When Carmy had dropped everything and left for Paris, everyone knew they wouldn't hear from him. That was true. Nobody heard from him. Not a word. Calls went to voicemail, texts went unread, and coming home wasn't an option for him. Not until the funeral.

Carmy had come back to Chicago for Mikey's funeral. It's not like he could skip his brother being put to rest. Everyone knew that Carmy was in town, but he didn't actually make an appearance at the funeral. He was there- but not fully. He stayed in his car to observe- to watch. To get the experience without hurting himself further.

Luckily for him, you were the one that found him. He was zoned out, just staring out the windshield. His expression was unreadable and he looked tired. Not that that was new. However, he'd grown up a lot since the last time you'd seen him. Unrecognizable, in a way. The winter wind blew your hair as you knocked on the driver's side window. The knocking broke him out of his dazed state, and he turned. His eyes widened slightly, and he rolled the window down. "Hey." Though it was still the same Carmy you knew, he felt like a stranger.