The water is murky with salt, the waves crash overhead, and the sun is bright in the sky. It's the perfect day for a swim. Sadly for the pair of runaways, their hair dye hasn't set yet, and they aren't willing to risk the runoff into the water. With Vicky's ruby pink eyes being a rare enough occurrence, the matching fiery red hair would completely unmask them.
Does anyone else in her family even have pink demon eyes? Timmy thinks as he tans on the beach. Next to him is his ferocious girlfriend, the love of his life, and for whom he ran away from everyone else he knew, Vicky Valentine. He sometimes wonders if he should take her name later in life.
"So, Vic… I mean sis, what are we doing for lunch?" Timmy asks.
"I was thinking… sushi? That Japanese place down the street seems nice. Or maybe shrimp? Let's get shrimp. And lobster. I want some seafood."
"Yeah. I could go for some seafood too."
"Then go get it, the water's right there."
Timmy laughs. It's been so long since he's felt relief. He worried constantly over the last three years, wondering at what point they might be found out, but his worries fade every day spent at ease with Vicky. Every day someone meets the pair and goes on with their lives, none the wiser to the hidden truth.
After a day well spent, the pair returns to the hotel. After a few more days, they would have to return to their life on the lamb. Most days were not so luxurious. Contrary to their fantasy of a life on the run, living under fake identities didn't always give them the most happiness. They had to maintain cover and couldn't spend too much of Vicky's ill-gotten gains, drug money she ripped off from some high-level dealer back in Dimmsdale. Their sob story of drug-addled parents they fled from with whatever scraps of money they could gain wouldn't work if they lived like a king and queen every other day.
The only job Vicky could get at the moment was cheap labor and a part-time cashier back home. Timmy earned some small savings from helping clean around the apartment complex, only enough to stay afloat and minimize the cash they took out of their life savings. But together, it would was worth the price.
"So Vicks, can I call you Vicks?"
"Only if you want me to leave you." Vicky jokes.
"Okay, Vicks. I'm gonna study a little more. I need to ace the test."
"You literally don't. You can take it a hundred times, remember? You don't have school anymore."
"Still want to do great on it."
After returning to the hotel, Timmy starts studying his calculus and chemistry. He didn't go to school anymore, but he kept up enough studies at home making sure he didn't fall behind. But with so much free time and so little hobbies, he's advanced well beyond his peers in the field, and almost ready to study at a college level. Timmy starts falling lower and lower into the bed as the hours pass, with Vicky watching the television silently as Timmy lazily jots down notes. Soon the pair is ready for bed.
Vicky snuggles in closer to her blonde lover. On these days, when they were intimate, she missed his old look. The brown hair, the pink clothes that she enjoyed ripping off. Timmy looks up, meeting her gaze. Pink and shining. He smiles, beaming brightly as always.
"So, you're going to be seventeen soon. Want anything for your birthday?" Vicky asks.
"That takes away the surprise, doesn't it?"
"Who cares?"
Timmy smirks as he closes the distance, snuggling in for the night. Vicky turns off the light as the pair starts falling asleep. But something is eating away at him. There's something he wants to do that could prove dangerous.
"I was wondering…" Timmy starts. He takes a deep breath.
"I… I was… wondering if I could call them. Mom and Dad, I mean. Just a couple minutes, then leave."
Vicky looks over at him. Even though he sacrificed everything to be with her, the fact that they had no one but each other sometimes hurt them both. And the fact that he hasn't seen or spoken to his parents in almost three years was gnawing at him. He wanted to see them again. Even if all they did was yell and argue, he wanted to at least hear their voices. Still, he wouldn't force the issue with Vicky. She knew all the risks in her head and was assessing if what Timmy wanted was possible or too dangerous to try.
"Yeah. We'll have a chat with them tomorrow."