#and alex would know anyways he's a nosy bitch. in many ways.

[plumbogs]

heather is fun and full of whimsy :)

Martin wanted to invite someone over and this dormie was the only one without a job in the way. As soon as he arrived, Martin had to work, so heather had some fun influencing him to put soap in the fountain. She also wanted to invite over someone, and she and Alex Goth were like 2 points away from best friends. They became friends while Martin was away.

Apparently they had an existing slight dislike of each other, because as soon as Martin got home it was on sight.

it was like this for hours. alex just stood there waiting for him to stop crying so he could start shoving him around again. he's so mean for no reason idk what martin ever did to him. martin didn't even homewreck this one what is the problem...

[awanderingdeal]

Simply having a wonderful Christmas Time [Part 1]

Merry Christmas to all those folks who celebrate today! This one is dedicated to those of you of who are perhaps not spending Christmas in the way that you would like this year. I hope this brings you a little bit of Joy. Please note that this fic is filled with happy Christmas people so if that is going to make you feel worse then please avoid. I’m hoping to have a Coops instalment up for those who celebrate on the 25th and O’Knutzy on 26th for all those who have boxing day and second Christmas.

CW: CHRISTMAS AND FOOD TALK

Rating: T, there are some sexual implications but I’m pretty happy leaving this at a T. Let me know if you think that needs to change. 

And finally, to @lumosinlove. Thank you for creating the sweater weather universe and in particular the fabulous OC’s that feature in this fic. They really have been a light in the darkness of this year. 

Anyway, let’s get on with this show.

P.S. Yes, we are just ignoring the fact that hockey players most definitely do not get two weeks off at Christmas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex had bitched for days about spending his Christmas in the heat of Mauritius - he wasn’t supposed to be opening presents in shorts, dammit - but he’d been willing to concede that he may have been wrong from the very moment that he had stepped through the door of their beach front villa.

He was tired and groggy from the day of travel. The recycled air of the plane had made his throat scratchy; he needed a long, hot shower, and he was generally miserable. 

“Almost there now, sweetcheeks,” Natalie reassured him as the taxi rounded a corner. “You’re going to love it, I promise.” 

The villa was one that Natalie and Kasey had stayed in a few times before, boasting of it’s view and proximity to perfect waves. Right now, Alex didn’t really care about those things. As long as the villa had a comfortable bed and a large shower, he’d be satisfied. 

Natalie was right, and soon the three of them were piling out of the car, hauling bags of luggage behind them. They were only there for two weeks but somehow had five large suitcases between them. 

“I swear, I’m going to sleep for two days,” Alex grumbled as Kasey keyed in the number to obtain the keys. 

“Try and stay awake for a few more hours,” Kasey said. “You’ll feel way better tomorrow for it.”

“Yeah, yeah, jetlag, blah, try to acclimatise to local time, blah -” Alex’s rant was cut short as he stepped through the door. “Wow,” he gasped. 

The villa was gorgeous. He’d expected the large expanse of open plan luxury; a haven of polished metal and glass windows that showed panoramic views of white sand meeting a crystal clear sea. What he hadn’t expected was the giant Christmas tree, at least a few feet taller than himself, and the rest of the expertly placed decorations. 

“Do you like it?” Kasey asked. Alex saw the glance that he and Natalie shared. They were probably worried, he’d been frozen in place for the last 30 seconds. 

Alex nodded, taking a moment to find his words, “It’s incredible. Just like home. Better.”

Everywhere he looked there was something new. A wreath on the wall. Faux furs draped over the seating. A garland that snaked all the way up the spiral staircase. 

“Are those?” Alex stepped towards the stockings that hung on the wall. Each one had a name sewn into it. Natalie. Alex. Kasey.

“Yeah,” Natalie nodded. “One for each of us. Lils made those.”

Alex let himself be pulled into Kasey’s arms, feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

“We know that Christmas with your family is very important to you and we just want you to know that we are incredibly grateful that you decided to spend it with us this year,” Kasey said softly. 

“Finn already bailed anyway,” Alex gave a small laugh. He felt Natalie join them and her arms were also there, enclosing Alex between his two favourite people. 

