No matter what either of them tried to say; the awkward air remained between the duo. And probably always would to some degree. After all, they hadn't seen each other in a decade. And no matter what anyone said; she was the one whom drove him away in the first place. She knew, she was the biggest cause of the group breaking; not just him leaving. And it was something she had to live with for the rest of her life. Even if they tried to pretend that neither of them were hurting. It was far from the truth. Both of them seemed to be struggling, on what to say. There was so much, that Valerie had wanted to say to Ray if she ever saw him again. But it was like, all of it had escaped her the moment she laid eyes on him again. And by the looks of it; that was a mutual issue.

Seeing the look on his face; she knew that he was equally sorry. But it didn't get rid of her guilt. Rid of the pit in her stomach, she felt whenever she looked at him. Knowing him well enough, to know he was trying to hide his own hurt behind a brave face.

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Smiling weakly, when he mentioned his inability to stay mad at her. Though, she wasn't too sure how true that was given their situation from 10 years ago. But then a part of her, felt the exact same. No matter how hurt she was; that he left and never kept in touch with anyone. How much she wanted to be angry with him for leaving them all in the dark; she couldn't physically bring herself to be mad at him. He deserved to have a good life. Deserved to be happy. Having taken his long 10 year silence as him moving on with his life. But based on his reactions to Leo, she wasn't entire too sure if he had moved on or not.

Was he jealous? Maybe she was just seeing things. [Color=Teal] "Good luck with that. She bites." [/Color] Warning him to stay braced for Leigh's hell, if he wanted to put up with the blonde for the next long while. [Color=Teal] "I hope you'll have better luck at getting through to Leigh, than I ever did." [/Color] Who knows, maybe Ryleigh might listen to Raymond. Just maybe. Though she tried to be convinced by his smile, that he was okay. Maybe she was just trying to convince herself that he wasn't jealous of Leon. But the guilt in the pit of her stomach hadn't left. Nodding at the mention of tomorrow. [Color=Teal] "See you then." [/Color] She said sadly. Tomorrow was the funeral. And gods, she was dreading it. It was painful to think, about it. Knowing they had to say goodbye to Austin and that he really wasn't coming back. Would things be different if Austin was still here? Would her and Ray be at better odds with each other? Would Ryleigh not be so vicious, if Austin was here to keep her calm? They'd never know...

[Color=Teal] "Enjoy happy hour, I guess." [/Color] Val said before they went their separate ways. Val heading back home so she could fix herself for the evening. In the meantime, Leigh was still fuming. Even with Jimmy's attempts to try and calm her down. But it wasn't working.