The smell of smoke accompanied by the  continuous three-beep alarm pattern of the  alarm travels through the studio apartment.

Renz finds a tray of what seems like burnt chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen counter. "Riley, what happened?" Her voice trembled. She hurries to the brunette's aid—squatting by the kitchen sink with her head in hands.

Renz takes no time to check the latter for any burns—a sigh of relief following her extensive check up. "I'm so sorry, Renz." The older girl feels her heart break at the sight of the girl bursting into tears. She hasn't gotten used to it.

"What on earth are you sorry about?" Renz uttered. She wipes the tears off of Riley's face gently with her thumbs.

Riley swallows the lump that sits at the back of her throat. "I made a mess..." She points shakily to the tray that sits on the kitchen counter. "I ruined the cookies and now the studio smells like smoke and the alarm—"

Renz hurriedly gets back on her feet and makes her way over to the hall. She takes a broom from the closet to her left and uses it to turn the alarm off. The three beep pattern comes to an abrupt stop and the studio falls silent.

The haze from the smoke lingers. Renz takes a look at her studio apartment. It looked like a set from a post apocalyptic movie. "It's off," She smiled softly. "Come here."  The older girl watches the latter stand from her squat.

Riley trudges along with her head hanging low. "I don't know what to do." She breathed. "I'm really sorry Renz."

The older girl clicks her tongue as she shakes her head. "You need to learn how to stop staying sorry," She chuckled lightly. "This is nothing we can't fix together. We can start by pulling back the curtains and opening the windows..."

Her voice fades when her phone starts to vibrate in her back pocket. She falls silent when she sees the caller ID—it's Mason. Renz scratches the back of her head. There's a feeling of hurt that fills up inside her when she takes a quick glance at Riley and then back at her phone.

She isn't sure if answering the phone would be the right call. So she declines. There's been a lot on her mind lately. Renz was sure that Riley felt the same way. Neither of them have been in touch with the younger since they left.

But that's where the situation falls from an act of kindness to an act of lies (and deceit). Renz felt horrible. The guilt builds up inside her almost every day. She did it for a reason. It's too late to change anything. She knew she wouldn't be able to do that to Riley either...

She didn't deserve that.

But neither does Mason.

She decides to switch her phone off. Out of sight out of mind. 'If I can't see it then there's no reason for me to feel bad' she thought to herself. Riley won't end up hurt either. It's two birds with one stone.

She proceeds to throw her phone onto the royal blue couch and forms a small smile. One would not be able to tell if whether this smile was genuine or not.

"Let's get these windows open shall we"