#but Alex keeps all the little stuff Willie gives him

[legolasghosty]

Flower prompt! How about blue salvia for willex? 💙

...ignore the fact that this was sent in like 4 months ago...

"I figured out what it is!" Alex exclaimed, dropping down onto the park bench beside Willie, a shy smile pulling at his lips. "You're pebbling!"

Willie stared at him for a second. What? Also, who gave this guy the right to look that cute in a hoodie and basketball shorts? Seriously. His hair is all damp and messy from band practice and the tan lines on his ankles look ridiculous. And somehow, he's still the prettiest person Willie has ever seen.

And he also definitely said something... whoops.

"Sorry, what did you just say?" Willie asked sheepishly.

Thankfully, Alex's smile didn't dim. "All the little gifts and stuff," he said. "It's called pebbling, it's a kinda love language thing."

Willie tilted their head. "Um, what? Gifts?" Willie wasn't much of a gift person in general. Christmas was a pain in the neck, trying to figure out what everyone wanted.

"Like the other day, with the snare keychain you found after work?" Alex responded, mimicking Willie's confused motion. "Or the pink sea glass last week? All the little stuff you give me. It's called pebbling."

"I do that with everyone though," Willie said slowly, trying to think. "It reminds me of you guys. It's not really... on purpose."

Oh gosh, now that Alex pointed it out, Willie kind of did give all their friends a lot of random stuff. Some of it was cool, but most of it was probably junk. He just liked sharing it with them. But... they didn't want to be annoying to their friends...

"Gosh, sorry, I didn't mean to overstep," Alex burst out, startling Willie. "I just saw something online about it so I was doing some research and I guess I just wanted to tell you. But I'm so sorry, we can drop it-"

Willie covered Alex's mouth with his hand before he could say anything else. "No it's okay," they promised, pushing away their own thoughts. "I just didn't really, um, realize I was doing it. I don't want to bug anyone."

Alex wrapped his fingers loosely around Willie's wrist and moved their hand from his mouth to his cheek. "It doesn't bug me," he promised. "It's actually really sweet. I was looking into it cause I wanted to learn how to... I don't know, do it back I guess? Cause I love it when you share stuff with me and I wanted to give that back to you."

"You wanted to-" Willie began, but then gave up. Words were way too complicated.

They slid their hand around to the back of Alex's neck and kissed him. Because, really, what else could he do? What words could show Alex just how much he meant to them? How he was always on their mind, drumming and dancing and laughing and holding them? How little things like this just pulled Willie deeper into the ocean of love he felt for his partner, and how Willie never wanted to resurface. The English language didn't really have the right words for that. So instead, Willie kissed him.

When they separated, one of Alex's arms was around Willie's waist. His other hand was tangled in their hair. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled. In books, there tended to be lines about how one character could see a million things in another's eyes. That wasn't really the case here though. All Willie could see in Alex's eyes is "I love you" repeated over and over and over again. He hoped Alex could see that message shining right back at him as they breathed in tandem.

"You're amazing," Willie murmured, resting his forehead against Alex's.

"Learned it from you," Alex answered, his faint chuckle tickling Willie's skin.

"So it's called pebbling?" Willie clarified.

"Yup," Alex confirmed. "Apparently penguins do it too."

"Well at least I got somewhere to go with my fancy tuxes," Willie joked. "I beat penguins."

Alex laughed and pulled them back in for another kiss. And a couple of days later, when Willie showed him a little collection of pebbles, worn smooth by the Pacific Ocean, he kissed him again before he could get out the words, "These made me think of you."

[innytoes]

3 Sentence prompts: Willexie + Thrift Shopping!

Just because they were kind of famous now, didn't mean Reggie wanted to give up on his favourite hobby. Listen, he'd gotten his most iconic outfit from the thrift store. Okay, it had been pretty much his only outfit for a while. But it had clearly worked, because Sunset Curve was topping the charts now and everyone thought he was really cool.

Another bonus to having one iconic outfit was he could just ditch the leather jacket and flannel for the day and be basically incognito. Not that a lot of old people at estate sales knew who he was, but he'd been recognised at a bunch of garage sales and it just felt wrong to try and haggle with someone who really just wanted his autograph.

"Tell me again why you dragged me out of bed at five in the morning to drive down to Pasadena to look at... old junk?" Alex whined, sipping on the giant coffee Reggie had gotten him along the way. He was dressed in one of Reggie's flannels, which honestly was kind of a little treat in and of itself. Reggie himself had stolen one of Bobby's shirts and Alex' denim jacket.

"Because it's fun?" Reggie asked. Alex did not look convinced. "Because we can get cool stuff for the house?" he tried again.

"We can get cool stuff for the house at literally every store we want now," Alex pointed out. Which was true, they had Money now. Of course their co-dependent asses still went and bought a house together like they always said they would. It was just... slightly closer to a mansion than the shitty apartments they'd been thinking of when they were seventeen and broke. "Luke and Bobby spent a couple of grand on a new sound system."

"It's not about the money," Reggie pouted. "It's about the thrill of the chase. It's about treasure hunting! It's about finding unique pieces nobody else has!"

Alex stared at him, unamused, obnoxiously slurping his coffee.

"Fine, you're here because you love me and because I need your big sexy muscles to help lift stuff into the truck if we find anything." He was hoping to find a cool coffee table, or a desk, and they could still use a nice dresser.

"Fine," Alex said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "But if I find something cute, you're doing the haggling for me."

"Deal."

The morning went pretty well. They found some cool lamps, and a couple of nice hardcover science fiction books Reggie thought would look very mature and adult on their shelf. Reggie managed to haggle down on a really mature looking desk that would look great in their 'We're Real Adults Now' house, and Alex did use his sexy muscles to help get it onto the truck.

After a quick early lunch in town, they went to the next estate sale. They agreed to split up, since it was later in the day and they needed to be fast before all the good stuff was snapped up.

Except when Reggie rounded the corner, he saw Alex wasn't looking for a nice dresser or pretty trinkets. Alex was talking to a very hot, very cool guy in a crop top.

Reggie narrowed his eyes, going over. Alex beamed. "Hey babe!"

"Why are you flirting with the enemy?" Reggie hissed.

Alex groaned. "Not this again."

"Hey, Reggie," Willie beamed. "Great job on nabbing that desk at the Gilmore estate, I had my eye on that too. But you got here a little late. Do you want to see the heirloom patchwork blanket I scored? And I found this really cool dresser I'm going to paint..."

Reggie squinted at their rival, annoyed. He wanted a cool dresser. And the patchwork blanket folded over his arm looked really nice.

"I'm sure it will look really cool," he said, trying to keep the sulk out of his voice. He gave Alex another glare.

Alex just stared at him. "Maybe I was distracting Willie so you could be the first to notice those vintage comic books in the corner," he said, and Reggie gasped, running off and rifling through the box before Willie could get there.

"Aw man, low blow, Hotdog!" Willie complained.

"Yeah, I'm evil like that," Alex deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the two of them.

In the end, Reggie came away with some Spiderman and Hawkeye comics that were still missing from his collection, and a cute little side table they could paint a pretty pink for Alex. As they were finishing up and loading everything in the truck at the end of the day, Willie moseyed back over.

"Howdy," he said, tipping a cowboy hat Reggie had completely missed. He felt a stab of jealousy, not just for missing it but also because Willie looked unfairly hot like that. Then, Willie plopped the hat on Reggie's head. "We still on for dinner?"

"The burger place?" Reggie asked, leaning over to press a kiss to Willie's cheek.

Alex popped out of the truck. "Oh so now it's okay to flirt?" he asked, grumpy.

"Of course it is, Alex, it's four thirty," Reggie said, propping the cowboy hat on Alex' head. He did not look as sexy as Willie had, but he did look kind of cute. They should go on a horseback riding date, all three of them, sometime soon. He'd bring it up over dinner.

"Yeah, Hotdog, we're only mortal thrifting enemies between six and four," Willie agreed.

"You two are so weird," Alex complained, but he still climbed down to sit in the bed of the truck to receive kisses from both his boyfriends. And over dinner, he smiled indulgently as his two thrift-nerdy boyfriends compared notes and showed off pictures of the treasures they'd found.

[invisibleraven]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

dragging them out to every restaurant or store to get the free drinks or birthday benefits sounds like a Greater Polyphantoms Polycule thing

"Where do you want to go for your birthday babe?" Alex asked Willie.

Willie lolled his head back, humming in thought. "I dunno, got any suggestions?"

"We should go to Cheyenne's!" Luke exclaimed.

"The steak house?" Flynn asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Dude, I'm a vegetarian," Willie retorted.

"You don't have to get the steak," Luke explained. "They have lots of shellfish options if you're eating fish right now."

"I am not," Willie replied.

"Well... if you tell them it's your birthday they give you free cake! And sing an awful song while you wear a hat with moose antlers!" Luke argued back.

"Okay, see you should have lead with the free cake and the silly hat," Willie said, rubbing his chin. "You know any other places I can get free stuff for my birthday?"

"Probably," Luke said with a shrug. "I only know about the steak house because that's where my dad went on his last birthday, and my mom got pictures of the hat."

"I can check to see a few places," Flynn offered. "It'll probably be apps and desserts."

"That sounds sweet, thanks honey bunny," Willie replied, blowing her a kiss.

"Pity that Reg and Jules are stuck in the studio," Alex sighed. "Now it means I have to reign you all in myself."

"They wanted to do their stupid country album, they miss out," Luke said, crossing his arms, a pout peeking out. Alex just rolled his eyes at that-they had offered to have Luke join them, but he refused, so now they were off in Nashville for a few weeks, and he was here without them.

"What about Carrie and Kayla?" Flynn asked. "Will they be back in LA by then?"

Willie shook his head. "Dirty Candi is in Tucson that night, playing for all the cowboys."

"Guess it's just us four then," Luke replied.

"You know that they're probably only going to give me the free stuff right?" Willie asked. "Since it's my birthday?"

"I mean, you could share," Luke grumbled.

"I know how your brain works," Alex says, staring Luke down. "They will check if you say it's your birthday too."

"Ruin all my fun," Luke sighed, rolling his eyes. "I still vote for the moose hat."

"Oh we're so doing the moose hat," Willie assured him. "Flynnie? Anywhere else?"

"Let's see we've got Applebees, Denny's, oooh Sephora!"

"I'll get you a cute eyeliner," Willie promised her.

"Ta, also Starbucks."

"Well coffee will definitely be first," Willie said with a nod.

"You need to sign up for a few rewards programs," Flynn said, holding out her hand for Willie to hand over his phone. She was the best at coming up with fake emails for them to sign up for stuff like that.

"Alrighty, we have a game plan," Alex said a little while later, easing himself back onto the couch.

"Sweet, can't wait for my birthday now," Willie said with a grin.

"You're just saying that because you already know what Alex got you as a gift," Flynn teased.

"Wait, we're doing gifts this year?" Luke asked. "I thought we agreed no big presents until the birthday was a significant one with everyone's to keep track of."

