Aurora

The Crash

As soon as Don entered the house, he heard a loud crash. The hairs at the back of his neck rose up.

"Aurora?" he called out in the semi-dark house.

No answer.

It was 2 o' clock in the morning. He pulled out his gun from its holster. The sound had come from the kitchen.

"Who's there?" he called out loudly.

Deafening silence.

His eyes wide to catch any quick movements, he proceeded cautiously to the kitchen. He could see almost burnt candles on the dining table.

He saw a silhouetted form near the sink.

"Aurora", he breathed out in relief, "What are you doing on the floor? Are you okay? What happened?"

Pieces of a broken plate were scattered all around her. She looked up.

"That's a lot of questions."

In the near dark he could make out a small mirthless smile on her face. She was staring at the gun in his hands. He put it back in sheepishly.

"I cooked dinner. I thought you said you were going to make it home by 8."

He held out his hand for her but she waved it away and stood up on her own. Her dark hair had been arranged in soft curls. She was wearing a short black dress.

She went to the switchboard and turned the lights on. Sure enough, the dinner table had pasta with his favorite sauce, roasted chicken and roasted beef salad displayed ceremoniously on the dinner table. The wine in the silver holder was now in water. Everything seemed to mock him.

"I'll clean that up." He indicated the shattered plate. Aurora glanced at the broken pieces on the floor, bored.

This was not the first time she had broken a plate in her anger.

"Eat up, Don. And put the leftovers in the fridge. I'm going to sleep." She turned to leave.

"No, wait, Aurora!" he called after her and she turned, "I'm so sorry, Rory. I didn't mean to. If I'd known I would've called or tried to get off of work early."

Her eyes were red. Sleeplessness or tears, he could not tell. She was not smiling. They both hated scenes but still in a very low voice he asked, "Are you mad at me?"

"I was mad till it was uh..." she looked at her watch for emphasis, "10 o' clock, maybe? But now I'm just tired. A little sad too, actually, but mostly tired. That plate was broken by a drowsy person, not an angry one. Good night, Don."

The food tasted really good, but then, this was one of Rory's many strengths. Another strength that she possessed was maximizing guilt. He'd known long ago that she never did it intentionally. She just had a way of holding it all in until she had sorted through all of it. Nagging guilt seemed to constrict his throat.

He was not being honest with her. He knew it. And Rory had obviously caught up on it as well.

~~~~~

"I'm not sleeping." Aurora whispered as Don cozied up in bed next to her.

A small huff was the only response he gave from behind her.

She turned in bed to face him. He had closed his eyes and his breath was warm and balmy. He was shirtless. As usual. She wanted to run her fingers over his firm, bare chest. As usual.

She opened her mouth but then closed it with a sigh. She wrapped herself in his arm and snuggled next to him. He smelled of the forest. And his anti-bacterial soap of choice. He always did. As usual, she took one deep breath. She held it in for as long as she could.

"I miss you." she murmured as she let out her breath.

"I know." Don said as he wrapped his other arm around her. His voice was heavy and hoarse.

"I can't tell what's wrong, Don."

"Is that a statement or a question?"

"What do you want it to be?"

"Huh?" Don opened his eyes now. They were slightly red. Drowsiness.

"So you don't want to talk about it?"

"What do you want to talk about, Rory?"

"Your day... why you were so late... about this project you say you've been working on... but we can talk later."

"Tomorrow, maybe?" he said, carefully observing her.

They often did that. They asked each other too many questions in place of answers. This never ended well. One or the other felt belittled in the conversation. Don thought that this time it was her. So did Aurora.

"I love you." he sounded meek; this was all the apology she was getting tonight.

"I know." she smiled.

He kissed her hair. They smelled like daisies. They usually did.

~~~~~~~

A/N:

This story is an important one and deserves to be told. I'll work hard to do it justice.