My Best Friend's Funeral

Chapter 19

    “How much farther?” I asked. Behind their big home, there was a path that led to the forest and  if a person walked further,  it led to a river. I never saw it, but this is what Jake always told me "it's beautiful, calm and a perfect place to be" when I asked him to take down to the river and prove to me that it exists.  “Your panting!” Will said and fake gasped. “You are not the one walking in heels” “Jimmy choo?” he asked pointing at my shoes. I looked at him wide eyed. “Britt takes me shopping with her. The correct term is ‘drag’ actually” “poor you” I said and stopped walking. “Come on Cheryl. It’s not that far” “I can’t” I said bending down and clutching my stomach. When was the last time I ate? “Come here” Will said putting my one arm around his neck and catching me by my waist. “May I?” he asked but I was too thunderstruck by his gentleness to say anything. He gently picked me up.  This is the best funeral I've ever attended. Seriously! Why is Will being so nice? “So, Britt told me about your small chat” he said as she started walking further . So that’s why he is being sweet. “You think Jake was…killed?” Will asked hesitantly. I nodded. “Well, what makes you think that?” “no one mentioned his cause of death to me, his coffin is kept closed, Jake looked miserable when I saw” “woah! Hold on” Will said and stopped walking. “How do you know Jake looked miserable? You haven’t seen him for years” “yeah…actually, I opened the coffin” I said and looked at him innocently. “You did what?” he asked, astonished. “I really wanted to see him okay?” “when did you see him?” “when you were fighting Paul” “oh! You drama queen, you did it all on purpose didn’t you?” he asked and chuckled. “Smart. I’m impressed” he said looking down at me. “I think I can walk now” I said embarrassed for staring at him the whole time he carried me. He slowly put me down and said “Here we are”. I looked straight ahead and gasped. “the river” I said in awe. “It exists” I said turning to face Will. “Of course it does” “Jake never brought me here” “that’s because I told him not to” “what?” Will looked at the water and then at me with an apologetic look “I told him I wanted to bring you myself. That small little crush I had on you forced Jake to promise me all sorts of things” “as in?”I was so curious to know what ideas Fat Will had back then. He must’ve definitely gotten over it. I did. Of course I had a new crush every single day on almost every guy except William.  “This is embarrassing” he said and looked away. “No! it’s not. Tell me. I know you must’ve gotten over it. Come on” “As in, he wouldn’t  sing your favorite song. Ever” “really? Which one is that?”I asked astonished.  “I'll be there for you. The Rembrandts?” “Oh , yeah. I still love it” “I practice it till today” “you sing?” “No, but I play it on my guitar” “what else?” “I didn’t want him to bring you here because” he said and stopped short. “because?” I asked taking a step towards Will. “Because he would feel like doing this, but I wanted to be the one to do it” he said and leaned in closer. I didn’t know what was gonna happen. Trust me.  A wave of heat flooded my entire body as Will pulled me closer and closer, finally leaving no gap between us. I watched him as he intuitively closed his eyes and pressed his mouth gently against mine. His lips were so soft and inviting. A rush of adrenaline shot through my veins. I completely forgot about  the funeral, about Jake, about Paul, my car, Grace, the murder. All I could think of was William Wellings standing right there in front of me. I closed my eyes and let my arms wrap around his neck. Shivers raced up my spine and I could feel butterflies flutter inside my stomach. But I didn’t mind this feeling one bit.