So this whole 5 months later thing is not flying with me so I did another glimpse into what I think the funeral would look like in my head and how Emily would cope. Brief look at drunk Emily cuz I find her both cute and tragic.
Every kid has nightmares and when they wake up it's their parents' job to assure them that it's going to be ok; that what they felt was just a bad dream. Pam would have given anything to be able to tell her daughter that the hell she was living through was nothing more than a bad dream, but it wasn't: this nightmare was real. In the days following the body being discovered Emily was upset, but rarely said anything. When they confirmed that it was indeed Maya, she spoke, but it was usually through sobs and tearful outbursts. Her friends helped her through the worst of it and her mother was there during the nights the girls weren't, but Emily seemed to be completely heartbroken and there were times no one knew how to help her.
On this particular night Pam literally couldn't find her daughter. She had already called Veronica and Ashley who checked with their daughters who confirmed they hadn't seen their friend since that day at school. Her last ditch effort was a call to Ella to see if Aria had seen Emily. Ella picked up the phone on the third ring, "Montgomery residence."
"Ella, it's Pam."
"Pam? What's up, you sound a little frantic. Everything alright?"
"No, I can't find Emily."
"When you say you can't find her…"
"She left for a run 3 hours ago and she never would have been gone this long and not called me. She isn't at your house is she?"
"Byron took the kids to a late movie, the house has been empty other than me for several hours." Ella could hear the frustrated sigh from the other end of the call. "I gotta go look for her, what if she's hurt, what if she…"
"Pam don't go jumping to a lot of scary conclusions." At that moment the doorbell rang and Ella went to answer it while she tried to calm Pam down. When she opened the door Toby was standing there with Emily cradled in his arms. Ella looked at the girl and she looked fine, just passed out, that and she could smell the alcohol on her. "Pam she just showed up on my doorstep, she's fine."
"What, really? I'll come over and get her."
"Pam she's pretty out of it, she can stay here for the night." Ella tried to make it sound better than telling the woman her daughter was blacked out drunk.
"She's drunk isn't she?"
"How did you know that?"
"It's been happening a lot lately. Christ Ella, I have a teenage daughter whose an alcoholic, what kind of parent am I?"
"Pam, first off, she is hardly an alcoholic, she's just depressed out of her mind and you are a wonderful mother, none of us would know what to do in this situation."
"I'm getting really sick of all this crap happening to my child."
"I know, Emily is the last person in the world to deserve any of this, but for right now let's just take things one step at a time. Emily can stay here tonight and I'll bring her home tomorrow ok?"
"Thank you Ella."
"Don't mention it, I'll call you in the morning." She hung up the phone and headed over to the couch where Toby had put Emily. "The bar finally asked her if she wanted a ride home, when they realized she was a minor they figured they should just start calling friends instead calling her mother. I guess I answered first."
"Thank you for bringing her here."
"Your house was closest; I knew she'd be safe here." Toby turned to leave, "I'll call her tomorrow when she doesn't feel too hung over." Ella closed the door behind him and turned back to Emily. She got her shoes off and covered her with a blanket before heading upstairs. When everyone came home Mike decided to stay with a friend so it was just Aria, Emily and Aria's parents staying in the house that night. Ella explained what happened and everyone decided they could talk about it more in the morning. Ella checked on the drunk teenager once more before she went upstairs to bed. Emily opened her eyes for a moment.
"She's still dead isn't she?" Ella took a deep breath, "yeah honey she is, I'm sorry Emily."
"S'ok, I'm going to sleep now…she's still alive in my dreams." Ella's heart broke for the girl on her couch; she had been through more heartache then most people her age and she somehow kept going and Ella hoped she could overcome this hurdle too. She locked up and headed upstairs for the night. The next morning Byron had to go pick up his suit from the tailor for the funeral and Mike went with him leaving the girls alone in the house. Ella came downstairs only to see Aria standing at the bottom of the staircase. She could hear the soft notes coming from the piano and she wondered what was going on.
"Aria, what…" She was cut off when Aria held up her hand and gestured to the piano where Emily was sitting playing random notes softly. They stayed there watching her for a few moments before the notes became more organized and it was clear Emily was actually playing a song. Ella watched as the soft humming turned into signing and she stood perfectly still as she watched Emily play as though no one was watching.
May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when its time to go home (tears were already in Emily's eyes at that thought, but she pushed on.)
May you always have plenty May your tears come from laughing
The glass never empty
Know in your belly
You're never alone
You find friends worth having
With every year passing
They mean more than gold
May you win but stay humble,
Smile more than grumble
And know when you stumble
You're never alone
Never alone
Never alone
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone
Emily brushed the tears away and managed to smile a little as she looked at the picture of her and Maya she usually kept in her pocket, but was now sitting on the piano.
Well May the angels protect you Never alone
I have to be honest
As much as I want it
I'm not gonna promise the cold winds won't blow
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone
Never alone
Never alone
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when its time to go home
And when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone
Never alone
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you, stay with you
Baby you're never alone
That last line she sung without touching the piano keys.
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone
When she finished she took a deep breath and after kissing the photo, she put it back in her back pocket before standing up. She didn't realize she was being watched until Ella took a step into the living room, "you have a lovely voice Emily, it'd be a shame to waste it chugging vodka, don't you think?"
Emily looked guilty and surprised, "I didn't know anyone was listening, I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb you. I should head home anyway, my mom is already super mad and worried." Emily went to grab her jacket, but Ella stopped her, "you didn't disturb anyone and eating breakfast first won't hurt you." Aria followed her mom into the kitchen and sat down next to Emily. "I'm sorry I ended up crashing here…how did I get here anyway?"
"Toby dropped you off last night." Aria added into the conversation, "the bar you were at called him."
"I'll have to thank him. Really, I should head home; I have to meet with the funeral director and Maya's mom this afternoon and I don't want to smell like vodka and bad decisions." Emily forced a smile and Ella looked at her as if she could see through the fake smile. Before Emily reached the door Ella stopped her, "Emily wait." The teenager turned to face her best friend's mother. "I know that this week has been hell and the funeral is going to make it that much worse, but you have friends, real ones, that love you. They don't want to lose you to a bottle of cheep alcohol. Let them in, let them carry you through this, you do not have to do this alone."
"Sometimes I think I should, do it by myself, apparently everyone I love ends up dead. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because they have me as a friend."
"Emily, you couldn't ditch these girls if you tried." Ella showed her a picture of the girls taken about a year ago; they looked happy, honestly happy. "They are going to love you through it honey, that is what friends do, what family does. Think about that when you think that another shot of vodka sounds good, because without friends like this you wouldn't have made it here last night." Ella turned to walk back to Aria and Emily walked out the door.
I am going to make this a two shot so I'll do one more chapter. Today was my great aunt's funeral and I have had this song on repeat all day long. This gets me through the grieving so I hope you enjoyed it.