Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harvest Moon related.

…

Chapter 6: Betrayal

Fall 23rd, Year 2

Over the following month, Jill's life in Forget-Me-Not-Valley continued much of way Marlin had predicted the evening of their resolution: everything had remained relatively the same as it was before. Jill and Marlin continued to interact pleasantly, and in fact, contrary to her previous worry, she felt that they had even grown closer. Something in their newfound understanding and necessary trust of each other seemed to unlocked a depth in their friendship that hadn't been as profound in previous encounters. Conversation was pleasant, and they quickly developed a new habit of finding safety in each other to discuss more serious and personal matters that they otherwise wouldn't normally share. Naturally, it caused them to want more opportunity to speak, and so, instead of their solitary Monday night bar routine, they had even begun a new, unspoken ritual of drinking together at the Blue Bar on Friday nights as well. Muffy, being one of the only two employees at the bar, immediately noticed the change in frequency and began her own new tradition of pulling Jill aside just about every Friday night to pry about the 'new developments' in her love life- of which, Jill had no news to offer.

Despite having to denied each and every newly fabricated conspiracy of 'new love' from her favorite barmaid, Jill wasn't in anyway deterred her from enjoying the extra late evenings spend together at the bar with her close friends. And, despite the more frequent opportunities, Marlin never once asked Jill about the 'Phantom Thief'. It seemed known to both that it was the one subject that they should not divulge into; however, it still tended to create a small amount of awkwardness between the two whenever conversation dulled. It was pretty obvious to Jill that Skye was the subject of the questions that manifested in Marlin's mind when a silence arose in-between sips of his drinks; but still, the words never came from his mouth. And so, they could pretend, at least, that their best kept shared secret was altogether nonexistent.

However, even after Jill managed to patch up her relationship with Marlin, her meetings with Skye resumed. And Skye, quite the opposite of Marlin, seemed rather fascinated, or perhaps, altogether obsessed, with finding out more about the dark haired man and his true intentions. Jill tried her best to keep the subject from her mouth, as she was beginning to feeling like an informant, but Skye spoke relentlessly about uncovering more information on Marlin, ideally, for blackmail.

...

"But what makes you think he really won't say anything? My dear, I don't think it's safe to assume that just because he's 'your friend' that he wouldn't talk under the right circumstances," Skye conveyed his feelings on the subject blatantly one cloudy night, during, what was supposed to be, a causal rendezvous at the beach. They sat in the sand, far enough from the waves to stay dry. Jill pulled her legs up close and began twisting her loose hair into a messy bun to constrain the wisps away from the cool, salty breeze.

"Regardless of whether he decides to tells or not: what could I even do about it?" she remarked, fixing her hair loosely atop her head. "I'm not really in any position to be bargaining…. Do you want me to kidnap him?" she proposed playfully, laughing a little at her rhetoric, but her chortle died down when she saw the seriousness still plain on Skye's face. He appeared to be considering the idea.

"We're not kidnapping anyone, Skye!" she exclaimed a little too loudly.

"SHH!" He threw his hand over her mouth in fear that someone would hear. He listened for a second before he removed his hand and fully revealed Jill's expression of irritation.

"I'm not talking about kidnap!" he retorted in a hushed tone. "I just mean, I think we should have some leverage too."

"We do! He's an honest person, Skye! He told me he wouldn't say anything. I think that's 'leverage' enough," Jill dictated the end of the conversation by returning her gaze to the calm waves of the ocean before them.

Skye huffed in exasperation and followed her gesture of contemplation over the water. He didn't understand how Jill could be so open minded, and yet so naïve when it came to the people she labeled as her 'friends'. Maybe she had just become deceived by the good nature of the small town and could no longer see that these people were just as selfish and dishonest as anyone: Or, maybe, that was just the kind of esteem that she held for the farmer…? Skye placed his head in his palm at the realization.

"Jill. You're falling in love with him, aren't you?

Jill's eyes widened for a moment; she turned to him with a look of astoundment. The expression on her face was answer enough for him.

"Love? I don't 'love' him?!" Jill denied with a healthy amount of blush upon her cheeks. She had been largely caught off guard by his preposterous question.

Skye remained silent, which only gave Jill a feeling of necessity to clarify.

"But, I care about him a lot. He's a good friend- who I trust," she accentuated the final word. Besides, it's not like you're going to steal from us anymore anyway; so why would he even have a reason to go to the police?"

