#and Bobby and Reggie are having a very serious conversation about what the difference is between a comforter and a duvet.

[legolasghosty]

Hello again!!!

4. and 12. (and maybe 13.) for Willex please 👀👀👀

Hello my love!!!!!!! Yes of course!!!

Alex could have sworn he only closed his eyes for a second, but suddenly the movie credits were rolling across the big TV in the Molinas' living room. How long had he been asleep?

The room was dark, but he could just make out Luke curled up on the couch with his head in Julie's lap. He was snoring softly. Flynn and Carrie have vanished, probably over in the kitchen raiding the soda stash or something. Reggie and Bobby were now firmly settled in Ray's giant recliner, twisted together and chatting softly. No one seemed to be moving to turn on the next movie, so Alex figured they were all done for the night. Fine by him, he was happy to just go back to sleep here on the loveseat.

He shifted a bit to pull the big, fuzzy blanket further over his shoulders, but then someone groaned in protest. Alex suddenly realized that at some point while he'd been asleep, he'd ended up leaning against a dozing Willie's side.

Not that there was a problem with that. It just caught him off guard is all. It wasn't like he sometimes humored little daydreams of curling up against Willie's back to sleep. Or of randomly pulling him into his lap in the lunchroom. Nope, definitely nothing like that was going on.

Alex rolled his eyes. No one was fooled by that. And they were already dating, he was allowed to want physical contact with his partner. It was just... hard to initiate.

Willie was great at initiating it, at catching Alex's hand as they walked through the halls and pulling him into sweet kisses when they were alone.

Alex was trying to get better at it, but that little voice screaming at him whenever he placed an arm around Willie's shoulders refused to leave him alone. Thank goodness Willie was so understanding about the whole thing.

As if the thought had roused them, a low chuckle filled Alex's ears.

"How come you always end up under my blanket?" Willie mumbled, grinning sleepily up at Alex.

Alex glanced down, realizing that they were in fact under the same blanket. It was huge and blue and soft. It was also the one Willie always claimed for movie nights. And this was like the third time in a row that Alex had ended up at least partially under it by the time everyone passed out in Julie's living room.

"Sorry?" he offered. "It wasn't intentional. I can go back to mine if you want."

"Nah, you're too warm for that," Willie decided, cuddling into his side. "Moving is not allowed."

"You just moved," Alex pointed out.

"Not the point, sir," Willie retorted, poking him in the thigh under the blanket.

"You just moved again," Alex chuckled, adjusting his own position to get more comfortable. "If you're allowed to move then I should be too."

Willie let out a dramatic sigh. "Must you be so difficult?" they teased,

"Yes," Alex chuckled.

"So high maintenance," Willie joked. "It really is hard having a boyfriend who's so smart and funny and pretty and talented." Alex could feel his cheeks flushing at Willie's words.

"You know, I really do a lot of hard work here," Willie continued. Then he gave Alex a mischievous glance. "I really do deserve a kiss. As payment. For.... services rendered or whatever the term is."

A laugh escaped Alex's lips before he could stop it. "You do a lot though," he responded. "You sure one kiss is gonna cover my tab?"

Willie hummed thoughtfully. His eyes were still half closed and his smile was wide and easy. Alex wanted to brush the loose strands of hair off their cheek. And maybe let his hand linger there. And maybe use his hand on their jaw to guide them a bit closer...

"You falling asleep on me?" Willie asked, cutting off Alex's train of thought.

"Huh, no, I'm good," Alex said quickly. "You're just..." He trailed off uncertainly, but Willie nodded for him to continue. "You're unbelievably cute when you're tired," Alex confessed.

He could just see Willie's cheeks darken in the dim light from the windows and the TV. "Dang, I feel like I owe you a kiss now," Willie chuckled after a quiet moment.

Alex glanced around the room. All of their friends were either asleep or occupied. And none of them would mind. So maybe...

"Split the bill and call it even?" Alex suggested, his voice barely above a whisper. He hesitantly lifted a hand and brushed those strands of hair back behind Willie's ear.

"Works for me," Willie breathed, leaning into Alex's touch and placing a hand on his shoulder.

They met in the middle, their mouths fitting together easily in a gentle, familiar kiss. Willie's lips were soft and warm and a bit dry against Alex's. They separated after a moment. Alex took in a shaky breath of Willie's coconut shampoo and the soda they'd all been drinking earlier.

He wanted to kiss Willie again. So he did.

Willie met him happily, hands sliding up to catch the back of Alex's neck. Alex wrapped his free arm around Willie's waist to pull him closer. They both shifted a little bit as they kissed, settling into a more comfortable position. It was slow and lazy and sleepy and perfect.

After a minute, they parted again. Alex focused on slowing his breathing to match the even rise and fall of Willie's chest.

"We should probably go to sleep," he sighed.

"Yeah..." Willie agreed reluctantly. "Don't go anywhere though. You're comfy."

Alex chuckled and they laid down across the couch, snuggled tightly together. "Good night, Willie," Alex mumbled, his eyelids already heavy.

"Good night, Alex," Willie responded.

Alex was glad they didn't mind sharing their blanket with him.

Hehehehhehe hope you enjoyed it!

(Prompts from this list!)

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

He makes a mental note to give Bobby a talk later, when he’s feeling better, about hiding stuff like this—and then maybe he’ll give Luke and Alex (and himself) a talk about whatever they did to make Bobby feel like he has to.

We need Reggie yelling at the boys to be better friends to Bobers PLEASe

ok so this took forever and also it's not actually Reggie yelling at Luke and Alex, it's Reggie yelling at Bobby.... but I tried like four different versions of this and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out, so I hope you enjoy!

This takes place in my All Too Well Splinterverse. It's a direct sequel to something about it felt like home somehow, but it takes place after the events of cause there we are again in the middle of the night, so be aware of spoilers/confusion if you haven't read both of those.

read on ao3 here:

--

Gathering up his courage, Reggie knocks on the door.

“Come in!” a voice calls, hoarse and stuffy, followed by a round of harsh coughs.

Reggie hesitates again, curling his hands into fists around the straps of his backpack. Maybe this was a mistake, he starts to think. Maybe he should’ve waited a little longer, waited for a better time to do this. Maybe he should’ve just left the stuff he brought in the studio and gone home without making any actual conversation…

But he made it all the way here… he can’t back down now. So he takes a deep breath, swallows back his nerves, and pushes the door open.

Bobby’s sitting up in bed, propped up against three or four pillows, a blanket over his legs and another around his shoulders. He looks tired—like, more tired than Bobby always looks, which is saying something—and his hair is all mussed up, his nose cherry red, his cheeks flushed in contrast to his waxy skin.

He’s sick, all right. Sicker than he was a week ago, the last time Reggie saw him when they were helping Luke with his discharge from the hospital. Being sick doesn’t make Bobby any less attractive, though, which Reggie should really not be thinking about right now.

“Reg!” Bobby croaks, placing the steaming mug he’s holding on the nightstand. He clears his throat and swipes a wrist under his nose, sniffling as he turns back to Reggie with a thin smile. “Hey, man, what are you doing here?”

Reggie blinks, forgetting for a second what he is doing here. But then he remembers and shakes his head a little, scrambling to get his backpack off and unzipping it. “Oh, um. Your mom let me in. I brought…” With some difficulty, he yanks out a packet of papers stuffed at the top of his pack. “...your homework!”

“Gee, thanks,” Bobby mutters sarcastically. He sniffles again and rubs his nose, nodding at the desk by the door. “You can just leave them there, thanks, man.”

Reggie nods and stacks the papers on the desk, followed by the books he grabbed from Bobby’s locker after trying every possible combination until he could get it open. With his official mission complete, though, Reggie hesitates again, lingering by Bobby’s desk. He doesn’t want to leave, but… he also doesn’t quite know how to say what he actually came here to say.

“You probably shouldn’t—” Bobby starts to say, then breaks off to sneeze into his elbow, twice.

“Bless you,” Reggie says, hovering awkwardly

Bobby makes a tired, congested sound and sniffs wetly, grabbing the tissue box on the bedside table. “As I was saying, you probably shouldn’t get too close. I am… disgusting.”

Reggie doesn’t respond. Bobby blows his nose and tosses his dirty tissues into the overflowing trash can next to the bed. He slumps back into his pillows, retrieves his mug and takes a sip, and only then seems to realize Reggie’s still standing there.

“Did you need something else, bro?” he asks, peering at Reggie over the rim of his mug.

