AmericaxDeerHunter!Reader - Treasure

“Alright, let’s see. Hats?”

“Check.”

“Decoy?”

“In the truck.”

“Rifles?”

“Truck, too.”

“Good.” _____ put another water bottle into her backpack before zipping it up and slinging it onto her back. “Ready, Freddie?”

Alfred picked up his own backpack, a grin on his face. “Ready.”

“Alright, then. Let’s go.”

The two climbed into the old pickup truck outside and drove off, _____ at the wheel. _____ was excited about the day ahead; today would be her first time hunting with her best friend, Alfred. But while she was excited, she was admittedly a bit anxious. It was her first time hunting with him, after all. She didn’t even know if he could hunt. . .

“Hey, Alfie?”

Alfred smirked at his pet name she had given him when they were small. “Yeah?”

“Please tell me you know how to hunt.”

Alfred blinked, still looking straight ahead. “A little late to be asking that, don’t you think?”

A strange, displeased noise rose from _____’s throat. “You mean you don’t know?”

No answer.

“Aw, Alfie!”

“Oh, chillax, _____!” He crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. “I know how to fire a gun. Is that enough?”

_____ sighed gruffly, glaring back at the black road in front of her. “Fine,” she said, ending the conversation. She had truthfully walked into this one; never asking him beforehand made the whole situation half her fault. She blew a strand of her hair out of her face and resumed driving.

After fifteen minutes of little arguments leading into awkward silences, the two arrived at the hunting range. _____ parked the behemoth vehicle and hopped out, Alfred following. _____ stepped into a nearby wooden shed, walking directly toward a map nailed to the wall. She examined the map carefully for a moment before pointing to one particular spot. “That spot right there looks free.”

“Huh?” Alfred looked at _____, then at the map, then back at _____. “O-Okay. Let’s do it.”

_____ laughed softly, as if Alfred had just told a hilarious joke. She picked a tack from a small box on a nearby table and stuck on their selected destination, then turned and walked back out of the shed. “C’mon.”

She and Alfred got back into the truck and drove slowly through a heavily wooded dirt road for around five minutes before _____ stopped and turned off the ignition. “Alright. We’re walking from here.”

“What?” said Alfred, half-surprised. “How far away is it?”

“Not too far,” replied _____ as she opened the car door. “But we need to keep our voices down now. Got it?”

“Uh, yeah. Got it.”

“Good. Now let’s get the gear.” She climbed out of the truck, landing softly on her booted feet, and went to the bed. She opened the tailgate and pulled the rifle cases and deer decoy to the edge as quietly as she could. Alfred hopped out of the truck, slamming the door shut behind him.

Which caused him to receive a glare from _____.

“What?”

_____ took a breath in, attempting to calm herself, letting it out as a sigh. “Just. . .keep the noises to a minimum. Okay?”

After a moment, Alfred blinked and said, “Oh. Right. Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes and opened the two cases, revealing two recently cleaned hunting rifles. Alfred raised his eyebrows and whistled, but hushed himself after _____ glared at him again. _____ carefully took one out, loaded it, and handed it to Alfred, who looked incredibly excited to be holding such a weapon.

“Alfie,” said _____ in a low, serious tone. “Look at me.”

Alfred turned to look at his friend, holding the rifle at an odd angle. “Yeah?”

_____ immediately turned the rifle in his hands so that the barrel was pointed at the ground. “The safety’s on, but that doesn’t mean you can go around aiming at random stuff, okay? It’s still a gun. Still a weapon. Treat it with care.”

Alfred pursed his lips, then nodded. “Okay.”

_____ pulled out the other rifle and loaded it as well, closing up the cases when she was finished. “And you’re not going to waste my ammo either, got it? That stuff’s freaking expensive now that they want to pass those stupid gun laws.”

Alfred smirked at his friend’s comment. “Alright.”

_____ nodded. “Alright, then. Help me get the decoy out.”

“On it.” Not waiting for his friend, Alfred leaned on the tailgate and reached for the deer decoy. He pulled the object out of the truck bed and slung it over his shoulder. He wrapped his arm firmly around the neck with its legs sticking directly upward.

_____ couldn’t help but giggle at the position of the decoy. “Got it?” she said lightly.

Alfred smirked and nodded. “Yep. Now let’s go.”