"Yes. You're probably right," Skye seemed to give in with some dejectedness, before he brightened with a mischievous grin. "How is it that you happen to not only be so beautiful, but so smart as well?"

"My goodness…" Jill dropped her head dramatically and covered her face with her hands. "Drop it, Skye," she mumbled into her palms.

Skye laughed at her disgruntlement with his constant teasing. The funniest part, to him, was that he meant everything he said, but she never actually took his words for their intention.

"Just when I thought we would have our first fully serious conversation…" she grumbled with joking despair, and Skye laughed once again at the unperceived irony of her words.

…

Jill, despite Skye's frequent reminders, was trying her best not to think too much about any of it: Skye, Marlin, nor their new, strange situation. Autumn was one of her best profit seasons for produce, and she, nearly quite literally, buried herself into her harvest. After making bountiful profit from the first half of fall's crops, she was now ready to hoard the rest for income during winter months, and, of course, for eating herself. That morning, after her work was complete, she decided to put her prized yams to good use and spend a few hours baking. However, it was much too late by the time Jill realized that she had used more ingredients than was needed for her recipe, and so, with so many extras, she decided to make some delivers to the inhabitants of the town.

She packed her satchel, resolved to pay a visit to Flora… and internally proposed she may as well stop to deliver treats to Vesta's along the way.

…

As Jill made her way over the bridge, she brightened to find Marlin in clear view. He was using a old, wooden tiller to upturn the soil in a barren patch of land a few field across from the house. As Jill made her way over, Marlin registered the sounds of footsteps approaching from his side, but kept his gazed down as he worked, thinking it was only Celia or Vesta coming to assist or speak with him about work. When he finally glanced up, he smiled placidly upon realizing the foot steps has been Jill's.

"Hey," he greeted her and respectfully stopped his work by leaving the garden tool upright in the ground. He noted the full bag at her hip with a glance, but his attention was more fully captured when Jill smiled to him mischievously before replying to his greeting.

"Guess what?"

Marlin held back a smile of his own and paused for a moment in thought. She was beginning a new game.

"You… discovered an ancient family heirloom buried in your backyard?," Marlin guessed, his face as straight as ever. Jill laughed; she loved how he had a new response to her rhetorical question every time she asked- and the more sarcastically ridiculous the responses grew: the better.

"Nope," she answered with a chuckle.

"It turned out that Bo was a girl this entire time, and now he's expecting puppies?"

Jill chortled even harder. "Okay, no. One more try."

Marlin thought for another silent moment, while Jill waited with an expecting smile on her face.

"You've accidentally struck oil and now you're leaving the Valley to live your life as a billionaire," Marlin tried to remain indifferent with a shrug, but he ended up cracking a small smile upon hearing Jill chuckling once again.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she eyed him suspiciously.

"Of course," he replied without any hint of a second thought.

Jill gasped exaggeratingly.

"Because then I'd have a rich friend to pay for all my visits to see them," Marlin retorted, as though that was the obvious reason.

Jill let up her glare slowly before returning to the real task at hand.

"Well, you were pretty close," she lied and carefully pulled out a pie tin wrapped in foil from her large bag. "Ta-da!" she proclaimed, holding it out to him. "This season's freshest sweet potato pie!"

"Oh. Sweet," Marlin muttered the pun with heavy sarcasm as he held out his hands to receive the item; they both knew he disliked most desserts.

Jill gave him an ample look of disapproval.

"I was only joking, Jill. This is nice," Marlin backtracked upon seeing her expression, gesturing to the product in his hands.

Jill chuckled at his fumbling. "So was I. That's for Vesta and Celia," she confessed as she rummaged through her bag once again. "Here ya go." She pulled out a bottle of her homemade, wild berry dry wine and traded him. Marlin laughed this time.

"… Thanks," he chuckled, admiring the dark colored drink presented to him; it was his favorite of her recipes. Jill began to tuck the pie away once more.

"I figured you could drink some before going to the bar tonight," she laughed. "But you have to promise to at least try-"

"Marlin!" A cry of urgency rang over the crops, emanating from near Vesta's house; the call unmistakenly belonged to Celia. "Please come here- Quick!" Marlin and Jill shared a concerned glance before Marlin silently returned the bottle to her and began to run towards the dismay. Jill pursued, slower due to the contents of her bag, as she wondered if she could be of any help.

