Since the day had been going so good, I wasn't that surprised when our van suddenly stopped moving on the way home. Melissa muttered something, turning around to give Oliver an annoyed look. "Did you put gas in the car like you were supposed to?"

"Nope," he responded casually. "I figured someone else would do it."

"Why didn't you tell me before we took it today?" she demanded.

"Why didn't you stop to get gas before we picked everyone up?"

Melissa gave him a flat look. "Because you were supposed to yesterday!"

"Why didn't you just check the gauge?" Zak chipped in, looking confused.

"It's broken," Melissa responded with a sigh.

I frowned slightly. "Now what?"

"We wait for someone to bring us gas," Melissa responded, sounding depressed. "Where are we?"

She looked out the window, and I followed her gaze, realizing with a shock that we had broken down right in front of a cemetery. Not just any cemetery though— the cemetery where my parents were buried. My breath caught in my throat as I stared though the foggy window of the van at the snowy graveyard before me.

"Whoa," Zak commented, turning to look out the window too. "We ran out of gas in front of a cemetery? Weird. Let's go explore!"

"I wanna come!" Elliot cried, turning to give me a pleading look. "Pig, can I go with him?"

I blinked when I realized he was talking to me. "Um, sure...?"

Without another second's hesitation, Zak unsnapped his seatbelt and hopped out of the car with Elliot. Tucker followed quickly, as well as Melissa. Arden turned frowning at me for a second, looking worried.

"Harley, is this...?"

"Where my parents are buried?" I finished for him, dropping my gaze. "Yeah."

"Well," Arden started, clapping his hands together. "I do believe I'll go pay my respects to them then."

I stared at him in bewilderment. "What?"

Arden cocked his head to the side. "You know. I'll go introduce myself to them and stuff."

"Why?"

Arden cocked an eyebrow. "You're one of my closest friends, that's why. I want to meet your parents."

My mouth dried at Arden's words. He wanted to meet my parents? I couldn't help but to smile at him. "You're weird."

Arden grinned back. "Come on, let's go."

My smile dropped. "Oh, I don't know if I want to go..."

"Why not?"

"I just... I..."

"Go," Oliver ordered, pushing my shoulder. "I'm coming too. Let's all go visit them."

I gave Oliver a questioning look. Why was he so pushy? He pushed on my shoulder again and I resigned, scooting to the middle of the van. Arden opened the door and hopped out, helping me onto the frozen ground after him. Oliver jumped down after me, shutting the door behind him. I pulled my jacket tighter around me as a gust of chilly wind nipped at me. It blew my hair into my face, momentarily blocking my vision of the graveyard. When I managed to push it away, the black iron gates and grey headstones came back into vision, looming ominously.

"Ready?"

I glanced at Arden briefly before refocusing on the cemetery. An odd feeling washed over me— sort of like a mix of fear, excitement, and sorrow. It made me feel a little sick. Did I want to go visit their grave right now? After having so much fun?

Suddenly a warm hand enveloped my cold one. My eyes followed the hand holding mine to the arm connected to it, all the way up to the face. Arden gave me an encouraging smile. He pulled on it, taking the lead.

My free hand shot out to grab Oliver's. His eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing. Instead he gave my hand a gentle squeeze, and allowed me to drag him behind Arden and myself as we headed toward the kissing gate that led into the cemetery.

Row upon row of headstones protruded from the ground on either side of us. Some of them were large and elegant, while others were small and quaint. Every one had a small blanket of white snow on top of it. It kind of looked peaceful.

"Do you remember where it is?" Arden questioned softly, as if talking in a loud tone would somehow disturb the silence of the cemetery. It was like the snow buffeted any sound, but it wasn't in a creepy way. It was in a pleasant, peaceful way.

I hesitated for a moment, staring at a small gravestone as we passed it. "No," I finally lied. "It's been awhile since I've been here... I think it's near the back though."

I silently begged for Arden to buy my lie. I hated lying to him, but I didn't want anyone around me when I went to the grave. It was my first time in a little more than half a year. I didn't know how I was going to react. And I didn't want Oliver or Arden around to see how I did.

"Why don't we split up then?" Arden suggested, thankfully believing me. "We can shout or something if one of us finds them. Are they next to each other?"

I nodded meekly. "Yeah... Let's split up then. I'll head to the far right." I pointed in the said direction, turning back up to Arden. "Why don't you start on the left?"

