I'm Clumsy But I Love You So Much (Rolleigns)

16. Nothing Stayed The Same

"Baby?" said Seth, shaking Roman out of his sleep as soon as he woke up to his alarm. It was 8:30 am in the morning. Roman woke up quickly, he looked at Seth sleepily and spoke in a raspy voice while he said, "What happened, Seth?"

"I'm sorry, Roro. I needed to wake you up early because we've got to be there at the funeral on time." said Seth in a soft voice.

"Oh, the funeral." gasped Roman opening his eyes wider. "What time is it?"

"Its 8:30. We've got time but still," said Seth.

"Hmm, I get it. We'll get up in a bit." said Roman in a deeper and relaxed voice before he put his arm around Seth's waist, snuggling him. Seth snuggled Roman back, moving closer and closer to his chest. "Were you cold last night?" asked Roman, gently stroking Seth's back.

"No. We were right next to each other all night. How can I be cold?" smiled Seth. They cuddled each other under the blanket for a few minutes and then prepared to get out of the bed together.

Seth put on a formal dress in black before he and Roman left to the bus stop. They got into the bus as it arrived and were off to Roman's house so that Roman could take a shower and get dressed. They got down the bus on reaching Roman's house. Seth stayed with Roman until Roman took a shower and got dressed in a black suit and trousers. Seth walked closer to Roman while he got dressed in front of the mirror in the bedroom. He then stood right in front of Roman and put his hands on his shoulders. "Never saw you in a suit," Seth lowered his eyes and bit his lower lip.

"I never saw you in a suit as well but you look stunning." smiled Roman.

"But you're the most stunning one! Your shoulders look broad and sharp... They're just the way I had imagined you in a formal suit, or maybe a bit better." blushed Seth.

"Really?" Roman smiled a little. "I had never heard anyone complement me like that. Well, you look hot in whatever you wear. Now, let's go attend the funeral first and then we do other things." said Roman and turned back walking towards the door. Seth's smile faded away as soon as Roman walked away from him but he tried ignoring it and followed him out of the door.

They took a bus again to the venue. As soon as they walked out the bus on reaching there, Seth linked his hand with Roman's. Roman looked at Seth to find Seth staring back at him. "Let's just go in and console AJ. Maybe we can make him feel a bit better." said Seth.

"He might probably not need us. He has Anderson and Gallows," sighed Roman and before the two walked in. The funeral was one of the saddest thing the two were witnessing together in their life. If it was such a sad and heart breaking experience for them, how sad would AJ be feeling at that moment, they thought. It was extremely hard to see AJ stand before his father's body that lay in the casket, staring at it throughout the whole ceremony without even shedding a drop of tear. Gallows and Anderson stood close to him on his either sides, sobbing quietly and comforting him.

One hour later, the funeral service came to an end. Roman and Seth looked at one another and sighed. The two had tears in their eyes, they immediately looked away from one another and started rubbing their eyes. There was a narrow stony pathway through the green grassland that opened at the main exit. Roman and Seth walked along the stony pathway slowly and silently. "Its only been an hour since we came here... But it seemed like the ceremony was too long." said Seth, turning to look at Roman while they walked. "It was so heartbreaking that the time seemed to move real slow."

"Then, imagine how was it like for AJ." sighed Roman, still having his head bent down.

Seth nodded as they continued to walk. They came across a big green lawn beside the pathway. Seth looked at the empty lawn and the benches in it until he realized that AJ was seated in one of those benches. "Roro?" said Seth turning back at Roman.

"Yeah, Seth?" Roman responded.

"Will you go out first and wait for the bus? As I have to go to the bathroom." said Seth.

"Yeah okay," said Roman and then with a sigh, he made his way out. Seth in fact wondered how Roman did not ask him any more questions or say that he wanted to accompany him. Seth had thought it'd be difficult to bluff him or convince him that he was going to the bathroom but nothing as such happened. Roman instead just said yes.

Seth shook his head lightly and then made his way into the lawn, getting out of the pathway. Roman, on the other hand, kept walking along the stony pathway until he reached the gate. He then turned back and walked back to where he and Seth separated their ways. On reaching there, he looked at the big grassy lawn beside it and found Seth making his way towards the bench where AJ sat alone. "I knew he was up to that," Roman sighed. A small smile formed on his face as he too wanted to know how AJ was feeling and what was going on in his mind but he didn't know how to do it. Seth talking to AJ would make his work easier, he thought and then walked back towards the main gate.

AJ was sitting in the silence of nature, thinking about nothing and also staring at nothingness until he heard a familiar voice speak to him. "You're strong."

AJ gasped and then looked beside him to find Seth seated next to him on the same bench as him. "Physically and mentally. I know I don't need to tell you that cause you probably know it already." continued Seth. "You're strong enough to accept that your father's no longer here with us. But I hope you're optimistic enough to believe that your father's here with us and you'd find him everywhere in this world. He's here to keep an eye on you no matter wherever you go."

AJ huffed and then said, "If you're asking me to believe that ghosts exist, I suggest you go home."

"Idiot." said Seth. "I'm not explaining it to you again because I know you understood me well and are pretending as if you didn't."

AJ looked at the front not saying anything further. Seth stayed quiet as he thought he might stay beside him because he was lonely. "AJ... I, umm.. don't wanna burden you but... I'm sorry for hitting you the other day. And so is Roman. Roman has been feeling really guilty since yesterday for yelling at you. And I know he wants to talk to you about it and give you a strong apology...-"

AJ stood up from the bench even before Seth had ended speaking. Seth stopped speaking and stared at AJ as he prepared to leave. AJ turned his back towards Seth and then said, "I'm sorry. You're burdening me." before he walked off and joined Gallows and Anderson who were far at a distance and were approaching to him.

Seth sighed heavily. "I did burden him. Why did I need to talk to him about our day to day quarrels when he's going through this? I must be stupid..." Seth spoke to himself before he too got up and walked towards the main gate.

A/N: Very sorry for the late update. This chapter is short and pretty sad but i hope you like it :)