Vesta had emerged from the house to join the two who now stood out front. She was holding out a crisp piece of paper with only two lines of neat handwriting scribed in the center. Celia had already begun her explanation when Jill arrived, halting next to Marlin. Vesta took the time to acknowledge her before Celia got too far into telling her story.

"You came at a good time, Jill," Vesta stated; she seemed rather brooding, instead of her usual cheery self.

"What is it?" Jill inquired about the clamor.

"A note from the 'Phantom Thief' just arrived," Celia explained, almost out of breath from just having informed Marlin in a rush.

Jill felt like her heart had stopped. She unintentionally held her breath as her eyes flickered to Marlin's face to steal a look at his expression. He reached out for the letter, and took a sideways glance at Jill before he read it over. He looked serious; any hint of laugher in his eyes from just moments earlier had completely disappeared.

"'At Midnight, I shall help myself to your crops. Yours Truly, Phantom Skye...'"Marlin read directly from the page. "That's all it says." He stated shortly in a flat tone as he handed the paper back to Vesta.

"He wants to ravage our crops… This is unbelievable!" Vesta shouted in rage to no one in particular. "Give me a break!"

Celia looked contemplative. "We need to prepare for this. And we can't do much with just the three of us. Would you help us nab that crook, Jill?" Celia pleaded, freshly determined to stop the thief. Marlin only stood in silence, waiting to see how Jill would respond.

Jill was shocked, to say the least, but she was so outwardly focused on remaining relatively calm and normal, that she automatically responded with the answer that seemed the most socially appropriate.

"Y-yes! Of course, I will, " she nodded.

"Thanks, Jill," Celia smiled.

"Well, Jill… You've got the ranch and all-" Marlin attempted to protest, but Vesta, too caught up in her anger, completely dismissed him.

"Great!" she boomed. "We'll be needing ya here sometime before midnight to go over the plan to catch him. We'll be waiting inside the house."

Jill nodded again. The two women continued to talk about plans, but their distancing voices were drowned out by Jill's own rushing thoughts. She numbly presented them their gifts and only stepped inside briefly to leave the pies and wine on the table, before she created a quick excuse for leaving. Marlin left immediately after her, giving his own brief excuse that he was leaving to walk Jill out.

"Since when were you such a gentleman?" Vesta laughed. Marlin just shook his head at her comment and closed the door.

"Jill," he called calmly to her, commanding her attention so she would come to a stop. He walked up alongside and continued at her stride, trying to seem causal to anyone who would be watching.

"What is this about?" he whispered suspiciously. He seemed to believe she was somehow a part of it all.

"I don't know! Why would he do this?!" she exclaimed in a near whisper, asking herself. He could see the pure shock and betrayal on her face; she was obviously wrecked over the fact that the criminal was back to work. That was all it took for Marlin to stop his interrogation, and he sighed.

"He's a thief, Jill. I'm not trying to say 'I told you so', but this was to be expected from a criminal. What I just don't understand is: why us?"

"What do you mean?" Jill glanced up to him.

"I mean, why Vesta? We don't have much to take. And why would he possibly think he could take all the crops? Unless he just wants to destroy them. But then, what does that get him?" Marlin paused. "Did he say anything to you about us?"

Jill racked her brain before shaking her head. Besides Jill's affiliation with Marlin, Skye never talked about anyone at Vesta's farm or her shop.

"No. Not that I can think of."

Marlin paused again, sounding more condemning. "Did you say anything about us to him?"

Jill nearly halted. Yes. She had. She had told him so much.

She couldn't respond. Marlin watched her reaction before he sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He continued to walk alongside her in silence as he thought about what he should and how he should react. He had almost walked with her all the way to the excavation site before he had his answer.

"Okay," he began, seeming to have calmed himself back down to his normal stoicism. "Well, you know him better than anyone here. Hopefully you can find out what this is really about, and try to talk him out of it. I'll try to convince Vesta not to go the Mayor right away… this time," he added, not wanting the expectation of his assistance in lying to start becoming a habit of hers. Jill walked forward and stopped in front of Marlin. He halted quickly and looked down at her worried, emotion filled eyes. Then, without warning, she reached out and hugged him tightly.

He was doing too much. She knew he didn't give a damn about what happened to Skye- he was trying to keep it all a secret for her sake- but that left him just as guilty in the eyes of the law.

