#ah. romäënce

[turbotaco]

Someone on Twitter pointed out the fact that gay marriage hadn't been legalized in the US before 2003--which just makes Bill and Frank getting married on the last day of their lives that much more personal and meaningful.

They knew it wouldn't mean anything to the world they lived in (especially in an apocalypse) but it was important to THEM.

Not to mention the fact that marriage as an institution was probably something Bill actively hated on principle (in line with his libertarian lone wolf "I hate the world and it hates me" outlook on life).

And then he meets Frank.

He's never been scared of anything before but Frank brings out something in him and he's terrified of it..

When they meet, somehow they know that against all odds they've found someone special. It's like Bill hadn't been living--really living--before Frank. Despite how scary it is to love someone so deeply in a world so deeply broken, they try. They hold onto each other, tight.

They love and fight and make up and love and fight some more. They're honest and open and warm and kind-- each in their own ways. They only have 16 years together but damn, do they make the most of it.

At the end of it all, Bill recognizes that. And he lets himself indulge in the hope he'd crushed within himself for a long, long time.

He loves Frank the way he wants to be loved. So they get married on the last day. He dresses in the fancy-ass clothes Frank picks out for him. He walks with Frank to their favorite spots. They share their first meal together all over again. And Bill makes a choice. He doesn't want to be on this earth without his purpose. He doesn't want to leave without having given Frank everything. And so, they go together.

It doesn't mean anything to anyone else. No one is paying attention to this small town in the country. There are few people to remember them now that they're gone. But it doesn't matter. It means everything to Bill and Frank. Two people who loved, despite it all.