Alex shrugged. "I saw it and I had to get it. So it's not really a birthday present, more so a present I'm making Willie wait until his birthday to get."

"Fair enough," Luke replied. Then he leered at Willie. "So what is it? I know if he's making you wait it's something sexy."

"And I'm out!" Flynn exclaimed. "See you losers tomorrow for the celebrations."

"Night Flynn!" the guys called, and she waved as she went out the door.

"So what is it?" Luke asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"You can use it with us if you want," Alex replied. "If you're a good boy."

Luke shivered and grinned. "You sure it's not my birthday?"

"Fairly certain," Willie replied. "But you sure are a gift."

"Thanks," Luke replied, then his face arrested. "Hey!"

"Don't worry babe, we'd never return you out," Alex assured him. "Now come on, it's our turn to make food and we can't have breakfast for supper again."

Willie shook his head as he watched the boys go off, and lay back on the couch, already wondering how much he could offer the restaurant for the moose hat.

[xxprettylittletimebombxx]

heyyy bestie asking these anon coz im shy but 🛒 🤗 🤲 love ur writing btw &excited for the big bang fic!

That’s okay! Thank you for asking and thanks for the kind words!! 💕

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

HANDS (lol). No but in all seriousness I think just focusing on smaller moments is something that comes up a lot in my fics. Sometimes that’s the light touch of fingertips accidentally grazing, or sometimes it’s prolonged eye contact. Breathlessness at the expense of another person too is something I tend to play with A LOT!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Go with the idea that you’re the most excited about— that’s really going to drive you to keep writing even if you don’t see a lot of engagement on your stuff at first. And to that point, high engagement is not indicative of how good or bad your fic is so try not to get too swept up in ao3 stats or comparing your ao3 stats to others.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?In an embarrassing twist of events most of the WIPs I have started are smutty 🫣 I know smut isn’t everyone’s cup of tea though so instead, here’s a coffee shop au that I think I started for Jukebox Appreciation Week but never finished! (Under the cut though because it’s a bit lengthy!)

send me Fanfic Writer Emoji Asks!

(For some added context: I initially envisioned this as a coffee shop au where Julie gets a job at the same shop Luke and the guys work at. Luke ends up being assigned to train Julie on bar so they bond over that but the ball really gets rolling when Julie finds herself without a duet partner for the big winter showcase at school and Luke steps in and volunteers to help. Okay I think that’s all you need to know— please enjoy!!)

“Alex, take over for me,” Luke says impulsively.

Alex looks like he’s about to protest. Luke knows he tends to avoid the register during the late morning rush, but he follows Luke’s line of sight as he tracks Julie’s form as she rushes past the the bar, offering a halfhearted hello to Willie, who’s elbow deep in soap suds at the back sink, before she ducks back into the warehouse.

“‘Yeah, okay, go,” Alex says finally.

“We got you, buddy,” Reggie assures him from his spot at the bar, using his free arm to give Luke’s ribs an encouraging nudge. “You know...there was a chocolate croissant left in the pastry case last I checked,” he adds casually.

“Thanks, man— I owe you,” Luke says gratefully, making quick work of plating up the pastry in question before heading out.

He makes a pitstop at the coffee lab, making use of the toaster oven before he begins his search. It doesn’t take long to find her tucked away on the old couch someone, at some point, had tucked under one of the many steel pallet racks that line the coffee shop warehouse. And despite scuffing his shoe on the smooth concrete floor, she still looks startled when Luke sets the plated croissant on the table in front of her and slides it toward her.

“But...I didn’t order anything,” Julie remarks in confusion.

“On the house,” Luke grins before adding, “And freshly toasted.”

“Thanks,” she whispers, picking the plate up and balancing it on one knee.

“Can I…?” He asks, gesturing toward the opposite end of the couch.

“Sure.”

The silence is thick around them as Luke takes a seat beside her, his right knee bouncing restlessly as he deliberates over how to proceed. What little rationality is still left in his brain is screaming at him to abort, but he knows he’s not going to do that. Especially not after he catches sight of the way Julie’s worrying her bottom lip between her teeth while she picks halfheartedly at one corner of the chocolate croissant he’d just brought her.

“You good, Boss?” He asks carefully.

“Yeah. Fine.” Julie answers, with a bit too much lightness to be believable.

Luke doesn't press it, but he quirks an eyebrow up at her when she chances a glance at them and their eyes lock.

“Not really," she concedes through a heavy sigh.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Luke waits with bated breath for Julie to hit back with some sort of quip about respecting boundaries, but by some miracle, he must have played his cards right. Instead, Julie launches into a rant about some tool in her music program named Nick who flaked on their midterm project to work with some other girl.

“And Carrie’s like…well, she’s Carrie Wilson,” Julie rambles on. “And I’m…not.”

“You’re right. You aren’t anything like her,” Luke agrees. “But you’re Julie fucking Molina! You’re like a human wrecking ball, and you’re worth ten Carrie Wilsons any day.”

She turns away, the corners of her lips turn up in the barest hint of a smile.

“That’s sweet of you to say but I’m not sure you’re the best person to pass judgement here. You haven’t even heard me sing— I could be awful—“

“You’re not!” Luke interjects.

It’s quick enough to raise some suspicions in the girl sitting next to him, and when Julie quirks a questioning eyebrow up in his direction, Luke realizes the jig is up.

“I…may or may not have heard you singing in the walk-in while you were putting the milk away?” He confesses. “And— don’t be mad— but I…may or may not have gone home that night and spent a little too much time scrolling through every video you have up of you playing on your Instagram.”

“All that time spent doom scrolling through my profile and you couldn’t even bother to double tap on any of those videos? Luke, I’m hurt.”

“In my defense, I didn’t want you to think I your new co-worker was some crazy internet stalker.”

“Too late now— you’ve outed yourself as my number one fan,” Julie giggles.

She gets lost in her thoughts when her laugh fizzles out, and when a crease of worry materializes between her brows, it takes everything Luke has not to reach over and try to smooth it out in an effort to take that worry away.

He settles for reaching out and giving her wrist a comforting squeeze.

“Hey, I’m serious Julie. Screw that guy— you don’t even need him.”

“Maybe you’re right but…well, it would’ve been nice to have a partner again,” she muses. “I haven’t written with anyone since my mom died. I guess I just thought it might be nice to try again.”

[michelangelinden]

Reggie loves having his nails painted but they never last be he picks at them. Alex and Luke have their nails painted occasionally- Alex because his nails can last for weeks, and Luke because he chews it off immediately and is very bad at sitting still long enough to have his nails painted.

Absolutely!

I think all of them like having painted nails, but they have very different opinions on the actual nail painting process.

Alex likes having painted nails to give his look a little feminine touch, because he usually appears quite masculine (also because it would piss his parents off). But he doesn't like painting them himself, because he's always unsatisfied with how messy it looks at the end. So he gets Julie or Willie to do it for him and he really likes that, talking about random stuff while Willie draws swirly designs onto his ring finger, it's really relaxing.

Luke thinks painted nails are so cool, so rock star, so emo, especially in black. But because he's a little hyperactive rabbit, painting his nails is always stressful for everyone involved. He has trouble sitting still while either he paints them or has someone else paint them, so they take breaks for him to stim and shake out his hands in between. Then comes the drying period which is also hard, because he can't touch anything with freshly painted nails. He's given the couch enough small black spots to know about that. So he just sits or paces around the room, hands raised to eye level, to keep his nails from touching anything. Once dry, they're all relieved and Luke can go about his day, only to come back four hours later with chips at the tips. Also Julie gets him some chewelery so he doesn't bite on them.

Reggie almost prefers the act of nail painting to actually having painted nails (although he also really loves that.) He likes trying out different colours and fun designs, almost like his nails are an artwork (they are). Unfortunately he's never gotten over the habit of picking at his nails when he's nervous. Julie also gets him a fidget toy, which helps, but it doesn't stop it, which Reggie is always sad about. One day Julie borrows Flynn's semi professional nail design kit and gives Reggie like gel nails or something, really short so it doesn't overstimulate him and it doesn't affect his bass playing. That really does the trick, because it makes it much harder to pick the design off, so Reggie chooses the fidget toy over his nails. Great success.

Once Julie tries to have like a nail painting party, but the boys immediately get distracted by each other, that they quickly go back to having their nails painted individually. She loves doing it though.

Thank you, this is such a great headcanon!!

Forehead kisses for you! One for each band member 😘😘😘😘+😘 for Flynn

Send me asks with headcanons!

[yourlocalfictionalenthusiast]

IN LIFE, IN DEATH...

PART TEN

:Masterlist:

A/N: And that’s a wrap! Ahh, writing this series has been so fun and I’m so glad that so many of you have liked it so much. Thank you guys for staying until the end and hopefully for upcoming stuff 👀 I hope you enjoy the finale of In Life, In Death... <3

(Also the song mentioned in part six and this part is ‘She Is Love’ by Parachute) <3

-

December 1994

Luke groaned as he woke up, squinting hard to try and adjust his eyes to the amount of light in the room.

Even before he could see clearly, he knew he must've fallen asleep in the studio judging by the soreness in his back and neck that he always got when he slept on the old couch. It couldn't have been more than six in the morning, and Luke could still feel the tiredness in his bones. So he tried to turn away from the light and hopefully fall back asleep, but there was something keeping him firmly in place.

His heart skipped when he looked down and saw that you were laying right next to him with your head on his chest and an arm thrown across his stomach. When he realized that his own arms were wrapped around you, his heart broke out into a full-on tap dance.

Waves of confusion ran through his still-foggy brain until he saw his guitar case propped up against the piano and his backpack on the floor with his clothes spilling out of it.

Then the events of last night quickly came back to him.

How he had gotten home late from rehearsal and his mom was waiting in the kitchen with his latest report card and her signature lecture at the ready. One minute he was standing there yelling, packing all he could fit into his bag, and the next, he was halfway to the studio with the rain soaking him head to toe.

He had expected it to be empty when he finally got there, but he was flooded with relief when he saw you. All the frustration slowly melted out of him the longer he laid there with you, leaving him feeling exhausted and shivering despite how warm he felt.

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about any of it, but when you asked, the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

He remembered rambling and crying again, the sound of your voice and the feeling of your fingers in his hair warming him up even more. Then finally, he remembered falling asleep with his chin tucked on top of your head, the smell of your shampoo filling his senses.

Without thinking, Luke reached down and carefully pushed a piece of hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ear and smiling to himself when you shifted into his touch. Then taking in a sharp breath as the realization ran through him all the way down to his toes.

You were his best friend.

The person he wanted to see at the end of a long day. Whenever he was full of anger or lost in confusion, all he had to do was look at you and everything suddenly made sense again. With your pretty smile and laugh, and your way of flipping that little switch inside him that made his head all fuzzy and the ground start spinning under his feet.

You were his best friend, and he was in love with you.

-

2020

All you felt was a mixture of anxiety and nausea as you stood on the Orpheum's street corner, biting the tips of your fingernails.

The entire plan hinged on Willie and Teddy getting everything done in time, and considering that they had betrayed you all before, you couldn’t help but expect the worst.

