Chapter Forty: My Tears Ricochet

No one likes getting ready for funerals. It was rough with Will's "funeral" two years ago. It's even worse for Holly and Meghan's now.

Maybe because this was real, and Annie knew that for sure. No tricks this time.

Steve was taking Annie, their parents not really caring or getting it. To spare pain, Steve just decided to take Annie and avoid having her answer any question from their parents. They'd meet up with Max there. Billy was invited to come with Max, but he felt too much guilt and didn't think he could.

As Annie stood in the bathroom and stared at her own face, she thought about the story. It was ridiculous, barely believable, but it was told anyway. Meghan and Holly were with Max and Annie at the mall- they were best friends, after all.

They were killed in the fire, the government producing fake, burned corpses for the parents. It was an awful story, but it's not like anyone was going to contest it.

It's not like anyone would believe the truth.

There were already tears tracks through Annie's makeup, and at this point she didn't care enough to redo it. Even though the bruises had disappeared not long after they were given, Annie's fingers still ghosted her neck where they had been.

She moved her hands away, instead smoothing down her skirt. There wasn't a lot of black in Annie Harrington's closet, adding to her 'Barbie' nickname. She always gravitated toward bright colors.

In times like this, she wished she had more than the long sleeve black top and skirt. Her mom's clothes were too big for Annie, so this is what she dealt with. She was lucky she had black shoes.

There was a light knock on the door. "You ready?" Steve asked gently.

Annie sniffed but nodded, turning away from her reflection and turning off the bathroom light. There was no need for words, because they both knew Annie wouldn't be able to finish a sentence without breaking down.

The Harrington adults sat in the living room, watching as Annie hurried out the door without so much as giving them a glance. Steve toward them and gave them a half-assed wave and a, "We'll back in a few hours."

The car ride was silent as the siblings drove down to the cemetery for the service. Not even the radio played, feeling too wrong for their situation. Annie thanked her lucky stars Hawkins was relatively small, because the drive wasn't as long as it could've been.

When they parked, Annie looked up and saw Max send them a small wave. Steve came around and opened the door for Annie. She let him help her out and for the next hour, felt like she was moving through four feet of snow.

She couldn't bare to look at the caskets or the pictures at the heads. It was too painful of a reminder. Her hands were trapped by Steve's and Max's so she couldn't let her fingers roam where the bruises were.

Probably a good thing, people would ask questions.

The pastor went on and was the only sound filling the air, other than the occasional sniff from Meghan and Holly's parents. The tears silent fell down Annie's face, not daring make a sound. She was hoping she and Max could avoid all questions about that night. About how awful it was, or what had actually happened.

She wouldn't be able to lie. Not to that many people. Not right now.

When the service was over and it was time to migrate to the Lopez's house for conversation and food, Annie was ready to go home.

"Steve, do we have to go?" Annie asked as their trio walked over to the Lopez family and James family. "I don't know if I can do it."

He squeezed her hand. "For just a second, I'm sure people will understand if we leave early. But it'll mean a lot if you show, okay?"

Annie sighed, but nodded. Max squeezed her other hand. "We've got this. I can try to be a buffer, if that'll help?" Max asked.

The brunette looked at her girlfriend and smiled. "Thank you."

Now came one of the hardest parts. Talking to their families.

Meghan's older sister, Elise, was the first to spot Annie. The girls talked a couple times, really only knowing each other from the times Annie would go over.

"Annie," she whispered, and walked to the girl to pull her into a hug. Annie let go of the hands holding her and hugged Elise back and let more tears pour out of her eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry," Annie whispered. If she talked any louder, she'd start to sob.

Elise squeezed her before they pulled away. She had tears streaming down her face, too. "It's okay, Annie. It was a fire. They're... well, you saw. They suck," she said, and Annie didn't miss the glance to Annie's leg that was still wrapped in bandages. The "burns" were still healing.

Mrs. Lopez came around from behind Elise and saw Annie. "Aww, Annie," she said, her own voice weak from crying. She also pulled Annie into a hug, this one was just shorter. "I'm happy to see you."

Annie tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace. "I'm sorry about... your loss," she said, taking a pause to sniff.

The woman smiled at her and nodded, then looked to the side and saw the other grieving family. When she looked back at Annie, she nodded once more.

"Well, it's always nice seeing you, Annie," she said, giving the girl's shoulder a squeeze before moving on.

Knowing her next step, Annie took in a deep breath and faced the grieving face of Holly's dad. Her mom worked, so Annie didn't get to see her as much, but Holly's dad... she saw a lot of him. Never once was he crying.

Seeing him crying sent a pang through Annie's already bruised heart. "Mr. James..." Annie started, and the man looked over at her. "I'm so sorry."

He smiled and brought her in for a hug. "Oh honey, it's not your fault. It's okay," he said as he patted her back.

