#i like to imagine the band is still together and they still practice in bobby(azathoth?)'s garage ...
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star-going-supernova · 1 year ago
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SB prompt for ya since it’s almost Halloween!
Gregory for Halloween goes as Freddy and Freddy absolutely goes loses it. I’m just imagining Gregory in the full outfit with shoulder pads, a cute little headband with ears, and face makeup quoting Freddy saying “way to go superstar!” with a huge grin and Freddy just melts.
The mental image of Freddy walking beside a small mini him around the plex is so cute. You can’t tell me Freddy wouldn’t scoop him up and get as many pictures of the two of them as possible.
Also the others would be good natured and jokingly talk about how it’s favoritism and Gregory would just go “well he is my favorite” and cause Freddy’s system to crash.
Here’s tumblr generated prompt number 13! I’m so glad this one got picked, so I can at least say I wrote a belated Halloween ficlet! This is pure fluff! 
Double Trouble
“Hold still!” Cassie complained, not for the first time. Gregory, prone to wiggling, gripped the chair tightly to keep from fidgeting too much. He didn’t actually want to cause problems, for once. 
He desperately wanted to ask if she was done yet, or at least close, but talking would mean moving, and he really was trying to be on his best behavior. He’d asked for this, after all. 
After another few agonizingly long minutes, Cassie leaned back with a pleased smile. “Done! And looking fabulous, if I do say so myself.” 
Gregory leapt from his chair and skidded to look in the mirror. “Cassie!” he cried, beaming. “It looks amazing!” He turned his face this way and that, admiring her work. “I’d ask if you want any help with yours, but…” 
She snickered, tucking herself close to a smaller mirror on her desk to start on her own makeup for her Halloween costume. “You’d mean well,” she allowed, “but I’ll pass, thanks.” 
As she preformed some witchcraft to keep her lines straight and even and symmetrical, Gregory finished getting dressed. He was overly careful not to smudge the Freddy makeup—the blue was a perfect match, honestly, he didn’t know how Cassie did it—thankful that he at least had already put on his shirt. He snapped on the bracelets and slid on the headband with the fuzzy ears and little black top hat hot-glued at a subtle angle. The bowtie was carefully safety-pinned to his shirt, nice and straight. 
The shoulder pads—and Cassie had agreed with him on this��were actually the hardest part of their costumes. They were a little too big and heavy to be clipped, pinned, or glued to their shirt shoulders without them slipping or tugging on the fabric in a way that just didn’t look good. 
Cassie’s dad had solved their problem: backpacks. The shoulder straps were much sturdier and could easily support the foam shoulder pads’ weight. Plus, it made it super easy to take them off without damaging the rest of their costumes. 
Their backpacks were waiting by the front door with their boots. Gregory’s were snow boots covered with foam to mimic Freddy’s feet and the red part of his legs. Cassie’s were just the same, only with Roxy’s purple and black animal print. 
Another bit of practicality, curtesy of Cassie’s dad, who was pretty good at arts and crafts. Gregory’s costume wouldn’t look half as awesome without his help. 
Cassie finished her own makeup (much faster than she’d done Gregory’s, and that wasn’t only because he needed more) and hopped up to finish putting on her own costume. Arm bands, wolf ears—complete with earrings, just like Gregory’s—and fuzzy wolf tail. She blew her green lock of hair out of her eyes. 
“That’s gonna annoy you all night,” Gregory half teased, half warned her. 
She conceded with a disgruntled huff and went to stuff a few spare bobby-pins in her pocket. Pushing him over to the tall mirror hanging on the back of her bedroom door, Cassie squished them together so both their reflections fit. “How do we look?” 
“Awesome. Duh.” 
“Are we missing anything?” 
They each critically examined each other’s costume. Luckily, they weren’t too complicated. 
“Yours looks good to me,” he said. 
“Yours too.” She grinned widely. “They’re gonna freak.” 
Gregory snickered. “This’ll knock ’em both out, for sure.” 
“Perfect,” Cassie said, eyes glinting mischievously. And people thought Gregory was the only troublemaker between them. 
