Chapter 12

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Even though I've told Daniella multiple times that I'd be ok, nothing prepared me for this moment.

I lost my mom very early on in my life, and even though I feel for her every day, I didn't have to go through the pain of actually seeing her vanish from my life, or at least I don't remember it.

But I never acknowledged the pain my dad must have gone through, losing the love of his life and having to raise a carbon copy of her by himself.

Or the pain Daniella feels every time her dad is mentioned, even though she tries her best to hide it, denying it even from herself.

And Soph that never actually got to meet her father.

We've all lost someone, be it by death, distance or betrayal.

"Are you ok, baby?" Daniella asks, rubbing my arm gently as we wait for the funeral service to start. I simply nod my head. "It's ok if you want to go out for some fresh air."

"No," I hold her hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I'm fine, don't worry."

"I'll always worry about you," she says, a sad smile on her lips.

I don't have time to answer her, the service begins, his casket is brought inside and then to the place of burial. Closed, his choice, and I somehow find myself feeling relieved that the last image I'll have of him isn't one where he's dead.

The service passed much like a blur, and all I could remember and feel was Daniella's hand in mine and her words of comfort whispered into my ears.

"He died as a happy man," Lucia says, standing by my side, resting a hand on my shoulder. "And we will remember him as such."

I smile, a genuine one, even though small. "Thank you, Lucia, for staying with him till his last moment."

"He would have done the same for me."

I simply nod, not wanting the tears to come back.

After all the condolences, flowers, and prayers, Daniella and I were the last to stay.

"I never got to say goodbye..."

"You don't have to," she says softly, holding my chin so I could look up at her. "You told me yourself that his memory would always live within you... Anna, we say goodbye to forget — an ex-lover, a bad friend, a toxic family member — some people are not meant to be forgotten."

"You're right," I say, wiping the tears that have been accumulating in my face.

"Do you want to stay for a while longer?"

I shake my head, giving Ed's grave one last sad look before grabbing Daniella's hand with both of mine pulling her to the exit path. "I think your mom wants some alone time with him," I say, nodding my head to where she stood, talking to the priest. "And, you should spend some time with her, I'll be fine."

"I'll drop you off at your house or at one of your friends, and pick her up afterwards, does that sound good?"

"Yes, Ray-bae."

"No, settle with just one, you call me something different every single day and it gets worse every time," she groans.

"I'll settle with Ray-bae."

"Couldn't you have thought of a less sappy one?"

"You call me baby, don't you think that's sappy?"

"I call you that because you like it," she rolls her eyes as we walk hand in hand to the parking lot.

"Only because I like it?"

"Because I like it that you like it," she murmurs with a small smirk, a shy-bold that I find extremely cute.

Once inside her car and turning on the AC, I could finally breathe again. Arizona has no right being this hot and right after crying all the water I had in my system.

"Here," Daniella says, passing me a bottle of water.

It's hot and not very pleasant but the thirst is so unbearable that I take a long sip. "Thank you, for everything really, you have no idea how important it is to me that you're right here with me."

"Where else would I be?" she whispers, caressing my face and giving me a soft kiss on the lips. "I love you."

I sigh, holding her hand on my cheek. "I love you too."

I pretty much spent the rest of the day with Soph and Jenny, after all, this is also a hard time for Lucia, she needs Dani too. And also because Jenny is leaving this weekend for university, and I want to spend some time with her before that.

G-d knows how long we will go without seeing her.

"We will miss you," I say, sitting down beside her on her bed, almost sitting on Soph's foot, she's laid down like a starfish, only leaving us the very end of the bed to sit on.

"I promise I'll visit as many times as I can," she answers apologetically, swatting away one of Soph's feet so she could sit further into the bed. "My mom will definitely make sure I do."

"We can also visit you every now and then, it'd be fun, right Soph?"

Soph simply hums, she has been oddly silent the whole time, which is somehow understandable. Jenny is leaving in a couple of days and they don't even know what to make of each other.

"Well, I have to go before it gets dark," I say, getting up. It's mainly an excuse to get them to talk alone but also because my dad may go ballistic if I don't show up for dinner.

"I can take you home," Soph chimes in, finally sitting down.

I discreetly squint my eyes at her. "No, it's ok. I know you two want some alone time," I smile at both of them, completely trapping them in. They need to have that conversation.

The sky was already orange as I walked back home. Jen lives in an expensive part of the city — well, one of the expensive parts of the city — while I live on the complete opposite side, near the other expensive part of the city.

The East and the West are where the rich people gather, Jen lives in the West while Soph and Daniella live in the East. Me? I live in the South-East, where the commoners gather, but I've lived in the South before, where the people that can barely afford rent live when my dad was jobless. So to me, the South-East is a luxury.

Soph isn't rich either, but they had luck with the house. The person living there before them died in it, making the price go down significantly. It also is in the outskirts of the main thing where the big mansions stood.

So yes, it's a very long walk home.

I quickly shoot my dad a text message, he has been paranoid about me walking alone ever since what happened in the locker room, I can't really blame him. Unsurprisingly my phone starts ringing just a few seconds after.

"Want me to pick you up, chunky challah?"

"That's a nice way of calling me fat, but have you looked at yourself in the mirror today — or ever?" I joke, hearing him chuckle alongside clinking sounds of what I'm guessing must be dishes. "Are you making dinner?"

"Yup, but I can turn the stove off for a moment."

"Nah, it's ok, it's not even that far."

"Got your pepper spray in hand?"

"Always."

"I'll call the police in 30 minutes if you don't show up."

"Alright, and please don't burn down the house."

"I make absolutely no promises."

The walk home was fairly calm, and it gave me some time to think. I didn't get much alone time these past few days so this was definitely a bit refreshing, although I am very grateful my dad, Daniella, and my friends went out of their way to distract me and cheer me up.

Dad didn't burn the house, and his food is gradually tasting more and more like actual food after he purchased a Sephardi cookbook. He thought it'd make me reconnect with my mom's origins but really I'm just happy we don't have to order in every now and always.

And to finish off the night, Daniella called me when we were both in bed. We were both too tired to talk so we ended up falling asleep during the call. But it was still nice to hear her voice after such a long day.

She was the first to fall asleep and it only took me a few minutes to fall asleep along with her. Her calm and soft snores are the last thing I hear as I doze off.

Short filler chapter, I have been very motivated to write recently so let's hope these updates keep coming. As always, thanks for reading, please vote and drop a comment. It will help me a lot more than you might think.

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