Today is the day. It's finally the Fourth of July. I tie the red bandana tighter around my head as I adjust my white tank and light blue shorts. The Fourth of July was always amazing in Texas, the patriotism and love for America runs deep here and that's one of the things I always loved about it.

"You ready?" I turn around to see Jesse leaning on the door frame with an American flag as his shirt and a bandana like mine wrapped around his head.
"Yup," I give him my best smile as I appraoch him. It seems we've been distanct since we've received the news about my father, even last night I took the couch because we technically didn't have an adult to supervise and I also needed time to think.

"Excited?" he asks while slipping his hand in mine in an attmept to break whatever ice that's froze between us.
"Very excited," I smile up at him with the feeling of everything between us melting away. Maybe if I just talked to him about my father's capture a little more I'd feel better, but then again there's nothing really much to say. He's been caught and we can carry on with our lives.

The idea still perplexes me and everytime I think about it the same fear that's consumed me for the past four years comes crawling back into my chest.
"What about you? Are you excited for a good old Texan Fourth of July?" I quirk an eyebrow up at him as we make our way down the stairs.
"Heck yeah," he states with a large grin.

"Hey love birds you comin'?" we hear Chris shout from the kitchen just as we waltz in.
"Oh," Chris mumbles, "You ready for the drive into town?" Jesse and I both nod our heads as the four of us walk out towards the van that looks like a small piece of home. Chris decides to drive with Katie in the passenger's seat while Jesse and I hop comfortably in the back.

The car ride is silent with occasional small talk and I begin to get a deep feeling irking on the inside of my chest that something just isn't right.
"Jesse," I breathe out as my head falls onto his shoulder, "What's going to happen after this?"
"What do you mean? We'll go home soon, probably tomorrow the first flight if you want," Jesse seems to try to cheer me up but the unsettled feeling in my chest never leaves.

"Okay," I sigh while my eyes begin to wilt slowly.

+++

Loud screaming and cheering fills the air like oxygen as the parade continues on. My legs stay locked on Jesse's shoulders so I can see over the monstrous crowd of red, white, and blue. People of all shapes and sizes have gathered in Austin to see this parade that's been going on for at least an hour now and my mood has lightened immensely in that time.

A large herd of people on horseback doing dangerous and daunting tricks pass us making the four of us cheer even louder causing my voice to crack a few times.
"USA! USA! USA!" the chanting begins and I feel like I'm at some sort of international sports event with everyone screaming.

"Kira!" Chris shouts from below me as Katie rests next to me on his shoulders. Chris hands me another Pepsi, my third one today actually, and I pop it open. Except right as I pop the cap open Pepsi goes squirting everywhere, from me, to Jesse, to the other people surrounding us. I let out a loud squeal as I drop the can the 7 feet or so, onto the ground. Some people shout in irritation while others just laugh it off and the next thing I know Jesse's hands are on my hips and he's hoisitng me off his shoulders.

"You jerk," I slap Chris on the chest once I'm on the ground again causing him to let out a belting laugh at my Pepsi colored tank top that was once white. I glance over to look at Jesse just to see his hair has strands of brown now and his American shirt to be dripping with Pepsi.
"There's a clothes store selling some Fourth of July stuff a block down, you want to go get a new shirt?" Jesse offers taking my hand in his so the crowds don't force us apart.
"Yeah," I shout over the noise and we inform Chris and Katie to meet us by the van in thirty minutes.

Wiggling our way through the unending crowd we finally make it to the large store that may be the only one open for miles. The store is packed but not nearly as crammed as the streets and it feels nice to finally be able to move a foot without running into a stranger.
"How about this?" I hold up a white t-shirt with the American flag imprinted on the front of it.
"Nice," Jesse comments before swinging around and holding up a navy blue shirt with the word AMERICA on it and I nod before we both waltz over to the desk.

"You want to stay in here for a little longer?" I ask Jesse once we're done buying the shirts.
"Not a fan of crowds?" he quirks an eyebrow up playfully.
"Not a fan of being short in a crowd," I remark and he nods with a smile on his face. Once we make our way to the bathroom I'm quick to hop into the ladies room and take the first open stall available. Slidding out after sporting my new shirt a large canvas on the wall catches my attention and my jaw goes agape for a second as I stare at it in slight awe. It's a large painting of a meadow full of plush pink Enlish roses. A whole meadow of them, except at the very center of the painting there's one wilted rose.