"I'm so sorry about everything," she mumbled, almost indiscernibly, into his chest. She felt so bad for dragging him into the depths with her. It wasn't his issue to deal with, and she shouldn't have asked him to lie. She decided right then, that everything needed to be straightened out with Skye once and for all. She cared about him deeply, but it wasn't fair for him to put so many others at risk by continuing to steal in her town- or at all. She couldn't remain near him if it meant his deceitfulness would affect her friends too.

As Jill rambled on in her brain, Marlin remained silent and stayed to his own. He wasn't sure how to react to her sudden gesture, so, at first, he froze. After a few moments, he slowly thawed as felt his fingertips reach her shoulder blades and entwine with the tips of the hair in her ponytail. He rested his chin against her head as he contemplated the situation he had gotten himself into. He might have hated 'Skye', but cared about the happiness of the girl he held in his arms so much more.

So, was that the reason he felt justified in lying?

He inwardly knew that it wasn't a very rational excuse, but he had a rather difficult time arguing that fact with himself.

Jill broke away without real warning, her newly found enthusiasm towards mending the situation drew her away from their intimacy.

"I'll think of a way to fix this," she promised, scanning Marlin's expression, before she retracted and turned from his reach. "I'll see you tonight," she called back and quickened her pace.

As he watched her leave, Marlin felt a strong urge to go after the rancher and draw her back to him again. He wanted to take her in, envelope her in his arms, and know that she was safe and not getting herself into any more trouble- but he couldn't. Instead, he had easily loosened his grip and silently let her disappear at the entrance of the excavation site, before he returned back to his own work at the farm.

…

Jill hardly had the attention span necessary to fully listen and talk with Flora, and Flora noticed. She had known Jill had something on her mind, but after a few tries at prying, with no avail, she gave up. Jill had always taken her time confessing to her anxieties aloud, but the excavator had accepted it. They sat in the tent together as Flora tasted the pie Jill made for her and, instead, spoke about sweet potatoes, and digging, and Mineral Town. The latter idea reminded Jill that she needed to go visit their friend Karen, since it had "been a while," and Flora suggested that they make it a date.

Jill didn't stay at the site too long. She stated that she was tired (which was not simply just an excuse) and she began home. She snuck past Vesta's farm, not stopping to say hello or find out about the plan for the night. She felt too ashamed to face them all again without it being a necessity.

…

Jill attempted to lie down for the few hours she had before the heist, but she found it too hard to fall asleep, with how restless she had become. The only thing which gave her any solace was the knowledge that Marlin was still looking out for her, and, for that selfish instant, she felt extremely glad that he had found out the truth. It was only one burden taken off her chest, but it was a large one.

…

Jill woke up from an unexpected nap by the sound of the premature alarm she had set for nine in the evening. She had half a mind to slam the alarm into silence and continue sleeping peacefully, but she knew she could never live down such a cowardly decision.

She drew herself from the bed slowly and got dressed in clean work clothes along with a light, gray jacket. Vesta had asked her be available by midnight, but she couldn't stand to just wait around at home until then; instead, she went to the Goddess Pond to see if Skye would bother to show up to explain himself. After the first hour, she told herself she would only wait fifteen more minutes. By the end of the second hour, she realized it was time to head to Vesta's. Jill was unspeakably agitated. Skye didn't show his face. He didn't try to explain, or talk to her before he went to pull off this stunt of his. He had promised to stop stealing. She had trusted him, but now she was beginning to believe that he might have actually been using the information she gave him against her friends and neighbors. She attempted to shake that thought, and her anger, way. He was still her friend; he probably had an underlying reason for his letter-one that would make more sense to her later on.

Jill folded her arms tightly as she trudged towards Vesta's near the middle of the night. When she got to the door of the home, she stole a brief glance around, hoping that Skye would suddenly appear and call it all off or say that it was all just a joke. When she saw nothing but shrouded darkness covering the land, she gave in, and knocked at the door. Celia answered and granted her access.

"Come on in, Jill," she smiled, but her altogether demeanor seemed nervous. Vesta and Marlin were congregated near the foot of the stairs. Upon seeing Jill, Vesta smiled confidently.

"We'll get that lily-livered thief tonight!" Vesta growled with determination. Marlin seemed unenthused, despite his sister's high energy.

"You're awfully angry," he pointed out dully, thinking the comment might hint to the red head that she should calm down. However, his plan didn't work in the slightest.

"You better believe I am!" Vesta lifted her closed fist like she was ready to start throwing punches. "That crook's after my precious vegetables! But we're not going to let him get away!" Vesta looked to each of them for affirmation of their shared confidence. Jill could only think to nod.

