Day 12

"I can see why they put cemeteries in nice spots," Tyler says. "It takes a little bit of the sting off."

"It doesn't make a burial any easier," Michael says as he comes up between Tyler and I. He puts a gentle hand on my shoulder as he grabs Tyler's hand and intertwines their fingers. "The burial is the hardest part."

"You said it," I mumble. "It's so final. Everything is over and you're expected to go about your lives as normal after." I blink back tears as I stare ahead at the tent set up for the service. My eyes land on Avi standing a few feet ahead of us. I walk up next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "You ready, Av?" She shakes her head as I see tears trickling down her face. "Come here," I say gently as I pull her into my arms as she sobs. "You're not doing this alone. I'm here, Tyler's here, Michael's here…we're all here for you. You're not alone." She reaches her arms around me and holds me tight as she lays her head on my chest. After a few moments she nods her head and pulls away. I put a hand on her back and gently say, "Let's do this."

We walk up to the tent and sit in the fold up chairs set out for the service. As people start to filter in, my eyes start to wander across the cemetery. "It…it still feels unreal seeing her name on a tombstone like that," Michael says, still gripping Tyler's hand. "I know I wasn't as close to her as you all were but I still can't believe this is happening."

I nod, my eyes landing on the tombstone beside Chloe's. "Rachel," I read to myself. I sit up and look over at Avi, "Is that her Rachel?" Avi nods.

"She's being buried next to her?" Tyler asks.

Avi nods again, "She wouldn't have it any other way. It's the one thing we all knew she would have wanted. Even when we reached out to Rachel's parents, they knew Rachel would have wanted Chloe to be buried beside her. At least…since she didn't get the chance to find a new love."

"Do you believe they're together now?" Michael asks as he looks between Avi and me.

"I have to," Avi says solemnly. "It's the only way I've felt any comfort in this." Avi looks down as she balls her hands in fists and rests them on her lap.

Before I can say anything, a priest walks to the front row where we sit and stands behind the casket. He looks cross the gathering and I notice Joyce and David sitting on the other side of the row from us. The priest clears his throat before saying, "We are gathered here today to lay to rest a young girl so special to all of you here. It's never easy to say goodbye to someone so soon and so young. But I hope you are able to find comfort in each other during this difficult time. Let us pray." The priest bows his head as the rest of the gathering does the same. I see Avi clench her fists again and I put a hand on one of them as I bow my own head.

I zone out through the rest of the service as the priest calls up a few people to speak. First her former principal, a teacher, and a couple former classmates who spoke of the Chloe they knew as a teen. "She sounds so unlike the Chloe we knew," Tyler says.

"I know…but I can almost see it though from what she would say about her former self," I reply. "Avi really did pull her from a dark place."

As the last classmate goes and sits back down, David and Joyce walk up to stand in front of the casket. David shakily looks at the crowd, tightly gripping Joyce's hand. "I wasn't Chloe's biological father," he starts, "and she was sure to tell me on more than one occasion. I entered Chloe's life at a particularly rough patch in her life. I watched her struggle accepting herself and finding a place for herself in the world. I saw her find herself in a best friend turn lover, only for that lover to be snatched away. I saw her deal with the grief of not only her lover but then soon after her best friend. I saw her spiral…and then I saw her pick herself back up as she was dragged out of the darkness. I only have Avi to thank for that." He looks over at Avi as tears fill both their eyes, "Thank you for pulling our girl out of the dark. You truly saved her life the night she says she saved you. The last few years of her life…I've never seen such growth in her. She blossomed into such a giving, loving, confident young woman. I can't thank you more for giving us…giving her…those years." He holds out his arms and gestures for Avi to join him as she stands up, tears trickling down her face as they embrace her. I see their shoulders shake as they stand there for several moments. Joyce finally pulls away and walks over to sit down before David and Avi finally part and return to their seats.

As Avi finally sits back down next to me, the coffin begins to lower. I see her wipe her face as the coffin disappears from view. A soft thud is heard as the coffin comes to a stop and I see Avi visibly shutter. The priest dismisses the service as people trickle out. I place my hand on Avi's shoulder as she says, "This is it, isn't it?"

I nod slowly. "Do you need some more time?" I ask gently.

Avi shakes her head. "No, let's go," she says as she stands up and walks out from underneath the tent. She turns back as the three of us follow behind her and walk toward the gate. Avi stops walking and I turn to see her gaze fixed on the coffin and tombstone one last time. I put a hand on her shoulder and she turns to look at me, her eyes red and teary as she turns back around and walks with us back to the cemetery gate.