GONER

Epilogue

A/N: What did I name Josh's good uncle?? I don't remember, and I cant find it?? So his name is Tom.

***

If nothing else served as proof regarding the fact that I was important to Josh, then Josh taking me to meet his nice uncle did.

We drove up to Indiana on a Friday, and he didn't tell me where we were going, until we were there. Josh booked a hotel and everything, seeing as he didn't feel like going home the next day, just so I could meet the man in his life that had the pleasure of keeping him sane for years and years.

Despite the fact that I knew he wasn't remarkably old, or remarkably young, I was incredibly nervous on his doorstep. His uncle lived in a cute one-story house with nice flowers out from, and his house didn't look like it could hold someone that was like the person Josh described. It almost looked southern, with green grass and stuff.

"So he knows about us?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my trembling to a minimum. I didn't want to look any weirder than I already was. "Like, he knows we're together?"

Lacing his fingers through mine, he nodded, raising my hand to his lips. Lightly, he kissed it, and nodded his head, humming. Even now, he still had butterscotch eyes, and my heart was still splitting apart in my chest at the sight of them. "Of course he did. He knows everything. Plus, I never shut up about you."

"Your mom told me that," I giggled. "And your dad."

"They're so embarrassing."

I didn't get to respond to him, before the front door was being swung open, and I was standing in the presence of a man with a hearty smile on his face, and a turkey leg in his hand.

Immediately, his face blossomed into something happy and shocked, lurching forward to trap Josh in a hug.

"What're you doing here?" He shouted loudly, spinning my boyfriend around in a small circle. There was a dog barking inside, and I tried not to seem as curious as I knew I looked, and just waited while Josh was flung around. Eventually, he was set down, and smoothed his shirt over his chest and stomach, smirking at his uncle.

"Can we come in, or what?"

~~~

At first, his uncle didn't seem like the type of man to give nice advice, and inspire people to be great things. He had paintball guns slung on his wall, and there was some sports game playing on the television in his living room, but, as soon as we sat down, I could see it.

He had that crease between his eyebrows when he spoke, and tapped his fingers on whatever furniture he was sitting on, and listened to people talk. I've never seen an uncle so young, and, apparently, he wasn't as ageless as I thought. He was thirty-three, and had done plenty in his "years of youth," and that's why he knows so many things. When you run from cops, and shoot at cars that belong to authority figures, things suddenly start to make sense in a strange way.

"Nice to meet the love of my nephew's life," Tom said teasingly, nodding at me. He didn't offer to shake hands, and just reached for cigarette on his coffee table. It looked like someone had rolled it themselves, and I forced my smile down. The work was clumsy and careless, and I knew Josh had done it.

Tom picked it up, laughing as he sunk further into his couch. The stick danced in front of his eyes, and he shook his head. "He's a shit roller, isn't he?" He asked me, rolling his eyes. "I mean, come on. I'm not even sure what this is."

"It's a cigarette." Josh whined. He kept his hand in mine, and rubbed his thumb over the back of mine. It was funny, because he didn't even have to touch me to be soothing. "I tried. Sorry, I haven't been doing it for years."

"Well, you did a terrible job, but that is neither here nor there," he chuckled lowly. "I'm assuming you're here to introduce me to Tyler?"

Josh nodded, smiling at me. "Yeah. It's only fair," he shrugged. "You've heard so much about him. It's about time you two met."

Tom nodded back, and then, reached out to high-five me. At first, I didn't know what to do, and drew a blank, but then smiled, and slapped his palm with mine. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

~~~

In a day, I learned numerous things about life, and the reason the sun rises, and the reason it sets. Things like that, that no one really cared about.

His Uncle Tom taught me how to cook your own turkey legs, and talked to me about old books, and sang old songs about there being holes in buckets, and, even though he wasn't old, a lot of the things he spoke about were.

And he told me that if I broke Josh's heart, he would have to come to my house and sit in my bedroom window, wait for me to walk by, and paintball me in the balls. He was smiling when he said it, but I didn't doubt him.

~~~

And then Josh and I got to the hotel, and stayed busy for three hours, and fell asleep with a container of turkey legs on the floor of our room. I couldn't believe how strange his uncle was, and slightly wise. But I appreciated Josh trusting me enough to introduce me to someone he honestly cared about. I don't think I fully deserved it, but I was glad for it, too.

"It was really nice of you to take me to meet him," I spoke quietly, moving my fingers through Josh's hair. "He's nice."

Josh nodded, "yeah. He likes you a lot."

Sitting up, I moved my head from his bare chest, and laughed down at him. "He threatened to shoot me in the balls."

"Don't be silly," Josh said. "He'll probably get you somewhere less painful. He's not merciless." He joked. "I think he's aware of the fact that you would much rather keep your balls."

"I mean, preferably, yeah!" I exclaimed, rolling off the huge bed we were on. My clothes were all around the room, and I found my underwear first, throwing it on carelessly. Then, my pants, and I don't know if he threw them around in a certain pattern or path, but it looked like it.

He groaned. "Come back."

Slipping my last pant leg on, I stretched my arms while I walked over towards the window, and threw open the curtains. Light flushed through the entire area, and he groaned again, rolling over onto his stomach.

"Indianapolis is pretty." I argued with him, trying to explain to him why I was letting the outside world in. "We need some light in here."

"I already have you," he whined.

And, standing by the window, looking out over Indianapolis, I tried to figure out where we were going from here. I looked out into the distance of, not just Indiana, it felt, but the entire world. And it was quite possible that we were going to screw up again, because the truth of the matter, is that hurricanes and tornadoes don't mix.

There was so much for the two of us to have to conquer, and maybe we were too young to feel so attached to each other, but age limits weren't going to stop us. I don't think anything was.

"See?" Josh started. "I told you. It rained here yesterday, and now you're here, and it's gorgeous out. When I tell you, you're the sun in the universe, I'm not kidding."

***

A/N: Shit, I'm crying again. I'll edit later, dammit.