Monkey Boxers

The ride home was so silent. So silent that it felt like it was pounding Rory in the head, mocking her even. She looked out the window. The weather took quite a turn. There were dark clouds overhead before, but now the snow was really starting to come down. The visibility of everything was blurred.

After the 45 minutes that it took to get in front of the Gilmore house, Rory just sat there. She didn't know why she couldn't move.

"Rory?"

"Yeah?" she turned her head slightly to see his face.

"Are you okay?"

She seemed to be in deep thought, not answering for a little while. "You can't go home," she let out.

"What?"

"You can barely see the roads. I can't let you drive back to Hartford in this weather." She got out of the car, not waiting for his reply and walked over to his side. She opened the door and pulled him out, dragging him to the front door.

"Rory, I'll be fine." His voice didn't even seem affected, but she knew he was afraid; afraid that the worst would happen if he drove.

"No, you won't. You might get into an accident." She pulled him inside, brushing the snow off of her and softly added, "and I don't want to lose you." She said it so quietly that he didn't even know if she spoke; that it was just a figment of his imagination.

* * *

"I could only find these sweatpants that you left here a while ago; as for a shirt, I guess you're going to have to wear the one you're wearing now." She just handed him the pants casually, not even seeming to be affected by him being so close to him. How could he be under the same roof as her without being able to touch her, hold her?

"Thanks." He grabbed the item of clothing and, without even really thinking about it, he started to take of his pants, soon slipping into the sweatpants. She let out an amused chuckle. "What?" he asked her curiously, as she placed some blankets and a pillow on the couch.

"There are monkeys on your boxers," she let out between giggles.

He looked at her weirdly. "So, you've seen them before," he said simply.

"I know," she shrugged, laughter now subsided. "It just seemed funny to me all of a sudden."

"Why, because we aren't together anymore?" he said jokingly. He didn't realize how painful those words really were until he saw the hurt expression on her face. "I'm sorry…I don't know why I said that," he offered quietly.

"It's fine," she replied, just as silently. Before he could say anything, she turned, heading to her room, and called out 'good night' to him. He let out a frustrated sigh and fell to the couch, willing sleep to overcome him.