Cassie’s dad took a few pictures once they finished getting dressed up before driving them over to the pizzaplex. The Halloween party was in full swing by the time they got there, and thanks to their special VIP wristbands, they got to skip past all the lines. And bless Mr. King for never asking any questions about how or where they got the wristbands. He just followed along behind them with his own average VIP pass until he split off from them with a reminder to be good, stay together, and text him if they needed anything. 
Unleashed, Gregory and Cassie meandered through the festivities for a while, accepting donuts and cider from one of the many treat tables set up in the building. There were some games scattered around, a few face-painting booths, and reminders for the evening’s activities plastered on every other corner. Almost everyone was in costume, even the employees and some of the STAFF bots roaming around. 
“Oooh,” Cassie said, tugging at Gregory’s arm. “They turned the Fazer Blast arena into a haunted house!” She gave him a pleading look, cheering when he obligingly set off in that direction.
• • •
The annual Halloween party was, at the very least, a pleasant change of pace. It was one of the busiest nights of the year, but Freddy could not bring himself to mind how exhausting it was, not when all the children were in such high spirits. 
The costumes were perhaps his favorite part, though the pizzaplex’s decorations were a close second. They were all so creative and fun to look at. There were costume contests scattered throughout the event, separated by age groups or themes or group costumes. The animatronics were not judges of the contests—they did not have opinions as robots, obviously—but they were expected to attend each one and give out the prizes once the judges had deliberated. 
There was even a contest specifically for all the children who came dressed up as members of the band (with a few of Sun or Moon, or even more rarely, the DJ). One particularly memorable past winner had been accompanied by a service dog wearing a simple homemade wet floor sign bot costume. 
Freddy became increasingly distracted as the night carried on. Gregory had promised to visit during the party, but there had been no sign of the boy yet. It was a large building, and there were many activities to participate in, and so it was most likely that Gregory was having fun elsewhere—he was logically aware of that, of course. 
But that wasn’t helping his patience. 
Gregory had mused about what he wanted to do for a costume since before October had even begun. Freddy had tried to veto all the gory suggestions, though he was still not sure if Gregory had meant them sincerely or was simply messing with him. Last he had heard, Gregory was mostly settled on a character from his favorite video game. 
This was necessary information to better explain the way he short-circuited from surprise when he saw Gregory cross the stage during a costume contest. Specifically the one for kids dressed as them. 
A warning flashed on his HUD that he was in danger of overheating, though he hardly noticed. His friends were all snickering around him, less subtle than normal, as they were safely at the back of the room. 
Gregory did a jaunty spin to show off his Freddy costume—more than one system in Freddy’s body had to reboot, stalling out from pleased shock. 
Roxy elbowed him in the side, grinning, some pointed remark surely on the tip of her tongue, when her jaw dropped open as if the hinge had suddenly broken. 
On stage, Cassie, in a similarly styled Roxy costume, joined Gregory. The announcer was saying something about them being a pair, and both of them were smiling widely as Gregory twirled Cassie under his arm. 
Roxy’s body visibly locked up, and her the lights of her eyes flickered wildly. Beneath his frantically whirring fans, Freddy felt a bit appreciative of karma’s quick turnabout. 
You were saying? he asked pointedly over a private channel. 
Shut—shut up, she sent back. 
They had seen dozens, hundreds, of children dressed as them over the years. They had gotten used to it, and though it was sweet, they did not really feel anything from it anymore. It was nearly comical, then, how these two particular children made him and Roxy feel so much. 
Distracted with trying to regain his composure and stop being on the verge of involuntary shut down, he failed to notice Gregory and Cassie’s approach until the two of them were standing right in front of him and Roxy. 
Given Roxy’s choked little sound of surprise, she had similarly been caught off guard. Curse Monty and Chica for sidling away and not warning them. 
Gregory and Cassie grinned up at them knowingly. “Like our costumes?” Gregory asked, his eyes nearly glowing with mischief. 
“I know you probably see tons just like them,” Cassie said, faux shyly, tugging at the crop top layered over her gray shirt. “Or even better ones. But we did our best!” 
Roxy twitched. Freddy’s attempts at internal damage control were not going well. 
“Yeah,” Gregory said, not nearly as good at playing bashfully innocent when the slant of his smile warned of the one-hit knock-out verbal punch he was about to deliver. “You’re our favorites, after all, and we wanted to be just like you.” 