“Look, don’t worry. Willie said he’ll get us on that marquee.” Alex said nervously as he kicked pebbles across the sidewalk.

“This is going to work, right?” Reggie asked.

“It has to.” Luke mumbled, wincing seconds later when another shock hit them.

Two sharp pops cut through the air behind you and you all whipped around to see Willie and Teddy standing just a few feet away. Willie was watching you all carefully with concern written all over his face, his eyes lingering on Alex longer than anyone else. Teddy stood at the edge of the group, practically burning a hole in your face with his guilty stare.

“Are you guys okay?” Willie asked.

“Yeah, nothing we haven’t felt before.” Alex laughed awkwardly. “How’d it go?”

“Well, when the opening band wakes up, they’ll find their bus two hundred miles out of Vegas.” Willie said with a proud smile as he did a spin, showing off his stolen jacket with the band’s name across the back.

“With absolutely no chance of getting back in time.” Teddy added.

Luke gave Willie a fistbump and pointed up to the office above the Orpheum. “That means there’s probably a promoter up there freaking out right now.”

Willie grinned, sarcasm laced in his tone. “Nah, man. This is Hollywood. I’m sure he’s being very professional.”

You laughed and then Alex slowly inched forward, clearly struggling for the right words to say to Willie. You gave his arm a quick squeeze before following Reggie and Luke down the street to give them space. Before you even got halfway down the sidewalk, Teddy poofed next to you.

“You know, If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you don’t want to talk to me.” He joked.

“Teddy-”

"I just-I didn't want to leave things the way we did." He rambled. "I'm sorry, I should've told you everything that night in the diner-"

"Teddy, It's okay." You said. "You told me before Caleb could put the stamp on me, and you didn't know the details about the plan until after it was too late to help my friends. Plus, I know how much you're risking helping us now."

As soon as the words left your mouth, you felt some of the weight fall off your shoulders. You weren't sure why since the situation was still a little painful and awkward. But being around Teddy always made you feel a little like that kid who started working at the diner with Cece all those years ago. Besides, they were so alike that you found it hard to stay mad at him.

You held out your hand for Teddy to shake. "Despite everything, I'm glad we met."

“Likewise, Gorgeous,” Teddy said with a relieved smile as he grasped your hand. With a subtle wink, he nodded over towards where Luke was standing at the end of the street. “He’s a lucky guy.”

"What? How did you?-" You sputtered as he stepped away. You never told Teddy about Luke, or at least you didn't think you did.

Teddy just smirked in response before disappearing into the air. At the same time, you saw Willie skate away out of the corner of your eye, leaving Alex alone on the sidewalk.

You all phased next to him and Luke squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah. I'm good." Alex smiled slyly as he gestured to the office. "Looks like this show needs a new opening act though."

You grinned. "Let's go see if we can help with that."

-

When you got back to the studio, you found Julie pacing back and forth in the middle of the room as she wrung her hands together.

When you all poofed in, she immediately jumped into a load of questions, losing her breath halfway through and flailing her arms around.

"Whoa, just sit down," You laughed excitedly. "We'll tell you everything."

Julie took a gasping breath and plopped backwards onto the couch then stared at you all with expectant eyes. "Well?"

"It worked!" You announced. "Everything's fine."

"You should be getting the call...now!" Alex pointed to Julie’s phone on the table just as it started buzzing. You all cheered and Julie shushed you as she answered the call.

You heard a woman's voice say something through the phone and Julie gave a thumbs-up as she started jumping on the couch. You watched in amusement and mild horror as Luke and Reggie lifted Alex up into the air and spun him around.

Once he was back on the ground, Luke and Reggie made a beeline for you, each of them grabbed one of your arms and flipped you upside down over their shoulders.

You all spent the next twenty minutes laughing and screaming and Alex even got a little teary-eyed but you pretended not to notice. Then Julie called Flynn and ran off excitedly to decide her outfit for the night, leaving the four of you alone to plan out the setlist.

“Okay, so I’m thinking we start with Stand Tall.” Luke said excitedly as he wrote the words down in his songbook.

“Sounds good.” Reggie said, suddenly quiet.

“’Sounds good’? Guys, I wanna hear ‘That sounds awesome!” Luke reached out and nudged Reggie’s shoulder. “I know this isn’t the way we imagined any of this. But we need to be all in tonight. This is our second chance to play the Orpheum!”

“I get it.” Reggie sputtered. “But it’s hard. Do we even know what’s on the other side when we cross over? Do we still get to hang out together?”

You shifted your weight as the happy little bubble surrounding you popped. You had been so wrapped up in the excitement of finally playing the Orpheum that you almost forgot what tonight was really about.

“You guys are the only family I have.” Reggie’s eyes were glued to the piano as he played with his fingers. You reached out and locked his arm with yours in an attempt to comfort him.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen either. But it’s not like we have a choice.” Alex said.

Suddenly, Reggie’s arm fell out of yours as all three boys fell back, clutching their sides.

“I’m pretty sure we do.” Reggie groaned. “And it rhymes with ‘Hollywood Ghost Club’.”

The garage doors creaked open and Julie appeared with a bright smile and a blue garment bag in her hand. When she saw your expressions, her smile fell. “What’s wrong?”

“We just got hit pretty hard by one of those jolts.” Alex said. “But we’re fine.”

“Oh, good.” She nodded, though she still looked on edge. “I’m nervous.”

“That makes two of us.” You said. “But we made it this far for a reason. We got this.”

“Can you ride there with me? I'm gonna need more pep-talk material for the drive there cause I still think I might puke.” Julie tucked her hair behind her ears.

“Of course, and don't worry, we’ll leave the windows open.” You joked, making everyone laugh.

The sound of a car horn cut through the air and Julie looked outside. "That's my dad. Are you ready, (Y/n)?"

You nodded. "Yeah, uh, give me a second. I'll meet you in the car."

As Julie disappeared behind the doors, you turned to the boys and sighed as you tried to soak up this moment. For all you knew, this could be the last little window of time you had alone with them before tonight.

Julie was a huge part of the band of course, but these were your boys. The ones who you started this all with, who had been by your side for everything.

From the look on all their faces, you could see that they were thinking the same thing.

Without saying a word, you launched yourself at Alex. He made a surprised noise but recovered quickly, throwing his arms around you and holding you tight.

"And I'm the emotional one?" He jokingly muttered in your ear and you pinched his side, making him jump back. "Rude."

As soon as your arms were open, Reggie stepped forward and hugged you so tightly that you were thankful to not need oxygen anymore because he was definitely crushing several vital organs.

You laughed and gave him one last squeeze before pulling away, locking eyes with Luke instantly.

Alex cleared his throat awkwardly and grabbed Reggie's shoulder, steering him over to Luke's songbook to 'check out the setlist again'.

"And then there were two." Luke joked.

You laughed and stepped into his waiting arms, making him laugh. You soaked up the feeling of comfort and familiarity for a minute before pulling away.

"This, uh, is for you," Luke said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. You knitted your eyebrows together in confusion as he handed it over. "I wanted you to have it in case...well, you know. If tonight doesn't work."

"It will." You said, trying to ignore the fact that it very well could happen. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Patterson."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He quipped back, his voice sounding softer and less teasing than you would've expected. You pulled back from him and because you didn't know if you would ever get another chance, you stood on your tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

You moved away too fast to see his reaction but the gesture made the other two boys smirk at you as you dashed out of the doors, making a beeline for the car pulling out of the driveway.

-

The back rooms of the Orpheum were a maze.

You had left for a few minutes to walk around the venue and clear your head, trying to wring out the last of your nerves.

By the time you found your way back, you expected to find the rest of the band rushing to get ready in the dressing room. But all you saw was Julie anxiously pacing as she had been earlier, a habit she seemed to have inherited from both you and Alex.

“You okay?”

She snapped her head up towards you and sighed. “Yeah, just a little worried. The guys aren’t here yet.”

You looked around the room and then at the clock, frowning. The show was in less than half an hour and that was already cutting it close. Part of you wanted to go check on them but Julie seemed to need you more at the moment.

“Okay, well, give them another ten minutes. I'm sure they'll be here. They wouldn’t miss this…again.”

You ran your palm across the front of your pocket, feeling Luke's note next to your parent’s photo, and hoped you were right.

But then more and more time passed until the stage manager came to escort Julie to the stage.

"Just a second!" She calls out and then turns to you. "(Y/n), something's wrong. They were getting those jolts pretty hard before we left. They must've run out of time."

You shut your eyes tight as the words sunk in. All you could bring yourself now was, ‘This isn't what was supposed to happen.’

The world fell out from under your feet and you had trouble even standing up straight as you imagined what must've happened to them. Your best friends, your brothers, your family was gone and there wasn't anything you could do about it.

The guy knocked again, this time a little harder and with a nervous tone. Julie chewed her lip as she looked between you and the door and you could almost see the cloud of grief settling over her.

As hard as it was, you tried your best to shove your feelings down and marched up to Julie. There would be time to fall apart later, but you knew that this what they would want you to do. "Let's go do this for them, okay?"

She took a deep, shaky breath before hesitantly nodding. You followed closely behind her as she walked out the door though the halls until she reached the stage. You waited beside Flynn in the wing as Julie settled behind her microphone and addressed the crowd.

There were scattered claps from around the venue and then she took a deep breath before singing the opening.

After the first few lines, you took your cue and materialized at the center of the stage. The crowd gasped and cheered the way they always did, but you kept your eyes shut tight and focused on the music.

Just as the song started picking up, you heard a familiar pop in the air and then the sound of drumming. You whirled around to see Alex mounted onto a drum set at the back of the stage, twirling his drumsticks around and smiling like he had never been gone at all.

Once you got over the initial shock, you wanted to cry with relief. They were okay, they were here. Alex winked at you goofily, and you ran towards Julie’s keyboard.

She had started bouncing on the balls of her feet, both of you finally getting into the song now that they were coming back. You followed suit, dancing around the base of the drum set as yours and Julie’s voices came together.

Then Reggie appeared on the other side of Julie and you ran to his side. You bumped his shoulder with yours and he grinned, moving to stand back to back.

The song was ramping up to the chorus when a staticky noise cut through the air, not loud enough for the crowd to hear but enough to make you all look over to the other end of the stage.

You could see Luke's form fading in and out, a look of anguish on his face, and the pit in your stomach opened up again. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as Alex's drumming paused and Luke finally materialized to sing the opening of the chorus.

You didn't even know you were moving until you suddenly found yourself across the stage next to Luke, unable to stop smiling as you sang.

Julie joined you, throwing her arms up in the air happily and jumping around. Reggie appeared by her side, flashing the crowd a winning smile.

Alex stood up and gripped his mic as he sang this solo. You looked back at him and flashed him a proud smile, then whooping loudly when Reggie sang his lines.

You all went down the line hitting your notes until the chorus kicked in again and your heart felt so full you almost couldn't stand it. This was what you were so close to achieving before you died, it was all you had wanted for years, and you knew that if you hadn't died, that night would've changed your life. But this night was something even more special. Because you were all here, all together.

