When You Go

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Frank looked over at Luca, her head bent down. He knew she was crying. It's not like he wasn't. He ached to grab her by the arms and hold her, pretend that it had all been a gigantic nightmare. But it wasn't. And no amount of pretending could make it so.

The small blue velvet box stayed in his pocket. He couldn't bear to ask her that question, not after what had happened. He knew that she wasn't ready to deal with anything of the sort after what she had seen. But he knew there would be a time when she could put that behind her. When they could all forget about their nightmares.

Frank didn't know what had happened between Luca and Gerard that night. She had never told him, and he had never asked. Frankly, he didn't even want to know. The weight of having to kill someone that you once called your best friend was heavy enough. He didn't want to add guilt to that.

He looked down on the dark wooden coffin that was being lowered into the ground. The rain hit it softly, making little splooshing sounds with every drop. Maybe it wasn't so much the rain as his tears, but his face felt so wet. He grieved to undo what he had done.

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Luca stood next to him, her head hanging low, lower than the coffin that was being put down. Her tears mingled with the soft rain that was falling around her. She had refused Frank's offer of an umbrella. He was being so strong for her.

She didn't have the heart to tell him what Gerard and her had talked about. He had left the room as soon as Gerard went over to her, and found the first available weapon, which turned out to be a steak knife. He had saw Gerard over her, saw his hand around her throat, saw the knife against her skin, and he'd done the only thing he could think of.

He'd plunged the steak knife right through Gerard's heart.

Perhaps it was deserving; Gerard hadn't exactly been a saint. And she couldn't say that he hadn't scared her. She had thought he was going to kill her, for God's sake. But was he really bad? She didn't think so. She'd walked around his room. She'd seen the desolate life he'd lead underneath everything, the hurt he'd lived with. She used to think it gave him strength, but she now knew it had been the death of him.

Goodbye, Gerard. I hope you have found peace....

~Fin~

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