happiness begins [joe jonas]

31

Caleb Thompson had always been a kind hearted person. Always putting others before himself. That was something Emmie admired him for. He would always take the time out of his day to make sure his friends were okay. No matter where he went, he would always have that same smile on his face. Emmie assumed that's why she never realised how he really felt. He put on a good front.

She had known her best friend since middle school. They had grown up living nearby and they had clicked during a music class at the age of thirteen. He would sit opposite her, explaining his love for music and for some reason, Emmie seriously enjoyed these conversations.

He had always been passionate about music. Emmie had known from the start that he wanted to write his own songs one day. It was all he would ever talk about.

As they grew up, they kept their close friendship. During middle school, Caleb had taken her to a music studio he had connections with. The two would sit there for hours, going over sheet music, playing the piano and singing any songs that came to mind. Emmie knew this would be the beginning of his musical dreams.

He would make up songs on the spot, wandering around the apartment with a wide smile on his face. He would sing, no matter the mood he was in. And you couldn't deny, he sounded incredible.

Emmie could remember he wrote a song for her on her 21st birthday. They had organised a garden party at Thea's place. It was a small gathering, with all their closest friends and family. Her and Caleb had organised the entire thing. The garden was decorated with fairy lights, birthday banners and confetti sprinkled everywhere. It was perfect. After Emmie had just blown out the candles on her cake, Caleb appeared at the patio door, strumming his guitar. She could still remember the song so clearly. She could remember tearing up at the though of him taking the time to write it. And now she would tear up at the thought of never getting those memories back.

She missed those memories, dearly. Sometimes she would stand in the lounge, glancing around the apartment, remembering all those times they had shared together. Emmie would give anything for Caleb to walk through the door and tell her it was all some sort of silly dream. But he never did. This was reality.

His birthday was coming up fast, and even if he was no longer here, Emmie still wanted to celebrate. It only felt right. After all those birthdays where he had made her feel special, she wanted to keep that magic alive.

She paced her apartment, trying to brainstorm. But she had nothing. Everything felt impossible since he had gone, especially trying to celebrate now he was no longer here. Caleb had always been the one to come with the amazing ideas, not Emmie. He had always been the one who organised everything. The life of the party.

The sound of her phone ringing, broke her away from her thoughts.

"Joe?" She spoke, running a hand through her hair.

"You okay?" He questioned, a hint of worry in his voice. "You sound stressed."

"Yeah, no everything's okay." She reassured him, continuing her stroll around the room. "Just thinking about Caleb's birthday, that's all."

"Oh shit." Joe mumbled, knowing it was a sensitive subject. "How are you doing?"

"Not so well.." She admitted "I don't know, I wanted to do something special for him, but so far I have nothing."

"Well," Joe suggested, "If you're okay with it, I could always come spend time with you? Celebrate together?"

Emmie couldn't help but smile. Joe had always been thoughtful, but she would never have expected him to go out of his way to do this for her.