THE ROOM WAS COMPLETELY EMPTY. Everything she owned was gone and she, too, was gone. My chest ached as I stared around the bedroom and I knew my heart was continuing to shatter. The only thing left behind was the furniture I had to begin with. She took the sheets, blanket, and pillow cases from the bed. They were all hers but without them, the bed looked so empty and exposed. I stood in the doorway, unable to move. I should have expected this. After all, I had blamed everything on her. None of this was her fault. There was no way she could have been involved in Jillian's murder.
That was madness.
I heard Greysen walking up behind me and he placed a hand on my shoulder before taking a deep breath. He had offered to drive me home from the hospital and I let him. I could not drive myself back home. I was unable to concentrate and I would have gotten distracted behind the wheel.
"She's gone," I whispered.
He squeezed my shoulder before removing his hand from my body, "Maybe it's for the best."
I looked over at him and he was also looking at the room that used to belong to Sydney. It was so easy for him to say something like that. He did not live with her. He did not wake up every morning to hear her singing in the shower or talking to herself about what she was going to wear to work. He did not have meaningless conversations with her early in the morning just because he wanted to hear her voice. He never fell in love with her.
It was so easy for him but it was so hard for me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and took an unsteady breath. Where could she have gone? I was tempted to call her but something told me she was not going to answer her phone. I yelled at her when I was not mad at her. I was mad at myself and I took it all out on her. God, I had been so foolish. She only wanted to make sure I was okay. Instead of letting her comfort me, I pushed her away and attacked. Now, she was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. Not only had I lost Jillian, I had lost Sydney as well. I was a pathetic excuse for a man.
"You can't just stand here all day," Greysen said and I heard the sadness in his voice. I did not move and removed my fingers from the bridge of my nose. He was right but I was not going to listen to him. Walking away from this room meant it was official. I did not want to believe she was really gone. She had to come back. "Harry—"
"Greysen," I snapped and turned my head to look at him. "You have your ways of grieving and I have mine. Please, please leave me alone. I appreciate you bringing me home but you didn't have to stay."
It was low and barely audible but I caught every words, "Someone has to."
Once again, he was right. Someone had to stay. Everyone I loved and cared about was leaving and I was unable to hold onto them for much longer. Was Greysen eventually going to leave? I had hoped not. He was my best friend and losing him would end it all. Running my fingers through my hair, I sat down on the floor and pressed my head back against the door frame. My hands balled up into fists and I looked straight ahead, wondering where in the world I took a wrong turn. Greysen sat down beside me and we both looked ahead at the wall.
"You aren't in this alone, you know," he said. "We were all friends. Even though she was your girlfriend, she was still your friend. We all lost our friend. It wasn't just you, okay? We're all hurting and it just makes sense for us to stick together to get through this. No one can go through something as tragic as this alone. Do you hear me?"
He knew my silent response was letting him know that I had heard him. He was sitting right beside me. How could I have not heard him? My fingers gripped the carpet on both sides of me and I closed my eyes. This day was going so well. It was almost perfect. I enjoyed myself at the beach with Sydney. We had a good time. Although my back was aching, I had enjoyed myself because I was with someone I loved. I had made her upset but I was going to make it up to her with flowers and cans of black olives. I had it all planned out. I was going to end things with Jillian. The second I pulled up into her driveway, everything went downhill.
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Candles
Fanfiction[C O M P L E T E D ✓] They were curious. They both had their own share of secrets. He was a man living in the present. She was a woman living in the past. He was a candle, ready to see everything she was keeping in the dark. And she was the w...
