"Phyllis. Come on. Phyllis." She could feel the darkness as it tried to swallow her up, the almost overwhelming heaviness of the black haze weighing her down. "Stay with me here."

Billy's voice was louder now and she felt his arms wrapping tighter around her as he led her back to the bench.

She struggled and managed to finally open her eyes, her head bobbing a bit as she fought the next wave of dizziness that rushed over her. "I …"

"It's alright." His hands were warm against the cool, clamminess of her skin. "You're okay. Just relax for a minute. Catch your breath."

She couldn't fight him now and relented, her body leaning against his as she tried to take his advice. The sound of his steady heartbeat lulled her into a sense of comfort she hadn't felt in some time, not everything had come crashing down as a result of both of their actions.

"Nick should have never let you leave alone," he whispered as his hand gently brushed the hair away from her face. "You shouldn't have been out here by yourself. If anything had happened to you …"

"It's not Nick's fault," she managed. "I just needed some time. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think and then …" Her head still throbbed even as the she felt a little more steady in his arms. "It's just this stupid headache."

"Will you please just let me drive you back to the house?" He could feel her intake of breath and he had no doubt the protest was coming. "Come on, Phyllis. I can't leave you here."

"It's just … I'm not sure I need to even go back there. Maybe it's too much for me to be there. Maybe all of this is just too much." She'd been thinking about it for a few days now and even though she hadn't mentioned it to Jack, being in that house wasn't helping her. The memories she'd had there, even the good ones, had been tainted by the way things ended. Her marriage to Jack had culminated in a tragic set of circumstances that left everyone hurt and the time she'd spent there with Billy had done nothing to remove the dark cloud that still hovered over the space.

"Look, I get it. I know it's probably not your favorite place to be right now, but you don't need to be by yourself right now. Just let me take you back there and then if you still decide you don't want to stay there, I'll help you move wherever it is you want to go." Her silence continued to concern him. "You keep telling me that I owe you, right? Let me do this. Let me at least give you that much."

"Alright. Fine. But this doesn't mean anything. This doesn't mean that I've forgotten what you …"

"I know, okay?" He held up his hand, his eyes pleading with her to stop. "Let's just get you out of here so I know you're alright."

He'd always hated silence. In rehab, there had been an annoying therapist there that had tried to convince them that they should be comfortable with silence. Silence, he'd said, was peace and stillness and an anxiety associated with silence meant you weren't comfortable with who and what you were. No shit, he remembered thinking to himself. The bastard was right, but it didn't help him to know why he hated it – he still hated it.

The silence gave him time to think. He thought about the things he'd done, the things he regretted, thing things he wished he hadn't said, the things he wished he had. The silence that filled the car now was especially painful. Phyllis wasn't the silent type. Even when she was angry, it was almost impossible for her to give anyone the silent treatment. Her feelings were too powerful, her mind too filled with thoughts. They fought … hard, but they also laughed, and loved. He missed her.

The car slowed to a stop as the familiar house came into view. He let the air leave his lips in a slow sigh as he waited for her to say something. "I want to walk you inside, okay? At least let me help you get settled?"

Apparently she'd gotten pretty good at the silent treatment now.

"You don't have to talk to me, okay? You don't have to like me, but please don't ask me to just walk away." He reached out and touched her face, fully expecting her to jerk away from him, but she didn't.

"Phyllis?" The entire drive had been filled with silence as she'd sat, with her head turned towards the window. He'd assumed she'd been trying to avoid him, too consumed with her anger and disdain for him to even acknowledge his presence, but now …

The silence was broken by the sound of his heart pounding and he leapt from the car and rushed over to the passenger seat. The car door opened easily and he reached for her, hoping against hope that she was just angry and ignoring him but knowing in his heart that she wasn't. Her body slumped down against the seat belt as the support of the door fell away.

"What's going on?"

Billy turned and looked back at Kyle's confused face. He hadn't even realized he'd been screaming her name.

"Call an ambulance, Kyle. Call them now!"

He turned back towards her, his arms gently easing her back into the car. "It's gonna be okay," he whispered as he cradled her face in his hands. He let his eyes leave her face for only a moment, to look up towards the sky. "If this is punishment," he whispered, "I get it, but not this way, please. Not with her."