Intrepid » n.h. au

Chapter 52

"Watch your step."

"Christ, you could've told me the road would be this bad, I would've worn my converse."

"I know you would've," I say, hopping over a particularly large pond of mud, "That's why I didn't tell you, they're too pretty to be ruined like this."

"I don't get it, how does no one take care of the graveyard? Isn't there-"

"There is, but this is Ireland." I look over my shoulder to look at her face, as she sighs at my words. "It's usually the weather that takes care of everything."

"Much like England, then?"

"Worse than England. We also drink more tea than England, fun fact."

"Alright, no need to brag," Freya mutters, "Where even is your dad? Did you purposefully bury him at the end of the cemetery?"

"No, he's..." I trail off, ignoring her comment, "Here."

She stops walking a couple steps after I do, slowly turning to look at the headstone I'm lookig at. "Oh," She almost whispers, "Sorry."

I pull my lips between my teeth, walking around the bench placed several feet in front of the stone to sit on it, Freya sitting next to me a few seconds later. "God, I really hate coming here," I whisper, shaking my head- I didn't completely realize it until Freya put her hand on top of mine, to calm me down. I didn't even do anything and she could still sense that I'm not at all at ease.

"Why? It's your dad."

"That's exactly why," I tell her, shaking my right leg, "I'd much rather see him anywhere else than here."

A minute passes in silence before Freya speaks, "I know," And takes my hand again, "I can't really relate to the feeling, but..."

I smile at her words, not minding her black humor at this point. "That's a dark thought."

"So is the thought of my father."

I don't know if her goal is to make me smile, but she did it anyway. "Well... what you gonna do?" I sigh to myself, taking my rucksack off my left shoulder and opening it to get out two bottles of beer. I open one, leave it in front of my dad's stone, then get back to the bench to open mine too.

"What's up, dad?" I mumble, accidentally noticing Freya clutch the hem of her jacket from the corner of my eye, "Long time no see."

As I stretch my hand out to click my bottle against my dad's, as if toasting or something, a sob next to me surprises me. "Fre- Freya?" I breathe out a laugh after calling her name, seeing her hands on her face and hes shoulders shaking. I shouldn't be this surprised, she seemed pale and sick all morning, but I had no idea she'd snap by crying.

"Freya, babe, the hell? What did I do?"

"It's just... it's sad," She says, almost making me laugh again. "He was... he was a good man, a good husband and father, he didn't deserve to have this happen to him. Not so early, anyway. And you didn't deserve to have to go through it."

"Well..." Comforting her for the weirdest things doesn't feel weird anymore. "Not everything happens for a reason. Many people don't deserve what happens to them, I'm talking about bad and good things."

"Well I definitely know one man who deserved this more than your father."

Stubborn and in tears- I can already predict what our child is gonna be like. "Can I tell you something? When something like this happens, or you know it's going to happen..." I shake my head, "You start to look at stuff differently. For example, my parents were thinking about getting a divorce before we found out dad had cancer."