Adam kept a small smile as he stared at his "roommate". Tim has his eyebrows drawn together, biting his lip in focus as he read and took notes. He giggles silently whenever Tim's glasses slides on his nose and the brown-eyed man would push them back up. He amazes him, in a way. Looking around, he sees nothing but cells and barricades, nothing else goes through, not even sunlight. 

All the people around are either rude or just plain evil with very few select exceptions. But Tim, somehow, found some inspiration to study for his GED, and that inspires him. Maybe there's still hope for him, and the other people inside the steel inferno. 

He cleared his throat a few times, prompting Tim to look up with raised eyebrows. He's been studying nonstop for a while and he's not used to any kind of interruptions. Adam awkwardly picked on his nails. 

"So, uh, how long have you been here?" He asked quietly. 

Tim shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, seven, maybe eight years but honestly feels like forever." 

"What are you in here for?" Adam held his breath as he silently prayed that he wasn't rooming with a rapist or a druggie. 

"Mass murder." Tim answered as if it was nothing. 

Adam swallowed, his eyes widening. "Wow." Was all he managed to utter. 

"Come here." Tim tapped the space beside him on the bed. 

"W-What?" Adam stammered. 

Tim smirked. "Well, I can barely hear you talking and I don't want Chance to think that I'm not treating you well, with you being so far away." 

Adam nodded and slowly walked towards the creaky bed. Tim turned to face him. "Why?" "Buddy, this is not a true crime documentary." He growled, glaring into Adam's eyes as he did. 

"S-sorry." Adam hangs his head, then continues asking anyway."Were, you, at some point, married?" 

Tim looks around at him and nodded. "For a while, yes." 

"So, you had a pretty little wife, huh?" Adam smirked. 

Tim chuckled dryly. "Pretty? Definitely. He was a snake in the grass, though." 

He was shocked. Wait, Tim was married to a HE? Adam was dying to ask him why, but fearing another outburst, he just moved on to his next question. "When are visiting days here?" 

"On Tuesdays and Saturdays, not that I care. Anyway, are you expecting someone." "Yep. How about you?" Tim averted his gaze to hide the sadness in his eyes. Adam was quick to notice the shift of his mood. Why is this man so mysterious? 

"None. My momma said that she didn't have a son anymore after I stepped inside this prison. Same with my sister. They're ashamed of me. You?" 

Adam's heart broke for him. "I'm expecting my brother and my husband." Adam says. 

"Husband? You're married?" Tim asked

Adam smiled proudly. "Yes, for four years now." 

Tim snickers. "That ain't gonna last long." He commented. 

Adam gasped, offended. "You know nothing about me and my husband. We've been together for nine years, dated for five years then got married. We said vows." He says, raising his voice a little bit. 

"That's bullshit, Adam. That'll be over soon enough. One day your husband will come visit you with divorce papers. I'm telling you. He'll get lonesome and horny and find someone then eventually forget about you." Tim's voice raising just a notch.

Adam stood right in front of him. "Just how dare you?! My husband and I respect the sanctity of marriage. Austin loves me. Austin promised. Forgive me for saying this but Austin will never do to me what your husband did to you."

"Stop living in your fairy tale imagination and come back down to reality. You're in prison, for God sake and your husband can do as he pleases and you can do nothing about that! You wanna know how I ended up here? I went home earlier than I should have and discovered that my husband was missing. I was still in my greasy gasoline station uniform, I found him at the bar making out with another man. I didn't even know where I got it but I fired the gun with four shots, four dead bodies fell on the dance floor. Marriage is bullshit, Adam. Accept it. We're all miserable here." Tim argues. 

Adam shook his head. "Maybe you're jealous because I still have people who love and support me whereas you have none of your own!"

"Well, at least I'm not as delusional as you are, Adam. And certainly not that immature. You have just begun. As you stay here longer, you will realize what I'm talking about. It's best that you forget about him right now, it'll help you later."

"You don't understand. We love each other. Four years ago, Austin promised to love me in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and also when times become difficult, when our love is simple, and when things become complicated. He gave himself to me using the love that we share as a vessel, through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of our future, he promised that I will always have his deepest love, his fullest devotion, and his most tender care. He promised to love me, to always strive to encourage and inspire me, to laugh with me, and to comfort me in times of sorrow and struggle. He promised to honor me, and to always hold our love for each other in highest regard I vowed to trust and respect him. Tell the truth and embrace him, every day. All the time and always. I still hold on to those promises because Austin never ever gave me a reason to doubt his actions. We will be together when I get the chance to get out of here. We will start over again and forget everything. We will never give up until I do. Austin loves me and I love him. It's all that matters to me. Please respect that, Tim. I love him." Adam says through his tears, unaware that the other prisoners had heard him, and they're making fun of his and his husband's vow until he heard a roaring thunder of laughter and a few claps and whistles. Adam blushed as he realized everything he said. 

Tim rolled his eyes and sighed. He felt a mixture of anger and amusement towards Adam. He looked at his roommate with pity. "You poor, clueless being. Come on." Tim says, taking him by the hand.

* Yann Trinaydor *

**************

VOTE & COMMENT PLEASE!!!