"We gather here today to celebrate and remember the life of Paul Higgins." The priest began. This was one of the saddest day in One Direction history, the funeral of their faithful bodyguard. There wasn't a sound in the room, other than a few muffled cries.
"Paul was an amazing man. Father, brother, dad, son, and friend. Everyone who knew him remembered him as a genuine man. He was a protector. A fighter. A lover." The priest paused to catch a glimpse at all of us.
I hadn't even realized that I was tugging furiously on the hem of my dress until Harry laced his clammy fingers through mine. Meeting his eyes, it was obvious that he was drowning in greif. And I couldn't help but believe that it was all my fault.
"I'd like to ask Paul's wife, Clodagh, to read some verses."
A woman who appeared to be in her late thirties stood up at the front, her mascara running down her cheeks, her hands shaking like an earthquake.
"Revalation-" She choked out another sob. I was secretly crossing my fingers for this woman, hoping that she would be able to continue. "Revalation 14:13. 'Then I heard a voice from Heaven say Write. Blessed are the dead who die for the Lord from now on.
"Yes," She continues. "Says the Spirit. "They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
At the last words, her voice faltered, and she crushed her paper in her fist. I immediately felt sick to my stomach. Watching this woman's pain was almost unbearable, because I knew that her husband died in the fight to save my life. And there was nothing I could do to take that back or heal the pain.
The priest continued to say things for the next fifteen minutes, but I don't think anybody was really paying attention. We were all looking over at Paul's lifeless body.
He didn't even look like himself. He looked like he was made of wax. Fake. But it was half true, because he wasn't suffering in that body anymore. He wasn't.
One Direction was supposed to make a guest appearance, but they declined. They said that they wouldn't want to make it all about themselves. They wouldn't do that to Paul and the family.
"I need to leave. I can't stay here." Harry whispered, his eyes frantic.
"Please, stay. Think of Paul." I pleaded.
"I can't. I can't think of him. I can't think of what I've done to him. Please, Darc', come with me. Please, please." He was begging.
My eyes darted around the room. There was about a hundred other people in the room, and someone was bound to notice that Harry Styles snuck out of a funeral to be with his girlfriend. What would that look like?
"I can't stay." Harry cried. I nodded, and he took my hand and pulled me out into the isle, as about fifty pairs of eyes were looking right at us. I told myself that I didn't care. That this was for Harry, and I shouldn't care.
We swiftly exited the funeral in a mere ten seconds, and everyone focused in on the ceremony now. Harry's tears were free falling down, and his chin trembled furiously. I tried not to cry so hard. I didn't want him to focus on me.
"I can't do this, Darc'."
"I know, but you have to."
"What happens when I don't? What, then?" He asked, looking up into the sky. We were planted on the steps in front of the funeral home. We were the only people here, besides a few people across the street.
"You were standing there, and he had you. And all I could think of was how I wanted to kill him, and I wasn't even thinking of Paul. Or Vanessa. And because I was so stupid, he's dead. And Codagh is left alone, with a baby along the way, and I can't help but feel like everyone hates me."
"I don't." I said. He looked up to see me, finally, his green eyes shiny and the whites in his eyes completely red. I wiped his tears off with my thumb, giving him a sheepish smile.
"I know you don't." He smiled, for the first time today.
"Neither do the boys."
"I know, I know."
"And your fans."
"Okay, well." He shook his head, trying to dry his face. For a while we just sad there, him holding me against his chest, me brushing my thumb against his palm. After a while, I closed my eyes, tried to block everything out. This was definitely the worst day of my life. Even the comfort of Harry didn't make me feel any better, just made me feel guilty.
"Why do you love me?" Harry asked.
"Because." I said, closing my eyes.
"That's not an answer, Darcy. Why do you love me?" Harry said, gripping my shoulders. He looked so needy, here in front of me, so helpless. And he was, we all were. Everyone had just had a part of their lives torn away from them.
"Fine. You want to know why I love you?" I asked.
