Pearl had led Jane upstairs to the only bedroom in her apartment and told her to rest for a bit while she took care of Keith. She told them if they were going to leave town and become a set of twins that authorities weren't looking for, they would need to change some things. She was sure Murphy would call this incident in, Pearl just wasn't sure if it would be a case of his kids being delinquent and beating him over the head or an exaggerated sob story about how his darlings ran away – maybe even a fake kidnapping.

"Almost finished, hon."

Keith was seated in one of the salon chairs in front of her, his back to the mirror. She had been working on his hair by the light of the dim lamp she had switched on earlier, but that was all she needed. Pearl could do this with her eyes closed.

A couple more snaps of the scissors and Keith watched as Pearl looked from the left side of his face to the right and then leaned down, grabbing the arms of the chair and spinning him around.

Even in the lack of lighting, he could see that she had lightened his hair drastically. It was a light ash blonde, a few shades away from platinum. His bangs, which were normally just a mess of dirty blonde locks he pushed out of his face, were now cut perfectly, either side at a slight angle downwards.

It took him a few moments, a few turns of his head back and forth, but a smile crossed his face. It was different. But it was just the kind of different he needed. They were starting over.

"I love it."

"Good. And if anyone has any photos of you they come looking for you with, they're gonna pass right over any light and styled blondes. No worries." She patted his shoulder with her comb. "Go get your sister. And you get some rest. You two have a bus to catch when the sun comes up."

He nodded and slid out of the chair.

"Keith, do you need me to spot you any cash for the bus?"

"Oh, no. No, Miss Allen. We should be fine. We've been saving up. We weren't really sure for what – the future in general, I guess – but now we know. We should be set for a bit."

He had halted next to the chair as he spoke and was standing in a pile of dirty blonde locks. Pearl was trying to hide a wide smile at his resolve. She was also trying to hide tears that threatened to bubble up. They were so much like Stephanie.

"Thank you though. You've done so much for us already."

"Oh, it's nothing, Kay." She waved him towards the hallway in the back. "Go on."

He returned with a groggy and still half-asleep Jane, who he led to the chair, waiting until she sat down before retreating towards the hallway and back to Pearl's apartment. He stopped though, in the door frame, and turned back, peering into the salon. Pearl was standing over Jane, looking at her reflection in the mirror. His sister was awake now. Keith saw her nod. He heard her voice.

"Cut it all off."

"You sure, Jay?"

"Yes."

Keith vanished into the dark corridor, pressing his back to the wall momentarily and shutting his eyes. His sister hadn't gotten a haircut in years. They were really doing this.

They were really leaving.

He leaned back out to peek into the salon. Pearl's hands were at his sister's hair, her left holding it at the base of Jane's neck and her right with a pair of scissors.

"Kay, go to sleep," she called back to him without even looking at him.

"Sorry, Miss Allen." With a grin, Keith slipped away, hearing the loud snip of scissors as his foot hit the first stair up to Pearl's apartment.

He didn't think he would be able to sleep and he figured he would be staring at the bedroom ceiling until Pearl finished with his sister's hair, but when his pale cheek hit the pillow, he was asleep in an instant.

"Keith?"

He could feel someone shaking him gently and cracking his eyes open a pinch allowed him to see a head of short ash blonde hair against a night sky. Blinking furiously for a few moments, Keith pushed himself to a sitting position and looked to his left. 5:06 am. Ahead of him, his twin sister sat on Pearl Allen's bed, at the foot of it, her hands in her lap now and her back to the window of Pearl's bedroom.

She reached out to him and grabbed a lock of newly dyed hair that rested against his cheek, feeling it between her fingers. He found himself doing the same thing to her, eyes wide at the fact that the ends of the piece he was holding stopped at her jaw line. It previously fell to the middle of her back, at least.

Keith pulled his hand back and wrapped his fingers around the wrist of her hand that hovered near his face.

"You ready?"

She nodded slowly, her light eyes drifting from his face to the clock. "Can we… can we make a quick stop first?"

They had thanked her again and said their goodbyes to Pearl, who told them not to hesitate to call if they needed anything – even if it was just someone to talk to – and slung their bags over their shoulders, setting off down the street towards the main thoroughfare of the town, where the bus station was located. They made Jane's quick stop, which Keith approved of and knew they needed for the last time, which is where they stood now, hands in their pockets, bags on the ground and warm hoods up over their new haircuts and their bruises and scars.

The pale light of the predawn slipped over their mother's gravestone, bathing it in a soft blue glow.

Keith and Jane said nothing to her. Nothing to each other. Not out loud.

They both knew what the other was thinking and they knew that their mother was aware as well.

That was all they needed.

Keith reached out and pulled his sister close to him. He had seen the sleeve of her purple hoodie raise to her face, where she wiped her eyes quickly. "Hey, this is what she would want, right?" He whispered into the violet fabric, where her ear was and shook her gently. "Come on." Keith picked up their bags and led her out of the cemetery, where the first rays of the rising sun fell over them.

"I'm done with this place," Jane croaked, kicking a pebble down the broken asphalt.

"We both are. We're never coming back. Sound good?"

"The best."

She took her bag from his shoulder, thanking him and following him into the bus station where they purchased tickets without any incident. Jane was almost surprised at how simple this had been so far. Was something actually working out for them?

Waiting for the bus seemed to be the worst part of that morning. They had purchased the tickets roughly an hour before the bus was supposed to board and leave town, but it seemed so much longer than that to the twins. They sat on a bench near the window of the bus station, peering outside every few minutes. They were afraid they would see their father storming up the street with his cop buddies, or maybe Gregory coming to try to claim Jane once and for all – where he could keep her barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen while he watched sports all day. Both brother and sister sat on the hard wooden bench for that hour, shoulders pressed together, lips thinned and heads down except for the moments they peeked out the window. Their minds were racing around all the possible things that could go wrong.

Jane, in particular, was afraid. She kept picturing that ashtray hitting their father's head. The one she had been holding in her hand. It replayed itself over and over again in her mind. Her thoughts jumped to the night Gregory had cornered her in the bathroom at the roller rink - the night Keith hadn't been there – when he pushed her up against one of the sinks and began violently pressing his lips into hers. She could taste the alcohol on them. Alcohol mixed with bile. She had kicked him in the shin with the front brake of her skate and got out of there as fast as she could. The image she still had clearly in her head, of her flying down the corridor back to the rink was replaced with the night she ran down the hallway away from their father. She pictured the ashtray again, slamming into his head—

Jane's hand was suddenly enveloped in a set of warm fingers.

"You're shaking."

Her eyes opened and moved down to where Keith's hand was holding hers in between them, then they moved up to his face, partially shaded by his hood. The concern marring his features almost caused her heart to skip a beat. She didn't realize she had been reacting to her thoughts in such a physical fashion.

"Janey, what are you thinking about?"

Luckily, the bus had pulled up outside, saving her from having to answer. She stood up, yanking him off of the bench with her, and hurried outside with him in tow.

They sat in the backseat of the bus, on the right side. Keith let Jane in the seat before him. He told her it was so she could look out the window, which was partially true. He also wanted to make sure he could keep an eye on the people around them.

Keith could still see her shaking slightly. He didn't mention it again.

Her frame stilled only when the bus finally pulled away from the station.

"We did it," he heard Jane whisper when the bus finally hit the highway.