Beside You | Jemi

Thirty Nine

Joe watched as Emily was lowered down into the ground right next to her father. He made no attempt to wipe the tears that fell from her eyes. Neither Emily or her dad should have been taken away from their family. It had been a couple of days since the crash but it wasn't getting any easier for anyone else. Joe had unbelievably had a huge amount of support from his parents, brothers and Demi who were also all mourning over the loss. The only thing that put Joe's mind at ease was he was told she died instantly. That she didn't suffer. That's what he wanted. He let his mother hold his hand leading him away from the graveyard.

"I don't know if I feel up to the reception." Joe muttered finally wiping away his tears but they were soon replaced by new ones.

"Nobody is pushing you to stay but it would be good if you did, Emily was a very special person to you and you need to say goodbye to her. It will make you feel a lot better for it. It will take a while for you to get over this but as long as you know that we are all here for you if you ever need a shoulder to cry on or to just talk to. Don't push us away Joe." Joe knew she was right, he had loads of support already and couldn't thank them enough.

"It's just not the same without her, the way she danced to the radio in the morning or leaving notes on the mirror after her shower while I was in. I'll never see her again and I hate that." Joe expressed feeling his mother squeeze his hand.

"I know you do and I don't know what else to tell you other than it will get better, you'll get over this soon and all the thoughts that pain you to think of will become happy memories. You can never replace your first love but you'll find someone out there who will make you just as happy as Emily did." Denise advised as they entered the pub next door where the reception was held.

"I'm gonna go get a drink." Joe mumbled letting go of her hand wondering over to the bar. Denise couldn't help but smile when she saw the bartender set a bottle of water in front of him. Joe had never been one for drinking and she was glad he hadn't started now because of his down mood.

Joe left the funereal early sneaking off without anyone seeing, he did give Emily's mother a hug before he left seeing how emotional she was, she had lost a daughter and a husband in the crash. He went back to the house where he spent a lot of his time up in his room the curtains closed and the lights switched off. He knew it wasn't his fault she was gone but he was finding it hard to find someone to blame, the drunk driver which had crashed into them died instantly too. Nobody survived the crash. Joe knew he was depressed but nobody expected much else. He felt someone lay down next to him knowing from her perfume that it was Demi.

"Hey how are you holding up?" Demi questioned kissing his cheek.

"I-I just miss her." He choked as Demi begun to stroke his hair, she knew how to calm him but he had already ran out of tears. He was tired of crying.

"I know you do and you're not the only one." Demi replied.

"You never even liked her." Joe mumbled pushing her hand away onto his other side so his back was facing her.

"What do you mean?" Demi questioned.

"You never became friends with her until you finally came back from Texas." Joe muttered feeling the tears roll down his cheeks.

"I-It's not that I didn't like her Joe, I wasn't a very social teenager." Demi answered.

"Don't talk shit, it's your fault she died!" Joe screamed.

"How is this my fault?" She stayed calm, one of them needed to stay calm as they both got up from the bed now face to face. She wanted to go over and hold him in her arms, wipe away his tears. He was hurting and as his best friend she wanted to be there for him.

"Because you fucking like me and you wanted me all to yourself!" Joe shouted back at her Demi's eyes widening slightly. She didn't know he knew that she liked him and had done for much longer than the six years he was dating Emily.

"H-How did you know?" Demi inquired.

"I-I heard your parents talking about it, it's all your fault!" He shouted again Demi sighing as she made her way over to him holding him as he broke down again. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Joe, I know you didn't mean it. Your just hurting." She whispered in his ear laying them back down on the bed.

----------------------------------------------------

Comments please!