...

As they left the house, flashlights in hand, they spoke about the best plan of action.

"Maybe we need a strategy for combing through the crops since the farm is so huge," Celia pointed out thoughtfully once they had come to the front door to the storeroom. With Celia's statement, Marlin thought of the prefect idea for getting himself alone with Jill when they discovered the thief.

"…You're right. We'll spilt up in twos and hide in different areas, so we can ambush him."

"That makes sense," Vesta agreed. "So, Celia and Marlin, I want you two to take that field," She pointed across to the north part of the farm. "Jill and I will hide in the opposite field."

Jill's eyes widened slightly in distress. So she would potentially have to run away from Vesta in order to speak to Skye alone? Marlin shook his head slowly.

"Vesta, I think that-"

"I need you to look after Celia, Marlin. You've heard what this guy does to young girls,' Vesta interjected, denying his refusal; her over protective nature of her adoptive niece blinded her to any further suggestion. Marlin found himself glancing at Jill to gauge her expression. She wore a pleading looking, but simply nodded to him. She couldn't make him look suspicious too, if the truth was later revealed.

"Alright. Let's go," Marlin gave up, shoving his hands into his pockets and starting towards the north part of the field. He paused, only briefly, as he waited for Celia to catch up to him.

…

They took cover in the crops at the edge of the field for the next twenty minutes, waiting for midnight to strike. Jill was becoming more and more restlessness. She absently watched the path towards the bridge through a small opening of plants as she paced, trying to make as little noise as possible. A few minutes after the hour Skye had set to make his appearance, Jill sighed and turned to whisper to Vesta was listening into the field intently.

"Do you think he's still-?"

"Wait..." Vesta called in a hushed volume, silencing Jill as she listening. Upon focusing more intensely, Jill could hear voices from across the field that she couldn't make out.

"AAAACK!"

Both woman jumped at the sound of the scream; immediately, they knew it was from Celia. Vesta and Jill broke into a sprint, separating only as they pushed through the crops, and burst through the other side of the field, near the farmhouse. The first thing Jill could make out in the darkness was Celia hunched over, having fallen to the ground. In front of her, Marlin was squaring off against the criminal the had all been anticipating.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!?" Marlin him, gesturing to Celia on the ground. Jill and Vesta ran to her as fast as they could. Celia looked up to them, fearful tears in her eyes.

"Auntie Vesta. I can't feel my leg…" she admitted hoarsely, looking like she might begin to cry.

Jill knew what it was; Skye had used the same method on her about a year ago. He had shot her with a dart that made her legs go numb. It was harmless, but it was still a terribly vulnerable feeling. She huddled onto the ground and attempted to comfort Celia by assuring her the numbness would wear off. When she looked up to Skye, he only made eye contact briefly, but he wouldn't glance her way for more than a few seconds; she never took her eyes off him.

"She'll be able to move soon enough," Skye waved off Marlin's anger like it meant nothing to him; he even seemed amused. "Hehe, you were all waiting to ambush me tonight…weren't you?" he remarked, and in that moment, looked directly at Jill.

Jill couldn't stand his games any longer. Marlin looked like he was about to charge at Skye, but Jill jumped up quickly and put her arm out in front of him to block his access.

"Please! Just- stop stealing!" She pleaded with him. She didn't want to see a real fight happen between two people she cared about over just a few crops.

Skye laughed a little. "Are you worried about me?" he asked with what seemed akin to sincerity. "Don't be. It's not my time to be caught." He smiled to her and turned to leave.

Marlin started at him, but Vesta called him back.

"Marlin! Don't! It's not worth a fight. And I need yer help getting Celia into the house!"

Skye chuckled as he kept walking, and Marlin growled in his direction before he complied with Vesta's wishes. Celia was only using one leg, held steady by Vesta, before Marlin turned and picked up her in his arms; her left leg dangled freely, still immobile.

Jill didn't stop watching Skye. He was almost over the first hill towards Mineral Town when something in her snapped. She took off towards him, running as fast as she could to catch up.

"Jill!" Marlin and Vesta called to her, trying to get her to come back, but she ignored them. She watched as Skye disappeared over the hill. He didn't stop to see who was chasing him; he seemed to just know.

Marlin got Celia into the house and on the couch as fast as he could while still remaining delicate with her.

