The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

Chapter 86 (A Funeral)

The drive to the docks was a long and quiet one, filled only with the tears that Valerie wept. She and Jonah had been informed that Jake had been murdered and had taken the bullet from someone who had actually been gunning for Jonah. This wasn't going to be a happy reunion with Freddie and Sam, for surely they would want to know about Jake. Tyrone wasn't involved, it was a simple gang member who apparently wanted to please the old man by taking the life of Freddie's closest friend.

Friday, May fifteenth was the day Jake had been gunned down. Surely it would be a hard day to remember. Jake didn't die without knowing why, so that was not entirely bad. It was just so horrible that he had to die in the prime of life. Jonah and Valerie were there when they informed Jake's girlfriend. She had nothing but bitter tears after that, it was a horrible thing to have to see. Jonah also knew the band was over, no one could really fill the place that Jake had been in. There just wasn't a guitarist good enough to play. Whether the band would end or not, that was Freddie's decision to make.

Jonah parked at the docks and slowly exited the vehicle. He walked around and opened the door for Valerie. She exited and wiped her tears, she didn't want anyone to see her crying. They looked toward the large crowd of people that had exited the cruise ship. They could see Freddie and Sam carrying their suitcases. Their friends ran over to them and frowned when they saw that Jake was missing and neither Jonah or Valerie seemed happy.

Valerie put on the best smile she could and took Sam aside to talk to her about how the cruise went. She was eager to hear how much fun Valerie had. Jonah and Freddie loaded the suitcases into the car without a word, Jonah was having trouble trying to think of what to say. He knew Emily would eventually talk to Freddie about it, but he felt that he needed to tell him about it himself. Once they finished loading the suitcases in, they looked over to see the girls still chatting. Freddie sighed and looked over to Jonah.

"Jonah, could you tell me what the problem is now?" Freddie asked with a low voice. Jonah gave a slow nod and crossed his arms.

"It's Jake…" Freddie raised his eyebrow and Jonah slowly closed his eyes. "Ms. Benson could tell you more, but…Jake was shot today around noon by some gang member." Freddie's eyes widened in shock and Jonah frowned, he hated to have to be the bearer of bad news. "Jake's been killed. Even more, I think the killer was actually gunning for me, not Jake."

"Oh my god…is the killer still out there?" Jonah shook his head and Freddie gave a slow sigh of relief. He was glad the killer was in prison, but he felt horrible that Jake was killed. He could feel the anger growing inside of him, he lost a best friend. "Is Tyrone involved in this? Because if he is, I swear…"

"No. Though he was the man's boss, apparently…he wasn't involved in Jake's death. From the man's confession, he said that he'd asked Jake if he was me...Jake said he was."

"So…he took a bullet just so if the man went free, he'd think you were dead?"

"I think so…" Freddie had no clue what he could say. He was glad that Jonah wasn't in any immediate danger, but he was utterly disgusted that someone had to kill Jake. Jonah actually felt guilty, because Jake basically died for him.

"When is the funeral going to be?"

"This Sunday at three. Valerie and I are obviously planning on going."

"Sam and I will be there, obviously." Jonah gave a brief nod and everyone entered the car. Once more, the trip made was a silent one. Freddie broke the news to Sam. She cried when he did, there could be nothing good about this moment.

-NEW SCENE-

Sunday came, it was the day of the funeral. Carly didn't come, but Jake wasn't really her friend. She did mourn with the other girls at the school, but it wasn't like Sam and Freddie did. They mourned the loss of a great friend, they grieved. Carly mourned the loss of the 'hottest guy at school' with the other girls. Stephanie's flu went away, but it wasn't a happy time for her of course. The man who committed the heinous act would be put on trial for murder, they hoped he'd be jailed for quite some time. Tyrone didn't show up at the funeral, considering Jake wasn't all that important to him. Those who did show were close friends or family.

Stephanie was crying hysterically for the loss, so Freddie was the one that opted to comfort her. He walked over to Stephanie and gently rubbed her back. "Hey Stephanie, it's Freddie…" Stephanie wiped her eyes and looked to Freddie. She recognized him as Jake's best friend. Knowing this, she sobbed once more and Freddie gave her a gentle hug. "I'm sorry for what happened. He died too soon." Freddie closed his eyes and tried to hold back the tears, but as everyone else, it was impossible for him to do so.

