Silent Cries ☾N.H.S

13| headstones

❝ i am so busy keeping my head above water
that i scarcely know who i am
much less who anyone else is. ❞

A/N: happy early easter!!

☾ 13 ☽

"Here." Walter draped a black jacket onto my shoulders as we took the last step of the stairs.

"Awh, looks who cares about me." I poked him in the arm, and then stuck my arms through the sleeves of the rather large jacket.

"No, it's to cover up that tattoo, noodle brain."

I stopped before the living room and touched the tattoo along my wrist and whispered almost inaudibly, "I won't forget about you Niall. I won't."

Walter bumped into my back as I stopped. He quickly adjusted himself and continued walking as I did. When I looked at him, he looked upset.

"Who's this?" My mom was staring at Walter with utter confusion and doubt.

"His name is Gerald, he's a friend of mine." My voice had cracked.

My mom glared at the boy. "I thought I told you that no one was allowed in your room?"

"Mom." Tears welled up in my eyes, and I painfully swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart," she said, finally realizing I had to go to Niall's funeral.

She hugged me tightly. "It'll be okay."

Everyone told me that. When my dad left, he had said the same thing. My sister told me that too, on occasions. It's not going to be okay.

My mother didn't even know the boy standing in front of her was a ghost that had crept into my life. She didn't know- Francis didn't know. I glanced over at Walter who was staring at me quietly. My mom said something about getting into Francis's car, and she walked to the door.

My eyes returned to Walter who was still observing me silently. I raised an eyebrow.

"Stop staring at me, creep."

"I was just thinking." He shrugged his bony shoulders.

"You can think without looking at me."

He smiled down at me. "But when I look at you, my thoughts are clearer."

"Y-you're weird."

He laughed quietly. "I know."

We walked to the door and out to Francis's purple vintage Beatle.

My mother was seated in the front as we hazily opened the back door.

Francis turned to us. "Sorry about the beanie babies, I used to collect them, and I don't have the heart to take them all out."

I almost laughed seeing Walter step through the mound of stuffed animals and sit down, only to pull a large stuffed giraffe from underneath him.

"This is bollocks," he whispered in my ear.

I shrugged.

My mom turned around. "So, who's this?" She pointed towards Walter.

Walter grinned politely. "My name's Gerald, just like Halo said before. Pronounced Jer-uh-ld, two syllables, six letters, g-e-r-a-l-"

I pinched his thigh and he stopped talking.

He held up the stuffed giraffe and said, "Hey, can I keep this one?"