Love At First Sight

Chapter 62

Demi's POV

It was the day of my son's funeral. Joseph was the best, he was so kind and loving, someone I could tell anything to, even though he was just a teenager, he always took the time to listen to me. When he passed away, I felt like a huge part of me went with him. I stood in the mirror, looking at my gloomy black dress and my pale make-up. Justin approached behind me, wearing a dark suit with a grey shirt.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." I suddenly sighed, pressing my head against the mirror in frustration.

"Hey hey!" Justin gasped, grabbing my waist and turning me around gently. My mascara was already smudged down my cheek a little.

"Joseph would be proud of you, you're such a great person." he reassured me, rubbing off my mascara a little and pushing out a convincing smile. I looked at the floor.

"It's my fault." I sobbed.

"No, you listen to me, none of this is your fault." Justin claimed, pushing up my chin a little. I didn't reply, but Justin pulled me close, kissing my forehead. "Come on, let's make him even prouder." he whispered, taking my hand into his.

A little later on...

Demi's POV

Everyone filed in quietly, dressed in their best black. Myself, Delilah and Justin were sat right at the front. I saw Selena with her baby sister in her arms, Miley and the Jonas Brothers sat in the row across from me along with all their parents. Literally everyone turned up and it created a overwhelming feeling within me, I really don't know why. I shuffled the small stack of papers in my hands over and over--not like I needed them, though. They just kept me from crying. If I kept shuffling the papers over and over I'd be distracted. Distraction. I needed a lot of it these days, and Justin and Delilah had done a pretty good job of it so far. At least, on the outside. On the inside Joseph was all that clouded my thoughts and haunted my dreams. I blamed myself, I kept blaming myself and I've never be able to stop. If only I'd been there...

"Demi, it's time for your speech," the priest says softly, meeting my gaze with sad eyes.

I wiped my eyes before I shakily rose to my feet and went over to touch the casket and said, "I love you little prince" before making my way to the podium, I was about a foot away from the casket now. I took a deep breath before speaking. I shuffled the papers in my hands for a few moments before setting them down and not offering them more than a glance.

"Normally whenever I have a microphone in my hand it would be to sing," I smiled sadly and nods towards some family members sitting a few rows back all donning their best black attire. "But today I don't want to sing, I can't sing anymore." I cleared my throat and bit my lip before continuing. "Joseph," I began, my voice shaky. I willed myself not to cry, but it's futile. I took a deep breath before speaking. "I want to thank you all for being here, to not only mourn Joseph's death, but to celebrate his life. He was such a happy person. He didn't deserve for his life to end like this. But let's try to focus on the happy. All of the great memories he helped people create, all of the lives he's had an impact on." I continued, tears blurring my vision and sobs muffling my voice. "He was such an amazing person, you know? He'd be a shoulder to cry on and he was so funny, God, he had the nicest laugh and," I paused to clear my throat and wipe tears from my cheeks with the back of my palm. "His life just had to be taken all away. He went too soon..." I trailed off and rested my head on the edge of the podium, trying to stop the tears and trying to catch my breath.

"It's okay, sweetheart, nobody blames you." my mother came up and assured me, placing her hand on my back. I shook my head and wrapped her in a hug, the two of us crying over someone who never really got the chance to live a long enough life. Crying for the memories of the past and the memories that could've been. I walked away from the podium taking my seat. I nudged Justin for his turn to speak.

Justin's POV

Now it was my turn. I can do this. I straightened the neckline of my suit, making sure it's perfect. I wanted to look perfect, just for Joey. Even though he won't see me now I'm sure he's looking down on this moment and I want to look my very best. I step forward to the podium, pausing in front of Joseph's casket and placed my hand on his cold cheek. I brushed away a tear with my sleeve and took the microphone in my palm, my eyes swollen and red from crying.

"Joseph...he meant a lot to me, he really did. He kept me going in my toughest days and he was always there cheering me up and making me the best I could be. He was such a bubbly person and just so fun loving but quite troubled also. He had been dealing with a lot of issues during his academic years and he always liked to open up more to Demi about them, since she dealt with similar issues in the past. It took him time but eventually we got there..." I paused to regain composure as tears fall faster down my cheeks. "He was my song in a way. And the song has ended way too soon, it's not fair. He was beautiful--he is beautiful. I couldn't imagine in a million years having to be in this situation. But here I am. And it's so much worse than I could have ever pictured. But he's gone. My song...my everything it's all gone and I don't think I'll ever be able to sing again because of all this pain," I slowly shook my head. "I love you, Joseph. Always have and always will," I say finally, walking away from the podium and quickly leaving the room before breaking down full-on.

The priest then asked Delilah if she wanted to come and say her farewells to Joseph and she said yes. She walked to the podium, straightened out her dress and began her speech.

"H-hello everyone, for those of you don't know me that well, I-I'm Delilah, Joseph's sister. I'd like to thank all of you for coming. Joseph was a good kid, wouldn't hurt a fly. It was really tragic that he had to leave us and I'm the one to blame for it. I was the one who encouraged him. I was the one who snuck out behind my parents back. I-I was the one who got drunk behind the wheel. I feel like I was the one who...who b-basically ended his life..." the tears were overflowing at this point. She continued, "B-because I was so f-foolish and ignorant and so naïve...at that moment in time, I didn't care if I got in trouble, I-I just wanted to go to a party and have some freedom. I shouldn't have dragged my brother out there and I shouldn't have even disobeyed my parents. And now Joseph here had to pay the price because I did such a stupid thing. When my parents told me that Joseph had died I didn't stop crying that whole day. I've lost my only brother and there's no way of getting him back. I miss him more and more everyday. So I'm just gonna end it there, goodbye Joey, I love you so much."

The priest patted her shoulder before she walked offstage and we all clapped. For the rest of the service was just the priest reading out some scriptures from the Bible and other family members and friends saying short speeches of how they remembered Joseph. I sighed deeply, this was going harder than I thought.

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