Her Name Was December

Day 20 (cont.)

The fireplace crackled and spat embers into the air as Greyson and December huddled around it for warmth. Greyson had never once lit the thing in his year of living here, but tonight he was glad he did. A few feet away from him sat December with her legs crossed, wrapped in a blanket and holding a mug of cocoa close to her chest. She had dug her thick-rimmed glasses out of her purse and was staring blankly through them into the fire as if in a trance. She was always great at putting on a good face, but now she didn't care. Her eyes were a red, puffy mess and the skin on her face was stiff from the tears that dried against her cheeks. Her hair tumbled down onto her shoulders in frizzy curls, and her gems of eyes shone with trauma.

They had been sitting like this for nearly an hour, December watching the fire and Greyson staring from afar, propped up against a chair. He figured she needed her space, but now he thought he needed to be there for her.

"Hey?" he said softly.

There was no reply. She sat expressionless, without the slightest movement to show response

"December?" he pleaded, worry showing in his voice.

She snapped out of her daze with a shake, looking over at him with a tired, worn look and whispering "Hmm?"

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh. Not really." she replied, staring down into her cocoa.

After a moment of silence, Greyson could tell she was unsure, so he scooted across the rug to get just close enough that they wouldn't touch. He didn't say anything more, and they both stared into the glowing flames for a while until Greyson heard faint cries next to him.

"Oh, December." he said, not sure how to comfort her. He reached over to the side table and grabbed the box of tissues, offering them to her just in case.

"They..." December whimpered through tears.

"What is it?"

"The men, they..." She paused.

Greyson's face contorted in realization, and soon to anger. He looked down at her legs, where her sheer black stockings were torn in numerous places all down her thighs. She kept tugging the bottom of her skirt down as if she was uncomfortable in its length, which Greyson had never noticed before. He could now see the places where her hair was torn out of place, not fallen.

She was crying now. "I was just going to pick up dinner at that Chinese place down the street, I... I know it's kinda late but I didn't think..." She curled into a ball again, crying into her knees just like in the phonebooth.

Tears welled up in Greyson's eyes as he imagined everything December had gone through just a few hours before. He wasn't sure what to do; whether to hold her or give her the space he wasn't sure she needed.

"December, I-"

"They pulled me into an alley." she chuckled, "Can you believe it? An alley? Has anyone ever heard about originality around here?"

Her joke only made her cry harder, and while she pulled her hands too her face she accidentally knocked her cocoa off of the coffee table and onto the rug.

"Oh, God, Greyson I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, "I'll bet I was just 'asking' for all of this, wasn't I?" she said. She frantically tried to stand up and clean her mess, but her body was weak. Greyson held her arms and guided her onto the couch.

"Listen," Greyson said, sighing. "It's all going to be okay. None of this is your fault. You stay here while I clean this up, okay?"

She nodded and stared up at him in distress, tears streaming down her face. Greyson forced a smile, holding back tears of his own as he walked down the hall to the closet. He snuck into the guest bedroom and closed the door behind him, pacing as silent tears streamed down his face.

"Dammit. Fuck!" he yelled, punching the wall. He groaned in anger, letting himself cry for a moment as he pondered how anyone could do this to December. Once he had calmed down, he went into the closet and collected some cleaning supplies to take back into the living room.

As he knelt over the rug, scrubbing away at the chocolate with rageful force, December asked, "Are you okay?"

Greyson relaxed, sighing and whispering "Yeah..." before looking over at her. "Are you?"

December giggled sadly, looking down at her hands. "Your naivety will never fail to amuse me, Grey."

***

Soon Greyson was back with another set of mugs, full to the brim with steaming cocoa. He sat next to her on the couch, again so they wouldn't touch. They sipped their hot chocolate carefully as they stared into the fireplace in silence once again. Both of them had calmed down at this point, though crying always made Greyon break out in hives and December's face was streaked with makeup.

"I bet I look terrible." December chuckled, tugging at her skirt again.

Greyson looked at her for a moment, taking in her ratty hair, wrinkled skirt and all, saying, "No. You look beautiful."

December smiled and scooted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." she whispered.

"Oh!" Greyson blushed, "I didn't think that would work, I-"

"Shut up Grey that's not what this is." December cut him off, giggling. She closed her eyes and relaxed at his side, whispering "Thank you."