Redhawk Caldera Stray away from the forces that make you

Time stretched on between them, but not silence.  She listened to his ragged breathing, waiting for it to move, to fade as he left.  This time she was hoping he'd run, and of course, this was the one damn time he stayed.  She didn't know he was frozen; all she knew was that she hadn't asked for this.  While he slowly began to realize the space, she grew more and more agitated, until finally she couldn't do it any more.

She'd prove to him exactly how little he owed her.

What, you - think I need - you here?  I left.  I lied - t' Meer n' - said I didn' bu' - I did.  So f - fuck favors.  She drove through even though every word was a hot iron through her chest for a number of reasons.  He'd hate her now.  Her eyes closed as her face tightened with it, but she didn't stop.  She was going to say this if it killed her.  I ran jus' - like he did n' - fuck.  She broke off with a choked sob of air.  She was too upset to control her tone and it was making it harder than it had been so far to speak with any amount of clarity or caution.  Jus' stop.  Stop tryin so - fuckin hard - to do things.  I can't...  She cut off there, her teeth gritted.  If she didn't pause she was going to start legitimately choking and she knew how quickly that could go bad.

To hell with it.  If he wanted to stand there panicking like an asshole rather than leave and be normal for once in his god damn life, okay.  She didn't know what about him made him convinced he had to be so ever-loving noble all the time but she'd had enough of it.  She needed him to leave, to be the one to crack this time, because then she could call him the coward instead.  If he hated her and ran out on her, then just like Penn, she could hate him back and could stop feeling so goddamn guilty every moment she thought about him.  She'd never wanted to lunge at him more, to snap at him until he got the hint and took off.

Instead she couldn't do anything but slump, defeated, and hope that her words did the work for her.  She only had so many in her, so they had to be enough.