Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Rhett, Link, their families, or any aspects of their life. The only character in here who does not exist in real life is a name mentioned in passing. I do not claim to know that much about Rhett and Link's home life or work outside of what is known by the general public or Mythical Beasts.
Link sat in the chair and stared straight ahead. His elbows leaned on his knees, the weight of his upper body pushing into his thighs starting to make them ache. But Link was far from physical awareness.
"Link?"
"Rhett? What's up, man?"
He tried to do that thing that Christy seemed to have mastered, where he held the phone on his shoulder and pinned it with his ear while continuing to work. However, Link could only keep it stable for a few seconds as he went on making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before the cell phone slowly began to slide down his shoulder. He quickly reached up with his right hand to catch it and pressed it back to his ear as Rhett sighed and responded.
"I just got off the phone with Morgan. He wants us to come back in and look at the footage from Monday."
Link frowned as he switched to his dominant hand and kept making his lunch with one hand. "What? Now? It's Saturday, man, and our day off."
"I know, brother, I know, but Stevie's told us again and again how behind we are on production already, and it sounds like this is going to be another setback."
Frustration boiled inside of Link at both this unexpected and upsetting information, along with his troubles with the sandwich. He was trying to smear peanut butter on by anchoring the bread on the lip of the plate and dragging the butter-covered knife across it. However, instead of accepting the spread, the bread tore apart and made crumbs collect on the sticky utensil.
"Rhett, I can't . . . " Link shot a look at his three kids, sitting at the kitchen table across the room, laughing with each other and ignoring their father's conversation. "I already promised the kids I'd spend time with them today. Play some games, watch a movie."
Rhett sighed. "Well, Morgan asked if we could be there within the hour. Maybe if we get over to the studio and get everything sorted out quick, you can still get back and hang out with the kids."
Considering the week they'd been having, Link didn't think that was going to work for a single minute, but he found himself agreeing, anyway, and driving the car over to pick up Rhett.
"Link?"
He looked over his shoulder to see his wife standing at the doorway. Her honey blonde hair was curled and pinned into a becoming hairstyle that let several ringlets fall and grace her shoulders loosely. The black dress she was wearing seemed to bring out the makeup on her face, though he could see, even from this far away, that her mascara was already starting to run.
Link lowered his head to face his feet, wondering how, after everything that was happening, Christy still managed to keep the dark eyelash enhancer under control – of all the things to keep under control in this out-of-control life Link seemed to be living.
"How are we possibly going to fit that into the schedule?" Link hissed at Rhett. "We can hardly keep up with our schedule as it is, and now we have to add on pickups?"
Rhett shot a glance into the office where Morgan was on the phone with Stevie, their producer. The two of them had stepped out to let them talk and also have privacy to talk themselves. However, Rhett worried that Link's angrily rising tone would cut through the closed door, anyway.
"Calm down, man. We can make this work."
Link had started pacing up and down the hall. "No. No, we really can't make it work, man," he mocked. "If we have to redo that scene, it means redoing costume and makeup, going back to the location with the crew, doing all the set up and tear down again, actually filming the scene again, as many times as it takes to not have strange people in the background this time! Whoever missed them in the shot, anyway!?"
"Link, brother. Calm down. Freaking out isn't going to help us now."
Link stopped to glare at his best friend. "When are we going to film, Rhett? When? It's going to take at least an afternoon to get all of that done again, and we're supposed to be releasing this music video at the beginning of next month!"
"We'll have to take one of our vacation days. We can't do it any other time."
"One of the few days we have left," Link growled, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. He sincerely loved his job as a YouTuber, but trying to juggle production for main channel videos, filming their daily talk show, and doing all the required steps in between – on top of normal life as a dad and husband – was more than stressful for the thirty-seven-year-old.
"Link." Rhett took him by the shoulders this time. "Seriously. We will make this work. We'll stay and talk with Stevie and get something planned for next week."
Link wasn't sure if he was going to explode or completely cave in. He couldn't even work out an answer.
"We've had to deal with difficulties before, worse than this," Rhett reassured the younger man. "We'll make it."
Link had known it couldn't be true at the time, but he didn't realize to what extent it wouldn't be true. However, all those weeks ago, he'd tried to calm down, to work with Rhett and the crew to make it happen. And it was the only reason he'd ended up here.
Link just barely raised his head as Christy walked down to the front of the church and knelt beside him. "Link, people are going to be here in less than a half hour. You can't stay here."
