2The line of people that were dropping roses on her grave slowly lessened until only her parents and one other were left. Her mother gave another teary glance to the marble headstone hat stuck awkwardly out of the ground. She let a blood red rose fall from her grasp and turned her ghostly body to leave. Her ex-husband did the same.
The sky, overhead growled dangerously and let loose thousands of its cold, wet tears, but the boy stayed even still. His clothes hung clung damply to his body and the flowers in his hand cringed uncomfortably. He stood and stared into space, none the less. A single thought ran through his mourning mind.
'It's all my fault...' He recalled repetitively, '…All my fault.'
"So, how are you?" Erik asked casually.
She sighed, "Fine, I guess"
"You don't sound fine."
"I'm okay, really."
"You're not, tell me what's wrong." He said firmly.
"I just, I just feel like curling up and dying," she looked up at him uneasily, "I feel like that a lot."
"Why?" Erik questioned.
"I just do."
"You don't act like it; you're so happy all the time."
"I have a pretty strong façade, don't I?" she laughed softly and humorlessly. There was a short pause. "Erik," she broke the silence, "What would you do if someone you knew forever just left and…" she took a deep breath, "and never came back?"
"I don't understand." He reached out to touch her cheek affectionately.
"Never mind Erik, forget I said anything." She looked away.
"Are you saying that…?" He trailed off, letting his words hang tensely in the air.
"I don't know, I just don't know."
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yes, don't worry about me."
"I'll always worry about you."
More silence ensued.
"Will you miss me?" She accidentally said what she was pondering.
"Wait, why would I miss you?" he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"I-I didn't mean to say that…it's nothing." She looked flustered.
"Yes, it is something." He pushed.
"No, it isn't"
"Please tell me." Erik pleaded.
"No, I'm sorry, just never mind."
"You're not going to commit suicide or anything, are you?" He asked, putting two and two together.
"No." She replied a little too quickly.
"Are you sure?" He asked skeptically.
"Yes," she begged, "just don't worry about me…please…"
"Okay," Erik said though he still wasn't convinced.
She had lied. And he had known. He sensed something was wrong with her on that fateful night, but of course he pushed his feelings away.
And now she was gone. His beloved friend whom he had known for what seemed like an eternity was gone. Anger surged through his body, a feeling of self hate. He could have stopped her, saved her life, but he wasn't there. Erik wished that he could have died instead of her; he wished that he could see her smiling face one last time; he wished that he could tell her that he loved her. That more than anything else had killed him; that he never told her how much she really meant to him.
Erik kneeled on the moist ground and placed a bouquet of roses at the foot of her stone. He looked up towards the dark and gloomy sky and whispered, "I will love you… forever."