Title: Cruel World. Character: Alfred F. Jones. Rating: PG. Note: this is a human au, Feliciano is dead, and no pairings are mentioned. Warnings: Character death(already dead by way of murder) and angst.
Alfred knew he should not have been back here so soon, but everything still felt so painful and unreal. The news from earlier had yet to stop running through his mind and left him a mix of emotions with anger standing out above the rest. The longer he stared at the gravestone the harder he found it to breathe and fresh warm tears slid down his face while he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides. The others, he knew, were planning on coming together tomorrow afternoon, or the day after that if it rained. Alfred felt like he needed his visit alone and swallowed the hard lump in his throat, trying to get some semblance of closure while he knew deep-down there was none. Not right now. Not after the news they heard earlier.
Unsure if it took a minute or an hour, he didn’t know and didn’t care, but he finally found himself able to speak and with a shaky voice he began to repeat information they had all heard that morning. “I know what I’m about to tell ya isn’t good or fair, but that guy that did this got off free this morning.” A technicality, the reporters said, and that was about as much as he could stand to hear. There was something wrong with the whole thing and reeked of being a fixed trial, and the chance that the ones involved were corrupt came to mind often. Either way, it left him in pain and angry.
Right now the man that put one of best friends in the ground in front of him was walking free, probably celebrating and happy, and it wasn’t fair! It had barely been a week but Feliciano’s absence was already noticeable and no one said anything but they could all feel it. Feliciano was one of those guys that whose absence was easily felt. While he wasn’t loud in general, the brunette had been one of those kinds of people that filled the silence with either his chatter or actions. He was the kind of guy that went to church without fail every Sunday, helped in their events and activities and rarely brought it up when they were all hanging out together. And while he had his annoying moments, Feliciano had become one of his best friends and the longer he stared at the gravestone and the dirt, the more it became a reality he did not want and it hurt.
And what of his family? Alfred knew Feliciano had, at least, an older and younger brother(he saw them at the funeral and was only able to talk long enough to offer condolences) and could only imagine how they would feel hearing that news. They would likely be as outraged, if not more so, than he was right now. “I heard they’re gonna go after the guy on another murder charge. They said something about new evidence that might hold up better...” than yours did, he finished the sentence in thought, unable to say it out loud. It not being fair slapped him across the face again since they had what they needed to get the guy, but all because of one little technicality he got off free and the blonde had small suspicion he’d get off of that charge one way or another too.
At some point the tears stopped and his gaze hardened, and an idea presented itself. One he would be keeping a secret, but he had felt angered and determined enough to go through with it. “The others are coming by to see you again tomorrow if it’s not raining, and don’t worry,” he spoke while placing the flowers he brought on the grave. “That guy is goin’ down.” One way or another, he thought while starting the walk out of the cemetery, not looking back.