Her and Sam

"I... Uh..." Ethan takes a breath, trying to think of the best way to say it. "Samantha Cole?"

Layla's eyes flutter, clearly getting the meaning. "Oh." She turns towards the road, not saying anything for a long moment. "She told you?"

"Yeah..." Ethan rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm surprised." Her voice is flat. "I didn't think you were friends."

Ethan takes a moment before speaking. "Well... We're not. We've just sort of gotten acquainted..."

Layla nods her head slightly. "I see." After a moment, she lets out a deep sigh, then turns back to Ethan. "What do you want me to say, Ethan?"

"What?"

The blonde woman frowns, then looks away again.

The two sit in silence for a moment. Ethan starts to think that he might have fucked up bringing it up. Trying to perform some damage control, he tries to think up something to say.

"I'm sorry..."

That seems to be all he can muster.

Layla flinches slightly. "Don't. Don't be sorry..." she takes a deep breath, "You were going to find out eventually." Turning back to face Ethan Layla smacks her lips. "Whole town knows after all. She doesn't want anything to do with me, so we just avoid it and each other."

An itch in the back of Ethan's brain demands to be scratched, although dropping it might be easier.