“Just wanted to see how you were feeling,” Reggie says, a little too quickly. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, slinging his backpack onto his shoulder again. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous right now, so awkward.

Maybe because he’s never been in Bobby’s room for this long before, or at all without the other guys, or alone with Bobby since—

Since a few minutes in the hospital, since holding his hand on the front porch, since Reggie realized he liked Bobby as more than a friend.

Not that that… matters, now.

“I’m okay,” Bobby says with a shrug before coughing into a fist. “I sound worse than I feel, honestly, I’m mostly just congested at this point. But I’m on the good drugs, so.” He chuckles a little; Reggie doesn’t join him. Bobby clears his throat again and turns serious. “No, but. Fever’s been under 101 for three days straight, so. I’m on the mend.”

“Good,” Reggie says, managing a smile. “Good, that’s really good.”

Something shifts in Bobby’s expression, something that makes dread pool in Reggie’s stomach even before the words, “How’s Luke?” are out of Bobby’s mouth.

“He’s—” Reggie starts to say and then chokes on the word good. “—getting there. Fever’s gone, but he hasn’t been back at school yet cause his ribs are still healing. And he can’t play music yet, so he’s bored out of his mind.”

Bobby nods. “Yeah, he took his guitars home, but I didn’t know if he could do much playing yet. Things at home, though, are… I mean, he’s been okay with his mom and dad?”

“So far. I think they’re just really glad he’s home.”

“Good.” Bobby smiles a little, visibly relaxing, and then turns away to cough into his elbow, rubbing at his chest like it hurts. He sips at his tea some more.

This should be Reggie’s cue to leave. He brought Bobby his homework, he asked how he was feeling, he gave him an update on his… on Luke.

There’s nothing more for Reggie to do here. And yet he can’t get himself to walk away.

The words are out of his mouth before he makes any conscious choice to say them. “Bobby, are you and Luke, like… dating now?”

Bobby chokes on his tea. “Uh—I—wh-what makes you ask that?”

“Well, you said he kissed you. And you guys seemed pretty cozy at the hospital, so… I just wondered…”

Something closes off in Bobby’s expression, like a curtain being drawn behind his eyes. It makes Reggie’s heart sink, reminds him that oh,  yeah, he and Bobby don’t… talk about things like this. That even though they’ve been getting along better since the whole migraine incident (not that they’d been getting along badly before then, they just hadn't really been… getting), they’re still not much more than bandmates.

“You don’t… have to tell me.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Bobby says quickly, even as his cheeks flush red. “I, uh… I guess we are? Or we’re going to be? Dating, I mean, once we’re both feeling a hundred percent.”

Reggie nods. He doesn’t know what to say. He feels… not sad, really, or even disappointed, it’s not like he’s surprised—but just… Actually, he doesn’t know what he feels.

“I’m really happy for you guys,” he manages to choke out.

Bobby’s smile cuts like a knife. “Thanks, Reg. That means a lot.”

Reggie nods and starts backing toward the door. “Cool. I mean—yeah. Yeah, no—no problem, man.”

He fumbles for the doorknob, but Bobby’s voice stops him. “I gotta thank you, Reg.”

“For what?”

“For all your help last week.” Bobby shifts his weight on the bed and clears his throat, his hands wrapped securely around his mug like he needs it to steady him. “With Luke, and… and taking care of me at the hospital. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

Reggie blushes and starts to stammer out a reply, but Bobby cuts him off again. “And I need to apologize for snapping at you.”

Reggie blinks. “What? When did you—?”

“The other night, at the hospital. You asked if my head hurt and I…”

Right. Reggie remembers now. He’d seen Bobby rubbing his forehead and thought the stress of the night had given him a migraine (turns out, he was just catching Luke’s cold). So, he’d tried to take Bobby’s hand, ready to use the pressure point trick that had worked so well on him last time, but Bobby had flinched away, eyes wide and angry, and said, I’m fine!

That had been right after Bobby told Reggie that he and Luke had kissed. So Reggie had been feeling a lot of feelings at the time. He must’ve blocked the rest of it out.

“I just don’t like to make a big deal about them,” Bobby continues. “The migraines, I mean. And Alex doesn’t even know about them, and there was already so much going on with Luke… but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Why not?”

Bobby blinks. “Why… should I not have taken it out on you?’

Reggie shakes his head. “Why doesn’t Alex know about your migraines?”

“Because I didn’t tell him?”

“But why not?” Something sharp in Reggie’s chest tells him he shouldn’t push, but he can’t help it. “Why didn’t you tell any of us? If I didn’t find you that one time, you were just gonna play a whole rehearsal in pain and then go hide in your room to suffer alone, without telling any of your bandmates something was wrong? We would’ve helped you, Bobby. At the very least, we could’ve rescheduled our band practice.”

Bobby’s expression is hard to read—not quite angry, but definitely not happy with Reggie’s little speech either. He says, his voice low and small and just creeping toward cold, “I told Luke.”

Right. Because Bobby was Luke’s friend first. Because Bobby is Luke’s boyfriend now. Because Bobby is Luke’s.

But for the first time in weeks, that thought doesn’t make Reggie sad. Instead, it makes him furious. So even though he wants to support his friends, and even though Bobby’s sick, and even though Reggie makes a point to never shout at the people he loves, all the anger and hurt and jealousy inside him just burst out.

“What did we do to you, man? Me and Alex, did we—did we say something wrong? Why do you act like we’re not really your friends, like you can’t trust us? Even when Luke was really sick, you couldn’t call us for help until he was burning up from the inside out. And I don’t get it! Do you just like Luke more than us? Did he do something we didn’t to prove he could be trusted? Are you just really fucking stubborn? Why won’t you let me help you? I just wanna help you, Bobby!”

He loses steam and fumbles over his thoughts, the emotions that had been so prominent a second ago draining out of him until he almost can’t remember what they felt like anymore. Bobby’s staring at him, his face flushed and not from fever, his gaze laser-hot, his white-knuckled hands wrapped so tightly around his mug of tea that Reggie worries it’ll shatter.

“I don’t need your help, Reg,” he says tersely.

Reggie feels an agonizing pang in his chest, like his heart has cracked into a million pieces. He takes a deep breath and lets the shrapnel puncture him.

“Okay, Bobby,” he says flatly, and scoops his backpack up off the floor. “If you don’t want my help, then I’ll just stop offering.”

He doesn’t wait to hear Bobby’s reply. He just turns away, swiping at tears he didn’t realize he’d shed, and walks out the door.

--

Taglist (ask to be added or removed):

@whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @teenagedirtbag-dot-jpeg @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @shrimp-colours @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas @molinapattersons @julieandthequeers @joyandthephantoms @it-tastes-like-lizard @jatpfs

[vanillann]

the 1994 battle of the performers (luke patterson x f.reader)

word count: 2.0k

the 1994 battle of the performers masterlist

Chapter 3: The Cool Kids Table

“Look who it is!”

I jumped when I realized how close the voice was, looking over my shoulder at a smiling Alex and Luke. I tried to see if I saw Reggie or Bobby but Alex caught on to my weird glares.

“They had to stay after class a few extra minutes, got in trouble for distraction yesterday,” Alex shrugged, speaking as if it was a casual thing but really thinking about it, it was very possible.

“Oh?” I was still slightly confused why they were at my locker, we weren’t really friends I suppose. Just five teen’s who had dreams and were doing the other a favor.

“Oh? Where is your excitement?” Luke bounced on his heel, the wild smile never left his lips as he looked at me. I said nothing, reaching for the books in my locker for the next period.

“Who has excitement during school?”

“Who wouldn’t when it’s time for lunch,” I rolled my eyes with a smile sneaking its way on my lips at the excitement that followed the group.

They truly did try to make the best out of everything.

“Nothing ever happens at lunch,” I shut my locker, turning around and letting my backrest on the cool metal that sent a shiver through me.

“Cause you’re sitting at the wrong table,” Alex smiling was changeling Luke’s, which felt like a greater competition than the Battle of the Performers.

“I sit with some old dancers, they don’t talk much.”

The dancer team was nice enough to still speak to me after the spilt, but that didn’t make it easier to watch the people I considered my friends talk about the thing you loved most without you. It wasn’t going to get easier but I couldn’t let myself dig too deep in my own head.

“Not anymore,” Luke skipped backward, letting his back hit the handle of the cafeteria door and holding his hand out for Alex and me to follow me.

“Did they say something to you?”

Easy breathing, you didn’t do anything wrong. They kicked you off the team so you found otherways to dance with.

