Finally

Hard Work - Ella Henderson

The day went by as a big blur for everyone, and it was already nighttime when it was decided that everyone should go home and get into bed, which some had longed for many hours ago.

Mostly everyone fell asleep as soon as their body hit the bed, whereas Juliet was currently sat straight up on the couch, her legs tucked up into her chest as she silently cried, one arm wrapped around her knees, the other one lodged between her legs and chest, her free hand on her mouth to quieten any noises she was making.

She was missing him again.

It's not too hard to imagine why she was missing Michael, as the story has already been told before. However, now she was blaming herself for his untimely death. She was creating ways that she could've prevented the crash from even happening.

She wasn't blaming the speeding truck that slammed into Michael's car head on.

It was all of her fault.

Why couldn't you have stopped him from leaving that day? Why couldn't you have made him stay in bed just a minute longer? Why couldn't you have told him to be even more precautions whilst driving to work? He'd still be alive now.

All these things replayed and repeated through her mind like a broken record, except the melody of the song wasn't so sweet.

"Juliet?"

The sound of her name floating from the lips of the unknown speaker was already easing her breathing, Juliet slowly opening her eyes to reveal Johnny, who was on his knees infront of her, his bare chest almost touching her shins, his hands on her knees with his head in between them, gently stroking them as he tried to look into her eyes. She made eye contact with him from a mere two seconds, and that was enough to see that she was inwardly screaming for help.

"C'mere, sweetie." He lifted her onto his lap, the top of her head tucked in the cove of his neck and jaw. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her tightly.

"What's wrong, Juliet?" He questioned quietly, attempting not to wake anyone else in the house.

"I j-just miss him." She hiccuped, Johnny using one of his hands to remove her hands from her face and lifting her chin up, using the same hand to cup her left cheek and lift her eyes up to his, swiping away tears as they came rolling down with his thumb.

"I know, I know. And you're allowed to feel that way; you don't have to pretend to be all strong and act like you're okay if you're not, because all of us know you are so so so brave for getting through this really rough time. I know for sure Michael's up there goin', "goddamn, my girl is one tough pup", and I know that for a fact." He smirked down at her, Juliet slightly chuckling through her crying.

"Stop.." She sniffed, still with a small smile on her face. Johnny wiped away more tears, chuckling himself.

"Seriously, you are. I've been stapled, stun-gunned, cracked, cut, punched, pulled, bit, and bashed, and I still know that a broken heart is the most painful thing to suffer with." He listed everything he had experienced as Juliet listened intently.

"I don't wanna be like this forever though. I don't wanna be constantly thinking of him and crying at God knows what time." Juliet was almost crying again, before Johnny butted in with more relaxing words.

"As much as I know you won't want to feel this way, some part of you will always miss him. You could be pushing all of your thoughts and memories of him completely out of your mind, busying yourself throughout the day so you simply didn't have the time to think about him, but you will always wonder what life could've been like if he was still here. Always. Because some part of you will always love him. And, if Steve-O or anyone who you are ever with can't accept that, then that would be a sign to get the Hell outta there." He emphasised his last few words by pointing behind him with his thumb, the two softly chuckling as he did so.

Juliet sighed calmly and rested her head back into Johnny's neck, Johnny lowering his hand to her outer knee, holding her securely. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and mumbled,

"Don't you worry about a thing, doll."