Every Second [COMPLETED]

Chapter 34 - "I did the right thing?"

On Monday gray clouds stretched overhead as the car pulled through the black archway and onto the narrow winding lanes. Amelia directed the driver to the right section.

"Would you like me to wait?" the driver asked.

"No, thank," Amelia said, turning away from the sympathetic glint in his eyes.

A small breeze rushed by as she stepped out, the air smelling of concrete after it has rained and dew soaked grass. Closing the door behind her, she faced the rows and rows of jagged teeth jutting up from the ground. She moved forward, passing tomb stone after tomb stone, fading names and dates, echoes of lives, that the weather and time were having their way with them.

Amelia climbed the small incline, her body tired, her thoughts heavy and the ache in her chest the heaviest of all three. She stopped, eyes coming to rest on the dark black granite stone. She blinked at the names, a numb exhausted feeling spreading through her body as she read over the hallow words. She took a deep breath trying to find something to say to fill the silence that lay around her and pushed on her ears.

She stood there motionless, feeling the absence of Charlie as strongly as the absence of her parents. She needed his support, needed someone to cherish memories and laugh about them with. Alone she felt the hole in her heart, that had slowly been sown closed, had been stitched together with loose strands, as thin as cobwebs and the silence around her could break the hole open again.

The weight of all the previous months' accomplishments sat heavy on her shoulders. Words of gratitude settling on her lips, destined to go unspoken and unheard by those it was intended for. Her eyes traced over the names again and a deep anger slowly rose to her throat, choking her and stinging her eyes.

She blinked furiously, hating the blank names that couldn't come close to holding the weight of the lives it was representing. Her fists clenched wishing so desperately in that moment that the ones the stone was trying to hold in remembrance were beside her.

"I hate this stone," Amelia said, her words choked.

Tears pooled in her eyes and began to spill over and down her cheeks.

"I wish..." Her throat tightened and she used the last of her determination to hold in a sob. "I wish you were here...I need you...I miss you..."

Her parents' faces floated before her, voices from the past speaking into her thoughts. Unable to bare staring at the lifeless surface of the black stone, she sank to her knee, resting against the hard, cold slab. Amelia pulled her legs in and hugged them, resting her head tiredly on top of her knees. Thoughts pelted her, memories like rain drops pouring through her mind.

She stayed huddled there, until the faint sound of footsteps treading over the grass jerked her head up. Her thoughts flew to Charlie, her need for him growing with every second.

Sebastian came into view his hair disheveled, his jaw holding a faint line of stubble, his expression worried as he saw her. Amelia pushed herself up. He came closer, a bouquet of flowers hanging in one hand.

"What are you doing here?" Amelia asked.

Sebastian brushed a tear tenderly from her face, his eyes searching her's and mirroring their pain.

"Your brother called. Since he couldn't come, he didn't want you to be alone. He was worried about you."

Her body and mind exhausted, she felt herself snap and she started crying. Sebastian pulled her into his arms. Amelia let herself lean into the steadiness of his body and lay her pain on his shoulders. She rested her head against him, the soft leather of his jacket warm and comforting.