You've Made Your Bed

They had to sit through another funeral. Another painful day of everyone saying how much they’d miss him and how much they loved him, whether it was as a friend, a son or more. None of the four boys could believe it, inside all of them were wishing it was just a sick joke Josh was playing on them all. However after the past two funerals they knew better than anyone that wishing didn’t get you very far.

All of them had run upstairs after hearing the bang, but much to his dismay Matt had been pushed in the room first and had been met with the sight of Josh lifeless on the floor. He hadn’t screamed, instead he’d just nodded and walked back out the room, they didn’t understand how calm Matt could be, but a couple of days after it was really starting to hit him. He was throwing up more than twenty times a day, he was shaking and refusing to eat.

They’d all slowly started to fall back into their old routine, apart from the fact they were hardly talking. They’d fallen apart so much recently; Josh’s death just seemed to add to it. They all blamed one another for some reason, it wasn’t clear to anyone why they blamed one another though.

They were all planning on going their separate ways, Max was staying in Surrey though and was going to start writing songs while bringing his own band together. Dan was going to start a career in tattooing, he’d always loved it but had never gotten round to doing it professionally. Chris was creating a guitar line which was to be out within the next year. Matt was moving to Wales and was going to focus on his clothing line ‘Cheer up!’ which had recently become a massive success in both the UK and US.

What they didn’t know, was that they had three people watching them closely. These three people had been through so much, even at young ages they’d all experienced the bad thing in life; death. The littlest of them was only two and had been taken out of the world in such a painful way, he’d been shot.

He didn’t understand, he’d never understand. He would never get to live the life he was destined for. He never got to have his first kiss like most boys, he never got to get married and have children. He never even had the chance to make friends, instead he was taking away from everyone he loved, even if it was only for a little while. He’d had the company of someone special while he was away from his parents though so he was entirely alone.

The female had only been young and hadn’t really lived life how she’d wanted. She’d spent two years of her life fearing her ex boyfriend that would in the end cause her son to die. Cause her to end her life and then cause her husband to end his life. It was his fault, he should be blamed. Watching now, she wished she’d taken matters into her own hands and painfully killed him while she had the chance. She’d then been forced into marriage, and although she was thankful she’d met Josh and had the chance to feel truly loved for a while, she just wished she had the chance to do it at her own pace. She wasn’t ready for the commitment and neither was he which was a reason for everything turning out so bad.

She was thankful though that she could now spend her time in the afterlife with the people she cared about more than anything. The one thing that would hurt her was that she was unable to apologise to Matt for blaming him, it wasn’t Matt’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was fate.

He was the oldest out of them, yet he was only in his twenties himself. He had regrets about what he’d done, taking his own life was something he wished he could change. He hated watching his friends go their own way when he knew he could be down there with them watching a movie with a beer in hand and touring the world. But he did what he did and now he’d get to make up for lost time with his wife and son.

Even more importantly, he finally got to meet his father in law. Tears were shed as Robert, Laurens dad, held Josh close and thanked him for making Lauren happy and blessing him with a beautiful grandson. They were all ready to forgive and forget but there was one more thing that needed to happen. The four of them stood watching through the clouds as a female figure appeared, her light brown hair hung just past her shoulders. She stopped and stared at Lauren, tears brimming her eyes and a smile tugging at her lips.

“Eleanor” Lauren breathed, she moved swiftly to the figure and engulfed her in a hug. It was amazing to think they’d finally been reunited even if it was in the afterlife.

“Lauren, oh my god I missed you” Eleanor sighed, she pulled away looking at her best friends with tears in her eyes, “You have no idea how happy I am to see you”. The two linked hands in a friendly gesture and walked towards the group of males waiting patiently and watching the reunion.

Matt, Max, Chris and Dan sat around in the lounge of their house, they were being civil and having a small discussion about what each of them planned to do in the future. For once all of their minds were completely blank with no thought of Lauren, Josh or Zacky.

“I’m sorry it came to this” Max whispered, he’d been the first person to apologise and he felt so much better for it. The guys gave small smiles at one another.

“I’m sorry” They all said in sync, within moments they were leaning across the table in a large group hug. None of them wanted to pull back; it was a perfect moment, no bickering of any sort. They heard tapping on the window and broke apart instantly in shock. They hadn’t expected anyone to be outside.

“The window” Dan gasped, eyes flew over to the window and in return all of the guys gasped.

We miss you, but we’re watching you guys. We’re with Papa Foxx and Eleanor now. Love you guys more than anything, Lauren, Josh and Zacky.

Matt let a smile fall onto his face, he knew they were okay and they were up there in heaven happy. The other three guys seemed hesitant to believe at first before Matt explained the whole ordeal. With that the four boys walked out into the snow. Matt leaned down first and dragged his finger across the white substance leaving a message engraved.

Stalkers. I miss you too, love you to bits. Matt x

The three remaining boys blushed obviously embarrassed at the idea of writing messages in the snow but they soon gave in and each went to work. Max stood back with his hands on his hips looking up at the stars, he couldn’t stop the tear falling down his face but he quickly wiped it away.

Guys, we named some gold fish after you. Miss you so much, love you <3 Max x

He paced over to Matt and wrapped an arm loosely around his waist, he couldn’t stay mad at his best friends. He wanted everything to be as normal as it could be. He knew it wouldn’t be back to normal without Lauren and Josh but he wanted to try and fix things, especially now he was at ease and knew they were safe and happy. Dan sat crossed legged finishing off his sentence.

I’ve got your faces tattooed on my butt, no joke. Love and miss you :( Dan x

Dan walked over to join the other two, he leaned his head on Max’s shoulder and sniffled quietly. Chris was left now, he stood staring at the untouched snow, he knew what he wanted to write but he didn’t know whether it would seem stupid or not. He didn’t want to seem like an idiot. He took a deep breath before dragging his finger across the snow.

I’m so sorry. I wish you all eternal happiness. I miss you, even you Lauren. I love you all <3 Chris x

He stood back and cleared his face off his tears, the three boys gave him approving smiles and he knew then that they were all proud of him for finally apologising even if it did seem too late. They rejoined in the middle of the messages holding one another tightly. They all gazed up at the sky, not even fazed when the outline of five people appeared. It was only a clear outline and you could only just make out the features but they all knew they were there.

They all knew that Lauren, Josh, Zacky, Laurens father and El were watching them happily. With that Lauren blew them all a kiss and mouthed a very faint thank you before fading back into the clouds.