How To Save A Life - Chapter Two
Title: How To Save A Life
Chapter: 2/?
Pairing: Miley/Demi
Rating: R (Mature Content - Not Graphic)
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these people. Did this happen in real life? Well, is Miley immortal and over 100 years old? Didn’t think so.
Word Count: 1,240
Summary: Demi is a carefree saloon girl whose dreams never included anyone but herself. She didn’t think she would ever love somebody else until she met a strong-willed and reserved cattle rancher who seemed to only live for her family.
Author's Note: This is an AU story that takes place in the 19th Century American Old West. Just a crazy idea I had one day. Although, if you’ve read any of my other stories you know that pretty much all of them are rather… unusual. Anyway, I’ll try to update it weekly. And thanks to biohazardnerd for being such an awesome beta! ILY! <3
The night went on as normal after that. The women entertained and the men drank and gambled the night away. It was almost dawn and that meant closing time. Doug was cleaning up the place and Joe was helping. The Boss had just left with the night’s profit.
Demi was sitting on the edge of the stage, sipping her wine. All the girls had already retreated upstairs for the day, most with their respective clients. At The White Horse most saloon girls routinely doubled as prostitutes. Not Demi, she had done it a few times in the past months she’s been there but ultimately decided it wasn’t for her. Although she’d still sleep with an old client or two. “For old time’s sake,” she would say.
Demi was eighteen years old. She had been working at the saloon for about six months now. Joe could tell you all about the day that new girl from Texas entered The White Horse with nothing but a small suitcase and a sparkle in her eyes. It seemed like a lifetime away. Demi left home as soon as she turned eighteen. She, like many young girls those days, wanted excitement in her life. What better place to find it than the Wild West? She took a ride with a caravan that was passing by and never looked back from the moment she jumped on that wagon. She was going to start fresh. The dream? To become a singer.
Life hadn’t turned out exactly how she planned. Saloons weren’t looking for singers. They wanted dancers and prostitutes. After being shot down many times, she finally gave up and decided to settle down in this small cattle town in Arizona. In a matter of days, gone were the earth tone dresses and her innocence. With her seductive eyes and harmonious laughter, Demi quickly became one of the saloon’s favorites. Long nights, revealing dresses, ostentatious jewelry, men fighting for her attention, and decent money. This wasn’t the dream, but she was satisfied with it.
But tonight? Tonight was different. She cared little about the predatory stares, dull conversations and the drinks being served to her. All she could think about the whole nigh was her. The goddess that had walked in earlier and swept Demi off her feet. It was a foreign feeling to the saloon girl. Sure, she had her silly boy crushes back in Texas, but that’s all they were. Silly crushes. Nothing like this. Was this attraction even romantic? They were both girls. It could be just admiration. ‘No. It was definitely the romantic kind,’ Demi decided as she took another sip of the wine.
So, that was it. She’d have to find out who was that girl. But how?
She turned to her friend, who was now wiping the tables. “Hey Joe?” He looked at her. “Who was that girl that walked in earlier today?” she asked trying to sound nonchalant.
“You mean the girl that dragged that scumbag, Trace, out?”
Demi remembered the girl calling Horseface ‘Trace’ outside so she nodded.
“That’s Miley. She owns the Cyrus Ranch just outside town.”
‘Miley,’ Demi though dreamily. ‘Of course she’d have a name just as beautiful as her.’
Joe brought her out of her daydream as he went on about Miley. “I haven’t seen her step in here for over a year now. Since Billy Ray fell ill two summers ago,” he recalled. When he looked at Demi’s confused face he remembered she wasn’t from this town. They had become such good friends that he sometimes forgot they only knew each other for little over six months. He went on to explain. “Billy Ray was her father. He used to come here every night since his wife died three years ago. Another one that turned to the bottle for comfort. Miley was fifteen at the time, I think. She’s your age now. She used to walk through those doors every night to try and take her daddy home. Almost two years that went on. Heartbreaking, really. Until one day the whiskey finally caught up with his body. He fell ill and died soon after. Never saw her step in here again after that. Not until tonight, that is.”
“And is Trace her… husband?” Demi swallowed the lump in her throat.
Joe laughed. “God, no. Trace is her excuse of an older brother. He’s always been trouble since before Mrs. Cyrus died. They have two younger siblings. Miley’s been taking care of them since then. She’s also the one that looks after the ranch. I still see her around town sometimes doing business with other cattle owners. Poor girl lives for others. Trace left to join the war after Billy Ray died. I heard he just got a dishonorable discharge. I knew he’d cause her trouble the moment he got back in town. The girl has a hard enough life as it is, and now that piece of shit is back to add to it,” Joe said as he started stacking the chairs on top of the tables. “If you want an example of how unfair life is, look no further than Miley’s life. She is one remarkable girl, that one.”
Demi drank it all in. If she hadn’t fallen for the girl before, she would have now. She needed to get to know her. “So she’s single?” she heard herself asking before she could stop it.
“Yeah. My little brother Nick had a crush on her back in the day. He used to say he was going to marry her and have tons of beautiful blue eyed babies,” Joe chuckled as he reminisced. It quickly turned into a scowl. “He died a couple years ago. Those damn red skins got to him.”
“I’m sorry, Joe,” Demi said sincerely.
Her friend smiled and nodded. “Now why don’t you go upstairs to catch up on your beauty sleep? The sun is almost up. I’m pretty much done here anyway.”
“You’re right. I do have to go pay a visit to the seamstress today. I need a new dress.” She put down her empty glass and started to make her way to the staircase.
“Oh. Does Miss Demi have someone to impress?” he teased.
“Maybe,” she gave him one of her killer toothy smiles and quickly went up before he could start throwing questions at her.