Winter break /c.h\

Chapter 20

A week after she died, was the funeral, but leading up to that was worse. I skipped all of my classes and stayed in most of the days. Calum went and did his everyday things and then would come sit with me. Trevor was kicked out of the band, so now Cal was in and busier than ever.
One day, I finally got a text from Kai, who hadn't heard from me since the party. Though no one had really heard from me since then.
Hey bbg. Wanna hang? -Kai
I'm still in bed -Grace
Grace come on. We'll have a good day. Let's go do something fun. -Kai
Fine -Grace
Way to be excited!!! -Kai
I sense your sarcasm and it's not acceptable -Kai
Sorry -Grace
On my way -Kai
Okay -Grace
Even after that, I didn't get out of bed.
When she got there, I slid further into the covers and pulled them over my head.
"Grace?" She came into the room "Gracie. Come on" I felt the bed sink from where she sat down next to me "I'm not going to let you lay in bed for another day. Let's get your mind off of this. Okay?" I didn't respond, so she yanked the blanket off of my body and tossed it aside "Listen, you little shit. You're going to get out of this damn bed and you're going to take a shower. And you're going to get dressed. Then we're gonna go out and we're going to have a good time. Got it?" Her tough love inspired me to move and she took that as my answer "Good. I'll be on the couch when you're done" before I left the room, I pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you" I whispered and pulled her tight against me.
"You're welcome. I'm sorry about Sam"
"It's okay. I'm glad it's wasn't you"
"I'm glad it wasn't you" As shitty as it sounded saying that, losing Kai would be harder than losing Sam. Not that it wasn't horrible anyway. But I don't think either of us would be able to live without each other. Same with Eleanor.
I got into the shower, and let the water run over me for a whole, before actually doing what I needed to.
I dried off and went into my room to get dressed. She had laid some clothes out for me which consisted of one of Calum's white, "Wilderness", T-Shirt, a black and white flannel for my waist, and some black shirts.
I pulled on all of that, pairing it with some high-top white Converse. I plopped my, still semi-wet, hair into a messy bun, figuring the lake-front air would mess it up anyway, and pushed my glasses onto my makeup free face.
Honestly, I didn't too bad, for someone who had just come out of a three day hibernation.
I walked out of my room slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the light that was pouring in from the window. She had opened the blinds and cracked the window, trying to fill the apartment with some fresh, warm, early summer air.
"Ready?" She turned around, sensing my presence.
"Yeah, I.. Uh, I guess," I shrugged "where are we going?"
"We're just gonna walk along the lake-front for a while. Maybe go to Navy Pier. It's gorgeous outside" she said, standing up.
"Okay"
"Again, your enthusiasm is overwhelming" sarcasm was evident in her voice.
"Sorry"
"I understand" sadness coming into her voice, just a tad bit. "LETS GOO" she yelled, trying to get the mood lighter.
"Okay" she drive to Navy Pier, parking about a block away in a parking garage.
We walked and momentarily stopped to feed some random pigeons on the way there.
"NAVY PIER!!!" Kai smiled, seeing the big Ferris Wheel
"Cool. Cool" I answered, monotonously
"Goddammit Grace, smile please. I miss your smile"
"I'm sorry" hearing her say that, I almost started crying, which wasn't normal for me, especially not in public. Kai, obviously took notice and pulled me aside in the big entrance way.
"Please don't be sorry, Grace. I know that you're hurting. I'm here to help, okay? I know that this is going to erase everything that's happened, but I want to help you."
"I know. And I appreciate that, I really do. You and Calum and everyone else is helping. I can't thank you enough"
"Don't thank me. I'm helping. I haven't done all I've needed to" I didn't have any real answer to give her, so I just nodded and hugged her.
We walked and went into all the shops, got some ice cream, then headed outside, onto the actual pier.
The weather, like she said, was great. The wind kept it from being too hot, but the sun kept it from being too cold. So shorts, were an awesome way to go for clothes.
Walking on the pier, almost made me forget what was making me want to hide forever. Being with Kai, made everything, almost, okay.
"How's today going?"
"Good..." I said, shoving a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. "It's actually going really good. I like this. It's fun"
"Do you want me to call Calum and Luke too?"
"Do you think they would come?" I asked, getting excited at the thought of a double date, on the pier.
"Yeah. Totally. They'd love this"
"Okay you can call them" I smiled and sat down on a bench and watched her walk away from me, phone pressed against her ear.
I sat there, watching her talk on the phone, thanking the universe that I had amazing friends, and listening to the wind and the sounds of people laughing, and having fun.
She skipped back, grinning at me. "They're on their ways. Of course, Calum is going to be here first, he's at the studio. Did you know he was at the studio?"
"Yeah. He's there almost everyday"
"He hasn't been home with you?"
"Yes. He has. He's been there most of the time."
"Grace, I will fight him. Tell me the truth, has he been there with you?"
"Yes. Kai, he has been there with me. He doesn't spend all of his time at the studio" I giggled, at her protectiveness.
"Good. Because I was bout ready to box him"
"You're great" I laughed
"I know. I will fight him. Just tell me when"
"I thought you liked Calum!"
"Yeah. I thought you like Calum too" Calum's voice, filtered in from behind us. We both whipped around, and saw him, eyebrows furrowed and hands on his hips.
"I do like Calum. But if Calum crosses lines, Calum's going to catch these hands" she stuck up her hands, trying to be intimidating.
"You know.." Cal walked around the bench and helped me up, replacing me, then pulling me onto his lap "it's hard to be scary, when you're so small, Kai"
"I know.." She punched his arm "shut up"
"Ow" he rubbed his arm "though she be small. She be mighty. Cause that punch hurt like a bitch" he laughed
"Exactly. So don't be a shit-head because I will get you"
We sat, waiting for Luke, watching the Ferris Wheel go around and around, when finally he showed up.
"Hey guys" he pulled Kai up by her hand, and took her into his arms.
"Hey" she stretched her neck up and kissed him "I missed you"
"I missed you too" he smiled
"You guys are gross" Calum fake gagged
"And you guys aren't?" Kai shot back jokingly
"No. We are adorable"
"Oh shut uppppp" we all laughed and started walking again.
Somehow, we ended up walking all the way down the pier and onto the lakefront.
Calum threatened to push Luke into the water a couple times, earning a couple punches from Kai and then giggles from me and Luke.
Overall, they did an amazing job at helping and trying to keep me happy. But the funeral was coming and there was no way joking there, was going to help.
----------------------------------------------------
The morning of her funeral, Calum and I pulled ourselves out of bed and put on nice clothes. Neither of us wanted to go, not that anyone really wanted to, we had just started to be normal again, but we owed it to her memory to go. We put in nice clothes and sulkingly walked out the door.
The service was nice and sweet. But that didn't keep everyone from being sad. All of her friends say in the front with Danny and her family. I was hugged by so many unfamiliar people, that by the end of the day, all I wanted to do was sleep. So when we got home, that's what we did. We tried to sleep the pain away.