tw: blood, death, funerals

As Samantha opened the door to their apartment, nervousness settled in the pit of her stomach. They brushed it off, her friends were always telling them that she was too paranoid, but of course, they didn't know why she felt like she was constantly in danger.

She fumbled with the key for a few seconds, before swinging the door open. It was silent, which was odd, their brother usually texted her if he was going somewhere. "Jason?" There was no response. They walked through the open plan living/dining/cooking area and entered his bedroom. Still nothing. The apartment was tiny, there was no chance he hadn't heard her. They saw the bathroom light was on, and the door was lying wide open. She entered the room and was met with a sight they could never forget. Jason was lying there, a bullet hole in his abdomen, a pool of blood underneath him. Samantha rushed over to him, but she knew that it was too late. He was too pale, there was too much blood. Still, they called an ambulance and explained through their tears, and did CPR until they heard ribs break and the sobs left her shaking.

He was declared dead at the scene. The paramedics had to pull her away from the body and she was brought to a police station. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but we'll have to take your clothes for evidence. Would you like us to call someone at home to bring you a change of clothes?" A female officer asked them, carrying an evidence bag. "I...I don't have anyone left to call." Soon enough, she was in an interrogation room, dressed in a thin t-shirt and scratchy sweatpants, giving her witness statement. After Samantha answered almost every question with "I don't know", the detective got fed up and told them that she'd get a call if they needed more information.

Samantha held her head up high as they left the police station, before immediately breaking down on the steps.

They thought about all of their answers, everything that they didn't know, everything that could've changed if she just didn't go to school that day, or if they'd walked home faster. There were so many possibilities. Jason always said they thought too much.

After a moment, Samantha realised that she had nowhere to go. Their apartment was an active crime scene, and even if it wasn't, they wouldn't want to be there. Too many memories. She opened her phone and called the first name she saw. Clover Copeland.

"Hey, what's up?" Clover's voice called from the other end of the phone. Samantha knew things were bad when Clover seemed to be the happy one in this conversation. "Can I stay at your place for a while? Please- I can explain when I get there, but I really can't go back to my apartment." They didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. "Yeah, sure. There's not much room here, so you'll have to take the couch."
"That's fine."
"See you soon, bye."

Clover opened their apartment door on the first knock. "Have you been crying? Are you okay?" Samantha thought that it was a pretty awful greeting, but Clover had never seen them cry before, and was caught off-guard. Clover hugged her before inviting her inside. "It's about Jason. I got home today, and- and I couldn't find him. He was in the bathroom and- God, there was so much blood. I knew he was gone when I saw him." Samantha sat on Clover's couch, not quite meeting their eyes as tears fell from her own. "Fuck, that's awful. You can stay here as long as you want." There was a small smile at that. "Thanks. My apartment is now an active crime scene." They both just sat there for a while, watching shitty made-for-television films. Two teens with nothing to live for and nothing to lose.

The funeral came soon after. Samantha didn't know who to invite, so in true rock-bottom fashion, they made a Facebook post on Jason's account. Samantha couldn't bear to look at his body. They already couldn't get the image of him lying on the ground, surrounded by blood, out of her head. She didn't recognise half of the people in the church. The pair had never been religious, you could blame their childhoods for that. However, Samantha found the idea of an afterlife comforting. They liked to think that Jason was somewhere better. Somewhere safe.

Aurora and Clover sat next to Samantha, who listened to a man that none of them had ever met recite her brother's life story as if they were the best of friends. Samantha hated it. They knew that this was supposed to be the type of town where everyone knew everyone, but that certainly didn't mean that everyone liked everyone. The Ansons weren't exactly well-liked in the town, and for the most part, they kept their heads down and avoided trouble. Well, at least one of them did (spoiler alert: not the one in the casket).

"Now, Jason's sister, Samantha Maeve Anson, would like to say a few words." The clergy spoke, and Samantha approached the front of the room with shaking hands. "Ever since I was a child, it was always just me and Jason. He was always there for me, and I like to think I was there for him too. I wish I could thank him for everything that he did. I loved him, but right now, I hate him for dying on me. It can't be that hard to stay alive, right?" Samantha laughed, but her voice had no humour in it, and the joke was met with a few awkward laughs and 'you're-doing-great' smiles from her friends.

"Jason loved country music, for some reason, and he always believed that what he was doing was right, and it was, most of the time. My brother was many things, and there are a lot of words that you could describe him with that I can't use in a church, but above everything else, he was a good person. He always did what was right, and now that he's gone, someone has made the world a little bit more wrong." Samantha stopped, taking a moment to level their breathing through their tears.  "Jason, thank you for being around. We will make sure that they don't forget you." Samantha returned to her seat, and Aurora instantly gave her a huge hug.

Aurora and Clover stood close to her as they watched Jason's casket being lowered into the ground. That was it. It was over. The only person there who seemed to care about Jason was Samantha. Even their parents weren't there. When everyone else started to leave, Samantha asked their friends to go wait in the car, they wanted a moment to talk to him one last time. "Hi, it's me. Mandy, your little sister. I miss you already, and it's only been a few days. I don't know what I'm going to do, J. The police are saying it's a cold case, but I need to find whoever did this to you. I need to know why. I won't do anything bad, I promise. We'll be alright. We're going to McDonald's after this, so you finally won, congrats. All it took was dying. The others are waiting for me. Goodbye." She looked at the inscription on the headstone.

Jason Lee Anson
2001-2022
A beloved brother and friend
May his memory be eternal

Aurora, Clover and Samantha sat in the McDonald's parking lot, dressed in all-black and holding the burgers they got in the drive-thru. Jason always said that McDonald's was America's best restaurant, and while Samantha would usually argue in favour of KFC, she knew that he'd be glad to see her finally listen to him.

Samantha smiled to herself.

This is for you, Jason.

A/N: i hate this so much lmao