They were driving in silence again. For the first time, Jake had turned the music off and was freezing her out. Rose wasn't sure what had happened. They'd pulled into a gas station outside of Grant, Oklahoma, on their way to Texas. Reaching Texas would mean that they were halfway through their journey and Jake had memory cards full of photos to document it and they'd been in high spirits as Rose had gone into pay. Jake had followed her in, keeping up a running dialogue of whether the taste of an energy drink would ruin the flavour of the candy bar he was craving so did she think he should get a coffee instead? They'd had similar conversations before so Rose had just reminded him he always preferred the coffee in the end and that's when the counter clerk had spoken.

"Hey, you look familiar."

She'd been looking at Jake when she'd said it, but Rose hadn't thought anything of it. They weren't in a town they'd ever been in – never mind the fact that neither of them had ever been in the state before – and she knew for a fact there was no way that the pretty, dark-haired woman behind the counter had ever seen Jake before. But, Jake had gone pale and bolted out the door without even glancing at the chocolate he'd been so invested in.

It had been quiet ever since and it had really made Rose wonder. In retrospect, she probably would have reacted the same way if someone had said they knew who she was but she was a fugitive. Of sorts. Jake had always just given off the impression that he was a willing runaway.

Rose pulled into the first motel that she saw and they each collected their own bags, as was their habit. In a world where they shared everything else, anything in the bag was sacred. He ended up a few steps ahead of her as they went into the check in office and Rose was relieved he asked for their usual – a single bed. It meant that he wasn't avoiding her.

When they were clean and tucked into bed, Jake's arms curled around her, pulling her into him. She'd been far on her side of the bed, settled into what Jake called her 'corpse pose' which she didn't find as restful now that she new what it was like to sleep wrapped around Jake.

Rose turned so that her face was against Jake's chest. She didn't have to wait long before he spoke, opening up to her in hushed tones.

"I'm sorry. I freaked out back there but I shouldn't have frozen you out. My … my grandfather is really traditional and he …"

Jake's breath hitched and Rose ran her fingers across his bicep, visualizing the dragon tattoo she'd memorized. She waited patiently for him to start up again and finally the words came tumbling out.

"He's prolific in certain circles. It was always thought, well, expected, really that I would be the same way. Part of me liked it but I was so young when he started teaching me about it that I just … didn't see what the consequences would be and when the consequences happened, it was big. I needed to get away from him, away from that. I wanted my own perspective and I don't want to go home until I'm ready for everything that's waiting for me. I was just so scared that if she recognized me then word would get back to him and I'd be right back to where I was before I met you."

"Odds are, you just look like someone she knew," Rose said, trying to be comforting but not really knowing how. "And they won't know if we're coming from Texas or going to or literally any other direction. You don't have to be worried. You're safe with me."

Jake let out a little laugh and then wrapped her in a hug so tight that Rose was crushed against his chest. She hugged him back with all she had too.

"I feel safe with you," Jake assured her.

"You are," Rose said, thinking that she could never tell him just how safe he was. But, he had shared something with her: been more vulnerable with her than she ever would have expected. It made her realize that she wanted to be vulnerable with him in the same way. "I feel safe with you too."

He kissed her forehead and Rose took a deep breath.

"I'm not Amish. I'm not a mobster's daughter."

"You don't have to tell me anything because I told you –"

"I want to," Rose assured him, "I grew up in a cult, Jake. You were the first person I ever spoke to who wasn't in the cult. They wanted to make the outside world so scary – there was something big and bad coming that we had to be ready to fight against. People don't get to leave and that's why I can't go back to New York. They have long memories; I'd never be safe."

"A cult? In New York?"

Rose laughed despite herself, glad that his disbelief was able to pull her from her memories so quickly. "You thought there were Amish people in the middle of the city!"

"Well, yeah, but they're just people. I know I don't really watch the news but people would know about a cult, right?"

"No," Rose said. "You wouldn't. Not every cult makes the news, they just exist in whatever crazy sphere they've picked to be theirs. And that's the worst part – they're just people too. Even so, they weren't people that I could stay with anymore or share beliefs with anymore."

Jake kissed her forehead. "I'm … I'm really glad that it was you that picked me up."

"Me too."

Jake rolled into her, Rose turning onto her back as he kissed her on the lips. She'd never been so vulnerable with another person in the so many ways that she'd been vulnerable with him and Rose found herself revelling in every minute of it. Just as she'd wanted to when she had first set out on the journey that might have, arguably, been a hairbrained venture, she was realizing who she was, who she was supposed to have been.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Rodeo, obviously," Jake said. "We are in Texas. But I don't want to talk about tomorrow. Let's stay focused on tonight."