“No, we just thought you should sit with us,” Alex wrapped a light arm around my shoulder and guided me around the different table until we spotted the one in the very corner. It was one of the smaller tables within the room, definitely pushed to the corner on accident but nobody cared enough to move it.

“Sit with you?”

“Say it nicer why don’t you,” Alex glared at me, a hit of a joke behind his eyes as I looked between him and the table.

Milo’s and dinner was one thing, but this felt like a friendship level up. The school was a harsh place where you were grouped together with the people you hung out with, not that Sunset Curve was the worst people to be grouped with. It was just a lot, my last two years in this place I would be seen as one of them or seen as the girl who was kicked from the dance team than Sunset Curve because after this battle I would be a faint history to them.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep,” Luke popped the “p”, already sitting at the table with his leg bouncing from either nerves or excitement, the two things Luke Patterson ran off of.

I didn’t even get to place my books down before he was standing up and taking them from my hand, placing them out of reach on the bench with a little smirk.

“I need to start on the Economics homework,” I tried to reach over the table but his hand rested on the top of my books, pushing them farther from my grasp.

“Lunch isn’t for homework,” his smirk was almost enchanted to watch, but my homework under his rough finger was way more important at the moment.

“You aren’t going to get those books back, I would know,” Alex spoke up from behind me, leaving a seat beside him open for me with his feet swing back and front under the table. I said nothing, giving up and taking a seat, resting my chin in my palm while looking at both boys.

“Do you not bring food to lunch?” I reached into the tote bag on my shoulder, letting the cool bottle of water freeze my warm hands.

“We got through the line but Bobby would kill us if we went without him,” Luke watched me, waiting for me to say something interested as the other two members of the band were still not here.

“What?”

“You didn’t scream last night,” Luke spoke, his eyes glaring under the harsh light of the cafeteria as if he was out of an old movie.

“Cause I didn’t fall?”

He didn’t think I would actually fall, did he? I had been walking fine for a month or so now, it was the most active work like dancing and running that still gave me scares.

“(Y/N)’s sitting with us?”

I looked over my shoulder, both Reggie and Bobby stood behind me with smiles as they took their regular seats, or what I assumed, around the table. Once Reggie sat down, he held his hand out for a high five. I smiled and returned it, turning to Bobby when he sat beside me while clapping a hand on my shoulder.

“Yep, they dragged me here,” my chin pointed to Luke then Alex, earning a pout from Luke and Alex bumping his shoulder with my own.

“They aren’t house trained, sorry,” Bobby joked, earning a few stray napkins to be thrown at him from Luke.

“I am house trained, thank you very much,” he pronounced every word with sass, his pout still painted on his lips as he looked to Alex who was laughing at him.

“Let’s get in line,” Alex started to hand, pushing off the table and turning once he stood all the way. Everyone but Luke stood up, him holding his finger in the air while looking at the other members.

“I’ll sit with (Y/N) so people don’t think she’s lame with no friends,” I felt my jaw go slack, my hand feeling around for one of the napkins he had thrown at Bobby. Once I felt my finger brush one, I picked it up and threw it in his face, it going directly in his open mouth.

I covered my mouth, in shock at how perfectly it had made it in. Luke looked about as shocked as I felt, looking at me with wide eyes while removing the napkin from his mouth.

“You-” his smile was slowly forming as he held his finger out at me, pocking my hands that still covered my mouth.

“I didn’t mean to,” my words barely made it from his lips as I tried to hold my giggles back. I probably looked crazy to an outsider, watching him with a shocked smile and he scolded me.

“I thought we were friends,” he crossed his arms on the table, letting his chin rest on top of them as he looked up at through his eyelashes.

“I don’t remember signing a contract for that,” I tapped my chin, raising one eyebrow and I jokily thought over the process.

“My printer broke, I’ll get it to you next Monday.”

I rolled my eyes, resting my chin back in the palm of my hand as I watched him stare at me.

“Why did you invite me to sit here?”

I definitely was the best at ruining moments, I should do it as a career at this point.

“Cause?”

He shook his head as if the answer was obvious, but that was the exact problem. It was apparently noticeable to everyone but me where I stood with the group but myself. As far as I knew we would be friends until the competition and then I’d be back to the few girls at the lunch table and they wouldn’t have to worry about my knee anymore.

“Look at this piece of chicken,” Reggie’s voice tore me from my thought, looking up at the almost black chicken tender Reggie held in-between his finger with a broken frown.

“That has to be against guidelines,” I reached out, taking the tender to look at for myself.

“Don’t say that too loud, Bobby said something similar and was threatened with detention,” Alex spoke up from beside me. His chicken was definitely in better shape but still incredibly over-cooked. I simply took the chicken and wrapped it in one of the napkins from the little argument earlier.

Reggie held out his hand, taking the trash and reaching over to make it in the trash can. He made the shot, his hands above his head and he looked back to the table with a proud smile.

“He’d made up for hitting Henderson with a paper ball yesterday,” I smile, remembering the encounter from the last period of the day, the only period I shared with any of the members of Sunset Curve besides lunch and study hall with Alex and Bobby.

“You what?”

Alex dropped his fork back on his cheap plate, looking up at Reggie with a slacked jaw.

“I didn’t mean to!”

I laughed, leaning back on the bench slightly was I wasn’t sitting so proper, something I still didn’t use to. WIth dancer become a secondary part of my life I was losing the posture I once had, cause some small back pain but nothing serious.

“How do you even do that?” Luke reached over and took an apple slice off Bobby’s plate, that’s when I noticed each boy had each of the options for the school menu. The thought alone that they formed their own little sharing system was adorable to me, my eyes jumping to each plate.

“What one?”

I looked up, Alex holding up a grape in-between his finger as he watched Luke and Reggie’s conversation unfold. I said nothing, picking the grape from in-between his finger and popping it in the air, leaning my head back and catching it with my mouth.

“Whoa!”

Bobby hit my shoulder when he saw the trick, smiling as he pointed to me with a giant smile on his face.

“Wait I missed it,” Luke leaned on his arms again, watching me closely with his bright green eyes. I said nothing, asking Alex for another grape but he was already holding one out for me. I did the same trick, moving slightly into Bobby’s side as the grape moved but still caught it easily.

“Wait I wanna try,” both Reggie and Luke reached for the grape at the same thing, silently fighting over the fruit.

“This will keep you entertained,” Alex whispered in my ear, pointing his chin at the two and they disused who got the grape, Alex hiding the bag with the rest under the table with a little smirk. I reached over, taking one for myself and slipping it in my mouth without the two notices.

“Is it like this all the time?” I asked both Alex and Bobby, laughing when Luke said he should get it causes he’s the lead singer.

“You’ll see,” Bobby spoke, laughing when Reggie flicked Luke in the forehead and snatched the grape from his fingers. He didn’t waste time, trying to flick it but instead started to fall on the other side of the table. I stood up slightly, moving over Alex slightly with my mouth open, once I felt the fruit hit my tongue I showed the fruit in my mouth to the table.

“How did you do that?” Reggie and Luke both sat up straighter, waiting for me to explain the trick.

“A magician never shared his tricks,” I smirked, taking a bite of the grape with a smile.

“I thought you were a dancer, oh-” Reggie stopped halfway through, pointing at me with a little smile.

“You can’t be cooler than me sorry,” Luke tilted his head at me, us all standing up with her heard the school bell ring throughout the walls.

“But I am, sorry.”

the 1994 battle of the performers taglist

@gia-kerks @notwonder-woman @poisoned-girl @phantompogues @dovesgrangers

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Parallels | Chapter 3

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: (part of) All Eyes On Me - Dirty Candy

Warnings: Mention of divorce

Words: 4,150

After looking through everyone’s social media profiles, Violet was convinced there was something more going on. Maybe her thought about having landed in a different universe wasn’t so wrong after all. 

She started Googling stuff, searching through all types of News articles and blog posts from people who thought they had switched universes. Starting out a skeptic, Violet started to believe their stories more and more as it all sounded awfully familiar. 

With her research and her mind set on the fact that she was, in fact, from another universe, she headed out to Julie’s garage where she knew she would find Carrie. She was the only one she trusted with this information, the only one that knew her well enough to know that this was in fact true. 

“I found evidence!” Violet announced as she entered the familiar garage. Aside from waking up here yesterday after having fainted, she remembered it from her childhood as the four of them would hang out here often when they were friends still. 

The three girls jumped, their heads snapping towards the girl in the doorway. With widened eyes, they watched the girl march into the garage with heaps of paper tucked underneath her arm which she set onto the coffee table with a heavy thud. 

