Times Like These

I was sitting in the chapel inside the funeral home, my mother on one side, Brian on the other, listening to my grandparents’ preacher talk about my brother. He told everyone about how Mark was as a kid, always causing some kind of mischief and falling asleep in church. I sighed heavily, looking at the assortment of flowers and pictures that were scattered around his coffin. There were some of him as a kid, some of him with our parents, some of him as a soldier, and some of him with his sisters. There was a picture of him in his uniform that had been blown up and placed on an easel right beside his casket. The preacher continued talking, but I wasn’t really listening. I couldn’t listen to other people talk about how great my brother was when they barely even knew him. Once he was finished, he asked if anyone else wanted to say a few words about my brother. Without thinking, I immediately stood up, and Brian’s hand grabbed mine. “Do you want me to go with you?” He asked. I shook my head and gently pulled my hand out of his grasp and walked up to the podium. “Mark’s sister, Nichole would like to say a few words.” The preacher stated, before hugging me and going to sit down. I looked over the podium at the sea of people sitting on the pews. There were people there I hadn’t seen in years, and a few people I had never met that had known him from the Army. I sighed softly and looked over at my mom, who gave me an encouraging smile. “Mark was more than just a soldier. He was my best friend, my protector. He was the guy that would be ready to kick anyone’s ass if I came home crying.” My grandfather gave me a dirty look and I smiled softy. “Sorry, Papa. No more dirty words.” I said to him, making the crowd chuckle. “Mark was the type of guy who brightened a room when he entered it. We were always laughing. We spent our teenage years riding around in his piece of crap Honda, listening to rap songs thinking we were so cool. I remember the day he told me he joined the Army. I asked him why, and he put his hand on my shoulder and told me he wanted to make a difference in the world.” I looked down at the casket as the tears started to fall, “Bub, you’ll never know how proud I am of you, and how much I love you. I’ll miss you every day until I see you again. Please watch over us, and make sure I don’t do anything stupid.” I chuckled weakly. “Thank you for being the greatest brother I could have ever asked for.” I wiped my eyes and walked back to my seat, Brian’s arm automatically going around my shoulders and mom’s hand on my knee. My sister reached across Brian’s lap and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. The preacher walked back to the podium and said a prayer, and we all stood as the pall bearers carried Mark’s flag-covered casket to the back of the hearse. As we walked out the door toward the limousine that would be taking us to the cemetery, I held Brian’s hand tightly. We all climbed into the limo and headed for the cemetery, following behind a policeman and a group of Patriot Guard riders escorting the fallen soldier to his final resting place.

A few hours later we were back at mom’s house, I was sitting in the living room with Brian, Dani, and Johnny. There were people and food everywhere, and all I wanted was a nap. “You guys okay in here?” My Gran asked, walking into the room and placing a hand on my back. I nodded silently, while the Brian spoke. “We’re trying to get her to eat, but she’s being stubborn.” I cut my eyes at him and Johnny laughed. “You’re in trouble now.” Gran chuckled softly at the bassist, then turned her attention to me. “Come on Nick, you have to eat something. What would you like? I’ll make you a plate.” I sighed heavily and looked up at Gran, “How about a Jack and Coke?” Dani laughed loudly and stood up, “A liquid diet. I like it. Come on sis, we’ll grab a drink and a plate of food.” “Girls, this house is full of people, and you’re going to drink?” Gran said, chastising us. “We just buried our brother, I don’t care what people think about me today.” Dani told her. “I bet dad wants one too.” She said, walking out of the living room in search of our father. I smiled and shook my head at my sister. “She’s such a brat.” I said, wrapping my arm around Gran’s shoulder and leading her into the kitchen, where there were all kinds of sandwiches, casseroles, and desserts. I loaded a plate up and walked back into the living room, where Brian was standing with a solo cup in his hand. “One Jack and Coke for the pretty lady in the black dress.” He said, handing me the cup and kissing my cheek. “Oh, I love you.” I whispered, taking a big gulp of the drink. “Let’s not drink the whole bottle today, okay?” Johnny joked. I looked at him and gave him the middle finger, “Don’t you judge me, Jonathan.” Dani walked back into the living room, carrying her own plate of food and solo cup, with Matt following her. “Look who I had to pull away from Aunt Sarah.” She said, sitting down beside Johnny. I laughed loudly and shook my head. “Poor guy, I had to save Johnny earlier. She was asking him about his haircut.” I told her, taking a bite of food. “Oh my god this spaghetti casserole is amazing.” “Well we have a whole other pan in the freezer.” Dani chuckled. “Wait, where’s Zack?” I asked, looking around the room. “I found him with dad. They were talking about motorcycles or something.” Dani told me with a shrug. We continued talking, Zack eventually joining us, until everyone started clearing out, leaving my parents and grandparents here with us. “I think I’m gonna go take a shower and lay down for a bit. It’s been a long day.” I announced, standing up to throw my empty cup away. “Nichole, it’s barely 3pm.” My grandfather stated. “I’m exhausted, I barely slept last night.” I told him, standing at the top of the stairs leading to the basement. “I just need a shower and a nap, then I’ll be good as new.” He nodded and I excused myself, gathering my things and heading upstairs to shower.

