Epilogue

Jo stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her pale, drawn face contrasted heavily with the dark clothes she was wearing. It felt odd, wrong, being dressed all in black on such a beautiful, sunny day. The woman didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave her bedroom, let alone the house, but she had to be strong today.

She gripped Ellie's hand tightly as they met at the bottom of the stairs and she leant in to press a kiss to her step-daughter's cheek. "I'm sorry, I couldn't–"

"It wasn't your fault." Ellie whispered, throwing her arms around her.

The younger woman clung to her desperately, burying her face in Jo's neck. With a sigh, Jo ran her fingers through the red hair fanning out down Ellie's back, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of her shampoo. It was familiar, but strange at the same time.

"Jo?"

She glanced up and met Freya's eyes. Max stood just behind her, fiddling with the cuff of his shirt. Twisting slightly, Jo made space for the pair of them in her arms. They held onto her just as tightly as their niece was doing. The brunette looked between them, taking several steadying breaths before pulling herself together.

"Come on." She prompted her gently, disentangling herself from the tight embrace. "Let's get this over with."

The drive to the church was torturous. Sitting through the funeral service was draining. Ellie sobbed through the whole thing. Jo felt nothing but coldness inside her. She reached out and held the younger woman's hand, unsure how else to comfort her. Her thoughts were miles away from her current physical location. On Jo's other side, Sharon stared stonily ahead, apparently just as caught up in her own thoughts as her daughter-in-law.

When it ended, they stood at the back of the church as people filed past them, accepting the condolences and well-wishes almost bitterly. Jo fought back the bile rising in her throat as each new person shook her hand and told her they were thinking of the family. If only they knew the truth, Jo thought resentfully. But she smiled and accepted their greetings, keeping up appearances.

Everything about the events that had led them to be standing there had been glossed over and hushed up, for her sake as much as anyone else's. It was still a hard pill to swallow for the brunette, though. She didn't want to be there, but she had to be.

"It's time." Ellie told her weakly.

Jo glanced past her and caught sight of the vicar, directing the coffin bearers through the graves to the fresh plot that was ready and waiting. Taking Ellie's hand in hers and feeling Freya taking hold of her other arm, Jo led the way to the graveside. They stood in silence as the vicar said his final words.

As the coffin was lowered into the ground, a feeling of finality settled over Jo. She stared down into the hole, watching as Ellie threw a handful of dirt in. A sob escaped the red-head as the soil obscured the brass nameplate and Jo wrapped her arm around her step-daughter, holding her tightly against her side.

Not waiting around to see the soil being shovelled back into place, Jo practically dragged Ellie away and back towards the car park. She paused beside the car, catching Sharon's eye through the small crown that were milling around. The older woman smiled weakly and nodded at her, wrapping an arm around Freya and Max and leading them towards her car.

Jo directed Ellie towards the passenger seat of her own car, opening the door and waiting until she was settled before closing it. When she was inside too, she turned to the younger woman and bit her lip. She wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she didn't want to rush Ellie away before she was ready.

"Shall we go?" Ellie nodded wordlessly, putting her belt on without thinking. Jo glanced at her worriedly. "Let's go and see Hannah." She suggested. "She'll want to hear how Jake's funeral went and make sure you're OK."

"Yeah…" Ellie breathed. Then she took a deep breath and looked at her step-mother. She smiled. "He's gone. I couldn't believe it until I saw him being put into the ground but… he's really gone. We're free."

"We are." Jo agreed, smiling back. "He can't hurt any of us anymore. And," she squeezed Ellie's fingers tightly, "as soon as your Mum is well enough to leave hospital I'm going to marry her because I can't handle the thought of not having her close to me ever again."

Ellie laughed happily. "It's about bloody time, Mum."