“Evidence for what?” Flynn asked, taking a look at the papers her friend had just dropped in front of her. Her forehead creased as she read aloud, “Alternate Universes: Real or myth?” 

Carrie chuckled, “Are you serious, Vi? You can’t tell me you believe all of this crap, do you?” 

Violet sat down on the couch next to Flynn and the movement caused the girl’s flowery perfume to well up to her nostrils, filling all her senses with the familiar scent. The Flynn she knew had the same perfume. 

“I didn’t at first, but after doing some research, I’m starting to…” 

Julie and Carrie exchanged concerned glances before turning to the girl as she started her monologue to try and convince the girls of her findings and theories. They wouldn’t just dismiss her without listening to her first, that wasn’t how their friendship was built. 

“So, I found some scientific papers that show evidence of alternate universes or the multiverse. The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes, right? Together, these universes comprise everything that exists. The entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The different universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", “alternate universes” and so on,” she explained to the girls, showing that she actually did do her job. 

“Yeah, but, sweetie, that’s all hypothetical. It’s not actually proven to be true…” Julie told her matter-of-factly. 

Violet held up her finger. “That’s what I said,” she said and pried a piece of paper from between all the other pieces of paper. “But then I found this blog; Parallels.com. She tells this entire story about how, one day, she just landed in a completely different universe. The people were still the same, but they lived different lives.” 

She handed Flynn the piece of paper first and the girl scanned the blog post to get an idea about it before handing it to Carrie. “You do know this is a hoax, right?” Carrie asked and passed it to Julie. 

Violet’s eyes rolled back in her sockets. “You don’t believe me?” she asked and only got grimaces as response from the girls. “You don’t believe me…” She shook her head in disbelief before grabbing the bundle of evidence and leaving the garage. “I’ll make you believe me at some point!” she called out before completely disappearing from the girls’ sight. 

Julie looked up from the piece of paper with the blog post printed on it. “Do you guys believe her?” she asked. Flynn and Carrie carefully shook their heads in response. 

“I want to,” said Flynn. “I want to because she sounds so desperate for us to believe it, but I think she just hit her head when she fainted and it’s all a bit broken up there…” She gestured towards her own head. 

Carrie let out a soft laugh at her friend’s reaction before turning to Julie and softening her face. “Do you believe her?” 

“Kinda,” Julie shrugged and Carrie tilted her head to urge her to elaborate. “My mom’s always believed this stuff. When I was a child, she used to tell me stories like this, about a girl who switched places with her parallel self… It all sounded like a fairy tale because the girl fell in love and stayed in the same place…” 

Flynn’s eyebrows furrowed. “That sounds familiar now.” 

“What if it’s actually true? What if Violet actually switched places with her parallel self and this one is Violet from another universe?” Carrie pondered aloud. “That can’t be, right?” 

Julie shrugged. “I don’t know what’s true, but I don’t think we should write her off as crazy just yet. Let’s wait until we have proper evidence and figure everything out properly…” 

Flynn and Carrie nodded their heads in agreement before getting up from their spots and following Julie out of the garage. It was dinner time at the Molina’s, which meant Carrie and Flynn would have to go home. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, guys,” Julie greeted before she walked into her house where her mother was preparing dinner. The entire house smelled of pasteles con pollo, Julie’s favorite.

Though, right now, her mind kept wandering to Violet and her story. To the idea of parallel universes. What if it was true and they’d lost their own Violet? Would she even be able to get back? 

“Mama,” Julie started cautiously as she set the table whilst her mother finished up cooking the meal. The woman hummed, urging her girl to continue. “What do you know about alternate universes? I remember you telling stories about it when we were younger…” 

Rose dropped the fork she was holding, a loud clatter sounding through the kitchen, before she turned to face her daughter. There was a frown on her face and her eyebrows were furrowed. She looked angry, furious, even. 

“Never, ever, ask me that question again. You hear me, mija?” 

Rose had never raised her voice at Julie unless it was an exclamation of excitement during games night but never in anger. It kind of scared her, though worry for her mother rose to the surface, overtaking the fear. 

“¿Qué pasa?” Ray asked as he walked into the kitchen with Carlos in tow. 

Rose offered her husband a reassuring smile. “Nothing. It’s – nothing.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s eat before the pasteles get cold.” 

Her mother’s reaction wasn’t a normal one and Julie knew this. She must know something. Something Julie wasn’t allowed to know. Something she was protecting Julie from. Or protecting herself from. 

Either way, she knew something and Julie wasn’t going to let it rest. She would find out what this was all about, why she got so angry at her over a seemingly stupid question. So, when Julie got to school the next day, she told Flynn and Carrie about the entire conversation. 

“And she just got mad?” Carrie asked, trying to piece the puzzle together. 

“Furious!” Julie whisper-shouted. 

Flynn shut her locker and clutched her books to her chest. “She knows something.” 

“No shit, Sherlock,” Julie deadpanned. “I just – I wanna know what she knows. Maybe it’ll help with –” Carrie nudged Julie in the ribs, causing her to shut up. When she lifted her eyes, she realized why her friend nudged her. 

Violet had entered the hallway and marched past the girls with a frown on her face. She was too deep in thought to even notice her friends at their locker. Her mind raced through the events from the previous days. 

There had to be a way to prove that she wasn’t crazy. There had to be a way to prove that she wasn’t crazy, that what she thought was happening to her, was actually happening to her. Parallel universes existed and she knew it. 

For an entire day, Violet pondered about it. During each class, she kept researching and researching. The people she knew weren’t the same people. They all had different lives. Bobby and his band were famous, Carrie wasn’t the lead singer of Dirty Candy, Kayla was, and they were friends with Julie and Flynn. 

Every time she passed Carrie, Julie and Flynn, their conversation suddenly halted, signalling to Violet that they were, in fact, talking about her. That was all they seemed to do, talk about her, instead of talking to her. It was what she needed, a friend to guide her through these doubts and thoughts. A friend that would believe her. 

Nearing the end of the school day, Violet made her way to her locker when she passed the trophy case in the hallway. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a picture of four people she knew very well. Upon closer inspection, she found Bobby, Luke, Reggie and Alex in an article in a local newspaper with the headline: “Local band takes the world by storm!” 

Something that only fed into her curiosity and determination that she wasn’t in her universe anymore. Those Instagram profiles weren’t fake. They were actually famous. So famous, the school had to put them in the trophy case with all the lacrosse and cheerleading trophies. 

Maybe if she showed this to the girls and told them, convincingly, that Sunset Curve split up in her universe and she spilt facts about that universe, maybe they would believe her after all. 

 Bobby’s words had haunted Carrie’s mind for the rest of the day. When she dropped Violet off at her own house and she got back to the Wilson’s mansion, the words kept repeating themselves, echoing inside her mind. 

What if Bobby was right? What if there was something like an alternate universe and Violet switched places with her parallel self? That couldn’t be real, right? 

Skeptically, Carrie opened her laptop and started researching everything. She browsed the entire world wide web, in search for answers to all of her questions about the situation she had found herself in. 

According to most websites, the idea of the multiverse is just hypothetical and no one had ever been able to prove that it was real. Though, some websites she found, actually found a handful of evidence for the theory, especially the blog posts she found with a similar story. 

All of it seemed so interesting to Carrie and she had never been interested in anything aside from music. She barely even studied in school, why would she even try and study when she was going to make it big in the music industry? 

But this was a whole different case. This was actually interesting. And it could help her understand what was going on with her best friend. Maybe this could make this more clear for the both of them and make things less scary. 

With all of her research on the multiverse, Carrie knocked on Bobby’s bedroom door. After hearing a soft “come in”, Carrie cautiously opened the door and for a moment stood in his doorway, not knowing what to say. 

“You okay, sis?” he asked, getting up from his king size bed. 

Carrie took a deep breath before making a beeline for his desk in the corner of the room where she put her laptop down. “You might be right with your theory on the multiverse thing,” she muttered, piquing Bobby’s interest in an instant. 

“What did you find?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper as though he was scared someone would hear him. 

The Wilson sibling looked at the laptop screen together as Carrie started her explanation. “Mostly just that the theories are hypothetical and it’s never really been proven to exist, but I found a website that claims there are at least five possible theories that prove the multiverse exists.” If Bobby wasn’t so occupied by all the information on the theories, he would’ve been surprised his sister actually studied this stuff. 

“There are infinite universes where we don’t know what space-time is exactly. The theory goes that it’s flat and goes on forever, or something. But with that in mind, it is possible that universes start repeating themselves.” 

