Invisible String

Part 12 - Touch

"Are you almost ready?" Reid groaned from the living room.

I rolled my eyes as I inserted my stud earrings into my ears and took a deep breath. Today was Hannah and Amy's joint funeral, and we all had to confront the reality of their deaths. The truth is that these innocent girls were brutally murdered at the age of twenty by God knows who.

Since staying with Reid, my friends had been bombarding us with texts and phone calls, asking why I was staying with Reid rather than with Ingrid or in a hotel. I ignored every single one because I didn't know what to say, and I wasn't ready to tell them we were 'dating'.

"You are incredibly impatient today." I entered the same room as him after leaving his spare bedroom. His gaze swept over my body, then paused on my own eyes. I happened to wear the same black dress and heels to my mother's funeral.

"Well, you know, for the occasion, you look good." I stumbled over my words, admiring his black suit and tie. His fingers moved over his tie knot, making sure it was in the proper place before flattening it with his fingers.

"Are you sure you're up for our 'dating' sting today?" He questioned me as I grabbed my bag off the kitchen counter. I searched for my lip gloss and watched him observe me opening the tube.

"What's the plan? Just hand-holding, maybe some cuddling?" He gave me a nod and watched as my lip gloss applicator moved smoothly over my lips before returning to the tube.

"I think we should get going before we end up being late." I took a quick look at the enormous black clock that hung on the hallway wall. The graveyard was only five minutes away, and we had twenty minutes until it began. What would cause us to arrive late?

He smoothed the creases of his suit jacket by shrugging it onto his shoulders and pulling it down firmly. I hated to say it, but he looked really good. It felt awkward to admit, especially as we were travelling to his ex-partners' burial.

When the elevator reached his floor, he strolled over to it and put his right hand between the doors to make sure they remained open for me. I made an effort to walk as quickly as I could while wearing heels.

"Thanks." He offered me a hollow smile, and his face dropped to the ground as I leaned back against the lift, letting the cold glass press on the backs of my arms.

He had been acting strangely all morning, but suddenly I realised how this was all affecting him. Even though Reid and Jaden did not carry out the killings of their ex-girlfriends, the mums still held them accountable. They had nobody else to blame.

--

"I want to thank everyone for coming. I know both girls would've loved to see everyone coming together—" We all sat in a crowded church watching both parents read from their planned scripts.

"God, I hate funerals." Cara whispered, earning a few looks from people around her. I slapped her thigh gently and shook my head, moving my attention back to Amy's mother.

"My daughter didn't want to die; she was a fighter, and she proved that until the very end." I could feel Reid shift in his seat uncomfortably. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and watched his eyes drop into his lap. 

"Whoever did this, you will get what you deserve. I will continue to fight for you, Amy. You will always be my little angel-"

"Hannah was an inspiration for us all; not a day goes by that I don't think about you. You were our world, and you were taken from us by a great evil." For a second I thought I saw multiple heads turn to face Reid and Jaden, who was currently sitting not far from us.

After a few other readings and poems, I could feel Reid getting more and more uncomfortable.

"I can't do this-" Reid stood up from his seat and hurried out of the church into the courtyard. Fortunately, we sat near to the door, so no one noticed his departure. I glanced to the side where our friends were sitting, baffled by his departure; I mouthed an apology before standing up and leaving the church.

Once outdoors, I searched the grounds for the tall man in question. I noticed him standing in front of an old, recognisable gravestone.  His hands were tucked into his pockets as he let out a deep breath. I read the grave's inscription as I delicately brushed his arm against mine.

'Mother, sister and best friend, Sofia Marie Miller'. I smiled at the red and orange roses I placed down last weekend; they still looked as bright as the day I bought them.

"You didn't tell me you had an aunt?" I glanced at him in confusion.

"It wasn't common knowledge. But if you want to know, her sister died when she was twenty and is buried right there." I pointed to my aunt's gravestone behind my mother's. I made sure each gravestone was decorated with the most vibrant flowers.

"I'm sorry I didn't—" I shook my head and turned my body towards him.

"It's fine; how would you have known?" I shrugged in response to him apologising.

"Can I ask you a question now?" I asked abruptly as his eyes lifted from the grave and onto my form. He tilted his head to one side. 

"Are you okay?" He licked his bottom lip and sighed.

"Yeah, I just needed to get some air." I smiled softly at him as he ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath in. His body was emitting stress and anxieties, and I could feel it.

"I was going to come back in, but then I saw the gravestone." Some people started to file out of the church, and my mind went to the sting.

"We've got watchers." I stated the obvious.

Reid looked over his shoulder, then back at me. His left arm pulled me into his side, curling across my shoulder. His aftershave overwhelmed my senses as I slipped deeper into his touch. As he leaned his head on top of mine, I felt my cheeks becoming scarlet.

"Let's give them a show." As we remained in front of my family's headstone, our friends drifted out of the church. His fingertips stroked up and down my arm in a soothing way.

"Dude, what happened in there?" Jamie came to Reid's side, causing us to turn towards him and the group.

"It just got a little too much in there." His arm was still tightly wrapped around my shoulder, which raised the eyebrows of Sasha and Cara.

"I get you, my man; I felt like they were psychically attacking me with their words." Jaden stood beside Grayson as his eyes switched between me and Reid.

"Let's get one thing straight: I'm not your man." Reid removed his arm from my shoulder and placed his hands into his pockets. As I glanced toward the crowded graveyard, I hooked my arm through his and leaned into his side. He grinned sweetly at me as I snuggled in closer. In all honesty, it was very enjoyable. Sasha gave Jamie a quick glance before nodding towards us.

"So when did this happen?" Sasha and Jamie enquired, which caught the attention of a few others outside our group. Ingrid leaned her head on Grayson's shoulder with a saddened smile.

"We've been together maybe a week or so; we wanted to keep it on the down low, but I guess we couldn't hide it anymore." For the first time since our friends arrived, I spoke. Jaden turned his attention to me after giving Reid a confused expression. It was the first time I had ever lied to him, and I couldn't bear to look at him.

"I apologise for changing the topic, but the coach advised everyone to show up for practice an hour early tomorrow. Getting ahead of the competition was something he mentioned." Grayson looked us girls up and down before grinning. Our colleges were due to play against each other in four days' time.

"You ain't got a chance against us!" Jaden smirked and scoffed at Grayson, which caused Reid to chuckle under his breath.

"I hate to tell you this, 'my man', but you don't have your good luck charm anymore. She's with me now." As the words escaped his lips, shivers went down my spine. I got butterflies in my stomach when he declared that I was "his".

"We'll see about that!" Jaden bit back at Reid's comments. 

"I'll see you at the big game." Jaden buttoned up his suit jacket and made his way out of the graveyard and towards his Mustang.

"He's such an arsehole!"

"An arsehole with a sexy car."