Chapter 36

Matteo Rodriguez

Few months later.

I kneel at the headstone, staring at the name blankly as I trace it with my fingers.

I promised myself I'd just come to greet her and go back but seeing her name made memories wash in.

"Hey," I sit on the floor in front of her headstone.

"it's been a while."

I look up at the sky, I find myself doing a lot of that nowadays. "I know I'm a jerk for not coming to see you all this while but I'm sorry... I couldn't just face you. face what happened." I still can't, but that's what kept me going, made me who I am today.

The gentle breeze is so soothing I felt my eyes start to close. I also haven't been getting a lot of sleep these days.

"You can hate me for all you want but I just want you to know that I love you and I always will and nothing or no one can change that."

The cemetery was quiet, only the sound of the man mowing the yard could be heard.

Silence again. The silence was starting to wrap around me like a second layer of skin, like the warmth of a