Bobby nodded his head, trying to accumulate all of this information in his tired brain. It had  been a long day and he honestly didn’t want to think about anything too much, but this was important. 

“The second theory is the bubble universe. When we look at space-time as a whole, some areas of space stop inflating like the Big Bang inflated our own universe. Other universes will keep getting larger. So, if we picture our own universe as a bubble, it’s sitting in a network of bubble universes of space.” 

Bobby’s forehead creased. Carrie had lost him in her cluster of theories. None of these sounded anything like what Violet was talking about. Her universe sounded like one different from theirs. 

“Do any of these theories actually hold some resemblance to what Violet was talking about?” he asked, rubbing his right eye with his wrist to try and get some of the tiredness out.

“Yes,” Carrie responded and scrolled down a little on the website. “The theory of parallel universes. This theory suggests that space-time is flat, like that first theory suggested too, and with it, that universes repeat themselves. Infinite times over and over… This means there are cosmic patches exactly the same as ours, as well as patches that differ by just one particle’s position or two particle’s positions, and so on to the point where the particle’s positions differ completely from ours.” 

Bobby slowly nodded his head, finally starting to understand the whole thing. “So, this Violet actually came from one of those cosmic patches where a few particle’s positions differ from ours?” 

“Yes!”

“But how do you explain the switching? Is that a thing?” 

Carrie leaned over and switched tabs on her internet browser where the blog post she found resided. “None of the scientific websites suggested it, but I did find this blogpost from Parallels.com.” 

Bobby leaned closer to read the title and introduction of the post again and again before standing up again and looking at his sister while the gears in his brain started to work through the information. 

“It sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” asked Carrie with a nervous smile. 

Bobby hummed. “So, this woman from the blogpost, she actually went through the same thing? She switched places with her parallel self? Like Violet said she did?” 

“Yep, it’s –” her sentence got cut off by the doorbell chiming through the mansion. Both Bobby and Carrie glanced at each other to check if either one was expecting anyone, but judging from either’s confusion, neither of them was. 

Leaving the laptop in Bobby’s room, the siblings made their way downstairs and opened the front door to find the girl they had been talking about previously. She was drenched to the bone and her makeup had run out, leaving black streaks all over her cheeks. Carrie hadn’t even noticed it had started raining until now. 

“Violet?” Carrie called out before opening the door further and letting the girl inside. “Are you okay?” 

Violet’s face crumpled. Her lower lip quivered while her forehead creased and tears started rolling down her cheeks. On automatic pilot, Carrie wrapped her arms around her best friend, not even caring how wet and disgusting she was. The sobs that raked through her friend’s body were enough motivation to forget about all of that. 

“My parents are divorced?” she cried out into Carrie’s hair. 

The question and the heartbreak the girl was experiencing was enough evidence for Carrie to believe their theory. Violet got switched with her parallel self and her life looked a whole lot different from the one Carrie lived in. 

“They have been for years, sweetie…” Carrie whispered, her hands soothingly rubbing the girl’s back. “But we’ve found a theory about your situation.” 

Violet pulled back from the hug and wiped her cheeks with the sleeves of her sweater. “You do?” she sniffled and Carrie chuckled before tugging at the girl’s arm to guide her towards the sofa. 

“Bobby, will you go and get my laptop? I’ll get us some drinks… We’re gonna be here a while…” Carrie ordered before walking into the kitchen to pour everyone a glass of fresh lemonade and then returning to the living room where she noticed Violet shivering. “And I’m gonna get you some clean clothes,” she muttered to herself. 

When she returned again, Bobby had too. She handed Violet the clean clothes and then settled on the sofa with Bobby, waiting for Violet to get back. Once the team was complete, Carrie started explaining everything she had found about the universes. They discussed everything from the scientific articles to the blogpost they had found. 

“So…” Violet started, ready to recollect her thoughts, “In this universe, Dirty Candy is famous and Sunset Curve isn’t? My parents are divorced and Rose has passed away?” 

Carrie and Bobby both nodded their heads. “You switched places with our Violet,” Bobby clarified once more. “Like that girl from the blogpost did…” He gestured towards the laptop screen in front of them. 

“Does it say how to get back?” 

Carrie shook her head and opened her mouth to say something when the doorbell rang again. Confusion rose within the three teenagers on the couch. Neither of them expected someone to ring their doorbell. 

The blonde girl got up from the couch and made her way towards the door to answer. To her surprise, her friends from Dirty Candy all stood in front of her, all ready in their dance gear. When Carrie’s eyes darted from girl to girl and outfit to outfit, the realization dawned on her. 

“Shit…” she muttered. “I totally forgot about rehearsal, guys…” 

The first girl’s eyebrows furrowed. Her darker skin glowed in the moonlight and her black hair fell perfectly across her shoulders. Her pink lips opened and closed, causing her to look like a goldfish as she didn’t know what to respond. “We always have rehearsals on Sunday night?” 

“I know,” Carrie replied, “But I forgot it was Sunday and now I can’t really rehearse…” 

The girl with the black hair Carrie knew as Kayla shook her head and pushed past the band’s lead singer. “Not a good enough excuse. We’re gonna rehearse. Is Violet here too?” 

The three girls made a beeline for the living room where Bobby and Violet resided on the couch. Bobby had his arm around the back of the couch as Violet leaned back, making it look like the two had made it just a bit too cosy while Carrie was gone. 

“Oh, what do we have here?” Kayla said in a teasing voice. “Getting comfy there with the sore loser, Vi?” 

The brunette sat up straight whilst her heart started pounding in her throat and her hands were getting clammy. “Kayla…” she muttered, but then calmed down as she realized Kayla was probably not the same, mean Kayla as in her own universe. 

 Violet coughed, “What are you guys doing here?” she asked. 

Kayla scoffed and exchanged glances with the other Dirty Candy members. “Seriously? Both of you forgot about the rehearsal?” 

When Carrie glanced at Violet, the brunette on the couch looked petrified. Even if they did start the rehearsal, the girls would probably still notice something wasn’t right. Violet would have no idea what she had to do. She didn’t know the routines or songs. 

“Vi actually got some pretty bad news today,” Carrie started her next excuse. “She uhm… her dog – her dog passed away today!” 

Violet nodded her head in agreement to try and make it look as convincing as possible but she could tell neither of the girls actually believed them. 

“Violet… You don’t have a dog?!” The girl with the black skin and gorgeous dark eyes pointed out. Violet recognized her from Kayla’s Dirty Candy, but she had no clue what her name was. All she knew was, that she found her insanely gorgeous. 

Stuttering and panicking, Violet’s eyes flicked from the girls to Carrie and back before pretending to burst out into tears. “Not anymore!” she cried. 

“That sucks, girl,” said the last girl, “But we can’t postpone the rehearsal. We have a gig next weekend!” The other girls all agreed with her and it only made Carrie and Violet more nervous. 

As the Dirty Candy girls headed down to the rehearsal space, Carrie and Violet stayed back a little. The both of them had panicked looks on their faces, unsure about what to do in this situation. 

“I’m not gonna be able to get anything right, Care! I know none of the dances, none of the songs! They’re gonna notice!” 

Carrie grabbed Violet’s shoulders, forcing the girl to focus on her. “You’re gonna do fine, okay? And even if you don’t, we’ll blame it on your dog passing, yeah? Now take a breath.” Violet heaved in a deep breath before following Carrie to the rehearsal space.  

“Let’s start with All Eyes On Me, yeah?” Carrie suggested while tapping away on an iPad before a bubblegum pop sound echoed through the speakers in the dance studio. It sounded way perkier than the music Violet was used to making with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. 

Carrie’s voice carrying through the space startled Violet a little and the panic set in when the other girls started doing moves and steps Violet didn’t know. She looked around the room and tried to follow the girls, but it was practically impossible. 

“Whenever I walk in the room All the focus on me The way I talk, the way I move They all want on my team”

Violet was always at least a count or two behind the other girls and more often than not, bumped into one of the girls, including Carrie. 

“Not tryin' to brag, brag But I'm flawless I'm taking over your playlist Ain't perfect but I can't miss, yeah The party don't start 'til I walk in I'm stealing all the attention Don't get me started on mentions, yeah”

“Okay, stop, stop!” Kayla interrupted. “Vi, since when do you have so much trouble keeping up?!” the girl screeched at the failing band member, the frustration and annoyance audible in her voice. 

Violet flinched at the loudness of Kayla’s voice and instinctively bowed her head down in defeat. She hated confrontation and she hated it when people yelled at her. It wasn’t something she was used to because she always made sure she wouldn’t disappoint people. Not her parents, not her friends. No one. 

