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solitaireships · 34 minutes

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Something's Gotta Give

Hello everyone I am very in love with Boone and wrote a getting together fic <3

Rating: Teen

Genre: Fluff (kinda?)

Words: 1290 words

Divider by saradika

Content warnings: Non-fatal gun injuries (both previous and current), mention of alcohol/alcoholism, references to blood and death

Contrary to what Boone seems to think, Courier isn’t fragile. She freed New Vegas, helping to secure the Hoover Dam and repel the Legion’s troops. She survived getting shot in the head at point blank, with nothing to show for it but a scar on her forehead, chronic headaches, and a spotty memory of her past. A single bullet to her arm isn’t going to kill her. But with the way Boone fusses over the wound, you would think that he’s sure it will.

He already managed to take the bullet out, drawing a pained hiss from her now as he splashes a bit of vodka over the injury to try to clean it.

“Christ, Boone,” she forces out through grit teeth.

“Stay still,” he instructs.

Courier rolls her eyes, but does what he says. She doesn’t need him to do this, but there’s no point stopping him now. NCR troops would always tell her that she’s lucky to have a First Recon guy watching her back, but she doesn’t think they meant it like this.

She does appreciate his help, though. This isn’t the first time she’s been shot before, and she’s been hurt a lot worse than this. But still the sharp feeling of pain is there, and stimpaks help but can’t completely fix things. She’s not so stubborn that she’ll reject his care for her, even if she does wish he didn’t worry so much.

Boone wraps her arm in a couple of bandages, frowning down at it from behind his sunglasses. He holds her arm in his hands, adjusting it to better care for her with a level of tenderness Courier’s never experienced before. It’s hard to watch him work this close to her, his mouth set in a concerned frown, and more careful than she thinks she’s ever seen him be even tending to his own injuries.

Boone can be sweet. He’s good at hiding it, but Courier’s known him long enough to be able to pick up on it. It endeared him to her more than she ever could have thought it would, and as he treats her wounded arm she can’t help but savor the feeling of his hands on her.

Courier hadn’t expected to fall for Boone when she first met him. She had thought he was good looking, with a tall, fat build, broad shoulders, and an obvious strength to him— but she had figured that would be nothing more than a passing attraction. She had bigger things to worry about that romance as she hunt down the stolen platinum chip, and she still does have more important things to worry about than her long standing crush. Especially with a man who was still grieving his wife when they first met. They kept each other at a distance, working well as a team but shying away from any of the emotional vulnerability that might’ve made them start developing feelings.

But the Hoover Dam has been secured now, and now Courier’s the de facto leader of an independent New Vegas instead of just one of the couriers in the Mojave Express. Boone’s stopped drinking as much, and he’s started to move on from all the ghosts that lingered at his shoulders. He’s made his peace, and he’s taken to helping out caravans going to and from the city as he tries to find a new place for himself without his wife and without the NCR.

Things are different now for both of them. And maybe that’s what makes it harder for Courier to ignore the thought of taking Boone out on a date or waking up in bed next to him. The way he tends to her wounds is heartbreakingly soft, and she doesn’t want him to take his calloused hands away from her. They’ve been close like this before when Courier’s woken up on the road cuddled up next to him, rolling towards him in her sleep, but this is different. This is an intentional contact, and it’s a man used to spilling blood using his hands to care for her injuries instead of pulling a trigger.

Courier wants Boone. She knows she has for a while, even if she’s told herself she doesn’t. But the two of them are alone now, and they’re so close that her wants get the better of her as Boone finishes doing up her bandages.

“Can I kiss you?” Courier asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t know,” Boone says. “It’s— Carla.”

“Right.”

It’s been a while since Carla died, but Boone is still reeling from the loss. Courier can’t blame him. She can’t imagine how much it would hurt for her to lose her spouse, and especially not to the Legion. The closest she can imagine the feeling to being is the thought of losing Boone.

If he’s not ready for this, Courier can respect that. If he’s never ready for this, she could accept that. But she knows she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she didn’t try.

“I know I never met her, and I wish I could have. But I don’t think she would’ve wanted you to never love again,” Courier says.

Boone looks at her for one long moment. She can’t tell what his expression is behind his sunglasses. But then he says, “She would have liked you.”

“I’m sure I would’ve liked her too,” she says.

Boone stands up, taking a seat next to Courier. They sit in silence for a moment, neither of them sure what move to make next. The only sound is the soft crackle of the fire they set up at the makeshift campsite, and that's not enough to distract her wandering mind.

If he’s not interested, Courier would understand. She’s good at ignoring her feelings. She can brush off the attraction she feels for him, and they can both act like this never happened.

But she desperately wants this to work out. She wants it more than she’s wanted anything else. Maybe loneliness is finally getting to her, but she can't stop thinking about the possibility of a future for the two of them.

“Courier,” Boone says after a second.

She turns to look at him, and he reaches up with one hand to cup her cheek, guiding her closer so he can kiss her.

It’s short, and it catches Courier by surprise. But it’s soft, and it’s sweet, and it’s an answer to her wish to be as close as possible to Boone.

She quickly goes to kiss him again, this time more intensely, their mouths moving together. His lips are chapped and she can feel a bit of stubble growing in around his mouth, but she can’t bring herself to mind. Courier’s kissing Boone, and that’s all that matters.

When the two of them part, Courier asks, “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s fine if you’re not ready.”

“I’m ready,” he states. “We just might need to take things slow.”

“I’m okay with slow,” she says.

“And you need to heal.”

Courier scoffs. “A single bullet wound isn’t going to take me down.”

“Probably not,” Boone agrees. “But you shouldn’t be running off into the wasteland again for a while.”

She rolls her eyes.

“I could distract you with a date,” he says.

“Hmm. I guess that could keep me in the city for a while,” Courier says.

She says it lightheartedly, but it is a thought that makes her want to stay in place for once. Wherever she stops couldn’t be too bad if Boone’s there with her. And she hopes that this date can turn into something more— something that will keep him by her side for as long as she can have him.

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solitaireships · 39 minutes