January 16, 2018
Silence fell upon Dale and Althea as they walked to the other side of the cemetery, hand in hand. The distant noise of the traffic and soft crunch of their shoes atop of the snow distracted him as he thought of what he was gonna say.
He knew introductions wouldn't be enough. He wanted to tell her everything about Leslie. That his sister was always so loud, never having trouble on making herself heard. That she used to paint and write poems, but never finished them.
But most importantly, he wanted to tell her what happened. He never uttered a single word to anyone of that night - not to his mom, not to his psychiatrist, not even to Scott. He knew he had to. If there was anyone else in the world deserving to hear this, it's Althea.
He wouldn't be here anyway, if it wasn't for her.
They stopped near a wilting tree. Althea peered at him for confirmation, but when he made no move she crouched down to wipe the melting snow and read the name etched on the niche.
"Leslie Underwood," she whispered, and on much quieter voice, she said something that shocked Dale. "I knew her."
"Wh... what?"
"We weren't close or anything, but we knew each other's names. I really wanted to be friends with her, she was so carefree and sassy. She used to say hi to me in the hallways, but she's Leslie, she always says hi at everyone." She stood up and reached for his hand. "I didn't know she was your sister."
Dale didn't know what to say. Every single word he was practicing in his mind earlier dried up in his throat as it slowly closed, making it harder for him to breathe. He crouched down and closed his eyes, trying to process the new information that was given to him.
He knew they went to the same school and twice entertained the idea of meeting Althea through his sister, instead of meeting her at the train station. Not that it mattered anymore though, their lives were intertwined now and for that alone, he was grateful.
Althea joined him, balancing herself on her tiptoes. "Hey, are you okay? Are you crying? That's alright, let it all out."
Dale took a few deep breaths and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm... I-I'm not c-cr-crying. I j-just..."
He sighed frustratedly and whipped out his phone to type. He was already getting used to speaking around her but this time, the situation was already difficult for him so he needed a little help to talk.
We could've met sooner, he typed then showed it to her.
"Yeah, we could have," she agreed, "but maybe it wasn't the right time yet for us to meet. It sucks though that Leslie's not here. It would probably be so awesome being close to the both of you, like I'm dating you and I'm friends with her and..." she trailed off when she noticed Dale's head hung low, his hand covering his face, his shoulders shaking a bit. "Sorry, I got carried away. Yikes, that was awkward. That was kind of inappropriate, I know, but I didn't mean that like I was trying to collect you both because you're clearly not an object or a Pokemon but I-"
Dale couldn't take it anymore. He bursted into laughter, the sound echoing in the cemetery. "P-Pokemon... oh god." He threw his head back as he continued to laugh and lost balance.
"You were laughing all along? Oh dear, that's more embarrassing." She shook her head in disbelief, settling herself in a more comfortable position beside him.
Putting away his phone, Dale took Althea's hand in his while slipping his other arm around her waist. Then he pulled her to him, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
They sat there in the cemetery for a long time without talking.
My confession can wait, Dale thought.