Laura notices me then, rolling her eyes at my presence before turning to Talia.

I hardly care, about her dirty looks or whoever the hell Dev is.

I'm too wound up, repeating what Mr. Henson said to me again and again, my fists clenching tighter and tighter against my sundress until I feel my nails leaving crescent moon marks in my palms.

"You okay?" Luke murmurs, pretending to kiss the side of my head as he whispers in my ear.

I say nothing, hardly move a muscle. I can't. I can't see past the red rage clouding my vision.

Why do the people in this town talk to me that way? Talk about the accident that way? Why do they think it's OK to throw around the death of a persons loved one so easily, so cruelly? Why?

My throat feels dry, my knuckles cramp.

Luke mistakes my silence for my being okay. So he turns to Laura, taking a long drink and rejoining her conversation with their mother.

"He was invited?" His tone is disapproving.

"He's Finn's dad. Of course he was." Laura snaps, her eyes once again finding me. "At least it makes sense for him to be here."

Her words, like her glare, are directed right at me. My jaw starts to ache from how hard I'm clamping my teeth together.

I want to hit her. In that moment, I really do. And it's probably not even her fault - I'm angrier with her father, but she's who's here right now and so... my fist clenches, the thin fabric of my dress becoming wrinkled between my fingers.

"It would make sense," Luke shrugs, passive-aggressive in his return dig, "If the bum ever showed up at all."

"You know what Luke? You should take your little girlfriend and you should go fu-"

"That's enough." Talia's maternal voice is enough to shut the both of them up. Enough to ground me, even just a little bit, even just momentarily.

Wordlessly, Laura and Luke stare at each other, both obviously biting their tongues. I don't know if they normally fight this way, if it's my presence that's disrupting the peace so much.

The tension in the air is so thick, the silence so loud that no one even noticed the soft pads of little feet that approached who knows how long ago.

We do notice, though, when Finn's sweet voice pierces the air, the tears audible even though he's behind us.

"Daddy's not coming?"

My chest gets tight. Apparently long enough to hear the entire conversation.

Poor Finn, he shouldn't have heard any of it.

Luke whips around, practically falling to his knees to begin making it up to the boy. "Finn, buddy,"

"Oh, baby, Daddy had to work!" Laura's voice is ten times kinder already as she rushes towards him. As she passes Luke, she purposely rams into his arm with her shoulder, muttering under her breath, "Way to go, asshole."

She kneels in front of Finn, gripping his chubby hands in hers. "He had to go to work, but he promised he'll see you next weekend, okay?"

Luke scoffs beside me.

I don't have to know what this "Dev" guy said to know that Laura is lying, saying whatever she can to make Finn feel better. I hear the hurt in her voice.

Part of me, the part that knows she's Finn's mom and that her sadness is his sadness too, cares. It cares a lot, because I care about Finn. But the rest of me doesn't give a shit if Laura's hurting or not.

"No!" Finn yells, louder than I've ever heard him, tearing his floaties off his arms and throwing them to the floor as his shouts get louder. "No! I want Daddy, now!"

"We'll still have a good day, baby. We'll teach you swimming and-" Laura is trying to embrace him, to console him somehow, but he's pushing her away, swinging his hands wildly and only narrowly missing her face.

"Now Finn," Talia steps forward to help her baby manage her grandbaby. "We've talked about these tantrums - we do not hit Mommy,"

As soon as Talia is close enough, Laura gives up, standing some steps away. She presses her hand to her mouth and I can tell she's about to cry. Who knows how many of these blowouts she's had to work Finn down from?

Luke is tense beside me, like he wants to grab his nephew, throw him over his shoulder and take care of this himself. But he doesn't. He watches, dark brows crinkled together over concerned eyes.

I feel like I shouldn't be here, like an intruder into problems way too private for me to witness. But I don't move, unsure where else to go.

Trying to lift Finn up from the floor, Talia's voice is labored. "I'm sorry you're sad about Daddy, but-"

Before she can finish, Finn is screaming, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. "No, no, no, no, NO! I want Daddy! I hate you! I hate Mommy!" His little arms shove as hard as he can against Talia's chest and my heart nearly stops when he almost slips from her grip and to the floor.

Luckily, she's able to keep one hand on him, pressing him to her body and slowing his descent a little, cushioning his fall.

Still, as soon as his feet hit solid ground, he's pushing off her legs with all his might, and running back outside, away from us.

"Finn!" All three of us call after him immediately.

It happens quickly then. A matter of seconds, if that. Before any of us could even follow after him.

Finn runs across the porch, down the steps, and across the patio surrounding the in-ground pool. The patio, slick from everyone swimming and splashing about.

"No running!" I hear Mr. Henson shout the first rule of any pool party from his place at the grill.

One of the other kids, seated with his feet dangling over the edge, heeds Mr. Henson's warning, standing up and holding his arms out as if to stop Finn from passing by him.

But Finn is too upset, too angry, too sad, to be stopped, and he twists his torso away from his friend, still running full speed. The boy's hands barely grasp Finn's arm, and the momentum of it all knocks Finn off balance.

His foot slips in one of the chlorinated puddles.

Before we can even blink, his pale body is falling over the edge of the pool.

Plunging right into the deep end.

His floaties lying discarded at our feet.

A way overdue chapter for y'all. If you didn't see my announcement, you can check it out but we've been dealing with the virus over here.
Anyways! You guys know I love cliffhangers *evil laugh*
thoughts?
would anyone be interested in a Casey aesthetic?