Life After You | ✓

08

L I F E 

A F T E R    Y O U 

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Warning: This chapter gets a little emotional, so get your tissues ready! ♥

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I tried to move, but I couldn't. The walls around me began to feel like they were caving in. I couldn't breathe. I tried to say something, anything... but to no avail.

He was gone, just like that. My world was falling apart by the millisecond and I could feel the veins in my heart shattering. A broken heart? No. What I was feeling was much, much worse. I felt like I could die right here and now and that is exactly what I wanted in that moment. I wanted to die. I wanted to let go and be with him on the other side of life.

I collapsed at the words Claire had said to me and there was no one there to catch me but her. Her arms engulfed around me and I tried my best not to get tears all over her.

"Olivia I am so, so sorry... but Landon is gone."

Those were the words circling around in my head like a vicious tornado, destroying everything in its wake. All the memories, all the good feelings, and all the love I had. It was all gone in that one moment. I felt everything at once, but I also felt nothing at all.

"P-please... n-no..." was all I could manage through sniffles and tears.

"Would you like me to call Riley?" She asked. Her words laced with sympathy and concern.

I could not answer, so I slowly nodded my head, never making eye contact with her.

Riley showed up in a matter of ten minutes, out of breath from running I assumed. He looked at Claire for reassurance, but all she did was shake her head slowly.

Riley stood still for a moment, unable to move or speak. He slowly located me at the corner of the room where I sat on the floor, my knees curled up to my chest.

"O-Olivia..." He managed to choke out.

All I could do was look up at him for a split second. My eyes burned with tears and I could actually feel the redness that circled them. The puffiness of my cheeks hurt from the muscles of my face permanently frowning.

I blinked a couple of times before reuniting my face with my hands, burying my head into my lap again.

Riley was beside me in an instant and he slowly slid his back down the wall until he was sitting beside me on the floor. He slowly wrapped his right arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest.

I clung to him as if my life depended on it and let another round of sobs escape my lips.

Landon was gone. He was actually gone. My best friend and my love. It was as if half of me was ripped away while the other half struggled to keep a hold, to keep me together.

The one thing I feared the most has happened. The one thing I prayed to never endure. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take the feeling that was surrounding me. I needed to keep fighting.