Chapter 2: Forehead
Blue stood outside the reading room, staring blankly at the wall as she tugged absentmindedly on the hem of her dress. She'd made it from material Mr. Grey had bought her for Persephone's funeral with Gwenllian's unwanted help. It was black as Ronan's mind and what remained of her young, shattered heart. Tugging at the short black, lace gloves Gwenllian had 'found' lying about the house, Blue pushed the door open without knocking.
Maura, Calla and Mr. Grey fell silent, looking over to her. They were dressed as darkly as she was, but carried a much less somber air about them. The only brightness of the three was the glaringly white bangles ringing Calla's wrists.
"Mom, Calla, please do a reading for me," Blue said, pulling out the remaining of the four chairs around the table. She slumped into it heavily, running her fingers over the scarred surface of the table.
"Mr. Grey, would you go into the drawer and get out Calla's and my decks, please?" Maura asked politely, pointing to a small dresser against a wall.
Nodding, Mr. Grey retrieved the decks and set them in front of their respective owners, and took his seat once more.
"Blue," Maura said, passing the decks to her.
Blue shuffled them without flurry or preamble, passing them back.
For only a moment, the pair decided on the pattern to layout. Quickly, they spread the cards across the table. With pursed lips, they scanned over the cards with focused eyes. Heading the procession was Blue's card, the Page of Cups.
Calla hummed quietly, eyebrows quirked up. "Well, this is interesting, don't you agree, Maura?"
"I'm not sure interesting is the word I would use," Maura replied, standing from her chair to lean further over the cards, nose scrunching in concentration.
Blue perked up, looking between the two women. "What is it?"
"Well, you won't be killing any more true loves, that's past, but everything with Glendower and your Raven Boys isn't over just yet," Calla told her as Maura's face dropped into something grim and she leaned further over the cards, as if getting closer to them would help her to see more clearly.
When Maura looked up at her daughter though, only a smile graced her face. "As always, you're so full of potential that it's overflowing. Remember that."
"How could I ever forget?" Blue asked with five shades of sourness to her voice, "It obviously hasn't helped me thus far." She stood with a murmured, "Thank you," exiting the room. She didn't miss the look Maura and Calla exchanged though.
…..
Adam, Ronan and Blue were silent as they watched Gansey's casket being lowered into the welcoming earth. Mrs. Gansey sobbed loudly beside Helen's silent tears and Mr. Gansey's attempted comfort and strength. Maura, Calla, Mr. Grey and Artemis stood just apart from the group, waiting by the cars.
Tears slipped down Blue's cheeks, hot and silent, and suddenly, she was being pulled beneath one arm with another wrapping around her waist. The white bangles Calla had forced upon her and the boys once they'd stepped from Ronan's BMW jangled on their wrists.
Leaning into Ronan's shoulder, she let a hiccup slip passed her lips. She'd cried so much in the past week, she'd been certain she had no more tears left to shed, but her body had found more just for the occasion. Tears may not become the Sargent women, but they certainly clung to the Sargents like a lifeline.
Ronan's large hand pressed her head into his shoulder. "It'll be fine, Blue, we'll be fine, everything will be fine. It always is," he told her gently, more gently than anyone could have imagined him to be.
They stayed like that for hours, Ronan and Blue and Adam and at some point Noah with his own flashing white bangle, though he'd faded soon after, all curled in each other. They stayed there after the crowd left, and they stayed there after Gansey's family left, only passing a few words of comfort to them before they couldn't hold it together any longer. They were there after the sun had set and after the rain had begun to pour, turning the grass to mud.
Umbrellas popped open over their heads, startling the trio back into reality. "Come on, kids, let's go home. Staying here won't bring him back, and getting sick isn't going to make him rest easy," Maura said gently, a soft hand resting on Adam's shoulder.
Silently, they nodded. Blue stared at the grave for a moment longer, pulling one of the bangles from her wrist and placing it on the soaked stone of his headstone. Turning slowly, she followed her family back to the cars.
Artemis stopped her in the grass before the sidewalk, pulling her into a warm hug. "Don't worry, my girl, it may hurt now, but it will get better."
"How do you know?" she asked, voice muffled against his chest and the thick black button-up he wore.
"I have lived many, many years, more lifetimes than you can imagine. I know these things," he told her. Releasing her from his embrace, he pressed a kiss gently to her forehead.