She wanted to scream and kick, beg him to yell at her because it felt like it was her fault. It didn't matter what anyone told her, Annie would never stop blaming herself for what happened to them. It wasn't fair, they didn't deserve it.

And seeing Holly's big, strong dad and baby brother sobbing was about to push her off the edge.

After one more second in the hug, they pulled apart. Steve's hand immediately went to Annie's shoulder for comfort as they walked off, Max following behind.

She gave her condolences, the parents recognizing her but not knowing her as well. Max couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing that she wasn't as close to Meghan and Holly as Annie was.

The group walked over to Steve's car. The girls got into the backseat so they could be next to each other. Steve, surprising to him, was hoping one day he'd be as close with his future girlfriend as his sister was with her's.

When they got to the Lopez residence, they saw most of the others from the funeral were there, too. Annie sank in her seat at the large crowd. She figured most people would go home after offering their condolences.

"Well," Steve said, unbuckling his seatbelt, "at least when we leave it won't be noticeable." He could sense his sister's discomfort with all of this. He didn't think they'd be there much longer than twenty minutes for her sake. Depended on the crowd's attitude.

They all got out of the car and made their way up to the house. Annie was tugging on her shirt sleeves until Max's hand got one of hers. "We can do this. Just let me handle all the prying vultures and you can enjoy the little snacks they've got, okay?"

Steve leaned in closer. "We should probably get you sitting down, you're not supposed to be on your leg for so long at once," he said.

Sitting meant she couldn't be whisked away by some "concerned" stranger who wants to know everything. Sitting meant Max could defend her much easier.

"Sounds good," Anne said.

The trio made their way into the cozy house, going for the snacks right away. Annie always wondered why they had snacks at funerals. Maybe it was just the ones she went to. Small town meant a lot of other people provided the food. That was probably it.

She got herself a small plate with little meatballs and some crackers and homemade dip. Max and Steve followed right behind with their own tiny plates. They each grabbed a small plastic cup of water. Now it was time to find somewhere to sit.

There weren't a lot of places to sit, people having already staked their claims. "Limp a little," Max whispered. "It'll make someone feel guilty."

Annie figured that was a good idea. As the group walked away from the drinks, she made sure to have a decent but not dramatic limp to gain some sympathy. That plus the visible bandage over the lower half of her leg got someone to stand and offer her a chair.

"Thank you so much," Annie whispered, nodding to the kind man. He smiled and walked off, possibly to find a different seat. She sat down, then Steve and Max took their positions. One behind her chair and the other standing beside her.

Everything seemed to be going well. Annie didn't anticipate looks of pity from people, but she could live with that better than the questions. Anyone that did come up was intercepted by Max and Steve, who would gently make it known that Annie wasn't talking about that night.

When Max and Steve were both warding people away, one lady came up to Annie. "How are you dear?" she asked. It sounded innocent enough, Annie figured she was able to take on this.

She gave a half smile. "Getting by," she said, her voice a bit more confident now that she was done crying.

The lady smiled. "I can't imagine. It must've been awful, what even happened?" There it was. Annie mentally scolded herself for engaging with her. Of course she'd want the details.

But she wasn't going to ignore her, that wouldn't help and make her go away. "Uh, I don't really like to talk about it. It was traumatic, you know?" she said.

The lady nodded, and Annie thought it worked. Yet... "Still, I just can't help but wonder about it... it would give so many people closure if we knew what had happened that night."

At this point, Annie was done dealing with it. She stood abruptly from the chair and gave the lady a glare. "Then find someone else to pester about it." Annie stormed off as best as she could, her wounded leg having grown used to not being in use.

She had to push past a few people and ended up going outside to the front yard. There wasn't anyone out here. Annie made her way to the curb and sat down. Her face went to her hands and she let more tears escape.

Is it so hard to respect her wishes?

"Annie? Hey, Annie, what happened?" Max took notice the second Annie got out of her chair and followed after her after telling Steve she could do it. She sat down next to Annie and placed a gentle hand on her leg.

The brunette sniffed and looked up from her hands to lean her head on Max's shoulder. Her girlfriend's shoulder. "People are assholes. They just... even though the mall story is just some crap, doesn't mean I can talk about it. I can't forget the real reason. I can't..."

Max moved her arm to wrap around Annie and gave her the best side hug she could. "I know, I'm sorry. I can go grab Steve and we can get out of here, okay? I'll let the families know you were too overwhelmed by people and questions."

"No need." Annie lifted her head and the girls turned around. Steve was walking up to them, swinging his keys on his fingers. "I found Mrs. Lopez and told her we were going and why. She seemed sorry, but understood."

Annie smiled at her brother. Max started to stand and held a hand out to help Annie up. "Come on, let's go and watch a movie. Theater, yours, I don't care. But we have to help cheer you up."

The girl nodded. "I don't care, as long as you guys are there, I'm okay."

A/n: I always wondered what the cover story was for what happened at the hospital. I decided this would be my take on what happened with Holly and Meghan. RIP 🕊️