Ennis watched as Jack loaded his truck, a burning cigarette hanging from his lips. He shook his head at Jack's obvious anger.

"I don't know why you're so mad. You think we can just be together and nothing'll happen? No one'll care and we can live happily ever after. It don't work that way." Ennis shouted.

Jack froze while Ennis was talking, but after he had fallen silent for a moment Jack slowly turned to face him.

"You think I don't know what people are like, Ennis? You think I don't know what happens? I know perfectly well what happens but you know what? I don' care! I don't care because, because…dammit Ennis I can't take it anymore! I don't care 'cause I love you, okay? I love you."

Ennis looked into Jack's wide, scare, tear filled eyes, his own fear tickling his brain and wrapping around his heart, which constricted with the sudden urge to shed his own tears. He attempted to hold back but I proved pointless as tears rolled down his cheeks, burning his eyes and skin.

He took a deep breath, which escaped his throat in a sob. Jack rushed toward him, dropping his cigarette on the ground and wrapping his arms around Ennis, comforting him. Ennis clung to Jack, tears soaking his shoulders.

"I swear, Jack…" Ennis sobbed. "I don't know what you've done to me, Jack fuckin' Twist. You wish you knew how to quit me. But I'm not sure I want you to."

Jack pulled away, looking into Ennis's eyes. "That's the closest to an 'I love you' I'm ever gonna get from you, ain't it?"

"You best believe it." Ennis said, voice catching as a new wave of tears rolled from his eyes down his cheeks. Jack held Ennis's face between his hands, holding their faces so close their noses touched.

"It's good enough for me." He whispered, their lips coming together in a heated kiss, hands fisting in each other's shirts, tongues and teeth clashing.

They kissed long and hard before finally breaking away, adjusting their shirts. They donned their hats and said a reluctant good bye. Ennis watched as Jack climbed into his truck as revved the engine, giving him a small wave as he drove away. Once Jack was gone Ennis climbed into his own truck and followed after him, blinking away tears and watching the mountains disappear in his review mirror.

Three years later, after having never gone back to Brokeback, after Jack's death, after hundreds of nights wondering if things could have been different, Ennis's oldest daughter, Alma Jr., came to visit. They sat down to talk and Alma delivered the news. She and her boyfriend Kurt were engaged to be married. Instantly Ennis thought of Jack, of the life they could have had together, and at first he denied his invitation to the wedding. But he thought of Jack, and what Jack would have said to do and he accepted, pouring them both glasses of wine.

After Alma left Ennis realized she's forgotten her sweater. She was already out of sight so he folded it and put it in his closet, pausing to look at the shirts, one inside the other, and the postcard of Brokeback. He felt his heart constrict as he straightened the postcard.

"I swear, Jack…" I love you. He finished in his head, a single tear rolling down his cheek.