When She Cries

*Zacky's P.O.V.*

It was so out there, we had no type of warning. There was no way we could have prevented it, we couldn't get to her in time...

Elle was shot in the chest and died almost instantly. That little fucker, Mike, shot himself right after, knowing he didn't stand a chance. Matt had tried keeping her with us, and wouldn't let go. Even after we knew she was gone, he wouldn't let her go. It took Brian and I to pull him off and away from her.

It felt like our little ball of sunshine was gone. Even during dark times, Elle still gave us a reason to smile or to see the light at the end. After she figured things out for herself and started living life according to her, she was nothing by happy. Like anybody else, she had her days, but most the time, she was as hyper as Jimmy.

"I keep thinking she's just randomly going to come bounding down the stairs," Brian mumbled, staring at the floor.

We were sitting in the living room of Matt's house waiting to go to the funeral. It was a day that no one was prepared for.

"Or jump out of a closet with one of the Berry's, trying to antagonize us," I added, giving a small smile at the memories.

The Berry's seemed just as lost without Elle as the rest of us. They were
constantly over here now, probably thinking the same as the rest of us; maybe Elle would just randomly appear and all of this was a bad dream.

Val sighed as she came down the stairs. "Is he coming down?" Brian asked, even though we were pretty sure we knew the answer.

She shook her head sadly. "He still isn't coming down."

"I'll get him down here," Brian said, standing up.

"No, Bri," I said, already knowing where this was going. "You aren't going to use brutal force to get him down here."

"Well that seems like it's going to be the only way to get him down here. This is his daughter's funeral for fuck sake!"

"Exactly! His daughter's." He stared at me for a few minutes and I knew I struck a nerve. "Imagine how you would feel if you had to bury your daughter today. Would you be rushing to go stick her in the ground?" His silence said everything.

I nodded, before leaving him in the living room as I went upstairs, not too sure what I was going to find. Matt has kept to himself these last few days, only coming down once and a while.

When I got to his room, I didn't bother knocking. I knew he wouldn't answer. I went over to the blinds and opened them up, before looking at him in bed. "You ready to get up?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

"What's the point?" He mumbled, covering his face with a pillow.

I stayed quiet for a few minutes, thinking of how to deal with this. "I'm not going to fight with you about this, Matt. But, deep down, you know that if you miss her funeral, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. This is giving you a chance to say good-bye to her and be at peace with it. I'm not saying that you need to forget her; hell, that would never happen. This is not about forgetting her, it's just about saying good-bye." I paused, taking a deep breath. "She's not coming back, Matt," I whispered, before walking out of the room.

"It's time to go," Johnny said grimly, about a half hour later.

By now, we were all gathered in Matt and Val's living room. We always found comfort in each other when tragedy struck us. True, it didn't happen very often, so that's why it was even stranger when it did.

Everyone looked at each other, before standing back up and heading for the door. Matt still hadn't come down, and I thought we were going to have to leave without him. Luckily I was the last one heading for the door, because he came down at the last second.

Nothing was said by either of us as we headed out of the house and towards the cars. I knew this was harder on him than the rest of us, and this was a huge step for him coming out here. But I was proud of him for coming, because in all reality, he could continue to hide at home.

There were so many people that had come for Ell's funeral that it was standing room only. So many people had come to mourn the loss of our Little Elle. That just went to show how many people she touched.

Even though I knew it was going to be extremely difficult, I had offered to give the Eulogy, or some type of form of one. I had asked Jimmy if he was sure he didn't want to do it, and he said he didn't think he would be able to.

When it was time for me to go up there, I felt like my throat was closing up and my palms were sweating. Maybe I was wrong about being able to do this...

"Elle was randomly brought to us it seems just recently, but since then, she's been in all of our hearts. It didn't take much for us to love her like we'd known her for years. To some she was a beloved daughter, niece, friend, or someone to wreck havoc with." Everyone gave a small laugh to the last one.

"She always kept us on our toes, that's for sure. There was never a dull moment with our little ball of sunshine. Even on one of her darkest days, she showed us the light at the end of the tunnel. She made us realize how lucky we are to have each other and the love that surrounds us. Sometimes people aren't so lucky to have that in their lives.

If you really think about it, so many people are quick to say I love you when they don't truly know what love is. Then, you have people who don't say I love you because they're afraid of rejection, or that they don't deserve it. Elle was one of those cases, but when she did show you that love, you were one of the luckiest people on Earth. If you were let into that heart of gold, you knew at least one person for sure loved you, and there was no changing that. No matter what happened to her, her heart stayed pure and was never tainted by any evil in the world. And that's the best gift you can ever have."

I sighed, looking down as I tried holding back the tears. "There are no words able to describe how much Elle will be missed. I would give anything to have her back here with us, and I know so many of you would, too. But, if she was here, she would yell at us for mourning her death. She would want us to be celebrating her life, and that's what we need to do. We may not have our tiny dancer anymore, but she will always be in our hearts.
"There's nothing that would ever let us forget her. I know it seems easier said than done, but we need to let her show us the light again and remember what life is worth living for. Because you never know if today will be your last day."