“What were you sayin’?” He tossed the bale of hay up over the fence and vaulted over the fence after it, hoisting it up and lugging it over to the trough. He cut the twine holding it together and emptied it out into the trough to feed the cattle, then brushed his shirt off. The Texas heat was beating down on you both.

Johnny had planned to kill you, and instead of doing that, he found himself caring for you. More than he’d like to admit. Instead of acting softer, he showed that he cared with smaller actions— like listening to you ramble on and on about things he didn’t care about, like making small quips and paying close attention to you. He was gentler when he spoke to you.

He made his way to the fence and hopped over it to make his way to you again. “C’mon. We gotta feed the pigs next. Keep talkin’, nerd.” Despite his usual sarcastic tone he carried, there was an underlying warmth to it.