#gothdied

“    i    𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓    𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖    what    you’re    talking    about.    ”    but    the    words    come    out    so    𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑    and    obvious    ,    even    if    he    𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓    already    know    he    was    right    he’d    be    able    to    𝐒𝐄𝐄    𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓    𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇    𝐘𝐎𝐔.    another    drink    is    taken    ,    going    through    alcohol    faster    than    𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑    𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑    at    this    rate.    “    thats    𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓.    ”

I love you...

      Her grip isn’t slack, tangible tension in her fingers as she gently tugs on him---oversized sleeve included---to sit down.  ❝  Oh, no way are you getting out of this,  ❞  mouth drawn into a hard line, brows furrowed in stern disapproval at his escape attempt.  ❝  Sit down and lean forward, please. If you’re not careful, you could gag on your blood.  ❞

one    eye    𝐒𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍    𝐒𝐇𝐔𝐓    ,    your    other    eye    fluttering    between    being    closed    and    being    forced    to    look    at    the    𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐇    white    light    of    the    hospital    room.    everyone    who    visits    has    wanted    you    to    keep    the    eye    𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍    ,    terrified    you’ll    pass    out    and    𝐍𝐎𝐓    𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄    𝐔𝐏.    its    a    valid    concern    ,    really    ,    and    you’re    sure    ian    shares    the    𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓    ,    but    at    the    end    of    the    day    you’re    exhausted    and    you’re    𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐄.    the    fluorescent    lights    don’t    exactly    make    your    head    hurt    any    𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒.    hand    gently    ,    𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐘    reaches    out    for    his    ,    but    you’re    not    exactly    strong    and    your    hand    𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘    moves    an    inch    and    if    he    hadn’t    been    watching    your    hand    then    he’d    probably    have    𝐍𝐎    𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀    it    even    moved.    so    instead    you    settle    for    the    weight    of    your    head    falling    𝐀𝐋𝐋    𝐓𝐎    𝐎𝐍𝐄    𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄    ,    head    now    actually    facing    his    direction    ,    suddenly    a    little    easier    to    𝐒𝐄𝐄    𝐇𝐈𝐌.    with    all    the    bruising    you    𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓    wish    you    𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓    see    him.    “    you    …..    you    𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓    have    …    gotten    involved.    ”    though,    the    brief    moment    where    kent    was    off    you    had    been    unbelievably    𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐃    ,    had    probably    been    enough    to    give    you    some    𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄    ,    to    kick    the    others    into    gear.    even    if    kent    did    end    up    𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊    𝐎𝐍    𝐘𝐎𝐔    a    moment    later.    “    you’re    …    all    𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓    …    ”    though,    coming    from    you    ??    worry    about    ians    bruises    was    almost    𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄.    but    you    always    did    have    a    tendency    to    worry    about    𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒    more    than    yourself.    “    should’ve    …    𝐋𝐄𝐓    𝐇𝐈𝐌    …    ”

“    it’s    not---    it’s    not    𝐀𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐄    ,    don’t---    don’t    call    it    𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓.    ”

      ❝  You’re right, there is no equality in that. I guess you could say that the only thing ‘fair’ about death is that we all die at some point.  ❞       The worst part about grieving was the utter lack of certainty. Far from her father’s child, Kate couldn’t abruptly summon a succinct explanation to soothe Ian. And Helen would simply push Kate to toss out phrases about God’s plan or the girls being in a better place. Performative gestures made her skin crawl more than Ian’s pointed question about the nature of death.        She thumbs the aluminum tab, cracking the can of beer open. The metal is warm to the touch, the booze watery and cheap. Kate nevertheless offers the drink to Ian as a token of her friendship.        ❝  Ian, you don’t have to grin and bear it---that can be my job,  ❞  a slight, self-deprecating smile,   ❝  If you want to scream or throw something at a brick wall, I don’t mind. I promise to be there for you.  ❞

"    that    𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇    is    gonna    pay    ,    ian.    ”    it’s    probably    not    the    answer    he    was    hoping    for    ,    but    it’s    all    he’s    getting.    too    many    bad    things    have    happened    ,    all    being    easily    traced    back    to    𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐘.    she    was    going    down    ,    there    was    no    doubt    about    that    ,    and    you    intend    to    be    the    one    to    make    it    happen.    after    what    happened    to    trevor    it    was    only    fair    that    𝐒𝐇𝐄    𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐃    𝐓𝐎𝐎.    and    sure    ,    it    could    be    argued    that    it    isn’t    wendy’s    fault    ,    but    all    the    deaths    since    have    undoubtedly    been    𝐇𝐄𝐑.    she    was    there    for    every    death    ,    had    watched    as    innocent    kids    (    and    frankie    )    had    been    killed.    and    to    think    ,    after    all    that    happened    between    kevin    and    trevor    ,    𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍    𝐇𝐄    chose    her    side.    “    𝐒𝐇𝐄    𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃    𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐑.    she    killed    𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍.    she    is    the    reason    everyone    is    dead    and    she    𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐒    𝐓𝐎    𝐃𝐈𝐄    for    that.    ”

     ❝  Ian!  ❞  she makes a face,  ❝  Give Jackson Pollock some credit, he knew his medium!  ❞       Twisted webs of yellows and reds stretch across the canvas in front of them. Kate breaks her appraisal of the piece to make careful note of the sparsely populated museum. Smartphone is salvaged from her purse, and she discreetly snaps a photo of the painting before a security guard can amble in.  ❝  ...You saw nothing.  ❞  she gently nudges his scrawny body, slipping the phone back into the bag.        ❝  There has to be some artist here that you love,  ❞  arms stretch wide, gesturing to the canvases lining the expansive gallery,  ❝  Something to make this field trip worth your time. And if there isn’t, then I am going to find at least one thing that you will love.  ❞