"Sounds good. What about you, Oliver?"

"I'll start in the middle I guess," he responded.

Arden nodded. "Alright." He dropped my hand, and immediately it felt like ice. "I'm going to go start looking then."

"I will too," Oliver said, also letting go of my hand.

A frown flickered across my face at the absence of their hands. Arden waved to me once more before trudging through the snow to the left of the cemetery. Oliver waited another moment, scrutinizing me with his eyes.

"Will you be okay?" he finally asked.

I blinked at him, a bit taken aback by his question. "Oh, um, yeah."

He nodded once more before turning his back on me and heading further down the path we were on. I stared after him for a moment, my heart beating a little quicker than usual. When he disappeared from my view, I turned to the right and began hurrying down the rows of headstones. The snow crunched under my feet as I carefully treaded around each headstone, keeping a vigilant eye out for the flat ones so I wouldn't accidentally step on them.

Snow flurried from the sky as I trekked across the hard ground. A very familiar, gnarled, tree entered my vision, and I dragged my hand across its trunk as I passed it. I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to remember exactly where my parents' grave was. It was somewhere around there. I remembered leaning against it during the funeral, hands clasped over my ears, unable to listen to the morose words and tears of friends and our meager family.

Shaking my head to dispel the memory, I glanced over the gravestones in the immediate area. There was only one two-person headstone in the immediate area, but I still would've known that that one was my parents', even if there had been others. They were just a few feet away from the black, iron gate that enclosed the cemetery. As my gaze ran over the familiar headstone, it felt like something heavy was pressing against my chest. Grief. Grief that actually weighed down on my chest.

I staggered a few steps closer, staring at the stone that seemed to shine in the moonlight brighter than any other stones around it. My eyes raked over the familiar names of my parents, taking in the deep engravings on the grey stone. There was nothing fancy to it— name, date of birth, date of death, the usual. I'd been too upset to think of anything clever, and neither of them had a will or left any preferences. It'd all been too unexpected. My hand rested on the smooth marble, and I took a deep breath.

"Hey Mom, Dad," I said quietly. Silence was my answer. I made a face. It was really awkward talking out loud.

I squatted down by the grave, wiping the snow away from the front of the head stone. My hand trailed over the engravings of my parents' names and the dates of their deaths, feeling the cold marble against my skin.

"So, um, it's been a year since you... you know," I murmured, cursing myself inwardly. "Never mind. You don't know. You probably can't even hear me. You probably don't know that I'm standing here right now. While you're under this cold snow and dirt, unknowing and unaware of what's happening in the real world, I'm standing here very aware and very alive. It's been hard, you know? It's not very fair that I have to handle this alone. But then again, it's not fair that you died."

I almost cracked a smile. What would someone walking by think if they saw me right now? A teenaged girl standing in this dark cemetery alone at night, talking to her dead parents' gravestone, wishing they were still alive?

The tears sprung up on me so fast, I didn't even realize they were there until I felt something warm rolling down my cheeks. I didn't bother to wipe them away. For a moment I stared at the grave in front of me, my lips pressed together tightly. When I finally trusted myself to speak again, my voice came out a little more shakily than before.

"Elliot's here too," I whispered, clenching my hands into fists. "I wish you could see him. He's so grown up now... He still calls me Pig, too. I pretend it's annoying, but I really like hearing him call me that, especially since you used to call me Pig all the time, Mom. Remember that? And then Dad would scold you?" A watery chuckle left my lips. "I wonder what you'd say to Eli... I bet he'd like to see you. Probably more than me. I don't think he really understands that you guys aren't coming back. Either that or he's handling it way better than I have. He's pretty strong, for a little kid. But he still remembers you, still misses you..."

I ran my hand over the snow on the ground, making a small pile, and squeezing it with all my strength. "I miss you guys. I miss you so much." Tears once again began to fall down my face, but this time I wiped them away. I had to be strong, especially in front of my parents.

"Harley?"

A gasp of surprise left my lips and I jumped violently. Oliver suddenly appeared in my vision, dropping to his knees. He moved closer to me, peering at my face. "Are you okay?"

His proximity made my face heat up, but I didn't think he could tell because my face was already flushed from the cold. "I—I'm fine."

"Why are you on the ground then?" he demanded, sounding irritated. "You scared me. I thought you had passed out or something." His hand came up to my cheek, wiping away a stray tear.

