Blue Moon was playing over the intercom when Kaylee walked in wearing a blue dress that went down to her knees. The dance had already started and so had Jolene's fun from the looks of it. She was grinding against Erik when she saw her friend.

"Kaylee you came!" she hurried over, wobbling on her heels.

Kaylee couldn't help but giggle at her friend, "I think you should learn how to walk in heels a bit better before you try running on those."

"Haha," she responded sarcastically. "Did you slip out of that dress on the way home?" she smiled mischievously. She was just happy she was in a dress that was trying to

"Why would you do that to me? I could understand getting a laugh out of me ripping the dress with a simple movement, but did you have to call those jerks in?"

"I was just trying to get you a kiss girl, settle down."

"Well just stop trying to make it happen."

"Kyle is looking for you."

Kaylee looked at Jolene scornfully, "When isn't he? Everyone in town makes it seem like I'm going to get with him whether I care or not." Her life would be set if she did. The Mayor made enough caps to support a small family if the person chose. It was also the reason why her mother wanted her to marry the boy. She was always going about how she wanted her to be safe and raise a family in peace.

"Well maybe if you just, you know…" Jolene teased.

"When I'm ready or the right guy comes around. Get back to Erik, he seems to be angry that I interrupted your grinding on him."

Jolene giggled as she walked back over to Erik. Kaylee navigated through the crowd to the small table in one of the back rooms. She searched the mass of people for Michael who had seemed interested to see her here. She was swaying back and forth as she gave up looking for him. Everyone in town seemed to be here, but not Michael. Thankfully Kyle hadn't spotted her yet. Most of the older folk stood off to the side talking about news outside of the town. They mostly talked about the movements of the Vipers lately. What had peaked her interest was that of the Legion. It was something about increased activity in around the town of Searchlight and the possible chance they were moving west.

"Kaylee, there you are!" She let out a deep sigh, why did he have to find her before she found Michael, she turned to face Kyle. "Thought you would never turn up."
"Hello Kyle," she spoke flatly and uninterested.

"Jolene said you weren't coming." Before she could respond he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, "Come one lets go dance." He led her to the center of the building where the dance floor was. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his back. He proceeded to do the same except his hand had drifted further down her back and was almost on her ass. "Kaylee?"

"What is it Kyle?" They began swaying back and forth.

"Have you given any thought to going out with him again?" one corner of his mouth cracked in to a smile.

"How many times do I have to tell you that if I wanted to go out with you, I would let you know."

He let out a chuckle, "Come Kaylee, you don't have to play hard to get." His hand slid down and gave her ass a squeeze.

"Kyle!" she snapped at him. "Don't do that." His smile widen as he pulled her into him. "Just stop I don't want to dance anymore."

"I'm not though," he responded assertively.

She tried to push away from but felt his grip tightening on her shoulder, "Kyle, this isn't funny."

"I'm not laughing am I," his voice was stern.

Her heart began to beat faster; she glanced around to see if others had heard their conversation. No one had noticed in the slightest bit what was happening between the two. He wouldn't hurt her here, he had no way to keep her from making it obvious what he did. Although she couldn't just shove him away, everyone would just think he was innocent. She bit her lip as she couldn't think of what to do. The song ended and 'Where Have You Been All My Life?' started. He didn't let her go nor did she try to break his grip.

They swayed back and forth for a few seconds before Kaylee gulped and as calmly as she could speak, "Kyle, I've had enough dancing for now. Why don't you go get us something to drink?" She looked up into his eyes and let her lips twitch into a small smile.

His tone returned back to the usual poor charming voice, "Kaylee dear, I'd rather just spend more time like this." His hand moved back to her lower back as he began to gently rub. "You need to relax to, no one is going to hurt you."

"Please?" she caressed his neck. Kaylee was hated herself for doing this. She was just leading him on and was going to only make things worse. She just wanted to be out of his arms.

"A few more songs, then I'll go get us something."

She bit her cheek to hold back the disgust as she got on her tip toes as best as she could in the heels and gave him a peck on the cheek. She rested her head against his chest and asked in a quiet voice, "Please Kyle, I'm thirsty."

After a few seconds Kyle pushed her gently away by the shoulders so there was about a foot between them. "Alright, I'll go get us something."

"Kaylee?" someone spoke behind her.

Her eyes lit with delight, but mostly relief, "Michael, how are you?" He was wearing dirty dress pants with a flannel shirt.

"Just fine now that I'm talking to you."

Kyle had stepped behind Kaylee and taken hold of her arm tightly, "Michael how nice of you to show up. A little under dressed though."

"It's not really my thing but I decided to come," he spoke casually. "Thought I might ask for a dance from Kaylee."

"She's not here with you." Kyle responded defensively.

"Neither is she here with you from my understanding," he countered. He took hold of Kaylee's hand and began guiding her over to him. Reluctantly Kyle let go and mumbled something about getting drinks.

"Oh my god, thank you for getting rid of that fucking asshole." She couldn't help herself as she gave him a hug. She was blushing as she moved away.

"Let's head outside, you know, to avoid that asshole," he suggested with a friendly smile.

Kaylee smiled brightly back and walked with him to the door. Once outside, they went around to the side of the building. They leaned against the wall, neither spoke. The night was cool and the sky was clear revealing the beautiful night sky.

