have passed since the departure of...them, and Armin was sure of two things. One was that he wasn't going to let a certain person that wasn't coming back keep him from moving forward and help keep the farm running smoothly, and two was that he would not open the letter that he had found in his pillow case. Though Armin didn't through it away, instead he kept it hidden back inside the pillow case and told himself he wouldn't tell Marco.

The mornings now were just as cold, and if not colder, than the nights were. Armin and Marco had went back to sleeping in the same bed together since neither of them wanted to be frozen to death in their sleep, and that it made both feel better that there was another human's warmth next to them. But neither voiced or made that reason known.

It was actually close towards the afternoon when Armin had rolled out of bed and started to get ready for the day. Lately the young blonde had been working strange hours instead of his normal routine with Marco, but the freckled teen didn't say anything about it. Not only had his sleeping patterns change, but Bertolt and Reiner came to visit a little more often, of course after hearing what had happen.

Armin did admit when the other couple was over, sometimes it was a bit much, with Reiner being well...Reiner. But the other was good at helping him feed the chickens, and that was pretty much it. The blue eyed teen kept reminding himself how he wasn't going to compare Reiner to Erwin because they just couldn't. He didn't say it out loud but he knew no one in this stupid town could compare to him, and what he meant to the other.

And it just so happen that on this very morning, Bertolt and Reiner had driven up to visit the teens. Bertolt was of course originally worried over the two of them after Jean and Erwin had left them and was a good listener, but Armin never talked about Erwin to anyone else. As the short blonde climbed slowly down the steps he smelt the scent of coffee being brewed and stumbled into the kitchen.

"Good morning sleepy head." Marco said as he looked over his shoulder at his friend. Armin just gave him a nod and headed towards the coffee maker. He heard Bertolt and Marco chuckling behind him and made a bitter face as he poured his coffee. Reiner had taken his spot in the teen's living room, fast asleep on the couch. "Oh, Reiner and I were wondering if the two of you wanted to ride with us to the next town over to go to a little party?" Bertolt asked as he took a sip of coffee. Marco sounded excited but Armin could care less, it wasn't like either of them could flirt with the men at the party, unless they wanted to get beaten like an animal.

Armin threw his head back as he downed half of his cup in one go, and slammed it back down on the counter and shook his head a bit, no sugar and no cream, just how he liked it. It got him awake and his blood to get a kick start in moving. "Easy their kiddo," Bertolt chuckled, "you ain't-" "Ain't what?" Armin snapped. He heard silence fall behind him and realized what he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean it." Armin said, dumping out the steaming liquid into the sink and started to put on some heavier clothes to go outside. "Goin' to the barn." He mumbled and headed outside to go check on the mare who was due soon.

"Reiner, hun, why don't you go help Armin out?" Bertolt called and both him and Marco heard a grumbling noise come from the living before a half asleep Reiner walked in and started putting his own boots and coat on. "Be back soon." He muttered and left, closing the door shut behind him.


This left Bertolt and Marco alone once again in the kitchen with their hot coffees. "So, I hear business is doing better than ever." Marco said as he took a sip of coffee. "Yeah, we're both thankful for that, but I'm sure by the end of this week our rate will drop. It usually does this time of year, with it being so damn cold and all. Lots of folk in town are talking about vacationing down south for a while until the weather lightens up." Bertolt explained.

Marco nodded his head and played with the handle of his mug. After a moment he got up and dumped the rest of the contents down the sink, staring at it as he turned the water on to wash it away. Sighing he looked up, the tiny little window was dusted with the last bits of frost from the night and could see Armin and Reiner in the distance opening the barn's door.

"Marco?" Marco broken away from his day dreaming to see Bertolt standing next to him with a concerned face. The taller male placed his mug down next to the sink and then placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?" He asked looking the other straight in the eyes, and Marco had to turn away. "Nah, just didn't get much sleep last night is all. Armin was cuddling me so tight I thought he was gonna crush my ribs." Marco chuckled and glanced over at Bertolt, who's face hadn't changed.

'Shit...'

