Dallas, Texas

Hanging back, behind a large, leafy tree, Cliff Barnes observed the funeral from afar. The crowd that had gathered to pay their respects to Miss Ellie Ewing was large, telling him that all the things he'd heard about her from his father weren't exaggerations, she was well-loved. Digger had never been fond of Jock Ewing, but his wife was different. He couldn't say he'd ever had a proper conversation with the lady, Pam hadn't been a member of the family very long before they were gathered to farewell her, and at that time he'd been in no emotional state to hold a conversation with her former mother-in-law. Now, the group gathered to farewell the Ewing matriarch, taken prematurely, much like his sister, nephew, and his daddy. He'd gone a good stretch in his life with no loss, and then within the space of less than two months he'd lost three family members, it was cruel and unfair, but that was the way the world worked, he'd always known that.

Standing still, he watched as the crowd began to disperse, his mind wandering as he waited for an opportunity to approach and apologise to the lady herself. Perhaps he had no business hiding so he could pay his respects, perhaps he should have just stayed away, he wasn't sure he could though, his father had done something terrible and wasn't around any longer to express his regret or ask for forgiveness, but he was, and he felt it necessary to do.

"Barnes!" losing focus on the present as he thought about the past, he physically jumped with surprise when he heard the loud, angry voice addressing him and noticed four Ewing family members walking towards him quickly. Following behind the four were another two men and a girl he assumed to be Lucy, Jock and Miss Ellie's granddaughter, who all moved away from the area the moment it became apparent a confrontation was about to take place.

"JR, don't", a couple of feet behind JR Ewing stood his tall, beautiful wife, her wide, expressive eyes showing both the grief she clearly felt at the loss of her mother-in-law and the fear she felt at seeing her husband so angry.

"No, he needs to hear it", refusing to listen, JR responded to his wife without a hint of remorse; he was angry, rightfully, and he wasn't afraid to show it.

Motionless, he watched as the four Ewings came to a stop in front of him, and before they had a chance to attack him for what his family had done, he did what he knew was right and apologised, "I'm sorry Bobby, Jock, JR, Mrs Ewing". He'd intended to apologise only to Miss Ellie Ewing herself today, choosing to leave the in person confrontation until later when he'd approach Bobby first seeing as he was the one Ewing he knew best, but as the opportunity had presented itself, it seemed only appropriate.

"Thank you", nodding, Bobby was the first to speak; he looked every bit as broken as he likely felt having lost his wife, son and mother in such a short space of time, but still he was gracious.

Smiling weakly and nodding, Sue Ellen Ewing too made an effort to accept what he was offering, her husband and father-in-law were a different story though.

"Not so fast, sorry doesn't change what happened", gruff, JR proved himself to be exactly who he'd always heard he was. They'd crossed paths once or twice in years gone by and he'd never gotten the impression JR was a nice person; Pam's marriage into the Ewing family had reinforced that to him too as she'd never had anything kind to relay about JR, and now, their interaction was unpleasant to say the least.

"I know, and I understand that you must be angry and upset, I am too; I can't even begin to describe how badly I feel for your family. I am grieving the loss of my father, my sister, my nephew and now have the guilt of your family's losses on my shoulders too. We've both lost people we loved and for that I am so very sorry", apologising again, he looked at each of the Ewings, knowing instantly that his attempt to reveal the other side of the situation had resonated with some and only further annoyed others.

"Oh no you don't. We were there, we all saw it, you didn't. Your drunken daddy came speeding down our driveway at a hundred miles an hour, my mama had no chance, so don't you dare try and make it sound like your daddy is a victim here", describing the situation as he'd seen it, JR's anger was understandable, although he still thought it was misdirected.

Unable to defend what his father had done, he apologised again, attempting to get across that he was sorry, but that they were in similar positions, "I'm sorry for what my daddy did and how that choice directly impacted your family. You're not the only one that lost someone though, that is a fact".

"The two do not compare, not in the slightest", brusque, JR refused to see things from his perspective.

Shooting JR a look as if to ask him to quieten down, Sue Ellen Ewing surprised him with how much power she seemed to have over her aggressive husband. Pam had always described Sue Ellen as kind but meek with a weakness for her husband, but she didn't appear meek to him, she appeared quite in control, despite how bereaved she obviously was.

Glaring at him, JR walked off in a huff without another word, Sue Ellen's hand firmly in his own, the two of them not looking back once they left the group.

"I'm sorry for your loss, you know Digger was a friend of mine a long time ago. My son is right though, Digger did this", a little more understanding than JR, Jock Ewing made it quite clear still that he laid blame solely on his family, which was difficult to hear but he couldn't argue with as it was unfortunately true.

"Thank you, and I know, for that I really am sorry", accepting the condolences offered, he apologised again that they were even in the position they were.

Nodding, Jock sighed, patted Bobby on the shoulder and then walked off, following a few yards behind JR and Sue Ellen.

"Bobby?" turning to his former brother-in-law, he felt lost for words.

"Please Cliff, just don't. I've had too much loss and heard too many people tell me they're sorry, I just can't anymore", putting his hand up, Bobby articulated what he'd been feeling himself; they'd lost so much and all the words in the world couldn't change that.

Sighing, he murmured a sound of agreement. Surprisingly, Bobby then reached out to shake his hand, which he accepted. Things were awful, just awful, but neither of them were to blame for what had happened; Bobby hadn't known Pam would have pregnancy complications that would bring her to her end any more than he'd known his daddy's morning drive wasn't just to get out of the house. What had happened had happened, they couldn't change it however much they wanted to, they just had to learn how to live with it.

To be continued…