Even if it was just for one last song.

Julie caught your attention and nodded towards the platform that spread out into the crowd. You followed her to the center and stood back to back as everyone cheered.

The guys joined in on either side of you, Alex grabbing one of your hands and Luke holding the other. You all bowed to the audience before taking your cue and vanishing, leaving only Julie on stage.

You landed in the wing, feeling a little lightheaded and overwhelmed from all the emotions you had experienced in the last five minutes. The elated smile fading from your face when all three boys poofed by your side only to fall to the floor instantly.

“It didn’t work.” You said miserably as Julie emerged into the backstage area. She grabbed Flynn and whispered something to her, pointing in the direction of her family. Flynn nodded and disappeared into the crowd while Julie ran to your side.

You hauled Alex onto his feet, letting him lean on you to stay upright while Luke and Reggie trailed behind Julie as she led the group back to the dressing room. Once everyone was inside, they collapsed on the couch or the floor, loudly groaning in pain.

“What happened? Why didn’t it work?” Julie asked tearfully.

“I guess playing here wasn’t our unfinished business.” Alex said hollowly.

“Point Caleb.” Reggie muttered as he clung to the side of an armchair.

You stood frozen next to Julie as panic spread through your whole body, both of you flinching in sympathy as the shocks continued.

“You have to save yourselves right now.” Julie begged. “Join Caleb’s club. It’s better than not existing at all!”

“She’s right.” You managed to say, your voice shaky and almost giving out. Your stomach flipped at the thought of them having to work for an evil club owner forever, but the alternative was worse. “You guys need to go now! For me. For us.”

“We’re not going back there.” Reggie shook his head.

Luke pulled himself up and stumbled forward a little so that he was right in front of you. “No music is worth making if we’re not all making it together.”

You sighed sadly, thinking back to your conversation yesterday. “So no more regrets?”

Luke let out a deep sigh and then reached up and cupped your cheek with his right hand. “Just one.”

You furrowed your eyebrows in response and Luke blinked hard as if he was trying to find the words. "I never told you why I left that night."

"Luke, don't." You gave him a weak smile. "I get it."

"You do?" He asked.

You struggled to get the words out. "Yeah, I mean it was bound to happen eventually. We just got too close and it was weird for you. I understand t-”

"What?" Luke asked, cutting you off with a confused look. "No, no, that's not it at all. Read the-"

Before he could finish, you heard Julie gasp loudly from a few feet away. You looked over to see her stepping back from Alex with an awestruck look on her face as she gripped his forearms.

Wait, what?

Before you could even begin to process what you were seeing, Reggie was reaching out to Julie, who grabbed his wrist and hauled him up to his feet. The three of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Julie turned to you and Luke.

“Guys, come here.”

Alex reached out and pulled you into his side while Luke threw an arm around Reggie’s back and Julie brought you all in closer to her. At first, nothing happened. But then there was a faint buzzing sound and the boys lifted their wrist towards the ceiling and you all watched in awe as the stamp floated away in the blink of an eye.

“Whoa.” Reggie said, his eyes still glued to the ceiling. “I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Alex agreed. “Not that I ever was that weak in the first place.”

You rolled your eyes and let your head fall over on his shoulder. “What do you think that means?”

Luke smiled. “I think it means the band is back.”

It was quiet for a second before Alex looked at you all shyly. “You guys think we can try that hug thing again?”

You laughed as you huddled together again, sniffling and laughing. Then Julie yelled out that you had played the Orpheum and then you were all jumping around, still tangled in each other’s arms.

Eventually, you all broke apart and while the boys started chasing each other around, you turned to Julie. She looked into your eyes and immediately flew into your arms, muttering into your shoulder, “I always wanted a big sister.”

The words warmed your heart and you squeezed her extra hard, grateful that you actually could now. “Well, I’m honored.”

“My family's probably looking for me so..." Julie stepped back from your arms with the biggest smile you’d ever seen on her face, you jokingly bowed to her and she copied the gesture before disappearing behind the door.

You wiped the last of your tears out of your eyes and turned around to find Alex and Reggie were talking in whispers and wearing knowing smiles. When Alex saw you looking, he cleared his throat and nudged Reggie’s shoulder.

“Hey, Reg.” Alex said cheekily, not taking his eyes off of you for even a second. “I was going to check out the next band. You wanna come with me?”

“Sure!” Reggie started strolling towards the door, stopping only for a second to nudge your shoulder and whisper ‘don't do anything I wouldn’t do’ in your ear.

Alex fixed Luke with a pointed look over his shoulder and Reggie gave him a dorky wink before they poofed away. You smiled fondly at the space where they were just standing and awkwardly turned towards Luke.

“Hi.” You said, laughing awkwardly.

“Hi.” Luke muttered back as he stepped forward until he was close enough to grab your hand. “About what I was saying earlier…”

You opened your mouth to say something but he shook his head and pointed to your pocket. “Read it. Please.”

You tugged the note he had given you earlier out of your pocket and carefully folded it open to see that it wasn’t a note at all. It was the love song that Julie had found that day in the garage, the one that he didn’t want anyone to see. You struggled a little trying to decipher Luke's handwriting. The ink was a little smudged and the song was clearly unfinished but it was the most beautiful thing you had ever read. And he had written it for you.

"I didn't leave because we got too close," He said. "It was the opposite, (Y/n), I left because I was scared to lose you, and I know that doesn't make sense because I kind of did w-"

You carefully tucked the paper back in your pocket with one hand and grabbed the back of his neck with the other, pulling him down and closing the last bit of space between you.

Luke's brain short-circuited for a second before he started kissing back, grabbing your waist with enough force to nearly knock you both backwards. It was dizzying and a little desperate, yet weirdly familiar, as if you'd been kissing him your whole life.

Most moments with Luke felt like they were happening in slow motion, but this time it was like a high-speed movie montage of your whole lives. The stolen crayons, the time capsule, the pre performance pep talks, the smell of cinnamon, the ferris wheel, his jacket, the movie nights and songwriting sessions. All of it had led up to this moment.

"I love you." Luke said immediately after you pulled away. "God, I love you so much. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."

“Hey, it’s okay.” You laughed, blinking another wave of tears out of your eyes. “I should’ve told you forever ago instead of skirting around it.”

“And what is it that you should’ve told me?” He said teasingly and you rolled your eyes. You had gotten so used to Luke being so shut down or nervous around you that you almost forgot how much of a little shit he could be.

“That I love you too.” You said, unable to stop smiling.

Luke leaned down and captured your lips in another kiss, this time threading his fingers through your hair as he cupped your cheeks in his hands. “I’m never gonna get tired of hearing that.”

You bit your lip to keep another laugh from bubbling up as you looked up at him, feeling completely overwhelmed in the best way possible. "So...what now?"

"I don't know." Luke admitted. "But I know one thing."

"What's that?"

"That no matter where we go, or what we do," He pushed a piece of hair behind your ear. "In life, in death... I'm yours. Always."

-

The End

-

In Life, In Death Taglist:

@ifilwtmfc @instabull @wanniiieeee @tenaciousperfectionunknown @charliegillespiewife @merceret @itismeasmolpotato @lilostif16 @dangerouslyclose @iainttakingshitfromnobody @givemebooksorgivemedeath @sunsetcurvedotmp3 @askgeoff @mayleenicole5676 @puppy11148 @vampire7595 @wackyworrieruniverse @reallysparklychaos @lovelydaydreams15 @rachmmb @musicismyescape27 @stackie4ever​ @spidermankenobi

(Strikethrough means I can’t tag you)

JATP Taglist:

@caitsymichelle13 @sunsetcurvej​

Let me know if you want to be added!

[daintyduck99]

Love you prompts: "This is my favorite picture of us." for Rulie pretty please?

Reggie's not snooping through his girlfriend's stuff. Really! Swear on his grandpa's banjo.

She'd added a little too much glitter while she was decorating her phone case, and it keeps getting in her speakers and scuffing on her screen, so he figured he'd do something nice for her and pop the case off and clean it up a little, that's all.

He doesn't expect a scrap of tissue paper to fall out and unfurl, freeing a handful of Polaroids that flutter across the Molina's kitchen table.

Reggie gingerly sets Julie's phone and her case away from the photos and wipes his hands on his shirt. He carefully sifts through the pictures, doing his best to touch them as little as possible.

There's one of him and Julie with Luke and Alex that must have been taken right before their Halloween gig. They've got their arms around each other and bright grins tugging at their cheeks. Julie's incredibly cute in her gingham dress and ruby slippers and her braids, and she and Flynn went all out on helping Luke and Reggie and Alex with their costumes, transforming them into the Tin Man and the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, respectively.

The next photo is one of Julie and Flynn from the same night, squishing their cheeks together and making silly faces at the camera. Only Flynn could decide to dress as the Emerald City and make it work.

There's Carrie flipping off the camera without looking away from her phone, lips twitching in a small smile, there's Luke with a guitar pick between his teeth, acoustic in hand, there's Alex and Willie smearing cookie dough batter all over one another, and there's Reggie grinning at Julie behind the camera, cheek propped in his hand, eyes glittering with affection he can't contain.

Flynn calls it his "hella heart eyes" face. She's not wrong.

The last photo makes his chest all fluttery, like someone unleashed a storm of butterflies in there. Someone did, honestly.

Julie still gives him butterflies. She bowls him over all the time, makes him weak in the knees with a single smile or a casual touch or a bright laugh, a loving look when their eyes meet. Hers are so warm, and he gets lost in their depths constantly.

They're sparkling with joy in the picture, evident even under the brim of the black cowboy hat she'd just stolen from him. The flannel she'd borrowed had been tied to look like more of a crop top, and she's stunning, the loveliest person at the square dance he'd dragged her and their friends to.

She's smiling at him, nose scrunched, leaning in close as they dance, and he's smirking, though a vibrant flush betrays how flustered she'd made him.

He'd really wanted to kiss her right then.

A tiny giggle catches him off-guard. "Reg?"

"It's not what it looks like!" he rushes to say, throwing his hands up.

Julie shakes her head, giggling harder.

"I don't mind if you look at that stuff. I wouldn't have left my phone here if I did. You just seemed really invested. Did you know that you have glitter on your cheek?"

Huh. When the heck did that get there?

Oh, he was doing the whole heart eyes, cheek-in-hand thing again. He hurriedly scrubs at his face.

Julie smiles. She reaches out and wipes the glitter away, or at least some of it. She weaves around the kitchen table and wraps her arms around him, resting her chin on his head.

"This is my favorite picture of us."

He has to swallow some of the butterflies so he can speak. "Really?"

"Yeah." She presses a light kiss into his hair. "Our Not Date, Flynn called it. I had so much fun with you that night. I almost told you that I liked you then, and I thought about kissing you, but I was worried it would ruin your night if I was totally misinterpreting everything. Flynn slapped that photo into my hand and said I couldn't be, and I should go for it. So I did."

