After following a very vague text from Keas, Marcy finds herself before a long, wide pier. She can hear the music from the ferris wheel from where she stands by her car at the back of the parking lot. She can hear the calls of the vendors trying to attract people to their stalls of wears. She sees one lone roller coaster and a few places to eat and play arcade games. The festival may not be as grand as Marcy had hoped but at least she can see Keas playing a game and having fun.

As Marceline makes her way over to him, Keas keeps his focus on the target in front of him. Situated between a t-shirt stand and a stall selling sunglasses (and bongs) is a temporary target game where you gain prizes based on points earned. With a skilled hand Keas whips the throwing dart with expert precision. Bullseye! The dart lands smack dab in the middle of the target. The few girls who had come to crowd around the muscular man let out cheers and congratulations; they had all been drawn in by his "bad boy" appearance. The fact that he hasn't spoken and has gotten a bullseye 5/5 times adds to his attractiveness to the ladies.

"Amazing!" the male vendor exclaims, his eyes wide. "I've never had anyone get all five!" His statement only caused the bikini wearing girls to ogle at him even more. "What prize would you like? You can have any!"

"I would love that large teddy bear!" a blonde woman tells him, running her hand down his arm.

"No way, you skank! He's gonna get me those earrings!" a brunette responds, putting her hand on his broad shoulder.

Keas' eyes move to the different items mentioned by the arguing women around him. A blue hand fan, a large panda bear, a pair of cat ears, and so on. Finally he spots a keychain that's fairly simple in design. It's round on the top half while the bottom half is a bottle opener. In the circle is a yellow background with the silhouette of a spiral hill with 2 people standing on top. On the left of them it reads "We are simply" and continues on the right with "meant to be." The traditional keyring is replaced with a metal clasp that can clip around something. Keas can't help the smile that comes to his lips as he points it out. "This one," his deep voice cuts through the higher pitched ones of the women.

The vendor looks at him quizzically. "Are you sure? That's one of our prizes for making 20 points." Keas gives a strong nod. The man shrugs and proceeds to give him the keychain.

"That's kind of cute! Is that for me?" the shortest of the girls asks him. He glances to her before shaking his head. As the other women seem to bicker over who the keychain is for Keas spots Marcy walking down the pier toward him. She smiles and waves from where she is and from what Keas can tell she also speeds up her pace a bit. He decides it's best to meet her halfway across the distance so he begins walking away from the stall and the befuddled women.

"Hey Keas!" Marcy calls as they grow closer. "I'm so glad to see you're alright. That was very brave of you to do that." They each take the final few steps to come face to face with one another. Marcy wraps her arms around his shoulders in a warm hug. Keas wastes no time in wrapping his arms innocently around her waist and pulling her to him. "Thank you for saving me again," she tells him with her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what I would do without you."

A kind of fluttering feeling grows within Keas whom has become far too used to the occurrence. Ever since the first time he saved her life he has felt the flutter of his heart when she gives her thanks. It's never more than some simple means like a hug or a home cooked meal, but the warm smile she gives him makes it all worthwhile, although he can never gain the courage to mention it to her. She's done so much for him that he doesn't even know how to repay her. A bright smile crosses his lips as he pushes her away a bit to break the hug before fetching the keychain from his pocket. Without a single doubt in his mind he holds it out for her.

"I won this for you," he says simply. It doesn't come out as casually as he had tried to make it, but Marcy smiles nonetheless. With smooth hands she accepts the keychain from him. She looks it over with a slight smile and for just a couple seconds Keas worries that she might not like it.

"You really got this for me?" she asks. He grins when he nods to her. She takes hold of the clip and hooks it to the belt loop on her right so it hangs at the front of her hipbone. "This is lovely! Thank you. I'll wear it all the time." She takes ahold of his hand and starts off back toward the festival. "Come on! Let's go see what else is there!" Keas feels his heart grow warm as he follows her loyally.

Marcy and Keas walk around the small festival hand in hand looking at the different attractions. They had just finished eating at the hotdog food cart (the peanuts from the plane really didn't do much). Keas suddenly juts his arm in front of Marcy to point at the "Ferris Whale" ride. "Can we?" he asks. Without giving him a proper response Marcy smiles as she pulls him over to the line. As they wait in line silently Marcy ignores the conversations of the people around them. Keas, however, isn't as lucky. First he hears the hushed voice of the woman standing behind him.

"He looks pretty dangerous. I bet you he's got a criminal record for sure," she says.

"Yeah, no doubt. I wonder if he's ever killed anyone," the teen next to her responds.

"Mom, look! It's an Ichigo mask! Can I get one?" he hears a kid by about 14 shout. He glances over just as the mother looks at him. She gives a soft gasp before taking her son's hand and pulling him away.

"We don't talk to people like that, hun. They're nothing but trouble." Keas quickly looks away from the two after her hurtful statement. It's true that no matter where they go trouble seems to follow. For as long as he can remember he has been fighting to survive in this world.

