The funeral is the day after Caleb’s mother died. He and his father collectively agreed to have it done quickly so she wouldn’t have to stay another day on this earth. Something about her soul having already left this place.
If it were up to me, I’d want people to burn my corpse on a pyre and have a dance with some drinks. Make it a big-ass party. All the doom and gloom really isn’t for me.
I languish in this black suit.
But today isn’t about me, so I won’t pity myself.
After all, it’s Caleb and his father who are experiencing the biggest hurt.
They throw flowers on top of the casket as it’s hoisted down into the hole they dug. Everyone around us is weeping and holding hands.
Crystal’s mom grabs Caleb’s dad’s hand, but he jerks away and turns to his son, and she steps away, out of sight.
I sigh and grab Crystal’s hand instead, squeezing it so she’ll know I’m here while Ares holds the other. If Caleb needs us, we’re here for him, but until then, we’ll stand on the sidelines, waiting.
Crystal
Ares, Blaine, and I sit at a table, eating badly made sandwiches that taste like cardboard. I’m not that hungry, but eating food helps digest grief, they say.
I place my sandwich down and sigh.
“C’mon, eat,” my mom says as she sits down and places a plate of veggies in front of me. “If you won’t have the sandwiches, at least eat some cucumbers or something.”
She hands some sticks to me, and I hesitantly take a bite.
“What about you?” I ask.
She reluctantly takes a bite out of her own cardboard sandwich. “Yummy.”
“Don’t lie.” I snort.
“Shhh,” she hisses. “No need to offend the hosts.”
“Funeral food never tastes good,” Blaine says while Ares rolls his eyes.
“So you two are her friends?”
Blaine nearly chokes on his sandwich, and he swallows down a whole chunk. “Friends?”
I throw him a look.
“Oh … wait…”
“What?” my mother mutters.
“Nothing,” I swiftly say. “Yes, they’re my … friends.”
Ares glares at me, his arms folded.
“They seem nice,” she says, swallowing a big bite.
“Very,” Blaine muses.
I shove Ares with my elbow, whispering, “Say something.”
“I don’t do small talk,” Ares grumbles.
He scoots his chair back and walks off, leaving me in a really awkward position.
Goddammit.
“Well, he sure seems like a fun one,” Mom says.
“Definitely the fun one,” Blaine says, chuckling to his own joke.
In the corner of the room, Caleb and his father are accepting hugs and handshakes for their loss, but the more hands he shakes the more he seems to be disassociating.
“He’s not doing too well, is he?” I mutter.
Blaine shakes his head.
I get up and walk up to him from behind, squeezing his hand to signal that I’m there.
“How are you holding up?” I whisper.
He briefly pulls away from the crowd of people to hug me tightly. “Barely surviving.” He snorts. “But I’ll make it.”
“If you need anything, let me know, okay?”
He leans away to look at me. “For a girl who used to hate my guts, you sure are nice to me,” he says, smirking at me.
His father throws a single glance at my mother before turning the other direction.
“Has my mother talked with your dad at all?” I ask.
Caleb shakes his head. “I don’t know what happened between those two, but they’ve been cold to each other.”
His father clears his throat. “I can hear you.”
I blush. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he says and he turns to his son. “I’ve actually been meaning to tell you this before, but I didn’t know how. And now that your mother is gone, it feels like such a bad time, but …”
“What is it, Dad?” Caleb asks.
“Abigail and I actually broke up.”
I’m too stunned to even say a word.
Caleb frowns. “Wait, for real?”
His dad nods. “A few days ago. I realized I may have jumped into an engagement too quickly to pretend everything was fine. I just wanted to heal this broken heart.” He throws in a weak smile. “And now that your mother is gone, it truly doesn’t feel right to go back to that. I want to take the proper time to grieve.”
“But you loved her, right?” Caleb asks.
“I did … but we weren’t as compatible as I thought we were,” he says, rubbing his lips together. “I didn’t want to string her along.” He looks at me. “I’m sorry, was I the first one to tell you this? I apologize, I assumed she’d already spoken to you about it.”
Maybe she didn’t want to tell me because it hurt too bad. Shit.
“I think I’m gonna go talk to my mom. Will you be okay?” I ask Caleb.
He smiles at me. “I’m fine, go talk to her. I’ll see you later.”
I walk back to my mom who’s stirring her coffee a bit too long. I sit down beside her and grab her hand. “Hey. Caleb’s dad told me what happened between you and Jonathan.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh. Shit. I’m … I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I feel so bad, this isn’t how I had it planned.”
“I know, Mom,” I say, squeezing her hand. “I’m not mad at you or anything. I just wanted you to know I’m here for you.”
She tips her head, smiles at me, and caresses my cheek. “You’re always so sweet. What did I ever do to deserve you?”
We hug tightly, her embrace making me feel loved. Death reminds me of what I still have left in this world, and how hard I’ll fight to keep it. And I’m sure the Tartarus boys … my boys … would do the same.
