Steadily Breaking

Chapter 2

I was worried for him.

It had been a week since the incident that killed my best friend's brother, and Vic still hadn't shed one tear.

Not at the location of the incident.

Not during the week leading to the funeral.

He just hadn't cried.

At this point in time, Vic and I were holding hands while the priest said a couple of words over Mike's lifeless body.

Vic put his head on my shoulder and I sighed.

I couldn't cry at the moment.

I had already cried so much all week.

Mike and I were practically brothers and it hurt me to know that I had lost someone I had cared about.

"Now, I open the floor to the family of they would like to say anything about Michael," the priest said into the microphone.

I turned my head to the boy sitting beside me and squeezed his hand a little.

He shook his head and looked into his lap.

I looked over to Vivian and noticed that she was crying too hard to actually form a coherent sentence and her husband was comforting her.

Mike didn't deserve this. His family was too torn up about it, but he deserved for someone that was close to him to get up there and speak about him.

I squeezed Vic's hand once more before standing and walking to the stage.

The priest raised an eyebrow.

"He was practically my brother," I said.

The man nodded and walked to sit in the chairs.

I tapped the microphone awkwardly and cleared my throat.

"Uh," I mumbled,"I-Uh-For those of you who don't know me, I'm Kellin."

I have a stupid little wave and looked at my feet.

"I know most of you are family of Mike, but you don't live in the area, so
I know he would want to thank you all for coming here. He didn't really have a great relationship with all of you, not even his half siblings, Debbie, David, and Frank. The thing was, I had a great relationship with him. He was one of my greater friends and I hate the fact that I won't be able to speak to him again. On his-"

I stopped and took a breath before continuing,"On Mike's last day, he was hanging out at my house before he left to go home. Sometimes, I feel like it's my fault. I should have made him stay. Maybe if he had stayed at my house, none of this would have happened. I get really down about it and then I think, 'Mike wouldn't want you to be sad. He would want you to stop blaming yourself and go get your party on' because that was the type of person he was. He was honest, humble, kind, outgoing, and most of all, loving. He will be missed."

I looked down at the wooden casket and wiped the tears from my eyes,"I'll miss you Mikey."

As Mike's family applauded me, I walked back to my seat, only to find that Vic wasn't there anymore.

I turned to my left after I sat back down,"Kait? Where did Vic go?"

She wiped the tears from her face,"Uh, he said something about going home because he couldn't watch Mike go into the ground."

I nodded and squeezed her hand.

"You spoke beautifully," she said.

"He deserved it."

"I'm going to miss him," Kait said.

I looked at my sister and sighed,"Me too."

As the priest began talking again, I realized the Vic had the right idea.

I didn't want to see Mike being lowered into the ground. 

I smiled a little at the irony.

Mike was the liveliest person I ever met, but he's the first one to be put six feet under.

It wasn't right.

I decided to go find Vic at his house, but then I realized, Vic doesn't go home when he's upset.

He goes to the park not too far from his house, so that's where I set off to.

As I walked, I loosened my tie and ran my hand through my hair to get it a little more messier.

When I came upon the park, it didn't surprise me that I found Vic on the small swing set we used to hang out on.

Over the years, the paint had faded and the metal had rusted, but it would always be the best thing in the world to me.

Mike, Vic, and I had met at this swing set eight years ago when we were nine and Mike was eight.

We had argued over who got the two end swings because none of us wanted the middle.

I smiled at the memory and walked over to my best friend.

"You said you were going home," I said as I sat on the swing in the middle.

He shrugged,"I am home. This was Mikey's favorite spot."

I push back a little and let myself swing.

"Stupid question Vic, but are you okay?"

"He called me that night," he said.

"What?"

"Mike called me that night. That's why my phone was ringing. It's my fault."

I shook my head,"Even if he called you, you wouldn't have been able to save him."

"No, Kellin. You don't understand. He called me that night. He called me and when I didn't answer, he called the police. He needed my help and I didn't answer. When we went to the wreck that night, I talked to the police  and they said they were too late."

He let out a laugh that gave me chills,"They were too late and he called me first. If I had answered that call, I could have helped him."

"Vic, you couldn't have saved him
No one could. He wouldn't want you thinking like this."

For the first time since the incident, Vic broke.

The tears began to fall down his face and his whole body heaved in the sobs.

"Oh Vic ," I said, standing up, pulling him to his feet, and into my arms.

He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed until I was pretty sure he couldn't anymore.

"Kell?"

"Yeah?" I replied.

Vic pulled himself away from me and looked into my eyes.

Before I could stop him, Vic's hand lifted to the side of my face and pulled me so that his lips were pressed firmly against mine.

I gasped in surprise, allowing Vic to move his tongue into my mouth.

After the initial shock, I kissed back.

In that moment, I felt something in the pit of my stomach.

Butterflies.

Never before have I ever thought that I liked Vic in any sort of romantic way, but because of the kiss, I began to question it.

He was my best friend. Maybe, those feelings that I figured were just feelings of friendship were more than that.

Maybe I was delusional.

Maybe it was the fact that he had just lost his brother and I was his best friend, ready to comfort him, but I know that for the first time in my life, I looked at Victor Vincent Fuentes as more than just a friend.