"The very next day," Reggie murmurs. "When you brought my hat and my shirt back. The neighbors were scandalized when you kissed me on the porch."

He feels her shrug. Her voice wavers with mischief and barely-contained laughter.

"I mean, I did hold the hat up. They don't know that for sure."

He snorts. "Well, I do. And it said a lot. I really thought I was dreaming until then."

She gently tips his head back with her fingers on his chin. Her eyes shine.

"What does this kiss say?"

It's a very loud I love you, without hesitation.

Though there might be some glitter.

[sunsetcurvetaintedhotdog]

Flash From The Past ✩

Request: I have a request and I was asking if you cans do a ghost!Luke Patterson x alive!reader but she is older. Like in the 90s they were but then he died and she got older. But Julie had went through his journal or stuff and found a picture of them and he wrote a song like the Scene when he and Julie went to his parents house but the reader. I’m really bad at explaining things I just wanted to request an angst story please :) <3 Like a little of they’re romantic relationship and then show the aftermath of after he died and Julie kind a like confronts her with Luke like ep 8 <3

Warning: Angst, probably some grammar errors.

Word Count: 1,401

Song Used: “Somebody To You” By The Vamps

“Luke be careful your gonna hit the car in front!” I scolded him as were were entering the drive in movie parking lot. He dismissed me with a sway of his hand. “I’m an excellent driver love, no need to worry” He smiled at me before making an abrupt stop.

“LUKE!” I yelled at him. He just cheekily smiled at me and shrugged. “That’s his fault for going so slow then stopping not mine” I rolled my eyes. “Nothing ever your fault” I said. He looked at me after he finished parking. “You know it baby, I’m an angel” “Yea, yea, keep thinking that” I leaned forward and pecked his lips.

I stretched myself to the back seat to get the food and blankets we had brought and opened my door to get out of his truck. He also got out and slid the trunks small door down so we had space to lay down. We put the blankets and pillow where we wanted them and cuddled up to watch the movie.

After the movie was done I had my head on Luke’s shoulder, he rested his on top of mine. “I love you” I froze. That’s the first time he’s ever said that, I haven’t even said it yet. My eyes started to water and I lifted my head up to look at his eyes. “Yea?” I whispered. “Yea. I’m completely in love with you” he smiled at me. I leaned forward and kissed him like never before. The kiss lasted a few seconds before I pulled away. “I’m in love with you too” “Yea?” He whispered. “Yea.” I giggled and kissed him again.

“Shall we try this again?” Julie questioned from her keyboard looking towards the band. “Yes please. But remind us later there’s some Sunset Curve songs to show you.” Luke told Julie while standing up. Julie got intrigued and moved her mic to the side “Oh, show me now.” Luke nodded and went to reach for his song book next to him.

He looked at his notebook strangely. “Home is where my horse is?” He turned around “Reggie stop putting your country songs in my journal.” He side glanced at Reggie while throwing the paper out of his notebook into the guitar case. “That was a gift!” Reggie said offended. Luke rolled his eyes “thanks buddy.” He patted Reggie on the arm.

Luke turned back to Julie handing her his notebook. “I dog-eared the ones I think you would slay”. Julie started going through the pages until she reached a specific page that wasn’t dog- eared but caught her interest. “Somebody to you?” She questioned. Luke quickly got defensive. “That one isn’t dog- eared” he protested reaching for his notebook but Julie pulled it further away. “ “Look at me now I’m falling can’t even talk still stumbling�� wow Luke I didn’t know you were such a romantic” she smirked at Luke. “That one is actually about-” Luke cut Alex off. “No one it’s about no one if you go to the next page there is one I think you’d like”. Julie dropped the subject since she saw Luke didn’t like talking about but she was still very interested.

Band practice couldn’t have gone worse Luke wasn’t focused after Julie mentioned the song. Y/N has been stuck in his head causing him to mess up. “Let’s take a break yea I’ll be back in an hour” Julie got up from her keyboard and walked out. “I’m out, gonna go hang with Willie” Alex disappeared. “Ima go see what Ray is up to” Reggie said and disappeared as well. Leaving Luke to entertain himself.

He couldn’t stop thinking about you. Where you married? Did you have kids? Did you move away? What happened after you found out he died? How did you cope with it?

Standing in front of the mirror making sure your outfit looked good you heard the house phone go off. You rushed downstairs and picked up the phone.

“Y/L/N Residence” you heard someone sniffle on the other side. “Y/N their gone” “Who’s gone?” you questioned. “Bobby talk to me! Who’s gone?” Panic started sinking in. “The boys they got food poisoning they’re dead Y/N” the phone fell from your hand and you dropped to your knees. You truly felt like you were dying. Tears where coming out of your eyes. The boys you have grown up with the love of your life was just taken away from you in a matter of hours. You were meant to see them preform tonight they weren’t supposed to go. Not yet. They were too young they had so much to live for.

It’s been two weeks you were invited to their funerals but you haven’t been able to leave your room yet. All you’ve done is cried until you fall asleep and repeat the same cycle everyday. Apart of you is missing and you don’t know if you’ll get through this. You’ve thrown everything that reminds you of them specially Luke in a box and told your mom to throw it away. (She didn’t throw it away) His shirts, guitar picks, hoodies, pictures, everything. You can’t bear it. It hurts a lot. Everything hurts. Your not gonna go to the funerals you can’t just stand there and get condolences from people who never really cared. You can’t pretend your ok.

“Julie you sure this is a good idea?” Luke questioned. They were on your doorstep. Julie had this great plan to give you a letter that she made Luke write for you. If you seemed stable enough she would tell you about her and the band. For now it was just the letter. The closure that you needed that you didn’t get back in 1995. Julie found you through your Instagram account apparently you became a photographer. One of her classmates is your son so he gave Julie the address. “I’m positive....um.. if it’s too much Luke you could go and I’ll tell you how it went.” Luke shook his head “no I’m good” Julie nodded. She reached forward and ringed the doorbell.

You answered the door and Luke’s breath hitched as soon as he saw you. He wanted to step forward and hug you and apologize for what he might have put you through but he can’t. You look almost the same just as beautiful but time has aged you. You and Julie started talking. She explained how she had found this song and a letter written at the bottom of the song page addressed to you. So she decided to bring it over. As you read the song you kept it together no tears. Luke is someone you thought about each day since the moment he passed.

It’s been 8 years since Luke passed away you are now 25 and have been traveling the world. Staying in Loz Feliz only made you sad you started your photograph career and have been traveling here and there. You haven’t meet anyone nearly as good as Luke so your still single. You don’t know if it’s guilt or if your the only one holding yourself back from dating again but you always put it off and say that you don’t have time for that. Will you ever go back to California? You don’t know.

After reading the letter you thanked Julie and she walked away you closed the door and slid down against it finally letting go of the tears you’ve been holding back. Things possibly couldn’t get worse, you thought you’d move on find someone who was just as great as Luke but you didn’t, you married someone you didn’t love and ended up getting a divorce. Having a kid and moving back with your mom in Loz Feliz. You weren’t happy. This letter didn’t make matters better your even sadder now it was like a flash from the past. Knowing that you could have had a future with Luke made your heart ache. He was your person, no one else.

On the other side of the door Luke stood there completely shocked that you didn’t react at all to his letter. Did you move on? Did you even care about him anymore? Was he only now a distant memory? What he didn’t know was that you were crying on the other side.

He disappeared back into the studio thinking about you. Maybe in a different life.

Sorry this request took so long I have been extremely busy because I had to get surgery but I finished it now. Hope you like it :)

@charliegillespiewife

[sunsetsandcurves]

I'm bored in class so I guess it's time to ramble about my favorite Willex scene:

I know we've talked a lot about this scene and the whole thing lasts like 2 minutes (I've seen it a bunch of times okay?) and there are SO MANY THINGS to anaylise so dhbfiwrbiu here we go:

First, the fact that Alex's no longer even close to angry. In episode seven Alex says "why should we listen to a word you say?" and then Willie says he can't do anything, you know, you can practically see his anger dying out. And now he's not angry, he understands and he knows the whole stamps deal is not Willie's fault in any kind of way.

"It's like you said, you didn't have a choice."

I mean look at his shrug and his gentle eyes, he's the one comforting Willie. He's had time to process the whole thing and he wants to make sure Willie knows he's no longer upset.

Second, it always breaks my heart how upset Willie's over the whole thing- it wasn't his fault but he still feels so guilty and that's when Alex says it. "I would've still followed you" that's always been my favorite part of the scene because it finally clears both of their feelings- Willie's already said he cares about Alex and now Alex's kind of saying it back as best as he can. He doesn't care what happened, he's willing to let Willie know that no matter what, he also cares about him. It doesn't matter anymore- Alex's always trusted Willie and he's never going to stop.

See that little smile after he says it? He means it and I personally think he's glad he said it- now they both know.

Third, after that, Willie keeps apologizing, which breaks my heart even more. He just- looks so so sorry and he says it and I just think someone should give that boy a hug and tell him that he's never done nothing wrong and he just deserves love. Alex's love, okay?

And then they talk about the whole unfinished business thing, and Willie says "you guys were going to be legends," and Alex just nods and looks down, which, guess what, also breaks my heart. "Yeah we were." I like to think they talked a little after that, you know, about the stuff Alex wanted to do with his music and his life and that maybe he doesn't want to crossover so soon, not when he's started to get used to the afterlife and all of that. It's just- unfair, honestly.

I also think he doesn't want to leave Willie? I mean, he's obviously scared and being manipulated and he totally wishes he could help him somehow- but he can't. It's a sad scene I guess but it's also so good and I love it.

Ok that's it I'll stop rambling now.

[legolasghosty]

jatp + dnd au? (general fantasy au if dnd isn’t your thing)

Oooo okay anon, thanks for the ask! I'm fairly new to DnD but I shall do my best!

Julie is an eladrin(elvish) wizard(she prefers sorceress though), well known throughout the land for her skills in communing with the dead. Everyone knows her by that reputation, so they visit her tower expecting lots of gothic art and black, only to be surprised by all the plants growing around the space and how light and free the space feels. Her secret to connecting with the dead is to offer them a taste of life through her space and powerful aura.

Luke is a human bard, because of course he is. He met Julie while on a personal quest to 'find his soul' or something like that. After finishing the quest and gaining a new, magical lute, he couldn't get the bright, lively necromancer off his mind, so he went back. They became fast friends and make music together. And Luke maybe writes a lot of songs about Julie(hey he's a bard, it's his duty to praise those around him).

Reggie is a half-elf ranger. Like Luke, he first met Julie while on an adventure. He was assisting another party at the time. But they didn't appreciate his help and expertise and cast him off as soon as he was no longer of use. Alone and wounded, he found his way back to the only sanctuary he'd found on the journey: A tower that balanced between life and death. Julie nursed him back to health and they two became close during his recovery. He still adventures a lot, he's got a fair amount of wanderlust, but the tower and those who live there have become his home.