Marcy turns to look at Keas after noticing that he hadn't moved up with the line and sees the troubled look on his face. Pain squeezes at her chest as her heart aches for him. She knows the things people say about him; she hears it every day, and every single person who has bad mouthed him is on her personal hit list. People are so judgmental these days. Whatever happened to not judging a book by its cover? Marcy grasps his hand firmly and snaps him out of his thoughts. They both exchange sad smiles before climbing into the ferris wheel cart. Once the wheel starts moving Marcy decides to try and cheer up her friend across from her. "You know," she begins, "I never got the chance to tell you of your memory last night." Keas' eyes instantly light up.

From what Keas had told her after they first met, he has no recollection of his childhood. The farthest back his memory goes is when he woke up in a basic medical room where the doctor told him that he had suffered a concussion. He had received it after a fight broke out in the lunchroom of the jail he was in. He then spent 2 more years in jail for a crime he didn't remember committing before being released into a world he knew nothing about. He turned 27 just a few weeks after being released (the doctor was nice enough to tell him his birthdate), and just a couple months after that was when Marcy came into his life. After being in each other's lives for almost a year Keas began waking up in the middle of the night and sleepwalking into Marcy's room where he would relay to her the events of his memory he dreamed of. The first night he woke himself up before leaving his room and said nothing to Marcy, not wanting to disturb her. However, after waking up he forgot a majority of the memory. Since then any time he wakes with a memory he goes to Marcy right away in his half-asleep state and tells her all the little details. She then relays the memory back to him when he's fully awake and he's able to restore that memory.

Keas leans forward in his seat and is visibly excited to gain another piece of his past. Marcy clears her throat. "You were 21 almost 22 years old at the time. You had just gotten off probation for a reason you couldn't remember. You were working for a road construction company and had decided to go grab a few drinks after work. Your coworker Mark had suggested the location so you, him and 2 others had gone together. The youngest of the group was the DD-" Marcy spots his confused expression, "the designated driver."

"Oh. Ok, keep going," he murmurs.

"Right. You were talking and having a great time when you heard a commotion. A woman with light brown hair and a pretty face had just dumped her drink on a man saying he put a pill in it. He was trying to convince her that she was imagining things, but you and her both weren't convinced. She left in a huff, her skirt going down just above her knees. Not even a minute passed when the man followed after her. You gave him one minute before telling your coworkers that you were going out for a smoke. You headed out the door and heard a trash can fall over shortly after. When you followed the noise to an alley a building over you found that same man pinning the woman down. He had her skirt pulled up to her hips and both arms pinned with one of his. He was just finishing up pulling his pants down when you pulled him off of her. As the woman covered herself you got in a fight with the man. Your vision ran red after seeing his bleeding face." Before Marcy could continue the story, their carriage stopped at the bottom of the ride. Neither of them moves when the operator comes up to the doorway.

"Alright, you two; party's over," the overweight man tells them. Marcy rummages through her purse before pulling out a hundred dollar bill and handing it to the 50-something year old.

"Here. We're done when I tell you so," she tells him calmly. The man holds the bill up to the light before stuffing it in his pocket and patting the side of the cart.

"Sure thing, little lady. Just say the word." With that dealt with their ride resumes and Marcy continues her story.

"You grabbed the man by his hair and slammed it repeatedly into the brick wall after a good fight. 'Don't ever take advantage of women!' you yelled in his face when you were done. You dropped him and he fell limply to the ground, though he was still breathing. The woman was on the phone with 911 when you went to check on her." Marcy stops for a moment when she sees the hurt flash in Keas' blue eyes.

"Lady called police on me? That how I got in jail?" Keas asks. His eyes grow darker with sadness and Marcy feels that pang in her heart again when she sees it.

"No, actually she was calling the police on the would-be rapist. You went up to her cautiously and asked, 'Are you alright, Miss? I wasn't too late, was I?' And she responded, 'No, I'm ok. Thank you so much for saving me.' After that she told the police your location and that they would need an ambulance for the man. But when the police arrived they had you at gunpoint." Marceline notices the anger spreading into his gaze at the mention of the cops' actions. "The woman tried explaining that you were her savior, but after checking the man and finding no heartbeat they put you in handcuffs and brought you to the police station." She reaches across to put her hand on his shoulder. "That's where you stopped, but I know what happened afterward." Keas reaches up and takes hold of her hand, brings it down to his lap, and holds it with both of his large calloused ones.

"What happened?" His speech is slower and full of dread and sadness. Marcy feels that ache in her chest again as it grows tight with regret. She knows what's bothering him; the cops had automatically assumed that he was the initial criminal and not the man lying on the ground. Instead of giving him a chance they categorized him as scum and nothing more.

Marcy reaches her left hand into her pocket and fishes out her touchscreen phone. From there she opens her browser and goes to the newest bookmark she made. "I tried to look up the incident to see if I could find an article about it and was able to find one. Would you like me to read it to you?" Keas gives her a slow nod.