_____ closed the tailgate, locked the doors, and led her friend down a small trail in the woods. She stopped not ten feet from the truck and dug through her backpack. “Right,” she muttered in a somewhat ashamed tone. She pulled out a bright orange baseball cap and put it on her head, then went through Alfred’s backpack and placed his on his head. “Don’t want your head getting blown off. Even if there isn’t much in there.”

“Hey!” Alfred whispered.

_____ smirked and continued down the trail, Alfred following. After a few minutes of walking, the pair reached a small tree stand built into a neighboring tree. It was enclosed, a worn ladder nailed to it and the tree, and looked barely big enough for two people. But they would manage, _____ thought. She always did whenever she had come to this hunting spot with her father, he being a bit larger than Alfred. _____ impulsively gave a soft smile.

“Dad, I don’t think we’re both gonna fit in there,” said _____ as she looked up at the tree stand. “We could go to the other free one.”

“We’ll fit,” replied her father, already climbing the ladder.

_____ raised a skeptic eyebrow, but followed anyway. The stand was empty save for two plastic lawn chairs, one of which taken by _____’s father. _____ closed the makeshift door behind her and sat in the other chair.

The two waited for a while before spotting a male white-tailed deer about forty feet from the stand. The buck was enormous, sporting a huge rack with—was it thirty points?

_____ gaped at the buck, nudging her father.

“That’s the buck everyone here calls Treasure,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

“Why do they call him that?” she whispered back.

“Because if you get him, you’ve got the treasure. But no one’s been able to catch him because he’s so good at hearing. Even the slightest little movement will—”

_____’s father stopped when he noticed the deer’s head move attentively, turning his ears this way and that. _____’s father slowly, quietly, reached for his rifle, but the deer took off as his fingers brushed across it. He sat cursing for a long moment, then sighed gruffly.

_____ smiled, amused. “Looks like he heard you.”

_____’s father raised an eyebrow at her, then gathered his rifle and backpack and headed for the door. “I think we’re done for today.”

_____ followed her father reluctantly, but she smirked at him as they started walking back the way they had come. “Y’know,” she said, casually putting her orange cap on her head, “I bet I could get Treasure.”

_____’s father chuckled. “Yeah, sure. You haven’t even shot a doe yet. What makes you think you could nail that big boy?”

“Just watch,” _____ said confidently. “I’ll get Treasure. If not this season, then next season. I swear.”

_____’s father paused, looking down at his daughter. He shook his head, letting out a disbelieving laugh. “We’ll see about that.”

_____ sighed, a small pain stinging her heart. Four months after their hunting trip, _____’s father was killed in a robbery. He had just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The pain of his absence increased when hunting season returned. So, desperate not to be alone on her first hunting trip of the season, she asked Alfred to go with her.

She now climbed up the ladder of the tree stand, stopping midway and pointing to a spot in a green patch. “Stand the decoy up around there. And don’t make much noise.”

Alfred nodded and did as told, soon joining _____ in the stand. He reached the top, saw _____ sitting in one of the plastic chairs, and took the chair beside her. He noticed that _____’s rifle was leaning against a corner of the shed near her right hand, and he decided to mimic it and place his against the wall as well, making sure it wouldn’t fall over. After he steadied it, he felt a hand grab him by the collar and pull his head to look at _____.

“Now’s where you have to be absolutely quiet,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Okay?”

Alfred took in her expression—a look that said “I’ll kill you if you talk”—and nodded warily. “Okay.”

_____ released him and sat back in her chair, continuously scanning the patch of grass and vegetation in front of the stand.

Alfred sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. Well, this is gonna be boring, he thought.

==========

One bottle of beer on the wall, one bottle of beer, Alfred mentally sang. Take one down, pass it around. . . He stopped when he realized he was out of numbers, then sighed.

He and _____ had been waiting for two hours, and Alfred was growing more bored by the minute. They had seen a doe, which Alfred, being desperate for some kind of action, was about to line up in his sights, but _____ stopped him when she spotted a faun peeking out of the brush.

Other than that, their patch had been completely empty, save their decoy.

Another thirty minutes passed, and even _____ was growing tired of waiting. But right as she was ready to pack up and call it a day, something caught her eye. A large buck, with possibly a thirty-point rack, emerged from the cover of the brush and out into the open of the patch. _____’s eyes widened in recognition.

