She glanced up into the rearview mirror. The headlights behind them had been almost blinding for the better part of the last five minutes. "He's following pretty close, isn't he?"

Billy looked over at her, noticing for the first time the deep lines of concern in her forehead. "Who? The idiot behind us?" He shrugged. "Yeah, but he's probably just some asshole that waited to do his Christmas shopping to the last minute. He's probably got a wife at home that's waiting on him for dinner and he's trying to get home before he's stuck on the couch for a month." He smiled, fully expecting to receive a trademark Phyllis giggle in return, but instead he heard nothing but silence. His hand reached out for her, the warmth of his touch an immediate comfort as he softly brushed against her arm. "You okay?" he asked. "You sure you don't need to go to the hospital? Get that ankle x-rayed?"

"The ankle's fine," she assured him. That was about the only assurance she could make tonight – at the least the only one that wouldn't add to her already massive collection of lies and half truths. She couldn't explain why she was so jumpy, why she'd freaked out over brake fluid under her car, why she was so worried about a car that followed too close behind them, why she'd suddenly become a jumpy, anxious mess. She wrung her hands together, the anxiety a relatively new and entirely unwelcome feeling for her.

"Cold?" Billy let his eyes fall to her hands as she held them clasped tightly in her lap. "I've got the heat on," he said. "It's just brutal out there right now." He hated not being able to reach out to her and bring her closer to him. He'd love nothing more than to take her hands in his but, as he was forced to continually remind himself these days, she wasn't his anymore. "If you open the console," he said quickly, "I think I've got an extra pair of gloves in there."

She smiled gratefully. At least that would help conceal the telltale signs of her inner turmoil. She reached and opened the latch. "Oh," she said quickly. Her body leaned forwards as she fished into the darkness for the item that had fallen into the floorboard. "Sorry," she whispered, her words faltering as the light from the moon made the item finally recognizable. "I …"

"I can take that." His hand reached for the velvet box quickly, so quickly in fact that she knew in an instant it wasn't a topic appropriate for discussion.

"Okay," she nodded. She heard him clear his throat, a clear sign that he was uncomfortable.

"Do you see them?"

"See what?" Her own mind was racing now at the possible contents of the box.

"The gloves."

"Oh. Yeah." She pulled them from the console and quickly closed the hatch, easily pulling them over her hands and smiling as they dwarfed her tiny digits. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Not exactly the right size, but they'll serve the purpose," he noted.

"Yeah." They were both simply trying to fill the awkward silence now. "It'll work."

They'd driven in virtual silence until they reached the lighted driveway. Billy was already standing outside her door before she managed to unbuckle the seat belt and she found her breathing slightly quickened as he wrapped his arm around her waist to brace her ankle.

"Slow," he reminded her as they moved towards the front door. "We're not running a race."

"I'm really trying not to freeze," she laughed, only half joking.

In an instant, he pulled her tighter against him, the warmth of his embrace spreading through her immediately. "Better?" he asked.

She nodded. There was nothing she could say that she would have trusted and frankly, she wasn't certain she could have gotten words of any sort to leave her lips.

He led her carefully over to the sofa, his eyes surveying her as she let her body settled down into the cushions.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked, "Some coffee or a drink or something to eat?" His muffled laughter confused her and she tilted her head as she posed the question. "What? What's funny?"

"Well, I just almost want to say yes just to see you attempt to actually make good on that offer without some serious assistance." He pointed down towards her foot. "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but that ankle's really swelling up."

She sighed. "I've tried not to look at it, but the feeling has given me an inkling." She winced a bit as she attempted to roll it around in a small circle, "but it's not broken at least."

His hands were on her leg before he thought better of it and the look in her eyes didn't deter him once he'd made the move. He gently stacked the pillows underneath her injured foot and hissed. "I'll get you some ice before I leave," he said. "I'm sure Nick will have a hissy fit if he comes home and finds me here."

"You're gonna leave?" She tried not to sound disappointed or worst still, desperate, but she couldn't stop the racing of her heart as she thought of being here, in the house, alone. The rational side of her wanted to believe that the car had simply had mechanical issues, that the man behind them on the road had simply been in a hurry, and that all the things that had been going on with Victoria, Nikki, and Sharon had been completely unrelated to any of it. She wondered if they would call her rational in her obituary?

The tone of her voice hadn't been missed and he sat down next to her quickly. "Hey." His voice softened as let his hand rest on the pillow beside her foot. "If you want me to stay, I'll stay. Nick be damned."

"I just …" She hesitated. "I'm just not sure how long Nick will be and this foot isn't exactly gonna let me be up and around on my own."

"Of course … Of course. I thought Nick was on his way or I never would have even thought about leaving, Phyllis. I …"

"No." She could hear how ridiculous she sounded. She wasn't his responsibility anymore and she shouldn't ask anything of him. This had been her choice. "You know what, you're right. Nick probably won't like coming home and finding you here. You should go. I'll just hang out here until he gets home and …"

"Absolutely not." He'd seen it firsthand. She wanted him there and that was everything. He'd never leave now, not until she asked him to. "Let me get you that ice."

"The bar," she said with a slight grin as she watched him walk over and grab a bar cloth.

He wrapped the cloth snug around the ice before bending and grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses. "We might as well try and enjoy ourselves." He placed the bottle and glasses on the coffee table in front of them before carefully arranging the ice on her ankle. "Sorry," he said earnestly as he saw the wave of pain wash over her face. "You're sure you don't want me to take you to get this checked out?"

"Really Billy. It's fine. I just … I need to stay off of it for a couple days. That's all." His face still didn't look entirely convinced, but she pressed on. "You can at least take off your coat," she suggested. "I mean, if you're still gonna stay. If you don't want to though, you really …"

"Phyllis." He narrowed his eyes slightly as he stood and smiled at her. The coat easily slid off his shoulders and he tossed it over the back of the couch with an exaggerated twirl. The sound of something hitting the floor made his heart drop. Without even looking, he knew what it was.

She could see the look on his face, how his eyes lost all the sparkle when he saw the box again. What good did it do to avoid the hard questions now? What exactly was she trying to salvage? Certainly not their relationship … that was over. "What is that?" she asked.

His eyes stared into hers. "Don't ask, okay?"

"I already did." She tried to smile again, a feeble attempt to lighten the mood. "What's the big deal? Just tell me. It's not an engagement ring or anything is it?" As soon as the words left her lips, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread. What if it actually was?

"Just forget it okay?" He stood, his quick motion causing her leg to jolt and sending another wave of pain through her.

The quick intake of breath drew his attention again and the apology was evident in his eyes far before he said the words. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just … I just wish you hadn't seen it. That's all."

"It's okay," she assured him. "But I did see it and now I want to know. Just tell me what it is, Billy."

"I'll do one better," he relented. "I might as well give it to you. It's yours."