The punch landed. Freddy’s systems flashed a brief warning before he went into a soft reset. The last thing he registered was Roxy crashing simultaneously with him, which made him feel only marginally better. 
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bullet-prooflove · 1 year ago
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Bobby Goren anon here, no prompt, no specifics, nothing crazy, just some kind of fluff fic. Whatever your heart desires. You are amazing as always.
So Nonny, thank you! I have adored writing for our wonderful Bobby and thank you for that opportunity.
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You're beautiful, Bobby has always thought so. Usually it's understated, you don't wear make up, you dress practically, but somehow you still manage to shine. He doesn't understand it. He doesn't have to.
When he sees you tonight though, his heart stutters in this chest. He feels that familiar flush of arousal chasing through his synapses, igniting that drive, that primal desire to claim you. It hits him like a truck because that sensation...
It's something hes not felt in a very long time.
You're wearing a blue dress that hugs your shape and accentuates your assets. Your hair is loose, falling over your face as you use your thumb to chase away any stray lipstick along the line of your mouth.
You're radiant and he knows that tonight you're going to break someone's heart.
When Jonesy wolf whistles you give him the middle finger and Bobby ducks his head to hide the smile on his face.
"You look nice." He tells you.
It's a neutral term, one that's expected between colleagues. He can't tell you that you look resplendent, that he's imagining how good the silk would feel against his skin, bunched in his fists as he pulls you down into his lap.
"Brother's engagement party." You tell him as you open the top drawer of your desk searching for something.
"You don't sound too enthused." He remarks, toying with his pen.
"It's his third engagement." You tell him as you locate the gum you're looking for.
"Ah." Bobby says in understanding.
Your brother David, the hopeless romantic. Every girl he meets is always the one, that is until they aren't.
"I don't suppose you wanna come?" You ask him. "Open bar, decent entertainment and that includes both my family drama and the band."
He looks up because he thinks you can't be serious, but he sees the tilt of your head, the hopeful smile. He likes the idea of seeing where you come from, the dynamics of your family.
"I'm not really dressed for it." He says gesturing to his suit. And you step around the bank of desks to survey his attire.
"Let's see what we can do about that." You utter before reaching forward and loosening his tie.
He stays perfectly still as you undo the knot with practised fingers. Already there's a stirring in his trousers and he has to remind himself that you aren't actually undressing him.
The proximity feels intimate, he can smell the mint from your gum, feel the brush of your fingertips as you undo that top two buttons of his shirt.
He almost reaches out to capture your hand when you take a step back to review your handiwork.
"Ta da." You say. "Now we have causal Bobby, ready to gate crash my brother's engagement party with his style and wit."
He unbuttons the cuffs of his sleeves before rolling them up both of his forearms. He notices the way your gaze shifts, it always does.
"What's the other thing?" He asks you as he raises to his feet, scooping up his wallet and his keys from the desk. "The thing you're not telling me?"
You purse your lips together into a sensual pout, your arms crossing over your chest because you know you've been caught out.
"My ex husband's going to be there." You tell him. "Apparently David's asked him to be the best man."
Bobby pauses.
He's met Richard before, or as he likes to think of him Dick. Your ex is a prosecutor turned defense attorney, the two of you split not long after he defected to the other side. Bobby's been on the other side of the table from him multiple times.
"You want a buffer." He states frankly.
You sigh.
"I want to have a good time, with someone who actually gets me." You tell him. "Also my family really want to meet you, they want to get to know the guy who has my back in the field."
"You mean threaten my life so that I make sure no harm befalls you." He supplements as the two of you head towards the elevator.
"That too." You tell him as you press the button and wait for the doors to open.
When they do he looks up and sees your reflection in the mirrored panelling. The both of you are smiling, his palm is on your lower back guiding you inside.
You look like a couple and Bobby can't shake that image as he steps onto the elevator and pushes the button for the ground floor.
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emepe · 9 months ago
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— Pairing: Eren x Reader, friends to lovers
— General info: series, 18+, modern AU, serial killer AU, smut, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort
— Summary: Fate is a tricky thing. Certain situations can’t be avoided as much as certain people’s lives can’t be kept from intertwining. With a serial killer on the loose, and unexpected relationships blooming, how will the universe intervene?
