Imperfect Pieces

PROMPT: Christmas

They sat next to each other on the train, still pretending to be strangers.

From the very beginning, they knew it was going to be a long train ride. Traveling together used to be something that they both enjoyed immensely- pointing out things that they passed by, reading their own books and pausing occasionally to share something, sitting in comfortable silence as the train or car rumbled on. Spontaneous road trips were a regular occurrence and there was almost never a lull in their conversations, ever since they met. Now the silence was heavy and deafening, especially since they hadn’t exchanged a single word since sitting down yet. Rey felt like running away to a tropical island of some sort at the thought of what was waiting for them at their destination. She could just buy the tickets online and throw some T-shirts in a suitcase and be on her way. Palm trees, golden sand, and miles of blue sea sounded pretty enticing… she could just lie on the beach all day doing nothing. She sighed and settled into her seat in defeat. As great as beaches sounded, she couldn’t just run away from her family. The conversation she so desperately wanted to avoid would have to happen eventually.

Looking out of the small square window, she saw small flakes of snow fall down in a flurry of shimmering white. Everywhere around the country (and most parts of the world) families were gathering together to celebrate the upcoming holiday. This time of the year used to bring up images of cozy warm houses with stockings hanging over the crackling fireplace and a decorated evergreen tree with presents underneath. And sure, a replica of that image was waiting for Rey when she got back home, but it didn’t fill her with the same warmth that it used to. He ruined that for her, turning her favorite holiday this year into something that she dreaded.

She glanced over at him. Ronan had his headphones plugged in and was sitting with his eyes shut. His fingers were lightly drumming against the armrests of the seats, perhaps to the beat of the music he was listening to. They used to share all of their music with each other. She still had playlist after playlist of songs that he recommended: “Let’s Start the Countdown”, “Instrumentally Yours”, “Too Chill to Burn” and others. They could spend hours perfecting each one, choosing just the right title and order to arrange the songs in. Most of the artists that she currently followed were introduced to her by him during countless coffee shop dates or talks in the park near her house. Whatever. She could survive without his music suggestions, along with lots of other things that involved him. She didn’t need his freshly brewed coffee before she went to work or his heavenly foot rubs. Rey was going to be perfectly fine, thank you very much.

Ronan’s fingers wouldn’t stay still. It was mostly because of his anxiety and nerves. The minutes were ticking by like seconds and he was afraid of when the clock would stop. Part of him wished that there would be some sort of accident on the train, forcing them to stop or that there would be some sort of freak blizzard that would prevent them from moving forward. Though he and Rey had come up with a plan, he wasn’t sure if they could pull it off. Their family members weren’t idiots. It made him wonder if this was even a good idea in the first place. Maybe they should just tell them straight up. Give them the facts and hope that they wouldn’t get mad. No, it was a bit too late for that. Plus bringing bad news on Christmas Eve seemed like a rather heartless thing to do. The only thing left to do was move onwards. Ronan briefly raised his half-open eyes to see what Rey was doing but immediately went back to his original position when he saw her staring at him. The whole situation was pretty ridiculous to him and he didn’t know how they had gotten here.

He tried his best to calm down and drown himself in the sounds around him. There was the steady clicking of the wheels meeting the railroads. There was the occasional screech as the train made a curve. It made him think of the last time they took the train together. He didn’t really remember where they were headed. New Jersey? Boston? Either way, they never made it to their stop. Halfway through, they decided to just hop off the bus at the next stop it makes. Something to do with “being more adventurous” and “giving new things a try”. That was how two teenagers, both clad in jeans and T-shirts, ended up sitting on the side of a road licking vanilla ice cream cones. Ronan’s memory was never that good (his mom would always tease him for being so much like an old man) but he always still remembered the important, vivid details in the grand scheme of things. Like that one summer when they basically ditched all homework, packed a backpack, and went on an adventure. He didn’t remember the names of all the places they went to or even the date of their embarking, but he remembered Rey’s caramel hair glinting in the sun. Hushed talks in the serene light of the moon. Uncontrollable laughter, the kind that made your stomach hurt. Ronan didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until Rey gently brushed past him to get up and get her bag from the overhead compartment.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. The sky was already dark and the white outside was now just the occasional snowflake. He zipped up his winter coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck a few times before securing it. Rey was already dressed and was walking towards the train exit. He rushed to keep up with her and soon stepped onto the train platform. There were people everywhere, rushing back and forth or just standing on the platform bundled in layers of clothing. Ronan hailed a cab and Rey climbed into the front seat. He sat in the back and rubbed his chapped hands. As their cab drove along familiar roads, he pursed his lips. It was showtime.

Rey’s childhood home was tucked away behind two other large houses. Her family had bought it back when Rey was still a toddler. Her mom hated change, especially moving. Trying to decide what to keep or not, cleaning every room, making arrangements for all the boxes to be moved- it was too much for her. Because of that, even though their family outgrew the little house, they continued to live there together until she and her siblings went off to college. Her mom tried her best to keep up with time. She spent many summers cultivating a little garden and repainting the exterior and interior walls. She exchanged some old furniture for some modern looking ones and bought a few pieces of abstract art to pull it all together. Most people would describe the house as charming. Quaint. Timeless. Sometimes a bit too timeless. It made Rey feel like a little girl each time she came back, so she tried her best to avoid it. Unfortunately, on holidays, that simply wasn’t possible. She stood with Ronan on the front steps of the house for a while. The walls were now a cheery yellow color (much like the shade of sunflower puke), a bright contrast to the dark winter night. All of the windows were brightly lit and there was laughter coming from within the house. Rey saw that her mom had added a new sign to the front door with “The Millers”, the cursive letters written carefully with a paintbrush. She stared at the doorbell.

