May 1st, 2086​

Marianna immediately opened her journal and started writing.

Just had the strangest dream, that my damn alarm had to wake me from.

Me too. What happened in yours?​

Well...I think I saw you. What I was doing in your room, I have no idea.

Hm...well I didn't see you. I saw someone who had your gorgeous face, only she was wearing makeup and was paler. Can I tell you something and not have you get mad at me?

Sure?​

I was kind of thinking about you right before I fell asleep, and then had that dream.

Hm...well...um...
With a lack of words, she tried thinking of something, which was increasingly difficult, as she had just woken up. Until she looked over and saw a small print-out of the picture her mom had taken of her the night before. Above the picture she taped in the journal, she wrote:
I forgot to put this in last night. Like I said please don't laugh. I needed to be as different as possible.​

Marianna...

Yeah? It doesn't look that bad does it? And before you say anything, yes, those tattoos are real. =)

I think we had the same dream. I'm sure not for the same particular reasons, but we did. Now what? Do I need to really meet you to make this mean something?

I don't know. But wait I just remembered my mom wanted you to come with us, so you can um...be my fake husband. I know how weird and/or creepy that came across as but I swear my mom has the best intentions.

Marianna waited for a few minutes, while she packed some hygiene things, her laptop, camera, and bag of pens. She felt like a complete idiot as she straightened herself out, brushing her hair, and fixing everything else while waking up. Apparently she took longer than she needed, because she was called downstairs to leave, and had to rush down with her bag in one hand and journal in other. As she waited in the car with Aiden, whom now had bleach white hair with grey eyes and similar clothing to her own, she glanced at the journal.

Not creepy at all. I wouldn't mind being your fake husband for...four months is it? I just hope your mom is okay with me being 25.​

That's okay. If anyone should be worried about being cradle-robbed, it's you. I'm going to be 80 soon, and I can still make babehs. Now THAT is something she should be worried about.

No, babehs are fun.

Marianna smiled.
=) Just stay where you are and we'll be there in 10 hours, give or take.​

Okay. I just can't believe I'm actually going to meet the only person who's been there for me in years. And I promise to make our first meet worthwhile, if it's okay with you. :)

Absolutely.

Marianna kept a smile on her face, and cuddled her car pillow until she fell asleep. Every once in a while, they stopped for gas, or woke her to ask if she needed to pee, and kept going, but for the most part she stayed asleep the entire way, up until Rachael had to make an emergency slam on the breaks to avoid hitting someone. Marianna woke up then, and instinctively looked at her journal.

A group of people chased me out of the hotel so I'm walking. I hope it isn't too dark for you to see me, for I have no idea what your vehicle looks like or what direction you're headed in.

Marianna looked up, and saw Corey, Rachael, and Aiden run out to help someone they almost fully ran over, due to the fact that he ran into the front end of the vehicle. The headlights were on, making it easier for Mariana to recognize him. Which caused her to run over and try helping. Rachael obviously recognized him as well, because she had Marianna help him into the vehicle.

"Looks like we'd better hurry out of here, honey." She explained to Corey, as she helped sit Ryan down in the back seat. Marianna got in behind him, and offered him her pillow to use after she closed the door.

He declined, but the more he became less out of it, the more he recognized Marianna, and the more he stared at her face as if he were hallucinating. "I have to be dreaming," He muttered.

"No...you ran into our car..." She trailed off as he touched her face to confirm whether or not he was dreaming. Surprisingly, even that much made her stomach once again do the same flip floppy thing it had in her dream.

"Um...you should probably put some ice on your head, or your arm, or-"

"You were right the first time, derpina." Aiden interrupted. "He hit his head." He handed Ryan an ice pack to put on his head, but was ignored as Ryan was fixated on Marianna's, now blushing, face.

"Thank you for the ice pack, Aiden," Ryan spoke, trying his hardest not to be a creep or let on to the fact that part of him wanted to kiss her, simply by forcing himself to turn his attention to Corey, whom he assumed was her step dad. Only he was greeted by Rachael.

"You had quite a fall, hon." She turned her attention to Aiden. "Aiden, could you please get your sister's temporary husband one of my head drinks? We don't need him getting a concussion."

Aiden nodded, reaching behind him and fidling his hands in a bag until he found a small 4oz bottle, and handed it to Ryan. "Bottoms up dude. Trust me, you don't want to taste that." He immitated barfing, and turned back to his laptop.

Ryan looked confused, but drank the bottle, and within seconds, started feeling completely relaxed. His entire body started feeling tingly, and the sensation started working its way all the way from his toes to the tip of his head, continuing in a cycle until his head was no longer throbbing. By then, Marianna was curled up to the window, eyes closed. Ryan looked over at her, and before he was even able to look back to see if he could find a blanket for her, Aiden had one in his hand to give him. Ryan stared at him for a moment. "Are you a psychic?"

Aiden shook his head. "No, I don't do that fony crap. I read body language. And don't worry if she falls over on you in her sleep, she does it all the time when we're driving. You're gonna have to get used to at least pretending you're in a relationship with her if you care about her enough. And yeah, I know how long you two have been writing. I snuck reading her journal a few dozen times, and I'll be honest, you two seem like you actually could be good for each other. Not that that derpina of a sister of mine would notice. She probably just thinks you're being nice to her." He shrugged. "You'll tell her when you're ready I guess."

Ryan smiled, and nodded, hesitantly putting an arm around Marianna as she plopped over on his shoulder. The remainder of the ride, they all sat in silence, minus the hour or so Rachael explained their family to him, and interrogated him about who was chasing him. All in all, he couldn't answer any of the questions because he didn't know the answers. Which gave Rachael her own conclusions-one of them being that they needed to go even farther away than they had originally planned in case the people who chased him were actually a threat. By the time they finally got to a place to sleep, it was almost 1am.

Aiden tried shaking Marianna awake, and when that failed, Ryan offered to carry her inside, which Rachael agreed was the best idea, considering the part he would be playing once they arrived at their new home. Rachael had homes from 3 different states booked to take her security deposit in cash if she needed the place, in case something came up and they needed to go to the next state. Once they booked their two rooms for the night, Ryan carried Marianna to the room with Aiden, letting her walk in when he realized she was waking up. She made it enough steps to get to a bed, plopped down, and passed right back out, creating a dead silence before both Ryan and Aiden burst into laughter. Though Ryan decided to be nice, and actually get her situated in bed before making his way to the couch so Aiden could have the second bed. Although it was a nice gesture, Aiden shook his head and pointed at the bed.

"Nothing personal, but I always take the couch." He hinted at the fact that it was directly next to the window. "My mom gave me strict orders to watch out for my sister. I don't care if we're 60 years or 100. I'm still going to follow orders, because up until you, our little family of 4 were the only people we had."

Ryan nodded. "It was just me and my mom til a couple months ago. I watched someone shoot her six times and then run off. She was the only family I had, and now, until you and your family accept me as one of you, I have no family."
"That's good thinking, but you don't need us to tell you we accept you. Tonight should've been a perfect example that we already do. I'm sure we're going to need you more than you need our approval." He grabbed a couple blankets and a pillow from the closet, and laid down on the couch. Ryan laid down on the bed. "Hey, you think you could get the light dude?"

Ryan nodded, shutting the light off. It took a couple hours, but eventually, he fell asleep for the night.