The Book Of One-Shots

Down By The Lake

TW: S!!cide, Drowning
Read with caution!!

They would never forget that day, April 18.

Cecelia Willow Brookes was pronounced dead from a successful suicide attempt. Lavender just wanted to believe it was all a dream and Cecelia would show up to school with her happy smile, telling them it would all be okay! Everything would start to look up, but not anymore. Nobody was there to tell them it was going to be okay anymore, they were all their own it felt like! Even with Lydia around they felt empty inside, like someone just stole everything from them. Cecelia was everything to Lavender, the reason they wanted to get up in the morning, the reason they knew there was a reason to keep on going, but now it was all gone. The worst thing was that their mother and Lydia only just put down Cecelia and said they were better off with her!

"You only need me!"

"She was a bad influence anyways!"

"I am all that you need.."

"People like her are nothing but pathetic"

"YOU DON'T LOVE HER!!"

Lavender spent most of the nights after Cecelia's death crying themself to sleep, they wanted all this pain to just disappear. They wanted their best friend back, they wanted their first crush back! They would do anything to have them back in their life, anything even if it killed them.

And that's what they were going to do.

It was April 18, 2009. It has been a year since Cecelia has been dead and gone, Lavender still struggled with the fact she would never see her again. That day, the small Enby spent the time they were supposed to be at school by the lake that Cecelia committed suicide in, which was also the place they spent so much time together at. Memories would flood back of all the good times those two had together, talking, joking, getting closer to one another.

"If I could have told you sooner, maybe you would still be alive. We'd be together forever and we'd both be happy." They mumbled to themself, tears flooding their eyes as they looked down at the ground. After a bit of crying, Lavender eyed the lake as an idea popped into their head.

"Do it.."

"Do it..."

"Go be with Cecilia!"

"DO IT!! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!!"

These thoughts were so overwhelming, making Lavender clutch their ears as they began to wail in fear. But the idea didn't sound too bad to them after thinking it all through. Would it cure the pain? Would they finally be happier? Would this be their escape? They made their decision.

"I'll see you soon Cece.." They softly spoke.

Lavender took a deep breath before lunging themselves into the lake, keeping themselves down there and shutting their eyes hoping it would all be over soon.

"Looks like this is the end, I'll be with you soon Cecelia. Sorry I couldn't be strong for you, but we'll be together soon!"

They could feel themselves struggling, they resisted the urge to swim up for air and kept their head down to finally get this all over with. But that's when they vaguely heard the sound of screaming and footsteps, who could have possibly been here and know of what they are up to?! But the pieces would soon be put together.

"Lavender!?"

"LAVENDER!! NOT YOU TOO!!!"

Lavender was unable to make out who it was but they didn't really care, they just wanted to get this over with and finally be with Cecelia again. They just let their body grow weaker, but something interrupted them.

SPLASH!!

Someone had jumped in after Lavender and forced them out of the lake despite them resisting their grip and trying to swim down and away. But they were too weak to escape and ended up getting pulled out of the lake and dragged onto the grass. Lavender's vision was blurry and could barely keep their eyes open, they thought this was the end and smiled thinking she had succeeded with her plan. But to their sadness, Lavender woke up slowly to the feeling of hands on their chest that quickly alerted them and started coughing water rapidly. They didn't really focus on who was helping them until they had finally stopped coughing up a storm. They looked over at the person and they quickly recognized him as Cecelia's older brother, Wyatt. As soon as the Enby had some energy in they attempted to run back and jump in but Wyatt had grabbed their arm forcefully to stop them.

"LET. ME. GO!!" Lavender wailed, trying to free themself from his grasp but Wyatt was too strong. He pulled them into his arms and wrapped his arms around their chest and arms to make sure they couldn't attempt to hit or slap him, a method he used a lot when got into street fights.

"I'm not letting you FUCKING DROWN YOURSELF!!! I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE YOU DIE TOO!!" Wyatt yelled at the struggling Enby, it was easy to tell his voice was breaking and he was choking back tears as he was restraining them. Lavender slowly gave up and just sat there while Wyatt had his arms still restraining them, they were on the verge of just breaking down, they wanted to scream and cry and hope all this pain would go away and they'd feel better. The ginger male turned Lavender around down at them, he looked really angry. "What were you THINKING!?" He started to yell.

"Wy-Wyatt, I um..." Lavender tried to speak and defend themselves but Wyatt interrupted with more yelling.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND!?! TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF AND THROW EVERYTHING AWAY!?!? YOU AREN'T SOLVING ANYTHING, I GET YOUR SAD BUT THIS ISN'T GOING TO TAKE AWAY YOUR PAIN!!" Wyatt had just lost his temper so fast, he couldn't bear to lose anyone else he cared for and it angered him that he could have lost someone else the same way. He snapped out of his angered thoughts when he heard a loud sob come from the small Enby, when he looked down again he noticed they were shaking rapidly and sobbing hysterically.

Oh god he fucked up big time.

He slowly started to relax and pull Lavender into a comforting hug, carefully rubbing their back as a way to try and relax them. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't mean to raise my voice at you. I just can't lose another one, I can't have you do this to yourself." Wyatt explained to them, Lavender didn't answer though since they were sobbing so hard. He just sat there and let them let it all out, quietly humming to them like he used to do when Cecelia was upset. Once the Enby was finally calm, they wiped their face and looked at the ginger.

"I just struggle with the fact she's gone! Someone I fell in love with jumped to their death and I couldn't save them!" Lavender told him, looking down again. Wyatt knew where they were coming from, they placed a hand on their shoulder and sighed.

"Lav, I understand where you are coming from. I miss her just as much as you do! But do you really think that Cece would want you to be suffering or do you think she'd want you to move on and be happy?" He asked the shaking Enby.

"She always wanted me to be happy, but I guess if moving on will make her happy then I'll try my best." They said, shivering and shaking from the breakdown and a mix of the freezing water. "And it's not going to be easy. But if it makes you feel better, we can fight through this pain together" He told them, carefully patting their head.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Lavender, despite their shaking they finally started to smile a little. Wyatt chuckled and got up, helping the Enby right after. "Alright, now let's go back to my place and get you some dry clothes and a snack." Wyatt told them, Lavender nodded and started to follow the ginger back home. Both knew that Cecelia was watching over them, smiling at the thought of Lavender being safe with her brother.

Guess a lot can happen down by the lake.

(Word Count: 1360 words)