Keith couldn't sleep. It had been over an hour since he and his fiance had tucked themselves in in the bed of their truck. But he couldn't catch a single wink. He wasn't going to blame it on Randy's snoring, as it wasn't too loud. Maybe he was just too excited for tomorrow.

Should I wake him up? Keith thought. He didn't want to bother Randy. But his head was a torrent of whirring thoughts. He couldn't just lie awake with them alone.

At last, Keith turned over and gently stroked his fiance's medium-length ginger hair. Randy awoke with a groan, and Keith could see his hickory brown eyes fluttering open in the darkness.

"I'mup," Randy murmured.

"Hi, dear," Keith said softly. "You okay?"

"Why'd you wake me up?" Randy grumbled. His words were slurred from drowsiness.

Keith hesitated. How could he explain what was on his mind? Randy was probably too tired to hear what he was thinking about, and too annoyed from having been woken up.

"Sorry - "

"Hey, none of that," Randy snapped, cutting him off. "You didn't wake me up for nothin'. Lemme hear what you have to say."

Keith almost smiled at that. No matter how grumpy Randy was, he was always willing to answer Keith's questions, even in the dead of night when he just wanted to go back to sleep.

"We're exchanging vows tomorrow." Keith finally said. "I can't stop thinking about it."

Randy adjusted his position, and Keith felt his hand on his waist. He blushed as Randy pulled him closer to him under the ratty old comforter they were sharing.

"Wanna just do it now, baby?" Randy asked. Despite his tiredness, Keith could hear the excitement in his voice. "I mean, nothing's stopping us, right?"

Keith was tempted, but he shook his head.

"No, I want Arielle to watch," he said. "Her mom wasn't a good example for what love between romantic partners really is. Besides, she's the only other human around: she's gonna be the one to announce us married."

"I get it," Randy agreed.

The two lovers fell into silence. Keith lifted his hand, brushing his fingertips against Randy's cheek.

"I can't wait to marry you," he said quietly. His heart was racing just thinking about it.

"Well, it's . . . it's not really marriage," Randy mumbled. "We're just exchanging vows, we can't do it legally." He scoffed. "Thanks to me."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," Keith argued. But his heart still sank at the thought that Randy couldn't get married legally without turning himself in to the police. "You'll still be my husband, no matter how stubborn you are." he said.

Keith could sense Randy smiling cheekily.

"You've always been the smart one . . . fucking know-it-all," he teased.

Keith couldn't help but break into a smile as well, but it soon faded. How would things be different if he and Randy weren't on the run? Would they still be living in a stolen truck? Would Randy still have been groomed into having a child with a fellow prisoner? Would Randy be recieving the proper treatment to combat his hallucinations?

"Hey, Randy?" Keith piped up.

"Yeah?" Randy responded.

"D'you ever wonder what life could've been like if things hadn't, y'know . . . ended up like this?" Keith asked.

"'Course I do," Randy answered in a tone similar to if he were saying "obviously." "I try not to, though."

"Why's that?" Keith asked.

"I mean, there's no point, is there?" Randy replied. "I doubt our lives'll ever be peaceful."

A short silence fell between them. It was true. Randy had originally been sentenced to twenty years in prison for physically assaulting a thirteen-year-old boy, but he had broken out after eight. Not wanting to waste another minute holed up in the cage that was his childhood home, Keith packed a bag and left as soon as he had found out about it. Adding Randy's young illegitimate daughter to the mix just made living on the run harder.

"We definitely would've gotten married sooner," Keith said at last.

"Yeah, absolutely." Randy agreed. "I never told you this, but . . . well, y'know how we were planning to run away together?"

Keith nodded. A few months after their senior year of high school had begun, the two of them had started plotting to run away as soon as they were both eighteen. The planned date of flight was Keith's birthday.

"I was actually saving up money to buy you an engagement ring." Randy admitted.

Keith's heart instantly melted into a puddle of love.

"Oh, Randy," he cooed.

"I was thinking about proposing to you once we graduated." Randy went on. "But obviously, that never happened."

"At least it happened in the end, huh?" Keith said, and he managed a smile.

"Yeah, guess so," Randy replied. "Whaddya think we'd be doing right now if our life wasn't like this?"

Keith pondered this thought for a moment. As a teenager, he had had many dreams of his own. Since middle school, he had always wanted to become a writer. Even while serving his own prison sentence of five years, he had kept journals that he filled with poems and short stories.

"I'd probably be publishing my first book." Keith said. "Maybe a collection of poems. And maybe . . ." He paused. "Maybe I'd've properly taken my mother to court."

"What happened to that bitch, anyway?" Randy asked. His tone immediately seemed to roughen upon the mention of Odessa Brahms. "Didn't you turn her in when you ran away?"

Keith shrugged.

"I dunno, I think she was found too unstable to stand trial." he answered. "I didn't really keep up. I just wanted to be done with her."

"Yeah, I get that," Randy said sympathetically.

Keith adjusted his position on the solid metal he was lying on. It was uncomfortable, but he knew it could always be worse. And at least he had Randy's hand to hold.

"What about you, my love?" Keith asked. "What would you be doing?"

Like Keith, Randy took some time to think. But Keith found himself not having long to wait.

"I'd definitely be going to fucking therapy." Randy answered. "Profession wise, I think I'd be a social worker - y'know, getting kids outta situations like the one you were in. If I wasn't an anarchist, I'd probably be involved in activism, too. And you'd still be taller than me." Randy had always been a couple of inches shorter than Keith.

Keith found himself smiling. Randy was rough around the edges and he had anger problems, but when it came to Keith and Arielle, he was secretly a sweetheart. Keith felt special knowing that he was one of the only people Randy let down his walls around.

"D'you think we'd be traveling?" Keith asked. "I remember we really wanted to travel."

"Damn, there were so many places we wanted to go," Randy said, and he sighed. "Maybe. We would've gone to at least a couple places. I would've loved to show you the town in Mexico where my mom grew up."

Keith scooted in closer to Randy, and he felt Randy's arm tighten around him. In a moment, Keith was laying on Randy's shoulder, and Randy had an arm around his, firmly holding him. Suddenly, Keith came to a sad realization.

"But if we'd be living normal lives, we wouldn't have Arielle." he said.

Randy paused. In the darkness, Keith couldn't see the look on his face. But he could tell Randy was thinking deeply. At last, he took a deep breath.

"It's hard having a daughter as broken as her," Randy said finally. "I mean, I'm glad I have her, she's a good kid, but . . ." He sighed. "I dunno. I wouldn't give her up for the world, but it's hard knowing that she's never gonna have a normal life 'cause of me."

"At least she has us." Keith responded.

Randy sighed again. Keith felt his lips on his head.

"Sleep tight, babe." Randy said. "Big day tomorrow."

"You, too." Keith replied. "I love you, baby."

"Love you, too."

This time, Keith was asleep within minutes.