"Nothing goes as planned. Everything will break. People say goodbye in their own special way. All that you rely on and all that you can fake will leave you in the morning but find you in the day."

"Say hi, Blaze." My dad says as we stand in front of my mother's grave. Or rather, the woman's grave.

Is he serious?

I sigh. "Say hi to whom?"

He looks over at me as if I am talking absolute crap when he's the one who wants me to speak to a headstone.

"Your mother." He grits out.

I roll my eyes and stuff my hands in my pockets. If I knew he would force me to talk to a pile of dirt, I would have just stayed at Homewood.

"Blaze."

"I am not going to talk to a mound of stone like I'm schizophrenic. I mean, I have a mental condition, but I am not crazy, Blake Xander."

"You need to get rid of your attitude, Blaze. This is not the place for it. Say your greetings."

"I don't want to."

"Blaze."

"Hi," I grumble it unwillingly before swinging in the opposite direction defiantly. I hear a soft sigh from him, but he decides to leave me be. Once again, he knows it's no use.

"Please forgive him, Liz. He's still trying to find back himself."

I scoff in disbelief.

This man is crazy.

I pull my glare to him. "I'm sorry, but that woman doesn't need to forgive me for anything. I am the one who should be forgiving her. She is the one who needs to seek forgiveness."

"Blaze, please—"

I turn to the grave. "Hello? Ma'am, yeah, I need an apology for you using a wire to hit me and then leaving me at your friend's house so that they could molest me. I also need an apology for that time you hit me in the head with a glass plate until I bled. Oh yeah, and that time you gave me stale food because you were too absorbed in taking your drugs to cook, so I ended up twisting into a ball from a stomach ache, and all you did was step right over me. Yeah, I need a fucking apology!"

"Blaze, Jesus!"

I rake a hand through my hair and look away while my father intakes a deep breath, running a palm over his face in distress.

"Could you not do this at a graveyard? Are you serious?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have asked me to come!" I yell.

"Or maybe I should just stop trying with you!"

I smile in mockery, shrugging my shoulders. "Yeah, maybe you shouldn't. I wouldn't mind; trust me, I wouldn't! Not like you gave a damn when I was being beaten to death anyway!"

His face twitches at this, the remark presumably touching a spot within him. He recollects himself quickly and shakes his head, burying a hand in his hair. "You are hard work."

He knows this, yet he still tries. I hope he puts this much energy into arresting criminals daily.

I sit on a stone nearby to wait until he is done talking to the gravestone.

I have nothing to say to that woman, not when she was the one who ruined my life like this.

••

I wipe the tears away and stand to my feet after kneeling at my dad's graveside for almost an hour. The one-sided conversation was what I needed to feel a little better. I wanted to talk to him about Blaze, but my mom is around, so that's not such a good idea.

She's drying her eyes too while Eli, who barely has a clue of what is happening, is driving his toy car on the headstone. I guess that is his 'hi' to our dad.

My mom rubs my back consolingly. "Okay, let's head back."

"Bye, Dad." I snivel.

"Say bye to your father, Eli." My mom pulls my brother in front of her, rubbing his shaved head as he waves his small hand to the grave, muttering his farewell.

We turn away and begin our journey through the long grave aisle. The evening is cool and sunny, but my current state of mind is the complete opposite. Someone once said that the weather influences your mood, but regardless of the balmy atmosphere, I am feeling quite dull and heavy-hearted.

I am strolling ahead of my mom and Eli, idly counting the cemented blocks beneath my feet, and as soon as I break the narrow corner, I bump into someone headfirst.

"Oh, sorry."

I look up, and my body goes frigid as I stare up into two familiar spheres.

Blaze?

Wow. Wait.

He's blinking at me quietly, equally at a loss for words. I scan his attire, and he's wearing a white button-down that is loose from his dress pants with a black jacket draped over it.

Did he come to visit his Mother's grave?

His red lips part, but no words come out, and I try to speak but I am not sure what exactly to say, so we stand there staring at each other like two mannequins.

"Ooh, it's you, right?" The question comes from next to him, and I drift my attention to the man standing beside him, realizing in no time that it's his father.

"I didn't get to say a proper hi the last time I came to Homewood to visit my son."

"Oh, hi." I smile shyly.

"I am Blake Xander. Blaze's father." He says, stretching his hand out for me to take.

I mentally admire how close their names are as I take his palm in mine, my small hand getting lost in his. "Harmony Skye."

Mr. Blake gives me a toothy grin, and I realize his teeth are just as milky as his son's. I could tell he was just as handsome and charming as Blaze is when he was in his heydays.

"Oh, nice name." He compliments.

My mother stands there totally lost. "Excuse me, but who...?"

"Oh, this is my mom," I say quickly. "Mom, this is..."

I look up at Blaze for a second, not sure what to introduce him as. And he probably realizes this as he returns my stare.

"This is my friend from college." I finally say. "And this is his dad."

Mr. Blake smile. "Hi."

"Oh, hi. I am Haylee Skye, Harmony's Mother." She takes his hand in hers, and they exchange greetings with bright smiles.

I glance back at Blaze to find him staring at me. It is just really awkward and coincidental to see him here. Did he decide to visit his mom? I wonder what made him change his mind.

Mr. Blake and my mom begin to engage in a conversation. Adults always find things to talk about regardless of meeting for the first time.

I take the opportunity to try to say 'hi' to Blaze because claiming we are friends and standing here saying absolutely nothing to each other is not making the statement believable at all. Even though we had not parted on a good note last night, we should at least pretend to be on good terms because it just isn't the place for malice. When we get back to school, then we can resume our animosity.

"Um... It's funny to see you here." I mutter unsurely.

"Yeah. It is funny to see you here too."

His voice comes right after, and I sigh in relief, happy that he didn't choose to ignore me. I'd be so embarrassed.

"Came to visit your dad?" He tries to keep it going, and it makes my nerves relax.

I nod promptly. "Yeah. Came to visit your mom?"

He shrugs flippantly. "Something like that."

Eli is spinning in circles around me, playing in his own universe, and Blaze's eyes fall to him. "This is your brother?"

"Yeah. Elijah."

He smiles genuinely. "Oh, I see."

I stare up at the beauty of his beam, finding myself getting lost in his attractiveness. Then Eli bumps into me unintentionally, and I fall forward, my chest colliding against Blaze's torso as his arms come up to hold me steady.

My eyes are wide open when I realize how close our faces have ended up, and Blaze is staring down at me with a faint blush on his cheeks.

I swallow and step back quickly before a throaty chuckle comes from behind me.

"What are you kids doing?" Mr. Blake narrows his eyes at us, amusement dripping from his tone.

"She almost fell; that's all," Blaze says, scratching the nape of his neck.

"Harmony, Mr. Xander is heading back to the school with his son; you should take a ride with them." My mom suggests.

I blink. She barely even knows them. Just a few minutes of talking with Mr. Xander and she already finds him trustworthy? Wow. Apparently, Blaze's father possesses the same amount of charm and persuasion as Blaze. They have the power to make you agree and decide on things you usually wouldn't.

"Yeah, you can get a lift with us." Mr. Blake agrees. "I am dropping him off at Homewood because he didn't drive today."

"Um...." I rub my arm, unsure.

"So, we will go get your knapsack and you can go with them." My mom pushes. "At least I can save a little on gas."

Mr. Blake nods. "Yeah. It'd work in favor of all of us."

He looks between me and Blaze, and a smile forms his lips.