“Lay off her, Kayla. She’s struggling with the death of her dog…” Carrie defended her best friend and reached for the girl’s hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “We’ll pick this back up tomorrow, yeah?” 

Kayla narrowed her eyes at the two girls in front of her. Something wasn’t adding up, but she wasn’t in the mood to even ask about it. So, instead, she just scoffed and made a beeline for her stuff that she dropped to the floor upon entering. The other girls followed her example, saying goodbye to Carrie and Violet with an apologetic smile to the latter. 

“Thank you, Carrie,” Violet said in a hushed tone when the girls had left the room. “And I’m sorry for messing it all up.” 

Carrie chuckled and gave Violet’s hand another squeeze. “No need to apologize, you never learned the choreography or the songs, so there’s no way you’d be able to get them right now…” 

Violet smiled a thankful smile before letting go of Carrie’s hand and pulling her sleeves back down her arms, sending a comfortable warmth through her body again. Everything still felt wet and damp and cold, even after the sweats she got from the sheer panic running through her veins. 

“So…” Carrie then started, “Dirty Candy’s not a thing in your universe?” 

“Oh, no… It is a thing… Just not ours.” Carrie tilted her head a little, confused. “It’s Kayla’s group…” 

Carrie’s eyes widened and a furious heat rose to her cheeks. “It’s Kayla’s?!” she shouted and Violet nodded her head with a slight smile plastered on her face. “How dare she steal my limelight?! Dirty Candy’s my group! Not hers! Oh, wait until I see her again!” 

“Babes… She won’t know what you’re talking about…” Violet told Carrie, chuckling slightly at the pure, raging passion that came out of the other girl’s mouth. “It’s a thing in my universe… Not here…” 

Carrie fell silent for a moment, letting the words ring through her mind. “Right… How about we get you up to speed with Dirty Candy stuff, huh?” 

Everything Taglist: 

@bonobos-candy-bar-2​ @calamitykaty​ @littlemissaddict​ @n0wornever​ @phantompogues​ @praetorofthelegion @sweetpeasturtleneck @wanniiieeee​  @lesko​_ @sunsetwilson​ 

JATP Taglist: 

@90ssunsetcurve​​ @angryknightstatesmantrash​ @authentic-gillespie​ @bexxy​ @bookdealer5 @bright-molina​ @brooke0297​ @bucksmaddie​ @buckybarnesishot310​ @caitsymichelle13​ @candycornmgg​ @catgirlpwr​ @charliesmountains​ @cordeliascrown​ @crybabyddl​ @echocharm17618​ @fangirlangioma​ @flower-name​ @frickin-bats​ @gray_jato @hannahhistorian92​ @happinessinthedarkesttimes​ @headheartbellarke​ @hemmingsness​ @iainttakingshitfromnobody​ @ifilwtmfc​ @jandthephantoms​ @jaskiers-sweetkiss​ @jatp-is-god​ @joynerxmercer​ @kaitieskidmore1​ @kcd15​ @kelpwithawhy​ @kinda-really-lost​ @kiss-themoongoodbye​ @knitsessed​ @lilostif16​ @lookingthroughmirrors​ @magicalxdaydream​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @musicianspiritsblog @mystic-writings​ @notasofti @pxperphxntom @rangerelik​ @rh-girlonfire​ @ruvaitkevicius​ @spencerreidwhore​ @stars-soph @stressyanddepressysimp @sunsetcurvej​ @talk-on-the-street @tefilovesreading​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @teti-menchon0604​ @the-hufflepuff-hunter​  @thedarkqueenofavalon​ @cucumbers-and-olives​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @threeghostboys​  @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic​ @whitetigerlover17​ @boggie-brainrot​ @wiselight​ @gigglysokkamcu​ @nightfurya​

Luke/Charlie Taglist: 

@camiladelrio98​ @cloudy-skyler​ @gingerxarmy​​ @killerqueenfan​ @lolychu​ @lovesanimals​ @luckylouiebug  @lukeys-giggle​​ @myfriendscallmebeans​​ @needyreggie​​ @perfectlywrongformend3s​​ @rachmmb​​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​​ @thecharlietomygillespie @whitemanshoe19​​ @rottenroyalebooks​​​

Crossed out names are the users I was unable to tag. Please make sure everything in your settings is set so I am allowed to tag you or if you changed your url, please drop me a message/ask!

TAGLIST |  MASTERLIST | PARALLELS MASTERLIST

[useful-wasting-of-ink]

Life Before Death

Part 3 - Luke

Find “Part 1 - Reggie” Here

Find “Part 2 - Alex” Here 

“The last two years of Luke, Reggie, and Alex's life as told through their trauma and their support of one another.”

TRIGGER WARNING: suicide attempt, anxiety, fighting, running away, death, pain, let me know if anything else needs to be mentioned.

Luke rarely fought with his parents, but when he did fight, it lasted a while. They didn’t like him spending so much time on the band. And his grades had never been the best, but they began to drop when they started booking gigs and rehearsals got more serious. They didn’t mind him hanging out with friends, but they liked it when he focused more on school, and when he wasn’t out past midnight every other night. 

Luke was smart. He liked to read, he enjoyed history, but he just didn’t care for school. The only reason he kept going was for his parents. Because he knew how important it was to them that he get an education. 

The fighting got worse as his grades dipped, he spent more and more time at the garage, usually, Reggie or Alex would be there too, avoiding their own homes. 

There were nights he would show up at the garage late at night and find Reggie sleeping on the couch, and others where Alex was playing his drums so loud his ears didn’t stop ringing for an hour. 

Sometimes Bobby would be there, just cause he had nothing better to do, but that was rare. Bobby had a good family, who supported him and didn’t care what he did with his free time. 

When Luke ran away, the others knew immediately. He’d shown up at Alex’s house looking absolutely wrecked. Maddie had opened the door for him, but Alex had been right behind her. 

“Are you okay?” Maddie had asked as Alex rushed towards him. 

Luke had given her a weak smile, “I’ll be alright.”

Reggie had been called over immediately, and the three sat together for as long as they could but Reggie had to go home later that night. Luke had spent the night crying into Alex’s chest. 

He spent most of that year living in the garage. It wasn’t hard, it had a bathroom with a shower, and they had a minifridge in the corner. But there were nights he’d crash at Alex’s or Reggie’s when their parents were out for the night.

Alex’s parent’s still weren’t happy with Alex’s “decision to be gay” as they put it, so the only times Luke or Reggie could spend the night was when they were going to be out all night.

Luke tended to show up at his friend’s houses unannounced in the middle of the night when he was having a bad night. That was always something that he did, though it got more common after he ran away. He never liked being alone, and now he was almost always alone. 

Luke was depressed, he didn’t like to admit it, but it got hard for him sometimes. His parents knew that he wasn’t always feeling the best, but only Alex and Reggie knew the true extent of how bad it got. They were there at his absolute worst times. Alex had done his math homework the night after his attempt in tenth grade (they didn’t get much sleep that night, and Luke didn’t get much support from his parents after getting home from the hospital). Reggie had been the one to pull the blade out of his hand. He’d shown up at Luke’s house to get some help with homework and ended up at the hospital with blood on his hands. 

Luke had been released with stitches five hours later, and no one gave him a second glance (both Reggie and himself had been very insistent that it was merely a cooking accident involving a fallen knife). Alex had been there to pick them up from the hospital because Luke had decided halfway through the panic that he didn’t want his parents there, they tried to argue but he didn’t care. 

Reggie had used the payphone to call Alex and get him to come and pick them up. They’d gone back to Luke’s and didn’t leave his bedroom until lunch the next day when Reggie went to go get pizza for the three of them. Luke had fallen asleep fairly quickly, but Alex and Reggie couldn’t bring themselves to take their eyes off him. Alex was afraid if he stopped looking at him he’d disappear, Reggie was scared that if he closed his eyes he’d be back to holding the blood-soaked cloth over his best friend’s arm, trying to stop the bleeding. 

Around 5 AM Alex finally convinced Reggie to get some sleep, so Reggie fell asleep with his head on Alex’s chest and Luke’s hand in his. He hadn’t let go since they’d gotten back. 

When Luke had woken up the next morning, Alex and Reggie were both asleep next to him, and he realized how lucky he was to have them as his friends. 

Luke sat at the desk in Reggie’s room, he was staring down at his songbook, but he couldn’t figure out the lyrics he wanted to write. Alex and Reggie were sitting on the bed, and Alex was talking Reggie through a math problem he couldn’t figure out. 

