Best Friend's Brother

26.

"Hey, no matter what we go through I'll always be your best friend. You're like a sister to me. If you call me in need of something, no matter how mad I am at you I'll always have my door open. I love you." With that being said I pulled her into a long lasting hug. I'm glad that I was finally able to get my best friend back.

"Are you still going to move in with your dad?" I ask when we release each other.

"Yeah I think I am. Too much has happened and I need a clean start before I continue with my life. I should be leaving next month."

After our closure I decided to go get us some food. As I walked down the hall I ran into a nervous Jacob.

"Jamiah what the hell! Why am I getting a call that you're in the hospital?" I shush his yelling before explaining why I'm here.

"It's not me. It's your sister."

"Bella?"

"Be honest with me Jacob. Did you beat her?"

"That's why she's in here? She is so extra. Come on let's go get her discharged." He grabs my hand but I swat it away.

"This is serious. She was pregnant and now she's lost the baby. She had a miscarriage." When those words left my lips his entire expression changed.

"She... was pregnant? I killed her baby?" I don't say anything. He steps away from me slowly and begins running away in the opposite direction.

A few days passed and Bella was finally discharged. I bought her some food from Chick-fil-A and dropped her off home.

As I pulled up in my own driveway i noticed Jacob's jeep parked outside. I hadn't heard anything from him since he ran out the hospital. I get he was probably in shock but he could've at least answered the phone.

I walked through my bedroom door and saw him sitting on my bed. He was dressed in a black dress shirt that was buttoned half way, black beans and black Doc Martin's.

"Get dressed we're running late."

"Late for what?" He didn't tell me anything about going somewhere.

"His funeral." Oh...

"You sure you want me to go?" He simply nods his head and points to a black dress on the bed next to him. I give him a weird look before grabbing the dress and going into the bathroom.

Since I already showered this morning I just put the dress on and fixed my hair in its normal bun. I walked back into the room to find some shoes.

I usually don't wear dresses but the look on Jacob's face when he saw me made me want to consider it.

"Uh.. uh. Shoes." He said pointing to some black heels in the corner.

I nod and slip them on. He stood up and grabbed my hand, leading me to his car.

As we rode down the street the dead silence killed me . Jacob has that same expressionless face that he has the day his father died.

"How are you feeling?" I cautiously ask. He looked over to me briefly with that dead look in his eyes and then looked back at the rode.

"Same."

I wanted to say something else but I didn't know what. He was depressed and broken.

We finally arrived at the sanctuary and walked in together. Since Jacob was family and I was his plus one we had to sit in the first row.

We sat down in our seats and waited for the program to start. I noticed Jacob tensingup and when I looked over I noticed Jordyn was sitting next to him. As usual she was being her normal flirty self.

"Switch with me." I whisper in his ear and he gladly does so. I send a sly smirk her way before resting my head on his shoulder.

The service then started. A few poems were read, some people had came up and talked about Joseph and their relationship with him.

A few songs were sung from the choir and finally the eulogy. Mike stood at the podium, fully dressed in his suit and tie.

He cleared his throat before speaking into the microphone.

"How y'all doing today?" He earned a few responses making him giggle.

"Well I wanna start off by saying that Joseph was a great man." He plastered a smile on his face that quickly faded away. He turned his attention directly to Jacob.

"Even though he wasn't my biological father he was still my blood. When he married my mother and took me and my sister in 18 years ago, he completed our family. He claimed us, called us his own." He Continues staring Jacob down with a smug look. I could feel him getting angrier by the second. I grab his hand in comfort.

"He loved us and we loved him back, especially my mother, even though he left such a... distasteful past behind him. He wasn't perfect, nobody is. But he made sure to the best of his ability that we knew we were loved and that he wanted to be in our lives. Nobody could take that from us. Not even the people who come along later in his life causing trouble just for his money. His love was unbreakable. Now he'll be loving us from heaven."

The church erupted with clapping and cheering from Mike's speech. He walked out of the spotlight with a smirk as he stared Jacob down.

"Let's go." He began to stand up but I pulled him back down.

"Baby, you can't let him get in your head like that." I caress his arm. He takes a deep breath before saying 'Fine'.

The service continues and soon people start going by rows to pass by his coffin for the last viewing.

"Are you gonna go see him."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I can't look at him like that." I nod understanding where he's coming from. I gently kiss his hand.

Once service is over people begin greeting each other. Joann makes it her duty to go up to everyone, thanking them for coming.

She soon approaches us carefully dabbing the tears from her eyes. "Thank you guys for coming. Hopefully you won't let this be the reason we never see you again, Jacob."

"It won't be. I've actually gotten to know Skylar really well."

"You were all your father talked about for a whole year, you know? Even though I don't know you that well, I know that he loves you and is proud of the man you have become." The exchange hugs and she turns to me.

"I hope to see you too. You seem to make him very happy, I don't think he'll be letting you go anytime at all." She hugs and moves on to the next guest.

"She's really sweet."

"Yeah I guess she is." He says with a smirk. He grabs my hand and we begin walking out the sanctuary.

Someone bumps into Jacob causing us to stop.

"I'm really tired of you Mike."

"Why'd you even show up? Everybody knows Joseph didn't really care about you. He only went looking for you because my mom told him to."

"At least my real father actually came back for me." The amount of malice in his voice shouldn't even be allowed in a church.

"You know what, fuck you Perez. You won't ever see the last of me." Wow, did he really just curse in a church? May God have mercy on his soul.

The car ride is once again silent. This time I font try to make conversation.

He didnt have that same dead look on his eyes. Instead it seemed he was letting himself feel. And what he was feeling was sadness, depression, anger, hopelessness.

I caught a tear slipping from his eye and I slowly wiped it away.

"Are you coming inside?" I ask once we arrive in front of my house.

"No I need to be alone. I just couldn't be in the same room as him without you." I nod in understanding then give him a few pecks before exiting his car and returning home.