Miles Apart - Sam Kiszka x OC fanfic

CHAPTER 37: LILLIANA

i'm back babiessss
how r u all i missed u
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"You look beautiful," Sam said from behind me, his suit-clad reflection lurking in the mirror as I fixed my makeup.

"Hm," I smiled, "you do too."

"I look beautiful?" he chuckled as he walked up to me and wrapped his long arms around my waist, sweetly kissing my cheek.

"Yeah, beautiful," I laughed back, turning to place a small kiss on his lips, "the most beautiful boy ever."

He softly smiled and leaned his head against mine, looking at us in the mirror as we softly swayed in place; our love for one another radiating off of our reflection without another word passing between our lips.

"You ready to do this?" he mumbled into my hair.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready," I admitted as I ran my hands down the creases in my black dress.

"Me neither," he agreed, clearing his throat and pinning the black cuffs of his shirt down to his suit jacket.

"I'm going to get Danny and Josh. Try Jake again, okay? He'll only listen to you."

"Okay," I nodded, flashing him a small smile of security before he walked out of our room. I trailed close behind Sam as he made his way, slowly approaching Jake's seemingly forever-locked door. I raised my hand to knock but quickly dropped it back down to my side; I didn't even want to try anymore. I never knew how hard this was going to be. With each day, each hour, and each excruciating minute, I could feel my family slowly slip away. Jake had stayed locked behind the closed door of his once shared bedroom since the day Lilli passed, and I missed him; the way we used to be before life wrapped its cold hands around our hearts and squeezed until there was nothing left.

"Jake," I softly whispered.

No response.

"Jake, we're leaving for the funeral. Please come," I urged.

No response.

"Okay," I sighed, "If you decide to come, it's at the church down on 23rd; Father Hiram's church. I know he'd love to see you. We're picking up your sons after, so... yeah."

I heard shuffling on the other side of his door, but even after a minute, he still refused to respond.

"Fuck it," I sighed before walking away, fully knowing that any attempt to get him out of his room was futile, especially considering that the one time he did come out of his room, he overheard his best friend admit to being in love with his dead wife.

I walked to the front of the house, fixing my makeup in the floor-length mirror once more before opening the door, walking to Sam's car, and climbing into the passenger seat.

"Everyone ready?" he asked as I put on my seatbelt, a ting of dread dripping from his words.

"Yeah," I sighed, as Danny and Josh subtly nodded their heads from the back of the car in agreement.

We began our short drive to the funeral in silence; the only noise coming from the faint echo of a pop song playing on the radio. Normally, that would bother Sam, but today he didn't even seem to notice it.

"It'll be nice to see everyone again," Josh blurted, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror as Sam turned onto Main Street.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Father Hiram since my uncle got married," I laughed, "God, he probably hates me though."

"Oh, I doubt that. You were a shithead, but you were never that bad," Sam chuckled as he intertwined his fingers with mine.

"He caught Brian Emeradge and me fucking in the parking lot once. I'm pretty sure he hates me," I admitted. Sam dramatically pulled his hand away as the three of them gasped at my confession.