Alex and Willie found the tower while fleeing a mob that was determined to destroy their 'abominable' union. To be fair, an elven druid and a changeling rogue aren't exactly a common combination. However, the two cared deeply for each other and were willing to risk the wrath of their families to be together. Julie granted them shelter and sent their pursuers off in the wrong direction. The two stayed in the tower for a few weeks, then began constructing their own home nearby. They have a little cottage just a few minutes away from Julie's tower. They also adopted a baby griffin they found. It was hurt and alone, what else were they supposed to do?

Flynn is a human artificer who befriended Julie before she moved out into the middle of the woods. She comes by regularly to swap stories and hang out with her best friend. She is endlessly amused by all the strays Julie keeps collecting. But also she and Willie get along really well, and he starts teaching her some fancy combat stuff. It's not uncommon to come into Julie's clearing to see the pair of them sparring in the open space. Often Julie and Alex are in the garden nearby, working on the plants and chatting and watching them.

This was so fun!!! I'm way too invested in this AU now. I hope that was what you wanted, I... have no idea.

(Send me an AU and I'll give you 5+ headcanons about it!)

[innytoes]

More @secretlovesongsfest Discord Nonsense.

It’s been a weird month for Willie, okay? First, Alex kissed him, which was great, except then it made him glow, which was weird. And it broke Caleb’s stamp. And made him... kind of alive again? Which was very weird. And terrifying. And took a lot of getting used to after forty years. He had so many bruises from walking into stuff he’d usually pass through, he was starting to wonder if he should just wear his helmet 24/7.

He was also still getting used to the fact that Lifers could see him. Which was the only reason for this horrendous, horrific, humiliating mistake.

“Man, Julie, your dad’s a DILF,” he’d said, not expecting an answer from either of them. Sometimes he just liked to vibe with people, okay? It got lonely, only being able to talk to people at the Club, where you had to watch what you said or you’d piss Caleb off. He liked to talk to people and just run his mouth sometimes.

Except Julie looked up from her breakfast and shot him the scariest glare a teenage girl could give him, and Ray turned around with his coffee and smiled. “You teens and your slang. I don’t think I know that one.”

“It stands for...” Willie stammered, going hot and cold and never missing being able to poof out more. “Dad I’d Like To Fish with.”

Ray blinked. “Oh,” he said. “Well, if that’s something you really want, of course! We can make a nice weekend out of it. Go to a national park or something.”

Oh no. Oh nooo. Damn you, Ray Molina and your easy acceptance of the insane amount of undead teenagers living in your studio. Damn you and your extreme dad-powers and your kind eyes and your niceness.

“Okay,” Willie squeaked, not seeing a way out. “Can Alex come too?”

And just like that, it turned into a Guys Trip. Because once Reggie got wind of Ray doing Dad Things, of course he wanted to come. And then so did Luke. Julie and Carlos begged off, citing the Great Molina Camping Trip Of 2015.

So there they were. Out on a lake. In a big boat. Trying to fish. Sitting still in a boat for so long was literally killing him. Alex had fallen asleep against Luke’s shoulder, looking vaguely uncomfortable. Luke also looked about ready to vibrate out of his skin at sitting still for so long. Reggie was talking a mile a minute to Ray, who didn’t seem to mind at all.

They hadn’t caught anything. Not so much as a nibble. In fact, Willie was pretty sure Ray had lost his bait the second he tried to throw his hook, but he didn’t want to point it out. He just kept staring at the shiny little thing on the bottom of the boat floor, willing it to move with his mind.

Three hours in, and Alex tilted to the other side, nearly falling into the water. Luke’s attempt to keep him from drowning meant the whole boat lurched, and Ray had to grab Reggie by the flannel, and there was just a lot of shouting and flailing the next five minutes.

Once the boat stopped rocking and everyone had been saved from a watery death, Ray laughed, awkwardly. “I think it’s safe to say we scared away all the fish.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, boys. I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing. I’ve never actually been fishing before, but Willie sounded so excited about it and I didn’t want to let him down.”

Willie ignored the glares burning into the back of his skull from Alex and Luke. “It’s okay,” he quickly said. “Thank you for taking us anyway.”

“How about we go back to shore, and Reggie can go catch frogs like he wanted to and we’ll make a campfire and roast some s’mores or something?” Ray asked.

“I love catching frogs!” Luke said quickly. Alex had already grabbed the paddle and was taking them back to shore.

So they went back to shore and gathered wood and made a fire pit. Ray was trying to look up on his phone how to make a campfire, but Willie took pity on him and started it instead. He was great at fire, okay? Even without ghost powers.

They made s’mores and ate the snacks Ray had packed. Thankfully he hadn’t actually counted on catching a fish to cook, so they had plenty of food. Then, after lunch, they went their separate ways for a bit. Reggie and Luke went to catch frogs. Ray went to take pictures of pretty plants and the sun on the water and the canoe and stuff. And Alex and Willie took a romantic walk.

And made friends with a squirrel.

And took the squirrel back to camp while his boyfriend laughed about him being a Disney character.

The sun was already setting by then, and Luke had his guitar out, singing with Reggie around the fire. Alex joined in immediately on the chorus. Acorn the squirrel, his new best friend, seemed to enjoy the sound, settling in Willie’s hoodie pocket happily as Willie made heart-eyes at his boyfriend.

Ray was doing his very best to set up the tents, and when Willie asked him if he needed help, he waved him away. “I’ve got it,” he said, which sounded patently false, but well, Willie knew better than to challenge the guy who was letting him live in his house. Ray may not have jolts like Caleb, but he had a killer ‘I’m not mad I’m just disappointed’ face.

At the end of the song, Willie clapped. Then, in between the soft, muttered curses coming from the tent, there was the sound of a twig snapping somewhere in the woods.

“What was that?” Alex asked, nervous.

“Chill, Hotdog, it’s probably just a moose or a bear or something,” Willie said. For some reason, this did not make Alex more chill.

“A bear?” he almost shrieked.

“Dude, it’s fine, bears only bother you if you have food,” Reggie said. While opening a bag of Doritos.

Another twig snapped in the forest. Willie was pretty sure this one was closer.

“Okay,” Ray said, suddenly behind them. “Let’s... let’s pack up and get in the car just in case.” Before Willie could protest, he doused the fire and gathered up all the food.

“You know, I pet a bear once,” Willie said. At Ray’s distressed look, he shrugged. “Back when I was a ghost.”

“I want to pet a bear!” Luke said, already moving to make his way towards the noise. Ray grabbed him by the back of the shirt.

“You are not petting a bear, because you are not a ghost anymore,” he reminded Luke. “And Julie would be very sad if you got mauled to death.”

The sad half-set-up tent was abandoned as Ray ushered them and several snacks into the car.

“I’d be sad if you were mauled to death too, Luke,” Reggie said, wrapping an arm around a sulking Luke as Ray rubbed his temples. They all ignored the muttered ‘I wouldn’t’ from Alex, even Luke.

“Okay, new plan,” Ray said. “We’re going to go get a pizza and find a motel for the night. We’ll come back for the tents in the morning.”

“I second that plan,” Alex quickly said. Reggie cheered at the idea of pizza. Willie shrugged. Pizza sounded way better than half-burnt-half-undercooked hot dogs on a stick over the fire.

“I still want to pet a bear,” Luke sulked as they put on their seat belts and Ray started driving. “I mean, Willie got to keep his squirrel.”

Oh yeah. Willie peered into his hoodie. Acorn was curled up, asleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos.

“His WHAT?”

[invisibleraven]

39. Apocalypse AU for Carrie/Reggie? Plz and thank you.

"Zombies, why did it have to be zombies?" Carrie asked, blowing a strand of hair from her face as she reloaded her shotgun.

"What, would you rather a nuclear winter?" Reggie asked as he fired off two more slugs.

"I was kinda hoping for the candy kingdom from that weird cartoon you made us watch," Carrie replied snarkily.

"Sure thing Princess Bubblegum," Reggie snorted. "I think that's the last of them."

Carrie levelled her gun just to the side of his head and fired off another perfect headshot. "Now it's the last of them. For now. Let's raid the Super Duper Mart."

"Let's hope there's more food and less raiders," Reggie quipped.

Thankfully the grocery store was pretty deserted. The shelves had been pretty ravaged, but they managed to find a few supplies, plus a nice stash of first aid items they were running low on.

"Oooh tampons!" Carrie exclaimed, shovelling the boxes into her bag. "Come to mama!"

"Sweet I found some protein bars!" Reggie called. "Eww, vegan? Oh well, beggars can't be choosers."

"If I can eat meat for you, you can eat vegan for me!" Carrie yelled back.

"Love you doll face!" Reggie quipped.

Once they were sure they had all they could carry and there was nothing else worth taking, they left, looking around carefully. "Back to base?" Reggie asked.

"Let's hope the others are back soon," Carrie replied. "I hate breaking into groups like this."

"I know, but it's easier for groups of two than all of us," Reggie said. "Plus I know you didn't want to go with Luke on his mad quest for a guitar."

"I'm sorry if I think food is more important than music," Carrie grumbled.

"I know, but music keeps our hopes alive," Reggie replied. "Plus Luke... I think he needs to get his mind off what happened."

They both shuddered, remembering how broken Luke was after his parents turned, after he had to take them out to save Julie. How he still looked lost, staring off into space, silent and still, which was so unlike Luke it was worrying.

"That's fair," Carrie whispered. "Come on, let's go."

They sprinted back to the little gated community they had found, the walls re-enforced with broken down cars and cement blocks, most of the houses boarded up. But the biggest one was where the Molinas were holed up, Victoria keeping watch with her sniper rifle in the attic, nodding as they saluted her.

They laid out their spoils, happy that Alex and WIllie had found clothes and ammo, with Julie turning out more hygiene stuff. Luke hadn't found a guitar, but her did have a harmonica.

"Here Reg, you at least know how to play it," he tossed it to him, and Reggie caught it. "Give us a tune."

Reggie looked to Carrie who nodded, and he started humming out a bluesy tune before transitioning into a favourite of them all.

Alex started tapping at the apple box he was sitting on, WIllie keeping time with his feet. Luke and Julie started singing, with Carrie catching up on the melody.

"Love love me do..."

Sure the world was a hellscape, and there was no end in sight for the horrors they were sure to go through. But for now, they had a good supply run, they were all together, and they had music again. And what more could they ask for than that?

Carrie leaned against Reggie as he transitioned to another Beatles tune, singing right along. Looking at the happiness in his eyes, the ease of Luke's shoulders, she vowed to keep an eye out for a guitar on their next run. Reggie was right-they needed hope and distraction as much as they needed food.

Maybe even more.

But deep down, Carrie thought as long as they were all together, that was all she really needed.