"It's still bothering you, isn't?" Bertolt asked as he walked closer to Marco. "No, I'm over it really." Marco said, but he admits that he didn't even sound that convincing saying that. "Bertolt I know you're only trying to do good and-" Marco was cut off as Bertolt took both of his hands and placed them on his shoulder, causing him to look up at the much older male and from the look on his face, it told him he was seeing right through his act. "I know you're being strong for Armin. I know you don't want him to worry over you, because he trying to deal with this feeling of rejection from Erwin, but that doesn't mean you have to suffer in silence." Bertolt told him, never breaking eye contact.

A moment passed over them, and Marco covered his face with hands as he tried not to start crying. "Listen to me Marco," Bertolt whispered and pulled the short teen into a tight hug, "you're just as much of a kid as Armin is. It don't matter how many boyfriends you've had, when you loose someone that meant something to you, it's gonna hurt." He told him as he noticed the freckled teen's shoulders start to shake. "You don't have bury those feelings for Jean that you still have. You don't have to be that strong yet Marco. Not yet." Bertolt cooed softly and rubbed his back as he heard the other's tiny sobs.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" Marco cried, his lower lip quivering slightly as he spoke into Bertolt's shoulder. "When you get older, you and Armin will find out just how weird this world here is." Bertolt said. "But it's the only one we got, so we gotta just make do with it sometimes, but other times it can be an amazing place full of memories that you're gonna remember forever."

Marco stood up straight and rubbed his eyes, "You're right." He muttered and tried to laugh, to lighten up the mood. "You were talking about a party earlier, would be alright if we tagged along?" He asked Bertolt. "Maybe a night out would do us both some good." Marco said and Bertolt smiled happily, patting Marco on the shoulder. "There ya go, you need to start acting your age Marco and have a little fun before settling down." Bertolt encouraged him.

"Alright, I think we'll have a great time!"


"I'm not going."

"Aw, come on Armin!" Marco pleaded with him. "You said we had to help Bertolt and Reiner out at the bed and breakfast! Not go to some town where we don't know anyone and party." Armin explained as he started to get back into their truck. "Armin you need to loosen up a bit!" Marco said as he kept the short blonde from closing the door. "Loosen up?" Armin parroted and turned his head to face Marco. "You know what Marco," Armin scrambled out of the driver side's seat and hopped on to the ground, "you're acting more and more like Jean was. Always wantin' to do something crazy and go out and drink. It ain't like you." Armin said and crossed his arms against his chest. "Look who's talking! Erwin defiantly rubbed off some that dullness on you." Marco said.

Poor Bertolt and Reiner were looking back and forth between the two teens. "What did you just call him?" Armin glared and it was then that Reiner stepped in. "Easy you two, we're all going to have a good time. Now let's just all get in the car, and make some good memories alright?" He said as he started moving them over to his car. The two teens looked at each other once more before sighing and getting in the backseat.

By the time all four of them had gotten to the town the had long since set in the sky, and it took almost an hour to get to the actual place where the party was being held, and it was not at a house.

Nope, it was a large two story brick building with a bunch of neon signs flashing on the front part of the building. The teens looked out the window together to see a few people hanging outside the building, talking and laughing. Reiner parked the car in a nearby parking lot and they all got out of it and could hear the hum of music from all the way outside. "You ready?" Bertolt said with a smile. Marco nodded his head and Armin just mumbled a 'yeah'.

It took a few minutes to actually get into this place, that Reiner had explained was a club, since there was a small line to get in. Though once in, it was bright with over hanging lights and a bar area to one side, and a dance floor on the other. The music was even louder inside and Armin could barely hear himself think. Immediately Reiner was pulling Bertolt to the dance floor and yelled from over his shoulder to cut loose and have some fun.

"I'm going to sit down." Armin said and started to head towards the bar. "Come on now Armin, why don't we go and dance? It'll be fun!" Marco said and started to tug the other towards the crowd of dancing people. "Marco! You know I don't like dancing in front of others." Armin said as he started to look around at the people crowding him. "It's alright you got me here, you'll be okay." Marco told him and held both of his hands in Armin's.