“We told them to leave the tree. Thought we could decorate it together?” Natalie told him.

“God, I love you two.” Alex breathed. 

That had been ten days ago. Now, a cheesy Christmas movie played on the TV but Alex wasn’t paying it much attention; enjoying the memory and being curled into Kasey’s chest. His fingers played idly with Natalie’s blonde waves as she snored softly in his lap.  

It was the perfect end to a perfect day, a delicately balanced mixture of tradition and newness. Alex saw how hard his partners had worked to give him a Christmas day that rivalved those of his memories with his family and Alex couldn’t wait to thank them properly for it tomorrow. For now though, he was content to just bask in the moment.

“Al,” Kasey whispered. “Do you want to head to bed? I’m not really watching this.”

Alex looked up at Kasey, a gentle smile resting on his lips, “Yeah, bed sounds good to me.”

“Shotgun, not waking Natalie up” Kasey laughed.

“No need to wake her up. I’ll carry her,” Alex said. "Besides, she’s not that bad.”

Kasey frowned, “She bit me once.” 

“Yeah, and did you clap in her ear like you did to me that time?” Alex replied. “Because if so, then you deserved it.” 

“Not my fault you both sleep like the dead.” Kasey mumbled under his breath, switching off the TV and taking their dirty glasses to the sink. 

Natalie gave a small grumble as she was picked up, wriggling in Alex’s arms before settling herself into the crook. 

“God, she’s so cute.” Alex spoke quietly. 

“You both are.” Kasey said with a grin, pressing a kiss first to Natalie’s cheek and then Alex’s. He led them the short distance to the bedroom, pulling the thin sheets on the bed back so that Alex could lie Natalie down. 

“I’m just gonna brush my teeth,” Alex started to walk towards the en-suite but suddenly his phone was vibrating against the bedside table. The noise seemed extraordinarily loud in the quiet room. “Fuck, that’ll be Finn. Get that please, Kase?”

Kasey grabbed the phone and Alex heard a snort as he read the contact name, Fillet O’Fish. 

“Hi!” Finn’s voice boomed a few seconds before his face appeared. 

“Sssh.” Kasey hissed, rapidly hitting the down volume key. 

“Oh, hi, Blizz,” Finn said. “Don’t know why I wasn’t expecting you. You’re naked. Why are you naked? Am I interrupting something? Is Alex naked too? I don’t want to see that.” 

Alex plucked the phone from Kasey’s hand with a laugh. “He’s not naked, we’re just getting reading for bed,” Alex replied, panning the camera down and showing Kasey’s plaid pyjama pants to prove his point. 

Alex pecked Kasey on the lips, “I’m going to take this to the other room.” 

“Alright,” Kasey returned the kiss. “Merry Christmas Finn,” he added, giving the camera a wave. 

“Merry Christmas, Kase!” a chorus of replies was heard. 

Alex wandered from the bedroom, settling himself into a seat that gave a stunning view of the beach that their villa was sat on. 

“Wait, isn’t it only 9 pm there?” Finn asked. “Why are you going to bed already?” 

Before Alex could answer, Logan appeared in the frame, leaning over the back of the sofa to wrap his arms around Finn’s neck, “So nosy, Fish. Maybe they tired each other out, eh?” 

Finn’s nose wrinkled with a look of disgust, “eww.”

“Nothing like that,” Alex laughed. “Not this evening anyway,” he continued, a slight twinkle in his eyes.

“Get it, Alex,” Leo teased, flopping himself onto the sofa next to Finn. 

“Look at this view,” Alex said, turning the camera so they could see the idyllic scenery in an attempt to change the subject. It only served to trigger a memory from earlier that day, one that he probably shouldn't have been thinking about whilst on the phone with his brother. 

Alex sighed happily to himself as he looked down at the watch on his wrist. It looked out of place against his bright blue and pink flamingo shorts, but Alex had received it from Kasey earlier that morning and he refused to take it off. 

It was barely 11 am. However, it was Christmas day, so Alex didn't feel even the slightest bit guilty about the cosmopolitan balanced between his fingers, as he waited for Natalie and Kasey to come back from their surf. Alex wasn’t the biggest fan of the water, preferring to stay in the shade of the giant umbrella they had set up despite Natalie’s playful chirping. 

