Liam wasn’t okay. In fact he was far from it and it was obvious. He’d been pacing for around ten minutes and silent pretty much all morning, lost in his own head. When Kasey said his name, he jumped a little.
“Um, yeah, yes I… I’m perfectly okay why wouldn’t I be okay? Everything is- is fine.”
Kasey stood slowly and began to make her way over to him. Her homework could be done later. For now, she had to see what was wrong with her boyfriend.
“Liam… What’s wrong?” she asked softly as she finally reached him.
Liam swallowed, letting out a nervous laugh, “Ah yeah you see I ah,” He sighed, biting his bottom lip. His hands started to shake and he stuffed them in his pockets, “It’s… it’s the anniversary of… of Colby’s death…” He mumbled.
Oh. No wonder he hadn’t been himself all morning… Of course, Kasey couldn’t blame him. She wondered if he’d even slept last night…
She reached over and set a gentle hand on his arm, hoping it would comfort him at least a little.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked softly.
Liam rocked back on his heels, fists clenching and unclenching in his pockets. He hated how he was acting, how his body reacted to these sorts of things.
“Can we go visit him?” He asked quietly, looking from the floor to Kasey and ignoring her question for now.
Kasey nodded. “Of course. Do you want me to drive?” she asked gently.
Liam nodded, “Yes, please.” He hatred driven to visit his brother since the funeral. He always got a taxi or something along those lines. He didn’t want the same thing to happen again, especially not to Kasey.
“All right. Let’s get ready to go, then. Unless you already are?” Kasey suggested, giving his arm a light squeeze. “Do you want to pick some flowers up to bring?”
“There’s um,” Liam scratched at the back of his head, “There’s a follower stall on the way, we can drop in there.”
Kasey nodded. “Sure, we can do that. Let me get dressed quick, okay? I’ll be back in a second.”
“Yeah, of course.” Liam tried a smile, though it was weak and there was no real emotion behind it.
“Why don’t you just sit for a bit?” Kasey suggested in a soft murmur before slipping away to get ready. It wouldn’t take her long, all she needed to do was change and that was easy.
Liam nodded, watching Kasey leave before he sat down on the couch. He held his head in his hands, sighing softly. It felt strange to have someone there for him this time around, he wasn't alone anymore.
It only took about five minutes for Kasey to get dressed and ready to leave. Soon, she was back out in the living room, stopping near Liam.
“Ready, love?” she asked softly, giving him a small, hopefully encouraging, smile.
Liam looked up and nodded, standing a moment later, “Yeah, let’s go.” He tried offering a smile back, though didn’t have much luck.
“Can you tell me how to get there? I’m not sure where we’re going,” Kasey said as they stepped out the door.
Liam nodded, pulling out his phone, "Yeah, I'll get directions up on here."
“Okay, sounds good,” Kasey said. They reached the car, and she climbed in the driver’s seat and waited for Liam to get in.
Liam climbed in, the car already feeling too small. He buckled in, plugging his phone into the car so the directions could come up on the screen.
“All right. Are you ready?” Kasey asked softly, glancing over at him and offering him her free hand.
Liam nodded, realising a shaky breath and taking her hand, “Yeah… lets go.”
Kasey gave his hand a gentle squeeze before putting the car in drive. Using the map, she followed the directions to the cemetery, parking where she could.
“Do you want to go pick out flowers?” she asked gently.
Liam nodded, "Yeah, the stalls just on the outside of the cemetery," He climbed out the car, pointing to a small, wooden stall with bundles of different flowers on the benches, "That's where I always go."
Kasey got out of the car and walked around to Liam’s side. She reached her hand out to him for him to hold.
“Shall we go get some, then?” she murmured, gently squeezing his hand when he took hers.
Liam sighed softly, giving Kasey’s hand a squeeze back, “Yeah, let’s go.” He led them over to the stall where an elderly man sat behind the wood. He smiled and greeted the two, seeming to know Liam fairly well.
Liam picked out some orange and yellow flowers, paying before heading towards Colby’s grave.