"This is ridiculous," Veronica hisses as she shuffles through her desk drawers. We're in her old bedroom, untouched by her parents except for the black curtains. They took them down before giving us her old room. They said we can stay as long as we need. I don't know how long that'll be.

"Listen," I say calmly, placing my hands over my wife's. Her wedding band sparkles in the light. "We will figure this out. No matter what, we aren't alone. We have each other. Nothing is tearing our love apart, I promise you that. And if we have to, we can always pile into the car and drive off. We have free will. Your parents can't make us do anything. I know none of this is ideal, but we will figure this out."

She sighs. "I know."

I run my hands down her arms and back up again, my fingers trailing gently. She smiles ever so slightly. "I'm sorry that this has all kind've gone to shit."

She shakes her head. "It's my fault. I could've walked away. Made them think they're seeing things. We could've escaped."

"You deserved to see your parents."

Veronica bites her lip. "I have an idea."

"What?"

"What if… what if we pretended it was all a sham."

"What do you mean?"

"We could come forward to the newspapers and tell them the story we told our parents. I think it could work. We could be cleared. We could go to college, live a normal life."

"You think it'll work?"

"I think it's worth the risk. Worst-case scenario we go to jail."

I chuckle. "I doubt that. It's been too long, they've buried any evidence."

"True." Veronica shuts her desk drawer that she was sorting through. "I think we should deal with this in the morning. We're still technically newlyweds. We never got a honeymoon."

I wrap my arms around her. "What are you suggesting, Darling?"

"A honeymoon in Sherwood. What could be more romantic than that?"

I kiss below her ear. "I'm for it if you are."

"I am."

That's just what we do.


A week later, Veronica's tapping her fingers on the desktop as we wait in a newspaper editor's office. We were interviewed just hours before. It went over without a hitch. We might just make it out of this alive.

When we're finally let free from the crowded newspaper office in downtown, Veronica and I drive back to her house. Her family's adapted, her father and I discussed our marriage. I 'asked' for his blessing and he said he would've given it anyways. Her mother is still a little wary of me though.

I think everything is going to work out.

In July, on Veronica's birthday, her parents say since they missed her big eighteenth birthday, they're combining her gifts from the two years. Since she no longer desires such a fancy college education and is settling for a two-year community college program and two years at Ohio State, they splurge.

Now Veronica is slowly slipping off the t-shirt she used as a swimsuit cover-up and is stepping into the little hot tub next to me. I pull her into my lap and she straddles me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I love you," she whispers.

"I love you too." I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her temple. I look out at the stars and the moonlight glistening off the ocean.

Her gift was a belated honeymoon. A three-day trip to a Flordia beach. Since we also had no big wedding, they upgraded our room. We have a little private jacuzzi on our small balcony. We fly home late tomorrow night.

I run my fingers through her hair and kiss her. She smiles. "I'm so glad this is working out," she murmurs.

"A miracle." I tangle my other hand in her hair and pull her face closer to mine. My lips brush against hers as I say, "You're beautiful."

Veronica grins and kisses me. She unties her swimsuit top and slips it off. "Better?"

"I never complained." I kiss her again and again. She tastes like champagne and her signature nicotine and strawberries. She rests her head on my chest after a moment, looking at the stars too.

"I like to think that the stars all have a story. A message for us. They're the great heroes who died in battle to protect their country or the mother's who traded their lives for their children. We can learn from them, learn their lessons."

"Oh yeah?" I kiss her gently. "You, my dear, will make the most lovely star."

She chuckles. "I'm no star."

"Oh Veronica, you are simply too stelliferous!" I massage her shoulders.

She sighs. "I think that the galaxy's gained a good thousand stars that April. So many lessons to learn. So many mistakes I have to make right. One day, maybe, I can make it right. Somehow."

"I think you are a genius." I turn her face towards mine and gaze into her dark, deep blue eyes. "I can see stars in your eyes. I've learned so many things from you."

"Have you now?" She kisses the hollow of my neck.

"Yes. You are my Asteria. I adore you more than anything."

"Mh." She smiles. "You are my Erebus. You're no star. You're the whole night." She shifts a little so she can wrap her arms around my neck. "I don't deserve you."

"Well, I don't deserve you, Darling." I kiss her neck tenderly. "But yet you are all mine."

"We're soulmates," she purrs.

"Yes. Soulmates, my Asteria."