The sun sets over the hills. A vast glow shines through the sky, cast by the sun's final beams of light. The petrichor is prominent in the air—and so is the underlying hint of heart break as it slowly spreads.

"You've been quiet, Riley. I feel like you haven't been very truthful lately. It's not that I'm saying you're awful at lying but it's so apparent." There's an ambivalent tone behind her words.

I shrug my shoulders as I keep my gaze still upon the distant sun set. "I'm not all that loud either. Is it really that concerning—me being quiet?  I answer thinly.

She doesn't turn to look at me but I watch her nod from my peripheral. "You're just strange."

"What?" I laughed half heartedly.

"I'm serious, Dani." There it is. "You're being selfish. You're not the only one who'll wind up hurt by your own doing."

"You don't mean that..." My voice fades.

"I do." She answered. "You come crying to me all the time about how you constantly fuck up and here you are again. Fucking it up."

I feel my chest tighten. It's hard to breathe. "Surely you don't really mean that," I breathed. "Take it back. You don't hear yourself."

We're face to face now. Regret washes over me as I catch her gaze. "The only person here right now who's not hearing themselves is you, Dani."

"Why are you saying this?" I questioned.

"If you have to ask me why...then that's an even bigger problem for you, D. It's up to you whether or not you keep this to yourself. It's your life after all, not mine. This relationship won't work out otherwise..."