"Take care of Celia! I'll be right back!" he called as he ran out the exit. Neither Vesta nor Celia had the time to protest before he slammed the door shut behind him.

…

Jill huffed as she finally reached Skye, cautiously and uncharacteristically staying a few yards away from him. He stopped and turned to face her.

"S-Skye!" she breathed heavily. "Why? What are you doing? I thought you said you were done stealing!"

Skye smiled sadly to her and shook her head. "You said it yourself, Jill. He wouldn't have said anything if I hadn't kept stealing."

"What…" Jill was shocked at his explanation. She had never actually believed that Skye would ever betray her, no matter that he was a thief, and no matter what Marlin said about him. She had kept her faith with him through everything. Realizing suddenly that the whole scheme was created purely with the intention of harm, subsided her shock, and filled her voice, instead, with complete rage. "Why would you want that?! Is this some sort of test!? This isn't a game, Skye! It's my life you're messing with!"

Marlin was almost over hill, barely able to male out the conversation at hand.

"Then come with me. We can start a new one." Skye appeared to be completely serious; there was no smiled or laugh left anywhere in his features.

With that, Marlin stopped. He couldn't believe what he had heard. He knew he should have just grabbed Jill, and told her not to listen to any of the man's lies, but he couldn't bring himself to move forward. What if that was what she really wanted? Would he still pull her away?

"What?" Jill was even more aghast by his unexpected, and unimaginable offer. "I-I can't. I can't just leave everything and go on the lam with you!"

"I'll stop stealing, Jill. No one really knows who I am-" He proposed, as though it would really be so easy.

"It's not just that, Skye… This—This is my home. I can't just leave…"

Skye glanced at the ground, appearing as though he had something to confess.

"You don't belong here anymore than I do, Jill," he admitted, looking up to her with a determined certainty in his eyes.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I belong here!?" Jill didn't necessarily believe his accusation, but the words still managed her hurt her feelings. She loved the Valley, and all of the villagers who inhabited it; she wanted to belong there.

"A place like this- it's too stagnant, Jill," Skye sighed as he began explain, moving closer to her subtly, a gesture with which she wasn't unfamiliar, but she still fought the urge to take a step away. He continued flawlessly, unaware of her internal battle against instinct. "When you talk about your dreams- I know you really want more than that little farm. It's a fun endeavor now, but what happens when you've fixed it back to the way it was when you were a child? What are you going to do here when you've gotten what you wanted? You can't travel with the responsibilities of the ranch... not like you wanted to..."

His words stung, but she didn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that the truth he was relaying was, in any way, getting to her...although, in part, it was.

"I think I would know what I want better than you, Skye," she spat back at him lowly. She hadn't meant to be so outwardly rude, but the bluntness of his interaction has stirred up some brashness of her own, despite how much she rather hold back from those raw, unfiltered words in the shadowed part of her mind.

"But you obviously don't know what need," he answered back, sounding a little angrier himself; it seemed as though those heated emotions only build from each other, each word acted as more wood to the flame. "Jill, you're my best friend. I know you a lot better than you think; in fact, I think we're a lot alike. And, people like us… we don't fit in with people like this. They might be happy here. But us:" he chuckled sadly, "We've just got too many issues for this place. They won't be able to really understand where you're coming from... You won't be happy here, Jill."

Jill balled her fist tightly, until her knuckles turned white. She was becoming progressively more furious as he spoke. Why did he always think he knew what was best for her? He didn't know her. He didn't make her decisions, but here he was- selfishly trying to manipulate her and her situation to make her feel that she should leave.

"Don't tell me what will make me happy!" She screamed at him without first thinking, without the filter she usually held, the one that made her seem like the person she wanted to be,, here, in this town. "You don't know me! And you don't know the people here! Maybe if you had just dropped the act like I asked you, you could have stayed too! But you had to go and ruin it for yourself! Like you ruin everything for yourself! You just won't let yourself be happy in a place like this. You're the only one with the freakin' issues!"

Skye had never raised his voice to Jill, so she was fully taken back when he began shouting back at her.

"You think you don't you have issues?! You don't think it's unhealthy that you stopped your entire life to live in your deceased, estranged father's house? To what?! To try to recreate some impossible, fantasy world that never existed in the first place?! You can't recreate the past, Jill! Doing this isn't going to bring your father back! I'd understand if you only came here to get away from your crazy mother, but you're doing this because you think you have to! And you don't, Jill! It's all in your head!"

