Page 142 of When We Fall: Part Two
Or our first time since we hadn’t been up there yet.
We shuffled forward. People murmured goodbye as they passed the closed casket.
When I got there, I rested my hand on it, my throat tight.
“Fox, brother, I love you,” I whispered. “I will always love you. I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry. I should have listened. You were right. I-I’ll fix what I can. T-Tell my mom I miss her. Tell my dad that I’ll follow through for him. And you… Fox, please. Forgive me for Rosalie.” I leaned down and placed a kiss on his casket, my tears dripping onto the sleek black case.
I turned to Cole, who cried silently as Rosalie clung to him.
“Foxy,” she wept, reaching for the casket. Her hands rested on it as her body shook. “Don’t go. Foxy, please. Please don’t leave me! You promised. You promised! PLEASE!”
I watched in horror as she struggled to open his casket. The flower spray and photo of him on top toppled over as she screamed his name.
“Rosalie, baby, please,” I said, my voice cracking as I tried to drag her away from the casket.
“No. No. NO!” she screamed, fighting me. Her elbow caught me in the face, but I held tight, aware we had an audience. Her small body shook violently as tears flooded her pale cheeks.
“He needs his notebook! Don’t take him. Please, don’t take him. He-He needs it to write. Please. PLEASE!” She broke free of me and threw herself against his casket, clinging to it, her sobs echoing around us.
I glanced around, wishing I had help. Cole was too busy dealing with E’s new meltdown. He’d started to shake and cry the moment Rosalie let loose.
For the first time, I wished her father were still here. I’d tell him to take her away. To make it better. This wasn’t making her better.
And the kings weren’t here on account of it being too dangerous. They wanted to come, but I told them no. Too many targets in the same place.
I glanced around, wishing I had help. Anson stared at us, horrified, from his place in line. I gave him a sharp shake of my head because I knew if he came over, Cole would finally snap.
We had enough trouble.
“Rosalie,” Colten said softly as Jamie approached. “Hey, come on. It’s OK. It’s going to be OK.”
“It’s not,” she choked out as he reached for her. “I-I can’t do this. I can’t. I-I want to go with him. Please. His note-notebook. H-He can’t write without it. He needs it.” Her voice was atiny, shaking whisper as she continued to cry. “Colt. Please. His notebook.”
“Shh. Come here.” I watched as Colten gently moved her away from the casket. “Enzo will make sure he gets his notebook, OK? We need to get you some water. It’s been a long day.”
“His notebook,” she whispered again, her hand moving back to the casket. “He needs it. A-And our picture. So he remembers me.”
“Oh, Rose, he won’t ever forget you,” Colten said thickly. “Come on. We need some air.”
He managed to move her away from the casket. He locked eyes with me, an unreadable expression on his face. Jamie followed them out of the room.
I chanced a look around to see visitors staring anywhere but at me. I swallowed hard and wiped at my eyes. None of us was in our right minds. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Fuck. Not like this… I was so fucking lost. This was my fault. Fuck, all my fault. I couldn’t fix it.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my throat tight and more tears falling. “Brother. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Rosalie fellasleep on Jamie’s lap after we got home from the funeral. She cried herself to sleep. I didn’t have the heart to move her. Instead, I was surprised when E kneeled next to her.
Cole shot me a quick look as E reached out and gently brushed her hair away from her face.
“I’ll take her,” he said softly.
He didn’t wait for an answer. His hands visibly shook as he scooped her off Jamie’s lap and went to the hallway, passing Colten along the way.
I knew E wasn’t as strong as he once was and didn’t want him to drop her. Cole must have had the same idea as me, because he followed.
“E, do you need help?” I asked gently as he took the first step.
“N-No.” He shook again. “Yes. Please. Help.”