"Um, are you done?" a girl asks while pointing to the stall that I'm standing in.
"Oh yeah," I murmur before ducking my head and gliding out of the bathroom and into the store to find Jesse sitting cross legged on a bench.
"Kira," he grins as I take a seat right next to him, "I was thinking and I realized we've never been on a date." My eyebrows furrow together as I stare at him for a moment.
"Jesse we've gone on plenty of dates what are you talking about?" I question him as he slides an arm around my shoulders.
"Actually the only dates we've ever been on have been supervised by either Naomi or John or have been in your basement. So technically we've never had a date night," he explains and I wrack my brain for any proof against his theory but can't find any.

"So what are you saying?" I grin at him as the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.
"Tonight, I know a spot that we can go and watch the fireworks," he smiles.
"Well I guess it's a date," I smirk at him.

+++

"So where are you guys going again?" my brother eyes Jesse up as if he were trying to be a protective older brother.
"Like I said, it's a secret," Jesse smacks my brother on the back as he eyes him skeptically.
"Secret my ass," Chris mutters under his breath as his arm finds its way around Katie's waist.
"Don't worry Chris we'll be fine," Jesse assures him nodding slightly as we pull into a parking lot.

"Alright, alright," Chris mutters while looking out the window at the restaurant that him and Katie will be eating at.
"So are you sure you don't need the van tonight?" Jesse turns around in the driver's seat to look back at them.
"Yeah we'll just take a cab to wherever we need to go for the fireworks once we're done here," he nods to the building.

"Well I guess this is goodbye for now," Katie hops up and leans over the driver's seat to give me a hug before whispering in my ear, "Go have fun, you could use it." Once she pulls back I only give her a grin and nod before she slips out of the car and the next thing I know Chris kisses me on the forehead before mumbling, "Stay safe sis," and he qucickly follows in suit.
"Bye!" I shout to them and wave through my rolled down window while they both wave back to Jesse and I.

"So, where is this secret place?" I turn to a grinning Jesse.

+++

"Jesse this looks super sketchy," I comment as I stare out the door window towards the completely abandoned buildings that appear to be halfway torn down.
"Don't worry Kir it's only this part of town, it got destroyed in a tornado a few decades back and no one really bothered to clean it up," he shrugs as we drive through the ghost town with large fallen buildings.
"Does that have to do with where you're taking me?" I quirk an eyebrow up at him as we've been driving the past 20 minutes and he still hasn't uttered a peep about where we're really going.

"I don't like to be a spoiler," he exclaims, "And trust me it's a surprise."
"Hey for all I know you could've faked everything and are actually a serial killer waiting for this exact moment to kill me in an abandoned town," I retort making it sound as logical as possible.
"Don't worry I don't think you have to worry about anyone trying to kill you for a while," Jesse remarks and the second the words leave his mouth his face fills with regret and shock at his own words.

I can tell he wants to suck those words right back into his mouth but instead of being offended or embarassed I feel laughter erupt from my chest, mostly because he's right. I don't have to worry about anyone killing me anymore and it seems that that sly comment was exactly what we needed to break the ice that's formed between us the past day and a half. We never ended up talking about my father's capture but instead seemed to ignore it and continue on with our lives like it never happened.

"I'm so sorry," he breathes out causing me to laugh further and I glance over at him to see a guilty smile on his face.
"It's fine Jesse, I just―" I glance out the window to see the buildings become more and more desolate, "I just really needed that acknowledgement."
"Do you want to talk about it?" his tone is soft and sympathetic as I gnaw at my lip. Do I?
"I don't know it just all feels like a dream, I mean I'm obviously still in shock from it all but― I've been dreaming about this moment for years and it all seems so surreal," I explain feeling a small weight lift from my chest as I explain this to Jesse.

"Yeah," he sighs, "But it's over Kira, you never have to move again, you can complete high school and grow up, you can grow old now." I stare up at the van's ceiling as he says this and begin to think of the concept.
"You know I never thought I'd make it to senior year," I rotate my head in his direction, "I always thought he'd find us by then. And I especially never thought that he'd get caught, I thought the only way we'd ever escape him would be if he died some how. In fact everynight I'd pray that he'd die somehow and someone would find his body and my family would be free."

"Well you are free, you, Chris, and your mom," Jesse places his hand on mine.
"You know my mom left me a voicemail yesterday," I laugh dryly, "She sounded so excited about my father being caught it almost made it seem more real."
"See? Everything's fine, and everything's going to be ok," he concludes and I believe him. Everything's going to be ok.