"Friday, May 25th, 2001. Heroic Man Saves Woman From Would-be Rapist.

"A call came in to the Winston-Salem police department from the victim at 1:47am. According to police reports and witness testimony, Madison Jones (24) was at a local bar when Christopher Beake (44) slipped a date rape drug into her drink. Luckily she noticed it before consuming said drug and got into a verbal confrontation with Beake. Jones then left the scene where she was followed by Beake and attacked. Before Beake got the chance to take advantage of Jones a mysterious hero tackled Beake off of her and taught him a lesson. Unfortunately the unnamed hero took his lesson too far and Beake died while waiting for an ambulance. The heroic citizen was taken into custody on charges of manslaughter, which caused uproar from other citizens.

"He was only saving the girl from a horrific attack. If he hadn't stepped in who knows how far that man could have gone? He could have killed her after he was done (raping her). That hero saved her life!" one of the customers at the pub told our reporters. "I'd love to buy that man a drink." He's not the only one who shares this view. Many locals expressed their gratitude to the hero for stepping in.

"After police released the attacker's name (Christopher Beake) more victims were discovered and stepped forward. Taylor Griswold (19) was Beake's first recorded rape victim, along with Stephanie Harrington (26), Mandy Scott (21), Victoria Shellinga (32)-" Marceline sees anger flash through Keas' eyes at the mention of Marcy's age, "and Mary Kingsley (16) Beake's first and only murder victim.

"Because of the evidence against Beake and the protests for prosecuting the hero, he was instead charged with a felony assault and sentenced to 10 years of jail."

Silence falls between the two after the end of the article, her hand still help within both of his. Their cart reaches the bottom of the ferris wheel then continues on for the 3rd time. Marcy waits for Keas to say something, but when the cart reaches the bottom and begins around for the 4th time she realizes that he might not.

"Keas-"

"I don't regret it," he interrupts. Marcy is startled to hear how low his voice is right now. He has his head hung low, staring at their hands.

"What do you mean?" she asks softly. Keas' grip on her hand tightens.

"I don't regret saving that girl. I don't regret killing that man. If I had chance again, I would do the same. I would not hold back. Even if I go to jail again. I don't care." Keas finally looks up and right into Marceline's green eyes. "I would do it all again to meet you." Her eyes widen while her heart picks up its pace. She was not expecting that at all.

"Keas…" The name came out as a whisper. He looks down and begins playing with her fingers.

"My life has been hell. I have no happy memories that I've learned of. The only happy memories I have are with you," he states truthfully. "You are best that has happened. You are my best friend. I don't like you hurt." Marcy reaches across and places her other hand on top of his.

"Having you with me makes me so happy, Keas. You're my best friend, too. With you around I know I'll never get hurt and you have no idea how thankful I am of you." Keas slowly starts to smile. "You've been in my life longer than anyone else I have met and I'm glad it was you. You are the kindest and most considerate person I have ever met." Marcy gets up and moves to his side of the cart causing it to tilt slightly from the weight change. Not once does she remove her hands. "You've always found some way to help someone. You saved that puppy from the river when you were 11 even though you got punished by your dad for jumping in. You took the blame for your friend who egged your middle school teacher's car. You got your first detention for defending a boy who was being picked on in 4th grade. And yes, you ended up in jail for saving a girl from getting raped. But you were never doing anything wrong, Keas; you were being selfless and brave and heroic. It proves that even with amnesia you are still the same person you always were."

Keas' heart feels as if it has stopped. Never had he viewed his past that way; he had always lingered on the repercussions of his actions. After gaining his memories through his dreams he can remember each bruise, every hit he has received for doing something an "adult" deemed wrong. He never thought of any of the other factors such as defending friends or saving someone. A light, gentle touch to his cheek practically restarts his heart and snaps him from his thoughts. He looks to Marcy's gently smiling face.

"Don't pay attention to strangers' words. They are simply making assumptions. The only opinions that matter are from close friends and especially yourself. And in my opinion?" Marcy's smile widens. "If I had to choose between having you or the rest of the world beside me, I would choose you every time, hands down."

In a swift motion Keas releases her hand and pulls her to his chest tightly. One arm is wrapped around her lower back and is pinning her arm down. His right is around her shoulder with his hand resting at the back of her neck. From there he leans down and places a soft, lingering kiss upon her forehead. Marcy's eyes are stuck wide, a hot blush rushing to overcome her entire face. Her heartbeat quickens more and more the longer the kiss lasts. Finally he leans away and looks down at her, then rests his forehead against hers. "Thank you." Marcy's overwhelmed expression relaxes into a light smile and she wraps her free arm around him in return.

"Of course." They stay like that for a while before Keas pulls away first. Their eyes meet, and Keas takes note of the lingering blush on her cheeks. Marceline, however, notices the sunset behind him. She raises her hand in a wave to the ferris wheel operator as they near the bottom. "Come on; let's go check out our new apartment."