Falling for The Freak (Eddie Munson)

The Funeral

The next week flew by with dragging feet. It was as if time wanted to speed up and slow down all at once. Time only moved fast when I was caught up in my head or deciding things for the funeral. I was beyond stressed out and what made it worse was having my parents back in town, which caused the time to slow down. It was as if the world was trying to punish me for some reason.

Throughout the week, Nancy and Robin would try to help distract me at lunch while Eddie always kept a close eye on me. I was trying to get back to normal, wanting no one to worry about me, but it was a struggle. The only thing that really kept me going was the fact that Juliet was getting better already and that the kids would always come over to help cheer us up and make us food, well that was until my parents showed up and I told them to just wait until the kids to wait until they had left. 

It was the day of the funeral and I was dreading it all - the final goodbye. I was holding back so much getting ready in the morning, but I couldn't stop the small tears that slithered down my face. I had to wipe them away quickly so that I could apply some make up to my tired face. I kept my hair down with a clip holding one side out of my face. I then slipped into my black dress before grabbing my black flats. 

The heavy feeling stayed in my chest as I drove off to the funeral with Juliet. I was going to have her show up with my parents, but she kept insisting that she would rather help me get everything started since my parents weren't involving themselves in any of it. They were "too depressed" to do it, so instead they made their eighteen year old daughter, who raised their kids, take care of it all. As if they could be more heartbroken than Juliet and I. 

As soon as I parked, I turned my car off, but didn't go anywhere. I just stared ahead blankly at the tree line that sat in front of us. My head was empty and I felt numb.

"(Y/N)? Are you okay?" I turned my head towards Juliet. She was looking at me in a worried way, hurting my heart at the thought that I was making her worry about me at a time like this. I should be the strong one. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go in." I smiled at her. Juliet gave me one last look before nodding and getting out of the car. I followed behind her and we walked into the building together. 

Walking into the funeral home, I felt like choking on the stale air. It didn't feel this claustrophobic when I was here the other day, but I'm guessing it was the fact that today was the funeral instead of a simple consultation. 

"Hello, Ms. (Y/L/N)." The funeral director shook my hand before facing over to Juliet. "Ms. (Y/L/N)." He shook her hand as well before turning back to me. "Let me show you what we have so far."

My brain shut off, never paying attention to what the director had to say as he showed me the decorations. Red roses sat in vases around the room, specifically standing out next to the casket. I bit my lip to hold back more tears as I thought about Brandon and thought about how the roles should be switched around. I shouldn't be at my brothers funeral. I should be out there having fun with him and watching his basketball games. I couldn't even show up to the first game of the season knowing he wouldn't be able to be there. People did tell me how Jason took it in his power to have a moment of silence for Brandon out of respect, but it honestly pissed me off. Jason was the reason my brother was dead. 

"So, how do you like everything?" The director pulled me out of my running thoughts. 

"It all looks beautiful, thank you so much." I told him. He nodded and told me how he would be in the front greeting those who showed up then left to the front, leaving Juliet and I in the funeral parlor alone. 

"It really does look amazing. You did really good." Juliet told me. She hugged me and I thanked her for the compliment. 

People started flowing in, shocking me at the number of individuals who showed up. Some I didn't recognize while others I knew from school. I was becoming very overwhelmed until I saw Nancy, Robin and Steve. They walked up to me and Steve took me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and we stayed there for a second as he apologized for what happened to Brandon into my ear. I kissed his cheek as a thank you before pulling away and hugging Nancy and Robin.