Chase the Stars

Charlie expected to rot in prison for the rest of his life, but Mila’s spontaneous rescue mission was a million times better than that. And if it couldn’t get even better, his rescuer was smothering him with kisses and clinging to him like she never intended to let go. And Charlie didn’t want her to, either. They stayed like that for a long time, until she pulled away from him and warily eyed the jumpsuit.

“We need to get you out of that thing,” she told him. “It screams, ‘I'm the escaped convict’. Don't need that right now.”

“I'm glad to be rid of it,” he mumbled.

Mila got him his clothes while he started unbuttoning the front, but he was startled when he heard her gasp softly and stare at him.

“What the hell is that?” she asked, pointing to his arm.

Charlie looked at where she was pointing and grimaced. The tattoo Killer, Bruce, and Big Daddy had bestowed upon him was still looking angry and red on his bicep.

“It's supposed to be a dragon,” Charlie said miserably. “I got it against my will.”

“It looks like a fat lizard,” Mila told him, leaning over to get a closer look. “How did they tattoo you against your will?”

Charlie chewed on his lip, then reached into the small pocket of the jumpsuit and took out the pocket watch. Mila blinked a few times in surprise when she saw it.

“I don't get it,” she said. “How did they let you keep that?”

“They didn't,” he explained. “They took all my stuff, but it turns out that inmates are the ones who sort it and put it away. One of them took the watch. The one that you knocked out with the laundry cart. While I was inside of it.”

“The one that called you babyface?”

“Unfortunately,” Charlie sighed. “Anyways, he took the watch and he said that if I wanted it back, I had to ‘join his crew’. Apparently that meant getting their mark tattooed on me. And apparently that mark is a very badly drawn dragon. I was lucky you got me out of there, though. The big guy had other plans for me that would've made the tattoo look easy. I think I have bruises from where he grabbed my thigh under the table at dinner.”

“Charlie, that's stupid,” Mila scolded. “It's just a watch. Why would you put yourself through that for a watch.”

“It's not the watch itself,” Charlie shrugged. “It's the fact that you're the one who gave it to me. I thought that was it, you were going ‘home’, and it was the last I was ever going to see of you.”

“You wanted the watch so you could keep me with you?” she asked softly.

“Mila, if you think I would willingly get myself thrown into prison for life, and allow myself to get tattooed by brutish smugglers to get a watch back for the mere memory of someone I only have lukewarm feelings for, then you really know nothing about me, or about humans in general.”

She was quiet, looking from the watch to Charlie's tattoo. She then took his face in her hands and pulled him back down to kiss him. It didn't really matter that he was only half dressed at that point.

Mila didn't let Charlie go for a while, until they both suddenly realized that it had gotten dark. They were both below deck while the ship was aimlessly auto-sailing in circles, staying under the warmth of a makeshift blanket and pillow fort they'd ended up making to hide in. Mila was lying on Charlie's chest while he played with her hair, lost in thought.

“We need to get ourselves out of this mess,” she mumbled.

“Didn't you say we’re near the border?” Charlie asked.

“There's no way they'll let us past the border unnoticed,” Mila sighed. “Especially you. They have you on file now.”

Charlie sat up, and she squirmed up to stay tucked against him, holding tightly onto him.

“What do they even have across the border?” Charlie muttered. “It's all open land for miles before we get to any kind of city.”

“We don't have to go to a city,” Mila shrugged.

Charlie laughed, and she sat up with a frown.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing, it’s stupid,” Charlie said, shaking his head.

“Tell me,” she pressed, poking him in the gut.

“As dumb as it sounds, I used to seriously consider getting a plot of land for myself and starting a farm,” he admitted. “Around the time I was a teenager, and I was pulling off crimes that would land me some serious time, I had a little while where I was scared and I wanted to run away out of fear of getting caught. I decided that going off to work for a farmer was the best way to stay low and out of sight. And then I thought about getting my own, instead of working on someone else’s.”

“Why the change of mind?” Mila asked.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Like I said, it felt like a stupid idea. And I didn’t want to feel so lonely all the time, I guess.”

“We can get a farm,” Mila told him.

“What?” Charlie said, raising a brow at her. “Come on, Mila. You don’t want to live on a farm. It’s lonely as hell, especially with the adrenaline rush of a life you’ve been living so far.”

“Would we be together?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then that’s all I want,” she promised him. “I mean it. I don’t care if we’re stranded in the middle of the desert. I just want to be with you. And a farm sounds... reasonable. It’s quiet and out of the way. With everything we’ve been through, I think ‘quiet and out of the way’ is exactly what we need. I’m ready to put a life of crime behind me.”

Charlie cracked a smile, pulling her back into his chest and kissing the top of her head.

“You're really willing to live with a bunch of animals?” Charlie asked. “Doing hard labor like that?”

“Well I've been living with a monkey for the past couple of weeks,” she smirked, flicking his nose. “I've been managing just fine. And what makes you think I can't handle hard labor? Now I'm taking that as a challenge.”

“We’ll get us a nice spot of land somewhere with nice weather and perfect soil,” he mused. “I'll build you a house with my own two hands. And then we’ll build a barn to house our animals. Cows, chickens, goats… even a horse or two. Every morning we’ll have fresh milk and eggs. And at night we can sit outside and see the stars without city smog masking it all.”

“That sounds perfect,” she said with a grin. “But I don't like goats much. If we get a goat, that's entirely your responsibility.”

“I'll name it Stanton, then,” he said.

She just laughed, kissing him again.

“We’ll have to clear your name first,” she said.

“That's going to be hard, considering both of us have records and only yours has been temporarily hidden,” Charlie reminded her.

“I don't have to prove you innocent of everything,” she said. “We’re just going to move the spotlight to someone else until we can get across the border. So no one will even notice us.”

“My criminal mastermind doesn't know how to do that,” Charlie said.

“I know,” she smirked. “I've already got a plan. That's why I'm the mastermind. And that's why I get paid in advance.”

“You're never going to let that go, are you?”

“Never.”