i.

The wind on a motorcycle is incredible, Natalie discovers. The feeling of Chad's arms around her is even better.

The sound of sirens? Not so great.

Chad shouts in her ear, "Keep going! Live dangerously!"

She shouts back, "That's what I was planning on doing!"

It's around two in the morning, and Natalie is driving the motorcycle, breaking the speed limit, and being chased by a cop.

(What kind of cop is awake and patrolling at two in the morning, anyway? she wonders.)

They are probably going to get caught and either arrested or fined, Natalie's not sure which. It's dark enough that she's petrified she's going to crash, and she has no clue where she's going.

She can't think of any place she'd rather be.

ii.

Despite Natalie's claim of "Back of the bike, I'm driving," Chad starts drivingthree days after they set out and doesn't stop.

Natalie can't bring herself to complain, because it's so trivial, it doesn't seem worth fighting over.

(But it's not really trivial at all.)

iii.

Chad springs off the bike and says casually, "So where am I?"

Don't you mean where are we? Natalie thinks with irritation.

iv.

They get into a lot of fights. Natalie gets mad at him often, and most of the time Chad doesn't even understand why. It's completely new territory for him. After all, girls usually swoon over him rather than yell.

Natalie's not like other girls.

He figures out that a sincere apology mollifies her. Saying "what did I do?" does not.

She drives him crazy, but when he's being honest with himself, he knows he wouldn't have her any other way.

Natalie's not like other girls, and that's one of the things he loves about her.

v.

"Oh, Chad, you're wonderful," one of the girls giggles.

Natalie wants to hit something.

vi.

Natalie, in a moment of frustration, says, "You are one of the most annoying people I have ever met. You're arrogant and cocky and... you just think you're so great, don't you?"

"It's a good thing I've got you around to poke holes in my ego, then, isn't it?"

vii.

The young man grins at her and says, "I've never seen a girl on a motorbike with a leather jacket."

Natalie smiles back and says, "I'm not most girls."

"Yeah, I can see that."

Natalie's annoyed with Chad at the moment, so she flirts with the guy until Chad shows up, seemingly out of nowhere.

He says, "Hey, Natalie, I had some issues with the bike, you think you could give me a hand?" He slings an arm around her shoulders and practically drags her away, glaring at the other guy as he does.

She's angry for a brief moment, until she realizes: Chad was jealous.

She grins to herself, amused, and follows him willingly back to the bike (which turns out to be working fine).

viii.

About two months into their road trip, Natalie has had enough. She tells Chad she's going home, and, since they've both been traveling on Chad's motorcycle, goes and buys a ticket on the morning bus.

Chad leaves town, but by the time he's a few miles away, he has had time to imagine going back to the way things were before Natalie.

Traveling from town to town. Meeting people, and leaving them behind, and meeting more people, and leaving them behind, too.

The idea of being alone, which seemed so natural before, frightens him. Especially when he compares it to what things have been like with Natalie. Fights, yes, but laughter, too. The last eight weeks have been some of the best and worst of his life.

He realizes that he doesn't want Natalie to leave.

So he goes after her.

ix.

Natalie picks up the guitar. She's never played it before, and has only the vaguest idea how, but she can't stand sitting around and doing nothing any more.

She and Chad just had one of their more serious fights, and it ended with him storming off. She feels angry still, but mostly she's just sad. Why do they fight so much, anyway?

"Maybe we just don't belong together," Natalie whispers aloud, but it hurts to think about. In an attempt to distract herself, she plucks awkwardly at the strings of the guitar.

"You're holding it wrong," Chad says from behind her.

She jerks with surprise, almost dropping the guitar.

"Here. Like this." He is very close behind her now, his hands guiding her own into a better position. "There. Now try playing something."

With painstaking slowness, Chad shows her where to place her fingers and which strings to pluck, until she is able to play a sequence of several notes.

"Try it a little faster," he suggests.

Natalie does so, and recognizes it as Chad sings softly in her ear, "Love me tender, love me sweet..." He continues past the end of her music, "Never let me go..."

And suddenly he's walking away. Natalie misses the way his arms felt around her, and it belatedly occurs to her that she was mad at him a few minutes ago. Somehow, that doesn't seem so important any more.

"I hate feeling like your sidekick." Her mouth moves without her consent, and she wonders, What am I doing?

Another, perhaps more rational part of her head says, What you should have done a long time ago.

Chad turns. "What?"

Natalie fidgets, but there's no turning back now, so she says, "You just always seem to take charge, and all the girls swoon over you, and you always drive and I always don't and I just... I didn't want that."

Chad says quietly, "You never said so."

It's not an accusation, but it makes her uncomfortable anyway. She says, a little too sharp, "It sounded stupid when I said it in my head, all right?"

"You don't sound stupid. I..." He falls silent for a long moment and says, "I've always had sidekicks. Every town, I'd pick up a different one. But that's not what I wanted when I asked you to marry me."

She's glad she said no now. She has a feeling that Chad is, too. Their relationship is complicated enough as it is.

"And it's not what I want now. I never meant to act like you were a sidekick, but it's habit by this point. A habit that I need to break. Because what I really want is a partner."

Natalie whispers, "I want that, too."

Chad smiles at her. It's oddly hesitant, for him. He says, "So how 'bout we try again?"

She nods. "I'd like that."

x.

Natalie trudges after Chad, saying, "At least it all worked out this time," as she glances back at the town. Everyone is happy in that little town. At least for now.

"Yeah," Chad agrees as they reach the bike. With a slight smile on his face, he makes an 'after-you' gesture toward the bike.

Natalie stares at him, momentarily incredulous, before it sinks in. She gets on the bike, driving for the first time in ten weeks, and Chad gets on behind her.

As the town fades away in the rear-view mirrors, Natalie thinks, Maybe this might work out after all.

Their relationship is not what she expected. It certainly hasn't brought her a fairytale happy ending. It's flawed, without enough of a foundation, and dangerously fragile.

But maybe, just maybe, and against all the odds, it might last.