𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 / scott reed ✓

𝟔𝟖. my reason why

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊
68 / MY REASON WHY
↳ season four, episode ten: graduation
act two / monty was framed

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 come for Nessa to stand on the podium, and tell everyone in front of her how much Justin Foley meant to her. Putting it all into words had seemed nothing short of impossible, but after a lot of thinking, crying, and reminiscing, Nessa had come up with something that she felt had done their friendship justice.

And that was all that mattered.

Nessa walked up to the podium, unfolding the paper in front of her and resting it on the flat surface. Her hands shook with anxiety and fear as she tried to stabilize herself, looking out at everyone that was sitting in front of her, a testament of all of the lives that Justin had touched in his short 18 years.

She took a deep breath, shaking as she steadied herself.

"Justin Foley is..." Nessa began, shaking her head as her eyes began to water, her heart breaking. "Justin Foley was my best friend."

She scanned the crowd, looking for Zach, just as he had done during his speech. He smiled, just like she had for him, nodding to give her the courage to go on.

"And I don't think I'll ever get used to talking about him in the past tense, but I know that I will never stop talking about him."

Nessa closed her eyes, and just for a moment, pictured Justin sitting in front of her, healthy as can be. He smiled at her, that award winning smile, and his kind eyes told her that she could do this, so she did.

"If you know me, then you knew Justin." Nessa began, ignoring the breaks in her voice. "We did pretty much everything together. Every problem I ever had, it never felt as big when I talked to Justin about it than it did when I was alone. Even if he didn't have room in his life for anyone else's problems, he always made room for mine."

Nessa paused again, allowing herself to collect her bearings. She looked over at the casket, which held so much more than a body.

"He once told me that writing each other's eulogies would be easy, because we would never run out of things to say." Nessa swallowed loudly, the echo of the sound reverberating off of the walls. "It was never supposed to be this soon, J."

"Justin made me feel like I could do anything." Nessa told the crowd with a smile. "He never judged me, even when he probably should have."

The crowd laughed softly, and Nessa was grateful for that. She needed that.

"I remember when I started dating Scott." Nessa continued, and Scott's teary eyes widened when he heard his name, offering his girlfriend an encouraging smile. "And I thought we were really good at hiding it. Like, really good. But, Justin pulled me aside and immediately asked for an explanation, because I 'was not fooling him'".

Everyone laughed again, Scott the hardest, because he remembered that day at Bryce's wake where Justin marched up to him and told him not to hurt Nessa.

"Justin was the most loyal friend I've ever had." Nessa explained, feeling comfortable up on the podium for the first time. "He never left my side since the day we met, and I will be forever grateful that someone that was dealt the cards that he was, still managed to be the best friend and man that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."