Baggage.

They held hands, smiling, as they walked down the street. On the outside, life seemed perfect. Everything was happy, peaceful, right.
But in an alternate reality, things weren't so perfect.
There were fears, insecurity, pain, idealistic dreams, and more that slowly seeped into the perfect happiness of everything. Things that weighed them down and made it more difficult to hold on to each other.
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The afternoon was quiet. The skies filled with overcast clouds, threatening to bear down upon the unsuspecting public at a moment's notice. Occasionally the sun would peek through the clouds and cast a stray beam of sunlight on the foreboding brick buildings.
A tall, slender man made his way slowly down the street. His gate was affected and awkward. His arms were full of bags. A backpack on his back. Two more bags slung over his shoulders. A large suitcase dragged behind him in one hand, and several small bags were clutched tightly in the other. Every so often, he stopped to readjust the bags, balancing the weight and make sure the suitcase still dragged properly along behind him. As he bent to tie his shoe, a petite, blonde woman rushed past him.
Her high heels clicked along the sidewalk as she sped down the street. Her arms, too, were filled with bags. A large satchel was slung over one shoulder. Several shopping bags were clutched in her right hand and a purse hung off her right forearm. She held an old fashioned suitcase in her left hand, causing her to lean awkwardly to that side, slowing her down and requiring each step to be precise, lest she misstep and topple over in her stilettos and pencil skirt.
Across the street, a mother struggled to maintain a proper hold on her bags, stroller, and two other children wandering beside and behind her. An infant screamed in the stroller as a two-year-old whined for a snack. She blew a few stray hairs out of her face and reached quickly for the grocery bags slipping off her arm. She yelled to get the attention of her kindergartner and motioned to hurry down the street.
The thunder rumbled ominously as people up and down the street ran to seek shelter.
A young high school couple walked quickly down the street, holding hands and giggling as they avoided the rain drops. Their bags were light. Only two each.
In the coffee shop at the corner, sat an elderly couple. The woman sighed wistfully as she sipped a hot cup of tea and watched the raindrops drip down the window. There were a few bags scattered around her feet, worn, tattered, but there nonetheless. The man smiled at his bride of 56 years and reached across the table for her hand. She smiled back at him and absentmindedly rubbed her thumb against his palm.
The kindergartner rushed past the couple and knocked over a pile of ragged bags that had been stacked carefully by the old man's feet.
"Jennie, get back here!" exclaimed the mother. "I'm so, so sorry!" she said as she rushed passed the couple after her daughter. A few minutes later, she dragged her back by the arm toward the table where the two-year-old was splashing happily in the spilled milk and the infant screamed loudly. With Jennie placed firmly back in her seat, she sighed and absentmindedly reached for her left hand, twisting where a ring had once been.
"I remember days like that," the old woman said. "I'm so glad you were always there beside me for them."
"Me, too, sweetheart," her husband said, lightly kissing her hand. "Me, too."
"I just wish more people learned that when you promise to hold on, you keep that promise, no matter how many obstacles end up in your way. I think most people now have forgotten that."
"But they haven't," he said, gesturing outside.
A block up the street stood a young couple. Their sizes distinctly different. He was tall and broad. She was petite and slender. Both of them had several bags. Each had a backpack  and a bag on each shoulder. She pulled a suitcase behind her and he held an umbrella in one hand, with a few bags hanging off his forearm. But what was so different from everyone else was that they each had one hand free. Well, sort of. Free of bags. Filled with each other.
He took one step forward and she pulled him back as a car sped down the road and through the intersection. Double checking to make sure the road was clear, they stepped out together, carefully adjusting their bags to ensure they never let go of each other and walked, happily, hand in hand down the street.
"Yep," said the old man. "That's how you do it. You hold on, no matter how hard it is, no matter how much gets in the way, because that's the promise you made."
"I love you, sweetie," she said, smiling.
"I love you, too."