Chapter Text
Ted looked at him. He felt his heart pounding in his ears and his face got warm. Not warm. Hot. Burning hot. Probably hot enough to fry an egg on.
"You're here, for me?"
Trent didn't say anything. He put his hands on his knees. He couldn't say anything. What was he supposed to say? 'Yes. I am here to kiss you on the mouth, we should do that, so I can leave. Okay?'
Or maybe he was supposed to say something about the importance of friendship and leaving your child in another country with your asshole ex.
He didn't say anything, and decided to wait for Ted to say something else.
"I'm glad you're here."
Trent exhaled. "I care about you, Ted. That's why I'm here."
Before Ted could respond Trent checked his fake watch and looked back up at Ted. "I know, we should hurry," Ted said as he looked down, nodding his head.
"Breathe."
Ted smiled, and stood up. Trent left the room and waited. It took two minutes for Ted to come out of the room fully dressed. "Okay, let's go."
Beard was honking the taxi's horn outside. The taxi driver was too scared to do anything to stop him.
They both dashed out to the cab, quickly situating themselves.
The entire card ride was silent. Even quieter as they walked into the funeral home.
Ted walked in first, Beard and Trent followed. Ted walked right up to the front, where the coffin sat, open.
Trent decided to stay back, he sat as far back as he could. He didn't want to invade the space.
Ted was completely silent for about five minutes as he stared at his mother's completely still face. "It's not a joke, huh? You're not gonna sit up and go 'Boo!' And scare everyone? Nothing?" He stood there, longer still. Just staring at her, waiting for her to move.
She never did.
"Hey, Ted," He snapped up and turned around.
"H-hi Michelle."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," She gave him an awkward hug that didn't close completely before Ted moved back.
"Thank you. Did you bring Henry?"
"Oh, no, I had a babysitter take him. He said he couldn't handle it. He was going to, for a few days. He said he would try and be strong, but this morning he just broke down crying."
"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Ted half-smiled, his eyes still reddened.
"How have you been holding up?"
Ted flinched as he realized Trent was right next to him. "Well, you know. Ups and downs. It's...tough. But I've got..."He paused for an uncomfortable amount of time, as if he didn’t know what to call Trent. "People."
"I'm glad you’ve got people," Michelle smiled, patting his arm. She tilted her head and changed the subject. "How long are you in town for?"
"Just a couple days. Don't worry."
"I wasn't...worried," Trent saw her mouth 'fuck' as a man walked over.
"Oh, hi Doctor Jacob," Ted smiled and waved. His fake smile clearly visible to both Trent and Michelle.
"You can just call me Jacob, Ted."
"Yeah," Ted smiled bigger. "So anyways, Doctor Jacob, how have you been?"
"I'm fine, how are you holding up? I'm sorry for your loss by the way."
Ted was starting to break. Trent could tell he was next to tears as his eyes became glassy and wet. "I'm fine."
"Hey Ted," Trent grabbed his arm. "I haven't eaten at all today? Have you? Let's go check out the refreshments,". He dragged him away. Trent brought Ted to the lobby outside the funeral. "Are you okay?" Ted shook his head and buried it into Trent's shoulder. Trent held him and rubbed his back as he sobbed.
He straightened up after a couple minutes and sniffled at least ten times before wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Why did she have to bring him?"
"Who?"
"Doctor Jacob. Insult to injury enough as it is. You know?"
"Doctor..was he your doctor?"
"Our marriage counselor."
"Doesn't that count as—"
"Something illegal, yeah. He shouldn't have a license anymore," Ted nodded, seeming actually angry.
Trent felt nervous. He didn't know Ted got angry. “Are you okay to go back in there? We can stay out for a bit longer if you need time.”
“No, she deserves better,” Ted looked back. “I can’t believe Henry couldn’t make it, he couldn’t handle it…I don’t know if I can either, really,” Ted looked at Trent, his hands trembled where they sat against his chest holding each other.
“Who are you doing this for, Ted? Her, or you?”
“I’m doing this for me,” Ted nodded. He needed to say goodbye. He wasn’t here. He was in London. When his mom died. The reality of it all suddenly came crashing down. He blinked a few times. Unsteady where he stood. No part of him wanted to be here, but he still stood his ground, because he needed, needed, to say goodbye to his mom.
“Okay, let’s go back in.”
“Okay.”
“Are you ready?” Trent looked at him.
“Heck no.”
Trent nodded, and they went back in. And went their separate ways. Ted went up to the coffin, breathing steadily as he looked at his mother.
His mother. Who raised him. Perhaps not in the best way. But does anyone ever feel like they were raised well?
Probably, Ted thought.
Sure, he never got over his dad killing himself, and neither did she. But they both went and did different things about it. And they both hid their feelings about it.
The horror Ted felt when he got the phone call about his mother was ground breaking. His brain didn’t function for a full ten minutes as he processed the information.
Two days later, he still hadn’t processed it. Now he was getting there. Realizing, she was gone. No optimism could fix that. Ted always got hit the hardest when it came to bad news, as he felt unable to comprehend it. He tried to smile through it most of the time. But this time, he couldn’t smile for a second. He melted immediately into a spiraling depressive state.
Now, he felt as if this would be the end to that. He was at her funeral. Saying goodbye. As he left the funeral home, the last to leave, he gave a final goodbye. Feels final enough, right?
Not quite. The next day, he watched the coffin slowly dropped into the ground. He said goodbye then.
Then at the airport, as he sat beside Trent while the plane was taking off, dog secured in the lower compartment, he put his hand to the window. He said goodbye.
He said goodbye to the framed picture he had of his family in his house as he stared at it before falling asleep.
He didn’t talk to anyone for a while, took a leave off work, and stayed in his flat all day. He hoped no one would notice.
Trent kept the dog in his flat, taking good care of her. His daughter even grew to love the dog. He kept going into work to write his book, but he would leave early and arrive late, hoping no one would notice.
Everyone noticed. They would comment and say, “Didn’t he just get here?”
“It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen Ted, has anyone checked on him?”
“Trent seems, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, sulkier than usual.”
They all had gathered around and decided together, someone needed to talk to them.