He felt the tears run down his face again, but he couldn't wipe them off before they dropped onto his suit. With no strength to lift his head, he choked, "I can't . . . how are we supposed to go out there, Christy?"
His wife's blue eyes watered as she lifted his chin and looked at him with a concerned and loving yet broken expression. "I don't know. But we do. It's only a few hours, Link."
It was a little later than Rhett had predicted when they were able to leave the office. It was almost suppertime, and Link hoped there would still be enough time to hang out with the kids. He'd combatted his anger now and was in a better mood, at least, though he still carried his doubts about the video.
When he walked in, Lily was sitting at the kitchen table, though the boys were nowhere to be seen. He greeted his daughter with a ruffle of her hair and a "Hey, kiddo," but she didn't smile. "What's wrong?"
"You promised you were going to hang out with me, Lincoln, and Lando this afternoon," she mumbled.
Link crouched beside her. "I know, and I'm sorry. Some stuff came up at work, and I had be to gone longer than I thought. But hey, there's still tonight. I'm not going anywhere."
Lily raised her blue eyes but still didn't smile. "You promise?"
"Absolutely."
Link kept that promise. He spent the night with his kids, and the four of them ended up having a great time. What he didn't know was that it would be the last time, the last promise.
"Daddy? Mommy?"
Link looked over his shoulder to see the two boys standing where their mother had been only moments ago. The sight of them in their little suits made Link want to smile at how grownup they were becoming, but it also brought more tears to his eyes, for the reason they had to wear them.
"Boys." Christy's address, while broken, was heartfelt, and the children hurried down to hug her and Link. They were crying, too.
"It's gonna be okay," Christy whispered. "We'll all get by."
Both Link and Christy were well aware of the fact that her statement wasn't true, but they had obligations to their kids, to protect them. Especially now that he had already failed there once.
The video ended up sapping any other time he had to spend with his family. The vacation day they originally planned to spend on an outing together was rededicated to filming. Evenings that he usually spent with his wife and kids were now taken up with meetings of editing and production, with the release drawing nearer and the task looming larger.
Christy was slightly frustrated, but she did her best to take care of the kids and make due without having much time with her husband. The boys were disappointed, but they were the quickest to distract themselves with other things. Lily was the hardest. She looked forward to those nights and times as a family, and hardly seeing her dad all those weeks was upsetting and angering her.
That Friday morning, as Link was ready to head out for the studio and another day at work, he ruffled his boys' hair goodbye, kissed Christy, and rubbed Lily's shoulder. While the others were eager to respond – give him a hug goodbye or return his farewell – Lily stayed still in her chair at the breakfast table. She only stiffened when Link's hand met her arm and heightened her focus on a very uninteresting-looking bowl of cereal.
"Bye, Lily blossom," he grinned, his favorite nickname for her. But when she ignored him, he frowned. "Lily?"
"Go away."
"Hey." He crouched beside her, looking into the blue eyes that matched his own. "Talk to me, sweetie. What's goin' on?"
"You're spending all your time at work. And you act like a goodbye is good enough?"
Link drew back a little. "Lily . . . sweetie . . . I'm sorry."
"No, if you were sorry, you'd do something about it."
"I . . . I can't. Once we have the video up in a few days, then I can make it up–"
"You can't, Dad! You've been busy for weeks!"
"Lily–"
She shoved his arm away. "No. Just . . . go to work. Do your more important things. Nothing you have to say will make up for what you're not doing."
Silence hung. Christy exchanged a glance with Link, who, after a second, stood and backed away. "I'm sorry, Lily. Even if you don't believe it, I am."
She ignored him.
"Well . . . have a good time at Melissa's tonight, okay?"
"Like you care," Lily shot back before closing up again.
The argument was still echoing in Link's head when he got to the studio, and he had a hard time pushing it from his mind long enough to record the daily episode of Good Mythical Morning. When they finally called cut, he excused himself and stepped outside. When Christy picked up, he greeted her in a solemn tone.
"Can I talk to Lily?" he asked, and waited while breathing in the April air. However, when he heard a voice on the phone, it was Christy again, returning with the news that Lily refused to speak with him. Disappointed, he said goodbye and hung up.
Link wasn't sure he had the strength to leave that chair, but he forced himself to rise and follow Christy and the boys from the large room. They'd gotten the church set up last night, and the poster boards of photos bordering the reception hall reflected the new morning's sunlight. Unable to look at them and be reminded that those last memories they held would stay forever trapped in the paper, he averted his eyes and headed down the stairs after his wife and kids. In the basement dining hall and kitchen, they checked with the staff to make sure the customary meal would be ready after the service. Reassured that everything would be prepared on time, they walked back upstairs to await the crowd soon to arrive.
