Under the Same Sky [BOYXBOY]

Chapter 93

It was a cruelly beautiful day to hold Samuel's funeral. The spring rains had given way to the clear summer skies and the sun seemed to hang lazily in the sky, casting a nice warm feeling over everything it touched.

Birds chirped in perfect harmony, the gentle breeze carrying their song along with the scent of blooming flowers and freshly cut grass through the open stained-glass windows of the church as the priest's voice droned on and on.

Jayden sat motionless in the pew. His hands, pale and still, rested on his lap, his fingers interlaced in a way that seemed both deliberate and absent. The silence of his heart was louder than the world around him.

'And Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."'

The words washed over him, empty and hollow, like a distant echo barely reaching the edge of his consciousness. The pews around him were hushed, the only sound coming from the faint rustling of tissues and the occasional soft sob that broke through the haze.

His mother sat next to him, her fingers flitting restlessly on her lap as if she wanted to reach over and grab his. She never did. He could feel her sorrow and worry rolling off her in waves, but they barely registered on the fringes of his awareness. The space between him and everyone else was too palpable.

'Let us now stand and recite the Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...'

He remained seated as everyone rose to their feet. Eyes fixed on the coffin ahead, he was like a statue, unmoving, unblinking, as if the slightest movement might shatter the thin threads of control keeping him together.

His heart, which had felt so full in what seemed like centuries ago, now felt like a hollow echo in his chest. A lifetime of moments-laughter, arguments, quiet evenings on the couch, a treasure trove of memories-the first time they met, the first time his heart fluttered when he smiled, their first kiss, dancing at their wedding-all flashed behind his eyes, sharp, jagged, painful, each cutting deeper than the last. But still he sat.

Motionless. Unmoving. Unblinking.

The tears had long since stopped, dried up from the days of grief and heartache that had led to this moment. Now there was only emptiness. A kind of numbness that held him in place.

The world continued to move around him as the mourners resumed their seats and the choir began to hum a familiar tune of a hymn he had long forgotten.

Someone gently touched his shoulder, but he didn't respond. His mother's voice was gentle as she whispered, 'It's time.'

Time.

A meaningless word that stretched on endlessly before him. He had time. Too much of it. What use was having time if he couldn't spend it with the one who mattered the most in the world.

The weight of his grief suddenly crashed over him, pinning him to his seat. He felt gentle hands guiding him up and they fell into step with the flow of mourners making their way out the building.

The air was warm, but not yet heavy with the intensity of midsummer. It really was the perfect day-one of those rare moments when spring and summer seemed to blend.

The grass, still lush and vibrant from the spring rains, shimmered under the gentle caress of the sun as they moved along the cobblestoned path that stretched between the church and the graveyard just beyond.

Jayden could feel the weight of many eyes on him. Some worried, some pitying, but most were simply just curious. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to care.