The Things You Give

Part 37

"Bud is dead?" Hyde asked quietly as Y/n stood there in frozen shock. "W-what happened?"

"He...uh...," Edna swallowed thickly, forcing down her emotions. "He got drunk after trying to become sober and stumbled onto a train track."

"Oh, no," Y/n whispered, ice filling her veins.

"He didn't see the oncoming train," Edna finished, her voice cracking.

All Steven could do was stand there in shock.

"I'm so sorry," Y/n said, her voice an octave higher than a whisper.

"Okay, uh," Steven said, clearing his throat. "What do you want from me, then?"

"I need your help planning the funeral," she replied. "They found the rest of him yesterday and took him to the morgue."

"What do you mean they 'found the rest of him?'" Y/n asked, but before Hyde or Edna could respond, she cut them off. "You know what, I don't want to know."

"You want me to plan a funeral?" Steven asked his mother. "While I'm in the middle of packing?"

"Packing? Where are you moving to?" Edna asked, her gaze sharpening.

"We're moving to New York."

"You're moving to New York?! And you were just going to leave me to plan this all by myself?"

"Uh...yeah," he responded cooly. "And to be fair, I didn't know Bud had died up until a few seconds ago, so yeah."

"How could you be so heartless?!"

He furrowed his brows at her. "Excuse me?"

"I'm over here, crying my heart out to you and needing your help and you can't even spare a minute of your time?"

"Well, that whole minute I just gave you has expired. Have a good night and good luck."

Before he could close the door on her, she wedged her foot in, preventing it from closing.

"I don't know the closest thing to planning a funeral!" she begged. "Please! He was your dad, after all."

"No, he wasn't," Steven snapped. "He was an alcoholic who ditched me. Multiple times. He was never my dad."

"Please, Steven..."

A beat passed before he sighed and opened the door fully to her. "What do you need me to do?"

"Wait," Y/n cut in. "You're going to plan a funeral while moving AND running a store? That's not going to work."

"I'll make it work," he responded. "Besides, it's not like it'll take long."

"It better not because we leave in a few days."

"You hush your mouth, missy," Edna demanded, making Y/n arch an eyebrow at her. "This is family business and you need to stay out of it."

"You don't talk to her like that!" Hyde growled at his mother. "She is family and she will always come first. You want my help with this thing? Respect her. Don't, and I will walk away faster than you did when you ditched me."

A snort made its way up Y/n's throat. When Edna stared daggers at her, she started coughing.

"Fine," she grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Good," Steven replied and straightened up. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, you see, funerals are so expensive—"

"Wait, what?" he cut her off. "You need money?"

"Well, honestly, Steven, did you think your dad had any money saved away for this kind of thing?"