Lea would stare at her phone for hours in the days after Cory left. She was hoping that Cory would text or call her apologizing. She didn't want to lose him literally right after she lost her dad.

The Tuesday after her dad died they had the funeral. Edith and Lea were giving about an hour to themselves with Marc in the casket. While Edith prayed in front of the casket Lea stood in the back of the room with only a few tears going down her face. She knew that in only about an hour or so she would be hearing "I'm sorry for your loss," and all those things that the people would be saying. She wasn't ready for it.

When her mom was finished she went to the bathroom to clean up. Lea watched her walk out of the room and slowly approached the casket. They had decided to have an open casket, even if he had little hair. When she looked down at him she could swear she could see him breathing. She placed a hand on his heart and her other hand flew to her mouth before she sobbed loudly. She slightly looked to the left; there were a few poster boards with pictures of Marc and a bunch of people; some of who she didn't know and some of who she knew well. There was even a picture of Marc and Cory.

She looked back down at her father. "I'm going to miss you. I need to let you go, Cory was right. I can't hold onto someone who's gone forever. I understand that. But a few days ago-I, I just couldn't. I don't want you to be gone, but you are and there is nothing I can do. Daddy I'm setting you free and letting you go. This doesn't mean I'm going to forget you, it just means I'm not going to be crying every minute that I realize you're gone."

She heard her mom sniffle. Lea couldn't really tell that she was probably crying a river right now. "Daddy, Cory and I got in a fight because I wouldn't let you go. He told me things about his family that he wouldn't tell anyone. I messed it all up though. I've been waiting for days for him to apologize to me, but now I'm starting to think maybe it's me that needs to apologize. I wish you were here to tell me what to do." Lea wiped some tears from under her eyes. "He was right. I can't hold on anymore, I can't let your death ruin me at all. I love you. Please remember that. I'll never forget you, I could never even think of that. It's been a hard few months so far, I mean with Jonathan and you and now Cory. I don't know how much more I can take of it. I love you, daddy." She kissed his forehead and whispered, "rest in peace" before walking away and walking right past her mom and outside under the balcony. It was raining that day, and Lea couldn't help but think that maybe rain in the perfect weather for a funeral. Rain can be sad and funerals are so sad. But rain could also be happy, she couldn't tell what she was right now. She had too many mixed emotions. But she knew one thing; she got closure with her father.

Xoxo

That day went by very slowly. The wake at the funeral home was almost over. Lea could see only about maybe a dozen more people to give there sadness to them.

Her heart stopped when she saw someone she thought she would never see again approach the casket. She put her hand over her mouth to stop from screaming. She only cried more.

Before she knew it he was walking toward her mom. "Oh sweetie." Her mom said. "Thank you for coming." She hugged him and he said his sorry's and walked over to Lea. She wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"How are you here?" She asked him.

"I'm so sorry about your dad." He said.

"Jonathan…" She breathed as they continued to hug. "I thought I'd never see or hear from you again." She said not letting go of him.

"I know. I'm so sorry." He didn't loosen his grip on her he just made it tighter as Zach walked up behind him and hugged her mom. He came and stood behind Jonathan as he slowly pulled away and Zach got a tight hug from Lea before having her pull away and look down at the ground.

"Cory's not here?" Jonathan asked.

"H-he broke up with me. Well, at least I think he did. He said 'he didn't know where we stood.' I don't know what that means." She said through her tears. She felt his arms go around her again and this time she pulled away only after a few seconds. "I don't really want to think about it right now." She shook her head as she pulled away.

"I understand." He started to back away with Zach. "We'll be sitting over next to you guys for the little service." She nodded and they went to sit.

They had about two or three more people to talk to before they sat down. Lea rested her head on Jonathan's shoulder and she wrapped her hand fully in his; like she was never going to let go.

The service started with the preacher man speaking about how he slightly knew Marc, only because he would occasionally go to church with Edith and Lea even though he wasn't catholic like they were.

"Edith, you said you would like to say some things?" The preacher said and her mother rose from her seat.

"Yeah." She barely whispered. Lea could hear the door creek open but didn't bother to look because her attention was toward her mother.

"So. I don't really want to talk about like when I met him. I want to talk more about the last few weeks of his life, it that is okay with you guys." Lea looked up at her mom and her mom slightly smiled. "And maybe Lea would like to say a few things after." Lea slowly shook her head and her mom gave her a look that said 'you will want you even if you don't want to.'