Link tried calling the house again later in the day, this time receiving no response. Then he remembered that it was late afternoon now and the time Christy was supposed to be taking Lily to Melissa's house for a sleepover. Lincoln and Lando had already scheduled to play at Rhett's house with his boys, Locke and Shepherd, for the day and were already over there. Originally, it was going to be a special night just for him and Lily to hang out, go to dinner and watch a movie, as father and daughter. However, after it became clear that Link was too busy that night, Lily had, with upset reluctance, accepted a previous invitation from a friend to stay overnight for a birthday party.
Quickly dialing Christy's cell phone number, Link held the phone to his ear. He, hoped they were still driving and that he might be able to catch the two before they reached Melissa's house. However, it rang over and over again in his ear with no voice to stop the never-ending chime and greet him. Disappointment slowing his movements, Link lowered the phone, deflating. Christy must have dropped off Lily already, was now driving, and couldn't answer the phone. Now there was no way he could talk to Lily until tomorrow when she came back home.
Link pressed to end the call and slipped his phone back into the pocket of his jeans. He stayed leaning against the outer wall of the studio for a moment, letting the wind bash against his upturned wave of brown hair. With a sigh, he turned to head back in.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." The familiar phrase greeted Link's ears, and he only nodded and forced an insincere smile in response. It was at least better than many other phrases he'd heard since people starting coming in, like "it was time" or "she's in a better place now." Wearily, Link had to admit that they were just trying to be helpful and courteous, and they didn't really know what else to say in the face of such a tragedy. Link didn't really know what to say either, but he knew that the ill-phrased attempts at soothing his misery were only insults to the situation.
It wasn't time at all, Link thought. If I just made time away from work, drew the line that night and stayed home . . . . If only Melissa had never scheduled that darn sleepover and I didn't leave the evening open for her to go . . . .
It really was all Link's fault.
"Christy?"
She was the one to phone him this time, and he'd had to step out of a meeting to accept the call. But on the line now, his wife wasn't speaking, and he was having a hard time hearing what was happening on the other end.
"Christy?" he tried again.
"Link . . . " she finally choked out, and Link's fear spiked.
"Christy, what's going on?"
"Link . . . there was an accident . . . "
"What? Christy, where are you?"
"The hospital. Link . . . "
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? I'm leaving right now – I'll be there as soon as I can." Link grabbed his keys and ran for his car without a goodbye to Rhett or the crew.
"I'm fine, Link." There was a long pause as her sobs built and filled the speaker. "Link, it's . . ."
Link jumped in his van and started the engine. He was screeching out onto the road in seconds' time. "Christy, baby, what's happening?"
"The accident . . . Lily . . . "
Link's vision narrowed, his breath stopping at the mention of his daughter, and the car almost went off the road. He managed to keep driving, but before he could address Christy again, a voice from the other end cut into the line: "Ms. Neal?"
Christy didn't speak again after that, and he couldn't hear what the new voice said, but Christy's screaming cries were more than enough. In that moment, without words, he knew he was never going to see his daughter again.
Link sat through the service without hearing a word. When it was his turn to give a eulogy for Lily, he just managed to deliver the small speech he had prepared without breaking down. They drove to the cemetery plot they'd picked out, and everyone gathered around the casket. It sat, waiting to be lowered into the ground, though that time wouldn't come until after everyone returned to the church.
When the preacher finished his talk, everyone began heading back to the church for lunch. Link, however, stepped up to the casket. Everyone but Christy and the boys had dispersed, and the three of them watched him with silent tears, the woman's arms around the shoulders of her sons.
Shaking, Link withdrew a lily from the bouquet atop the closed box, then set the rest of the flowers on the ground. Slowly he opened the lid and looked down at his daughter, the last time he would ever set eyes on her. Even pale, stiff, her eyes closed in death, Lily was still pretty. Link cast his watering eyes down to the flower in his hand. It, too, was beautiful. Both lilies had been blossoming, gorgeous, full of life and color, then chopped off in their prime. The flower was not yet limp or dry, and his daughter was as beautiful as ever . . . even in her coffin and final resting place.
"Goodbye . . . Lily blossom." Link could hardly choke out the words. His fingers shaking, he tucked the flower into the girl's closed fingers, lowered the lid, and turned. He walked away forever, leaving behind the two fallen lilies.