The Deal (ON HOLD)

Chapter 16: Views

"This is our old house," Axel says.

"Where are we?"

"In Plainview," Axel says the name of a city in the adjoining state, "we moved a year after Aurum's death. We all were hurt from her death, but my mom couldn't physically be in that house knowing that her daughter was never coming back."

"How does coming back make you feel?"

"I feel sad, but also closer to her. My dad's family has owned this house for generations and we can come and go as we please, but this is as far as I can physically go. People always say in time the pain will lessen."

"But that's not true, you just learn to deal with it. The pain is still very raw and fresh and no amount of time will ever take that pain away. The days where you cry just get less and less, because there is nothing you can do."

"You're the first person I've talked to about her that actually understands."

"And I'm sorry to say this," I look at him, "but I would give anything to not understand. I wish I still had my dad and I wish I didn't know what to say in this moment."

"I'm sorry if this is bringing up stuff for you."

"No, don't ever apologize for how you feel. I'm your friend and I'm glad that I could help you in your time of need. Don't worry about me right now, worry about yourself. You can always talk to me about your sister, do not ever let what happened to my dad stop you."

"Thank you, for everything," he grabs my hand in his.

"There's no need to thank me."

"I want to show you a few more places," Axel starts his car back up.

He takes one final look at the house before driving off. He continues to drive until I can see headstones in our sight. He pulls into the graveyard and drives until we reach a crypt. Outside of it there is a man holding a key. Axel gets out of the car and comes around to open my door.

"Hey Axel," the man says as we reach him.

"Hey Herald, how's Lucy and the kids?" Axel nods at him.

"They're good, I'll tell them you asked about them," the man smiles at him, "well you know the deal, just call me when you're leaving."

Axel gives him a slight nod and turns to head into the crypt. I follow along and after walking for sometime Axel stops. I get from behind him and see the name 'Aurum Rose Tailor' on the concrete. Axel runs his hand over the name and begins to cry. I lean my head on his shoulder, letting him know that I was there for him, but also allow him to let his emotions out.

"I miss you everyday," Axel says, "there's not a day that goes by when you aren't on my mind. I hate that I can't see the woman you would've been, but I am happy that you're not suffering anymore. I love you."

Axel kisses his fingers and places them on her name. We sit in silence for awhile before he tugs my hand towards the exit. We walk out of the crypt and Axel calls Herald to lock it up. We get into his car as we wait for Herald to come and lock the crypt. I look over and see that Axel has silent tears streaming down his face. I reach over and grab his hard, to which he gives a slight squeeze to. Once he is sure Herald has locked up, Axel pulls out of the graveyard. We sit in silence as we reach a diner.

"Are you hungry?" Axel asks.

Before I can answer, my stomach growls. Loudly, might I add. Axel chuckles before getting out of the car. He once again walks over and opens my door. We walk into the diner and the hostess greets us.

"Hello, would that be a table or a booth today?" the perky red head says.

"Actually can we just see some to go menus, we're taking our food to go," Axel tells her.

"Oh no problem," she grabs to menus and hands them to both of us.

"Why aren't we eating here?" I ask as I begin to scan the menu.

"I have one more place to take you and I figured that we could just eat there."

"Oh, ok," I continue looking for something to eat.

We finally order and it doesn't take long before we get our food. Once again we get into his car and begin a trip to another place. Axel finally stops at a wooded area. He reaches into the backseat and grabs his bag from earlier. With the bag and our food in hand, he gets out and rounds the car to open my door.

"Are you sure we're not here so you can kill me?" I get out of the car.

"Just come on."

I follow his lead and we walk a small trail leading into the woods. The closer we get, the more I can hear the sound of running water. As we make a finally turn, a beautiful waterfall with a swimming hole.

"Wow," I say, stunned by the natural beauty of the place.

"Come on, let's go eat," Axel walks past me.