^^^^^^^^^
Motivation above lads!
I think the reason I wrote this one is because I can so easily see Joe singing that song. It just seems like him, to accept his death and encourage his lover (Cleo, in this fic) to move on without him.
Anything I say in here about seizures and brain tumors is thanks to google, so its likely to have some faults.
Ship: CleoxJoe
tw: seizure, death
Third Person
Joe's joyous laughter echoed through the tunnel as Cleo goofed around, just being herself as she dragged Joe to the mysterious location she had been speaking out all week.
They stumbled into a cavern, dark and gloomy. Cleo didn't wait for Joe to ask if they had arrived, and began to climb a ledge. He didn't like how steep it looked and held up his lantern, squinting at the drop. "Cleo, that looks a bit steep..."
She glanced back down at his concern, and raised a eyebrow as she pulled herself up. "It'll be fine-see, perfectly safe." She set down a torch, illuminating a very faint climbing wall up. "Come on, its a view once I get rid of the light."
Considering her reassurance for a moment, Joe sighed before following her up the wall. "If your sure." She grabbed his hand, helping him up as he struggled to pull himself up.
She removed the light after he settled, and the cavern around them lit up. Crystals glowed vibrantly, previously blocked by the small amount of light that they had carried.
A soft gasp left Joe as the lights glowed, blue reflecting off his glasses as Cleo softly murmured "Worth the three hour hike, isn't it?" He nodded mutely, his skill with languages failing him for once as he watched the lights glow.
As time ticked on, Cleo watched him with a small smile on her face. Time slowly passed, and Joe seemed to remember what time it was, and he glanced at his wrist. "Oh wow-Cleo, it's eight, we should head back."
With a sigh, Cleo relighted her lantern and looked at his watch from over his shoulder. "Oh-We should, I didn't realize that we would get here so late." Joe shrugged, smiling "It was worth it Cleo."
Giving her a quick peck on the lips, Joe turned and started to climb down. Like before, it was slow and he was overly careful. His feet hit the ground and he took a few steps back, and froze.
He started to seize, crumbling to the as his body jerked. Cleo let out a panicked yelp as she jumped down the side of the rocks and sliding to her knees next to Joe.
Panic coursed through her as she struggled to recall X's routine medical lecture at the beginning of every season. She quickly turned Joe to his side and removed his glasses, tossing them to the side as she struggled to figure out what was happening. And she stopped.
There wasn't anything else she could do. Just watch and make sure he didn't hurt himself.
Then it just.. stopped. He couldn't seem to register what exactly was going on, and she knew that she needed to get him back to the main server area.
First, she dropped his backpack into a shulker and put it into her own backpack. Then she looped her arm under his and lifted him up.
It was slow moving, and the already tough paths became ten times more difficult. Joe tried to help, but he just couldn't walk properly. She was scared that he would fall and crack his head on something, so she stubbornly insisted on carrying him.
He was scared, but he hid it well. But she knew he was scared.
He couldn't hide it from her. She knew him like the back of her hand.
But still, they moved, slowly but steadily. A nether portal sat at the end of the trail, and if they got to it, they'd be home free.
They got to the nether portal, moving through it and then onto the shopping district.
Wels was who found them. He panicked and rushed them back to his house, as he was one of the few hermits with a active medbay. Of course he was panicking, it was one in morning, Joe had had a seizure, and communicators where down after lighting struck the admin tower.
Beef was the first to learn other then Wels, and news traveled fast. Within the hour Stress and X where at the house, taking tests and asking questions.
Joe had a brain tumor at age 26. It was to far developed.
There wasn't a chance that he'd survive. Nobody but Joe was able to take the news without bursting into tears. He was resigned to the fact that, yes, he was going to die in the next couple of months. And that broke Cleo's heart.
They moved Joe over to Cleo's place where people could keep a eye on him. He got weaker and weaker, until he was mostly bed bound. He spent time writing, hours upon hours.
And, whenever X would drop by, he would give the admin a envelope or two. Everyone knew what the envelopes where, but nobody acknowledged it.
EX even came out out of his lair to visit, and he broke down nearly three minutes in.
Nobody could take the cold reality of what was happening.
Well.
Except for Joe, of course.
On one particular day, when Joe was feeling better then normal, he called Cleo over. She darted into the room, saying with concern "Do you need something?" He shook his head, handing her a envelope.
"Open that once its done." She took it and opened her mouth to say something, to tell him to not talk like that, but she couldn't muster the words. It was useless.
Joe knew his end was coming, and he wasn't fighting it. At the same time however, he wasn't accepting it with open arms. He simply knew his fate, and decided to not make it miserable for everyone else.
Joe passed in his sleep barely three days later.
---
Dear Cleo,
I'll try to make this straightforward as I can, but you know me. I've always loved making things oh so encrypted.
I, to be honest, really don't want to fall asleep. I don't want to pass away.
All the same, however, I've been thinking of our future because I'll never see those days. I don't know why this has happened, but I probably deserve it.
I've always tried to do my best, but you know I'm not perfect. While I've been praying for forgiveness, you've been praying for my health.
I know this will break you, but when I leave this earth I'm hoping that you'll find someone else.
Cause yeah, we so young and there's so much we haven't done. Get married, start a family, watch your husband with his son.
I wish it could be me, but I won't make it off this bed. I hope I go to heaven, so I can see you once again.
My life was kind of short, but I got so many blessings. It sucks that this is all ending.
I'm happy that your here with me, I'm sorry if I tear up. But when you and me where younger, you'd always make me cheer up by taking goofy videos.
I remember walking through the park, and you'd just jump into my arms every time you heard a bark.
I remember cuddling under your sheets, sing you sound asleep. And then I'd sneak out your kitchen window at exactly 1:03. Sundays, we went to church and Mondays we watched a movie.
Soon, you'll be alone. God, I'm sorry that you had to fall in love with me Cleo.
-Joe Hills
---
Cleo walked slowly along the grass plain, heading slowly towards were Joe was buried.
They had gone to his old world to bury him. A whitelisted world with all of them under the permissions.
His grave lay in between two trees. The spot that he had first met the hermits. She walked up the hill, and her eyes landed on the grave.
She sat down infront of it, closing her eyes for a moment as she collected herself.
"Joe, I.. I really miss you. It hurts, its painful. You left a void in everyones hearts, a Joe shaped hole."
"But.. It won't be like this for to long. It.. It won't break me down. You would have wanted me to move on, and you said it yourself. Still, nothing feels the same when your just so far away."
She teared up once again, sobbing quietly as she broke.
The world might be strange, but its a beautiful place. If we can make it through to tomorrow, there'll be brighter times. Photographs of you will get me through today. The time we spent apart will just be a memory one day.
---
Well.
This one made me cry.
I can't even say 'Enjoy!'
I guess I can say 'Cry!'
1510=Oneshot