[epilepticreggie]

What are your favourite hc's for each character, or just one, idm, dump information on me :)

I want to preface this by saying that I loe you so much for giving me an excuse to just say everything that's on my mind, I'm going to give you lots of headcanons, lots of them, here we go

Flynn is the kind of person who can't just not know how things work but who will also refuse help at all costs, she must learn everything, but she must learn it on her own, you know the dance flyiers? she taught herself to use photoshop just for that flyier because she'll be damned if she has to ask someone else to do it for her, that was the tip of the iceberg, she can now make the most realistic montages ever. Her clothes? she makes them! she aught herself shion design when she was 5! yes, she sometimes buys clothes, but most of them end up being transformed anyway because she won't stand wearing the same dress as someone else, no matter if that someone else is on the other side of the planet, she's unique and her clothes must be it too, damn it! also, she doesn't know it, but her dog is related to Max (learn about Max on Willie's section). She also taught herself to code because none of tumblr's themes ever satisfied her, yes she's on tumblr, does she look like a non-tumblr user to you?

Julie's favorite disney character is Eugene Fitzherbert because Flynn, the first time she watched Tangled nobody could stop her from fangirling over the fact that her best friend's name is also Flynn, she made Rose call Misha just so she could tell Flynn about Flynn. They wouldn't stop reenacting the movies for years. It wasn't clear to me if this is canon or not, but I love the idea that Julie's Stand Tall dress was suppossed to be her quinces dress (she ended up not having one bc her mom was dying). Julie started to doodle on her shoes, mic, jeans, etc., as a compromise with her parents because she wouldn't stop drawing on the walls, including the school walls, and store's walls, and pretty much every wall.

Flynn, Julie, and Willie are best friends no matter the universe, Flynn and Willie are married as a joke and they won't divorce, not even for Alex to marry Willie.

the car accident where Willie died wasn't his first car accident, when he was around 12 he was in a car with his dad and they both ended up in the hospital, after that Willie refused to go inside a car, the accident is the whole reason he started to skateboard everywhere, he just couldn't stomach being in a car, only cars tho, he was okay with buses and trains and stuff like that. The only situation he got in a car for after that was at 16 when he found a bunch of abandoned puppies and he wanted to take them to the vet but he figured skating with a box of puppies wasn't safe and the bus wouldn't allow him with them, so he reluctantly went in the car. Having the puppies there helped because he loves dogs, especially big dogs, he finds comfort in acting as a chair for massive dogs. He used to volunteer at a dog shelter and adopted a massive dog from there, her name was Mini, lovely giant fluffy dog. He was about to adopt a small dog that had just given birth at the shelter, but then he died. His parents adopted her in his honor and named her Max because that's what Wilie wanted: a small dog named Max and a big dog named Mini.

speaking of dogs, Reggie is allergic to both dogs and cats, but he asked for a puppy in the show in hopes that being a ghost would render his allergies useless. it didn't, but he figured is not like he's going to die again so he keeps petting dogs. he was always top of his class because he's really good at memorizing things, but he would forget most of it as soon as the test was over, there were a few subjects he retained info about because he really liked them. he always acts so silly because he would always try to distract his little bro fom their parents' fights and at some point he just defaulted to that for everything.

Bobby was really good at tests but it was in a different way to Reggie. Bobby basically mastered the art of tracking down old tests, at first he would just dig through his brothers' stuff until he found their tests and then studied the (correct) answers from those tests, but eventually he worked out an entire system with older students to get their old tests because some of his brothers' teachers had retired since then, and also because it couldn't hurt to have more than one test to study from.

after the guys died, Bobby tried to separate himself from music as much as he could because the band still had fans trying to reach out to him and he couldn't stand one more question about the most traumatic night of his life, so he started to work at a museum and he met Ray there because of course Ray was a regular. After some months his plan kinda backfired because Rose also started to work at the museum and recognized him, but she was cool about not asking questions or bringing it up and they became besties. Bobby was the one to convince Rose to ask Ray out on a date since Ray would freeze everytime he tried to talk to her so he was obviously not going to make the first move. Rose was the one to get Bobby to play again by dragging him to an open mic and telling him she wouldn't stop the pda with Ray until he wrote his name in the list. She only wanted him to write his name down, baby steps and all, but then he actually got on stage, she was proud.

Carrie is popular but kinda not. She's not popular in the high school movie cheerleader way, she's popular in a Rachel Berry way where she's in every club she's able to, always wants the spotlight and would totally send someone to a crack house in order to keep her solos, so she's only "popular" because she's hard to ignore, not because people are fighting to be her friend. Carrie is short for Carrieta, someone take away the power of names from Trevor.

The following characters have epilepsy: Willie, Flynn, Julie, Alex, Reggie, maybe Bobby as well, idk.

Not exactly a headcanon, but Caleb's boss is played by Eva Noblezada, I love Eva Noblezada.

[laviefantasie]

ALL I WANT - L. Patterson

Pairings: Alive!Luke Patterson x Alive!Reader

Summary: After a whole year together, the last thing Luke expected to come out fo your mouth were those three little words that had the power to change everything in your relationship.

Song: All I Want by Olivia Rodrigo

| MASTERLIST |

“Lu...Luk... LUKE!”

The green-eyed boy is snapped out of his daze as Julie, his newly added bandmate, snaps her fingers in front of his face. Soon, the talented singer following your gaze to see Y/N.

It had been two months since you both had broken up, but apparently Luke hadn’t realized it had been an actual breakup until he saw you under the arms of Lacross star player, Ian Lancaster.

Nobody had known how the two of them had happened, but Y/N and Ian seemed really happy as you talked in the school’s hallway oblivious to the hurt look on Luke’s face.

“Luke, you can’t blame her for moving on” Julie whispers softly, “You didn’t see her when you and the guys left to find your sound. She was heartbroken”

The beanie-head boy stares at her friend with hurt on his green eyes before looking once again at his, apparently, ex-girlfriend. 

Y/N laughed at something the lacrosse player said before grabbing his hand to pull him with her down the hallway.

What had he done?

---

Both Luke and you were laying on the boy’s bed cuddling as he talked to you about the plans the band and him were making. After the unexpected leaving of Bobby from Sunset Curve, the three best friends were finding it hard to work again so they were adamant about finding their sound again.

Yet they knew something was missing.

“What about Julie?” 

Your words have Luke looking at you in confusion as you mention your best friend.

“What about her?”

“What about her? She can sing like an angel!” she exclaims with a smile, “I feel she would be perfect, you should think about it”

The boy looks at you weirdly before nodding with a sigh, he was willing to try anything as long as the band didn’t break up. He wasn’t ready to give up on his dream yet.

As the conversation about the band is over, Y/N turns on Luke’s computer to look for a musical on Netflix. Luke groaning as soon as he sees you click on High School Musical, him being a fan of music didn’t mean he was a fan of musicals.

But you loved them so he watched contently, not without groaning jokingly every time.

You’re halfway through the movie when Y/N pauses it turning unexpectely to the brunette making him stare at you in confusion. Before the boy can question what happened, Y/N blurts out three little words without thinking.

“I love you”

---

Luke finds himself staring at you from across the class you both share, his gaze staring intently at you as you write in your red-leather notebook. That notebook that you never let anyone but him read, your songbook.

Feeling his gaze on you, Y/N turns towards you with a frown on her face. Neither tearing off their gaze from one another. Y/N feeling her on-the-way healing heart  break a little as she sees the green eyes she hasn’t been able to forget.

Nevertheless, you weren’t about to let him pull you back to him. Not after what he had done. Though you did want an explanation, you weren’t sure you were ready to hear it.

Still, as you stared at him you couldn’t help but wish he’d just been able to handle the situation differently.

---

Y/N stared with wide eyes at Luke as he paced around his room anxiously. As soon as you had uttered those three words the boy had leaped off of his bed and had started pacing.

His eyes were wide with confusion and fear as he stared at you from his nervous walking. You didn’t dare utter another word afraid to say something that would make him run out of the room.

Finally stopping his facing, Luke faces you once again looking at you with an unreadable look on his face. The words he lets out are enough to break you apart.

“We need to break up”

---

The ringing of the bell is enough to snap you out of your daze, making you rapidly pick up your stuff to get out of the room where Ian awaits you with a big smile.

You feel the relief flood through you as he grounds you once again. Ian is the one person who had made you see your true potential in the music industry after he heard you sing while also being the only one that had been able to ground you back to the real world and step back up, leaving Luke behind.

You both had started seeing each other after Luke had fleed Los Angeles with Reggie and Alex to find their sound again, leaving you behind without even a goodbye.

Ian had met you when you both had bumped into one another as you skated alongside Willie -Alex’s boyfriend and a good friend of yours- at the skating rink. Neither of you expected to become friends and much less something else since he was a senior like Luke and you were a junior. 

But you had been surprised as he asked you out, happily accepting and allowing him to hold your hand as you got out of the dark place Luke had left you in.

Seeing him waiting for you out of your class brought a smile to your face as you ran to hug him, ignorant to Luke’s sad stare at your back.

With a sigh, the Patterson boy heads to the cafeteria going straight to sit with his bandmates as soon as he gets his food. Julie, Reggie, Alex, and Flynn already there chatting happily with one another.

“Hey Luke” says Reggie happily.

The boy is about to reply when the bassist cuts him off, “Y/N!”

Everyone turns to stare at the h/c beauty that enters the cafeteria with Ian’s arm around her shoulder. Her e/c eyes find Reggie’s and a small soon breaks out of her face, her feet soon carrying her to the table they reside.

Ian stares at you in confusion as he sees you get out of his grip and run towards the table her former boyfriend sits at.

“Reggie” you say happily before smiling at everyone else at the table “Hi guys”

All of them greet you excitedly, Luke smiling happily your way hoping you’d stay there with you like the old time. Maybe that way he could fix what he had broken.

Julie was about to invite you to sit down when Ian appears by your side leaving a sweet kiss on your cheek, erasing Luke’s smile completely. Flynn and Julie turn to one another sharing a worried glance before staring at Luke, Alex and Reggie already looking at their friend in worry.

Said boy, though, keeps his gaze on his food. His hands resting on either side of his tray gripping it tightly to stop himself from lashing out, knowing he had no right to do anything.

---

As soon as you left Luke’s house, the boy had run out of his house running towards Reggie’s house after shooting a quick text to the band’s group chat asking to meet there.

Both Alex and Reggie are waiting for him when he comes running through the door with tears running down his red cheeks. His best friends jumping out of their sits to go to his side in worry. 

“Luke” calls Reggie out softly “What happened?”

That is all it takes for the boy to break down, falling to the floor as sobs wreck through his body. The events that had just happened finally catching up to him, letting him know the gravity of them.

“Luke. buddy, you’re scaring us” states Alex with wide eyes, “What happened?”

The boy sobs louder, Y/N’s words repeating over and over in his head and the ones he blurted out in his panic state. How could he have said that to you? He had meant to say it back.

“I meant to say it” he whispers “I-I meant say i-it back. I me-meant to say it”

Alex and Reggie share a worried glance before hugging Luke from each of his sides making sure the boy knows he’s not alone. 

Sometime later the boy would finally calm down enough to explain softly how he had broken the best thing he had ever had. Both reassuring him that he just needed to talk to you.

But he didn’t.

Instead that night, the three of them started planning their plans to head out to look for their band’s missing sound. Not knowing how different things would be once they came back.

---

“Should we go eat, babe?”