Alex had pointed the watch out on his and Kasey’s first date without Natalie. They'd been heading to the aquarium when Alex had spotted it in the window of the jewellers. He'd made the briefest passing comment about how beautiful it was and it made Alex's heart sing that Kasey had remembered. 

As if they knew that he was thinking about them, Alex saw the sun bronzed figures of his partners making their way towards him. They looked good; fitted wetsuits showing off their toned bodies and their faces brightened by laughter. Alex loved Kasey’s laugh, people thought it was rare but he just saved it for those that he thought truly deserved it. Apparently, Alex was one of those people now. 

“Close your mouth, O’Hara.” Natalie teased, grabbing a towel and piling her hair into it. 

“Hmm,” Finn nodded, pulling Alex from the memory too soon. “That is beautiful. I think mine has been better though.” His brother's eyes glanced back towards Logan with a smirk and Alex had a sneaking suspicion that Logan's torso wasn't the only thing that was bare. 

"Yeah, you can keep that one for yourself," Alex retorted. 

“Hey Haz! Did Kase like his present?” Leo asked. 

Alex had enjoyed getting to know his brother’s second boyfriend. He offered a stabilizing presence to Finn and Logan’s chaos and to paraphrase shrek, “he was like an onion, he had layers.” Leo had been Kasey’s secret santa and Alex hated to admit it, but he had done a great job. 

“Unfortunately yes,” Alex pretended to glare. “I suppose I have Finn to thank for helping you with that?”

Leo shook his head, “Your mom actually. She was more than willing to send many photos of baby Alex.” 

Alex barked out a laugh, “Of course she was.” He couldn’t really be mad. The three of them had spent an age flipping through the scrapbook of his childhood photos, laughing at the annotations that Leo had added in his delicate script. 

The alarm on Leo’s phone blared. “Sorry, that’s the timer for the potatoes,” the blond apologised. “I better go and check on them.”

“I can come and help.” Finn said.

Alex saw Leo visibly wince before he replied, "No thank you sweetheart. Y’all stay and talk with your brother.” 

Alex raised an eyebrow, “Do I even want to know what disasters you are causing?”

“You cannot talk, Alexander,” Logan defended. “You nearly burnt your kitchen down making toast.”

Alex didn’t have an argument to that, it was true. He hadn’t been much help with Christmas dinner either. 

“Are you sure that you don’t want me to do anything?”  Alex asked for the thousandth time. Besides setting the table, he really hadn’t done much to help with the meal and he didn’t feel great about it. 

“Yes,” Natalie insisted. “We really do not need a trip to the ER today. Just sit down and look pretty.” 

He protested a little but did as he was told. He watched Natalie and Kasey work, moving seamlessly around one another. And then Alex was standing again. He went back inside, ignoring his partner's queries. He was only going to be a moment anyway. Alex reappeared with his camera. He may not be able to cook, but he was excellent at photography. He remembered how they had found so much joy in looking at the photos of himself earlier and wanted to document their first Christmas together. Hopefully, in years to come it would bring them similar joy. 

He took photo after photo of the meal coming together. Kasey flipping the steaks on the BBQ. Natalie glazing the prawns in sauce. The private glances they shared. 

The camera was taken out of his hands and he heard the shutter snap as Natalie fed him pieces of peach. 

He beckoned the two of them over and took a few shots of the three of them together, Santa hats perched on their heads, until Natalie was cursing about something burning.

He’d go through the photos later but he doubted there would be many that he wanted to delete. 

“Earth to Alex!” Finn shouted and Alex blushed as he realised that they had been trying to get his attention for a little while.

Logan rolled his eyes, “You and Finn make the same stupid faces.”

“Oi!” Alex and Finn exclaimed together. 

“C’est Vrai,” Logan chimed.

“I’ll admit to being a hopeless romantic.” Alex shrugged. “It’s part of my charm.”

Finn snorted at that, “It’s not my fault that you and Le are so cute.”

“Agreed.” Alex nodded. “Nat and Kase should be less perfect. It’s all their fault really.”