Treasure.

_____ slowly and silently picked up her rifle, pausing when the buck lifted its head. It lowered its head again and began to feed on the grass, and _____ gently switched the safety off. She lifted the rifle up, slipping the barrel out of the opening in the stand, and brought her face to the scope. The buck was lined up perfectly in her sights, and she pressed her finger to the trigger—

Alfred’s foot unintentionally slid across the floor of the stand, causing a scraping sound. The buck heard the noise, and took off. _____ gasped and aimed at the moving target, firing one missing shot before the buck disappeared back into the trees.

_____ cursed loudly, no longer caring if she scared away the game. She angrily packed her belongings and climbed out of the tree stand, all the while cursing like a sailor. Alfred, a bit confused, began to pack his own things and go down the ladder. He spotted his friend stomping away from the stand. “_____? Are you okay?”

_____ stopped, and Alfred could tell that she was using all of her willpower to keep from exploding at him.

But she did anyway.

“You just had to move your foot, didn’t you?!” she shouted, turning back to look at him through a piercing glare. “You just had to make some kind of noise! Is that it?! Are you so in love with the sound of your own voice—or whatever the hell noise you can make—that you can’t just sit still for one damn minute?! Is that it?!”

Alfred blinked at her, taking a step toward her. “_____. . .it’s just a deer.”

“Shut up!” _____ snapped. “You don’t know a damn thing about any of this! What the hell was I thinking—taking you on a trip like this?!” She directed her glare back at Alfred, looking him straight in the eyes. “That wasn’t just any deer! That was Treasure! Everybody who hunts here knows that he’s the jackpot—the treasure.” She paused for a brief moment. “I made a bet with my dad that I’d get him this season. And I was so close! So damn close. . .until you scared him off. . .”

Alfred’s eyes widened slightly as he looked down at his friend. This wasn’t about competition or hunting or even about keeping the bet she had made.

She wanted to make her father proud, even if he wasn’t there to see it. Her father had always been a difficult man to please, he had noticed, and _____ had sometimes had doubts as to whether or not her father was proud of her.

“_____. . .” He reached out for her arm, but she pulled away.

“Don’t touch me,” she growled, her head now downcast. “Just. . .get the decoy. We’re going home.” She turned to walk back down the trail.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her into its body. She struggled to break free, but gave up after a moment. One of the arms remained around her, but the other lifted so that the hand was resting gently on her head.

“I’m sorry,” Alfred whispered into her ear. “I know you think you have to get that deer to make your dad proud. But you don’t need to. Your dad’s proud of you, even if you don’t kill it.”

“Yeah?” _____ said in a half-assed tone. “How would you know?”

“Because I saw it,” he said slowly. “You might not believe me, but I could see that your dad was proud of you. The way he looked at you sometimes—it just gave it away.”

_____ was silent for a few minutes, then sighed gruffly. “Why are you telling me this?”

Alfred took a long moment to think. “Because I want you to know that. Because I’m scared that if you don’t know it, you might not smile again. Because I want to see you smile.” He stroked her head, pulling her closer. “Because I love you,” he murmured.

_____ froze, and, very slowly, turned around in Alfred’s arms. She was frowning at him. “Y-You’re. . .” she started, her voice agitated. Soon enough, her frown failed and gave way to a wide smile. She laughed. “You’re such a pain!”

Alfred blinked, then smiled down at her. He leaned his head down and kissed her cheek, causing her face to turn pink.

_____ shook her head to rid herself of the blush, then smirked at her friend. “Alfie, you missed.”

“Huh?” was all that came out of Alfred’s mouth before he was grabbed by the collar for the second time that day and pulled forward. His lips crashed awkwardly onto _____’s, and he let out a surprised moan as they did. He quickly recovered and returned the kiss, holding _____’s face gingerly in his hands as _____ wrapped her arms around his neck.

After a long minute, the two parted, panting from a lack of air. Alfred moved his arms to _____’s waist, holding her close to him. _____’s head rested on Alfred’s cheek, her warm breath on his neck sending shivers down his spine.

Alfred heard a small laugh, and looked at _____. “What’s so funny?”

_____ smiled at him, letting out another little laugh. “I guess I really did get the treasure, after all.”

Alfred blinked, but chuckled and kissed her again.