The closer Celina rode to the camp, the less she actually wanted to enter it. Entering it would mean likely seeing Dutch, seeing Dutch would cause her bloodpressure to rise and her bloodpressure rising may cause her to do- or say something stupid. No matter how stupid though, she was sure it wouldn't be Molly O'Shea's level of stupid... claiming to have been the one betraying the gang.

So, with the idea of trying to prevent herself from having a heart attack at the young age of twenty three years old, she rode her horse who in that moment she decided to name Bullet, back and forth in front of the path that would lead her into the camp. What would she say and how would she say it? The last thing she wanted to do was barge into camp, yelling at Dutch. That... that wouldn't go well, possibly revealing how much she knew to everyone in camp and cause attention to be drawn to herself and Dutch.

Challenging the leader in front of his gang for his decisions would most certainly be a mistake. Yes, she nodded to herself, she would ride in and head straight over to Hosea. Perhaps talking to him would get her to calm down. She took another deep breath, exhaling slowly before trotting into the woods.

As she grew nearer and nearer to the camp, it became easier and easier to make it everyone's voices, Dutch's of course stood out to her. He was laughing, the fool was laughing. Surely he wouldn't be laughing for long. It taking everything in her power to keep her composure, Celina dismounted and hitched Bullet amongst the other horses. She took another deep breath, she would be ok. She wouldn't shoot Dutch in the leg, she would be ok. But would Dutch? Yes... She told herself, Dutch would be ok... he would... probably.

Of course when she spotted Hosea he had to be talking to Dutch, sitting at the game table. From where she stood, it looked like they were playing dominoes. Dominoes. Cute.

She approached them calmly, or at least with a demeanor she hoped came off as calm, "Hosea, can I please talk to you?"

The older man looked up at her from where he sat, immediately giving her his full attention, "Of course my dear, is everything alright?"

She could see Dutch starting at her out of the corner of her eye but refused to look at him. Just the fact he was looking at her alone made her want to punch him in the face, "Alone?"

Hosea's eyes widened in surprise and he looked a bit confused but nodded anyway, "Of course." He stood up from his chair, "Excuse me, Dutch."

Dutch looked from Hosea to Celina, his brow furrowed in confusion of his own, "What's going on?"

Celina finally looked over at the leader, making eye contact with him, "If I wanted you to know, I wouldn't have asked Hosea to speak in private, now would I?"

Dutch looked taken aback and he stood up as well, "There's no need to hide anything," his tone was stern. He met Hosea's gaze briefly, addressing him as well, "If the two of you have anything to say, there'll be no harm in me hearing it. In fact, I dem-"

That was it, he had pushed her to her snapping point, "Don't you even say you demand! Don't fucking say it!"

Hosea frantically grabbed Dutch's and Celina's arms, quickly leading them away from everyone's sight. The old man waved off everyone who tried to approach or was even looking in their direction, "There's nothing to see here, just go about what you're doing."

Celina was fuming at the seams, but managed to bite her tongue as did Dutch until they were away from the camp. The second they were supposedly out of earshot though, they both yanked out of Hosea's grasp, Celina pointing accusing at the man who thought Hoagy Macintosh was a viable alias, "You are an idiot!"

Dutch raised his hands to try to calm her down, "You need to watch how you talk to me, miss-"

"You need to fucking watch it, Dutch! What're you going to do? Shoot me? Kill me like you did that poor innocent girl on the boat in Blackwater?!"

Dutch's eyes widened and his mouth opened but Hosea jumped in between the two of them, speaking before they said anymore, "Quit! That is enough. Miss Celina, would you please enlighten us as to what this is all about?"

She did her best to collect herself, her palms sweating, hands shaking and voice quivering. She moved off to the side so she could look at Dutch, "Dutch-" It was almost hard for her to talk, "Dutch lied to me, about what we're doing with the Gray's and Braithwaites."

She saw Dutch's mouth drop slightly, "Who said anything to you about those two families?"

"As if I'd tell you." She spat the words out like venom before looking back to Hosea. "Hosea, I warned Dutch about getting involved with these families." Her voice was firm, it surprised her how together she sounded even in the state she was in, "I told him that if we play both sides, things are going to get ugly, very ugly. Arthur was there when I told him, he can back me up! I told Dutch that if we do this, we are going to be set up by the Gray's- I didn't remember which family it was at the time, but it's the Gray's. They will set us up and Sean will be killed." She tried to fight back the tears but her voice cracked with emotion, "He would be shot in the head, his brains blown out before anyone knows what's happening."

