"Thanks for letting me spend the night."
Tori's mother smiled. "It's no bother at all, anytime. Happy birthday, kid."
Elsie smiled back, then high-fived Tori before leaving the car. "Bye, Tor."
"Goodbye, El."
Tori smiled as she watched her friend walk towards the front door, which her mother caught onto.
"You like her, don't you?"
Tori shook her head. "Nah, she wouldn't be able to like me back anyway."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Tori turned her attention away from her mothers conversation, and furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of so many cars in the drive; she hadn't noticed them with all the chatting herself and Elsie were doing. "She didn't mention she'd have relatives over today."
"Maybe she didn't know either. Jesus, something hardly happened with her poor mother, did it?"
"No. Hardly. She was in good enough spirits last night. And she has months left."
Her mother sighed. "Maybe you should just go in and check? Make sure everything's okay? Even if it's nothing too bad, you know she hates big gatherings."
Tori smiled, opening the car door. "Okay, I'll be back in a minute."
She walked up the drive towards the door, a sense of unease building up inside of her when she didn't notice the television on inside the sitting room window; there was a match on that Max was very excited for. Without meaning to, as she looked in the window, she saw Katie bring her in with her hands on her shoulders, the two of them distressed. Katie told her something as she rubbed her daughters arms, trying to calm her down before she collapsed into her arms in tears. Tori hung her head down, immediately realising what was going on, and walked back to the car; this wasn't her place. She only knew the girl a few weeks, she couldn't just waltz in while her family was in mourning.
She got back into the car, sighing as her mother looked at her phone. "She's gone, Tor. Starman just put out a statement."
"I gathered that. I'll let her come to me when she's ready."
"Yeah, or call her later, she can come over if she wants. I'll send over flowers once I'm off work."
Tori looked at the house for another moment, worrying that Elsie would run out, but she didn't. The house that was buzzing with the sound of music and laugher was now still, quiet, almost a void. It was the brightest house Tori had ever seen, not just because of the cozy colour scheme inside and out but also because of the personalities inside; Zoë was the brightest one, even when she was dying and it was the only version of her Tori ever met.
She was frozen, but managed to take out her phone and send a quick "I'm so sorry. Talk later?" text to her as her mother drove them away.
💛
The family left the crematorium, holding each other in silence as they got back into the car. Zoë's parents were driving separately back to the house, not for any post-funeral meal though; everyone knew Zoë hated that. Instead, they were meeting with her lawyer to properly discuss the will, as it was the only day that she was able to do it. When Katie had checked the drawer, it was simply just her lawyers contact details and a note to state that it was with her. None of them cared about money or who would get her vintage convertible, but they did care about what her final wishes were. She never talked about them openly, only reminisced on her times with family.
The car ride home was equally silent, besides an occasional sniffle. Brook and Elsie sat at the back, Elsie resting her head on her sister's shoulder as they embraced. Katie couldn't take her eyes off of the rings wrapped around her fingers, twisting them around as she tried to remember the happy times instead of what they just had to go through. Max drove absentmindedly, occasionally looking at his mother or his sisters through the mirror. They were all thinking the same thing; this was the worst day of their lives.
