Redsand Canyon Each and every breath we take

It took her a while. Towhee's patience helped, and while Fennec didn't pull away from her, she didn't really lean into the comfort either. Underneath everything, there was a common thread that repeated. You're supposed to be better than this. She made you better than this.

She didn't know if she could take it, if her mom just spouted the same shit Fig had. She loved her brother but neither he nor Penn had been what she needed. She didn't know what her mom would say but there was really only one way to find out. Maybe the best way to do it was just to talk. Dump it all at once and let them both walk away from it when it was out there.

Bronco left. For good, this time. Towhee wouldn't hear the tonelessness of her voice, but her expression stayed consistent as well. I told Killdeer it was mutual, but it wasn't. I didn't want him to be as angry as I was. Still am.

It hadn't been right for a long time. Honestly, I think I was kidding myself, trying as much as I did. It hadn't done any good in the end and was probably why things had only gotten worse and worse. I thought I needed time, so I ditched Fig, but that only made it worse. Everything's fucked, mom. On that last part, her tone finally cracked, and her neutral expression twisted a bit towards desperate.

I didn't know where else to go. And I didn't want to lose Killdeer too. The thought of it was unbearable. She shouldn't have left. Walking away from him after their last conversation was probably the shittiest thing she'd ever done. It didn't matter if she'd done it thinking it was better for him. She should have sucked it up and fucking stayed.

The worst part? Doing that, she'd proven Bronco right. Again.