HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY; ethan landry x fem!reader

PROLOGUE; guitar romantic search adventure

"making plans for both of us to go on a guitar romantic search adventure
will we ever get to go?"

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y/n's pov

It was my last day in Woodsboro before my friends and I went to New York for college.

We were actually leaving that afternoon, but it was the late morning when I sat down on a familiar patch of grass beside a particular headstone.

I crossed my legs and stared at his name.

Wesley Hicks
10.14.2003 - 09.28.2021

"Today's the day." I muttered, running my hand over the grass. It made me feel sick knowing he was under there. "We're leaving today. New York here we come."

I sighed at my own joke and buried my face in my hands.

"Fuck, we were supposed to go to college together, Wes." I could feel my throat burn and my eyes sting. "We made plans for both of us to go."

It hurt. Everything hurt.

"I guess I'm here to say goodbye." I forced the words out. "Not that you can even hear me."

After everything that happened, after I got out of the hospital, I would visit Wes almost daily.

I would just sit there.

Do my homework, read, listen to music. It made it feel like he was still there.

"I really miss you, Wes."

I rested my head on my hand.

"Fuck, Wes, we were supposed to go together. You were gonna room with Chad, and I'm still gonna room with Mindy... Fucking hell."

No kind of pain, not even being shot, could compare to how it felt to lose Wes. To still be here while he was dead.

I picked at the grass by my feet and sighed.

"You know, Wes, it still feels so... unreal." I sighed, staring at the tombstone in front of me. The one with my dead boyfriend's name etched into it. "The fact that you're... You're... The fact that you're not here anymore."

I felt so stupid to be talking to, well, myself. But it did make me feel better to talk to him. It made it feel like, for maybe a second, that if I looked up and instead of that ugly gravestone I would see Wes and his stupid smile again.

But obviously that was not going to happen.

My Wes was gone. Forever. All thanks to someone we had considered a friend for years.

"I miss you so much, Wes." I started sobbing again. "This isn't fair. I loved you so much."

If anyone had walked past at that moment they would've seen an 18-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the grass sobbing so hard that she couldn't even breathe.

Then my phone rang.

Phone calls weren't ever something I liked, but after Wes they were just ten times worse. I was always scared to pick up the phone because I was terrified that the person on the other end would get hurt or die.

And the person calling me was Mindy. After a second, I hesitantly picked up.

"Mindy?"

"Hey, Y/N. Chad and I finished packing up three hours early, so if you're good to go we can come pick you up now." Mindy offered. "Only if you want, otherwise we're happy to wait."

"No, that should be good." I sniffled and wiped away the rest of my tears. "I've just gotta get home first."

"Where are you? Chad can come pick you up."

"I'm, um... I was saying goodbye." I tried to steady my breathing, but it was still wavered.

"Chad'll be there in ten minutes."

It was funny how she just knew exactly where I was.

"Thanks, Mindy."

"I'll see you soon."

Then the call ended and I was left on the recent call list on my phone app. So, for some dumb reason, I scrolled through until I found calls from the 28th of September 2021. It wasn't hard, because I really hadn't called that many people since then.

The two names I stared down at left an empty ache in my chest.

Wes <33 (5)
Judy Hicks

I remembered the panic in Judy's voice as she called me frantically. What I didn't know at that point in time was the fact that she was so scared because she was worried for her son's life.

I clicked on the little information button beside Wes' name and sighed.

One call was from that morning. He liked calling me in the morning, it was always something nice for me to wake up to.

Three of them were missed calls. The missed calls from when I was freaking out after Judy's call and then Wes wasn't answering the phone because he was showering.

Then the last call. That was the call. The phonecall where my favourite person on the planet was ripped from me in a matter of seconds.

I slowly stood up, the damp grass staining the denim of my jeans a dark green colour.

"Goodbye, Wes." I took a deep breath before taking one last look at his gravestone and walking away.

For about three minutes, I waited outside the Woodsboro Cemetery's front gates until Chad's car pulled up beside me.

"Hey, stranger. Need a ride?" He asked after rolling down the window and leaning closer.

I rolled my eyes and opened the car door, sitting down in the passenger seat.

"Thanks, Chad." I mumbled as I clipped in my seatbelt.

"No problem." He paused. "I get it."

"Yeah. I guess you do." I sighed. "Honestly, right now, I think you're one of the only people who can really understand how I'm feeling right now."

"What about your mom?" Chad questioned. "I mean, surely she'd get it."

"I said one of, Chad. She was included too." I frowned. "I heard her talking on the phone the other week, you know? I don't know who she was talking to, but she said that it made her feel absolutely horrible that I'm going through the exact same thing she did, except I'm younger, or something like that."

When we lost my dad, Wes was the first of my friends to know. His mom was there at the crash site so he found out through her.

He was my rock through it all, and he was always there for me. Always, no matter what.

Now, all I have are pictures.