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She didn't bring her fists up again after that, just stood there and let Gnat talk at her, expression impassive and almost cold. A shield against her own feelings, and a mask to hide those feelings from the other girl as well. She hated herself for ever letting that armor slip. For letting people in and getting attached to them. Time and again, she kept getting hurt.

Gnat didn't know it, but her words stung, hitting home in a way that pickled and burned like nothing else. She had left, like Tuck had. She had made her family, her sister, suffer, like Tuck had. She had thought she had been doing the right thing, like Tuck had, but she'd been wrong. Good intentions didn't lead to virtuous actions. More often than not, it was those same intentions that hurt the ones you loved more than anything else.

Ned vanished as Gnat took a step towards her, and Peyton only had a few seconds to decide what to do when the taller girl reached her. She was still mad--would probably be mad for a while--but she did not want Gnat in her life.

"You're stupid," she said finally, voice flat, but when she reached up to lay her hands on Gnat's crossed arms the touch was gentle. "Mad doesn't mean ties aer cut. Mads just mad."

The hug wasn't exactly expected. After the exchange of blows, the obvious hurt both girls seemed to be feeling to varying degrees, Peyton hadn't expected things to end, well, good. But that was her own insecurities creeping in, her own fears and linger armor trying to form a wall between herself and anyone else.

Gnat stepped forward to envelope her in a hug, and the small Sun stiffened, for just a moment, as pale eyes widened in surprise. Then, after a moment, a hand come up to curl around the taller girl's hip, then the other rose to rest on her back, returning the embrace and trying to fight off the sting of tears she didn't want to let fall.

"Really." You could be mad at the people important to you. You could scream and holler at them, but that didn't make them less important, not really. Time could corrode a relationship, but when it's important enough to hurt this bad when they're gone, it's worth holding onto. "Just don't do that s**t anymore. No more running."