He paused, and watched Jill. She looked first shocked, but then, slowly, more defeated. Despite her still furrowed brow, her bottom lip had begun to tremble, and she bit it hard to make it stop. It was such a low blow. He was using everything she had disclosed to him about her life against her just in an attempt to win some useless argument.

"You don't have to be unhappy here," he continued calmer, and subtly made his way closer, physically opening up to her. "You can leave whenever you want. You can leave with me, right now. We can pack your things and leave. We can go wherever- you can chose. It doesn't matter to me… …I would do everything I could to make sure you were happy…"

Jill looked away from him and didn't answer at all. Skye looked down to her with a humbled expression, extremely guilty that he had lost his temper and yelled, nearly making her cry. He tried to close the gap, and he move to hold her in his arms, but she pulled away from him as soon as his hand touched her arm.

He was just trying to get into her head, wasn't he?

"I'm staying here," she said shortly, finding the stability in her voice.

"Jill…" he tried to explain more, but she didn't want to hear it. She glared at him hard in the eyes, obviously still irritated, as she cut him off.

"At first, I wanted you to stay too… But, maybe you should justleave. Maybe that's the only thing you've ever been right about: you don't belong here."

As the words washed over him like an unseen, breaking wave, Skye's demeanor changed. There was no longer any hope for her in his eyes. He felt somewhere deep down that that was the last of his emotional strength, the last gesture he was willing to make towards her. He turned away immediately, and returned his focus to his escape.

"You're right, Jill," he agreed as he started down the hill. He waved to her one last time without looking back to meet the eyes of his former best friend. "You're always right. And it was nice to know someone like you."

Jill only watched the back of his head begin to disappear over the curved earth, out of her view. She only gave herself a few more seconds of a lack in his presence before she turned on her heels angrily. She started down the front side of the hill, her face warm and her vision beginning to burr with what she wished was only anger. But, she didn't travel too far before hearing her name once again.

"Jill..."

She stopped in her tracks and swiftly looked to her left, in the direction the voice has been heard. There, Marlin had been waiting, obviously eavesdropping. He walked towards her but stopped a few feet short. She thought he would be furious that she had run after Skye alone, after all he had done, but he only looked down on her with what she could have assured was pity in his eyes; it was clear he had heard just about everything. With that knowledge, she couldn't hold his gaze and, instead, hers fell to the ground as embarrassment settled itself in, along with all the other burning, acidic emotions building inside the pity of her stomach.

Neither of them spoke for a long, drawn out moment. Marlin had wanted his presence known; he had wanted to say something comforting or at least ask her if she was alright, but the only verses that came to mind all seemed too short, meaningless, and frankly, stupid. Jill, on the other hand, was waiting. She was waiting for the 'I told you so' that was sure to come. She was waiting for Marlin to call her an idiot, or naive or all the others truths in the matter. He had been right. Skye has manipulated her; perhaps not for the same gain that Marlin had perceived, but he had still used his knowledge and surrounding to get to her. He had succeeded in what she assumed was the end game of the night- he had made her question her place in the valley. And that manipulation, regardless of it's intended purpose, was what hurt her the most. She had trusted him, and it was the last thing she had expected from such a good friend, and, in all honesty with herself, someone who had the potential to be even more than that.

The silence in the air began to sting her lungs with each breath and pricked at her skin. She wanted this moment, this night, this week, to be over. She took a small breath, that she didn't mean to sound so ragged, and fixed a slight upwards curve to her lips before she opened them.

"You were right, Marlin," she breathed out and caught the tear that began to roll down her cheek with her jacket sleeve. "I should have never trusted him..." She meet his eyes finally, and the unamused smile and glazed-over tiredness in her eyes both caught Marlin off guard, and send a pain to his heart. "...He was just a criminal." She dropped her fixation on him and continued down the hill, headed directly for her house, and straight for her bed.

Marlin waited, still, for a few moments as he watched Jill leave. He didn't attempt to say anything back or make any gesture to chase after her either. He hesitantly followed her lead down the hill, intent only on returning back to his own home. If he couldn't find the words to say it to Jill, then he needed to at least let Vesta and Celia know that everything would, eventually, be okay.

…

I wrote this chapter faster than usual, and I realize that I had a lot less internal dialogue than usual as well; but either way, I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review or PM and let me know whether or not you like the changes in writing. It may or may not stay. Also,

Thanks for reading.