This One's For You
Chapter III
The party raged on for a few hours even after the newlyweds had departed. Indeed, most of the residents took quite a while to notice the disappearance of Emily and her new husband, who Bonejangles quickly found out was named Victor. No longer feeling too eager to perform, the skeleton had downed a few drinks, but found that they did nothing for the dull ache that seemed stuck in his chest.
Before too long, the pub-goers dispersed and Bonejangles found himself sitting alone in a corner of the empty bar. Paul was the only other soul in the main lounge, his severed head busily directing his cockroach companions to tidy up. The bandleader wasn't up for conversation, and chose instead to nurse his ale and contemplate the night's events.
Bonejangles really couldn't pin down his take on everything that had happened. Everything seemed to have been turned upside down. All he knew was that he wasn't happy, and that he had an instant, unbridled disliking for the new boy that Emily had dragged down with her. Why was she so keen on the living anyway? Bonejangles had never really had much use for them, even when he was alive. His life had never been too extraordinary, nor had it been incredibly long, and he generally preferred his afterlife. Things were so much more vivid down here. People were a lot more vivid. The living had always seemed so uptight, so self-absorbed. But, he knew that Emily wasn't like him. She'd had a good life and people who she loved, and it had all been taken away from her. She would never enjoy the afterlife as much as she would've enjoyed living her full life, no matter how much more vivacious it was being dead. Perhaps this was why she was so possessed by the notion that her soul mate was still alive.
He would have liked to think that he was uncomfortable with Emily's marriage because of some instinct- some inherent knowledge that Victor was no good. It would have made him feel better to know that his trepidation was just his way of trying to protect her. Ever since they'd met, he'd felt a certain need to guard her, even though she had never asked him to. That was probably the reason he'd written his song for her. He'd taken it upon himself to tell her story, to keep her from the pain of having to tell it herself. He just hated seeing her sad. So, he wouldn't have been surprised if his negative feelings about her wedding were just a premonition of sorts, telling him of trouble ahead. But, he knew this wasn't the case. He had no reason to think that the living boy would ever hurt Emily. Being the nervous wreck that he was, he didn't even seem capable of it. Bore her, maybe, but never hurt her.
If the skeleton wasn't worried about Emily getting hurt, maybe he just didn't like Victor. This was easy to believe, as Bonejangles found that every time he thought of the pasty-faced boy in Emily's arms, he felt a disgusted rage flow over him. But, was it really directed at Victor? Bonejangles had been in the man's presence for all of ten minutes- hardly enough time to form an opinion about someone's character, let alone decide to despise them. Besides, Victor had been scared out of his wits at the time. The skeleton really couldn't pin down what it was that he hated about Victor, which forced him to realize that maybe that wasn't the issue at hand.
It was the two of them together, he realized, that really bothered him. Seeing them newly married, while Emily flounced around, showing off her new ring. Knowing that, somewhere, they were alone together. Just the thought of it made him feel like he needed a very, very big drink.
Upon thinking this, he wandered from his table and leaned over the bar, liberally refilling his glass mug. He noticed that Paul had already left, leaving him to his own devices and the staff that was still banging around in the kitchen. He took a swig from his mug and leaned against the bar. It didn't make sense that seeing Emily and Victor together should upset him. It was what Emily wanted, wasn't it? It was what she had spent all her years as a corpse wishing and praying would happen. All Bonejangles wanted was for her to be happy. He knew that much was true. He sighed and began to trudge back to his chair, entirely lost in his thoughts.
He wanted Emily to be happy, of course. But seeing her happy with Victor seemed wrong. He wanted her to be happy, but he wanted her…
The realization hit him like the sledgehammer that had killed his lead sax player. The glass mug slipped from his hand and hit the wooden floor, smashing into pieces at his feet. Oh, god. "I'm in love with Emily!" He didn't realize he had shouted it out loud until he heard it ringing through the empty bar. He would've been mortified by his outburst, if he hadn't been frozen in a state of utter shock; his hand still raised as if holding the mug that was now shattered on the floor.
The doors of the kitchen swung open as Ms. Plum plodded into the front of the pub. "What's going on out here? That better not have been any of the good dishes!" she bellowed, lumbering over to Bonejangles and eyeing the mess of glass and alcohol.
Bonejangles turned to her, his one eye wide as a saucer and his jaw hanging open. "I'm in love with Emily!" he said, stupidly. It seemed to be the only words he could form.