'This would be nice,' she thought, 'to spend the nights underneath the stars like this.' She knew she would need someone to protect her if she was to wander the Mojave. It was dangerous out there, but how much more dangerous than sitting in a town waiting to be raided by the Vipers?

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you," Michael began, breaking the silence. "I wanted to ask you earlier but my dad said it would be best to ask you now." Kaylee gazed at him with curious eyes as she tried to figure out what he was going to say. "I was going to ask you a bit sooner but Kyle wasn't going to let go of his prize," he quipped.

"Ugh, don't remind me please. He thinks I'm his simply because everyone expects us to be together."

"Because he's the mayor son and you're the prettiest girl in town." Kaylee was thankful that the darkness hid it.

"Please, everyone keeps saying that, Heather is just as if not prettier than me," she attempted to downplay herself. He gave a simple chuckle to himself.

"Well listen, you know how you've always wanted to travel? Well my dad is letting me bring someone with me while we head up to Goodsprings."

"How long of a trip are you talking about?"

"It won't be more than a day," he responded, scratching the back of his head. "Oh, and we're leaving tonight."

"I'll go," she answered quickly.

"Well I'm gonna head over to my house and tell my dad, best get changed and fill a bag with some food and water. We'll come get you."

Kaylee had stripped out of her dress and into her converse shoes, jeans, and long-sleeved shirt like her life depended on it. They were out of the town five minutes after she had left to go to her house. She couldn't remember the last time she was this excited. Finally she was going to get to live her dream a little. Even if it was for one day, she was sure she would enjoy it. She didn't even want to think of what her mother was going to do once she found out. She simply just moved the thoughts to the side so she could enjoy her little journey.

They left the town through the west gate and went off the road to cut through Ivanpah Race Track. They assured Kaylee that they didn't need to worry about anything out here since the giant ants hide in their burrows at night. They were right. The path they took was empty of anything but the silent breeze that would drag a small cloud of dirt along. It wasn't more than two hours later that they were back on the road. Michael explained that they had cut off about another hour or two simply by walking across the track.

This was exactly what she had expected to be like, just some friends walking the old roads of the years before, enjoying the night air. Michael's father would tell them stories of the times he walked this path over the years. He attempted to make Kaylee believe that a UFO came down one time and took a bighorn off in the distance. She just laughed and went with it for the sake of him dropping the subject. Most of his stories consisted of those from men who were part of caravans. The story that stuck to her most was one she wasn't sure if she believed in it. It was the tale of the Lone Wanderer. It's hard to believe that the man exited a vault in search of his dad only to end up bringing pure water to the D.C Wasteland.

They were twenty minutes outside of Primm when the sky was beginning to brighten. Gunfire filled the air from the east. Michael's father sent them ahead quickly while he sprinted off the road with his assault rifle drawn. Michael pulled them off the road and into the rocky hills while he kept the road in sight. It wasn't long before the night filled with gunfire again. Looking back they could see the muzzle flash of guns. It appeared to be five against one. Michael grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her in the direction of Goodsprings. She was shaking uncontrollably.

This was supposed to be a simple walk to Goodsprings and back. There shouldn't have been any trouble. They assured her that the NCR had these roads protected well enough from any dangerous people. It didn't help when they stopped for a brief moment when Michael handed her a 10mm pistol with fear clear across his face. She would have stopped long ago and curled up into a ball crying in fear. Somehow Michael kept going at a brisk pace pulling, always making sure to keep Kaylee with him.

They stopped when the sun was almost in the middle of the sky. Kaylee broke down the minute she sat down. Tears were flowing like a river from her eyes as she tried to keep her sobbing quiet.

"Kaylee you have to drink some water, we can't stay here long if those men…"he trailed off only making her cry harder. He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting manner. Humming quietly he rocked her back and forth. The sudden squawking in the hills around them caused Michael to stiffen. "Kaylee, you have to get up now, and be strong. We have to go." He kept his voice low.

A gecko came sprinting over a rock at them. Michael quickly reached up with his gun and began firing. Every shot missed, but caused the thing to scramble in an attempt to escape the bullets. Another gecko sprang out to their right and charged. The gecko caught Michael by surprise and chomped down onto his leg and began flailing around viciously. Kaylee whipped her gun up, arms shaking, and fired twice. The gecko's body went limp and lay still.

"Fuck!" Michael screamed out in pain, grabbing his leg.

"Michael," Kaylee screamed back brushing tears out of her eyes. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean too."

"Just-just had me your belt." She yanked off her belt and handed it to him. He tightened it around his thigh. He searched his backpack, pulling out bandages and a stimpak. He jabbed his leg just above the bite and bullet wound. He wrapped his leg up and threw everything into the bag. He kept glancing around nervously looking for more geckos. "Alright help me up. We're almost to Goodsprings."

She bent over and helped him up, he groaned in pain as he stood. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry," her voice trembled.

"We'll talk about it later, we just need to take one step at a time."

They continued, making their way for the road. Michael limped on with one arm around Kaylee's neck. She was using all her strength to help him stand as they struggled forward. He had taken the gun from her and would fire behind them every time he thought he heard geckos.

When they finally had gotten in sight of Goodsprings, Michael was breathing heavily and sweating badly. Kaylee couldn't help but notice that she was practically caring him now. Her muscles ached and she didn't know how much longer she could carry him. They fell to their knees, Michael sliding out of her arms and onto the ground. Someone with a dog was running towards them calling something out, but she couldn't hear before falling over herself.