Hosea's face was one of heartache, he looked ill himself, thinking of that fate befalling Sean. Celina continued, "I told him, Hosea. Told him. He acted as if Arthur and I were successful in getting him to give in and decide to leave the families alone. He said they'd be left alone. Then today, I go to rob the bank and-"

Dutch hissed out Bill's name in agitation which caused Celina and Hosea to look at him in disbelief. Hosea was the one who spoke, "What is wrong with you, Dutch? Are you not hearing what she's saying? Going after these families could end Sean's life."

Dutch shook his head, "No, it won't, Hosea. I have a plan... we have a plan and we're being careful. No one is going to find out, no one is going to get hurt. I understand-"

"You don't understand, Dutch!" Celina raked her shaking fingers through her hair, tugging on it in desperation, "It seems you're hardly understanding anything at all here. I tell you about this and what you hear is 'be careful'. I'm not telling you to be careful, Dutch! I'm telling you to not fucking do it! If you do, I swear to God I'll stab you."

Dutch opened his mouth and then shut it. He then opened it again, a little surprised at the woman's ferocity, "Ok."

Celina went to yell at him again before it dawned on her what he had said, "Ok? What do you mean, ok?"

Hosea had been surprised to at Dutch's short response, he turned to face him, waiting for his explanation as much as Celina was, "Ok, I will tell the boys that I don't want to go through with it, that it's not a good idea."

Celina raised a brow in question, "Why the sudden change? Dutch, if you're trying to pull something like you did a couple days ago with Arthur and I..."

"I'm not." Dutch seemed to be honest, although Celina was honestly on the fence regarding whether she could trust him or not, and with good reason, "If you're going to stand there and fight against me doing this so strongly, then fine. I'll trust you. I didn't know you felt this strongly against it and I'm sorry. You're looking out for what you know is in the gangs best intrest and you're willing to fight for it. That's just the kind of loyalty we need around here."

She held eye contact with him, attempting to search his dark eyes for any sign of deception, any sign that the words out of his mouth were just that- words. She sighed, "Good... that's... that's really good, thank you. I'm sorry too, about saying what I did about the boat."

Dutch shook his head, "You aren't afraid to fight dirty."

Hosea, once again looked like he saw a ghost, "Well, since all is good here and it seems the two of you will be returning to camp alive, I'm going to head back myself."

Celina laughed, "We'll meet you back there."

Dutch chuckled and shook his head again, glancing at the ground, both of their faces still red from the anger they had provoked in one another. Celina looked up at him rather sheepishly, the expression on his face not being all that different, "I really thought I was going to end up strangling you."

He flashed his handsome smile, "It was almost necessary, my dear. It was almost necessary."

"You weren't tempted to shoot me?"

He took a step back, looking as if he were hurt that she would even suggest a thing, "Not for a moment, why would you ever ask me such a thing?"

She shrugged and then rolled her eyes, "I kinda wanted to shoot you- but only for a second!"

The leader roared with laughter, "You're a hoot, darling!" He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, "You sure are a violent little thing, aren't you? Maybe I should sleep with one eye open."

She returned his embrace, drawing into him as much as she could, inhaling his scent, "I said I wanted to, not that I would have." She pulled away just enough to kiss his cheek, "I was just scared, hurt and livid, Dutch. I'm terrified of losing you. I'm terrified of you becoming the man that I know some day you could turn into."

Dutch pushed her away then, enough to look down into her blue eyes. He darted his tongue across his lips to moisten them, "I'm going to do everything in my power not to let that happen."

Tears pricked at her eyes and she sniffled, pulling him back to her in another tight hug, "I think I'm falling in love with you, Dutch."

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, and stayed silent for a moment. Finally, he responded verbally, his voice just as soft as hers, "It's been quite a while since I felt that way... but you-" he slid his fingers under her chin to make her look up at him and he looked into her eyes intensely, "You're the closest I've come to it since that time."

Somehow, although he didn't outright tell her he loved her, him opening up to her enough to say that made her think that that alone confirmed it. Dutch Van Der Linde was falling in love with her too.

...

It was a couple hours later when Bill, Arthur, Lenny and Karen returned to camp, the four of them riding in excitedly was enough to tell everyone that their heist had been a success.

Arthur, upon seeing Celina sitting at the dominoes table and playing in a civilized manner with Dutch walked up to them, his curiosity getting the better of him, "So, I take it things are alright between the two of you?"

Celina and Dutch looked up, Celina beating Dutch to saying anything, "We just about went at one another's throats, but we're both breathing."

A chuckle rumbled from Dutch, his eyes almost sparkling in happiness, "So tell me, my boy, how did the bank pay?"