— Chapter summary: A Halloween party where tensions rise and finally snap, and an unlucky encounter with the power to cancel out the happiness that comes out of it.
— Content warnings: slightly nsfw, drunken kissing, alcohol consumption, yandere behavior, misogyny, mention of murder.
— Notes: Hello, everybody! Welcome to chapter 4 (aka my favorite chapter in the series) <3 You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to post this one. Fun fact: the romantic scenes here were the first thing I planned for this story (added a serial killer and boom, Tunnel Vision was born). Happy reading!
Links: Read on AO3 | Chapter guide | Masterlist
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can you feel my heart?
“I don't think this costume is original enough to place,” you mutter, smoothing out the skirt of your babydoll dress and shifting in your seat.
It's too cold to go out in minimal clothing, but you agreed to wear the dress for the sake of making the girls happy. Besides, you're supposed to match with Mikasa, who's sporting a red version of your dress so you can go as an angel and devil duo. It was her idea, so it saved you the hassle of coming up with your own costume while also filling you with reassurance from being well-liked.
“Well, we're not going for the costume contest. We're going to support Jean… and for drinks, of course,” Sasha prompts. 
“I still can't believe Jean is in a band. How did I not know this?”
“He's just filling in for the bassist tonight, but he's really good,” she explains. “He used to play in college.”
The Bobby pins in Sasha’s mouth mess with every other one of her words. You're sitting on the edge of Mikasa's bed as Sasha sits on her knees behind you, fixing your hair, while Mikasa is seated in front of you, doing your makeup.
It's not the most practical process, given that Sasha keeps moving your head around to do her job, earning annoyed looks from Mikasa as she struggles to finish applying your eyeshadow.
“Sasha, I love you to death, sweetie, but you're delaying my masterpiece,” Mikasa grumbles.
“Sorry,” Sasha sings. “I'm done now.” She climbs down from the bed and goes up front to admire her work.
“Ugh, you're so pretty,” she gushes, hands clasped together. You're not sure what Sasha is supposed to be. When she got to Mikasa's apartment, she said her costume was in her bag. For now, she's dressed in a black turtleneck top, black leggings, and red Converse. She squeals one last time before sitting down at Mikasa's vanity to fix her own makeup. 
“It feels a little weird,” you admit. “I'm, like, hyper-aware of how different I look.”
You like dressing up, looking sleek and polished. But the combination of the glitter sprinkled in your hair, the feathery halo headband on your head, and spaghetti straps step too far out of your usual fashion choices. It all leaves you feeling a bit vulnerable. 
Mikasa smiles.
“Don't sweat it. You look amazing.” 
The way she says it, so warmly and confidently, is comforting enough to pull a smile from you. You've never had a sister, but if you did, you imagined someone like Mikasa would be perfect.
“I know for sure one guy won't keep his eyes off of you tonight.”
Her words throw you off guard. Your lips fall open, ready to ask questions, or throw an excuse, or change the subject. But nothing comes to you, so you end up just staring at her in shock as you feel yourself build up a sweat.
She giggles as she makes the last finishing touches on your face.
The doorbell rings.
“Sash, get the door, please?” she asks as she walks to her vanity and starts rummaging through her makeup drawer in search of the perfect shade of lipstick to tie the look together.
“On it.” Sasha promptly stands, gives herself one last look in the mirror, and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Eagerly, she unlocks the front door and swings it open, only to instantly drop her smile for confusion when she takes in all four men lined before her.
“What are you supposed to be? A bunch of beat-up accountants?”
“Hey,” Armin whines.
Jean, Armin, Connie, and Eren are all wearing suits stained with fake blood. Minus the bass case slung on Jean's shoulder, which likely isn't part of his costume, there aren't many more hints to go off of.
Jean scoffs as he hooks his thumbs around his suspenders.
“Um… Reservoir Dogs? Hello?” 
“I've never heard of it,” she deadpans. She turns on her heel and goes to the sofa where she left her bag earlier, leaving the door wide open for everyone to follow inside.
“You cannot be serious, Sasha. It's Quentin Tarantino!”
“Ew, the foot fetishist?” Her face contorts in disgust.
Eren throws his head back in laughter. 
Jean throws his hands up in the air. 
“Oh, that you know.”
