Daylight - Taylor Swift

Chapter 98

March 25th, 2021 / March 26th, 2022 / That week I guess?

The funeral was small. They'd picked out a coffin the day after he died and planned to have him buried in the closest cemetery. He'd bought a plot and set his will years before because he didn't want to Jo and Charlie to have to deal with everything if he passed away while deployed or otherwise.

He'd updated it since marrying Melissa and having Elliot. Jo had never deeply thought about where he would be buried, but she had always pictured him next to her mother. Even when he'd remarried, she hadn't thought twice about it.

Although she did come to realize over the week that he and Melissa had chosen each other, while Elizabeth and Bill were simply together for the sake of their children and Beth's strictly religious parents. She let go of that idea of them next to each other forever soon after, instead trying to focus on honouring his memory.

The coffin had just been lowered. The obituary had gone out two days after his death and many of her father's friends she didn't even know existed had sent their regards, his phone buzzing off the hook. She didn't know if she could bare to disconnect the number. They couldn't have an open funeral, not with the pandemic.

What Jo hadn't considered was that when the newspaper announced where he would be buried, fans started to wait for them to be there. It was creepy, totally not okay, and it infuriated her.

They'd stayed back for most of the quiet ceremony, intimidated by the security guards dressed in black that were staring them down.

"Ignore them," Taylor reminded the brunette when she noticed Jo turning her head again to check if they were still there.

"I can't," Jo whispered, "They're ruining this."

"If you give them the attention, it'll only get worse," Taylor sighed, squeezing Jo's hand tightly and keeping it tight for a few seconds longer than usual. Jo's grip tightened too, like she needed the support as they started to put the dirt back over the casket.

They planned on going back to the house afterwards, security escorted them to the cars and Jo made sure they all got in okay before she went to her and Taylor's. She'd driven them in her father's truck. It still needed a few small details, but she couldn't believe he'd essentially fully restored it.

She was silent on the drive back, trying not to yell about the people who had shown up. They'd worn T-shirts with her face on them, Taylor's too, and some had signs. It was disgusting, she literally felt sick about it.

The truck went into park back in the garage and she got out to shut the big garage door as Taylor opened the door of the vehicle and listened to it rattle shut when she closed it after stepping out. Her heels made little noise on the concrete, her mascara running slightly.

Elliot ran in wearing his small suit, shoes still on. Jo picked him up and removed them as she walked, asking him if he was hungry like everything had to go back to normal now.

Charlie brought Taylor over a glass of wine and stared at her sister from across the room, sipping her own before saying, "I never realized how she bottles things up until this week."

"She bottles it up and then breaks. I think it'll be a couple days before it happens," Taylor said worriedly, but she smiled softly when she saw Jo carefully undo the toddler's tie when he pulled on it with frustration, making faces to distract him so he wouldn't choke himself out in the process.

"I have a lot of guilt about her having to do that for me when my mom died," Charlie looked down as she spoke, "I just hope she's not doing it again."

"As much as I hate to say it, she is. You notice how she disconnects from everything when she's not pretending to smile or making sure someone is eating? She's hurting, there's not too much we can do though, except wait and be there when she goes down."