She stared into the green of the forest. It got darker the longer you looked at it. Her hair, all red and fire like was the brightest color there.

" I don't get why you can't talk to me. I am there for you. I love you. I can listen to everything you have to say."

My knuckles whitened on the wheel.

" You suddenly want to leave the bar, suddenly take me in the middle of nowhere... What's going on? What's happening?"

She looks at me, her eyes filled with sparkly tears.

" I told you about— I told you! Why can't you just tell me what's wrong? I can feel somethings wrong! I know something is!"

She started sobbing, grinding her teeth.

"Please don't cry."

" Don't cry? Baby... You're squeezing the life out of that wheel."

Squeezing the life out...
That's what I could do to her in seconds, minutes.

" You're squeezing it so much, and nothing's wrong?"

I let go of the wheel. My fingers hurt.

" JJ... What's wrong?"

I tried focusing on one of the pine tree in front of me, ignoring the intense guilt that was happening inside me. Why was I suddenly panicking? What was up with me?

"JJ..?"

I sighed. It was time.

" At the bar... The Picasso bar... A detective was staking us out. She thinks your book is connected to a bunch of real murders that happening near town."

Rylie opened her mouth in shock.

"What— What does that mean?"

" The detective thinks you're a murderer."

She put her hand against her forehead.

"No. Please no."

" But you're not. I know you're not."

" I don't understand why they are murders like in my book. How? Maybe a crazy fan?"

" They happened during your writing process..."

" What? But only you knew what I wrote–"

Her eyes widened.

" No... Please no..."

She tried opening her car door, failed, and did it again. She got out, looked around, all panicked.

" Rylie, wait."

I opened my door, closed it and ran to her. She was trembling. Her eyes flickered from me to the woods, where she knew nobody would hear her scream.

" You came here to kill me. You wanted to kill me!"

" What are you saying? I love you! I couldn't possibly kill you —"

" But you could kill."

Her eyes were poisoned  darts that hit me in my heart. She knew, gosh, she knew. She hated me. She loathed me. She despised me.

" I..."

" You're a killer. Gosh— that's why we were together on that matching service! Oh my— JJ... I can't... You're..."

She looked around again. Tears pearled down her cheeks. Her lips were trembling up and down.

" And you helped me write scenes— By murdering  people?"

" They all— They all deserved it! They were horrible people that did bad things! None of them were innocent!"

" But you're not any more innocent than they are!"

" I am! Most of them made me suffer- some may have made you suffer! They are all—"

" I don't wanna hear it. I can't believe you're... You're a killer."

" Rylie, nothing has changed. I haven't changed. Please..."

She sat down in the mossy ground. It was damp, and green, and smelly. She sighed. Her eyes were red and puffy.

" You're a killer..." she whispered to herself, her voice breaking a little

I approached her. A branch broke under my foot. I sat on a rock in front of her. She looked up at me. I saw love. I saw my memories. I saw her laugh, her smile, her chuckles, her lips against mine.

She took my hand.

" What happened to you when you were young?  Why are you a killer now?"

I sighed.

" I... It's complicated." My voice was broken too.

Her hand tightened on mine.

" I love you, JJ. But..."

" But this is too much, isn't it..."

She smiled sadly.

" I just don't understand... How..."

My heart broke inside my chest.

" You're leaving me aren't you?"