You were Joe’s best friend.
You paced in his childhood bedroom.
You had been staying here for a while.
You took care of his mother for him while she was sick.
Your eyes were red from crying.
Mrs. Trohman had passed away a day ago.
Joe’s flight was supposed to land today.
You had promised you would be here for him.
You heard the front door open and quickly went to see if it was Joe.
You watched him look around and walked over to him slowly.
Just as he collapsed to his knees, you reached out to try and catch him, but were dragged to the ground, too.
He clung to you, sobbing into your neck.
You just held him and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him.
He stopped after a while and you brought him to his old room.
He laid down on the bed.
He looked at your packed bags near the doorway.
“Your moving out?” he asked.
“It’s not my house to live in,” you answered.
“You took care of her. You were like her daughter. You’re welcome to stay,” he told you.
“We can talk about this another time,” you said, changing the subject, “I’ll make you some tea.”
Joe grabbed your wrist as you turned to leave.
“Y/N, stay,” he said.
You laid next to him.
Joe wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his chest.
“Thank you for taking care of her. Thank you for being there when she… Just, thank you,” he said.
“You know i was happy to do it,” you said.
“She loved you like a daughter. She had our wedding planned since we decided to go to high school together,” he mumbled.
“I remember,” you nodded.
“That’ll happen one day,” he said, “Just the way she wanted it. We’ll get married her way.”
You looked at him.
“Joe…,” you said, trailing off.
“I love you, you know, Y/N,” he said, “I’m just not… ready.”
“I understand,” you said, “Just take it easy. One day at a time.”
There was a short silence.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too,” you whispered back.
He smiled softly.
“Do you think she’s smiling down at us?” he asked.
“Oh, I think she’s laughing at us,” you corrected.
You both chuckled.
But the gust of wind that wrapped around the two of you, silently said that you were right.
