"Mine first -mine last- mine even in the grave!"
- Louisa May Alcott

"For years I have been watching you from afar and have been dreaming about you every time I go to sleep and thinking about you every waking moment, imaging a life with you and now that our wedding day has come I-I will never get this crap memorized by the end of the week," The teen groaned and ran his hand through his blonde hair in aggravation.

He threw the paper to the side and gave a sad look at the gravestone in front of him. Kendall Knight was in front of his father's grave at the city's cemetery. It was a chilly afternoon so he decided to wear a sweater over a blue plaid shirt with a pair of gray skinny jeans and black converse. Whenever he felt sad or had too much on his mind he would come to the cemetery and sit in front of his father's resting place.

When he was alive his dad would always give him advice and help him solve his problems. After the car crash that killed him on impact his entire family grieved and cried for days, he had to pull himself together and become the man of the household for his widowed mother and little sister. Now his visits his dad as if he was next to him to help him solve his problems and right now this was the biggest of them all. After Jonathan Francis Knight's death they had to move into an apartment because they couldn't afford the house with their mom's salary and Kendall's part time job.

The bills started to pile and their mom had to start working like a dog. Her normal red hair lost some color and was a bit disheveled, she lost a bit of weight and her skin color was lighter than usual making her look sick, and she had dark rings underneath her eyelids disguising them with make-up. It made Kendall's heart break at his mom's state as for Katie, she missed her dad and had to learn how to cook for herself and Kendall because of their mom working long hours, she doesn't have enough time to cook for her children, much to her dismay. They both designed a schedule so they could both do household work and let their mom get some sleep. School is no different except for turning late work and looking like they're going to collapse any minute, thankfully their teachers understood and gave them extra time to complete them and study for tests.

The rest of the family tried to help as much as they could, but they had their own problems due to the economy. It was a miracle his mom found three jobs in these troubles times, but they don't know if or when she will be laid off and with college coming up for Kendall…it was too much for him. The only time he had to think was at the cemetery or pushing carts at the grocery store he worked at.

Their salvation came when one of Jennifer's old friends, Emily, gave his mom a proposition when she came over for a visit. Emily's daughter was a girl named Jo, she was pretty, but Kendall didn't like her the way she did since they were kids. He only saw her as a friend nothing more nothing less. However Jo didn't see it that way and wanted more so the deal was marrying Jo so they could have her money that will save his family from debt or be poor and let their deficit increase. Much to Jennifer's dismay Kendall agreed as long as it helped his family.

Jo was ecstatic and immediately started organizing her 'dream' wedding. She got her dress, the flowers, the invitations were sent out and got Kendall's suit. She picked out the location and made their vowels, she even chose Katie to be her bridesmaid to gain his appreciation.

Kendall dealt with it without a single complain and kept his mouth shut tight to the point where his gums began to hurt from too much clenching. What Jo or his mom and sister didn't know was that he liked both girls and guys. The last person he told was his dad, after he found out a magazine with doodles on half naked men and women next to a dildo and a half bottle of lube. For a few days he was upset and quiet, but later confronted him and surprised Kendall when he hugged him and said that it didn't matter because he was his son and he loved him. That was two months before his death and now he has no one to talk to except his best friend and best man for the wedding, Carlos Garcia.

The latino went to the funeral and helped him as much as Kendall would let him, but he was too stubborn to ask for help. Carlos was there to support him as well as his family who knew the Knight's since their sons became friends in pre-school.

The blonde sighed, "what am I going to do dad?" he asked quietly, his only answer was the small gust of winds in the middle of fall.

He heard a rustling of leaves and turned to see no one there, before he had a chance to blink he felt a hand on his shoulder. With a startled expression he turned to see Bill the caretaker of the cemetery with a small mile on his face. He was an old man in his late sixties with a blue cap on his head covering his bald spot with a few gray hairs above his ear, wrinkles underneath his eyes and nose due to age and was wearing winter clothes.

"Hey there Kendall," he greeted showing his teeth and a quiet, but firm voice. "Didn't expect you to be here so late?"

Kendall became a familiar visitor to the point as he thought of Bill as a close friend and vice versa and sometimes ate lunch with him. Bill lived in a small house near the entrance of the cemetery near his wife's grave after her untimely end. He decided to live here to be closer to her and visit her whenever he can. Many thought it was strange, but he loved her and decided that when he dies he will be buried next to her and meet her in heaven so they could be reunited. Kendall smiled at the old man and got up shaking his legs to gain some feeling back after being so long seated.

"You know how it is when you're not doing something time seems to fly by."

He gave him a knowing smile, "yes I do. Still I didn't expect you to stay so late."

"What time is it?"

"It's almost six."

"Huh," he looked up to see the sun nearly setting on the horizon, "didn't realize that."

"Best get going or your mother will be worried sick thinking where you are."

"I will; thanks Bill."

"See you soon?" he asked

He nodded, "maybe tomorrow, bye."

"Have a goodnight Kendall."

He watched Bill wave at him before he walked away leaving him alone, Kendall placed his fingers to his lips before touching his father's gravestone and saying a quiet goodbye. He reluctantly picked up and folded the copy of the vowels and placed it in his pocket before he took out his beanie placing it on his head then started to walk towards the entrance of the cemetery.

Kendall stopped when he was near the entrance in front of an old gate, it was an old part of the cemetery from the eighteen hundreds. The gate was unlocked and was open to the public, however no one ventured inside because of the dead trees and crumbling stones of what was once used to be graves making it look eerily creepy. It was said that there were spirits roaming in cemetery trying to find their bodies so they could come back to life and continue to be with the living, but that was an urban legend. One that made sure kids wouldn't stay up too late at night, Kendall always stopped in front of it contemplating whether to go in or not, he never went in, but knew that it was a short cut to his house. He could be there in ten minutes instead of thirty if he went through.

Every time he stopped and thought about going through he will shake his head making his decision and kept on walking, today was no different. He left without a look back wondering what Katie was making for dinner tonight.

I love the movie The Corpse Bride, I watched it one time and this thought popped out and decided to make a story...it won't come out like the movie I have a differnt plot and ending in mind...tell me what you think and I hope you liked the chapter.