She had climbed to the backseat and gotten dressed in the small space back there. He had kept his eyes on the road only. It didn't matter he had already seen her in her underwear the night before. She didn't deserve him peeking at her in the rear view mirror.

"I left your shirt back there," she said as she climbed back to the front seat.
"It's fine," he said.
"Thank you for letting me borrow it," she said.
"You can keep it if you like," he turned his head and smiled at her. "As a reminder of me."
"I'd actually like that," she smiled back.

He parked the car, grabbed her bag and walked her into the airport.

"So what's he like, this uncle of yours?" He asked.
"He's my mom's brother and she was always so embarrassed of him. He's an artistic person and in her world that isn't a real job even though he's done alright for himself selling his paintings and sculptures," she answered.
"So she cut contact with him because of that?" He asked.
"Yeah, my mom was a snob," she sighed. "Uncle Adam is a really good man. I can't wait to see him again. He taught me how to turn garbage into art."

He chuckled as he looked at her. Just half a day earlier he had seen that face all painted with fear, now it was painted with hope.

"Garbage?" He asked.
"Yeah, you know. Shampoo bottles, tires, whatever speaks to your imagination," she answered.
"So you're a little garbage princess," he chuckled.
"I can't wait to start crafting again," she said.

He shook his head slightly as he watched her. She was so young, way too young to have experienced what she already had, and yet she was so strong and not about to let the bad episodes in her life bring her down.

"Where to?" He asked as they stopped to buy her a ticket.
"Uncle Adam said to call him when I was here. He'll book the ticket," she said.
"Screw that. I'm paying," he smiled. "So where to?"

After buying her ticket, he walked her to check in. She seemed a bit nervous but also happy at the same time.

"You take care of yourself, alright? I won't be around to save you again," he said.
"You're talking as if you're expecting me to get into trouble again," she said.
"You're still young. You're gonna get into a bunch of trouble," he laughed.
"Thank you, Dean. If it hadn't been for you, I don't know where I would be right now," she said.
"Ssh, don't think like that. Just live and be happy, okay? And if you ever miss me, turn on your tv Monday night. You'll see me beat up a bunch of guys," he said.
"I'll do that. And if you ever need to check up on me, uncle Adam's number is already listed in your call log," she said.
"Oh yeah, hadn't thought about that," he smiled. "I might do that."

She smiled back at him before walking over to join the line. He kept standing there, watching her, thinking to himself this was gonna be one hell of a story to share with the guys later that night when he arrived. Suddenly she turned around, ran out of the line and jumped up into his arms. He held her up as she grabbed his face and planted her lips on his in a soft kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Really, thank you so much."
"Take care, garbage princess," he whispered back.

She jumped back out of his arms and went back to the line. This time she followed it, only turning her head once she had handed her ticket to the woman at the end, giving him one last smile before she disappeared out of view.