Alex was good at that, explaining math to people. He’d helped Luke get his grade up on multiple occasions, and the three of them always studied together before a big test. He had been a math tutor for a couple of months, but it didn’t last long, he just didn’t have the time.

Luke turned around to stare at them, Reggie’s tongue was sticking out in concentration, and Alex was pointing at something on the page before trying to show Reggie how to do the problem on paper. 

Alex looked up and smiled at him before turning back to Reggie, the smile gave Luke butterflies, but he couldn’t explain why. He got the same feeling when Reggie would laugh at one of his jokes, or the three of them were hanging out and one of them touched his hand unexpectedly. It just happens.

Luke got up and went to sit by them, leaning over Reggie’s shoulder to watch what they were doing. Reggie leaned back onto him, letting his head fall back onto his chest. It was obvious to Alex and Luke that he was done with studying for the night. 

“Why do letters have to be in math? It was hard enough when it was just numbers, I don’t even know how to divide!” Reggie was mumbling. 

Luke laughed a little, wrapping his arms around him, “I’m gonna be honest, I’m not entirely sure I know how to divide either.” 

“I can teach you both how to divide if you’d like?” 

“No!” Reggie and Luke answered in unison. 

“Okay, okay, maybe another time,” Alex laughed, grabbing their textbooks and putting them on the floor. 

He laid back on the bed, “Reg, I love ya, but you need to buy new sheets. You’re 17, and your pillows have stormtroopers on them.” 

“My sheets are awesome, thank you very much. But also they’re just the most comfortable sheets I can find…” 

Luke nodded at that, “They are very comfortable. And I mean, the blankets are nice, it’s just plain red. Who cares about pillowcases or anything, I’m pretty sure my pillowcases still have flowers on them…” Luke hadn’t talked about his house in over a month, it wasn’t his favorite topic. 

Neither Alex nor Reggie commented, but Alex saw the way his eyes began to water and how his face scrunched up like he was in pain. Reggie noticed how Luke’s fingers began to tap slightly faster where they rested on his wrist.

Luke was holding Reggie in his arms, and Alex was laying on the bed next to them. Luke felt safer when he was touching someone, especially if it was Alex or Reggie. Even if they were just barely touching hands, it was an instant sense of relief. 

Luke wasn’t a happy person. He had a lot of issues, and he didn’t like talking about them. He wrote a lot of it into music, but he never showed anyone those songs. Sometimes he’d purposely leave his book laying open where one of them would find it, and he would find it again laying on top of his bag later that day. Whoever had found it wouldn’t talk to him about it, they knew that wasn’t what he wanted, but they gave him a hug, and a reassuring smile and they knew that that was what he wanted and that was what he needed. 

After Luke’s attempt, he spent a lot of time sitting at his desk, writing. That had been two years ago, when he was 15. The way he felt that night never really left him, but he fought it off the best he could. He realized the effect his death would have on the people he loved.

There were nights he would struggle and there were nights he’d call Alex in a panic because his head hurt so bad from the racing thoughts. Alex would come over and sit with him for hours, holding his hands so he couldn’t scratch at the skin on his arms. He would come up with strange conversation topics to help get his mind off of whatever was going on. There were also nights where Reggie would be the one to get on his bike at midnight and they would sit on the floor of Luke’s room and talk until they saw the sunrise.

Luke knew how to tell when Alex was having a bad day and when Reggie’s parents were going at it again. Alex knew how to tell when Luke was barely holding his head up, and Reggie was about to pass out from sleep deprivation. Reggie knew how to get Alex out of a situation that gave him anxiety, and how to get Luke to lay down and take a break. The three of them knew each other inside and out.

It was no surprise when Luke confessed to his feelings for the other two, and they reciprocated those feelings. They kept their relationship secret, of course. It was 1995, being gay was one thing, being in a relationship with two people was completely different. And both were frowned upon. 

They had been sitting in the garage, it was late and none of them wanted to go home (Luke couldn’t go home). And in a sleep-deprived state, Luke decided to confess. It had taken a minute for the other two to completely comprehend what he had said, and there had been a lot of asking for clarification (Luke had been trying to get them to understand what he was saying without actually saying it). But at the end of it, after a long conversation about feelings, they decided to try a relationship. 

One night, when the three of them were at Alex’s house (his parents had gone out for the night), Luke woke up to Maddie trying to get Alex awake. She knew that they spent the night, so it didn’t bother her that the three of them were in the bed, but she was crying and Alex wasn’t waking up. He had had a long day, so Luke wasn’t exactly surprised that he wasn’t waking.

“Maddie?” He asked quietly, “Are you okay?” he sat up to look at her, squinting in the dark room. 

“I had a nightmare and I tried not to come bother you guys, but I’m scared and Alex isn’t waking up,” she talked fast, and it was obvious in her voice that she was scared. 

“Do you want me to come downstairs and we can watch some TV?” he asked, knowing that Alex needed to sleep. 

The light from the hall made it easier to  see her nod in the dark room, “okay, I’ll be down in a minute,” he watched as Maddie left the room.

Luke got up and put some clothes on before heading downstairs. Maddie was sitting on the couch rewinding a VHS tape, Beauty and the Beast was her favorite, and Luke didn’t mind sitting through it for the fourth time that month. 

Luke had been around when Maddie took her first steps, he was there for all of her birthdays, and so had Reggie. She looked up to them, and she thought of them as her brothers. 

There was one day Alex couldn’t go pick her up from school, and so Luke went instead, and almost started crying when he heard her tell her friends “I gotta go, my brothers here!” and she ran up and gave him a big hug. 

“Okay, kiddo. It's past midnight, so don’t tell your parents, but do you want some hot chocolate?” 

Maddie grinned, nodding quickly. Luke laughed, going to make two cups of hot chocolate in the kitchen, trying to keep quiet so Alex and Reggie didn’t wake up. They both deserved to get some more sleep. He added extra marshmallows to Maddie’s cup and walked back to the living room a few minutes later to find the movie starting. 

Maddie fell asleep with her head in Luke’s lap, and Luke didn’t have the heart to wake her up to move her back to her own room, so he sat there until morning when Alex came downstairs to find him. 

Alex smiled at the sight of the two of them, but it was nearing seven and his parents would be home soon so they all had to get dressed and at least pretend that they hadn’t spent the night. He leaned down to kiss Luke’s cheek, who had woken up when he heard the stairs creak. 

Alex then shook Maddie’s shoulder softly, “Mads, wake up,” he spoke quietly.

“Alex!” she grinned, jumping up to give him a hug, “we watched Beauty and the Beast and Luke made hot chocolate!” 

“Is that so?” he glanced at Luke, who just smiled innocently in return. 

She nodded quickly, “Yep!”

Maddie was definitely a morning person.

Reggie woke up twenty minutes later when Luke and Alex came back upstairs to get him up, “It’s half past go away,” he mumbled when Luke stole the blankets from him. 

Luke grinned, “It’s actually half-past seven, but I guess that works too.”

Reggie flipped him off before curling into a ball to try to regain some warmth, “Let me sleep,” he mumbled. 

Alex laughed at him, “You gotta get up, Reg. My parents will be home soon so we all gotta get dressed.” 

Reggie groaned, sitting up to stare at them, “Are we going to the garage today?”

“We could, but we probably won’t be rehearsing. Bobby is busy, so we’d probably just hang out,” Luke tossed Reggie’s flannel at him, along with his jeans. He was already wearing his black tank top, which he fell asleep in. 

“I’m down to just hang out if Alex is?” 

Alex shrugged in response, “I don’t see why not, it’s not like any of us had anything better planned. We just gotta wait for my parents so Maddie isn’t alone. I can tell them you came over to pick me up and we didn’t want to leave Maddie by herself.”

The three got dressed, except for Luke who was already mostly dressed. Reggie grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder before following Alex downstairs. Luke sat on Alex’s bed for a minute, just thinking about life.

The boys broke up a week before they were supposed to perform at the Orpheum. It was a unanimous decision, though that didn’t make it any easier on any of them. They all cried. But their relationship didn’t suffer from it. It took them a few hours, but the next day they were right back to their old selves. They still cuddled, and there were still a lot of hugs and touchy moments, but they were friendly touches. They had decided that it was better for them as a band, and as friends, that they weren’t in a relationship. 