“You’re both disgusting,” Logan groaned, but he was pressing his lips to the bare flesh on the back of Finn's neck, and Alex had known those two long enough to know exactly where that was going. 

“On that note, I am going to bed. Have a fantastic Christmas, boys.”

[dynamightsfave]

Solitary ghost - Reggie Peters

(gif not mine! credits to owner)

reggie peters x ghost!oc

summary: reggie takes it upon himself to make friends with the antipathic, solitary ghost the band meets after a concert

warnings: mentions of death and suicide, mentions of child abuse swears

masterlist

***

Luna “Moony” Joy did justice to her last name. She was a bubbly girl, full of energy and positivity. Or at least she used to be, until her adoptive family died on a fire, leaving her an orphan and in foster care... again. How she jumped from house to house and ended up going all the way across the country is not something she likes to talk about. She doesn’t really like to talk at all.

Two years later, a Brooklynn girl died in L.A. after “falling” off a cliff, and she didn’t have to worry about any more foster homes. What she did have to worry about —and oh, how she wishes she didn’t have to— is her afterlife. “I died just so I could stay in the world for eternity. Fucking great”

Luna stayed away from other ghosts for the most part. She didn’t want help, she didn’t want guidance, and she most certainly didn’t want company. She tried to find her unfinished business so she could finally cross over and “leave this fucking place once and for all”, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t very surprised. What unfinished business could a foster kid possibly have? Too many, probably.

So Moony spent her days as a solitary ghost walking around the city, and avoiding Caleb Covington and that skater boy of his. The magician just couldn’t get in his head that she wanted nothing to do with him. Unfortunately for her, that didn’t save her from three particularly annoying ghosts.

[...]

It was Luke who found her.

They had performed at a local place a few weeks after they performed at The Orpheum, and Luna just so happened to pass by. The dark haired girl stopped when she heard the music, and figured that she might as well stay until the end. It wasn’t like she had somewhere to be anyways. The three boys poofed out of the scenario and appeared behind her, grinning like idiots at the applauding crowd. The bassist and the drummer were too preoccupied to notice the girl in front of them, the only one that wasn’t clapping or had a smile on.

“Hey” Luke nudged at the boys at either side of him with a frown, and jerked his head in her direction “She’s just standing there after we rocked this place. She’s not even fazed”

“Maybe’s just not her type of music” Alex suggested, not thinking much of it.

“Or maybe she hated it” the smile didn’t leave Reggie’s face as he nonchalantly stated his theory, oblivious to his bandmates frowns.

“You know, she can hear you, assholes” Luna rolled her eyes, scowling at them and turning around to leave through the wall.

“Woah- Wait!” Luke ran after her, and the other two followed “H-Hey! You’re a ghost too!”

“No shit Sherlock” she completely ignored them and kept walking.

“So you didn’t like our music? Why not?”

“Listen, I don’t know who you are, and frankly I don’t care either” she stopped and turned to the ghosts, who tumbled against each other abruptly “I really don’t care about your music either, so I would appreciate it if you stopped following me”

“Why are you being so rude?”

“Why are you being so nosy?” she shot back at Luke with a glare “Do you work for him? Like I said to your boss and his scout before, I don’t want in in your little club. I’m fine by my own. Leave me the hell alone”

With that, she poofed away, deciding that appearing in her place would be the best option. The band stood there dumbfounded staring at her now empty spot.

“What a bitch” the lead guitarist finally spoke.

“She asked if we worked for someone and then said she didn’t want in in our club... You don’t think Caleb’s after her, right?” Alex didn’t know her, but nobody deserved to go through what they had with those stamps.

“Who cares? Let’s go home” Luke patted his friend’s shoulder and started to go back to look for Julie.

Alex followed, but Reggie stood frozen for a moment. The girl was pretty, but that wasn’t what struck him. She looked sad, alone and overall unhappy. There was no spark in her eyes whatsoever, nothing that made her look alive —she wasn’t exactly alive, more like the opposite, but you know what he means. The Peters boy frowned at the floor, he wanted to know why she was like that. Wait, no, scratch that. He wanted to change that. Reggie Peters wanted to see how much prettier the unknown girl looked when smiling.

[...]

