Will & Indie

18.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying."

- To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Indie could hardly focus on her schoolwork. The things she tried to distract herself with only reminded her of the one she missed so deeply. She couldn't lean into her sorrows with the Carpenters—she'd introduced their music to Will the night they went out to stargaze. She couldn't even begin to think about doing anything creative or else Will's face would briefly flash in her mind. Without Will, everything seemed darker, colder, sadder; Indie no longer had a strong shoulder to crash into, a fellow creative soul to share her ideas with, or someone to return the favor of making cinnamon buns for.

She couldn't get the picture of Will's heartbroken face out of her head after she'd told him her tale of woe, and that fact haunted her every time she awoke in the middle of the night.

A week had gone by as quickly as the wind beneath the wings of a bird while simultaneously feeling like slow motion. October had gotten rainier, windier, and sadder, somehow, than it had been in previous years. Indie didn't realize that was even possible.

Indie's heartbreak and guilt, however, managed to distract her enough to make her forget what the upcoming day had in store.

Indie rubbed her eyes after waking up from another dreamless sleep. She paid no mind to the date on the calendar; all the days had bled together anyhow. She grabbed a random outfit from her closet, not bothering to wear anything vibrant or exciting. She pulled a pair of jeans over her legs, grabbed an olive green crew neck, and pulled her unwashed hair back into a loose braid. She faced her reflection in the mirror with a sigh as she crept down the hallway into the kitchen.

The first thing she saw was a bouquet of daisies in a vase on the kitchen table.

Daisies: dad's favorite.

When Mae felt Indie's presence, she turned around and gave her a halfhearted smile. Neither of them spoke, at first; neither of them really knew what to say. They greeted one another with a tight embrace instead.

Mae had a few long conversations with Indie about everything that had happened between her and Will.

"The timing couldn't have been worse," she'd told Indie, but Indie already knew that fact full well. She couldn't bring herself to tell her mom that she'd lied to Will, or that he'd lied to her, or that they probably had a lot of other issues bubbling under the surface of the lack of communication that neither of them truly knew how to deal with. She knew that she could tell her mom anything, but that wound in particular felt better when it was covered beneath a bandaid, just so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore.

Indie glanced at the daisies again, trying to get in the correct headspace for the day ahead. She tried to look at the day as a time to bond with her mom rather than mourning her dad. Mae had managed to take off work, which was a feat worth celebrating all on its own. These thoughts held back the tears, at least for the time being.

"I kinda forgot what day it was..." Indie breathed, grabbing her brown coat and matching boots. "With... everything."

Mae looked at her daughter, a sympathetic smile spreading on her lips. "Listen, girlie. Today can be a two-in-one deal, alright?" She suggested as she grabbed the car keys. "We mourn your father, and we help heal the Will wound, as much as we can." She nodded definitively. "And you can cry as much as you want."