Yes, I can totally understand the decision around the kiss. It's such a challenge to decide what to keep and what to let go of in these micro-fiction pieces. The kiss, to me, could be many things. A kiss goodbye. The last vestige of his commitment to her. A consolation prize. I interpreted that it's a sign he really did love her, but his desire to start fresh was greater.

As for what he was running from, it could be anything. My imagination did not go to the extreme that he may have killed someone, but that he was an outlaw of some kind. Bank robber, bandit... wanted for robbing stage coaches. Any of those seem possible!