Sasha shrugs, not caring one bit about Jean's frustration.
“Connie, help me get this thing on,” she says, smoothing out her costume on the sofa. It's a hot dog.
The rest of the guys watch amusedly as the pair struggle to get Sasha into her costume. When her head finally pokes through, strands from her ponytail have come loose and she's gasping for air.
“Oh, man. They should add a zipper to these things,” she huffs.
Armin leans closer, his eye catching a flicker of silver movement on the side of the costume. His fingers hold onto the zipper as he looks up at Sasha with pursed lips.
Jean scoffs incredulously. 
“It has a zipper, you big dummy. I swear–”
He and Sasha lose themselves in a wave of bickering. That is until Eren clears his throat. He's been looking for signs of more people around the apartment, glancing at the kitchen or through the open crack of the bathroom door.
“Where's… everyone else?” he asks nobody in particular.
Jean abandons his play fight with Sasha to smirk at Eren. 
“Excited to see your girlfriend, Jaeger?”
Eren freezes, instantly taken aback by Jean's accusation. Everyone else exchanges shocked glances with each other, before ultimately landing their focus on Eren to gauge his reaction.
But he doesn't even move. All he does is look at the floor, cheeks red, and lips curled inwards as he struggles for a comeback.
Sasha’s the first to move. Her palm lands with a reprimanding force against Jean's head, who whines in protest.
“Oh, come on! We've all seen the way he looks at her.” He turns to Eren. “Why don't you just ask her out?”
Armin's quick to intervene.
“Jean, I don't think it's our place to say anything. I'm sure if Eren wants to, he will. It's none of our business.”
“I'm just saying… we all know you like her, you've got our support, Jaeger.”
Eren rolls his tongue against his cheek. When he finally speaks, his voice is practically a ghost of itself.
“We're just friends.” 
“And you're okay with that?”
Jean's question burns at Eren's cheeks. But before anything else can be said or done in his defense, Mikasa's bedroom door cracks open and the raven-haired girl's head pops out. Sasha instinctively shoots a warning glare at everyone to be quiet.
“Sorry for the wait, everybody.” Mikasa grins as she opens the door wider and steps out into the living room. “We're ready now.”
Eren waits with bated breath for you to come out. It seems like an eternity between the moment Mikasa moves aside and when you finally reveal yourself in a flowy white dress and a halo bouncing above your head. 
A soft ‘woah’ escapes him as he feels the usual flutter in his stomach he's been doing so good to ignore. 
Jean whistles in approval and all the other guys proceed to shower you with compliments. Your gaze bounces from face to face, flustered from all the attention, ultimately meeting with Eren, who keeps his distance from across the room.
It's been a couple of weeks since you last saw each other. It's been the same number of days since you realized why that flutter in your stomach came to be. It's no surprise to you when it happens now, along with a warm pressure in your chest when his lips curve into a shy smile. For a moment, it's just you and him.
The magic cuts off and scatters over the floor in imaginary golden dust when Connie announces the arrival of your ride to the bar. 
Everyone starts making their way out the door.
A heavy hand lands on Eren’s shoulder. Jean's voice murmurs the words ‘good luck’ in his ear before walking away.
Eren stands in place, watching as you close the distance between you with just a few steps.
“Hey.”
It might be Eren's imagination, warping his surroundings to further feed into the concept behind your costume, but he truly can't deny how breathtaking and radiant you look. It's like a vision from dreams he'll forever be too embarrassed to confess to. He can barely cough up a strangled ‘hi’ back.
You walk side by side until you reach the car. The entire time, Eren's careful not to brush against you, scared it might trigger his nerves and he won't be able to hide it. But once you're in the car, it's hard to avoid any physical contact, given that three of you are squished together in the back with Jean's bass. 
The entire ride is clouded with hyper-awareness of every accidental touch between you and Eren, hushed apologies for bumping knees, and trying to remain unfazed by each other's warmth as you draw closer to your destination — you're much better at it than he is.
The scent of your perfume is heavenly, the soft, mellow notes intoxicating Eren to the sweetest high. 
By the time you get to the bar, there's already a small crowd of people waiting for their turn to be let inside. In one swift glance, you make out several witch hats, vampire fangs, kitten ears, fairy wings, and much more.
