Willow

Epilogue

Epilogue – The Willow Tree

*One Month after Willow’s death*

*Rose’s point of view*

It had been a month since my best friend passed away to the day. A month since I’d seen her smile, a month since I’d heard her laugh, a month without her and it had been the hardest month of my life.

Willow’s parents were a mess for a few weeks after finding out their daughter was gone, but just like when Miles had died, they picked themselves up and kept on with their lives. They were strong people, but sometimes when I dropped around to see how they were going, Allie would be curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and tears rolling down her face, which was one of the most heartbreaking things I’d ever seen.

Harry and I still talked on the phone every chance we got, he was touring through the UK for a few weeks before coming back to Vancouver for a holiday with me. The other boys had been shaken by the news of Willow’s death, Liam was a blubbering mess when he found out which was so upsetting to see. Louis was the worst, Louis was the absolute worst for me to see. The way he’d looked at Willow, the way he’d cared for her and made her laugh had been so beautiful and when he burst into the hospital I just wanted to scream. He looked beyond devastated, he could barely walk and he couldn’t speak because every time he tried a sob hitched in his throat and stopped him from making a sound other than a squeak. I hadn’t spoken to him since he and the boys left a month ago, but Harry told me he was a wreck. He often walked in on Louis with a pen and a piece of paper and found he was writing to Willow, which tore his heart up because he really saw in those moments that Louis was still so in love with her. There were certain songs on the set list for their tour in which he had to be taken off stage and given soundproof headphones for, because he couldn’t sing or listen to them without shutting down.

I sighed and looked up from my hands which were knitted together on my lap. My life was awful without Willow in it, I had nobody I could count on, nobody to share a laugh with and gush over the One Direction boys with. I had a handful of friends but none of them were overly meaningful people, they clung to me because I was with Harry who was famous, and they all wanted their fifteen minutes of fame, and they made me long for my dead best friend even more.

“Miss, are you okay?”

I looked up into the bright grey eyes of an elderly man who was doubled over with a walking stick and had wispy white hair that blew around in the rough wind.

“My best friend passed away,” I told him from my spot under the willow tree in the park.

“It’s hard to lose somebody you love, but you’ll be okay little lady. You have your whole life ahead of you to make memories and collect stories you’ll be able to share with your best friend in heaven when you join them, so make the most of your time, you never know how much you have,” the old man said gently, then he hobbled off slowly.

I sat back against the willow tree and I knew he was right. Willow would be so mad at me for wasting my time in such a beautiful place moping and sitting under a tree all day, wishing she’d come back. I stumbled to my feet and looked up at the purple and grey sky and smiled.

“I’ll never forget you Willow, and I love you,” I whispered as the sky cracked open and began spilling rain down on me.