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The news of Shane’s death spread quickly in the small town. When Leah found his stuff abandoned while walking through the forest, she noticed his body at the bottom of the cliff, and she immediately alerted Marnie. Within half an hour, everyone knew of the tragedy that occurred.
Including the farmer.
Their eyes widened and their jaw dropped as Abigal, their new fiance, told them what happened, and they both hurried to the cliff. Everyone was crowded around whispering to each other until they saw the farmer approaching. As they made their way towards the crowd, the whispering died away, and everyone turned their heads and stared at them. They looked around at everyone, feeling all of the eyes drilling into them.
Mayor Lewis cleared his throat, bringing all attention to the front of the crowd. “Everyone, what happened here was a tragedy. It’s never easy to see people go, especially those as young as Shane was. Everyone is mourning, especially Marnie and Jas-” he paused and glanced at the two mentioned, who were being comforted by Robin, Caroline, and Elliot “-and it’s easy to fall into despair. It’s very common for those mourning to blame each other and themselves, but I know we’re stronger than that. I know we’re smarter than that. Smart enough to know it was their fault.”
Lewis pointed at the farmer, everyone’s stares following his finger. They shrank back, eyes darting from one face to another. Everyone looked at them with intense hatred, and they shut their eyes tight.
“It’s only right,” Lewis continued,” that they pay for what they’ve caused.”
The farmer opened their eyes when they felt hands on their back pushing them forward. They looked back and saw Marnie and Jas glaring at them. The farmer tried to reason with the two, but they ignored them.
As they neared the cliff’s edge, the farmer squirmed and tried to fight back, but they couldn’t. They turned around, pleading with Jas and Marnie to think this through, but they said nothing as they shoved them off the cliff.
“Hey! Wake up!”
The farmer jolted upright, looking around frantically. Beside them, Abigal sat with a worried look on her face and her hands on their arms. Once they realized they were safe in bed, their breathing slowed a bit.
“Are you okay? You looked like you were having another nightmare.”
The farmer nodded, and Abigal sighed.
“I wish you would see someone about this. There are people who help with these things.”
They shook their head. Abigal kept bugging them to get therapy or medicine or anything else that would help, but they wouldn’t
They knew it wasn’t their fault; they couldn’t predict what Shane did. Everyone said they weren’t to blame, but they could see the judgmental stares they got. Even though it had been almost a year, the room still got quieter when the farmer walked in. Some of the people they used to hang out with now had things they needed to do all the time. They couldn’t blame them; they killed someone, and no one likes murderers.
Abigal wrapped her arms around them and leaned her head on their shoulder. They awkwardly put an arm around her shoulder, not really in the mood to be comforted. How could Abigal even stand to be with them? She knew what happened - everyone did - so how could she live with them? How could she sleep in the same bed as them? How could she even look at them when they couldn’t look at themself anymore?
“I love you,” she said, as if she could read their mind. They nodded, murmuring a response and patting her shoulder. They couldn’t see how she could say that, but they were glad she did. They were glad they had her, and they were glad she still loved them even after all that had happened.