Arthur nodded and pursed his lips in satisfaction, "Pretty good, Dutch. Raked in ten grand for the gang."

Dutch gave a low whistle, "Not bad. I'd say another good take ot two like that and we can get out of here for good. In speaking of things going good, would you mind having Bill, Sean and Javier meet me at my tent in about ten minutes? I need to let them know that we're going to pass on playing the two plantation families."

Arthur nodded, sending Celina an impressed look, "Absolutely, Dutch, I'll go let them know now." At that, Arthur walked away.

It didn't take long before Micah waltzed up to the table, everything about him making her skin crawl, "What do you want, Micah?"

"Woah, woah now pussy cat, keep your claws in. I came over here to talk to Dutch, would you mind?"

Celina stared at Micah for a second, wondering what it was about him that ever had him in Dutch's good graces, "Actually, we're playing a game right now. It's almost over though." She turned her attention away from the snake and back to the table, assessing which dominoe she could place.

Micah didn't go away, "Playing, really? Seemed like quite the fight the two of you had not too long ago. Now you're playing?"

It was Dutch who addressed him then, "Micah, please, just let us finish up here and then we'll deal with whatever it is you think we need to deal with."

The greasy blonde leaned against the tree lazily, "Just wanted to talk, Dutch, that's all."

Dutch glanced over to him again but disinterestedly, "We'll talk here soon, Micah."

Finally, he sighed and walked away, mumbling something under his breath about not feeling appreciated. Honestly, if it wouldn't have gone over so terribly, she would've shoved her revolver into Micah's mouth the second the traitor opened it, blowing his brains out.

It took her a moment to focus back on the game, drawing a new tile when she didn't have any to be played. As it turned out, she ended up winning the game. Although it was pretty much by luck, that didn't mean she was willing to gloat any less than she would have would've she won by skill, "I beat you!"

Dutch shook his head and began picking up the dominoes, "So you did."

"You lost. Loser. You suck."

He raised a brow in amusement at the young woman, "Should I remind you now terribly I beat you in the competition which really counted?"

Her eyes narrowed playfully and she pursed her lips as if she were thinking, rubbing her chin dramatically, "I don't seem to recall."

Dutch shook his head again, picking up the last of the dominoes, "Not even a certain race between you, Arthur and I not too terribly long ago?"

She laughed, "Oh, that race? I don't know what you're talking about. How I remember it I crushed both of you."

"Oh is that how you remember it? I've got to say that you're remembering it wrong in that case." There was a mutual laugh between them and then a moment of silence before Dutch spoke again in a hesitant manner as if he were treading on thin ice, "Will you be staying in my tent tonight?"

She shrugged, "The day's still young, Dutch. It's only noon, you have the rest of the day to do something else stupid and tick me off." With Dutch, that was always a possibility.

...

"Yes, we will count our losses and leave things alone with the Gray's and the Braithwaites entirely. Today while in Rhodes, I just had an uneasy feeling about this whole thing. We've got to trust our guts here, mine says going through with this just isn't going to get us anywhere we want to be. I can't say I know what will happen... but I can affirm it doesn't seem we'll like it."

"Ok," John spoke up, "If you don't think we should do it, we won't." He hesitated, "But, would it be so bad if we just helped one of the families? We could at least make some money from them."

"We leave them alone," Dutch affirmed, upon hearing him stick to his guns, Celina quit biting her fingernails from where she laid across his bed on her back, "We can always 'help' our friend, Sheriff Gray. As for everything else, it's done."

Bill continued to chew on the piece of hay he had sticking out from his mouth, "So done. Nothing."

Dutch shook his head, "Nothing. We're going to continue to lay low here and make money further out. If the noise we make is a good at least forty-five minute ride from here, I don't see why the law would look in a place like this."

Celina nodded, still not bothering to get up from the bed. Good, what Dutch was saying was good... As long as he meant it. In her heart of hearts she felt he was sincere and maybe, just maybe, everything would be ok...

What no one noticed was Micah hiding behind the tent right across from Dutch's and listening to every word. Not only that, but they hadn't noticed him managing to eavesdrop on the heated conversation earlier in the day...

...

A/N: So, after surviving the confrontation from Celina, Dutch decided to truly call off the plans with the Gray's and the Braithwaites. Dutch is getting just a little whipped if you ask me, but don't worry, it won't always be that way. He's just not the type of man to always let the woman take charge.

Micah heard Celina's argument with Dutch... he heard Dutch call off the plans...

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

I'd love to read them!

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2 or anything associated with it.