Away: A Prequel

Chapter 25

It was about a week later, when Dex got the phone call about Cass' body. They had arranged for her to be sent up to Wales in the next couple of days. We had hoped her funeral was going to be a few days after that. It seemed it was going to go that way, as well, as everything was in place.

The funeral came and went on a very slow day; it was pretty much like time had stood still the whole day, or at least going at a snail's pace. It was a beautiful service, though. A few people, including Cass' best friend did a speech for her. Some only cried in silence, while others sobbed loudly. Dex wanted to do a speech at first, but he didn't think he was able to when the day came around. There was a short get together after at the nearby pub too, so I got to meet some more of his family, despite it being a sad day.

Most of the day, however, Dex kept to himself and Susan was exhausted by the end of the day from all the crying she had done. She had laid her daughter to rest, and it wasn't something a parent ever wanted to do. I admit, I cried a bit too; I had not long met the girl and we may have started out crap, but we ended up getting a bit of a friendship. I was sad I didn't get to know her more, and expand our friendship so we were closer.

It wasn't until we had gotten his mum to bed and settled in our own room, Dex crumpled onto the bed and curled up into a ball; he had turned his back to me, but I was still able to hear him sob, "She's gone... She's really gone..."

"It' s alright, Dex." I snuggled up behind him, burying my face into his back, "You let it out."

He cried into his pillow for a good 20 minutes, seeing as he had been holding it in to seem brave for his mum. I stayed beside him, trying to comfort him as best as I was able to. A couple of times he did mutter 'A lie could cost you everything', and though I didn't agree with him saying it was his fault, I let him rant about it.

For the rest of the evening, I had spent it going between the rooms to check up on Susan and Dex, making sure they were able to eat something. Dex was pretty easy to get to eat, even though he was hesitant. Susan proved to be the worst of it. She didn't want to eat at all. I understood why she didn't feel like eating, especially on a day like that, but I was worried for her. She hadn't eaten during the pub meet-up and she hadn't eaten that morning. I was determined to get her to eat at least some crackers and cheese.

It was around 8pm and I was sitting in the living room reading one of my books, when Dex came down; he still seemed down, which I was expecting him to be, as he approached me. He gave a quick kiss on my head, before he sat on the chair in front of me.

"You feeling any better?" I asked, lifting my gaze from the book I read.

"I guess a little..." He shrugged; he slowly looked at me with a small smile, "Thanks for looking out for us, pet."

"It's no problem." I smiled, lowering my book.

"C'mere." He demanded.

I placed my book down on the coffee table, before walking over to him; he had me take a seat on his lap, swinging my legs over the arm of the chair. It was only when I was comfortable that he gently cupped my face with his hands, and pulled me in for a kiss.

"You're amazing, you are." He smirked, once pulling away from the kiss.

"Aw, you're such a sweetie, Dex, dear." I smirked; I returned the kiss.

From behind us, Susan climbed down the stairs; she was silent as she did, coming right up behind the chair. I was able to briefly see her over Dex's shoulder as she neared.

"Don't you two be doing things in my chair." She attempted to smirk, despite how she was feeling, "Or be thinking about it."

"Hi, Susan." I smiled; I was going to get up, though Dex kept me seated on his lap.

Susan seated herself across from us; she smiled, "You two must have a good relationship to last through what you've gone through..."

"I guess you could say that." Dex smiled, "Her company is definitely one I enjoy."

"Good." She nodded; she paused for a moment, "You two remind me of your father and me. Always together, couldn't keep our hands off each other..."

"Mum, I don't wanna hear that!" Dex moaned, now pulling a disgusted face.

"Heh," I smirked at Dex's reaction, and then looked back at his mum, "You really miss him?"

"Yes, all the time, though a lot more recently... Since Cass' dad left..." She sadly smiled now; she then shook her head, smiling again, "Tell me about your first date, what was that like?"

"You don't wanna hear about that..." I gave an awkward smile.

"I'm sure she does... She knows all my embarrassing stories. Now it's time she heard one of yours." Dex grinned at me.

"I suppose we could all do with a laugh." I bit my lip, thinking about it for a moment to try to remember all the details; I was just about able to remember everything that happened on that day, "Well, it was after he had asked me to be his girlfriend... I know that. I think it was a couple of days after that, when he thought it was a good idea to go on a date to make it official. I told him to pick me up at 7, so we had a chance to get ready for the date. My best friend, Cora, was staying at my place for a couple of days, so she helped me a lot with getting ready, and getting rid of nerves."

"You were nervous about going on a date with me?" Dex had a raised eyebrow, smirking.

"Yes." I pouted, before continuing, "Anyway, she helped put together a nice dress outfit for me: a pale pink dress that came off one shoulder, greek-sandal-like heels and some skin coloured tights. I had my hair down too." I didn't want to go into too much detail on my outfit, in case it bored her, "I think I was at least dressed, when Dex came to the door. I was rushing around looking for something in my panic, so I didn't exactly notice a knock at the door. Cora answered for me."

"I was stunned when I saw her. She looked bloody amazing!" He stepped in, a large grin on his face.

"Are you not gonna mention what you were wearing?" I asked, only to get a head shake from him; sighing, I told her, "He actually dressed quite nicely... He wore a waistcoat over a white shirt, a watch, and matching pants. His hair was brushed back too."

"Aw, David, that's sweet of you." She smiled, getting a grumble from Dex.

"I had come out of my room, when he arrived, looking for my purse to put my makeup on. I rushed through, grabbing it and going back into my room, with my purse and telling him that I was gonna be a couple more minutes."

"She didn't need to though." I heard Dex smile.

"I certainly did..." I frowned, but quickly returned to the story, "We had planned to go to the Aquarium, and then go for a meal, for the date. It was good for the most part..." I paused for a moment to shift position, "Dex must've gotten too hot because he had taken his waistcoat off halfway through the aquarium. It was around then that I accidentally tripped on someone's kid that had gone into the little tunnel, and I grabbed onto Dex's shirt. I must've grabbed it a bit too harsh 'cause I ripped it a bit.... And landed with a thud on my bum..."

"It was more than a bit. You ripped it so much, my whole chest was on show." He frowned; he then smirked adding with a whisper, "And I'm sure a lot of us got a good view from you."

"David!" Susan stepped in, smiling, "You dirty boy, stop that."

"I wasn't sure who was more red in the face, to be honest, me or dirty mind there." I smiled, pointing at Dex.

"I can guess who." His mum smirked.

"It was nice overall though. Despite having to go around the rest of the date in just a waistcoat..." Dex smiled.

"Yeah it was." I returned the smile.

"That sounds like a nice first date." Susan added with a short laugh.