I was in the middle of my shower when my sister barged in. “You didn’t lock the door?” she questioned, sitting on the toilet lid. “You didn’t fucking knock?” I retorted, sticking my head out of the curtain. “Nah. It’s just you.” She shrugged. I shut the curtain with an eye roll and went back to standing under the hot water. I didn’t really need a shower, but the shower was my place to think. So I piled all of my hair onto my head, turned the water on as hot as I could stand it, and stood there in the quiet, until Dani interrupted. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we go out to Dave’s tonight? We need to get out of this depressing house and the guys need to have some fun.” My sister suggested. “I guess we could do that. Hell we need to have some fun ourselves.” I told her, turning off the water and grabbing my towel off the back of the toilet. “Great! I say we go out and have some dinner, then head to Dave’s for a while. Go take your nap so you will be all energized and ready to go.” She said, walking out of the bathroom. I smiled to myself and dried off. I wiped the condensation off the mirror and looked at my reflection, sighing. I had huge dark circles under my eyes and pretty much all of my makeup was cried off. I washed the rest of my makeup off and took my hair out of its bun, then put my robe on. Once I got downstairs to my bedroom, I was surprised to see Brian laying across the bed, flipping through the channels on the tv. “What are you doing in here?” I asked, closing the blackout curtains over the windows. “I figured you’d want some company. I didn’t sleep much last night either, my girlfriend kept getting out of bed.” He said, raising his eyebrows. I sighed and sat on the bed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you up. My mind was racing and I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the living room to watch tv. Then I got tired and thought I was going to fall asleep but no such luck.” Brian chuckled and pulled me close to him. “Babe it’s fine. Next just watch tv in here. I don’t mind it, and you’ll stay in bed with me.” He looked down at me and realized I was only wearing my robe. “Wait, where’s the rest of your clothes?” He asked, peeking into the front of my robe. “I’m not wearing any, you perv.” I chuckled, closing it back. “But I do probably need to put some on in case someone comes in here.” I stood, walking over to the dresser and pulling out some panties and a tshirt. I locked the door and turned to look at Brian, who had gotten up off the bed and was smirking. “You know you can’t resist.” I pulled one of the strings on my robe and stood there. “Are you sure you’re not the one who can’t resist?” I asked, letting my robe fall off my shoulders. “No, it’s definitely me. I can’t resist at all.” Brian said, pulling me into his arms and kissing me. “Wait, your grandparents are here.” He said breathlessly. “Then I guess we’re going to have to be really quiet.” I whispered, pulling him to me and crashing my lips onto his.

A little while later, I woke up from my nap with Brian’s arms wrapped tightly around me. “Brian. Wake up.” I whispered, poking his cheek. “I don’t wanna.” He whined, pulling me closer. “You’ve got to. We’re going out tonight.” I told him, watching him open one eye. “Where are we going?” “Dinner. And Dave’s. We need to have some fun with our friends.” I explained, pulling out of his arms and walking to my closet. “Yeah. Especially you and Dani.” He sighed, sitting up. I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a loose-fitting dark grey v-neck. “I have to put some makeup on though so you can lay there for a while.” I told him, sitting at my vanity. After my makeup was finished, I fluffed up my curls and grabbed a pair of black wedge booties out of the closet. “Okay, you ready to go?” I asked my boyfriend, who was pulling a white v-neck over his head. “Yep. Let’s go babe.” “Hey.” I said, grabbing his arm before he opened the door, “Thank you so much for being here with me. You don’t know how much it means to me.” Brian smiled softly and pulled me into his arms. “Nichole, I love you, and there’s no where else I’d rather be. I’m going to be here for you no matter what.” “I love you too Bri. Let’s go have some fun.” I said, following him out into the living room. Pretty soon Dani and the rest of the guys were downstairs and we all piled into the rental cars and headed out for what I was hoping would be a much needed night of fun.

Notes

I promise there won't be any more depressing chapters, but there is drama coming! Thanks for reading!