night shift // l.s.

seventy four

this chapter is based upon evan's funeral so if you don't want to read it you dont have to. it's mainly a filler but tw for death, grief, talk of suicide.

—-

grief is a weird thing.

you have these 7 stages — shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and acceptance — and sometimes they don't happen in order, which is even weirder. trisha is residing with denial over the fact her husband jeopardized their children, zayn is in a fit of shock and harry's blood is still boiling. niall and louis are unsure how to feel, both of them are still infuriated yet confused at the same time.

the chapel is a decent size, perfect enough for the general population of a funeral crowd. there's flowers everywhere you look, placards with information on evan malik and tissues at the end of every pew. everyone is dressed either in all black or formal-casual attire.

the casket is closed. the boss had shot himself in the head. the undertakers tried their best to make the man look as good as they could but the amount of trauma impacted to his face wasn't enough, so trisha just had them do what they could and keep the service closed casket. out of respect, they did as they were told.

louis bounced a babbling raven in his lap as they sat in a small common room that had food and drinks for the guests while harry sat beside them, stirring a straw around in his coffee. he hadn't spoken much that morning, only bid both his loves a goodmorning and gave them kisses before taking a long shower and getting dressed. funerals weren't his thing but he was there for zayn and trish. they were his family after all.

raven wiggles in her dad's lap and reaches for her other father, who takes her with a soft smile on his face after tying his hair into a low bun so she wouldn't rip it out. harry peppered kisses on her cheeks before placing her on his thigh, holding one hand out so she could play with his rings.

"i'm gonna go to the loo," louis said quietly before excusing himself.

harry tilts his head back and puckered his lips, nestling back in his seat when louis gave him the kiss he was asking for. harry turned his attention back to his daughter and took a note of what time it was and carried her to the food table, grabbing some pieces of fruit for her to snack on before the ceremony began. it was nearing noon, the funeral was at one. they were having a visitation for those who couldn't stay for the reception itself.

louis weaved through the crowd of gang members and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in when he spotted zayn and niall walking through the front double doors. zayn's eyes were red rimmed and he smelled like weed, as always. niall stood there with sad eyes as he spotted everyone dressed in black.

louis crashed into zayn's chest and squeezed him tight. "fuck, zayn. i'm so sorry. i dunno what i can do or say to help you but-"

"i'm okay," zayn returns his embrace and rests his cheek on top of louis' hair. "thank you, bubs. i still have mixed feelings about it all."

the younger boy nods and sighs before pulling back. "your girl is in the common room with harry if you wanna go see her."

zayn nods and thanks him before the trio were being greeted by guests that were saying their condolences and giving them all handshakes. louis finally found a restroom and went in, took a few deep breaths and just stared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment before he left. he spotted trisha in the service hall on his way back, standing beside the casket with the funeral director. she looked like she had been crying.

he took soft steps into the hall and gave the woman a hug. "love you, trish," he murmured.

"oh, lou," trish sniffled and kissed his cheek. "i love you, baby. is zayn here yet?"