Caleb
When all the guests have finally left, I breathe a sigh of relief. My mother’s picture behind me makes me feel conscious of each thrumming of my heart.
But when Ares’s phone rings, I glare up at him. He’d never pick up a phone at a funeral, unless it was important. His face turns darker and darker with each passing second, and he walks outside.
I follow him.
He’s been my rock through all this, and even though I’m supposed to be mourning, I still want to know what’s happening to him. He won’t ever admit that he has any weaknesses, but I know better.
He’s outside, loitering around the building, and I step out to approach.
“I’m at a funeral,” Ares grits. “What do you want me to do? What, now?” He kicks some rocks. “Do you have any ide—Fine.”
He ends the call, but I can hear his phone crack in his hands.
Another screen damaged from pure rage.
“Who was that?” I ask.
His muscles suddenly soften, and when he turns around, all the anger seems to have dissipated. “No one important. Don’t worry about it.” He walks to me and places his hand on my shoulder. “Are you feeling okay?” I nod and he leans in to kiss me, reminding me of all the good in the world. He leans his forehead against mine and stares me down. “If you feel angry, any bad feelings at all, you call me. Immediately.”
“Yes, Sir,” I reply.
A smile forms on his lips. “Good boy. I have to go now.”
“Where?” I ask.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replies. “Just focus on your family for now, okay?”
I swallow down the feeling of impending doom as he walks away.
“And don’t get any weird ideas, Blaine will be watching you,” he says, winking at me, before marching out the front gate.
None of it feels right.
He took that call, despite knowing how important this thing was for me, which means it was something really fucking bad.
Fuck.
I kick the same rock he was kicking and head back inside where Blaine’s already waiting for me.
“Don’t go hiding on me now,” Blaine says.
I narrow my eyes. “Stop fucking babysitting me.”
“Nope,” Blaine replies. “You know why.”
“Jesus Christ.” I roll my eyes and sit down on a chair. “Does no one here trust me?”
Crystal chuckles as she sits down too. “I do.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not exactly the one to stop me from jumping off that cliff, so—”
“Were you going to?” she asks.
“No. Hypothetically.”
“Exactly. So hypothetically, I’m just making sure you’re still alive,” Blaine says before he rubs my hair and turns it all into garbage.
“Goddammit, get your hands off me,” I growl at him.
Crystal laughs at us, and her smile makes my heart throb, if even just for a moment of bliss in all of the misery from these past few days.
Ares
I blow out my final smoke and chuck the cig on the ground before I exit the gates.
Several cars are already out front, waiting for me. What a welcome party.
A door opens, and out steps not one but two guards with automatic guns, not pointed at me but clearly a threat.
“That won’t be necessary,” I say.
“Get in the car,” one of them growls.
I don’t need to ask where we’re going.
I already know.
I take a deep breath and walk toward them, getting in without a complaint. If I fought them off now, it wouldn’t end well for me anyway since I didn’t bring my guns or my knives to a fucking funeral.
Maybe I should have.
They truly waited for the most opportune moment to bring me in so I’d come quietly.
But when the doors close, there is only noise in my head.
Crystal
“Where’s Caleb?” I ask my mom, hoping she’s seen him.
I was just talking with someone and then all the boys suddenly vanished from my sight.
Mom points me into a corner where Blaine is sitting with him, and I immediately get off my seat and approach them.
“Hey,” I say as I sit in front of Caleb and grab his hand. “How are you holding up?”
He shrugs. “Fine.”
I pull him in for a tight hug.
“Seems you’re already getting used to his lies,” Blaine says.
“Shut up,” Caleb growls.
But instead of throwing out another rebuke, Blaine moves in for a hug from above, wrapping his arms around his neck. “We know you love us.”
“Love is a strong word,” Caleb mutters, but he still accepts it.
“Lucky for you I have plenty of time to force you to love me back,” Blaine says, nearly choking him out.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Caleb says, pushing his arms away. “I won’t die from sorrow, but I will from your determination to suffocate me.” He rolls his eyes. “Ares sure left me in competent hands.”
“I’m just doing exactly what he told me,” Blaine says. “Being an annoying pest to keep you safe is my favorite thing in the world.”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘Ares left you’?” I ask, frowning. “Where did he go?”
Caleb shrugs. “He got some phone call that he didn’t want to tell me anything about. I don’t know.”
My blood suddenly feels icy cold, and I shiver in place.
Caleb continues, “He just seemed antsy. Hasty. Out of it.”
“Oh God,” I mutter, my eyes widening.
“What?” Blaine looks up at me.
“Caleb, open your phone. Do you have any way of tracking his location?”
“Yeah, why?” he responds, fishing it out of his pocket.
“That phone call … It was his father.”
Blaine frowns. “But why toda—” I can see it click in his eyes. “He’s going to punish him for all the murders at the Bonesmen auction.”