A large banner that takes up the width of the entrance announces their Halloween weekend event in bursts of purple and silver tones.
Thanks to a laminated pass Jean digs from his pocket, the whole group gets to skip the line and are ushered inside right away. A staff member calls Jean aside to lead him to a greenroom in the back where the other band members are.
“I'll see you guys in a bit,” Jean calls over his shoulder, offering a salute before getting lost in the shadows.
“Let's find a booth before more people come in,” Mikasa suggests.
As you all follow her lead to an open spot, your eyes roam around, taking in the details of the place. It's a fairly large venue, the booths lined in an L shape against the left wall, and several round tables spread out before them until the open floor for crowds to gather in front of the stage. To the right, a dimly lit bar occupies nearly the whole length of the wall, with shelves upon shelves of liquor and glasses. Looking up, you have a view of the balcony contained by silver railings decorated in decorative skulls and purple tinsel, where more tables and booths line the four walls and large lamps hang from the high ceiling.
You shrug your jacket off your shoulders as you settle into the booth Mikasa chooses. It's center to the stage with a perfect view of every corner of the venue's bottom floor. Mikasa slides in at your right, Eren to your left, and Armin at the end.
“I'm gonna get us some drinks,” Connie offers, as he leans with his phone to scan the code for the menu taped to the table. 
“Gin and tonic, for me,” Armin says, not bothering to scroll further down the menu.
“Ooh,” Mikasa zooms in on an item on her screen.
“Long Island?” Connie grins, spotting the same name on his phone.
“Yup,” she replies.
“A cosmo for me, please,” you say, setting down your phone on the table. 
Connie shoots finger guns at you and clicks his tongue.
“You got it. Gin and tonic, Long Island, Cosmo…” He points to each of you as he recites your orders. “Eren? Vodka cranberry?”
Eren nods shyly.
“Yeah.” 
Connie recites your orders one last time before heading off to the bar, Sasha trails behind him to help carry the drinks back.
“What time is Jean supposed to come out again?” you ask.
“He's in the second band. I think around ten-ish?” Armin replies as he confirms the time on the flyer Jean sent into the group chat. 
“God, he's gonna be insufferable when he gets back,” Eren groans. Armin nods along, and Mikasa simply laughs.
“What do you mean?” you ask.
“He's always so cocky after playing,” Eren explains. “When we were in college he had a ton of girls fawning all over him just because he was in a band, and it gave him an even bigger head.”
“Well, to be fair, he never acted like a jerk,” Armin argues. “He just liked the attention.”
“That's because he thought it'd make Mikasa jealous,” Eren scoffs.
Your head is whirling in every direction as you receive every new piece of information.
“I mean, it worked,” Mikasa counters with a shrug. 
Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Not once did it ever seem to you that anything was going on between Mikasa and Jean.
“You're dating Jean?” you express with shock laced through your tone.
She laughs.
“Someone has to take one for the team,” she jokes. “I kid, it's been great.”
Before you can ask how long they've been together, her phone starts buzzing on the table.
“Speak of the devil,” she grins, eyes skimming the text on her phone before she slides out of the booth. “I'll be back in a bit.” 
With a cheeky wink tossed over her shoulder, she's off. 
“I can't believe I never noticed Jean and Mikasa are together,” you say as you watch her scurry off into the backroom.
“They're pretty lowkey,” Eren replies with a shrug. “But I don't blame her. I'd be embarrassed if I were dating Jean, too,”
You laugh. 
“Come on, don't be mean,” Armin says, nudging his friend with his shoulder. He then turns to you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “He acts like he hates him, but he actually helped Jean out when he asked Mikasa to be his girlfriend.”
“All I did was blow up balloons and buy flowers,” Eren huffs, embarrassed that his affection for Jean is out in the open.
“A little help, please,” a strained voice calls from a few feet away. 
It's Sasha. She's slowly walking toward the booth with her hands contorted at odd angles to balance four drinks in her hold. You all stand to relieve her from one drink each.
As soon as you settle into the booth again, Connie makes his way back, balancing a wooden bowl on top of everything.
“I got us some peanuts,” he grins, carefully setting everything down on the table. You all pass around each other's drink and take your first sips.
“Where's Mika?” Sasha asks, popping a peanut into her mouth. 
