Isabella

Chapter 31

A/N - shorter one but idc - THANK YOU FOR 4k😍

TW - this chapter contains scenes some may find upsetting
~~~

The first and last time I attended a funeral, my mother's body was in the coffin.

I remember every second of that day, the way the atmosphere just felt empty, the way everybody just stared with sympathy, the way it felt like the walls were closing in, the way the mound of dirt grew higher as her body was committed to the ground.

I swore I'd never attend another funeral again.

But after seeing how much support my grieving brother needed on what would be one of the worst days of his life, I knew I needed to be there for him. Staring at myself in my mirror and stroking out any sign of a crease on my black dress I let out a sigh, here we were again.

I had a black suit jacket to go over the dress and I'd kept my hair straight as usual; I didn't really understand going overboard for funerals. A knock at my door made me jump, I called out a quick 'come in' and turned back to my reflection, seeing Caleb out of the corner of my eye.

"How you feeling princesa?", he stood behind me, my head literally level with his chest, "the last funeral you attended was hers right?". Hers.

"I'm okay", I nodded, "we need to focus on Xav today, not me". He adjusted his tie and placed both hands on my shoulders, spinning me around to face him.

"Sure Xav is the priority today, but that doesn't mean we're gonna ignore you", he told me, "Xav's the one that suggested you bring Ezra along to make you feel a little better".

"He did that?", I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked, "how's he even thinking about me right now?".

"Because you're you", he chuckled, "and he's Xav". Yeah, he was right about that.

"So you invited Ezra?", I backtracked and he nodded.

"He's downstairs", he replied and my eyes widened, "don't worry, we've agreed to save the big brother lecture for another day". I cracked a smile and wrapped my arms around his waist, he soon returned the hug and kissed the top of my head.

"Thank you", I whispered and he chuckled.

"You're stronger than you realise Isabella", he told me, pulling apart and checking his all black suit one more time, "go on then, don't keep the guy waiting". I think Ezra was starting to grow on them...

~

The car ride was nothing short of agonising; Zane and Scott were in the driver's and passenger's seats, Cay and the twins were in the back and then Ezra and I were in the back back.

In dead silence.

Aside from the odd sniff that came from Xav or the whispered reassurance that came from Xander, it was completely silent. When we pulled up at the church, nobody made a move to leave the car just yet; until Zane cleared his throat.

"If anyone needs to step out at any time-".

"We let you know", everyone excluding Ezra and I mumbled and I smirked a little.

"Precisely", he nodded, "okay, come on". One by one we all clambered out, I held onto Ezra's hand as we entered the building and looked around for seats; I spotted Jake and Parker amongst the rest of the hockey team at the front, I tapped Xav's shoulder and cocked my head towards them.

"You should sit with the team man", Xander advised, "I'll come with you yeah?". Xav nodded and began to lead the way after sending us a weak smile; this was fucking killing him.