𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝙷𝙴𝚁࿐ ྂ ᴊᴇꜰꜰ ʙᴜᴄᴋʟᴇʏ

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-ꜱɪx

POLLY STILL HAD THE 'FORGET HER' SONG STUCK IN THE BACK OF HER MIND FOR ALL OF MAY.

She hadn't mentioned anything to him in the month and a half since hearing it, telling herself that it really wasn't that important. That it was an old song, nothing to lose sleep over, but she had a tendency to obsess over little things, the song striking up thoughts and questions she didn't want to voice.

That wasn't the only thing bothering her though. Her life felt stagnant, while Jeffs was the farthest from that. She chose to ignore those negative feelings, not in such drastic ways as she had when she was younger. She just put on a straight face, went to work and back home, and tried her best to go to every one of Jeff's shows. But her piano collected dust, her cameras once more neglected. She was tired, but not in a way that sleep could fix.

Polly didn't let Jeff see that, nor anyone else. She was always lost in her thoughts during meetings at Columbia, her mind blank as she felt Jeff's arms wrap around her as they laid in bed.

She was grappling with her hopelessness along with the fact that she was growing up for a second time around. Some of it was nice, like her bank account and freedom to do what she pleased. But along with those two things were long workdays that seemed to drag on and on, sometimes not even getting home until after the sun had set.

In liquor stores, she would eye the expensive bottles she'd never been able to afford before but had always refrained from buying them, knowing deep down that it wouldn't do anything for her anymore.

Thankfully, she would soon have a break from her broken-record days in the city, having a bit of time off for the summer. She had a month to do as she pleased, currently though she sat on a Greyhound bus beside Jeff, on their way to Syracuse.

Polly thought Christmas would be the only time she'd be back to central New York with Jeff, but Mads graduation had come, and he decided to tag along, having taken a liking to both Polly's sister and father on the last trip.

Her little sister's graduation was just another scary reminder of how fast life moved. She thought about this as she stared out the bus windows, watching the scenery change as they got closer to her hometown.

Jeff studied the side of her face, trying to place what emotion was etched into her eyes and quietness. She was probably just tense about returning to her old high school and home, he decided.

Instead of asking what was wrong, he grabbed her hand in his, offering a small smile. Which she was oblivious to, but she still mindlessly squeezed his hand back.

Polly's childhood bedroom was entertainment for Jeff, partly to make fun of her decor and yearbooks, partly because he never had a definitive home growing up. It was always city to city, school to school.

He lay in her bed, looking up at the posters stuck on the ceiling. He imagined what it would be like to have a home like hers, despite Polly's childhood not being the greatest, due to her mother's habits.

But still, she had a house to call home. He envied that more than he'd like to admit.

Polly changed into a dress, a simple floral one with lace trim, taking Jeff's attention away from her walls.

She caught him staring at her, giggling slightly. "I'm putting a sweater on, calm down." She threw the shirt he was supposed to wear at his chest, shaking her head as he still checked her out. She shrugged on her sweater, walked to the bed, and kissed his cheek. "Change." She instructed him, leaving the room.

He stood from the bed, putting on the simple button-up, looking in the mirror to make sure he'd buttoned it correctly, smiling to himself as he saw the smudge Polly's lipstick had left on his cheek.

Polly sat in the passenger seat of Floyd's Chevy C-10, flipping through old familiar radio stations, and finding her favorite alternative station from high school.

Jeff sat in the back, though Floyd made a point to include him in his and Polly's conversation, his light brown eyes looking at Jeff through the rearview mirror. Jeff found it amusing that his smile was so reminiscent of his daughters, despite Polly taking after her mother in her looks.

They found their seats, waving to Mads who was sat by the rest of her class. They sat as the principal began his speech, the three soon noticing Mabel was nowhere to be found.

Floyd kept nervously checking his watch, glancing toward his ex-wife's empty seat. Polly wasn't surprised, though pissed off in full that her mother had flaked out on her own daughter's graduation, an event that obviously meant the world to Mads that she attended.

The family, (including Jeff, as both Floyd and Polly considered him as part of it,) watched as Mads walk across the stage, cheering loudly until she sat back down.

Polly was teary-eyed, heart full of pride for her sister, though still painfully aware of the empty seat beside her.

Mads walked to her family once the ceremony had wrapped up, hugging each of them, her smile faltering when she noticed her mother was nowhere to be seen. But she brushed it off, focusing on the presence of her sister and Jeff, unaware that he'd be there.

Mads had consistently told Jeff that she was a 'day one fan' and to remember her when he got big, he naturally brushed off her words but found it heartwarming.

Polly happily took pictures of everyone together, glad to put her camera to use. The event was a much needed distraction for her, taking her away from all the thoughts and feelings that had recently plagued her mind.

Mads now took the passenger seat, her cap in her hands as she looked down at it, lost in thought as they left the high school.

Jeff and Polly sat in the back, her head on his shoulder as she messed with her camera, loading a new roll of film in it.

As they drove closer to the house, traffic seemed to build up, and soon they realized why.

A car was being dragged out of a roadside ditch, the front end smashed in, pieces of car falling off as they recovered it.

Polly was the first to realize that the car, even in its mangled state, was her mothers.

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