Hello. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I've never liked funerals. The last one I attended was back in 85' - my mother's.

Some see them as celebrations of life - I see them as a tedious excuse to have an extra trip to church. The corpse is empty. There's no ghost. No soul. Nothing to grieve over.

Nevertheless, I managed to bring myself to go. Heather Chandler wasn't supposed to be dead - it was Veronica and I's fault. I had to pay my dues.

I arrived at the funeral around 4:10 PM Veronica was already waiting by the doors, talking to Heather McNamara and Duke.

She beckoned me over, fidgeting with the hydrangea flowers pinned to her blazer. "I'm glad you came," she admitted. "I was worried you'd flunk."

"Wouldn't dream of it, darling."

I glanced at her outfit for a split second - she had changed into a blue blazer and skirt, topped with a pillbox hat. Interesting choice for a funeral, to say the least.

We shuffled into the church, settling onto the pews. People filed in behind us, and the ever looming presence of Heather Chandler was undeniable.

It was like she was sitting next to me, painting her nails and humming Like a Prayer by Madonna.

I spotted the Heathers at the front, Ram and Kurt a row behind them, and even a few stoners and nerds dotted around. Name anyone from Westerburg, and you'll probably find them in the church.

I glanced at Veronica, who was absentmindedly tapping against her purse and smiling at passersby. I clutched her hand, shrinking into my seat. She glanced over at me with a crooked frown.

"You okay?" she murmured.

"Yeah. I'm just, ah, not used to crowds," I lied sotto voce. Her face screwed up immediately as her eyes flickered around my expression - as if she was trying to deduce my reply. "Don't like people. You know?"

Her brown eyes, simmering with uncertainty and boredom, clouded to a pale-ish bistre brown. She took another look around the church, before staring into me. "We'll leave soon, JD."

The room fell silent as a man doddered to the pulpit, his wrinkled face obscured by the dusky light. He coughed once, opening a Bible before addressing the crowd.

"I blame not Heather, but rather a society that tells its youth that the answers can be found in the MTV video games," Father Ripper began, his eyes drifting around the hall. "We must pray that the other teenagers of Sherwood, Ohio know the name of the righteous dude who can solve their problems."

"It's Jesus Christ, and he's in the book."

The mass crooned a long, airless amen.

As people shambled over to Heather's casket, endlessly sputtering curses and sobbing, I leaned over to Veronica. "You gonna go, ah, pray?"

"Yeah - I should."

The train of people sat by the casket one by one, mumbling incoherent prayers. I watched all of them - watching as caterwauls and tears developed. Veronica went before me.

But as I glanced around the church out of boredom, I saw it.

While she clutched her purse and faulty tears streamed down her cheeks, the familiar smirk creased her face. Razor-thin and hypnotic.

Veronica left within a second of me processing what she just did. I bit my tongue before I could call out to her.

I gazed back at Heather Chandler.

She was just as I expected - motionless and cold. The once vile Westerburg demon, the one who harassed multiple people for fun, the one who made Veronica suffer, was powerless in her state. A day or less away from being covered by mounds of dirt. Underground. Forgotten - the only sign of her existence being her name, birth date and death date.

It was a terrifying idea to think about. While others remained alive, her crimes would be forgotten and erased. Replaced by a more pleasant veil of a victim.

If there was anyone who didn't deserve that - it would be Heather Chandler. She deserved to suffer. Cry. Bleed. Anything but death.

Death was the easy solution to a lifetime when life fucks you over. Only good people should be allowed a fate like that.

I lingered on her face for a minute or two, before racing out of the church. People, dressed in black and dotted around the grounds, quietly conversed. A few of them shifted their attention to me, before brushing me off and reengaging in pointless gossip.

I passed by Heather McNamara, who smiled and gave a small wave. She mouthed a see you later before disappearing into the crowd.

o00o

The doorbell rang.

I cringed at the tone, moving about in my room with a flustered air. I brushed my wrinkled shirt, hoping it was a good enough impression. If Dad wasn't here to help, I had to make up for him.

Scurrying downstairs, I waded through the jungle of boxes and houseplants, heading towards the front door.

I opened it to reveal five figures.

All of them seemed to be a shade of blonde.

Heather was the center of the group, her head held high in the midst of younger siblings. Her presumed mother, tangled in the indifferent eleven and five-year-olds, smiled alongside her daughter.

"Nice to meet you," the oldest of the women chimed. Her blonde hair, peppered with gray, shined in the white light. "I'm Valerie."

The night whisked by pretty quickly - Heather and her mother made cheery conversation while her brothers woofed down beef stroganoff.

Two of them - Michael and Caleb - ended up stealing a couple of rolls while no one but me was looking. I ignored them, straining my gaze towards the others.

It was a pleasant ambiance, to say the least. The soft warble of the radio trickled through the dining room, weaving and wobbling through the air to avoid the infectious laughter. The still hot meal steamed through diluted tunnels of smoke and perfumed the air. Heather sketched out an anecdote of some sort - further lightening the mood.

But, as the family howled with laughter, I felt quite the contrary.

I felt...apathetic. Isolated. Like I didn't care, no matter what they said. I wanted to - but I couldn't.

I searched for a reason in my head, begging even for a petty motive. Something. There had to be some goddamn reason I couldn't attempt to throw a sardonic comment into the mix.

But, out of the thousands of things I had in my mind, a reason wasn't one of them.

I tried to say something but only air came out.

The storm of thoughts loomed over my head again. It swirled around me like a churning, black river.

The warmth of the house dissipated into frigid temperatures, and I could only think of three questions.

Why are you so happy?

It isn't fair. Why do we get to experience happiness while the dead rot in the ground?

Why can't you leave me alone?

"JD?" Heather muttered, shaking my shoulder.

I mumbled "can you leave?"

"What?" she consulted, leaning closer.

"Can you leave?" I repeated. "Please?"

The room fell silent - spare the sounds of breathing.

Heather exchanged a worried look with her mother, before nodding swiftly. "Yeah. Of course."

It took about five minutes for them to leave, as the youngest of the bunch, Tyler, wouldn't budge.

"But we just got here," he protested, crossing him arms.

"And we're leaving," Valerie pressed. "Everything comes to an end, Tyler."

She ended up him dragging outside with a hasty goodbye. I was able to pull off a crooked smile, waving as they left.

But, as the door clicked to signal it was closed, I shuffled to my room and fell onto my bed.

I let the cold waters wash over me until nothing but bitter blackness remained.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm having a lot of fun writing this fanfic.

Poor JD. I don't think he's doing so well...

Also, for when Veronica smiles at Heather Chandler, I wrote that before I binge watched Death Note a couple of days ago. When Light smiles the same way, I thought "Huh. Look at that. I'm still keeping that scene, but that's interesting."

What do you think will happen with JD and Veronica's physical and mental states? Tell me through the reviews or PMs! I love reading your opinions on this stuff. :)

Responses to Reviews

Guest - Here it is! Sorry it took so long. I had a lot of schoolwork to do last week.

Thetheatrebookgeek - No problem, and thank you as well. :)

Hypnotic-sleeptalk - Oh my gosh, thank you so much! It took me so long to develop my writing style, and it's nice to know people like it. There will be many waves of emotion in this fanfic, trust me. All I can say is there will be a lot of suffering.

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a wonderful day.