"I want my Jake back," Stephanie cried. Freddie nodded and rubbed her back. He looked over at the casket, he saw Jake's head resting against the pillow and his hands over each other at his belt. It honestly looked like Jake was sleeping. Stephanie walked over to Jake and placed her hand on his arm, she hated seeing him like this. Jonah walked over to Freddie and handed him a tissue.

"Here, blow your nose if you have to," Jonah said with a hard voice. He had also been one to fail at not crying. Jonah and Freddie slowly walked over to Jake and placed their hands on the edge of the casket. They couldn't believe they had to say goodbye to their best friend like this. Jonah's body shook slightly and he turned his head downward. What did he do to deserve Jake taking a bullet for him? Jake didn't deserve to die, he did nothing wrong at all. "Why Jake? Why didn't you just tell that guy you weren't me? You would be here right now…I should be the one lying there! I'm the one he wanted, I'm the one that should be dead."

"Don't say that," Freddie said in a quiet voice. He knew Jonah was angry, angry that Jake had to die just so the guy wouldn't hunt him down. Freddie was upset as well, but he knew that cursing himself or getting mad would not help anything. "You have Valerie, Sam, everyone else that's important to you. Jake here, he had a lot as well, but like you, he also had a good heart. He didn't want you to be put in danger…I agree though, he should still be alive today. He'll never be forgotten, that's for sure. Don't make him to have died in vain, and don't wish your own death in place of his…"

"I still don't understand why it had to be him instead…I mean, why when his purpose in life wasn't fulfilled?"

"Who said yours was? What right do we have to say that we should be in his place? He was selfless in his desire, he made it his choice to make that person kill him instead of you. We would only be selfish to say that he made the wrong decision. Think about it, Jonah. You still have a lot to take care of, and I'm sure he did too, but he felt that you had a reason left to live."

"Listen to him, Jonah," Valerie said as she stepped behind him. Freddie and Jonah turned to see Sam and Valerie staring at them. Valerie hugged Jonah and sobbed once. "I'm glad that you're still here, but that doesn't mean I'm glad for what happened. Jonah, you have to stay here, you have something important to do." Jonah raised his eyebrow and Valerie took a slight step back. "You have to take care of me, you have to take care of us. I mean, we wouldn't make it without you…"

"I never said I was planning on dying anytime soon, Valerie," Jonah said in a quiet voice. "I just feel responsible in a way."

"We all do. Every single one of us feels responsible, but we can all cope. It'll take some time, but we can make it together…" Jonah nodded as the four walked to their seats. The minister came up and spoke some more, it was time to bury Jake's body. Everyone exited to their cars as the pallbearers carried the casket to the hearse. Soon everyone was driving out to the cemetery, there had to be at least eight to ten cars driving down the road.

When they parked, they all moved to an area with a bunch of chairs. The ceremony was quiet all the way through, minus the sobs coming from Stephanie and Jake's mom. Everyone was praying for Jake and for his loved ones. Truly this was the saddest day of all their lives, the loss of a friend was truly great. "I feel responsible for Jake getting shot," Freddie said quietly. After all, it was because of his secret relationship that the killer had shot Jake, thinking he was Jonah. He knew one thing was for sure, no one else had better die because of this.

There is probably the second saddest chapter you can have. Hope you enjoyed it and I sure could have rewritten that to make it more emotional...hmm...as a writer I'm just never satisfied, lol. The next chapter, you will love! SERIOUSLY. The chapter after that will be a huge one for the plot as well. I give nothing away ^_^.

BY THE WAY: I would like for some of you guys to check out my story JESSICA'S DARK PAST on my other profile, King Nate. It's really not a bad story, but I fear the name is turning people off. The name is only like that because it's the other side of Sam's story...it's got romance in it, it's got secrets in it, "It's Gold Baby!" Seriously, I personally feel as though it's a better story than my other ones...but that's just because I tried to make my writing look a lot better. I keep feeling self conscious about it, especially when people tell me that my writing is dry, flat, emotionless...Seriously a review like that made me stop writing GS at 116 temporarily and begin another story. Now I just need to thing of what that next chapter's going to be....I'll probably finish JDP first...