David came out of the basement as Jill pulled into the yard. He'd taken time off from his contracting business to work on their new house after the honeymoon. The house had good bones, but nothing had been updated. With his skills, the house was a bargain. He was covered in drywall dust when he came over to help her with the groceries and she wrinkled her nose. “You need a shower.” Before the trip, they would both work on the old bungalow, getting ready to flip it so they could move into a more family-friendly house — and she'd never once wrinkled her nose at how he smelled then.

“Why yes, the remodel is coming along fine, and I would love a nice dinner with my lovely wife, why do you ask?” She looked at him across the bag of groceries between them, her lips pressed tight together. He kicked himself for going on the attack like that, but ever since the assault the tension between them had not abated, and he couldn't remember the last time they touched.

“I just need some time, okay? It doesn't help when you are like this.”

He bit back a retort, and reached for the groceries instead. She pushed by him, and walked into the house. He followed and dropped the bag on the counter and went into the guest bedroom where he had been showering. And dressing. And sleeping. When he was done, he went into the kitchen where she was heating up some pasta. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge.

“Starting already?” She had a way of arching her eyebrows which he’d never noticed before but particularly got to him now.

“What do you mean 'already?' I've been working my ass off all day.”

“It's just that you've been drinking a lot lately.”

“Well, I guess I don't have a lot else to do.” Dammit, again he said the wrong thing, and he knew it before he did it.

“I don't care how you spend your time, David. Just don't get sloppy.”