Whaa? Another update already? Gosh i'm good... I love typing this though, so i'm beasting at it. A special thanks to 0014 for the amazing review! You rock! I took your constructive criticism into account and I hope that it's shown in this chapter, and the following chapters! I'm always open to constructive criticism, it helps me become a better writer! Anyway, i've got to go get ready for church so I probalby won't be typing the next chapter until later tonight or tomorrow. Everyone knows i'm a night owl so i'll be up way late! Well, enjoy the chapter! A new one shall be up soon.


Chapter 9

As Ben walked down the aisle of the sanctuary, he saw Allison and Emma right where Allison said they would be. He went and sat down beside her and she looked at him and smiled. He smiled back and she turned towards Emma and talked quietly to her.

He found himself staring at her. He had never met anyone like her before. He continued to stare at her, then the preacher who had performed his mom's funeral walked on the stage.

The sanctuary was big; there were about twenty rows of pews and a huge stage. The instruments were huddled together on the left side and the choir seats were on the right.

When the preacher walked across the stage, everyone got quiet. Allison stopped talking to Emma and saw Ben looking at her. He looked away and looked up at the stage, but out of the corner of his eye he saw her smile and continue to look at him. He looked back over at her and they laughed quietly. A few people looked at them and they looked at each other and smiled.

The preacher walked to his podium and greeted everyone. He began by thanking everyone for coming and explained how the service was going to proceed. Jeff's mom and dad were going to up first, the his grandparents. Then, they would head over to the cemetery and bury him.

The preacher then talked personally about Jeff and how he had known him since he was a child. He had personally baptized him and watched him grow up in the church. Then his parents got up and walked on the stage. It was during their speech that everyone got emotional.

They walked on the stage and everyone could tell that Mrs. Duvall had been crying already. They got on stage and thanked everyone for coming. They talked about Jeff when he was a kid and how he grew up into the man that any parent would be proud of. When Mrs. Duvall said this, her voice cracked.

Ben looked around and almost everyone had tears running down their cheeks. Ben started to get tears in his eyes, as well. He looked over at Emma and Allison. Emma had tears streaming down her face and Allison had them flooding her eyes. She looked at him and they started at each other for a minute. A tears found its way down her face and she swiped at it.

His parents talked for about twenty minutes before they walked off of the stage. His grandparents walked on the stage and talked about how proud they were of Jeff and his accomplishments in the Air Force. He was their first grandchild and he was his grandmother's 'birthday present'; he was born two days after her birthday. They talked for about fifteen minutes and, when they walked off of the stage, Ben expected the preacher to come up on the stage and announce that they would be headed across the street to the cemetery. But, instead, Jeff's parents walked back onto the stage. His dad spoke first,

"I know you were all expecting us to go across the street to the cemetery, but we want to ask a favor of somebody." Jeff's mom took the microphone,

"One of Jeff's best friends is here with us today. He is in the Air Force and is home on leave for Jeff's funeral." Ben raised his eyebrow. Emma and Allison both looked at him while Jeff's mom continued,

"We want to ask Ben Carter to come up and please say a few words, if he will."

He was surprised to say the least; he hadn't prepared anything at all. He was thinking about what he was going to say when Allison nudged him. He looked at her and she motioned towards the stage and whispered,

"Go ahead." He got up and people looked at him as he walked up on the stage. His mom smiled and hugged him.

"Why didn't you warn me?" He whispered in her ear. She pulled away and shrugged her shoulders. His dad shook Ben's hand and they walked off of the stage. He walked to the podium and up to the microphone.

"Hi, everybody. I didn't really know I was going to come up and say anything, so…"

He looked at Allison and she saw him and smiled. He smiled and then started to talk about how he met Jeff and how he had been stationed with Jeff for the three years that he had been in the Air Force. He talked about the missions they had been on and the time they had spent together, both on base and off base when they came home on leaves. When he ran out of stuff to talk about, he decided to talk about the accident.

He told them that he was there the day of the accident and gave a quick explanation of everything that had happened, making sure not to say any names. He talked about Emma's phone call and his drive to Burgaw, Jeff's truck being up against the telephone pole and about the men who tried to help Jeff out of the truck.

While he was talking, he looked at the place where Allison and Emma were supposed to be sitting, but they weren't there. He looked around the sanctuary, but didn't see any sign of them.

