Even though the drive to San Francisco was only five and a half hours, it took James and Kate two days to get there. About two hours from Los Angeles, Kate asked if they could camp for one night. James immediately agreed to camp. It was years since he had gone camping with Miles and Hurley. The last time he had gone camping with Miles and Hurley was right before he had been sent away to reform school.

With some of the money that they had from the stint, James and Kate bought a tent and a couple of other small camping supplies. They found a forest in Bakersfield, and by evening they had their tent set up and a fire going. They were literally in the middle of nowhere yet James knew this was where he wanted to be. It was stupid, cliché, but he really did think that Kate was the woman that he was supposed to be with.

She was sitting next to him, cooking the hotdogs that they had bought at the store earlier. "God, I missed camping," she said, turning the hotdogs over to cook the other side.

James looked at her. "When was the last time you went camping, Freckles?" he asked, taking a drink of the beer in his hand. He missed being able to relax in the woods. It wasn't where he felt at home, no, but it was somewhere that he felt comfortable no matter what the situation was.

"I think my dad took me camping last when I was 15. Right before I turned 16 and right before I ran away with the carnival. So, seven years," she said, taking the hot dog off the stick and putting it in a bun before giving it to James.

"Thanks," he said, taking a bite of the food. He washed the hotdog down with his beer and then sighed. "That's been about the same for me. Hurley and Miles and me went campin' right before I was sent to that god awful reform school."

"God awful?" Kate asked. James never talked about the reform school; he only mentioned that he had gone there. So hearing that it was god awful was something new.

James nodded and looked over at her. "Yeah. I mean, sure, I bounced around foster homes in Tennessee so I didn't have much back there, but that school was terrible. They were really strict and I felt like I didn't even need to be there. What I did was so minor that I felt…out of place," he explained, opening up about his past. He never told anyone about the reform school, not even Miles and Hurley. He just felt like it never needed to be talked about. It was in the past anyways.

"So minor? Mr. Ford, you stole a gun. That is grand larceny. Burglary. That is pretty serious stuff for a 14 year old," Kate replied, making herself her own hotdog and looking at him. "You can't tell me that burglary and grand larceny are nothing."

"Compared to murder? Kids murdering their family, their friends, complete strangers? Freckles, that place was a detention center. They sent us there to make sure we got an education. All juvenile records are sealed so nobody will know about their pasts. They go to this reform school until they become of age and then they go back to the real world and can get jobs. They literally get a free education for fucking up and then after four, three, two, or hell, one year, they are let back into the real world with the innocent people. It's not right. What I fucking did was minor compared to those assholes and I hated it."

"If you missed home so much, why didn't go straight home after getting out of the school?"

"I missed home but I knew there wasn't anything for me there. I figured everyone that knew me forgot about me. I knew that my love for guns wouldn't get me anywhere in Tennessee. I had to do something that would fulfill my passion for guns and I knew the Army was the only way I could get my passion fulfilled. So I said fuck Tennessee and I went to boot camp. And I have to say that joining boot camp was probably the best decision of my life," James said, staring off into the fire. The beer was in his hand but it was almost empty. James looked down at the can, took the last swig of the beer, and then threw the can onto the ground.

"Why was joining the Army the best decision of your life?" Kate asked, reaching for one of the beers herself. She cracked the can open and took a long gulp of beer. Then she looked at James, waiting for an answer.

"If I hadn't joined the Army, I would have been back in Tennessee for four years. If I hadn't just gotten home from the Army then I never would have come home when I did, which means that I never would have spent the time with Miles and Hurley and then we never would have gone to the carnival. I never would have met you. And if I never met you, I would be miserable. You get me. You know what it's like to be judged for your passion. You know what it's like to have people think you are bad because of what you love. And if I didn't meet you I dunno what I would be doing now, Freckles," James said.

He was being open. Telling her how he felt. He wanted Kate to know exactly how much he loved her and how much he wanted to be with her. Sometimes he thought that she didn't get it; sometimes he thought that he bought her too many material things. The material things didn't matter. It was the words that mattered. And James just wanted to make sure that she heard his words and understood him because he didn't think she heard that during her six years in the carnival.

There were tears streaming down her cheeks and she set her beer in the grass and moved closer to James. "James, I…" she murmured, at a loss for words.

James smiled because she got it. She understood. And that's all that mattered. "Shh. You don't have to say anything. I just want to make sure that you know that you are loved and no matter what, I am never going to leave you, Freckles," he said, hugging her and kissing her lips.

Maybe he overdid it sometimes. Maybe he told her how he felt too much. But seeing her reaction, seeing her speechless, smiling, made it all worth it.

Kate pulled away but stayed snuggled close to James, the fire keeping the two of them warm. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too."

They sat there in silence, but they didn't care. James tightened his grip around Kate and they sat there until she was almost falling asleep. And when she was falling asleep, he picked her up and carried her the few feet to the tent. Once he laid down next to her, Kate moved close to him, resting her head on his chest and sighing softly. James lay there, staring up at the ceiling of the tent, stroking her brown curls.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured to himself before falling asleep, a smile on his face.