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Today was the day. You were FINALLY going to see you're dad. You weren't going to let anything stop you from being happy today.

"I'm sorry to ask this but I need to. Why have you been acting so strangely?"

"I was hoping you hadn't noticed... It's hard being away from your father. We have been together 18 years. I love him dearly and he is my everything but we've drifted... This isn't just something that has started because of us being apart, it's been going on for a while. Slowly we have become different people. I was hoping he would meet us here after a couple weeks, we would start fresh and so would our relationship. I really thought I could fix this but now I realise, it's bigger than that. It will take a while, we don't know how long it will take but we will fix this, Ipromiseyou." Your mother says, you could see she was starting to tear up so you decided to just hug her and not say anything.

You rushed through everything in hopes of the day going quicker. Unfortunately one of the perks of Mr. Phillips was that the days were always boring and slow. It was almost the end of the day and Mr. Phillips had given you time to do whatever you wanted. Mr Phillips hid in the storage room as usual, the boys played outside, the girls gossiped and watched the boys and Anne, Diana and you spent the time talking outside. You were all sitting under a tree, talking about the story club you were going to start.

"Y/n!" Someone shouts. You looked up to see Rachel, Anne's neighbour, wondering around.

"What does she want?" You curiously and confusedly ask Anne.

"I have not a clue..." Anne says. You had heard some stuff about Rachel but you were yet to meet her.

Anne, Diana and you stumble up and rush over. Rachel lifted her hand onto your shoulder and stuttered. Everyone started crowding around and whispering. "I-I'm so sorry... Something has happened with your father, your mother has asked me to take you home." She sniffed. You felt your heart plummet and your eyes filled with tears. You knew something was wrong.

You rushed inside to grab your stuff, with tears pouring all over you. When you went back outside you saw Anne and Diana talking to Rachel. They hurried over to you and they tried to hide it but you could see in their eyes that something horrible had happened. They looped their arms around you and gently squeezed you for a moment. You pulled away and walked out to Rachel. You stared at the ground, tears cascading down your face as you walked off.

Rachel had parted ways with you to go home to make food for you and your family. You were a few houses away from your home so it wasn't long till you made your way home. You opened the door to see your mother, Ashley April and Tatum all together. Your mother was sobbing while hugging Ashley April and holding Tatum. The sight of this makes you collapse and you fall onto your knees.

No one had said anything to you yet but you already knew what had happened. When your mother heard you come in, she spun her head to you. She stoop up and placed down Tatum. "Your father... He's dead." Your mother cried.

You couldn't push back the heartbreak. The pain and grief gushed out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. Your mother rushed over and wrapped her arms around you. You pushed her away, you didn't want her to be hugging you. You wanted your father.

You ran out of the house, slamming the door behind you. You had nowhere to go, everyone was still at the school house. The first person you thought of to talk to was Gilbert, he would understand your pain but he was at school.

Your only option was to wait for him at his farm and hope he didn't take long.

You slowly made your way to his farm. You had completely forgotten that Bash and Mary would be home. You were sitting on the steps of his porch when you saw them approach. "Y/n? What are you doing here?" Sebastian questions.

"Oh I'm waiting for Gilbert, I need to speak with him." You replied. Your eyes must have been red and inflated from the tears because without hesitation, Mary invited you in.

"Has something happened y/n?" Mary asked as she handed you a cup of hot coffee.

"My father died..." It hurt you so badly to have to say those words. "That's why I need to speak to Gilbert, he will understand." You add.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Y/n..." Mary said as she sat down across from you.

"Is there anything we can do until then?" Sebastian asks, cradling Delphine back and forth. You smile and shake your head in response.

After sitting a drinking coffee for a while, Gilbert finally came home. "Y/n-" you interrupt him with a hug. Mary and Sebastian left with Delphine, leaving you and Gilbert. He was a bit confused but hugged you back.

"He died- My father. My father died." You whimpered as you hugged Gilbert.

"I'm so sorry y/n..." he grieved. You could feel tears coming so you pushed back from the hug. "Come with me." He instructed, seeing the sadness in your face.

You were gripping onto his arm as he walked you outside. He took you too a giant tree in front of his farm. "My father and I planted this tree when I was very young. I don't remember much from when I was younger but this is one of the few things I do remember, I will never forget it. It was a sunny autumn day, we had decided we wanted to plant a tree that could grow and be a place for us to play or relax at. We spent most of the day deciding where we were going to put it. He suggested we put it here because when it grew it would be the first thing people would see from miles away.

Did you and your father have any moments like this?" He asked. Gilbert's story was so sweet it had made you tear up a bit.

"Well kind of- It's not much of a story but I remember it was a few weeks before Ashley April was supposed to be born. My father and I had always done everything together and the thought of a new child coming along and ruining that upset me. My father knew i was upset with it. My father and I had a special spot in the farm where we would hide from everyone and spend our time joking and talking. He took me to our spot and he showed me that he had carved our names into the wood. "it will always be us." He told me. I thought it would always be us but now he's gone..." You were now sobbing. You were looking away from Gilbert so he wouldn't see but he could sense that you were upset.

"They say when you lose someone it either gets easier and easier or harder and harder but I think that's wrong. It doesn't get easier or harder, the pain stays the same, you just learn to live with it. You will eventually learn that instead of being sad when you think of him, you should actually be happy. The thing about the tree is he wasn't wrong. Whenever I walk here it's the first thing I see and I immediately think of him and the amazing day we had together and I cherish that so much and that's what you should do. Cherish and appreciate the memory's you made together." He pulled you into his arms and pressed his lips against your forehead.

"It's ok..." he whispered. This all just made you sadder and weaker. You bawled as Gilbert ran his hands along your hair, keeping you in his tight embrace.