Marco could see a bit of weight slid off of Armin's shoulders and smiled a bit as they started to dance together. The songs that they played were a bit different from what they were used to hearing, but made the best out of it and went along with the beat as best they could. Eventually they both got the hang of it and started really getting into the songs. An upbeat sing came on and Armin started really shake his hips from side to side and Marco started to laugh but copied the others movement. Armin even twirled Marco around a few times as they danced and laughed when he tripped over his own feet slightly.

When they had started to get tried they went over to the bar area and found a seat in the back, towards the booths and sat down on the black plush seats. They looked at each other from across the table and laughed as they saw that they were sweating slightly. A young red headed waitress came over and asked if they'd like anything to drink. "Just a water." Armin said and looked over at Marco for a moment who had picked up a menu. "Just a soda if you have any." Marco said, but Armin looked at how the other was staring at the menu. Of course how could the other know that Marco wanted to order a whiskey, but deiced against it so he wouldn't ruin the night together.

They got their drinks and just relaxed in the booth for a little bit. Sometimes they'd see Reiner and Bertolt dancing on the floor and thought that it was funny see the two like that together, neither teen knew how good of dancers the two older couple was. After relaxing for a little longer and downing some of their drinks, the two teens went back on the dance floor to continue partying.

Of course neither knew the attention they were getting from certain people in the club.

The two were dancing once again on the dance floor, swaying their hips and bumping into each other, all laughs and giggles. When the songs switched and their was a brief moment of silence both teens felt a hand on their shoulder and turned to see much older men standing next to them. "Never seen you two here before, where are ya from?" One with dark red hair asked the two. "A few towns over, we're here with some friends." Marco said, giving the two men a small smile. "Nice, is are your names as cute as your looks?" The other one asked, he had pale brown hair that was slightly wavy as it settled around his neck. The two teens looked at each other for a moment, silently wondering what that meant. "Um, I'm Armin and this is Marco." Armin said, slight confusion making it known through his voice. "Johnny and Trey. Say, you two look like you could use a drink." The red headed Johnny said.

"Oh we're not old enough to drink yet." Armin said without a second thought in his head. "Ain't old enough?" "How old are you?" "We're eighteen, well Marco's birthday is soon, so he'll be nineteen." Armin said. Marco stayed quiet for a moment and studied the two older men. "Well, well don't we got a few rebels on our hands Trey?" Johnny said and looked over at Trey. "I see we do. How's about you two come party with us? We'll show you a great time." Trey said ans wrapped an arm around Marco's waist. "Sorry, but we're already having a good time with yourselves." Marco said and moved away from the man.

Armin was watching Marco and didn't see Johnny as he came over and did the same. "A little blue eyed bell like you must be pretty lonely." Johnny whispered loud enough for Armin to hear him over the music. He felt one of his hands slid down and squeezed his butt. 'Oh no...' "I could keep you company if ya like?"

"Please get off of me." Marco said as he tried to squirm out of Trey's hands. "With a sweet ass like that? No way! I'd never think I'd see such a fine piece of ass in this part of town." He chuckled. Marco looked around to see if anyone else was seeing this, but everyone was to focused on having their own good time to notice the two underage teens' distress. He couldn't even see Bertolt and Reiner anymore.

"I don't want your company." Armin snapped. "Oh, I see you're a little tough kid ain't ya? Well I love to put little spit fires like out right out." He said and started to pull Armin away from Marco. Armin wrangled around his hold and yelled out to Marco, who was also being pulled along.

The two of them were pulled out of the club and out of the eyes of the public inside. Marco had tried to kick the man were it hurts but the way he was holding him he couldn't get the right angle. "Stop struggling a little kid like you wouldn't want to get hurt now." Trey chuckled as he held Marco tighter and dragged him along until they reached the parking lot.

Marco's heart was racing out of his chest and thought he might pass out from to much blood pumping to fast in his veins as he looked ahead of him to see Armin being dragged near an awaiting car. The freckled teen was about to start shouting when he heard a loud thud in front of them. Marco's head whipped around in worry for Armin and saw the young blonde on his back, on the ground as the elder man holding his hand, screaming in pain.