He was convincing and they stayed up late, wrapped up in one another. When the sun was shining into the room the next morning, Rose didn't want to get up. It was probably the first time in her life that she could have juts laid in bed and been lazy all day. She couldn't let herself, though. She wasn't here to stare at the same four walls. She pulled herself up and Jake groaned, rolling over.

"Bring coffee on your way back," he grunted, and then his head went under the pillow.

Rose went for her jog and picked up their coffees. On her way back, she started to notice how busy the streets were. Maybe it wasn't unusual for small town Texas to have that many cars on the road but it looked like every resident must have been out. She walked slowly back to the motel room, trying to figure out what was going on. There was also a crackling energy in the air – the people in the cars seemed to be excited. It felt to Rose that something had to be going on. She was nearly back to the motel when she caught sight of the poster, announcing that this weekend was the town's rodeo. It was a two day affair and she could hear Jake crafting an argument about staying here for two days. Even though he didn't know about the rodeo yet, even though he knew how resistant she was to spending two nights in one place, Rose knew that Jake would want to be there when they crowned the rodeo queen.

She could just get them out of there and never mention the rodeo to Jake but that felt dishonest. She'd been honest about the fact when she was lying to him, however, and so she didn't think that she could look him in the eye and lie to him now. It was ironic, really, since she'd never been honest in her previous life. But, as she unlocked the door to their room, she realized that it was easier to be honest with strangers. Not that Jake was a stranger anymore, since she knew his frou-frou coffee order and the first sound he made in the morning when he stretched and all of the little things that he had let himself reveal. They were almost always talking – through the car rides and the slow moments before they fell asleep together – and so Rose could claim that she knew him. Probably in a different way than anyone else did. Perhaps not as well as the people that he had grown up with and had shared all of those experiences with, but in a different way that she could call her own.

She let herself back into their room where Jake was drying himself off with a towel.

"There's a rodeo in town this weekend," Rose said quickly, putting his coffee down on the desk. "I saw people driving in when I was on my way back."

"Oh, hell yes," Jake said. "Hey, do you think they'll let just anyone ride a bull?"

"You couldn't even stay on a horse that wasn't moving, I don't think that you should get on a bull."

Jake sipped his coffee and then tossed his towel to the side. Rose didn't even bother to avert her eyes. There was no shyness between the two of them anymore, which Rose loved. She had spent her entire life surrounded by people but isolated from them at the same time. It was so strange and so thrilling that there could be a human out there that she was so comfortable with. That she could be herself with. And it was the herself that she had wanted to discover when they left New York.

"Maybe a mechanical bull," Jake said. He quickly dressed and then picked his coffee back up. "Come on! Get ready! I want to go."

Rose took her sweet time with her morning routine, knowing how impatient Jake could be. She just didn't see much point to getting to the rodeo grounds early. They were probably still starting to get set up and who wanted to be the first one wandering around?

It was early afternoon by the time they reached the grounds. For a town that was so small, the rodeo was clearly a big deal. The grounds were crowded with the sounds of carnival rides, announcements with times of upcoming livestock events, and the chatter of people. It was the smell that was the most overwhelming for Rose – the sickly sweet scent of the candies and treats for sale didn't seem like it was something that would mix well with the smell of the animals and, yet, when Rose commented on it to Jake, he agreed that there was some kind of harmony to it all. They dined on hot dogs and cotton candy for their rodeo breakfast, eating it while wandering through the stables of livestock.

"I like this," Jake said. "It feels normal."

"Not in the middle of a city," Rose said, nodding at a pair of oxen who regarded her calmly. She was tempted to pet them, just to see if they would let her. She had always heard that animals knew more than humans did, could sense things about people that they would rather keep buried. She honestly just wanted to know if the relaxed animals would let her near them.

"You'd be surprised at what you can find in the middle of a city," Jake remarked cryptically. Rose searched his face for any hint of a deeper meaner but he just broke out into his easy smile. "I think we just ran in very different circles."

Rose couldn't disagree with that. "I don't know if we would have liked each other if we'd have met at any other point so I'm glad we did. I rather like you now, I – Hey! Jake, stop that. I take it back. I don't like you now."

Jake was still grinning, except now, her cotton candy was stuck on the edge of her lip. "I finished mine. And one of us can afford another and the other one of us is a useless bum."

"You're not entirely useless," Rose said. "You can always find a good radio station."

Jake laughed so loudly that a nearby horse flicked its ears back.

"If that's my only claim to fame on this road trip, I should probably hop off now."