By the time he finished, he saw tears in almost everyone's eyes. Ben had tears in his own eyes as the preacher walked back onto the stage and shook his hand. Ben walked back to his seat and, soon after, the preacher released them, saying they would be heading across the street.

He walked out of the sanctuary and back out of the lobby. They all walked across the street and off to the left side of the cemetery. They stood around the gravesite as the preacher began. As he said a few more words, Ben looked around again for any signs of Allison or Emma.

When the preacher finished talking, they lowered Jeff into the ground. Ben had tears in his eyes and a couple of them rolled down his cheek. He still hadn't come to grips with the fact that both Jeff and his mom were really dead.

The funeral lasted for about an hour. When it was over, Jeff's parents came up to him and thanked him for speaking back at the church and apologized for not warning him. They talked for a few more minutes before saying their goodbyes. His mom gave him another hug and his dad gave him a handshake. Multiple people also came up to him and thanked him for speaking as well.

He didn't leave just yet. He still wanted to visit with his mom some more before he headed home. When everybody had cleared out, he headed to his mom's grave. His mom's grave was on the right side of the cemetery so he walked across the lawn. When he got to her grave, he stood there and looked at it. She had been buried next to her grandfather, like she wanted, and a flood of memories came rushing back to him.

He remembered when he was little, his grandfather would take him fishing every Saturday. Ben went to school during the week and they went to church on Sundays. Ben hadn't been to church in a long time; it had been about five years since he had been.

He didn't like the church his family had taken him to before. He didn't understand what the preacher preached about and the music wasn't good at all. He knew that was no excuse- he could always go and try out different churches until he found one, but he never got around to it.

He continued to think about his grandfather and mother some more until he heard footsteps approaching. He looked behind him and, for the second time that day, he saw Allison approaching him. She had her arms crossed and, again, he met her halfway.

When he got closer, he could se that her eyes were red and a little swollen. Again, he hated to see people cry, but seeing Allison cry was harder on him. When they got close, she gave a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"No, not really."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Can we later?"

"Sure." They stood together for a minute before he asked,

"Where did you and Emma go during the funeral? I looked for you when I was up on stage but I didn't see you." She sighed,

"Emma sort of broke down while you were talking about Jeff. People started to stare and I didn't want to distract them, so I brought her outside and talked to her, trying to calm her down." She shook her head and tears started to come in her eyes,

"He was just so young, you know? He didn't deserve to have that happen to him." Ben nodded and they stood together for a minute before she added,

"You know I've known Jeff for a long time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've known him since middle school. We never really talked until high school. We had a couple of classes together and we became friends. He met Emma during sophomore year. I introduced them; I had know Emma since elementary school.

They hit it off instantly but Jeff never made a move. She eventually got boyfriends and he had girlfriends and they just stayed friends. He never told me how he felt about her and she never told me how she felt about him until last week when we were driving to the hospital.

I knew they had feelings for each other, but every time I would ask them about it, they would just shrug it off and say that it wasn't true. Eventually, I believed them. I guess I figured if they really did have feelings for each other, one of them would have eventually made a move." She sighed,

"Anyway, I've been trying to comfort her since we left the sanctuary."

"Where is she?"

"She left. She said she needed some time alone, so I stayed and I saw you standing here so I came over." He smiled and then decided to change the subject. He motioned over his shoulder,

"Do you want to meet my mom? And my grandfather?" She smiled,

"I'd love to."

He led her back to their graces and introduced her to both his mom and his grandfather. He told her about the memories he had with both of them and she listened attentively. When he finished, she smiled and said,

"They sound like amazing people. I wish I could have met them."

He looked at her and she still seemed sad and upset. He remembered the garden in the back of the cemetery.

"Have you ever been through the garden that's at the back of the cemetery?"

"No, I've heard about it though. I've always wanted to go through it, but I never have."

"Do you want to go right now?" She looked at him,

"Right now?"

"Yeah, why not?" She looked at him for a minute, then smiled,

"Okay."


Hmm a walk through the garden sounds good to me... :) Hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter will be up soon. Oh! and i'm going to get a laptop today, so the updates will be coming even faster! Is that even possible? Yes it is! See you then! Oh and you can review it. If you want. :)