Seeing his partner in pain, Trey let go of Marco to go and see what had happened to Johnny. Armin had gotten up, only to have a fist connect to his jaw and stumbled against a car and caught himself. "You bastard! What the fuck did you bite me!" Johnny raged and grasped Armin's shirt collar and yanked him forward. Marco came over and tried to pull the two apart, but Trey came over and pushed the other to the ground and held him there. The freckled teen panicked and started to struggle against the gravel and try and get up, but it was no use.

He looked over to the side saw Armin and Johnny had started a fist fight. Marco started to yell, and prayed that someone would come or see them, or call the cops or something!

Armin felt the metallic taste of blood enter his mouth and could feel the warm liquid start to drip down from the corner of his mouth. He licked his lips as he held up his hands to defend himself from the older man when he came at him again. He blocked every punch he threw and kicked him in his stomach and then pushed him over on the ground and started to beat him. As he did, he felt someone pull his hair back and yank him by it and off of Johnny to the ground himself. He felt a boot connect to his ribs and gasped as air was forced out of his lungs and coughed loudly. Another kick, a bit lower to his gut and he curled in on himself to try and protect his organs.

Trey rolled Armin on his back on his back and let Johnny have him. At this Marco had seemed to be forgotten and ran back into the club, to the bar and to the bartender to call the cops quickly. When saw the bartender do just that Marco ran back outside and quickly spirited towards Armin and tried getting Johnny off of him. Marco grabbed one of his arms and pulled it back to try and get the other stop hitting Armin, but he shoved Marco to the ground and continued to beat Armin with his fists. The freckled teen had tears in his eyes when he saw as Johnny pulled his fist back, blood stained it.

Marco jumped on the older man and with all of his strength was able to push him over to the side and get him to stop hurting Armin. He was able to hold him there for a few moments but Trey came over and started to grab him and pull him off of him. Just as he was getting pulled off, the sirens of cop cars could be heard in the distance. At hearing the sounds the two older men got off of the teens and hoped in their car, started it and sped off quickly.

Leaving both teens alone in the parking lot, one beaten and the other crying loudly to the night sky.


"He'll be fine. He just needs some rest and he can start moving around again." The doctor said as he left the house.

Marco sat down on the couch and put his face in his hands. He couldn't believe what had happen, and felt awful. He was thankful that Armin hadn't broken anything and just had a few nasty looking bruises. Bertolt and Reiner apologize over and over again for the night, but he told them that it was okay, and that no one would have guessed it would end up that way.

Removing his hands from his face he stood up and lazily walked into the kitchen. He thought the other would feel better if he had something in his something and start to cook a light meal for him. As he cooked, his thoughts ran wild and thought what would've happened if Jean and Erwin were with them. It made him smile slightly as he thought of Jean getting all heated and calling him 'his'... but he knew better than to think about that for too long.

As he was finishing up cooking, he heard the phone start ringing and placed the plate of food down to go and answer it. "Hello?" He asked as he picked up the device. "Hello, is there an Mr. Arlert there. I'd like to speak with him." The voice said, but it was kind of muffled. "Ah, there is an Arlert here but he can't answer the phone at this very moment." Marco said as he shifted the device from one ear to the other.

"The message is urgent, why can he not answer?" The voice asked. "Ah, well he's bed ridden for bit. There was this fight he got into so he resting right now. I'm sure if you called back-" Marco looked at the phone as he held it away from him, staring at it confused.

The person hung up on him.

(Review, please?)

A/N: Hello everyone, if you are following my prucan fanfiction Cage Animals, I just wanted to let you know I've been having a bit a of writers block on it and thought that if I worked on my other fanfic that it'll help me, but I do predict that I'll be able to update that story before the end of the week. Also if you want to request a pairing or plot or both for me to write, don't be shy about leaving a message or review. I'd love to see what you guys want me to write about! Once again thank you to all who have been reading and reviewing, I look at them everyday and it gives me so much joy to see that you all are enjoying them!