Rose felt like the horse was giving her a side-eye and she kept walking, keeping her cotton candy close to her in case Jake turned into a thief again. Though she was sure that she would be able to stop him, now that she was on guard.

"What were you expecting me to say?" Rose asked.

"You could at least tell me I'm good in bed."

There were children running around and Rose carefully chose her words. She didn't have much experience with children but she knew that there were things that shouldn't be said in range of such little ears. She had been one of the children that had too much said to them too early.

"Realistically, I have no basis of comparison so –"

"Rose!" Jake exclaimed. "My ego will never recover if you finish that sentence."

He had enough ego to take a wounding, in Rose's opinion, but she didn't think that he really deserved one.

"Would you like to go on some of the rides?" she asked. "I've never been to the top of a Ferris Wheel."

"Nah." Jake waved his hand dismissively. "I mean, yes to the rides, but your first time on a Ferris Wheel should be when it's at night. That's when everything is at it's most beautiful and you deserve that."

He took her hand then and started talking about other rides, about events taking place in the exhibition arena later that were truly the point of having the weekend be called a rodeo. Rose watched his free hand wave animatedly as he spoke but she wasn't really listening to the words that he was saying. Instead, she was touched that he cared enough to want her to have the best view, to want her to have the best experience of something. While he was pointing at a ride that spun wildly and asking if she wanted to feel a thrill, Rose grabbed him and kissed him. His lips were sticky from the cotton candy but she didn't care about that, just as she didn't care about the crowds of people flowing around them.

Jake kissed her back until she felt breathless and her heart was hammering against her ribcage, and then he kissed her forehead, which left her with even more flutters.

"Come on, let's go for a ride."

Rose followed him, feeling as if it were finally safe to follow another person.

(-.-)

The Huntsmaster stared up at the night sky, feeling unsettled. He could hear the beat of dragon wings and he wished that it was the source of his discontent. From his well-concealed hiding place, the Huntsmaster sat and cursed – not simply because of a dragon but because he didn't know what dragon it was. For once, the Huntsmaster was desperately wishing to look up and see the red wings that he was familiar with, because there was a sense of rightness to the world when he knew what sort of foe he was about to come up against. There was a new player on the table, now, a brown dragon that seemed formidable – younger than the blue dragon, with more experience than the red one. He had become a common sight recently and the Huntsmaster resented it deeply. It made him feel as if there was something that he didn't know. It was something that he was sure that his Huntsgirl could have discovered – she had a way of blending in, of moving about in the world so unseen, and he mourned it every day.

He watched the brown dragon appear from overhead. A few of his bravest were trying valiantly to capture it – to find out where it came from and why it was here. The Huntsmaster watched them, half-disinterested. They were good warriors, they had proven themselves time and time again, but this dragon was not an enemy that they were used to and he had already figured out how they would fail. He wasn't interested in sharing that information – not in the slightest – and he barely watched their attempts. He needed more information but there didn't seem to be anymore information. Of course, and here he scoffed to himself, what could he hope that the Huntsclan could find out about this dragon when they couldn't even begin to figure out how to find one of their own?

As he expected, the brown dragon easily evaded his Huntsclan warriors, injuring several on his way out. The Huntsmaster turned his back on them and turned toward Huntsclan Headquarters, mourning his Huntsgirl with every step of the way.

(-.-)

Jake had never eaten so much or seen Rose eat so much, which was impressive, since she was usually the one who ate the lion's share. It reminded him of how he would eat when he was in training and was working out all the time. Not that the carnival fair they had been snacking on all day was the type of thing that he would have been allowed to eat while in training – Rose was a candy apple addict, for her usual lack of sweet tooth. She was finishing her last one of the night, as she'd said about the last one, as they finally were in the line for the Ferris wheel. There weren't many people left on the fairgrounds; the animals had been put away, many of the games closed up, and several rides had already been abandoned by their operators. He really hadn't meant to leave the Ferris wheel so last minute but there had been so much to see and do. Still, he wasn't going to let Rose not get her Ferris Wheel ride.

It was the perfect time of night to do it. The moon was out and bright and every single star was out. Jake was getting used to seeing the stars being out all the time, since they spent more time passing through small towns than they did in big cities, and he was wondering if he'd miss them when he went back to New York City. His gut tugged as he thought of it and he turned his attention back to the security bar that was being strapped over their laps. It wasn't time to go back to the city, not yet, he wasn't ready and he'd just end up running away again. He looked over at Rose who was rocking their carriage slightly and he also thought that he wasn't ready to give her up yet either. She wanted to be a nomad the rest of her life and once he walked away, how was he ever going to get to see her again? Deep down, he knew that the answer was that he wasn't.

