Stay With Me >>Hayes Grier

S E V E N T E E N// The Funeral

Rosie Lesley's View;

"Rosalie, its been two days. You need to eat." My mother spoke behind my closed bedroom door.

I just ignored her.

"Rosie, I bet Hayes needs you. You two can grief together. Maybe make some sense of this all." Mom offered, which was sort of convincing me to pull a coat on and drive over.

But, once I sat up the vision of Liz's heart machine became clear. I could've saved Liz. I could've ran faster to her room so I could've had at least 54 seconds more with her. I shouldn't of slept there.

"Rosie, June will bring you. If you want, I can sit in the back with you. You've missed what happened on One Tree Hill!" Mother tried convincing me again, but motivated me to get moccasins on and throw a shall on.

I opened my bedroom door and my mothers face was horrified.

"Yea, I get it. I look terrible. You don't have to say it." I mumbled, now walking towards the front door.

Aunt June was ready to go and had her hair done back. She has caught on that I'm the type of person who wants things done fast.

I jumped into the car and June started the car and headed towards Hayes house. My mind drifted towards Skylynn. She must be devastated and most of all, confused. Once we arrived , I gave them both a kiss on the cheek. Its the least I could do after all.

I knocked on the front door it took a minute or two before Will answered the door. His eyes were bloodshot, but so were mine. We hugged for a minute, before he invited me in. Everything was neat, Nila was at the dining table doing work on the computer.

"Hayes is upstairs with Skylynn. She's going to be staying with us for a little bit. Chad says that's the least he can do." Will closed the front door. "If you need anything, I'm going to be in the workout room."

I made my way up the long stairway and quickly noticed Hayes door was cracked open. Inside, Skylynn was sound asleep on a mattress. Hayes was sprawled out on his bed and was obviously awake. Even though it was 10 o'clock in the morning, Hayes probably didn't have the motivation to get out of bed.

I crawled my way into the bed and Hayes turned towards me. "How are you doing?" I try to sound happy, but im mentally exhausted. I couldn't even try for Hayes.

"What do you think." Hayes sighed.

I grabbed his hand, and then that's when I notice it. Hayes' other hand is swollen red.

"What happened?" I ask, totally panicking.

"I punched the wall in the basement." Hayes tried to fight back tears, but failed terribly. "When the hospital called, I didn't want to believe the doctor. I got really pissed off, and yknow."

I felt terrible, I should've been here sooner.

"We're going to be okay." I caressed his arm, and soon enough we fell asleep.

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About a week later, all of Liz's friends and family stood in McGregers Funeral Home. Skylynn was by my side. We all were praying, asking god to bless us all and most of all, take care of heavens new angel , Liz.

Once the prayer ended, we all sat down in our chairs. Skylynn ended up on my lap. Our own father Joe was there, speaking some words.

Soon enough, his speech ended with a round of applause. Nash did a speech, and then it was my turn. I walked up to the side of the stage and Father Joe whispered in my ear, "When your done with your speech, tell everyone that its time to head to the graveyard."

I nodded my head and headed towards the podium. So many people sat around this funeral home with such sad faces. Even Chads face was different.

"The first time I met Liz she had a huge smile. She was the kind of person who would just sit down for hours and the conversation would never end." I took a deep breathe, and continued.

"I was with Liz for her final moments and she told me to deliver some messages." I started looking back to the night Liz died and what she had said. "Will, your mom was so proud of you. You were her first born and she will treasure that for the rest of time."

"Nash, Liz wants you to continue living your dream and you're such a blessing. She loves you so much." I looked down, as my lip started quivering. "Hayes, Liz knows that you will be able to fight through this lost. And finally, Skylynn. Sky, mommy loves you so so much. She always will." I started tearing up, looking around the room. The whole room was in tears.

"Now may everyone head over to the cemetery where the burial will be held." Moments later everyone departed and I stood there frozen.

I continued staring at the now empty funeral home. Hayes walked over to me and took my hand. "Thank you for that. Im sure your speech has put all of us at peace."

I looked at Hayes, he was staying strong. He wasn't smiling, but he wasnt crying like me. Soon enough my head was buried in his chest. I wanted to say how much I'm going to miss her, but I'm sure Hayes will miss her more.

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