It had officially been an entire month since that night. A month. Wy was surprised it had been so long, he still felt like..it was only yesterday. But at the same time, it felt like it had been longer. He was at the gravestone again. He brought the same flowers, and replaced the old ones with them. He started telling West about his day, like he was hoping he could hear him. But West couldn’t hear him...so maybe it was more for himself.
“I..I miss you..still. I’m never gonna get over you..” he said, continuing to talk. He hugged himself, hoping for some type of warmth. He sighed, stood up, and wiped the grass off of himself. He felt his lip quiver as he left, but he managed to not cry at the cemetery. Progress! Progress was good..
He managed to make it home before he broke down into tears. He sobbed into a pillow..it was a little bit more comfortable than his hand. He was also warmer, as he pulled a blanket around himself. He was beginning to feel...lonely. It was understandable but..he hated it. He hated being lonely like this. He wanted someone...anyone to hug him. Luckily, that was the exact moment Montana walked through the door. Well, both of the Montana’s. Madison and Helena, who both noticed their brothers saddened state on the couch. Madison was the first to sit down with him, wrapping him in a hug. Helena took a deep breath, and did the same.
“Shh..it’s okay Wy..” Madison whispered. He was better at this than Helena could ever be.
“Sorry..” he whispered back, as he started loudly crying again. The two of them exchanged a look, one of great concern.
“What do we do?” Helena whispered, hoping her twin would have even the slightest idea. Madison shrugged, also having no clue. Luckily, Wy didn’t notice this, as he pulled away from Madison to cry into Helena’s shoulder. She began rubbing his back, trying to think of something that would make him feel better, even if for a few minutes. She considered it for a while.
“You wanna..you wanna go out to a bar? Like old days?” She suggested, and she saw Madison perk up a little. She glared at him, but she was more focused on Wy to care about him. He took a few deep breaths, and sighed.
“That doesn’t sound..too bad..” he said, sounding a bit calmer as he backed up from Helena. “Yeah..I can do that..probably..” he said, speaking very slowly. He’d been doing that for the entire month. It was like he struggled to even form a coherent sentence. They both noticed, but neither wanted to say anything about it. Wy was still vulnerable. Wy went into his room and came out a little cleaned up, and wearing a skirt. He usually did, in fact. He sat down in front of Madison, breathing slowly.
“Please braid my hair..” he said, and Madison obliged. He went slowly, not wanting to pull Wy’s hair, thinking the most positive thoughts he could muster. Madison was eventually done, and the three of them climbed into Helena’s truck, and started on their way down to Denver. They could go somewhere else, but they’d been going to Denver for this for so long they didn’t know where else they could possibly go. Wy was leaning on Madison, for comfort, until he fell asleep about halfway through there. It was a very quiet ride, as Wy couldn’t handle music and no one knew what to say.
“Mad..I’m so worried about him. I know I don’t say that much but..look at him, he’s a wreck. Not even saying that to be mean I’m just-“ she said, taking a deep breath and being quiet.
“I know Helena..this is awful. He hasn’t been like this since..” Madison’s words trailed off, as they both knew what he was talking about. He hadn’t been like this since the 60’s. But they could both confidently say that he was worse now. They were lucky they convinced him to go out at all, let alone to a bar. Maybe this was a bad idea..
But they were already there. Madison woke Wy up, and the three of them went into the bar. It was very energetic, and you could see Wy’s face shift as he started to tune out the world, and sit down, slowly sipping on a glass of water. He got some guys flirting with him, but he always froze when they did. Helena chased them away for him, because Madison was busy getting super drunk. Everyone could see him running around, spinning in circles and clinging onto Helena when he found her.
“ugh..” she said, throwing him off of her so he went back to the bar itself. She was so focused on that, she didn’t even notice Wy walking up to her. She didn’t notice until Wy fell into her arms and began sobbing. He was overwhelmed, this was a really bad idea.
“This much and it’s too soon Helena I wanna go home please bring me home I’m sorry-“ he said, gripping her tight.
“Sh..sh..it’s okay,Wy..this was a bad idea. I’ll bring you to the car, and then I'll get Mad and we can go, okay?” She said, picking Wy up and walking out with him.
“O..okay..” he said, finally, when they were walking. He was gently placed in her car, alone. He was afraid then, even if it was for barely five minutes. It really frightened him to see so many people, and the people talking to him were weird and he just couldn’t do it. Not yet. Eventually, Helena was dragging a very drunk Madison out of the bar, and threw him into the seat next to Wy. Madison immediately fell asleep against the window, and Wy leaned on him again, falling asleep as well. Helena was just glad her brothers weren’t crying, as she drove them back to Wy’s home. Helena picked Wy up, and woke Madison, taking them both inside with her, as they all laid down on the bed.
“It wasn’t fun Mad. It was probably way too soon for that- I can’t believe I..” she said, looking away. She usually didn’t get so upset, but this was her brother who she cared a lot about.
“No...it’s okay Helena. I know you thought it wouldn’t go that badly. I..I won’t get drunk next time..” he said, looking a little ashamed of himself for not watching over them better.
“Just go to sleep.” She said, turning on her side and immediately falling asleep. Madison couldn’t do that, so he just fell asleep like normal. Wy was clinging to his arm, holding him tight.
And he was the first to wake up in the morning. He quickly looked at his watch. SHIT! He was late! He clambered out of bed and out of his skirt, into some jeans and a hoodie. All of the movement woke both of the Montana’s up.
“Wy, what is it-?” Helena asked, sounding really tired.
“I have to get flowers! Right now!” He said, as he put his shoes on and walked out of the bedroom, and very quickly went out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