"So, um when Lea came out here to New York about a month ago she was given good news, but also bad news like I was given also. Marc had woken up from the coma, but they found out he had lung cancer. Lea, C-and I, Lea and I stayed with him a lot. Well at night Lea would head back to the apartment and spend the nights there. I hope and truly believe that we made his last few weeks his favorite weeks he has ever lived. I know I will definitely remember them. Lea you brought things that your father and I loved, not just while you were here but while you were growing up. I love you Lea, and you let your father rest in the place he needs to be. You let go. He loves you and you love him. Don't worry about that. I love him and I'll never forget him." She nodded and sat back down.

"Lea, you have something you written, would you like to read it." The preacher.

"I can't." She whispered.

"I'll read it, come on." Jonathan said and stood up and took her hand. They stood behind the little podium they had there and Jonathan opened Lea's letter she wrote down.

"I'm Jonathan if you don't know who I am." He smiled at the crowd as Lea put her arm around his back as he did the same to her and she snuggled into his side. "Now these are all of Lea's words." He started to read the letter. "Daddy, I love you. I don't know how many times I have to say it for you to figure that out. I'm trying my best to do what's best for me. Trying to let go like Cory said. He loves you daddy, I can tell, he gets this look in his eyes when we would go to see you. You may have not known him for long, but you've known him long enough. It was you who said relationships-not just the ones with love-are going to be hard. I never wanted to believe you, but now I have every reason too. I will miss you more than you will ever know. I still feel you in my heart, I'll always feel your heart beating with mine. It's like your heart is beating with mine, at the same time. It's not going to be easy to let go of you but I have to do it. I love you and I know that if I want my life and relationships to go the distance I have to let go of the bad things in my life and just remember the good things. One good thing about-"

"Wait." Lea interrupted him. "I want to read the rest." Jonathan nodded and handed her the letter. "One good thing about my life in these last few months daddy has been Cory. He's not here anymore. He's the one that comforted me when I told him about Jonathan and when we found out about you he helped me. I want to share something with everyone, not just with you daddy. But when we first kissed-our first real kiss not our kiss that made us question ourselves-we knew what we both wanted. And that was to have someone who would help and love one another no matter what. Now can I still say I have that? Sadly, no. I made a bad decision and have lost almost all the important men in my life. But I know one thing when I think about any man, that they will care for you. Weather you are dating or are just friends, or not even friends. They will make sure that a woman they care about is safe. I want to thank you daddy. I will always remember you and I love you." She smiled and wiped her eyes as Jonathan brought her back to their seats.

xoxo

Her smile faded through out the day. And after her father was buried into the ground she thought she was loosing it. She could almost swear she had seen Cory through out the whole entire day, but she knew that that was impossible. He left, she knows he went back to L.A. because Seth posted a picture on Facebook of the guys at Seth's house enjoying the pool. And Seth only posted that just the day before.

She was forgetting him, slowly.

Xoxo

After her father was truly put to rest they had a dinner at a local hall. They all had just finished eating when Jonathan stood up and went to the small stage they had there; there was also a small band there just playing slow melodies. He handed them some sheet music and went and got the other microphone from the back. Then he stood in the middle with the other microphone beside his.

"Lea, do you think you can come up here?" He asked and Lea slowly stood up and walked up to the stage.

"This was one of Marc's favorite country songs. He was a country junkie at heart." Jonathan said and they heard a few chuckles from people in the big room. Slowly the music started and Jonathan took the lead.

She put him out like the burning end of a midnight cigarette.
She broke his heart: He spent his whole life trying to forget.
We watched him drink his pain away, a little at a time,
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind,
Until the night,

Lea joined him in the song.

He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger.
And finally drank away her memory.
Life is short, but this time it was bigger,
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees.
We found him with his face down in the pillow,
With a note that said: "I'll love her till I die."
And when we buried him beneath the willow,
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby.
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la,

Then Lea took the next verse of the sad song that was now making her cry, along with her mom and a few other people in the crowd.

The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself.
For years and years, she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath.
She finally drank her pain away, a little at a time.
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind.
Until the night,

Jonathan took Lea's hand when they sang the last parts of the song.

