[Point Of View: Harrison J. Frost]
{Location: Harrison's House}
7/8/22 Edit: Grammar updates, made dialogue clearer.
~~~
Heather's death hit me hard. It hurt so bad after dad told me the news. I cried for what felt like days. But now, our wedding anniversary hits harder than her actual death. Waking up today felt like I was coming back from the dead. My whole body weighed a ton as I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed.
Dad, being predictable, texted me a few minutes ago and told me to take the day off. If it were up to me, I would have spent the whole day moping. But one of Heather's friends, Erin, came over to force me out of the house.
She didn't even knock. She just came in and stood in front of me, telling me to get up and put my shoes on.
"Why?" I ask, "I have nothing to do today."
"You do now." She commands, "You're going to go meet Heather's friends at a new diner that popped up just recently."
"No, I'm not," I mutter, closing my eyes and leaning my head back.
"Not an option," she says. She picks up my plaid button-up shirt from the armrest and throws it on my lap, "Let's go."
I groan and stand up, putting the shirt on over my black tank top. We both get into her car, and she pulls out of the driveway, driving into town.
"So, how are you taking all of this?" she asks calmly. She sighed when she didn't get an answer, "I've been friends with her since birth, Harry. I'm not saying my grief is the same as yours, but I know that we both need to at least spend some time with others. It's part of the grieving process."
"I know," I mutter. "I know she's gone but I'm having a hard time accepting it."
"That is completely normal. There are multiple stages to grief and that's part of it."
I look out the window, watching things go by. She eventually pulls into a parking space in front of the diner, and we get out, heading inside the building. I follow her as she picks out a table for us to sit at. I sit across from her as she plays a game on her phone and we wait until someone else walks up to the table, picks up a chair, and moves it to an empty table. Erin looks up from her phone with confusion, as if she didn't recognize the guy.
Then, she noticed the guy in the wheelchair rolling up to the table, "Charlie? What the heck happened to you? I thought you were going to join the military?"
"I did," he responds, "I got my training and everything, but a toxin storm hit the area and one of the plumes hit me. It caused brain damage and rotted my spine. They gave me the required Electronic Cells to fix my brain but they're missing the ones they need to fix the rest."
"My god... and who is this with you?" Erin asks.
"My boyfriend, Shannon." Charlie answers, "We met before I entered the military. When he figured out that I was alone, he moved in and started helping me out."
Charlie pulls up to the table and sits in between Shannon and Erin, "Have you two ordered?"
"Not yet. I was going to wait for everyone else to get here first," Erin says.
I look up and watch the door as a couple more people come in. One of them is my friend Devon, and the other is a guy with platinum blond hair that I don't recognize.
They come over and Devon sits down next to me, leaning toward me, "Hey, bud. Are you feeling alright?"
"Not really," I whisper, "What are you doing here?"
"Erin invited me. She thought it would be a good idea to invite me since I'm your childhood friend," he says.
"Good, because I have no idea who any of these people are and blondie over there is giving me a dirty look," I mutter.
He turns around to look at the guy I'm talking about. He's just standing behind Charlie, glaring at me. We make eye contact for an uncomfortable amount of time before he walks around the table. I stand up and he looks me up and down.
"This is what Heather married?" He scoffs, "I can't believe she dumped me for you."
"Beat it, Kylan," Devon says, standing up, "He loved Heather and treated her perfectly, unlike you."
"I adored Heather," Kylan hisses.
"No, you used Heather," Devon mutters lowly, getting closer to Kylan.
Shannon gets up and walks over, pushing Devon into me, "Sit down. All of you."
We do as he says, leaving the whole table silent until Erin says something, "I never really expected Heather to get married. I didn't think she was interested."
"She wasn't," Kylan says, "she said she didn't want anything serious at first, but it grew. I asked her to marry me after a couple years of dating, but she said no and broke it off. Told me that she found someone else."
"What surprised me was the wedding dress she chose. I was expecting more of a mermaid dress, but instead, I watched her walk down the aisle in the biggest, most gorgeous dress ever." Charlie comments.
"What did she wear?" Kylan asks.
"It was strapless, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. She looked like a princess in it with that veil and gloves. It was spectacular."
---***---
"Heather?" I ask, walking into the bathroom, "Are you okay?"
I close the door, watching her lean against the wall for balance as she takes her heels off, "Yeah, I'm good. It's just the shoes are starting to dig a little."
She throws the shoes to the floor and walks over to me, "I think it's time to change out of this huge dress and those shoes."
"Do you want me to go get your other dress?" I ask.
"Yes, please."
I turn around and leave the restroom, heading toward her bridesmaids.
"Hey, Heather wants to change into her reception dress. Can you two go and get it for her? And perhaps a more comfortable pair of shoes? Like, boots or something?"
"Sure thing!" Erin cheers.
They both get up and leave the room, coming back with her reception dress and a pair of boots. They go into the bathroom and come back minutes later with Heather following them.
This dress was long and a lot thinner than the other one. It reached down to the floor hiding the boots underneath. It's different for her to be dressed like this, but the look in her eyes tells me she's enjoying it.
I stand up from my seat and walk over to her, "I knew you'd pick a black reception dress," I say.
She smiles and I pull her close, kissing her like I did just minutes earlier.
---***---
"Here you go," the waitress says.
Did I really space out that long? I look at what she's setting down and realize that I have.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Devon whispers to me when he notices my confusion.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Even though I don't have much of an appetite, I decide to eat the pork roll that Devon ordered for me. I sit quietly as the group talks about certain things.
When we are close to done, Erin's phone goes off.
She picks it up and looks at it, "Sorry guys, patient emergency. I need to go."
She stands up, pulling some cash out of her pocket and setting it down on the table, "That should cover the cost."
"That's alright. We're all done anyways. No need to stay here any longer."
"I agree. I should get home anyway," Charlie says.
Shannon nudges him.
"Sorry, we should get home."
The group stands up and Erin pays at the counter. Devon grabs my wrist and stops Erin before she leaves, "I'll take Harry home for you."
"Thanks, Devon."
He slips my hand into his and guides me over to his car. We both get in and he silently drives me home.
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