Ms. Plum stared at him a beat, an eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips, then turned nonchalantly to fetch a broom. "And you're just figuring this out now?"
The stunned look was plastered on his face as he watched the woman round the bar. "…What? You… I mean… what? You knew?"
The cook rolled her eyes. "I think everyone knew, the way you'd dote on her. We were all wondering if something wasn't going on behind our backs." She walked back to where the skeleton still stood motionless and started to clean the mess at his feet.
Regaining a small part of his senses, Bonejangles took the dustpan from her and stooped to help her sweep up the shards of glass. "I didn't know," he said plainly, the shock still evident in his voice. "I… everyone knew?"
Ms. Plum brushed the last of the glass off the floor and took the dustpan from the skeleton's hand. "You really are oblivious, aren't you?" she said bluntly, but not unkindly, before heading back behind the bar and disposing of what was left of Bonejangles' mug.
The skeleton sat down on the barstool. "She… but… everyone knew?" He was too deep in shock to form any words, and it frustrated him. Words were something he had never had any problem with.
The cook looked at him and, seeing the bewildered and somewhat pathetic look in his eye, felt sympathy for him. She sighed. "It's not surprising you didn't see it until now. Emily's spent all her time chasing after a fantasy man. It probably never occurred that you might be able to compete with that."
"But… I love her. I mean… she's beautiful and sweet and- and… I love her. And I didn't notice?" Bonejangles was mystified about how this could have happened.
"You were her friend. That's what she needed. She wanted some living Prince Charming. It's no wonder you didn't think it could've been you."
The skeleton huffed. "Obviously not."
There was a long silence as Ms. Plum watched Bonejangles stare hard at the wall. Anxious for something to occupy her hands, she picked up a rag and started wiping out a glass that she had pulled out from under the bar. "Anyway," she said. "You certainly picked a fine time to figure this all out."
Bonejangles groaned and dropped his head into his hands. What a day to find out you were in love with your best friend: the day she gets married. "What am I gonna do?" he pleaded, not bothering to lift his head.
"What can you do? She's married now." Bonejangles groaned even louder and let his skull fall right to the table. "Don't you go messing around with them, either," Ms. Plum warned. "It's not poor Victor's fault that you haven't gotten your head on straight until today."
Oh, poor Victor, Bonejangles thought, derisively. Still, he knew that the old cook was right. He was stuck now. Stuck watching the couple together for the rest of eternity, while he pretended to be happy. Watching them holding hands and stealing kisses when they thought no one was looking, all the while knowing that if he hadn't been such an idiot, he could've been in Victor's place. Just the thought of it made him feel sick to the stomach he no longer had. "You think Em knew?" he asked Ms. Plum, his head still pressed against the cold bar. "You think she knew how I felt about her?"
The woman paused in thought. After a moment, she answered, "I think she was a bit too focused on her dream lover to notice a whole lot of what was going on around her." The skeleton seemed to almost sink into the bar. Ms. Plum patted his arm. "She still loves you, Bonejangles. You'll always be her dearest friend. That's worth something, ain't it?"
"Guess so," he muttered.
Ms. Plum stayed in the pub for a short while, but Bonejangles was utterly inconsolable. Finally, she left him with a drink and compassionate pat on the shoulder. The skeleton sat alone in the pub, continuing to refill his mug before he even saw the bottom.
He realized that he would have to let Emily go. The fact that he had only just realized what he was losing only seemed to make it worse. He reminded himself for the umpteenth time that she was happy, and that was all that was important. Besides, they would still be friends, wouldn't they? He wasn't really losing her, after all. Just because she was married, just because he was filled to the brim with what he now realized was unrelenting jealousy, didn't mean things would have to change… right?
Bonejangles was sloshed nearly out of his senses by the time he decided to stop drinking, but was dismayed to find he still felt terrible. He stumbled drunkenly up to his room above the Ball and Socket and, undershooting the padded coffin he almost never used to sleep in, collapsed onto the floor. As he drifted into an intoxicated sleep, he hoped two things: that he'd remember who he was when he woke up again, and that his assumption that nothing would change between him and Emily would turn out to be true.
(A/N: I didn't like this chapter the first time I read it. At all. I edited a bit, so I'm more content with it now. I'm still not totally happy with it in parts, the pacing in particular. So, tell me what you think. I'm glad that I write Bonejangles girly though, because I don't do anything else girly. At all. Haha. Anyway, we've made the switch from girlyBonejangles to sulkyBonejangles now.)