You stare at your best friends with doubt, wanting more than anything to sit down with them and catch up, but as you stare at the way Luke grips his tray and avoids your gaze you know it is better if you don’t.

“Yeah... Sure, let’s go” you smile at your friends “See you later, guys”

Walking towards the table where all the Dirty Candy members and the Lacrosse team players sit at, you can’t help but turn once again to stare longingly at the table where the best people you had ever met sat.

Although, as you and Carrie talked about the new song you were writing happily you couldn’t help but think that not everything was so bad.

“You should definitely sign up for the talent show” Carrie mentions with a sweet smile “Your voice is amazing, people should definitely hear it”

The strawberry blonde shows you the pamphlet with the information and you can’t help but stared at it in wonder. Were you ready to sing in front of a crowd about your most vulnerable feelings?

You give the pamphlet back to the leader to Dirty Candy with a small smile, “I haven’t even finished the song”

---

Julie opened the door to find you crying on her porch, she barely had time lo look at you before you jumped into her arms. Sobs coming out of your small figure.

Confused, the hispanic girl hugs you back trying to soothe you. She grows more worried with every sob and she can’t help but wonder what happened, the last message you had sent her was before you left your home to go to Luke’s house.

“Y/N/N, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

You sob louder, “H-he brok-broke up wi-with me”

That’s all Julie needed to hear to pull you up to her room and call Flynn. Both girls staying by your side all night watching sad movies and cursing Luke when you couldn’t hear them.

The latina nearly going over to knock some sense into him when two months later, just before school started, Luke sent her a text inviting her to join the band. Only agreeing once Y/N basically begged her to and once the boys agreed it was her band now.

Though it was pretty obvious after the first band practice that the brunette boy wasn’t over you, asking Julie about you every chance he got. Julie’s weak romantic heart giving in to his puppy-eye look and finding it in herself forgiving him for hurting you.

And, low key, wanting you both to talk it out and fix it.

Though after you told her happily about Ian it was obvious it was not happening, and even though she tried the hispanic didn’t feel like that was the right thing. But she was happy as long as you were happy.

---

You stared in disbelief at the scene in front of you. Ian repeating the same words he had once said to you to another girl at the skating rink. You were pretty sure he hadn’t seen you yet, but that didn’t stop you from waking over to him and landing a good punch to his nose.

Both of you groaning in pain after the collision, your e/c eyes staring at your red looking hand with a grimace.

“We’re done” You spat through gritted teeth before turning around to go back home.

The tears making an appearance as soon as you know you’re far enough. How could this be happening again? Ian had been so perfect, yet turned out to be nothing but a liar. And Luke? He had left you as soon as you had figured out the depth of your feelings.

All you wanted was love, real love that lasted, why couldn’t you find a good guy? Was something wrong with you that every time you thought you had it, it left?

Why couldn’t everything just be like those musicals you loved were the perfect boy came to you? 

You arrive home muttering a weak greeting to your family before going to lock yourself up in your room, instantly being met by the hundreds of photos of you and Luke that you still hadn’t been able to take off your walls.

With a sigh, you throw yourself to your bed, tired to keep on crying for the heartbreak you were once again feeling.

Your gaze finds your red-leather songbook, sighing before grabbing it and sitting up. Opening the notebook on the recent son you were writing you head to your keyboard, sitting down ready to blurt out your feelings.

---

Julie, Flynn, and Carrie stood by your sides at the talent show with excited smiles adorning their beautiful faces. Neither could believe you were actually about to sing.

Dirty Candy and Julie and the Phantoms already having performed meant the girls were glued to your sides waiting anxiously for your turn to get on stage.

You turn your stare towards the crowd, instantly finding Luke and the boys looking at the ongoing acts. Your nerves coming back as soon as you realized you were next.

“I can’t” you whisper “I can’t do this, not with everyone watching. Not with him watching”

Your three friends instantly catch up to what you mean, Julie taking her job as your best friend and putting her hands over your shoulders as she stared at you with determination in her brown eyes.

“Yes, you can. This is for you, not for either of them” She reminds you “You. Can. Do. This”

Your gaze finds your other two friends who look at you with beaming smiles, giving you the confidence you need to get on stage as soon as your name is called.

You see the grand piano in the middle of the stage and walk slowly towards it, everyone’s eyes glued to your figure.

Two more classmates join you, one with a violin and another with a cello, but they stayed out of the main view making it known that this was your presentation. With a nervous breath, your hands graze the piano keys before looking towards the crowd.

Your gaze catches Ian’s frown and Luke’s confused yet happy smile.

Closing your eyes you let Julie’s words rang through your ears. This was your moment, this was for you.

Your fingers starts playing the chord for the intro, your eyes finding Ian’s as you starts singing the first verse. Memories of his time with you coming to your mind as you wonder if any of it was actually real.

“I found a guy, told me I was a star He held the door held my hand in the dark And he's perfect on paper but he's lying to my face Does he think that I'm the kinda girl who needs to be saved”

With hesitation, your e/c find Luke’s green eyes. He looking at you in awe as you sing your heart out. Singing everything you’ve been feeling since the moment he left you.

“And there's one more boy, he's from my past We fell in love but it didn't last 'Cause the second I figure it out he pushes me away And I won't fight for love if you won't meet me halfway And I say that I'm through but this song's still for you”

The tears threaten to fall down your face as all your insecurities come crushing back. Memories of all the nights after Luke left that you spent in your bed crying youself to sleep wondering why you hadn’t been enough for him.

“All I want is love that lasts Is all I want too much to ask Is it something wrong with me All I want is a good guy Are my expectations far too high Try my best but what can I say All I have is myself at the end of the day But shouldn't that be enough for me Ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh”

Tears start falling down your cheeks as you let yourself be vulnerable. Your feelings out in the open for everyone to see as you crave for a love that’ll finally not hurt you.

“And I miss the days When I was young and naive I thought the perfect guy would come and find me Now happy ever after it don't come so easily”

Your voice grows stronger as you come back to the chorus, your eyes finding your friends’ in the crowds, all staring at you with proud smiles.

Luke, though, he is amazed by you. By your talent and your passion. Just when he thought you couldn’t be more perfect there you were proving him wrong.

Sadly, the fact that you were in so much pain -thanks to him- made his eyes fill up with tears. Falling before he can realize he is crying.

“All I want is love that lasts Is all I want too much to ask Is it something wrong with me, oh All I want is a good guy Are my expectations far too high Try my best but what can I say”

Your voice becomes softer as does your playing, the outro of the song being played by just you, the voilin and the cello falling silent as you finished the song.

“All I have is myself at the end of the day And all I want is for that to be okay”

Your gaze catches Luke throught the standing ovation, both with your eyes filled with tears, before you take a bow and proceed to get off the stage feeling yourself unable to breathe if you stayed there longer.

You had done it, the weight off your shoulder finally being lifted as you let everything you had bottled up down.

A smile crepts up your face as tears of relief fall once again down your face.

It was over.

[michelangelinden]

linda linda linda lets talk more abt alex's fanny pack contents: the bandaids and disinfectant are in their own little baggie. he has a bundle of old tickets from venues, faires, all that sorta stuff for sentimental reasons. a tiny hazelnut that reggie gave him and that he guards with his life. obviously spare guitar picks. ear plugs because drumming and also in case anybody gets sensory overload. at least one of those tiny free perfume samples. safety pins for wardrobe malfunctions. 👀👀👀👀👀

You know exactly how to catch me 👀👀

Definitely a lot of stupid stupid stuff he picked up somewhere but it all kind of has a meaning to him so he keeps it.

The hazelnut 🥺🥺 (this immediately gives me the idea of tiny Reggie and Alex going on a hike into the woods when they're playing outside)

The perfume sample is definitely something flowery, change my mind. And it also sparked a really annoying conversation with his mother who took it as a sign that Alex has a girlfriend. Willie loves it tho, which makes Alex feel better.

He also has a small baggie of fidget toys for whoever needs one, including chewing gum in at least three different flavours.

And about $6.34 in coins

Here, have more kisses 😘😘😘

(I would also like to add this post I wrote months back, just to show how much potential this damn bag has)

[sunsetsandcurves]

willex + flowers :))

Alex keeps a lot of things on his fanny pack.

There are band aids and an inhaler and candy that's been expired for more than twenty years. There's a cool rock he found when he was twelve he doesn't want to get rid of and a packet of chewing gum he can't eat anymore and confetti he picked up from a pride parade.

Lately though, his danny pack's full of old, fragile flowers that Willie somehow gets him.

"There's this cool flower shop near the beach," he had explained, twirling a rose in his hands. "And they do cool bouquets but a bunch of loose flowers end up on the floor- all cut and dirty and I kind of feel bad for them."

Alex had smiled fondly, laughing a little and taking the flower from Willie's hands.

"You feel bad for the flowers?"

"It's like they're being- thrown away, just because they're not pretty enough or big enough to sell- that's not fair. I've been picking them up for years, and now I finally have someone to give them to."

Alex had felt like his heart was slowly melting, warm, sweet feelings running through his veins.

"Oh. Thanks, Willie, I love it."

Willie had kissed his cheeks and left, and Alex had stared at the rose until Julie came to get him for band practice.

Since then, Willie shows up with small flowers every few days- tulips and daisies and more roses, orchids and these weird flowers Willie had called alstroemerias.

Alex loves them, and maybe his fanny pack is not the best place to keep them- but in there they're his, only his, little things he can see and touch and smell, that remind him that Willie thinks about him and actually bothers to pick stuff up for him and bring it to him and- well, he does it for Alex.

It's something he never thought he'd get to experience, and when his fanny pack becomes a mess of fallen petals and brown-ish stems, he realizes maybe he should get flowers for Willie too.

He asks Julie about some flower shops he could visit, ones that are not that fancy and where there's people just fixing the arrangements so he can pick up the flowers from the floor before they're swept away.

Julie tells him about the flower shop near the beach, and Alex knows that's the flower shop Willie likes to visit but he's willing to go and see what he can get.

When he poofs to the place, though, Willie's there, picking a bunch of flowers from the floor. Alex laughs, and Willie looks up at him.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" They ask, his hands playing with the bunch of flowers they've picked up.

Alex shrugs. "I was- um- you know. Trying to return the favor."

Willie's wearing a white and yellow tie-dye crop top, which kind of reminds Alex of a daisy, so he picks one up and walks over to him, placing it in Willie's hair, letting his fingers play with some of it.

Willie's smile is flustered and gentle and so- alex doesn't know how to describe it. Soft.

Loving.

"Do you like it?" Alex asks in a whisper, and Willie nods.

"Yeah. I love it." They grab one from his little bunch of them- a pink lily that's been thrown away because the color's probably too bland- and does the same, tucking it over Alex's ear.

"Now we match."

They both laugh, and they spend the rest of the afternoon picking up the flowers the flower artist throws until Alex's fanny pack is overflowing with them.

*

Ahsjshd ✨soft flower boys✨

*

Taglist: @chickwiththepurpleguitar @julieandthequeers @burntchromas @readyrogueone