The ride lurched and they were slowly moved backward.

"You scared?" Jake asked.

"No," she answered, in the same slightly arrogant tone that he knew she would. Rose rocked the carriage a little again, leaning to look at the ground disappearing beneath their feet. "Can I confess something?"

"Sure."

"One thing that I always wondered, and this is my guilty pleasure daydream," she warned him, "but I always wanted to know what it would be like to fly. Not, like, in an airplane but like a bird."

Jake clenched his hand around the safety bar, breathing in and out deeply and hoping she didn't notice. Rose was usually observant and the more than she got to know him, the more that he was called out on things. Tonight, she was looking at the ground and to the sky and swinging her feet. Jake was grateful for it. Wanting to fly was a normal wish and there were likely millions of people around the world who were longing to do the same. There was no way that he could explain to her that the thought of wings made his chest feel like it was going to cave in because the wings meant that he was supposed to be someone else, someone good, someone important, and he was neither important nor good.

"Why is that your biggest guilty pleasure wish?" he asked.

"Notions like that were extremely disapproved of," Rose said. "Any wishes at all, really. They told you what to wish."

Jake took her hand and squeezed it, not knowing what to say. But Rose didn't brood. Instead, her face lit up in a brilliant smile.

"You were right," she said, turning to look at him. "It was better to see this at night."

Jake leant over and kissed her gently, her hand tightening on his. She was so beautiful with her strange mix of innocence and deep knowledge, the grace that she moved with, and her never-ending curiousity. Jake couldn't remember the last time that he'd felt like this with another person, if he ever had. And, it slipped out before Jake meant for it to.

"Rose, I love you."

She whipped her head around so quickly that her long blonde hair slapped him across the face, but Jake barely blinked. The Ferris Wheel ground to a halt, leaving them at the very top, stuck in one another's company. Jake's heart thudded as he realized the consequences that could be coming. She could be about to leave him in Texas and he couldn't help but curse himself for being so stupid. He knew better – had watched friends and classmates over the years tell the summer fling that they loved them far too early, only for the one being told to take off. Jake watched Rose glance down and he thought that if she wanted off this Ferris Wheel now, she would find a way to get down. The sheer determination that she had was one of the things that he loved about her. And, he did love her. Maybe he shouldn't have said it but he did mean it.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're exactly you," Jake said. It was the one thing that he could think of to say. He didn't think he'd ever been asked why he loved someone before.

"Jake," she whispered and then she stopped and shook her head.

Her grip loosened on his hand but Jake didn't let go.

"You can say it if you feel it, if not, just know I do. You're … I'm glad I'm getting to spend this time with you, in particular that's all," Jake said awkwardly. "Know I feel it. Know someone loves you. That's all."

Rose inhaled sharply and then the Ferris Wheel started up again, taking them back down to the ground. Jake watched her but Rose was drinking in the view. He wished that she was easier to read, but most of the time, her face were a blank slate and her eyes were like a shut door. There was nothing in her body language that he could use to figure out if she was going to pick up her bag from their motel room, get in her car, and leave him standing there.

She kept a hold of his hand as the carriage glided down to the platform and the operator swung open the safety bar. They walked together in silence back toward their motel. When they were off the fairgrounds, Rose cleared her throat.

"I've never been loved, Jake, and I've never loved anyone. I don't know what any of it means."

"When you feel something like that, I think you just know," Jake said. "It just slipped out because I felt it so strongly."

Rose pulled him to a stop, staring into his eyes. "Tonight was amazing. And, I've really enjoying being with you. I didn't think I wanted to do this with anyone but I'm glad that I found you."

"I'm glad you found me too."

Jake's hand slid to the back of her neck and he pulled her in tightly for a kiss. She held onto him with all of her strength and he couldn't help but think that whether or not she loved him back, even if it had slipped out without his intending to, he meant it: he loved her. This weird girl who had almost run him over, who had slowly let him in and had found her way into the deepest parts of him. He wanted to spill everything to her, tell her the truth on why he ran away – something that he had barely admitted to himself in the deepest recesses in his mind.

"Come on," Rose said. "We've had a long day and we've got an early morning."

She took his hand, swinging it lightly between them as she led the way back to the hotel room. It wasn't an 'I love you' back but Jake didn't need that. She was just Rose and that was more than enough.

Whoops, not dead! Sorry about regular updates, but I'm experiencing some severe burnout on my end. So, I've been working slowly and taking lots of bubble baths. I hope you are all keeping up with your self-care! I'll see you on the next update!

Let me know what you think of the chapter and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!

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