"I'm fine," I repeated, smiling slightly. "Thanks for your worry though."

"I wasn't worried."

"Uh-huh."

"Come on, get off the ground."

Oliver climbed to his feet and stuck out his hand for me to take. In one brisk move, he had me on my feet. I brushed the snow and dirt off of my back and butt, making a face when I realized it was wet.

"Here."

I turned to see Oliver holding out a package of tissues to me. "Why do you have those?"

"Why not?"

Staring at him curiously, I took the package from him, pulling one of the tissues out and blowing my nose. He took the package back and also my snotty tissue, putting it I his pocket.

"I can hold on to that," I told him, feeling my face heat up again. "I'm not a kid."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "It's fine."

I huffed at him, crossing my arms. His eyes went past me, landing on my parents' grave. My heart dropped in my gut when his eyes narrowed.

"Your parents' grave is here, huh?" he commented, moving closer to the tombstone. "Sadie is a pretty name. Simon was my great-grandpa's name."

"Really?"

Oliver nodded, running his hand over the engravings much as I did earlier. "Yeah." He squatted down in front of the grave, putting his hand on top of it for balance. "Hey. I'm Oliver, Harley's friend."

It sounded a little funny to hear Oliver talking to the gravestone, but my face stayed straight. My heart clenched, but not in a painful way. The way Oliver so easily talked to my dead parents made me happy. He continued talking, but in such a low voice that I couldn't make out what he was saying. When he was done, he pushed himself away from the grave. He turned to me, offering me a kind smile. I stared back at him, thrown off guard by his affectionate look once again.

"You want to know something interesting?" he asked, coming closer to me.

"What?"

He nodded toward the gravestone next to my parents'. "Have you read that one?"

Shaking my head, I took a few steps to the left. My eyes widened when I read the headstone. Oliver walked past me, brushing his hand over the engraving of the name. Abigail Hastings.

"Is Lily's last name Hastings?" I asked quietly. Oliver's was Fox, so he didn't take his mother's last name.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah. Kate and Andy let her keep her last name."

"Oh," I responded, dropping to my knees beside Oliver. "Hi Abby, I'm going to let Oliver talk to you alone for a while, but I want to let you know that although Oliver may seem like a jerk to everyone, he's a really good guy. I'm sure you know already know this, but I'm just saying Oliver has a big heart. He's really helped me out a lot. Your son is an amazing person. I'm lucky to have him."

Just as I straightened myself out, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. My eyes widened in surprise, and I turned my head, my cheek pressing against Oliver's because of our proximity. He held me tighter, making it hard to breathe.

"I'm the lucky one, Harley," he told me in a quiet voice. "Thank you."

"Oliver—" I started, but my voice cracked from lack of oxygen. I struggled to get out of Oliver's grasp, trying to breathe.

Oliver released his grasp on me quickly, taking a step back away. He averted his gaze, tensing up. "Sorry," he muttered.

"That's not it!" I told him, taking a step closer to him. "You were just kind of suffocating me."

Oliver turned back to me, looking surprised. "Sorry," he apologized again, a relieved look washing over him.

I chuckled, this time wrapping my arms around him. Lately, I seemed to be hugging him a lot. And I was completely fine with it. "It's okay, Oliver. And I should also say thank you to you. Especially since you seem to be always thanking me."

"Don't thank me."

"I am anyway."

"You don't have to."

"Oliver, just shut up and accept it."

He sighed lightly. "Fine. You're welcome."

"Harley? Where are you?"

Oliver and I looked away from each other quickly, abruptly dropping our arms. Flushing, I started towards the source of the noise, leaving Oliver behind, still standing by the graves "I'm over here!"

"Over where?" Arden called back, sounding far away.

"Follow the sound of my voice!" I called back unhelpfully, stepping around a particularly tall headstone.

Fortunately, we managed to find each other, Arden jogging up to me with a flashlight in hand and a grin on his face. "So, did you find your parents' grave?"

"Yeah," I told him, nodding at the gnarled tree. "Want to go see it now?"

"Definitely," he responded, heading over to the tree. "Let's go, Harley." He grabbed my elbow, pulling me forward a few steps before linking arms with me. "Straight from the tree?"

"Yep."

"Eh? Oliver's there already."

"Um, he just—" I cut myself off quickly. I was just about to lie to Arden again! That would have been the fifth time today! "He came a little while after I found it. I was just about to look for you."

