Marge sits with me in the silence anyway, like she’s refusing to be left behind.
I imagine her here, walking this same path. The same wind against her face, the same view of the water stretching out like it never ends. Someone beside her, her husband maybe, laughing at something small that only makes sense between them. That quiet kind of happiness that doesn’t announce itself; it just exists, steady and sure, like it belongs here.
People pass us.
The world keeps moving like nothing inside me has just shifted, like nothing has cracked open and rearranged itself. The air is cold when it hits my lungs, sharp in a way that almost stings, clean enough that it feels wrong against everything I’m carrying.
Everything is too calm. Too steady. Like the world around me doesn’t know it should be grieving with me.
And for the first time in days, I actually look around.
Mountains sit in the distance, dark and steady like they’ve always been there and always will be. Trees move with the wind like they know exactly how to survive it without thinking. Water breaks against the shore in that soft, endless rhythm that doesn’t care who’s watching. Everything Marge must have loved about this place. Everything she trusted enough to send me here for.
I realize CJ and Deck are back a little, giving space but never leaving. Close enough that I don’t have to look far to find them.
That matters more than I want it to.
Finn walks beside me without pressure. Hands in his pockets. Matching my pace without comment. Letting me slow down when I need to. Letting me stop when I can’t move for a second.
“Sorry,” I murmur eventually.
He glances at me. “For what?”
“For earlier.”
He snorts immediately. “If you’re apologizing for being quiet, El, we’re going to be here all day, and I’ve got plans.”
A small sound escapes me.
“See?” he says, pointing at me like he’s won something. “Progress.”
It’s weak. But it’s real, and he bumps my shoulder lightly and keeps walking.
“She didn’t die alone,” I say quietly.
Finn’s tone softens instantly.
“No, honey.” He stops and looks at me with a soft smile. “She didn’t.”
My shoulders drop a fraction.
I look back behind Finn. CJ and Deck are there, just far enough to give me air. CJ is watching me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he blinks wrong. I give him a small smile.
Then his phone comes out.
A second later, mine vibrates.
You okay?
I stare at it, then type back.
Yeah.
I put it away as we keep walking. The wind picks up near the bend in the path, cutting in harder now, and I pull my jackettighter against it. Finn adjusts his pace without even thinking about it, his body has already learned mine.
“Back for dinner?” he asks lightly.
I nod. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