He made it his mission to find her. He went out looking for her while Julie was at school and Ray at work, and Luke and Alex were doing who knows what. Reggie basically padded all downtown L.A. trying to at least get a glimpse of the dark clothes that the Korean girl sported the night before. It took him a while, but he found her.

Reggie couldn’t even remember when he thought about visiting the observatory, but when he spotted the black clad ghost, he was glad he did.

“Hey, you’re the girl from last night! The one that didn’t like our music” he beamed, even when she just looked at him bored “I didn’t get to introduce myself, you were arguing with Luke. Hi, I’m Reggie” but Luna only stared at his hand for a moment and continued to look at the view.

Reggie didn’t sweat it, he just leaned against handrail next to her and stared at the view too. Luna didn’t say anything to him, she hated his presence there —like, what the hell was he doing, couldn’t he leave or something?

“Can you leave?” she turned to the boy.

“Nope. I want friends, other than my bandmates and Julie. Luke is always in his music or pestering Julie, Alex is with his crush —or boyfriend, I’m not sure anymore— and Julie is at school, and even if Luke goes annoy her, she’s been very strict about boundaries lately. I have Ray, but he can’t see me” he quickly explained, although Luna didn’t look like she cared “Can you at least tell me your name? I’ll stay quiet and won’t bother you if you do” he begged.

Luna looked at him —like really looked at him— for a moment. That moment felt like ages for Reggie, her dark brown eyes seemed to be scrutinizing every inch of his soul, but he didn’t back down. He was determined to make her afterlife good, no matter how long it took. They did have an eternity, after all.

Really, the dark haired girl wasn’t reading him. She hardly knew him, she just knew his name and that he had a really nosy friend and another that looked like an anxious baby. But Luna was meditating about her answer. There was something telling her that this Reggie wouldn’t leave her alone for whatever reason —because wanting more friends wasn’t an acceptable answer for him to have been looking around the whole city for her like she knew he had done— and this was most likely the best she’d get.

“Luna” she finally said, avoiding his eyes.

“Like the moon?” he asked with an amused smile, but erased it from his face once he met her eyes again “Right, I’m shutting up now”

Reggie did shut up... for about ten minutes. Then he started talking again, and he told her about how he became a ghost, hoping the story of dying because of a hot dog would at least put a smile on her face, it seemed to make everyone laugh. But it didn’t have the same effect on this girl, who only rolled her eyes and called them stupid for eating something that came out of a car.

[...]

It happened daily. Luna would be minding her business, “enjoying” her time alone, and Reggie would appear out of nowhere. He stayed silent for about fifteen minutes, and then started talking about whatever he could think of. She didn’t know how he always managed to find her, or why, but she had given up on trying to hide from him. She had enough with hiding from Caleb, and the beaming boy hadn’t asked about her, so it was bearable.

“Why don’t you tell me something about you?” never mind.

“No” Luna quickly dismissed “You said you wouldn’t bother me”

“Oh, come on, Luna. I just wanna learn something about you! I’ve told tons about me. And before you say you don’t know why the hell I do this, I don’t want you to be alone. No one deserves to be left alone, even after they died”

“I said I don’t want anyone’s company! And you still come bother me every day!” she shouted and moved her arms wildly, missing the way the boy in front of her flinched and cowered back a little “God, do you not listen?! Read the room, idiot! I don’t want you here!”

Luna didn’t know, but that last sentence struck Reggie like a ton of bricks mixed with lightning. Worse than Caleb’s stamp, and worse than Julie’s outburst at them when they let her down. Her yelling and moving her arms like that, that phrase, it brought him right back to his house. To when his parents shouted and argued for the smallest things, and Lord help him if they saw him, because then... well then it got worse. Way worse.

“I-I’m sorry” he muttered and looked down “I’ll leave you alone, don’t worry”

Reggie’s face had fallen, and he looked hurt, something that Luna hadn’t seen on him since he started bothering her. Then he poofed away, and the Korean girl was left alone. Which for some reason didn’t feel as good as she wanted. There was something inside of her that was bothering her more than Reggie’s constant banter, and that was the absence of it. She didn’t like to admit it, but the boy’s blabbering had become part of her day, and somewhere in between telling him to shut up and scowling at him —which he both blatantly ignored, by the way— she had begun to enjoy his presence. It made her days. He made her feel not so alone, or depressed, and the fact that she had made him feel that way didn’t sit right on her.