“Making out with Jean, I bet,” Connie jests.
“You're not wrong,” Armin sings.
You're interrupted by a brief sound of feedback screeching through the speakers, followed by a tap on the microphone at the center of the stage. The first band introduces themselves and begins to play. Every song gradually builds up the energy of the crowd which starts to gather to dance and sway to the music. It's loud enough to keep everyone nodding their head along to the beat but low enough to still have a conversation where one doesn't need to yell to be heard.
The peanut bowl is refilled and a second round of drinks is soon brought to the table, courtesy of Connie's credit card.
He and Sasha are the first to stray from the group to check out the band up close, just moments before Mikasa finds her way back. 
She's got a giddy air about her, and the artificial red of her lips is replaced by a more natural one.
When she asks for the missing pair, the three of you that remain nod toward the crowd, where you can easily spot Sasha’s hot dog costume bopping around to the music.
Mikasa laughs at the scene in between long sips of her Long Island. The two of you engage in a mushy conversation about her timeline with Jean. By the time she's halfway through her second Long Island, she's a giggling and blushing mess.
“I was right, you know?” she smiles as she affectionately strokes your head.
“About what?” You can't help but feel amused by her behavior, her enthusiasm is contagious. It pulls upwards at the corners of your lips. 
“Eren hasn't stopped looking at you.” 
Though tipsy, she's still grounded enough to speak lowly and close to your ear — you're grateful for her consideration. Otherwise, it would make the situation a lot more embarrassing. 
You don't have the guts to look back to verify for yourself, but Eren's track record makes it believable. Even so, you've glanced at Eren a couple of times during the night, only to find his gaze already set on you. He hasn't shied away as much tonight — a likely effect on his courage from the drinks he's had, or maybe because his instincts are dulled by the liquor. He still blushes like crazy, though. It's driving the butterflies in your stomach mad. Mikasa's notice only makes everything more real. It's a reminder that the world surrounding you and Eren doesn't disappear each time your eyes meet. 
“I'm gonna try to get a good spot before Jean comes out,” she says in a slightly louder voice. She stands from the booth and holds a hand out to Armin, gesturing for him to come with her. 
Quizzically, Armin allows himself to be pulled from his seat by her but then looks back with a mischievous grin spread across his face when Mikasa speaks something in his ear.
They both leave, and it's just you and Eren alone at the booth. You haven't been drinking much, just enough to feel a soft buzz in your muscles. But the sudden tension builds up a fever in your system. 
You glance back at Eren. He's laying back into the cushioned seat, legs spread, tie loosened, and eyes zeroed in on the glass nursed in his large, veiny hands. When his emerald irises look up at you through his lashes, his lips slowly part as if he's about to say something — or to suck in a breath — and finally press together in a lopsided smile.
Mirroring his expression, you scoot closer to him to close the distance that's been growing without intention as you lost yourselves in separate conversations throughout the night. 
“You know, you look good in a suit,” you say, allowing your back to fall into the cushioned seat. You lean your head back, angling it so that you have a good view of his face.
“Yeah? You think?” He mirrors your actions and allows his head to rest next to yours. It's a safe distance, yet your perfume still circles around him, getting him a different kind of drunk. Albeit, you can say the same thing about his cologne. 
“It's a big change from your usual t-shirt and jeans get-up.” 
“But still the good kind, right?” 
Your eyes wander over the glassiness hovering over his eyes, to the messy strands of hair that poke about on his head from combing through it with his hands so much, to his plump lips glossed over with saliva from his last sip of watered-down cranberry vodka to the two unmade buttons on his bloodstained shirt. 
“Absolutely,” you murmur, lips curved softly.
He bites back a smile, eyes darting to the side to seem nonchalant. Your gaze flits to the movement, taking in the way his teeth dig into the plumpness of his bottom lip. 
“So was the whole angel thing your idea?” he asks, hand motioning in your direction.
“It was Mikasa,” you murmur. “She got the first pick so I was pretty much cornered.” 
Pursing his lips, he nods.
“I don't think it suits me, though. I feel out of place.”
“Ah, because you're the devil incarnate?” He quirks a teasing eyebrow, causing a laugh to sputter from your lips. “I'm surprised this thing isn't burning a hole into your head.” He flicks the feathered halo, causing it to bobble. 
