[Present]
Ashleigh took a deep breath as she opened her eyes and the vigil from five years ago fell away. Caleb sat in the chair beside her. He was hunched over with his elbows against his knees, holding him up as his head hung down.
She could feel some of what he was feeling through the connection they shared. His sadness, guilt, and frustration.
She didn’t know what he must be thinking. For five years, she had searched for him, missed him. She had blamed him and held tightly to the anger she felt to keep from feeling the heartbreak of losing him.
But for him, it had been only days. Now, she had shown him his own funeral. He had witnessed the people he loved mourning him through her eyes.
Ashleigh felt a knot in her stomach. She had wanted to make him witness because she had to. To make him feel all that loss because she had to.
She sighed to herself.
After all these years, was she still so childish?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