The day they were supposed to perform was one of the craziest days of any of their lives. Bobby was the only one who managed to stay calm throughout the entire day (and Alex was pretty sure that was because he only half cared). Alex had a panic attack in the dressing room, Luke kept tripping everywhere he stepped, and Reggie kept forgetting the words to the songs (he made them up on the spot if he couldn’t remember).

“This is it, boys, we’ve worked so hard to get here and now we’re finally here and soundcheck is in an hour,” Luke was always the one to hype them up before a show, he was good at it, “After tonight, nothing can stop us. The world will know our name, god… tonight defines our future. Even if we mess up, it’s still going to be the best show we’ve ever played.” 

Alex was twirling one of his sticks between his fingers, anxiety present on his face, but it was obvious that he was also more excited than he’d ever been before. 

“I left tickets on the counter of our kitchen, I hope my parents come, I’d love for Maddie to see us play.” Maddie had never been to one of their shows, and neither had Alex’s parents. 

“I left tickets too, but I don’t think my folks are gonna show…” 

“I sent my parents a letter, but I didn’t leave a note, just the tickets… Maybe they’ll come? I should never have left...” Luke looked up towards the ceiling, staring at the lights there. 

All three boys looked at Luke, though Alex and Reggie were the most shocked. He rarely talked about his parents, and the only regret he ever showed was though Unsaid Emily. 

Bobby was sitting on the couch with his feet up on the table, “who cares if our parents show? This is our night, not theirs.” 

Alex rolled his eyes, ignoring him. 

“It’s our night, which means that they should be here supporting us,” Luke was not one to ignore people’s ignorant comments. 

“Whatever, man.”

Soundcheck felt like it passed in seconds, though it was really only about an hour. And now they had another two hours before the actual show. The three boys always spent the last hour before their shows together if there was nothing else they had to do. Usually they’d just sit around until they were called on stage, but today was different. Today they were playing on their own, today they were the center of attention.

Sure, they’d played their own gigs before, but never like this. Never this big. Never this important. 

They were all on edge, and it was understandable. This was the biggest night of their lives. Too bad it was also the last.

They died just like they lived. Together. 

Luke went first, he had been feeling ill since the first bite but thought it was just nerves. It wasn't just nerves. Alex was having a panic attack, which may have been why he was the next to die. His body was fighting too hard for too many things at once. Reggie was last, he had to listen to both his friend's flatline, had to feel Alex's hand go limp in his own, but he was too tired to feel anything other than pain. Luke had died quickly, and Alex soon followed, but Reggie had to be there for all of it. None of them were entirely conscious while in the ambulance, they were in pain, they were tired, and they just wanted to sleep, but Reggie was there the longest, he remembered the most. And it was haunting

The paramedics said there was nothing they could do. But they kept them together in their last moments, and that was the best thing they could have done.

[zambie-trashart]

I Can’t Help It pt3

Phanfics Masterlist

Carrie squealed, like actually squealed. They were going to perform at a pride concert and gave her a list of songs to choose from. Carrie called a meeting standing in front of the girls and Alex telling them the news.

“Are you serious?” Kayla asked smile spreading over her face. Bridgette stood up jumping in the air in little circles.

“What song are we doing?” CJ asked trying to keep her composure and Maddie was still silently screaming into her hands.

“It might not be the actual pride festival but he said that thousands of people would be there,” Carrie informed before looking back through the list. “I think I know our song, we need to start practicing now,” Carrie said and the girls hopped up and Alex stood next to her hiding a smile behind his fist. “Ok, clap up right and lean to the left then other way, now down make sure your butt is out now other way!” Carrie called out and then she dragged Alex in the front. “Do it opposite so go down and clap left then do it the other way,” Carrie said and the five did it together. “This is going to be awesome,” Carrie added before continuing.

Luke paced the room waiting for Julie to come in and give him the news on something big that was happening. Reggie plucked out notes on his bass looking calm as ever. The door swung open and Julie ran a hand through her hair.

“That was Flynn, she’s helping with a pride concert this year and on the line up is Dirty Candy, if they go on this Saturday then there’s no way that they’re not getting a record deal and then we lose Alex for good,” Julie said before her phone went off signaling an Instagram Live from Alex Wilson. She clicked on it and Alex’s voice rang through the room.

“Ok so some of you might have heard the news but Dirty Candy is going to be performing at a pride concert this year so if you support our rights then get on out here and come see the show,” Alex said smiling widely before standing up and putting his phone down on the ground angled up at him and the other girls from Dirty Candy. “Just a little sneak peek,” Alex added winking and music started. They all started clapping and Alex dropped on his left knee right arm resting on his left knee sinking back snapping once before jumping up to his feet leaning his body left then right then back left dropping into a squat and out onto his left leg body rolling then pointing to the girl before turning back and walking through them, they had their legs up holding the heel of their foot with the other arm and the top of their bodies dropped when he turned around and snapped and the music stopped.

“YES!” a voice yelled from behind the phone and the others laughed. Alex reached down to grab his phone.

“Be sure to come see us if you want more of that cause we’re just getting started, we’re Dirty Candy, tell your friends,” Alex said winking before the live went out.

Julie stood there in shock and Reggie’s jaw was on the floor, Luke just crossed his arms trying to act like it wasn’t that impressive.

“Who knew Alex could break it down that hard?” Reggie asked and Julie raised her hand.

“If you were at the show you would have known that he has some serious talent when he’s not just joking around,” Julie said glaring at them.

“We were talking to Bobby about how to get Alex back but we even heard Alex say that he was happy there, we’re not getting him back,” Luke said flopping down on the couch.

“The best we can do is try to make peace with him,” Reggie added to Luke’s sad sentiment.

Julie’s phone went off again, it was a message from Alex.

Glad you saw my live, did the guys see it too? Don’t tell them but I might miss them just a little, well I miss Reggie a bunch but I’m still kind of mad at Luke.

Julie giggled messaging him back.

They saw it, Reggie was very impressed and so am I, they miss you too I promise.

A knock on the door startled her and she opened the door seeing a ghost with long brown hair standing there.

“I was just watching a live over a lifer’s shoulder and I saw someone who looked a lot like Alex dancing with a group of girls,” Willie said eyebrows raised at Luke and Reggie expecting an answer.

“Luke got mad at Alex cause he’s been missing rehearsals to look for you and he kicked him out of the band do Alex went to the house of our former bandmate and now he got adopted by him and dances in a group called Dirty Candy,” Reggie explained and Willie’s eyes were angry and confused as he marched over to Luke grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

“You kicked Alex out because he was missing a few rehearsals when you know that he’s talented and that he was just trying to find someone, you are his friend, that was a dick move Luke and I’m not even slightly surprised that Alex moved on to something better than this little club that seemed to treat him like an accessory, I saw how you guys treated him at the club or how you paid him no attention during performances. Question answered, I’m going to go find Alex,” Willie said poofing out and Luke fell on the ground sighing.

“Willie has a point however bluntly her put it, we didn’t treat Alex the best, we never really listened to him either cause he wasn’t in the front,” Reggie pointed out head in his hands.

“We have to try and make things right.”

Wille walked through the door of a huge house looking in different rooms and saw a room with a light pink wall the rest were white with a big bed, caps hanging on hooks and a pink hoodie thrown over a chair. Willie walked in and sat on the bed and heard footsteps coming and the door opened. Alex was standing there with a glass of water before looking up and seeing Willie sitting upright on his bed. Alex dropped the glass on the floor, mouth open in shock.

“Willie?” Aelx asked a little unsure that he wasn't just seeing things.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Willie said standing up and Alex ran into his arms resting his forehead on Willie’s shoulder feeling happy tears roll down his face.

Carrie and Kayla sat in Carrie’s room. Kayla had noticed that Carrie had been acting weird lately, especially around her. Carrie sighed before turning around to look at her friend.

“I have to tell you something,” Carrie said playing with a ring on her pointer finger.

“You’re gay?” Kayla asked and Carrie’s eyes widened.

“No, well yes but that’s not what I wanted to tell you. My brother Alex is actually a ghost and a former member of a ghost band, Julie’s band,” Carrie said and Kayla was shocked at two things, her friend just admitted that she’s gay and her friend is going insaine.

“That’s crazy,” Kayla said and Carrie just started pacing.

“That’s what I thought but do you notice how Julie always has these conversations with herself?” Kalya nodded. “She’s talking to her ghost band, Alex told me everything like how they can be seen when they want to now and a bunch of other stuff. I just felt bad keeping it from you,” Carrie said and Kayla just hugged her friend.

“I’m glad you told me,” she said and Carrie squeezed back just enjoying the time with her friend.

“Everything just got so much easier.”