"I like it here." Sage said, matter of factly.
Her and Aubrey were propped up on the hood of Regina, Aubrey's trusty steed which was more or less a piece of junk with a coat of fading green paint over it, but it got them to the places they needed to go. They lay with their backs pressed up against the windshield and their legs dangling off of the edge, Aubrey's feet just barely brushing the sand beneath them.
Aubrey's lips pulled into a small smile, and she rolled her head to the side. "That's surprising, city girl."
Their gazes were set on the view of the desolate road in front of them and the expanse of desert behind it. It seemed to go on forever, the only evidence of its endpoint was where the setting sky bled into it so many miles away. Every now and again a car would drive by and a dust of sand would cling to it just as close as its shadow did.
"I didn't think I'd like the peace and quiet this much." Sage said softly. "Too much time to think has never been good for me."
Aubrey turned her head towards Sage and gave her a halfhearted smile. Sage returned it because she knew Aubrey understood exactly what she meant underneath that one statement.
"I've been starting to find it easier, though- at least out here." Sage seemed to be taking in the scenery around her as she scanned the sky. Stars were just barely visible then, but the moon was still nowhere to be seen. "I used to never understand how you could like being so isolated out here, but I think I get it now." Sage was starting to learn that being alone didn't mean that she ever truly was.
"You've been thinking on it a lot, haven't you?" Aubrey asked, but she already knew the answer.
"It's all I think about now. It changed everything between us, Aubs." Sage's voice held a desperation that could only convey a partial glimpse of her sad reality.
"Did you not hear him say he forgave you?"
Sage gave her an incredulous look. "Those words meant shit, Aubrey. Don't you see the way he acts around me, the way he looks at me? He treats me like I'm a stranger to him when the only thing that was ever ungenuine was my name."
No words were exchanged for a few minutes and the pause wasn't awkward or tense, just empty. Sage could relate.
"I know we've never mentioned it out loud, but you and I both know that Michael and I- we had something good. We had something that was real." Sage's voice sounded on the verge of breaking and she took a moment before she went on. "No other man has ever treated me the way he has, with so much respect. I don't think he knows how much I appreciate that."
Aubrey let her go on, knowing just how much she needed to say what she'd bottled up for so long. At one point she grabbed Sage's hand and gave it a squeeze just to let her know she was listening.
"I know you can't change your past, Aubrey, I know, but I can't help but think if only I was honest from the get-go. I was such a coward then." Sage snorted, but it was tinged with bitterness. "I've always been good at that shit- running from my problems. Y'know I'm here because he hates this place." There was a short pause before she went on, "And I guess because you're here, too, but that's besides the point." Sage said this quietly.
Aubrey cracked a smile. "I do see the way he looks at you, Sage, and I get it." Aubrey was now looking Sage in the eyes. "You need to know that he's only acting this way because he feels all of that, too. He just feels betrayed right now."
"I was always too caught up with worrying about screwing things up for us, that I don't think I've ever told him how much he means to me."
Despite how grim the conversation was, Aubrey couldn't help but let out a cackle. "He isn't dead, Sage. You can still tell him these things."
"Because it's not as if I haven't considered doing it a thousand times before." Sage said dryly, but a smirk was creeping its way up her face.
"Why don't you just do it then? I mean, what more do you have to lose now?"
Sage could hear the playfulness in Aubrey's voice, but she contemplated her words. "You might be right for once, y'know." Sage sat up now, pulling one of her knees to her chest and leaning her chin against her hand in thought.
Aubrey looked offended. "Excuse me, I am always right."
"Telling yourself that doesn't make it true." Sage, as always, was playing with fire at this point.
"Oh yeah? Well who was right when you were reading that map wrong- and who was right when you said sharks don't eat people, because I know of a kid who got eaten- and who was right when you we-"
"Okay, okay, you're right a lot of times, how about that?"
Aubrey gave her a look, but didn't protest further.
"Thank you for understanding, Aubrey. I mean it." Sage gave her a warm smile.
"I was hurt at first, but only because I wish you'd have told me sooner."
"I regret that more than I regret not telling Michael." Sage said seriously.
"You're my ride or die, Sage. You knew I couldn't stay mad at you." Aubrey gave her a knowing look.
"Did I really know that?" Sage asked, nothing but trouble in her tone.
Aubrey deadpanned. "You ruined the moment."
"I ruin everything." Sage stated simply.
"Yeah," Aubrey laughed, "You do."
Sage let out her first real one of the night at that. The air was becoming cooler, but it stayed dry as the moon finally appeared, full and bright and so far out of reach. Coyotes sang in the distance and the breeze swept their hair. Sage was sitting next to her best friend and hope was pouring back into her.
Yes, she liked it here.