It's A Twin Thing (Power Rangers AU)

Chapter Five - The Funeral

The morning of the funeral was cold, the sky was grey and close, feeling like it could tear open at any moment. The past week had been a whirlwind, police reports, lawyers, your mom crying in the night but you just felt numb, you had stayed off school for the past 5 days, laying in bed, staring hazily at the TV screen, watching the shows but not paying attention, family had visited, a plethora of sorrow and 'I'm so sorry for your loss' flowing through the door, but you just felt empty, you felt hollow. Jason had come to see you every night, most of the time the pair of you just sat in silence, or lay side by side on the bed, he would stay the night, staying awake with you until tiredness caught up with him and he drifted off to sleep, while you lay slumberless, staring at the ceiling, sometimes you would curl up closer to him or rest your head on his shoulder, you never said it, but you were silently grateful he was there. Your eyes were dark-rimmed, puffy and red, you had tried to speak to Billy but had gotten no response, his silence was deafening and no matter how many times you texted or called, there was nothing from his side at all.

"Hey, are you ready?" Jason peered in through your doorframe, looking at you in your formal black dress, he was wearing a smart, black suit, white shirt and a skinny black tie, clumsily knotted around his collar

"Yeah. Did Billy come with you?" you asked quietly as you looked up at him

Jason sighed through his nose and looked away, his reaction telling you everything you needed to know, you stood up from your dresser slowly and nodded at him.

You linked his arm through the crook of his elbow as he slowly led you outside to line of cars waiting outside.

During the service you sat and watched on, the words drifting over your head, your mom stood in front of the grave, during her speech you felt Jason reach over and place his hand on yours, you glanced down at it and then up at his face, he was watching the events unfold in front of you, his face solemn and his jaw clenched, your eyes moved back to his hand, the warmth of it spreading through yours; it was the first thing you had felt in days.

After the ceremony, people gathered at your house, but you didn't interact, you weaved through them all towards your room, you opened the door, stepping inside and you slipped off your shoes

"Want some company?" Jason asked you softly as he approached you from behind

"Yeah" you answered as you moved further into your room

He walked in and perched on the end of the bed, looking at you with concern as you glanced down at his crooked tie and smiled softly

"Jason, your tie is all screwy" you commented gently as you approached him, reaching forward and fiddling with the knot slightly, trying to straighten it out as he peered up at you, studying your face

"Just take it off, I don't need it on anymore" he said quietly and he lifted his chin up while you tugged at it, unfastening it and threading the material through your fingers.

"I wanna thank you" you said as you looked down at the silky black fabric in your hand

"For what?" he asked in reply as he took the tie from you and pushed it into his jacket pocket

"Being there for me" you answered as you glanced back up at him, meeting his blue-eyed gaze with yours

You blinked hard as you felt your eyes gloss over with tears

"And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I said to you that night, it was wrong and it was mean and I just–"

He didn't let you finish he stood up quickly and wrapped his arms around you in a tight embrace, you buried your face into his shoulder and let out a loud sob