"Mmhmm." His voice hummed inside his stomach, which my ear was pressed against. We probably looked like the saddest couple in the universe, sitting in front of a funeral.
"I love you because you're you. And I love how you're so cheeky, and when you're hair gets all wet it scrunches up." I laughed, finally noticing the rain that was beginning to pour down. He patted down his hair, making me laugh.
"I love yo because you were the only person that I wanted when I had nobody. And when I came back into the world, you were waiting for me, like you always knew that I was going to come around. And you took me in and made me fall in love all over again." I said, practically feeling Harry smile next to me.
"That's a long list, Miss Monroe." Harry chuckles, my head bobbing up and down from his stomach bouncing. "I guess I should tell you why I love you, right?"
"That seems to be the right thing to do." I cooed, closing my eyes and smiling, forgetting the pain, if only for a few moments.
"I'll top off you're list easy. I love you, Darcy, because you're funny and smart and talented and beautiful and brave and loving and caring and sweet and fit and cheeky and strong and witty and gorgeous and mine."
I smiled, letting the rain fall down onto my face. It now dawned on me that we were wearing the fanciest clothes imaginable, lying on a sidewalk, in the pouring rain. That the cerimony would end soon, and everyone would ask why were so stupid and reckless.
And we'd answer, that's what love does to you.
"You could be mine forever, you know." Harry added. I didn't know where he was going, so I stayed silent. "We could run away from everyone. We could go live on an island and just never come back. I think we'd make it."
"I think we'd die within a week."
"We'd be together forever still, wouldn't we?"
"You're smart, Styles." I laughed as a raindrop splashed in my eye. I rubbed it, completely forgetting about the makeup that I was wearing, that was smearing all over my face. I looked like a mess, and didn't need a mirror to prove it.
"Would you run away with me?" Harry asked.
"That's crazy." I shook my head.
"But if I asked you, and I was totally sure about it, would you trust me?" Harry asked. "Theoretically speaking. We're not really running away anywhere."
I bit my lip, unsure if he was delusional or just plain crazy. There was no way that we'd ever make it anywhere if we ran away.
"Sure, why not." I said instead.
"And you'd trust me with anything, right? Even really difficult things, like if I was really crazy and actually did want to run away with you?" Harry asked. I was beginning to feel nervous as to where he was going with this, because I could feel his heart drumming in his chest.
"Yes."
All at once, Harry sat up and shook his hair like a dog. My pulse was rushing at inhuman speeds as Harry gripped both of my hands and took the time to kiss them both. Maybe this was nothing? Maybe he just had too much to drink earlier?
And then he was reaching in his pocket, and I knew what was coming. In a moment, I was standing, and he was on one knee before me.
I cried and cried and cried. A little bit because he was going to propose to me at a funeral home in the pouring rain, but mostly because I was simply overjoyed; there was nothing that I wanted more in my life.
"Darcy Mae Monroe, will you marry me?" Harry asked. And with one word that I said next, my whole life was changed.
"Yes."
I was going to have a life with Harry Styles. We were going to get married, we were going to have children, we were going to have grandchildren. We'd live in a little house and be a happy family. And finally, after what seemed like forever, something would go right.
Harry leaned in and kissed me, gripping onto my hair as my hands latched in his. Our lips moved in sync with eachother. I had always wanted my perfect kiss in the rain, and now I had gotten it. It wasn't the most romantic of places, Dawson Funeral Home wasn't the most elegant or joyful, but it was okay with me. We could have been anywhere in the world and it would still be okay with me.
"I love you." Harry murmured.
"I love you more."
"I love you most."
And then, what started off as the worst day of my life, quickly become my best.
I know, it's a short chapter! BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE LEFT. AND THEN AN EPILOGUE, BUT STILL. WE ARE NEARING THE END, MY FRIENDS. I really don't like this chapter, it was poorly written, but after Darcy I'm starting fresh with teen fiction. Did you like it?
Please vote, fan, and COMMENT IF YOU WANT A DEDICATION.
~Delilah