Prompt 65: Passing
A/N: so yeah, turns out you can write a lot in a 3 hour gap between a lecture and tutorial and the previous chapter, this one and I think about 3 others that will follow this are the product of waiting around yesterday and this morning for uni to hurry up and be over.
Jo's hand tightened around his and Laurie watched her face carefully as Jo continued to stare at the body of her sister, still in her bed as still as the dolls around her.
He could feel the tremble of arm through their entwined fingers and he shut his eyes, overcome with emotion.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this.
Jo was breathing in little short gasps and he knew she was close to crying next to him, something she'd promised she wouldn't do with that tiny wrinkle of determination in her brow before they'd entered the room. But he hadn't believed her for a moment. Jo had loved that dear girl better than anyone else he knew.
Laurie swallowed hard, opening his eyes again desperately trying to be the strong person Jo needed. Not the lover, not the neighbour – she needed her best friend and he was determined to be the best he could, even if his eyes couldn't stop from blurring when he looked at the bed.
Jo cleared her throat in the hushed bedroom before she hesitantly stretched a hand out to the girl, looking very much as though she would touch her. Laurie was surprised when she dropped his hand to straighten the covers methodically instead of stroking her cold sister's forehead.
"It's not fair," she said in a small voice that he wouldn't have placed with the woman. Jo's words sounded broken and wet and he tried not to grimace as his heart struck with her speech.
"I know."
Jo stood over the bed, her hands still flat on the sheets from smoothing them over unable to look at Beth's face.
"Laurie?" she sounded very close to crying and so he stood to move beside her.
"I know, Jo" he wrapped his long arms around her frozen form and rubbed her back, smoothing and soothing as Jo had with the bed. "It really isn't" his voice thick with the emotion he wouldn't let go until he laid in bed that night.
Jo, unable to hold her breath any longer, wept in one gushing exhale, her body sagging against his tall one and she was grateful, oh so grateful Laurie had come home to her.
