Captive || 5sos AU

For Josh

Final chapter guys :') then an epilogue

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Laurie sat in the church in silence. She was sitting next to her mother, who was completely unaware of what her daughter had been through in the past months. On her other side was Luke, sitting solemnly and paying all of his attention to the speaker. A few rows back Laurie had spotted Calum, Ashton, and Michael next to one another waiting patiently to comfort her, but she hadn't looked back since the service began.

There were many people around her, some more familiar than others, and she began trying to assess how her brother may have known them. The more she thought about her brother's death, the more the bittersweet taste of reality began to settle within her.

According to her mother, Josh had been attacked when he refused his former friends entry into his home. They were always used to him caving, and when he didn't they killed him. Coldly, heartlessly, and without a care that someone very special would no longer walk the face of the Earth.

The killers fled, but it wasn't long before a report was called in and they were caught. The perpetrator was Josh's supposed best friend himself - Tony - along with one of his other "friends." The fact that Laurie had spoken to Tony not too long ago shook her to the core, but if there was one positive thing Laurie could think of, if was the fact that her brother had died clean.

He had managed to put the bottle down and clean up his life. He was no longer controlled by the firm grip of drugs and alcohol, his life was his life, and it touched Laurie's heart deeply that Josh had left the world as the boy that she had grown up with, and not the stranger that drugs had managed to turn him into.

Laurie jumped back to reality when her mother let go of her hand and stood up, slowly approaching the podium. For a moment she felt a small void start to creep into her chest, but was comforted by the feeling of Luke's fingers intertwining with her own. She looked up at the boy, but he was already looking down at her, smiling reassuringly. Her mother cleared her throat into the microphone.

"Just a few days ago my boy still walked this earth. He was a healthy, happy, bright young man and that's how he will be remembered." She began, and Laurie could tell that she was staying strong for the sake of solemnity.

"The day that we got the call that he was in the hospital was a terrifying one. We all sat together in the room and prayed that he would make it, but he seemed to know his body better than any doctor could predict." She continued, and Laurie began to tear up at the realization that she had missed her brother's final moments.

"He told me that if he didn't make it he…" She paused and apologized before wiping a few tears. "He wanted me to say a few words for him, so that's what I'm going to do." Laurie's mom said, and cleared her throat again. She pulled out a tattered piece of paper which Laurie assumed she had used to write down her brother's final words on and straighted it on the podium.

She began reading the words from the paper in Josh's point of view.

"First and foremost, Laurie I want to say I'm sorry that I couldn't be the brother that you deserved. I know that I could have done so much better for you, and I regret that I never really took the time to show you how much I've loved the fact that you're my baby sister." Her mother began tearfully, and Laurie had not noticed how wet her own face had become until she wiped the tears from it.

"On that note, I want you to appreciate everyone that comes into your life. I want you, and everyone, to acknowledge that every person you know has had an affect on the person you have become and are still growing into, and promise me Laurie that you will do that. Tell Calum if he's there that I'm happy that he gave Laurie a brother to look up to again, and that I hope that he and Laurie remain friends for a very long time. Remember: even when you fight, you can't leave your family behind, and Calum is family in my absence. Treat him like your son, your brother, your nephew - just like you would me."