Ronan rolled his eyes and reached over to press it.

A woman that was an older, more severe version of Rey opened the door. A smile blossomed on her face as soon as she saw Rey and Ronan. She took their coats and hung them up before turning around to give the couple a hug.

“Come in, come in! It’s been way too long. Rey, why haven’t you brought this guy around more? I miss having someone around willing to try my desserts!”

Ronan chuckled. “Mrs. Miller, I had to get away or else you were going to make me become fat.”

“Nonsense, you’re fit as a fiddle. I guess you’re just going to have to eat up tonight to make up for lost time, eh? I’ve prepared mashed potatoes, a stuffed chicken with mint, pork chops marinated with spices….” Rey didn’t hear the rest as her mom led Ronan into the kitchen. She walked around the living room, trying to figure what was new and what was just changed. The table got a new varnish finish and the windows now were covered with thick yellow curtains that matched the outside of the house. Everything else had been polished and organized. She didn’t know how her mom found the time to clean when she had two part-time jobs.

“Rey! Could you set up the table? I already got everything out, the stuff is on the sofa. Thanks!” her mom yelled from the kitchen.

Rey set the table the way she was taught: utensils in their proper place, a cloth napkin folded in a simple fan, wine glasses touching the plate. Ronan and her mom came in with the dishes a few minutes later.

“Why are there four sets of table settings? I thought that everyone else couldn’t make it.”

“Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! Since I had so much food anyway, I invited Becca and her dad. You remember her, Rey, right?”

“Hm… I don’t remember anyone called Becca.”

“Huh. Well, you’ll probably recognize her one you see her.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

The doorbell rang again. Mrs. Miller glanced up at the clock and wiped her hands on her apron.

“That must be our guests. I’ll get the door.”

Soon she ushered into the dining room a short, thin man with a smile too large for his body and a tall, lean girl with raven black hair. The girl turned around to flash Rey and Ronan a blinding smile, much like the one her father was wearing and Rey had a little moment of realization.

“Oh. That Becca.”

Becca walked over to give her a hug.

“Hey, Rey and Ronan! It’s been way too long since we’ve all hung out! Definitely should do it soon.” Her eyes were focused on Ronan, who was too busy looking anywhere but at the two girls next to him.

Everyone sat down at the table and started to eat. There were a few glorious moments of silence and small talk about how good the food was before the questions started.

“So… how long have you guys been dating?” Becca asked with a grin.

Ronan took a sip from his champagne before replying. “Eleven months.”

Mrs. Miller laughed as she scooped more mashed potatoes onto her plate. “Getting to know this boy throughout that time was great. Rey, have I told you before how strongly I approve of him before?”

“Yes, only a million times.” Her smile was a bit forced, but her mom and their guests weren’t paying attention and Ronan wasn’t looking at her.

The rest of the meal went on in a similar manner. Becca asked for all the cute details of their relationship, her dad added in occasional comments about how great of a match they were, and Rey’s mom just kept on praising Ronan. Rey did most of the talking and tried her best to evade more sensitive questions. Overall, it wasn’t as bad as she expected.

After dinner, Becca insisted on washing the dishes despite Mrs. Miller’s protests. She grabbed Ronan to help her, who gladly accepted the chance to escape the dining room. Becca scrubbed a dish, rinsed it, then handed it over to Ronan who then used a cloth to dry it. She nonchalantly asked Ronan as she scrubbed the next dish, “Why’d you guys break up? It seems like you were a pretty good couple.”

He almost dropped the plate he was drying.

“Were we that obvious? I thought we pulled it off...”

“You mean Rey pulled off? You barely talked the entire night.”

He shrugged. “She was always better than me at lying. How did you guess?”

“When she talked about the things you guys did, it sounded to me like she was describing things that she saw, not events that she experienced. It was almost like she was trying to disassociate herself from what she was saying and in my opinion, that’s a pretty obvious clue that something is up.”

Ronan groaned. “I probably should have been more helpful. I don’t know, I was just so scared that once I opened my mouth, something bitter would come out.”

“Don’t worry, I doubt the adults caught on. And even if they did, they probably didn’t think too much of it. Hey, you never answered my question. Why?”

Ronan sighed. “For a lot of reasons. Not all of which I feel comfortable sharing with someone I barely know.”

“Fair enough. I just hope you guys at least still talk though.”

“I doubt we’ll be at that point for a while, but you’r right. At the very least, I owe her a thank you for tonight.”

Ronan found her sitting on the bench in the front yard. He cautiously approached and sat down next to her. He was silent at first, drinking in the beauty of the starry sky above, then he cleared his throat.

“Thanks for tonight. You did great.”

She gave him a watery smile and continued to look upwards. Two people, who knew each other better than anyone else, stargazed that night side by side, but they couldn’t have been further apart.