The McGarrett Sister

prologue: middle

Emily McGarrett's POV

I was almost okay, walking up to pay my respects. I looked up to Mr. and Mrs. Tyler. They both had tears rolling down their faces, as expected. Avery looked angry, and Matt, he looked lost.

Although they look nothing alike, Matt was Josh's twin brother. The pair talked every opportunity that was given, and were stuck at the hip when together.

Walking over to the casket, I placed my hand over my lips, and then returned my hand to the casket. "I love you too, Josh." A tear rolled down my cheek as I turned back to go find a seat, only to come face-to-face with Matt. He pulled me into a tight hug, causing me to break down in his arms.

"He loved you, you know that, right?" He whispered softly into my ear, I nodded and hugged him tighter, but he continued. "No, Emily, I really don't think you understand.. Josh. Josh was so in love with you, he would never have said anything to you." He chuckled sadly at the thought. "Emily, I just need you to know that he loved you. Because he would want you to know."

Maybe he thought I would thank him for telling me, or maybe he just needed it off his chest, either way, I burst into tears. I grabbed the back of his jacket and cried, leaving tear stains on his nice suit, I'm sure.

After breaking the embrace with Matt, I leaned back in and gave him another brief hug while whispering in his ear with a shaky voice, "Thank you for that. I knew, though. He chose that to be the last thing he said, and I knew because it was reciprocal." He hugged me tighter, but let me go quickly after. Wiping my eyes, I turned to the rest of his family, realizing I could not just do a quick walk through and slip out before the service began.

I walked up to Mr. Tyler first, he was drying the tears that had fallen while he was observing my hug with Matt. He hugged me as soon as I came into range, which I knew was coming. This family was like another to me, and they all knew it was just as hard for me as it was for them.

"Thank you, dear." I pulled back from the hug and gave him a confused look. "For being there for my son. I'm glad that you were with him."

It could sound weird to people, but I understand that me seeing Josh die had prevented someone else from witnessing it.

He looked at me dead in the eye, holding my elbows and arms. "Did you get the son of a bitch that took our Joshua?" His eyes held some sort of hatred, but I knew it was not for me.

I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck and whispering back,"Point-blank, between the eyes, and then a ship blew up with him in it." He nodded, pulling back to kiss my forehead, but gave me another brief hug.

"That's my girl." He said with a shaky voice. I nodded with a small smile, trying to end the praise as soon as I could.

I moved down the line, wiping the tears that had flowed over my eyes. Mrs. Tyler. She pulled me into a big hug, making me loose it again. We hugged tighter and cried together.

"Thank you, sweetie for loving my son and letting him love you. He may not have known it, but I knew it the first day he brought you home." I nodded and leaned toward her ear.

"I would have married him, Jill." She looked up at me, shocked. I had told her about my fear of marriage in the past. She leaked a few tears after I looked into her eyes.