A doorbell rings. The corresponding door opens. "Hey," a man says.

He gets a slight nod. "Hey," a woman breathes out.

"How have you been?"

"Fine. Come in."

"Yeah," he answers lamely.

Gunner approaches the couch, and he's hesitant, because if he sits, he knows he's going to be in a vulnerable place. She'll be ashamed of him if he sits and is quiet, but they already know how this talk is going to go -- it's always awkward. So he sits anyways, leans into the couch and acts like he's in another world.

She stands beyond the coffee table, putting it between them, like a barrier to stop them from brawling. She has her arms crossed, and her eyebrows are crossed too, shaped angrily, and her sharp eyes pierce through him. She says no words, but he already feels scorned. 

"What now?" he asks.

"You can't be doing what you're doing with me anymore."

"That's obvious."

"We were friends."

"And I get that."

"I have someone now."

"You used to be mine."

"And that gives you a reason to do something with me?"

He sits silent for a moment, and feels the guilt bubble in his chest. He leans his head back, and breathe s out before saying, "No, it doesn't."

"Then why? Why would you do that to me?"

"Because I'm not happy."

"You're not happy? I'm not happy with you right now, Gunner! Why would you make a move on me?"

"I've missed you!" he shouts, and sinks into couch when she offers him a glare.

"Don't you dare scream in my house."

"It's the truth, Charlotte."

"It's not respectful to Carter to be kissing me out of nowhere last night! I've told you over and over again, but you never want to listen, you want to be by yourself and think that everything in your mind is right, but you need to see the bigger picture, Gunner!"

"I see it clearly already!" he replies, standing up to meet her eyes, realizing he was taller than her, and thus had a chance to exert his emotional dominance. But he allowed his fury to carry out his words, exactly what he was holding back: "I see you and me, together, but there's nothing you ever want to do! You act like you want me, and then it all becomes a trick! You had led me on, and I get that I still was on that trail, but if you hadn't kissed me before, back in those days, then I wouldn't have thought us compatible and would've moved on! But no! Never!"

"I'm with Carter!" she says with teary eyes. "I said we could be friends, Gunner, but you can't respect that!" She wiped away the tears, rubbing furiously at her eyes. "Go, now! Leave this place. You do not deserve to be here anyways."

And he listens to her, snidely remarking, "Don't call me," as he went, passing through the doorway, and into the garden, through the bending trees, and right into the street.

He chooses not to move.