Third Person's POV

Vylad Ro'meave

Date of Birth: December 29, 2004

Date of Death: April 20, 2021

Seventeen years old. Vylad Ro'meave, a boy filled with so much love, dead at seventeen.

Vylad's room is a place where people don't enter, but they know it's there. It's a door that remains shut without the hope of it opening again. No more light creeps into the hallway during his late night readings. Never again will there be playful arguments about his bedding that didn't match. His candles won't light again for meditation. Instead, it's an empty room full of belongings to someone who is gone. It's a reminder of someone who has passed when you walk down the stairs.

Never again will the sound of his laughter brighten up a room. The sound of meaningless drum sticks hitting against a solid surface won't be from him. The sound of his voice only from past recordings, never from a present source or in the moment.

Forever seventeen.

The weather didn't understand the sadness in the air. Instead, the sun shone brightly on the afternoon of Vylad's funeral. Rain didn't fall down to mask the tears from people's weeping.

Zianna felt broken. She blamed herself everyday for Vylad's illness. She wished that she paid better attention to her son. He was unwell, she knew that, and she pushed it off like it was a common cold. And as time progressed and he grew worse, she felt foolish for continuing to hope that he'd be okay again. She was only content with herself for when she rushed him into the hospital that day to learn the truth behind his illness. She'd go back in time to when his systems first occurred to fix it all if she could.

Now, she's standing in front of a hole that is dug six feet deep. Her son being lowered into it. Dirt held tightly inside the palm of her hand as she stands there watching helplessly as he disappears forever from her.

She'll never get to see his smile. Feel the warmth of his embrace. The comfort she felt in the sound of his voice. When she calls him now, she's met with silence.

They tell her to be strong, but how can one be strong when they feel weak? Like their entire world is crumbling around them?

Graduation is in a month. A graduation that Vylad won't be attending. A place where he won't be honored for his achievements or give the speech a valedictorian would tell to his fellow classmates.

Prom is in a matter of mere weeks. He won't be there either. He won't be able to twirl his girlfriend in circles on the dance floor and match what she wears. He won't be able to take prom photos with those close to him or to be the first one to tell his sister that she's beautiful when she walks out of her room.

Zianna and Garte drop a handful of dirt down into the grave. Garroth walks forward to drop his. Zane follows behind. Y/N finds it hard to stumble forward to drop her's.

The promise she made Vylad was something she'd think of every night before she went to sleep in tears. The first thing she thought about when she woke up in the morning. The same waking thought she had everyone second of the day.

Her guitar sits in the corner of the room. Too pained to even look at it, she's thrown a sheet over it. It feels like a betrayal to Vylad for her to cast music to the side. It hurts her to even think of the memories she shared with Vylad being by her side on the stage every time.

She'll go back to it when it doesn't hurt as much.

The Zvahls stand in the background. Laurance holds onto Alex tightly as he looks off to the side to hide his tears.

That was his little wing man. His best friend. The guy he'd give shit to but take it back because he didn't mean it. The one he'd tease for being so young but knowing that Vylad is more mature than Laurance could ever ask to be.

In a world of girls, Vylad was his savior. There was someone there who shared the same sex as him. He understood how Laurance would feel regarding topics and didn't mind having "brotime" with him.

He feels he took him for advantage.

Alex sniffles in his grasp. That was the boy she gave everything to. The one she loved. Had all her firsts. The one she planned a future with in her mind, and the one she won't have again. The one she has to move on from.

The day of Vylad's death, anger filled Hayden for receiving a call from the school about Alex's absence. They returned to the house, heartbroken. It was the announcement that her boyfriend died that caused Hayden to open his eyes.

For a better relationship to form.

Now they're covering Vylad's grave with dirt, separating them and him with layers and layers of earth. The workers leave, offering their condolences after a job finishes.

Y/N drops to her knees beside her resting brother, feeling tears fall from her cheeks to the ground beneath her. She cries to him, saying how much she misses him already and how it isn't the same as before. She apologizes about her fear to pursue music and how she didn't want to break their promise. She begs for forgiveness even if she knew Vylad would give it to her if he was there.

A hand places itself on Y/N's shoulder, and she looks up to see Laurance. It's then she cries into his chest.