Naia's POV

It was late. Not super late. But late enough that I was already washed up for bed, in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized CFD t-shirt, snuggled up on one of the couches.

"Hey," Gabby said, sitting down next to me. "We need to talk about something."

I nodded, sleepily looking up at her, "Yeah, sure, what's up?"

"I double-checked with Matt," Gabby started, "Uh, Jane. Jane's funeral is this Saturday."

Looking away, I nodded, a lump forming in my throat. I quickly cleared it and tried to keep my voice steady as I spoke. "Okay, yeah." As hard as I tried, it didn't work and there was no way Gabby didn't notice the waver.

"I just thought you should know," Gabby explained and I nodded again.

Neither of us spoke, but the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. Slowly and hesitantly, I leaned against Gabby who then wrapped an arm around me.

"Jane was so smart," I whispered, surprising myself. "When we were locked away, in the room, she had this way of keeping track of time."

"Yeah?" Gabby mumbled into my hair and I nodded.

"She would always give us a five-minute warning before they came to feed us. She could tell whether it was day, or night, even though there weren't any windows to see outside," I kept going.

Gabby stroked my hair, not saying anything. I didn't want her to say anything. I didn't want to say anything.

"There wasn't anything else you could have done," Gabby told me but I shook my head.

"Why did she die?" I whispered though I knew Gabby didn't have the answer. "It's not fair."

Gabby nodded, "I know."

"What time is it?" I asked. "Jane's funeral."

"It starts at two in the afternoon," Gabby replied, running her fingers through my long hair.

I let out a shaky breath as I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes. Before I could stop myself, I had started crying.

"I'm sorry," I apologized between sobs.

Gabby pulled me closer, "It's okay, don't be sorry."

I shook my head and buried it into Gabby's side while she continued stroking my head and comforting me.

"It's not fair," I cried. "Why did she have to die? She didn't do anything!"

Gabby nodded, "I know, I know."

I opened my mouth to speak but I realized that I had nothing to say.

That's a lie.

There was so much I could have told Gabby. What exactly happened that day, from the start to the end.

I couldn't though.

The words just didn't seem to come out, though I knew I played a huge role in that. Part of me didn't want to tell her what happened that day.

"Where do we go when we die?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

"Nobody knows for sure, but different people have different options, thoughts I guess," Gabby replied, her voice soft and comforting.

I nodded, "What do you think?"

"What do I think happens when we die?" Gabby asked and I nodded again.

Gabby took a moment to think before responding. "I think that when we die, our souls stay the same but it's just in a different body, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," I mumbled quietly. "I understand."

Gabby nodded and we sat there in silence, neither of us talking.

"You know, Naia if you wanna talk..." Gabby started but I cut her off.

"I don't wanna talk about it," I murmured.

Gabby didn't push it. I was content snuggled against a safe person and right now, that's all I needed. It was peaceful and for a moment, I allowed myself to feel at peace.

Ambo 61, heart attack victim at 67 Pine Street

Gabby sighed and gently pried herself away from me but not before giving me a quick kiss on the forehead. I smiled at her briefly before she hurried off towards the apparatus floor.

I sighed and leaned against the back of the couch, closing my eyes as I did so. Now that I had Jane stuck in my mind, it was impossible to think of anything else. It was like when you have a catchy tune in your head and can't stop humming it.

Jane's funeral was this Saturday and I was attending it.

I had to attend.

Well, I knew fully that I didn't have to but it didn't seem right now attending. I had let Jane down. I hadn't lived up to my promises. The most I could do was go to her funeral and pay my respects.

But part of me still didn't want to go.

Mind you, who wants to go to a funeral.

"Hey, you okay Munchkin?" Matt asked, coming over and taking a seat next to me. I looked up and forced a smile onto my face.

"Yeah," I nodded.

Matt raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"

"Of course," I replied, looking away, knowing that I'd crumple under Matt's gaze.

Matt nodded but he didn't get up. Instead, he leaned against the couch and stayed where he was.

"Don't you have paperwork you have to do?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Matt looked over at me, "I do, but paperwork can wait."

"Oh," was the stupid response I gave.

"You okay?" Matt asked me and I nodded unconvincingly. "You sure?"

"Jane's funeral's this weekend," I replied as if that covered everything.

Matt didn't say anything right away. He took a moment, almost as if he was debating what the best thing to say to me was.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Matt asked, reminding me of Gabby at the moment.

I shook my head, "No, not really."

"You know, I think it would help if you talked about it," Matt said, tentatively.

I shrugged, "What's there to talk about? Jane's dead. That's why it's her funeral is this weekend. Funerals are only for dead people." I didn't mean for my voice to be so cold, so harsh.

Matt nodded and didn't say anything while I scolded myself for talking to him like that. He was only trying to help and I knew that.

"Sorry," I mumbled, apologizing, "I didn't mean to sound like that."

"That's okay," Matt replied.

I pursed my lips and nodded, "I have to use the bathroom."

With that, I got up and walked away towards the bathroom. Making sure nobody was in there, I locked myself in the last stall and slumped against the wall, burying my head into my hands.

Before I knew it, the tears were falling.

Happy Valentine's Day.