“Goddammit” she groaned internally.

The girl poofed away. Something else Luna didn’t like to admit was that she actually listened to everything Reggie told her, so she knew a little about the boy, and the first thing she looked for him was where his house used to be. The bike shack next to the noodle place at the beach. Sure enough, Luna spotted his leather jacket sat down on the sand, looking down and digging his finger in it. She started to walk in his direction, her Doc Martens felt weirdly hesitant and timid in contrast to how confident and defiant they usually marched.

The Joy girl stopped next to her... “friend”. Could she call him a friend? She had been nothing but mean and cold to the poor guy, while he had obviously tried his best to get the slightest of smiles from her. For some reason, Reggie still considered her a friend, he had said so a few times in the past month.

A quivering breath fell from her lips. Luna knew that Reggie had noticed her, but had chosen to ignore her. “I deserve that”

“Hi” it was the first time she greeted him first, and it was strange. She refused to let his silence appall her, so she sat down next to him “My full name is Luna Joy, kinda ironic, huh?” still no response; she sighed “Reggie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve yelled at you for no reason, you’ve just been trying to be nice. Believe it or not, I really appreciate your visits, as annoying as the are” the chuckle from the back of her throat felt foreign. It had been long since she let a genuine one out, instead of a dry, sarcastic one.

“Did you just laugh?”

“I wouldn’t call it a laugh; it was more like a chuckle-”

“Oh nononono! None of that! No excuses! You laughed!” he pointed at her with the finger that had previously been drawing aimlessly in the sand, his face back to looking like a child in a toy store.

Luna couldn’t help the warm feeling in her chest —she didn’t know ghosts could still feel like that, but then again, she didn’t know she could still feel like that— nor the small smile that creeped into her lips.

“And now you’re smiling! This is the best thing ever!”

“Okay, relax” she chuckled again, and this time it did sound like a laugh “Don’t let this get to you, Reginald Peters, it’s not like it’s gonna happen all the time” she teased with a smirk.

“Wanna bet, Luna Joy?” he answered with a matching smirk.

“Oh, God, I’m already regretting this” she buried her head in her arms and knees “Does this mean I’m forgiven? I really am sorry”

“Yeah, it’s all forgotten. But you have to tell me more about you”

“What do you wanna know?”

“Anything. Everything” if Luna still had blood, she was sure she would’ve blushed from the intensity of his gaze.

“Well, when I was alive and had friends, my family and them used to call me Moony, because of my name and Luna Lovegood and Remus Lupin from Harry Potter”

“Can I call you that?” Reggie quickly asked.

Luna pondered about it for a few seconds before nodding.

“I don’t see why not. We’re friends, right?” she sent a small smile, and the boy smiled brighter.

[...]

It was Luna’s turn to blabber nonstop. She was hesitant at first, but soon started to let loose, and although it seemed impossible, the old Luna Joy came back when she was with Reggie. She started to enjoy herself more when he visited, liked to talk with him about anything, and went along with any kind of idea he had. Reggie found out that Moony was nothing like the first time they met, and he was pretty proud of himself for making her comfortable enough to let her walls down.

At some point, they found themselves falling for each other, and Luna felt like she could shit her pants when she realized. She didn’t know how to handle it, it was strange and she was scared. Reggie on the other side, he smiled as big as he could when it clicked for him, causing Julie to ask him what had him so happy.

“I like a girl” he answered without shame, and suddenly he was being interrogated by the lead singer of the band.

Oh, but when their next hang out came... That was another story. Luna didn’t want to be awkward and Reggie didn’t want to come off too obvious.

They both did a terrible job.

“You’re being awkward” he whined.

“Well you’re clingier than normal” she responded instantly.

There was a silence that followed in which they stared at each other.

“I’m scared” Luna whispered after a moment, and Reggie furrowed his brows.

“What? Why?” he moved closer, hoping to bring comfort to the girl.

“I don’t think I’ve been this close with someone ever, other than my mom” she confessed.

