You leaned over the hood of the beat up truck, Steve's map was flatten out as the two of you looked at the state of Montana. The rest stop the two of you were at was fairly empty, the sun hung low in the sky as you both poured over the paper.
"So where to next co-pilot." He stated, looking over at you, bumping his elbow into you lightly.
"How about.. Yellowstone?" You asked back looking up at him. "Kinda always did want to see the hot springs and geysers."
"Yellowstone it is then." He smirked, folding the map back up.
The two of you climb back into the truck, the day after the two of you shared a room together you went and bought a map. That was a well over a week ago, since then you had collected maps from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, before hooking north and collecting more. Truth of the matter you weren't even sure how long the two of you had been traveling together. Days just seemed to mold together, some nights you drove straight through, others you slept in the back of the truck, having bought an air mattress.
It was his turn to drive, so you climbed in the passenger seat, sticking your feet out the window. His beard had grown out, and his hair had gotten longer. Gone was the boyish look he had had, replaced with a ruggedly handsome look. When he smiled now, it seemed to light up his entire face.
"God it really is beautiful out here." He sighed, breaking the silence.
"I'll agree with you on that, everything is just so green and fresh." You replied, watching as the scenery rolled by your open window.
"This is how it should look all the time, not surrounded by cement and metal." All you could do is nod in agreement.
"Weirdest thing that ever happened to you?"
"Hmm, has to be my best friend trying to kill me because he forgot who he was." He stated, your mouth fell open at his response.
"Okay? Details would be great."
"He was a prisoner of war and had shit happen to him, in the process actually forgot who was and who I was." He shrugged, glancing over to you.
"Like legit tried to kill you?" You blinked hard a couple of times.
"Yep, what about you?"
"I guess that puts my falling asleeping on a bus and waking two states over and having no way to get home to shame." You chuckled lightly, shaking your head. "Like full on came at you?"
"Yes, full on, guns blazing and tried to attack me with a knife. You fell asleep on a bus?"He smirked over at you, you shoved him lightly.
"I was fifteen and coming home from a concert, that by the way I snuck out to." You looked out the window. "My Dad told me to find my own way back when I called."
"Nice dad." He retorted.
"Meh, he was stubborn, bull headed and drove his kids like a drill Sargent. But hey, at least I know how to scrub a bathroom."
Both of you fell silent after a while as the miles rolled away, getting you closer to Yellowstone. You flipped the radio on, relaxing in silence. Steve would occasionally poke you, to make sure you in fact not fallen asleep. It was a game you started, and unfortunately he picked up on.
It was late when he pulled off the road, winding his way to stopping point in the middle of nowhere. He drove through the forest till he found a clearing. Steve killed the engine, and the two of you got out. You climbed up the tire to the air mattress that was in the bed of the truck.
Steve grabbed the blankets that were in the cab, and came out to join you. He laid out next to you, looking up at the midnight sky, stars twinkling high above you. You sighed heavily, a smile across your face taking in the mass amounts of twinkling dots.
"So many, I would never have thought there was so many." You exclaimed softly. "You can't see them in the city."
"No, you can't and it's a shame." He replied.
"You know what I don't miss." You looked over at him briefly before looking back up.
"What's that?" He replied, placing his arms behind his head.
"Time." You saw the man turn to look at you out of the corner of your eye. "Always worried about whether you'll be there on time, how much of it you have left, how to make it. This is the freest I've ever been, and it's cause I don't have to think about it."
"I never thought about time like that." He sighed. "I guess you get so used to stressing about time that it becomes second nature."
"Yeah, it did." You replied, looking over and meeting his gaze. "What about you? What don't you miss?"
"Being the responsible one." He stated looking up at the stars. "Before.. I was the one people would turn to when they had problems, taking them on as my own. Always feeling like the weight of the world was one my shoulders. For the most part I was okay with it, helping people, being there for people, fighting for them."
You watched his face, a pained look crossed his features as his eyes darted looking up at the abyss above.
"Did they ever fight for you?" You asked, Steve turn his head to look at you.
"Sometimes." He replied, chewing on his bottom lip.
"You miss them." You said softly, his eyes tracked across your face.
"I do.. but this is for the best." Steve smiled sadly. "Plus, I met you."
"Let's say, in a prefect world, what would Steve want? How do you wish life had turned out?" You questioned.
"In perfect world I would of lived out my life with the woman I loved, would never of went war and lost my best friend. Maybe lived somewhere out like this. You?"
"Truthfully, I don't know what I wanted my life to be like. But this, living here in the moment, being with you, it's perfect."
"How do you not know what you wanted out of life?" He asked.
"All I ever did was what my parents wanted me to do. I was on fast track of owning my company. I was pulling in a hundred grand a year easy. Had a wonderful apartment, brand new car every year. A large group of people I went to high end bars with every weekend. I had what most would die for." You sighed, as he continued to watch you. "And I began to hate it. I didn't have any close friends, all I had were people who only cared about what I could do for them. What I wanted was, just to be at peace. I wanted to be who I was without worrying what everyone else thought, what I was supposed to live up to."
"Boy, can I relate to that." Steve chuckled looking back up at the sky. "People and their expectations."
"I guess we're a lot a like." You smiled over at him.
"Yeah, I guess." He said just above a whisper, he smiled while looking at you from the corner of his eye.
The two of you laid in silence, watching the sky, every now and again a star would streak its way across the inky blackness. Steve would point it out, moving closer to you, just so your heads were touching. Slowly sleep took its hold on you, dozing off against the man.
Steve had pointed another one, before he realized you had fallen sleep. You may not of known who he was but he knew if you did apart of you could relate to having to keep up with an image of what everyone expected. He may been a hundred years old, but you could relate, you understood.
He watched as you slept, taking in every feature that made you you. You had been pretty the day he had picked you up, but as the months wore on you had become so beautiful to him. From your laugh to your smile, the way you skipped up to the door and tried to make him go first.
When he first left, when he went and got everyone off that god forsaken prison, he disappeared. He wanted to loose himself, wanted just be someone else. The more he went on the journey with you, the more he found himself. He was free to make choices, ones that at the moment that didn't put any bodies lives in danger. Steve smiled at you, bringing his hand out from beneath his head, gently pushing back a strand of hair from your face.
