"Holy Holy" by Wye Oak

Things weren't the same after what happened with the Yakavetta. The man who had helped us leave the crime scene was an FBI agent, I learned from the boys. Paul Smecker. He covered everything up for us. And Il Duce turned out to be their father. It turns out that killing mob bosses was in their blood.

Now it was two weeks later. Today was Rocco's funeral.

Murphy, Connor, their father, and I were the only ones that were attending. I stood between the two boys as the priest offered Rocco his requiem mass. It was a bit unconventional. Instead of being held at a church, it was held in the mausoleum he was to rest in forever. Of the four of us, I was the only one who didn't cross myself or recite any of the prayers. There was a lot that God and I weren't ever going to see eye to eye on. If God even exists. Each day, I was more and more certain that there was no God. I know it bothers Murphy, but I just can't bring myself to pretend.

Murphy gave my hand a squeeze. I glanced at him. He was looking at me like I might break again. I hate that look. I looked away.

The priest brought the service to a close, allowing us to pay our respects. I said nothing when it was my turn, putting my hand on his casket and remembering all of the love I had held for my childhood friend. I guess he finally got out of Boston.

I put my hands in my pocket, walking away so that Murphy and Connor could have their time. I stood next to their father silently. They paid their respects before leading the way out of the mausoleum. Murphy put his arm around me, seemingly afraid that I might disappear again.

"I'll catch up with ye later," Murphy told Connor and their father. "I'm gonna walk Cecilia to class."

"Aye, good luck, Cec," Connor nodded. I smiled. Today was the day I'd be getting my final grades and, hopefully, a letter of approval that my thesis would be published. Maybe Murphy would leave with me afterall. The city seems clean now. And nobody knows it was them.

"What's wrong?" Murphy brought me out of my thoughts. I shook my head, stopping in front of the campus.

"I'm just nervous. I'll find out if my thesis was accepted for publication today or not."

"Isn't that good?"

"It is. But if it was accepted, that means I'll be getting an offer for an internship or a job offer."

"Well that's great!"

"It won't be in America, Murphy," I said softly.

"That's still a good thing. I'll go with ye wherever ye want to go, love. I donnae want to lose you again," he pulled me closer to hug me. I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't even know I was holding, pulling him close to me.

"Now go," he smiled, holding my face in his hands. I returned his smile, kissing him. That last two weeks have felt like I was floating through water. Like everything wasn't real. But this felt real. I want to hang on to that, I decided as I looked at his face.

"I love you," I said, kissing him once more.

"I love ye, too," he replied before kissing my forehead.

I didn't look back, but I knew he watched me until I was safely in the building. As I walked through the hallways, all dressed in black, I couldn't help but remember the past times I had walked through this very hallway. When I met Tyler. When Aidan had tried to be sweet and in love with me. When Caleb and Jess had met and I teased him that he had just found his perfect match. When I jumped on Tyler's back and he ran with me out of the building on the last day of our freshman year. It was hard to pull the bad parts out of the good parts. They're so closely intertwined. But this was the last time I'd be walking down this hallway. It just happened to be in the dress I wore to my oldest friend's funeral, who was collateral in the vigilante escapades of my boyfriend and his twin brother.

Boston certainly had changed my life.

I sat in my usual seat, waiting for the professor to hand out the final grades. When he got to my desk, he smiled.

"You did wonderful, Cecilia. Congratulations, you're published. And you've received an offer for an internship in Germany."

I took the papers from him excitedly. He smiled, patted me on the back, and then continued on. The rest of the class was a relaxed farewell class. But I couldn't pay attention. I was going to go to Germany. After the class was over, I used my cellphone to call and accept the internship offer. I would leave in a month. Thankfully I didn't need a passport or anything. I had dual citizenship with Ireland, my dad had made sure I lived there for two years as a kid, so I had a US passport already. I always keep it up to date. Just in case.

Tyler was waiting for me outside of the classroom. I held the paper up excitedly. "Holy shit, Germany?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it. I actually got an offer somewhere." He picked me up in a hug.

"I knew you'd get somewhere. You're smart."

"I have to leave in a month." He slung his arm around me as we walked out of the college.

"Guess we'd better make the most of it then, yeah? Have you told Murphy yet?"

"I told him before class. Before there was a concrete offer. He said he'd go with me."

"He'd just leave Connor behind?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "There's only one way to find out."

Tyler studied me as we walked home to the apartment. "I don't know what's been going on the last few weeks. But you're different now."

"I just haven't been dealing with Rocco being gone very well," I admitted. That was mostly true. Tyler didn't know anything about the boys' double life. Or Aidan. Well, he knew Aidan was dead. He didn't know the specifics.

"It's not about Aidan?"

"No, it's not about Aidan," I lied. He didn't look like he believed me but he didn't press for any more information. If I wanted to keep the boys safe, I couldn't ever tell him what had happened that night.

"Alright, you can always talk to me if you need to. You know that, right?"

I nodded. We walked home in silence. Tyler gave me another hug to congratulate me before going to meet Adam for lunch. I went up the stairs to our apartment, stopping outside the door when I heard the boys arguing about something or other. When I opened the door, I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of things going on. There was water boiling over on the stove, half of a beer on the floor, and Connor and Murphy rolling around the floor assaulting one another.

I sighed, moved the boiling pot of water off of the stove, and got a beer to wait until they were done assaulting each other. Eventually, they noticed that I had walked into the apartment at some point.

"When did ye get here?" Connor asked, pushing Murphy off of him and standing up like nothing happened. I glanced at the clock.

"About ten minutes ago."

Murphy came over, kissed my temple, and then got a beer for himself and Connor. He turned to me expectantly, waiting to see how my last class had gone. I grinned.

"I got accepted into an internship in Germany."

"That's great," Murphy kissed me, "I'm proud of ye." I smiled, that admission made me melt a bit. "I've never been to Germany."

"Well, I have to be there in a month. I already accepted it."

"Guess we've got some celebratin' to do!"

Murphy leaned down and kissed me again. It helped me feel more relaxed. Like everything really would be okay and that he was actually serious about leaving with me. I guess Connor might go with us. Noah, too. There's not really anything left here for them. The main boss of the Yakavetta is beginning his trial. I'm sure he'll be found guilty and sent to prison. Then we can put this entire saints business behind us.