Reggie knew all about her foster system experience, from before and after she got adopted. They had had very deep conversations many times, and in one of them, Luna decided to tell him about her family, and eventually why she died. The bassist had let her break down in his arms and not judged her when she told him that she took her life and how angry she was after appearing back as a ghost. He just hugged her tighter and then told her about his family.

He told her about Luke and Alex and Bobby, and all their adventures and what they went through in their lives. Then he told her about his new family, and how he considered the Molinas and Flynn part of his little family, even if the only one that could actually interact with him was Julie. After that, Reggie told Luna about his parents. He had a hard time telling her, but the girl didn’t push him, knowing how touchy subjects could hurt, and talking about them was a huge effort. So she let him take his time, listening to how his parents never seemed to stop fighting, and how they even got him in between them. Luna was hardly containing her tears when he got to the part where his dad had gotten his hands on him a couple times. Luna brought him into an embrace, and they stayed like that for the rest of that night.

“Is being close with me a bad thing?”

“No” the answer was immediate “Not in the slightest. It’s just... I never thought I’d have someone that I cared so much about, like, ever again. And I’m scared, because I don’t wanna lose you like everyone else and-”

“Hey. You’re not gonna lose me” he took her hand in his “I promise. If it helps, I feel very close with you too”

“Yeah, but I like you!” she stressed, taking the boy aback “That’s never happened before! It scares the shit out of me, and you surely don’t like me back like that, and-”

“Moony!” Reggie cut her off with a laugh “I like you too!” the boy felt like he just got told he won the ghost-lottery, the smile on his face the biggest Luna had seen.

“Huh?”

“I like you too” he repeated “When I’m thinking about coming to visit you and hang out with you, I feel like I’m about to perform with the band again. I get this rush of happiness and that’s just by thinking of you!”

Luna looked at the guy like he was crazy. How was he so happy? She had been scared all week! When she was little, feelings came easy to her, but she’d never liked someone. Then her family died, and she never gave herself the opportunity to like someone. Now this goofy boy came, after they have both died, and he doesn’t leave her alone, and suddenly his goofiness and playful flirting had an effect on her! And on top of that, he says he likes her too! It was all strange and too good to be true. “What the hell is happening?”

“You like me” she said, not sounding convinced “This better not be one of your jokes Reg, because I swear, if it is I’ll-”

Once again, Reggie cut her off laughing, just to pull her into a kiss. He kissed her out of impulse, he couldn’t restrain himself anymore now that he knew she liked him back. Besides, she wanted to be sure she wasn’t fucking with her, right?

“I’m not joking, Moons. I really like you. A lot” he giggled, resting his hands on her face to make her look directly at him “And now that I know you like me...” he saw her bite her bottom lip to contain her smile “I can proudly say that I made Luna Joy feel emotions again”

“Hey! It’s not like I was completely emotionless”

“Sure babe” he leaned in to place a swift kiss on her nose.

“Okay, enough of that” she pulled away, but let his arms rest around her “Wait, “babe”? What’s that about?”

“Oh, right” Reggie seemed to realize something and sat up straighter “Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

Once again, Luna stared at the ghost in front of her dumfounded. He stared back at her with a smile, waiting for an answer.

“Are you serious?” she asked. Reggie only nodded “Just like that?”

“You want a big ask? I can do it, give me a second”

“Woah, woah no! No big asks” she gripped his leather jacket just as he went to stand up “It just caught me off guard”

“Why? We like each other, and I want you to be my girlfriend so no other cute ghost can take charm you with incredible harmonica skills and funnier stories”

“This right here is why I like you. I don’t need a harmonica player; I like how you play your banjo. I’ll be your girlfriend, Reg”

[...]

Now that we know how Reggie and Moony got together let’s rewind a little. I said, she wasn’t safe from three particularly annoying ghosts. She’s got one, she’s dating him. She met —or re-met— the other two a month later.

“C’mon, please” Reggie dragged out the word like a little kid begging their mom for candy. To be fair, he was begging, but instead of his mother, his girlfriend “They’ll love you! Alex uses sarcasm almost as much as you do. Julie wants to try and see you, she’s been asking me about you every time I get back home! She’s getting really tiring”

“Oh, so kinda like you then” Luna wasn’t having it.

