The worst part is that they didn't see it coming. Any of it.
They never expected Corbett to die.
It was a game, ghost hunting. It was just for fun. Nobody was supposed to get hurt.
But he did.
They also didn't expect Ed's reaction.
It had it hit all of them hard, but Ed... Ed was shattered. They would've never expected to see him like that.
He was heartbroken, and worst of all, he blamed himself.
They wondered that maybe if they hadn't seen Corbett's ghost, that maybe if that part of the story didn't happen, it wouldn't be that bad for Ed. If he hadn't said the words.
If he hadn't realized too late.
They always knew about Corbett's crush on Ed. They saw it coming miles away, joked about it even. Puppy love, they said.
They just never expected Ed to love him back.
Not even Maggie, not even Harry.
After Corbett's death, he was functional for a while. He helped the Winchesters with the bodies, he helped editing the video. Everybody was, in a way. It was their way of distracting themselves, their way of grieving and making justice for Corbett. Maybe helping other people too, so it wouldn't happen again to somebody else.
But then the video was gone, and the cops thought they did it.
That was when the last penny dropped.
It was real, Corbett was dead, and he wasn't coming back.
Everybody mourned. Nobody knew what to do next or how to move on, but that was the thing. They would all move on, eventually.
But Ed.
Ed never moved on.
He disbanded the Ghostfacers. Stayed in his room, refusing to leave, refusing to eat, and to talk with them. And when he did, he was desolated. He never looked at them, always eyeing the walls and ground with dead eyes. Words didn't reach him.
Like they weren't even there, like he wasn't even there.
He was but a shell of his old self.
They all hoped he would move one, some day.
They tried to help, tried to make him feel something again. To make their leader and friend come back. And he did, for a while.
Or, well, looked like he did.
He had his job back and talked again. He was gaining back all the weight he had lost in grief. He still refused to reopen the Ghostfacers. It was too soon, too fresh yet. But they knew that with time he would get over the guilt, or at least learn how to live with it, and they would be a family again.
Still, they were all relieved. He was back, he was finally starting moving on.
'Time heals all', his mother said once.
But it didn't last.
They weren't expecting it.
It was a day like any other. Ed had smiled that day. A sad smile, yes, but a smile nonetheless.
They weren't expecting to lose Ed too, to his own grief and guilt.
Harry wasn't expecting that phone call from a devastated Maggie.
Spruce wasn't expecting that visit from his friends.
Maggie wasn't expecting to come home to that scene, with only a note left as explanation.
They hadn't expected any of it, and they would never forgive themselves for that.
