Valerie could feel her palms sweating; especially when she saw Leigh's intense look. She could have sworn, that Ryleigh was almost glaring at her with how long it had taken her to make a decision about the lake house. Giving Jimmy a weak smile, as he thanked them all. Not having anything else to really say, she finished off her drink. Feeling the weird awkwardness and tension, growing again. Val knew that it wouldn't have gone away for long; it never did. And it was just about to get worse.

It took 5 seconds, for things to go from awkward to worse. Leigh of course had to mention, that she had plans with Leo. Sighing heavily. Valerie should have seen it coming. Despite her many attempts to try and fix things, with Leigh; the blonde managed to kick her down. Maybe she should stop trying? Leigh made it clear, that being forgiven any time soon, was out of the question. Even if 10 years, wasn't soon. If anything, it felt like an eternity. Feeling the embarrassment set in, as she heard Ray's comment; which prompted Jimmy to crack a joke.

[Color=Teal] "Jimmy, shut up!" [/Color] Val hissed, as she shot him a glare of annoyance. She really didn't need his wise-ass jokes, and him making it even worse than it already was. [Color=Teal] "Leo's a police officer, he moved to Rhodes about 4 years ago." [/Color] Valerie explained awkwardly to Ray. She knew details, wouldn't really make their situation better. But why would he be concerned about whom Leo was? [i]Surely, he himself tried to move on? Right?[/i] Or so Valerie thought. Awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck as she spoke. [Color=Teal] "Like Leigh said, I have plans for the evening already. But you 3 enjoy yourselves." [/Color] She gave a slight smile. It probably looked as awkward as it felt. Not sure, that she would even feel truly welcome later that evening. They didn't need her spoiling their fun.
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Before she could even tell Ray, that it was nice seeing him. And genuinely, it had been. Even if it was painful. Ryleigh had to pipe up again. [Color=Crimson] "And there she goes, running off once again!" [/Color] Maybe it was the few drinks she had in her, or all the lingering anger that had made her pipe up. But her words sounded full of venom; with a hint of sass.

As Valerie was reaching for her jacket; she stopped mid action hearing Ryleigh. Closing her eyes tightly, her jaw clenched. [Color=Teal] "Seriously Ryleigh?! What do you want from me?!" [/Color] She asked, exhausted from all their constant bickering. [Color=Teal] "Do you take pleasure in kicking me when I am down?" [/Color] Raising an eyebrow at the blonde, whom was once more glaring in her direction. [Color=Teal] "A little FYI, I am not the only one who's made mistakes here! But it's always been much easier for you to point fingers and put all the blame on me, because Ray hasn't been here for the past 10 years." [/Color]

[Color=Crimson]"I am not the one, that slept with him and ruined everything." [/Color] Ryleigh retorted, with a scoff. But what she wanted from Valerie? Well that was bit hard to come by. And probably something that Val already tried to do; but Ryleigh hadn't forgiven her. No matter how many times, she tried to apologise. [Color=Crimson] "What I want?! I want things to be back to normal, the way they were. For the group to be complete.." [/Color] Her voice cracking a bit, as she was about to mention Austin. But without him, the group would never be whole again.

The age old argument began again. Ryleigh firing off at Val once more. Unleashing that unburied anger and resentment. 

Shaking her head, with a sigh. Valerie tried to keep her own cool, but it was hard. [Color=Teal] "I can't turn back time, Leigh. I am not a Wizard." [/Color] It's not like she could magically, return things back to the way things used to be. [Color=Teal] "You know, I used to think that you'd be one of the few people that would understand...and at least feel some sort of sympathy for the situation. But clearly I was wrong." [/Color] Back when they were younger, Leigh knew of Val's insecurities. But after that night at the lake-house, it was like it slipped Ryleigh's mind. Instead holding everything against Val. Blaming her for everything. [Color=Teal] "For 10 years, I've tried...time and time again, to fix things. To apologise to you and the boys. To get the courage to write to Ray...to explain myself. But hell...he didn't even try that himself." [/Color] Val's voice cracked; as tears now freely run down her cheeks. She hit her breaking point. Knowing she couldn't keep this up much longer. No matter how much she wanted to. [Color=Teal] "But I can't do it anymore. I am done, being your punching bag. I am just done." [/Color] With that, she fled from the bar. Her jacket over her shoulder, tears clouding her vision. Almost tripping over her own feet; as her pace quickened. Thud. The door slammed behind her, as she run out of the bar quicker than someone could say Hot Potato. Whether the girls would recover from this, was unknown. But this time, Ryleigh had pushed her over the edge, with everything. 

[Color=Crimson] "Fine! Run, away. It's all you're good at anyways. Run to your new toy!" [/Color] Ryleigh screamed after Val, in her own anger.