The day bleeds into nightfall

'In the morning i'll be with you, but it will be a different kind'

Monday 29th June 2037

The young woman stares into the mirror, biting her lip. She just can't seem to get anything right; every time she tries to do her makeup something goes wrong. She needs it to look perfect, she needs it to look perfect for her big sister.

Usually, Ruby would do it. When it came to makeup, Ruby was the best, and she wanted to look perfect for her. They had said goodbye yesterday, visiting her in the morgue. The coffin wouldn't be open, but it had been her chance to say goodbye to her big sister.

She had been scared, but Theo had gone in with her, not leaving one another's side. She had told her how much she loved her, and how much she misses her, clinging to her brother for dear life, as the pair of them sobbed into one another. She had been brought down from Birmingham, it had all happened in a blur, but now she was putting the finishing touches to her outfit. She hadn't really cared what she looked like, but she needed to make an effort for her big sister.

A knock at the door indicates her brother is outside. She opens it, as he comes and sits on the bed. He's half dressed, just missing the blazer off his suit. 'You look lovely.' He tells his sister, sensing something was up. 'Ruby would love it.'

'You think?' He nods, as she sits next to him, giving up with the makeup. She looks fine how she is. 'I miss her so much Theo.'

'I know you do mouse, I do to.' The last two weeks had been a blur, yesterday was the first time the siblings had spent time with one another. Today signified that they would have to accept Ruby isn't coming back, she won't be there when they get home from school. She won't argue with their dad over politics, she won't bore them senseless with the latest gossip from keeping up with the Kardashian's. Maddie and Theo would do anything to get that back, to get her back. She would put up with the snoring, the waking up at stupid times in the day, or having to be quiet when she was getting ready for school, so she didn't wake her up.

'I miss sharing a room with her, it feels wrong.' She confesses, as she picks up the photo she had laid on the spare bed. It was the three of them, on a beach in Spain. She remembers parts of the holiday, but she was only six when it was taken.

'That was when we lost you, and it turns out that you were hiding in the kitchen cupboard.' He grins, pulling her close. 'Mum and dad went apeshit.'

'I remember mum screaming at me.' Maddie grins, before her face falls. 'I want her to scream at me.' She tells her brother. 'I want her to-do something. I want her to talk to me.' He sighs, feeling exactly the same. Dianne had yet to hold a proper conversation with any of the kids, and she didn't seem to care. Joe told them not to take it personally, but what other way could they take it?

Soon they are in the car in front of the hearse, pulling up to the chapel. Theo grabs his sisters' hand, he's carrying the coffin, along with their dad, both grandads, Andrew and Brendan. Maddie goes to stand with Dianne, who grabs her hand. She doesn't get a smile, but at the moment she will take her mums hand as they walk into the chapel, behind their family, taking their seats. Both children marvel at how many people were there, family, family friends and then her school friends and university friends. They knew she was popular, but it truly is standing room only. Maddie can even make out some of their teachers at school. Both Theo and Maddie had been told to come into school when they feel like it, and if they want, they can do a half-day. Maddie thinks she will come in this weekend, she can only watch so much trash TV, and it's sunk in a little bit more now.

Neither had really spoken to their friends, what can they say? How are they supposed to cope without their sister? What do they say to their friends when they tell them that they are sorry about Ruby. Yes, so are they. These are the thoughts that plague Maddie throughout the service, after her and Theo had done a reading. They wanted to, to be able to honour their sister.

The four of them stand by the grave, as her coffin is lowered down. At that moment, Dianne wants to jump in with her, to be with her daughter. She wants to follow her, to tell her that it's okay. She wants to be able to lay with her, like she would when she was little, and tell her how much she loved her. She knew once she gave birth, that she wouldn't be able to protect Ruby forever, the moment she let out that scream she knew their life had changed.

She had looked after Ruby for nine months, she did her best to protect her, make sure she was healthy. Then when she was born, her job disintegrated a little bit, she could look after her in some ways, she breastfed her for a year, spending those moments precious moments absorbed in her daughters beautiful, green eyes, mesmerised at how much she could love someone. She still relied on Dianne to know what she wanted, when she wanted to be fed, when she was tired and to take her places. She still relied on Dianne for most things, but Joe could help.

Then she was able to walk and talk, and Dianne's job disintegrated that little bit more. She was made a little bit more redundant, she could start to tell people how she was feeling. Then came school, she went off every day and Dianne didn't have a clue what she was doing. She wasn't needed as much, she didn't need to be entertained to the same level. Then came the friends, and the sleepovers, where Dianne was regularly told she was embarrassing. Her role disintegrated that little bit more, she didn't spend every night at the house, sometimes she was at her friends' houses. That was weird for Dianne to get her head around, that she didn't have all her babies under one roof.

Then came secondary school, where her daughter spent much longer with her friends. When her daughter made up her own mind, she chose what she wanted to-do, Dianne had to accept that she was losing her a little bit more, the nights in watching TV became sporadic as she started hanging around with new friends, and eventually, boyfriends. She watched as friends came and went, she watched as her daughter's heart got broke. She couldn't do anything about it, she had to sit and watch as her daughter lashed out.

The final stage of Dianne's redundancy came the moment she left for uni, becoming little more than a source of income for her daughter. Their whole relationship changed, they developed a friendship almost, yet Dianne had nothing to-do with her life. This had been obvious when she read her medical notes, had she seen this she might have been able to help. She didn't realise how much her daughter drunk, she was the child she was least worried about. As she read through the notes, it hit her that maybe she didn't know her daughter at all, and that hurt her more than she could ever imagine. The last nineteen years had gone by in a flash, and Dianne wanted them back.

She watched as the coffin was lowered, not being able to look at anything besides the wooden box, Joe had chosen it. In fact, Joe had done all of this. She didn't know how she was going to get on, she didn't know how she wasn't going to be able to not see her daughter ever again, as a silent sob leaves her at this daunting prospect. Suddenly, she felt an urge to hold her other daughter, grabbing her. She's surprised when her daughter hugs her back, burying her head into her daughter's shoulder. It should be the other way around, she should be comforting the younger girl, but she doesn't have it in her, no matter how hard she tries, she can't muster up the energy nor the will to comfort anyone, not even her own son and daughter.

She was just getting used to her being at university, how was she supposed to not see her ever again? How is she supposed to get used to not hearing her daughters voice, when her grandparents died, their voice started fading from her memory. These little details start to fade, and the idea that this would happen to Ruby terrified her.

She wanted to be able to protect the young girl, yet she had failed. She had failed more than once, she should have noticed that she was drinking too much. She had assured her that she didn't have drinking problems, this wasn't collaborated in the notes where she found that she had to have her stomach pumped, twice. Maybe she didn't have a drinking problem, but she drunk too much, the whole not drinking façade was just that, maybe if she had come to her she would still be here?

She would never be able to ask why and what happened? She would never be able to ask why she got pregnant, and why she couldn't speak to Dianne. She thought that reading those notes would make her feel better, they didn't.

It just made her ask more questions, questions she would never get the answers too.

A/N Thoughts?