The station master's whistle pierced the bustling atmosphere of the platform and the doors closed with a rattle. Slamming shut one by one, the train gradually began pulling away from the station, its four luxury passenger cars in tow. Steam howled from under the cab and the whistle pressure was released. The engine picked up speed and they were away. 

Sat either side of a table in their own compartment, Lily and Anthony watched as Chicago was left behind them. Soon they sped through open fields and farming plantations, excitedly pointing and chatting. The sun was setting and soon the sound of the wheels on rails was all that they could hear. 

Lying on his back across the seat, Anthony was staring at the ceiling above. 

"Lily" He waited for her to look over. 

"What what did you want to be or do with your life. You know, when you were a kid?"

Lily stares out into the blackness beyond the window, but all she can see is her own reflection in the glass. She looked like her mother, and her mother was the last thing she wanted to be.

"I wanted to be a dancer. There was plenty of money for ballet school but no one could be bothered to take me to the classes. What about you, Anthony? What did you want to do, or be?" She asks, propping her chin in her hands and watching him intently. 

He thought for some time, closing his eyes and losing track of time to the clacking rails below them. He sat and watched their reflections in the window. 

"I think I wanted to be a good father. I never had that."

Anthony was silent a while longer, then looked across to Lily. 

"A dancer? You should, you would be good at it."

His eyes lit up and his brow raised. 

"We should dance in Philly!"

Lily reached across the table and patted Anthony's hand.

"You're gonna make a wonderful father, Anthony. You just need lots of practice," she says, then closes her eyes at her poor choice of wording. "I mean. With a puppy or a kitten, you know?" She quickly amends. Lily had always despised those girls who acted like utter fools around boys, and here she was, honing it down to an art form. 

"Dancing would be lovely. I hope they have places like that in Philadelphia. We've still got those fancy clothes we stole," she says, grinning. 

His enthusiasm bubbles over and the boy turns to face Lily, his eyes full of excitement. 

"And we can eat at a fancy restaurant and go gambling. We'll tear up the town and paint it black and white." 

Anthony's smile and aspiring gaze radiates energy, curiosity and tenacity. He fidgets with his sleeves and looks back at their reflections, lost in one of those moments, that time of life that one would wish never came to an end. 

"It's nearly been a year." He said. 

"Since prison, since we've been on the road. How do you think the family is?"

"I can't imagine. I'm sure lots has changed. People came and went. Got promoted. Died. Life went on without us. I just hope they still want us when we get back," she says, her fingers idly playing with the stolen watch on her wrist. Trying to turn her morose thoughts to a happier subject, she turns sideways in her seat and pulls her knees up to her chin as she tucks her dress beneath her.

"I was very surprised how quiet Chicago was. I hope Philly is louder. More busy. I think that's what I miss most about home...it seems to be so much more active than these other places, people everywhere talking and carrying on and doing things.

"I bet Miss Gracie will be the loudest of them all when she sees that moustache you've grown," she says with a teasing grin.

He smiled and twitched his lip back and forth. Anthony's hair remained unkempt however his face had matured, though there was no stable opportunity for him to regularly visit a barbers due to their chaotic and unpredictable travel plans.

"It seems to be the thing to have."

He wriggled his lip around some more and laughed with Lily, then returned to his thoughts.

"I was upset with her, with Grace." He admitted, breaking eye contact to favor the reflection of himself once more.

"I probably shouldn't have been, but I was. Now I'm just avoiding going home."

He paused for a moment and looked down at the table and places his open hands out before him, offering them to Lily.

"When we get to Philly, we should get a place she can visit or send our mail on to. God knows what we've missed. Would you write her?"

Lily slides her hands across the table to meet Anthony's. 

"Yes, of course. I should have done better than two little notes anyway, but every time I sit down to write, nothing sounds good. 'Hey we're having a grand ol' time thieving our way across the States' would just worry her to death. Uncle Alex, though," she says fondly, "he'd be pretty proud of what we've managed to do so far."

She watches Anthony quietly for a moment, then squeezes his hands.

"Why were you angry with Gracie? Was it because of the prison break?"

He squeezes back for a moment, content with just the feel of her touch. 

"No. It was because of what happened to you, she didn't tell me. Maybe I was selfish in thinking I had some right to know. It hurt not being able to be there."

He continued to avoid eye contact, starting at the space between their hands. 

"I was just so angry at that time."

Dawn broke and the clouds glowed orange. In the brilliant luster over Pennsylvania, the outer suburbs of Philadelphia revealed themselves and the pair sat upright to witness it. The thundering engine blew its whistle and their speed decreased. Anthony's eyes met Lily's once more, his expression struggling and melancholy. 

Lily slowly shook her head back and forth, once.

"Please, don't," she said quietly before standing and moving to his side of the table, where she sat next to him and rested her chin on his shoulder as she watched the sky brighten. 

"People can only take so much, Anthony. She couldn't stand to tell you, not in that horrible place. She's like your mother, you know. She'll do anything to protect you because she loves you. Almost as much as I do," she said even more quietly. She should have told him that a long time ago.

"And you know what? That's all over and done with. And we don't have to go back until you're ready. If you're ever ready. Wanna hear something funny? I'm pretty sure I've been declared dead, too. I'm homeless!" She says with a laugh. 

The corner of his mouth curled and his eyes lit up once more. Wrapping his arm around her, Anthony pulled her into his chest and they watched the racing terrain that would bring them into Philly. His thoughts turned to the future, their future. 

"Soon as we get there, look for listing. Apartments, rooms, anything. I'll pull some cash together."

The station drew closer, the pair stood. 

"And I love you, too."