She sat there listening to her boyfriend whine about how much he wanted her to meet his friends, his family. He wanted to be able to spend time with her without having to escape them all the time. Also, Luke and Alex did not believe him when he said he had found a girl.

The bassist huffed and plopped himself next to Luna, crossing his arms. He eyed the black nail polish she was applying to her nails, and then looked at his own nails, already painted black. Reggie smiled, getting off track for a second at the memory of how delicate she had been minutes ago when she was painting his nails. It was the most patient he had ever seen her. “Wait, no- friends” he shook his head and looked at the girl again.

“Why don’t you wanna meet my friends?” he pouted.

“Baby, I don’t think your buddy Luke was a fan of me last and only time I met him. Granted, I wasn’t very nice to him, but...” Reggie blushed at the pet name.

Luna wasn’t great with words, so pet names were unusual in her, causing the boy to blush each time she used one. Touching didn’t come out of her either, it was usually him who had to start a kiss or a hug, but she didn’t neglect them. He had determined that her love language was actions.

She had been alone for a long time, and having someone that cares about you was strange, but she tried her best to show Reggie that she too cared about him. Moony would take him to a place where country music was played, or nudge him and propose a crazy idea that she knew he’d love, or paint his nails carefully like before. Or Reggie’s personal favorite: how Luna would “ask” for cuddles. She wouldn’t initiate them, she felt awkward verbally asking for them or suddenly throwing herself on him as he did when he wanted some, but instead she’d shift closer to him and subtly lean a little into his body. After a few times when Reg had asked for cuddles and she’d done that same thing, he had started to understand the subtle actions that she did to ask for touch without feeling awkward or uncomfortable. He had to say, he found it absolutely adorable how shy she could be. He’d never imagined the bold Joy girl to be able to act that way.

“Okay, but now you’re nicer!” he tried to convince her again “Come on, just for half an hour! You meet them, stay a little, and if you decide you don’t like them, or don’t feel right we’ll leave and I won’t talk about this ever again” when she still didn’t look at him, he carefully grabbed her arm —because he knew she’d kill him again if he messed up her nails— and turned her around “Please, please, please, please, please, pl-”

“Okay!” she snapped “I’ll go meet your band, just shut the fuck up!”

“Yes!” he grabbed her face and kissed her lips “You’re the best, Moons”

“Yeah, yeah. Let me finish my hand and we can go” she said, retrieving her arm so she could paint her last two nails.

Luna Joy was used to put this brave, unbreakable, unfazed facade on that now only came down when she was with Reginald Peters. Like right now, she was standing in front of a garage, gripping his hand tight and internally shitting her pants.

“You know what? I’m not feeling well, maybe I should come by another time-”

“Babe. You’re gonna be fine, just relax” he pressed a kiss to her temple, and then walked in “Everybody, this is Luna. I told you guys she existed” he stuck his tongue at his two brothers, grinning wide at Julie’s excited face.

“Hey” Luna waved.

“You. You’re that ghost that didn’t like our music and then was rude!” Luke pointed at her “Why didn’t you like our music?”

“Can you please not attack her, Luke?” Alex rolled his eyes “I’m sorry, he’s stupid. I’m not, I’m Alex”

“Yeah, our music isn’t for everyone. Hi, my name’s Julie and I am very excited to see and meet you. Reggie has told me a lot about you” the curly haired girl in front of her smiled, showing off her tooth gap. Luna thought she was adorable.

“Has he now? I’ve heard a lot about you guys too-”

“Okay! So I’ve talked about everyone, let’s move on passed that, yeah?”

“We’ll save you the embarrassment, don’t worry. Oh, and Luke. I did like your music”

After that afternoon, Luna wasn’t able to get rid of the boys. She didn’t mind, she found that being a solitary ghost was so much less fun than being part of a group again.

“So what did you think?” Reggie asked her on the observatory that night, pulling her body closer than what she had leaned on.

“They’re nice” she hummed “Hey, can I tell you something? I’m scared again”

“Why?”

“I think I love you”

“Well, if it helps, I think I love you too”