She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger.
And finally drank away his memory.
Life is short, but this time it was bigger,
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees.
We found her with her face down in the pillow,
Clinging to his picture for dear life.
We laid her next to him beneath the willow,
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby.
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la.

La la la la la la la la...La la la la la la la...

There were claps soon in the room. "Thank you." Lea whispered.

"One more?" Someone in the crowd said. Lea looked over at Jonathan and nodded her head.

"Kissed you?" Lea whispered into Jonathan ear.

"He loved that one too." She nodded and the music started and Jonathan again took the lead; while he sang she looked at him and put her hands on the microphone.

I dropped you off
Just a little after midnight
Sat in my car
Till you turned off your porch light
I should have kissed you
I should have pushed you up against the wall
I should have kissed you
Just like I wasn't scared at all

While he sang that Lea was remembering everything over the last few weeks. Then she joined in the song.

I turned off the car
Ran through the yard
Back to your front door
Before I could knock
You turned the lock
And met me on the front porch

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I've kissed you
It's a good night good night baby goodnight

Lea took her verse of the song.

You couldn't see me
Watching through the window
Wondering what went wrong
Praying that you wouldn't go
You should have kissed me
You should have pushed me up against the wall
You should have kissed me
I was right on the edge and ready to fall

As she sang that part of the song she was mostly looking down at either her hands on the ground. Jonathan joined her this time.

So I turned off the car
Ran through the yard
Back to your front door
Before I could knock
You turned the lock
And met me on the front porch

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I've kissed you
It's a good night good night baby goodnight

Lea looked at Jonathan and she had tears, she mouthed to him, "I miss him. Not just my dad." He nodded at her and put his arm around her as he sang.

I turned off the car
ran through the yard
back to your front door
Half scared to death can't catch my breath

They sang together for the rest of the song. But Lea was still looking down at the ground.

Aren't these the moments we live for

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I've kissed you
It's a good night good night baby goodnight

It's a good night good night baby goodnight

It's a good night good night baby goodnight

It's a good night good night baby goodnight

Just as soon as the music ended Lea was off the stage running toward the door into the bathroom. Jonathan and a few others went toward the door. She went into the bathroom and leaned up against the door so no one could come in.

She heard knocking. "Lea…open up Lea." Jonathan said. She didn't answer and after about ten minutes he just said leave her be and walked back to the room. A tall man aproached him.

"Are you Jonathan?" The man said.

"Yeah." He said to him.

"I'm Cory." Jonathan nodded then realized he was the Cory that broke Lea's heart.

"What are you doing here?" He asked him.

"I came to say goodbye to Marc." Cory said half truthfully.

"And you were here to say your sorry to Lea." Jonathan said more in a statement than a question.

"How did you know?" Cory chuckled.

"Why did you do it?" Jonathan asked. "Why did you try and push her into it?"

"I wanted her to let go, and honestly I just wanted her to be happy." Cory said putting his hands in his dress pants pockets.

"Happy? We're at her fathers funeral." Jonathan said.

"Yeah, I get that now. But I was controlling her and that's something I shouldn't do and if she wasn't ready to say goodbye then, then I shouldn't have pushed her. I should've let her say goodbye at her own pace. Is she okay?" Cory asked looking toward the bathroom door that was about twenty feet away.

"I don't know, she won't answer." Jonathan said.

"Can I try?" Cory asked.

"Go right ahead." Jonathan said and Cory walked over to the door and instead of knocking he started to sing just a little bit.

God damn you're beautiful to me

You're everything.

The door slowly opened and Lea took a sharp breath in.

"Hi." Cory said quietly.

Lea already had tears in her eyes. She slowly walked up to him and hugged him, his arms went right around her.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry." Cory said over and over in her ear.

"No." Lea pulled away. "I am, I wouldn't grow up and accept my dad is gone." Lea said putting her hands into his.

"No, no. I shouldn't have pushed you, you should've taken as much time as you needed. I was getting my past get in the way." Cory said to her.

"I love you." She said kind of just blurting it out.

He smiled at her. "I love you too." He leaned down and kissed her lightly. Then he brang them back into the room to say goodbyes to the people who had come to say goodbye to her dad.

She didn't plan on telling him that; well at least not at a funeral; but she was happy that she did. Mostly because he said it back with no hesitation.


i dont own the songs. i love reviews and you guys. um so wont post till at least friday night now. okay :) well monchele happiness.

xoxo

jackie