Arden shrugged. "That's fine. Hey, Oliver."

Oliver looked up from his mom's grave, frowning at Arden. "Hey."

Arden's eyes traveled beyond Oliver. "Hey, Abby."

Oliver and I exchanged confused glances as Arden passed by Abby's grave and to my parents'. He kneeled on one knee before it, bowing his head. "I've come today to ask for your permission to ask your daughter to marry me," he started in a serious tone.

"Arden!"

Arden glanced at me, grinning. "I'm joking." He refocused his attention on my parents' grave. "I'm Arden Bring, Harley's student, and friend. It's nice to meet you. It's a cold night, huh?"

Oliver stared at Arden, an amused smile playing at his lips. Apparently, he was finding Arden talking to my parents just as amusing as I had found him. Talking to graves was something I wouldn't get used to. But it was effective. Arden continued talking to them, about a bunch of different things. About how we met, about how he enjoyed my class, about how he helps me prepare for class... and also about how much he trusts me.

"She's definitely the most honest person I know," Arden told my parents. "You must be very proud. Not many people can be as honest and caring as she is. She's incredible."

My heart dropped into my gut. Now Arden was telling my parents lies. I wasn't an honest person. "Arden—"

"That's all I really have to say," he continued, seeming to not have heard me. "It's kind of cold, so I'm hoping the person who is bringing us gas is here soon. It was nice to meet you though! I'll come back soon." He moved away from the grave, giving me a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it took so long..."

I shook my head, moving forward to give him a hug. "No, that's fine. Thank you, Arden."

"Anytime," he responded, ruffling my hair. "Do you need more time? Or are you ready to go?"

"I think I'm ready to go," I responded, glancing back at the grave. I definitely had enough for tonight. But it was nice. "I think I'll come back soon too."

I grinned. "Thanks, Arden. I will."

Oliver suddenly cleared his throat. "If you're ready, let's go."

Rolling my eyes, I started for Oliver. "Fine."

Arden took my hand in his once again, squeezing it tightly. As we walked by Oliver, before I could reach out and grab his hand, Oliver had already seized mine. Startled, I stared up at him for a few minutes. He looked away quickly, making sure to avoid eye contact.

"I love you guys," I said, squeezing their hands.

Arden nudged my shoulder with his. "You like me more than Oliver, right?"

"Arden, shut up," Oliver snapped.

Arden laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! She loves us the same, right?"

"Right," I responded with a laugh. Oliver caught my eye and I we gazed at each other for a moment. When I looked away, I realized I had been holding my breath. I let it out slowly, shaking my head. "Let's go home now."

Arden swung my hand hard. "I do believe that's the plan."

I elbowed him in the side. "Don't be a smart aleck."

When we arrived back at the van, the others were already there and waiting inside of it. The vehicle was running which meant the person delivering the gas had already come and gone. We climbed into the warm vehicle, and I sighed contently, slumping into my seat next to Elliot. He grinned at me in greeting, snow melting in his hair.

Zak turned around in his seat to send me a broad smile. He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Where were you guys?"

Oliver "accidentally" shoved Zak in the shoulder as he climbed into the back after me. "We were visiting her parents' grave."

Zak's expression dropped. "Without me?"

"You wanted to see them?"

"I'd like to pay my respects too," Zak responded with a pout.

"Same here," Tucker added, turning around in his seat.

I stared at them dumbfounded. "You too, Tucker?"

"You help me out a lot," he responded. "I'd like them to know that."

For a moment I was caught off guard. They seriously wanted to go talk to my dead parents. They didn't think it was weird at all. My eyes watered as I studied the two boys before me. Zak's expression became bewildered.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm not," I told him, shaking my head and rubbing my eyes and sniffling. "Next time... Next time you guys can come with me to the grave. Definitely."

Tucker sent me a small smile. "Good."

"Alright," Melissa started, glancing over her shoulder. "Is everyone buckled and ready to go?"

There was a chorus of affirmative answers. Melissa put the van into drive and once again we were off, leaving the graveyard behind us. My eyes stayed fixed on the kissing gate entrance until it finally disappeared from my vision. We turned the corner, and I couldn't see the cemetery at all anymore.

"Did you have fun today, Elliot?" I asked, giving my little brother a one-armed hug.

He nodded excitingly. "Yes! What about you, Pig?"

"The most fun I've had in a long time," I told him, grinning widely. "I won't ever forget today."