Hello, Pokécrew here. It's been a goddam month, but we are back. Please don't kill us.

Chapter 10: Saddened Day

~Lucas's POV~

The steel-gray room was dimly lit. A small cup of water sat in front of me on the table. A mirror hung on the wall across from me. A man walked around the room behind me, making me more nervous. He didn't say a word for almost five minutes. I gulped.

"So, you saw the man running from your house, correct?" The man asked.

"Yes, I heard a gunshot and saw him running." I replied

"Did you try to stop him?"

"I was a little more concerned about a man with a gun running from my house after a gunshot to worry about stopping him."

"A comedian. Cute. What about your friend?"

"He was behind me."

"And he didn't try to stop the man either?"

"Little too worried about whatever happened in there as well."

"Okay, so we got two witnesses and neither one of you tried to stop him. Did you at least see his face?"

"He was running the other way, I only saw the back of his head."

"Did he have anything out of the ordinary on him? A scar? Something?"

"Not that I saw."

"What about a vehicle?"

"I saw him running and then I was inside."

The interrogator rubbed his head and sat down across from me. "C'mon, kid. Work with me here. You want to catch the guy who killed your father, right?"

"Yeah, and I'm telling you what I saw. I didn't see much of him."

"Clothes, what about his clothes?"

"I think he had a hoodie on, but I'm not completely sure."

"Think."

"I'm gonna say he did, I'm almost certain."

"Great. And you said he was running the other way. Which direction would that be?"

"Looking at my house from the outside, to the right, cardinally speaking I don't know."

"So...that would be...lemme think…" He pondered for a minute. "East. He went east. What color was his hoodie?"

"Grey."

"Excellent. Thank you very much, kid. You can go now."

"Thanks." I stood up slowly before I left the room. A police officer was waiting outside the room to escort me out.

"This way," he motioned, leading me down the halls and to the exit. Pushing the doors open, I walked outside.

~4 days later~

Shyne opened the door.

"Hey, Lucas," she greeted glumly. "Come on in."

"Thanks," I stepped inside and looked at Zack, who was on the couch. Shyne walked past me and sat down next to Connor, holding his hand. Sally sat in a recliner with a box of tissues in her lap.

"Lucas," Zack started. "I'm sorry about your dad. He was a really cool guy."

"Sorry doesn't even begin to cover how I feel."

"Look, I don't know exactly how you feel, but-"

"But nothing, my dad is dead because some jackass decided he wanted some money!" Zack stayed quiet.

"Lucas," Connor piped up. "Take a breath. Sit down. No need to yell at your boyfriend."

"Sorry, I'm just… Stressed out."

"Trust me, yelling at loved ones isn't a good way to relieve stress. It makes it worse."

"Not always voluntary."

"Just...sit down."

"Alright…" I walked to the couch and sat down next to Zack. The Zangoose wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer.

"Now, we gotta talk about something no one wants to talk about; the funeral."

"I don't even know if we have the money for it."

"Doesn't life insurance pay out?" Shyne asked.

"Not sure if he had it, money hasn't been plentiful lately."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I have no idea."

"Actually," Sally mumbled between sobs, "I had money set aside in case something disastrous happened."

"I think this qualifies."

"We can use that to pay for it. But it's not enough for a burial."

"We should have enough for the rest…"

"Thank you, Mom," Shyne said with tears in her eyes. Connor held her tighter.

"I'm the one who should be thanking her."

"Well, we better get started on planning," Zack stated. "We don't want to waste this."

~2 hours before funeral service~

Zack stood behind me as we looked in the mirror. His hands were around my waist and his chin was on my shoulder. I had moved in to live with him and his family for the time being. Sally didn't mind much, as long as we did our fair share of chores.

We were trying on our outfits for the funeral and Zack was helping me with the tie. Well, more of directing me.

"Okay, so now it goes under the loop and through the hole," he told me.

"Simple enough," I said as I followed his instructions.

"Okay, now pull it through." I continued to do as he said.

"And done! See, I told you it was easy."

"I believed you, I just didn't have much experience."

"Aren't you glad you have me?" He turned me around so I was facing him.

"Very." I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Heh, you look stunning."

"Thanks."

"Can't wait to see you wear that at our wedding."

"Neither can I," I gave a slight smile. He held my paws and smiled back. Connor knocked on the door.

"You two almost done in there? We gotta go!"

"We're done," I said, still looking at Zack.

"Well, c'mon! We're waiting in the car!"

"We're on our way." I opened the door to the bathroom.

"Arceus, dude. Y'all better not be fucking."

"Not right now, no." I heard Connor groan and walk away.

"We should probably go," Zack suggested.

I nodded before walking to the front door and outside. Everyone was waiting in the jeep as Zack and I loaded in.

"We ready?" Sally asked.

"As ready as I'm going to be." We took off to the funeral home.

"Family and friends," the pastor said. "We are gathered here today to mourn the death of Robert Dempsey; father, friend, and caregiver." The service went on for a few hours, at the end of which I was in tears. Zack had held my paw the entire time. Connor and Shyne wept silently. Sally, well, let's just say things got emotional. If you were the toughest son of a bitch in the world, you would be crying your eyes out. Kleenex wouldn't have a problem selling their product here. After we left, we were all silent on the way to the house. Not even the radio played for fear of a sad song coming on.

When we arrived, I went straight to Zack's room to lay down, with him right behind me.

"Hey, Lucas…"

"Yeah?"

"Think you could give me some room?"

"Alright…" I slide over a bit to give him room to lay down. I hear him hit the mattress with a loud flop. I reached over and cuddled into him, closing my eyes with my head on his chest. I feel his hand rub my back and his lips on my head.

"Goodnight, baby," he whispered.

"Night."

Does this make it up to you guys? We hope so. Pokécrew, out!