Summer of Like // Farleigh Start x OC

31: Bury Me Now; We'll Figure Out the Rest Later

Farleigh and I fly back to England for Venetia's funeral. I book us a hotel room a short drive from the church it's being held at for two nights - the quickest turnaround time for a flight back home. Neither of us want to stay there longer than we have to.

Dressed head to toe in black, we sit at the back of the church. The pews are scattered with people - most of whom I don't know. I spot some of the Henrys near the middle, and of course the Cattons at the front. I'd sort of expected Elspeth to greet us when we arrived, but so far no one's spoken to us. Farleigh doesn't seem surprised at all.

"Do you know who all these people are?" I mutter under the music of the pipe organ so that only Farleigh can hear me.

"James and Elspeth's friends, mostly." He mutters back. "I don't know about those girls over there though." He nods to our left.

I subtly turn, glancing in the direction he nodded. I recognize a few of the faces - girls from Cambridge that had only pretended to be friends with Venetia because of her family name. None of them liked her really - they just liked her allowance. I scoff louder than I mean to, and a few of them turn to look at me.

"Cambridge groupies." I say.

Farleigh rolls his eyes. "I think we might be the only two people in this room who actually cared about her."

A sad longing flares up in my chest, and I start crying. It's really all I've been doing for the past week. I've started carrying around travel packets of tissues in my pockets. Farleigh pulls one out of his suit jacket and passes it to me. I wipe away my tears - black streaks of makeup come away with them. I have no doubt I look like a mess.

"Okay?" Farleigh asks.

"Yeah." I sniffle. "You?"

He nods as the organ swells, the song changing to a proper funeral dirge. My heart sinks as I hear the vestibule doors open behind us. Slowly, Venetia's casket comes into view, a floret of dainty white flowers placed on top, ribbons streaming down the sides. My vision blurs with tears again, and I pull another tissue from the packet. I loved her. I really loved her.

The congregation begins to sing as the pallbearers bring her up to the altar, where a priest awaits with open arms. A sob forces it's way out of me, and I'm glad that the organ is loud enough to mostly mask it. Farleigh places a hand on the small of my back, steadying.

"I really miss her." I say, wiping at my face with another tissue. "I think I'll miss her for the rest of my life."

"I know." He says, and I know he does. I can tell just by the sad way that he looks at me that he feels the same. Probably more, considering that he'd known her for much longer than a year. She was his sister in a way.

I sniffle, forcing the snot trying to run out of my nose back. "I would have loved her." I say, my voice falling hoarse. "If she'd let me."

His free hand comes up to brush away a few tears from his face. "I know."

I pass him a tissue, my attention returning to the front of the room as the priest begins the service. The words float in one ear and out the other. I really would have loved her - I think, since I met her, I'd always been a little in love with her. How could I not be, when she was as beautiful as she was pitiful? She was unlike anyone else I'd ever met. I could talk to her for hours at a time and not get bored. I should have never left her.

My vision blurs, and tears drip off the end of my chin.

"Please stand."

I rise up from the pew as the organist plays the first few notes of a song. There's a rustling of pages as the congregation ruffles through their songbooks, and then the singing begins, a dampened chorus. I don't bother - if I try to sing right now, I know I'll just end up sobbing. I'm so tired of crying.

"There's no fucking way."

Farleigh's hiss draws my attention away from the altar, and I wipe my eyes. "What?"

"It's fucking Oliver." He almost snarls it, staring at the front of the church, where James and Elspeth are sat. I blink a few times, until my vision clears, and tilt my head so that I can see around the people in front of us. Sure enough, a few feet away from Elspeth, a small figure at the end of the pew. For a minute, it just look like anyone, but then he turns, and I would recognize those icy blues anywhere.

"What's he doing with James and Elspeth?" I whisper.

"I've no fucking idea." Farleigh says, his stare filled with rage.

"You don't think he's...?" I trail off, unwilling to even really entertain the idea. There's no way that he's still at Saltburn, not after Felix died.

Farleigh just huffs out a spiteful laugh, and shakes his head.

I don't have time to really think about it before the song is coming to an end, and the priest rises from his seat, his voice booming out over the church. "In the name of the father... the son... and the holy spirit..."

"Amen." My voice melds with the rest of the congregation. It sounds a lot like 'I miss you'.