Everything I've Wanted (ellie the whale x fem oc)

Chapter 16- Will and Testament

Eve knew that the next two days were going to be hell for her. It had been a full week since Charlie's death; seven days since she had lost her best friend, brother, and father all at once. Her life felt drastically different in such a short amount of time. For five days, she spent all her time in her room, allowing only her sister or Ellie to enter.

When Heather would go into her room things were bland and they just spent time grieving and crying together. But when Ellie was there things seemed to be a little better. Sure, she still cried but with Ellie the red head would try to find things to help get her mind off of the depressing feeling that lingered. The two's favorite thing to do together was find card games, learn them, and then play for hours as they laughed and playfully bickered. Eve never had interest in card games before Charlie's death but she found it to be a coping mechanism as it got her thinking about something that wasn't the terrible week she just had. Plus, Eve discovered an extremely competitive side of Ellie which added to the joy when she won.

Then she received the devastating news that she would have to return to school, and it felt like her world was crumbling once more. She wasn't prepared to go back; she needed more time. However, did she share this with anyone? No. This is Evelyn Keaton we're talking about, and why would she confide in others about her problems when she could bottle them up and pretend they didn't exist?

So, Eve went to school without complaint. Eve was already a quiet student, only talking during group or partner projects or when she raised her hand to answer a question. But now, she doesn't even have the energy to do that. Eve went to school everyday looking deathly pale and with sunken in eyes, talking to no one and accidentally causing a rumor that she got sent to a mental hospital during their time away from school.

Eve anxiously played with the rings on her fingers as she sat on her couch in Charlie's apartment. The three other people who Charlie considered family sitting on the couch next to her. Liz stood in front of them all with a paper in hand and a miserable look on her face. The look seemed to have been permanently planted there since Charlie's death. The woman seemed to be the only person to know why they were all gathered back in his apartment.

It was the first time any of them had been inside it since that fateful day and the atmosphere seemed so different. There was quite clearly something missing and they all know who it is. No matter how much they tried to ignore the man that was no longer present with them it just seemed impossible. The radiantly bright aura that once lingered everywhere the man went died with him, leaving behind a gray tone for all who knew him.

Eve was the first one to break the silence, "Why are we here?" The truth was Eve wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. She loves all of the memories she has here, good and bad, but it only made her feel worse as she remembered who was there in all of them.

Liz sighed, looked at the paper in her hand, and read aloud, 'The Last Will and Testament of Charlie Sarsfield.' The three other people in the room all felt their stomachs churn, knowing that any hope of this all being a nightmare they would soon wake up from was instantly crushed. This was it, they would receive their last gifts from Charlie and then deep clean his apartment of all of his valuables. The apartment that carried all of his memories would fade as the furniture was moved and the next person moved in.

"I, Charlie Sarsfeild, resident in the city of Moscow, county of Fayette, state of Idaho, being of sound mind, not acting under duress or undue influence, and fully understanding the nature and extent of all my property and of this disposition thereof, do hereby make, publish, and declare this document to be my Last Will and Testament..." Liz let her arms fall limp by her sides as tears flooded her eyes. She hated this. She hated how Charlie chose her as the executor of his will. But she needed to do this, for him, for the kids, and for herself. Liz needed to push through so they could know what they had received from Charlie as his parting gift.