Disclaimer: I figured it out!
Friends No Matter What
Part 8 - The Funeral
By Travis Blink
************************************************************************** ~10 Years Later~ Evan came down so he was eye level with Pietro's name. "Hey," he said. "Sorry I don't visit that much. Never, actually." Staring at the flowers in his hands, Evan thought of something to say. The thing was, he had nothing to say. Just questions. To bad Pietro will never be able to answer them. There was one thing he had to say out loud. "Did you plan it all?" Asked Evan. "Was it all part of your big scheme? To keep Wanda away from me?" Evan stared down at the flowers, and for the first time in his life, he started to cry. ************************************************************************** ~5 Years Ago~ Only three people came to Pietro's funeral: Wanda, Evan, and the minister. Evan's parents were out of the country and the rest of the X-Men didn't think that it was there place to be here. The other surviving members of the Brotherhood couldn't be found. After saying the sermon, the mister, who looked like he rather be somewhere else to begin with, left. That left just Evan and Wanda to stand in the graveyard in the pouring rain, staring at Pietro's tombstone. They just stood there. To Evan, it felt like hours. According to his watch though, it was only 12 minutes. They stood in silence. Then Wanda spoke. "I can't marry you." Evan nodded his head. "I know." "Do you know why?" He nodded his head again. "Yeah, I know." He stared harder at the tombstone. Evan did understand. Wanda would never be able to marry him and not think about how her love killed her brother. It would slowly eat at her at her until she finally pulled the trigger herself. Why she hadn't yet made Evan wondered. Loosing someone you love is the most painful thing anyone could go through. Evan knew all this because he was feeling the same. The guilt was torturing him. He had no right to be happy when his best friend was six feet under. He couldn't get something out of Pietro's death and live with himself. Thank God Wanda turned him down first. He wouldn't be able to say no to that beautiful face. They stood staring at that tombstone, their eyes burning holes into Pietro's name. Wanda slid the engagement ring off her finger. Evan had made her put it on after he proposed to her, saying that Pietro would say yes. The thought had crossed Evan's mind that if Wanda hadn't given him that requirement, Pietro would still be alive. He quickly pushed it away. Pietro would have killed himself anyway. No, this wasn't Wanda's fault; it was Evan's. If only he wasn't so selfish, he would have realized that Pietro would never allow Evan to have something that was his. It was all Evan's fault. Wanda stepped over to the tombstone; careful not to step where Pietro was laid. She placed her ring on top of it. Then she walked away, careful not to look into Evan's eyes. Evan didn't even try to look into her's. Evan stood there, in the pouring rain, staring at his best friend's name, listening to his love walk away forever, by himself. He wasn't crying.