Dance In The Rain

~27~ Funeral

"Cook finally taught me after dad caught him tying my tie once, and screamed at me for ten minutes for being incompetent."

Holden clears his throat at our awkward silence and heads for the door. "You ready?"

"Shouldn't we wait for Quinn?" Tate asks.

"She's pulling up now," Holden says quietly as he opens the door and walks out to meet her.

"You guys look great...Woah you two look alike," she gawks as she stares at Tate and Holden. Then she turns to me and smiles. "You look beautiful, Jules. I love how you did your hair."

I inwardly smile. I straightened my hair and I really liked how it turned out. Sometimes I get tired of the natural wave.

"Ready?" Holden asks as he bends down and kisses her softly, and she blushes slightly.

"Ready"

~*~

We drive the short distance to the local church that Chippy goes to, and my mouth drops open at how many people are here.

I think the whole town showed up

The visitation is first so we wait in the long line, and Holden talks quietly to Sylvie, Nico, and Sylvie's bar manager, Ryan.

"So what did you do?" Holden asks quietly as the line moves another couple of inches.

"Sylvie had a ton of boxes for me to open, and I sliced the shit outta my hand on the damn box cutter," Ryan mutters, and we all look at his bandaged left palm.

"I think if you cuss in a church, you'll get smited...Smotted...Smitten? Quit cussin' before ya git us'n trouble!" Nico scolds as he moves up another few inches.

Ryan chuckles as he shrugs. "I think Chippy woulda cussed with me. Five stitches later. Can I claim workman's comp for this?" He asks Quinn.

She folds her arms and shoots him a glare. "For cutting yourself on a knife that you brought from home?"

Ryan gets the hint and clears his throat. "Have they gotten anymore leads? What if the killer is here...."

The four of them look around the busy chapel discreetly, and Nico shrugs.

"My guess? Yup....He's a wolf in sheep's clothing....But then again, everyone calls the person a he...maybe it's not....." Nico whispers

"Who do you think it is?" Ryan whispers just as quietly, and Sylvie lets out a disgusted hiss. "Stop. This isn't about that today, Ryan."

Ryan simply nods as we inch our way even further, and about twenty minutes later we are at the front.

I don't look at her, but I can see her flaming orange hair and a pange of sadness hits me.

She was weird, but she wasn't that bad, I guess

Holden looks at her for a long moment with Sylvie. He leans in and whispers something to her, and briefly touches her hand before they walk away.

He isn't crying, but Sylvie discreetly wipes away a tear that falls down her cheek as she takes his hand.

We get to the pews and find one with enough space available for all of us. I sit between Tate and Holden, with Nico and Ryan on Tate's left and Sylvie on Holden's right.

We settle in and watch as the remaining line dwindles and the pews fill, and Holden leans into Sylvie.

"I'm glad they left her fingernails chipped."

I look over and see Holden smile briefly, and I remember when we first moved here and Chippy told me her crazy story on how she got her nickname.

~*~

We've been sitting here for over half an hour, waiting for the funeral to start, and Tate is bored.

He starts to get on his phone, when Holden lets out a disgusted sigh. "Really dude? Not today, okay? Put it away."

"People are on their phones all over," Tate argues, and Holden clamps his teeth together, but shocks me when he doesn't fight him.

Sylvie looks between Holden and Tate, and lets it go, even though I can see how irritated she is at Tate.

Tate is on his phone for another five minutes before Sylvie looks back over and rolls her eyes. She leans over Holden, and whispers darkly. "Tate, what did your brother tell you to do?"

Tate looks up at her, just as surprised as the rest of us. Nico and Ryan exchange looks, and then glance at Holden to see if Sylvie overstepping is okay with him. And honestly? Holden doesn't look like he has the energy to care at all. He just looks at Sylvie, and then back to staring at the front of the chapel.

Tate shrugs. "Quinn, look around. Principal Lee is even on his phone for crying out loud!"

"What did your brother, ask you to do?"

The looks she sends him makes him stiffen, and to my complete shock, he relents. He sighs as he puts his phone in his lap, and she shakes her head. "I'll take it so you don't get tempted. I'll give it back to you after the service."

"You can't take my phone," he says in a low voice, and she gives him a sickening sweet, innocent smile. "I'm not taking it, I'm holding it." Then her face contorts into bar-owner Quinn as she says darkly, "now," and Tate instantly hands it over to her.

Nico and Ryan hide their smirks, and Holden really doesn't seem to be interested in what's going on as he simply stares at the front.

~*~

The service is pretty short and sweet, which according to the adults is exactly how Chippy would have wanted it. We walk to the cemetery a few blocks down as they do a quick graveside thing, and Holden stays while they lower her into the ground.

"Everybody else has left!" Tate whines as we watch from a distance as Holden stays with the lowering casket.

Quinn sighs as she steps in front of Tate, and he looks down at her. "Here's your phone," she says simply as he takes it and puts it in his suit pocket.

"Don't take advantage of his grief, Tate," Sylvie says quietly as Holden starts making his way over to us.

"What are you talking about?" Tate asks, equally as quiet.

"You know what I'm talking about. Don't take advantage of his grief."