“Does it make me look silly?”
He fakes a long moment of contemplation. 
“No,” he finalizes. His voice grows lower, gentler. “It makes you look cute.” 
You cringe.
“Ah… so without it I look…”
He laughs. 
“Come on, you know that’s not what I meant!” 
He runs a hand through his face. You're not sure if it's the alcohol or you that has him blushing profusely. 
“You’re still pretty without it. I’m just having an easier time talking to you when you’re wearing… this.” 
The irony of his nervous hand gestures and the cracks in his voice isn’t lost on you. Your eyes twinkle with amusement as he straightens his posture but continues to stumble over his words. 
“Not that it’s hard to talk to you. You’re not scary or anything! I mean, you can be a little intimidating but that’s only at the beginning! You just—”
He heavily sighs as he falls back into his seat again.
“You look cute right now, that's all. But you're always pretty.” 
He pinches the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm his nerves.
“I’m sorry, I’m rambling. I just… I still get nervous around you,” he softly laughs. 
His admission can only be attributed to how foreign everything feels in his hazy state. It’s as if he can’t stop himself from spouting whatever comes to mind — no premeditation, no reason. He’s fully aware of what’s going on, but it’s easier to hide behind too many highballs as an excuse. This moment is what makes him finally understand what people mean when they refer to liquid courage. 
“I know.”
Your words knock the air out of his lungs. He already knows you know. How can you not if he’s been so blatantly obvious in his perception of you from the start? Still, it’s different when you openly acknowledge it. It breaks the barrier of politely feigned ignorance and makes everything much more real. And yet he held this microscopic hope this whole time that his date proposal is nothing but ancient history and his behavior toward you could’ve passed as ordinary shyness. 
Guilt starts pooling in his stomach. That feeling of rejection starts bubbling in his chest without warning. He doesn’t even register the affectionate way you gaze at him, glossy lips shaped into a gentle smile, as your eyebrows upturn in sympathy. 
“I’m sorry.” 
He keeps his head low, afraid he might’ve just set himself up for failure yet again. But you shake your head.
“Don’t apologize,” you murmur. “It’s cute.”
The world falls silent. It’s either that or the first band of the night is done playing and the following act has yet to come on stage — Eren can’t tell the difference. He turns to you, all too used by now to face you with reddened cheeks and wide eyes. 
There’s a soft smile playing on your lips as you stare down at your lap, where your fidgeting hands rest. He averts his gaze, facing forward to spare his mind a moment to clear itself of any silly assumptions. His lips curl inwards — a habit for when he’s unsure of what to say. But when he looks back at you seconds later, you’re already looking at him — glossy lips parted and that glassiness to your eyes that makes his heart flutter.
Eren knows better than to think your gaze flickers to his lips. There’s no other explanation than it being a trick of his mind, right? And yet his tongue darts out instinctively, coating his lips with saliva, as his breaths grow shallow.
In one swift motion, your fingers wrap around his loosened tie to pull him closer as you lean forward to meet him halfway. There’s a brief pause just a hair away from your mouths colliding — a moment for him to process that this is truly happening and for you to wind up more courage — where your breaths swirl together before they’re absorbed by the other. Your lips meld perfectly into each other in one warm, cranberry-flavored kiss. You kiss once, twice, three times, and then once more. Each sweet contact brings you closer together, makes your heads grow dizzier and your chests to be relieved from their previous tension. 
Eren’s hands grip the edge of his seat, nails digging into the leather as if to keep himself tethered to this dimension. Each time your lips slot into his intoxicates him several times more than any liquor can. For weeks he’s wondered what it would be like to kiss you, and now that it’s happening, he’s scared for the moment to ever stop, afraid that no matter how hard he tries to convince himself, it’ll lose its quality to be real, and he’ll be left to wonder if it truly happened.
You’re the first to pull back, slowly and carefully, like you fear he might fall apart if you move too fast — and he just might. 
As you catch your breath, faces still inches away from each other, the world slowly comes back. The music crescendos along with the collective buzz of scattered conversations and clinking glasses. Your eyes flutter open, slowly taking in the shiny emerald gaze and dilated pupils that look down at you, mesmerized.
An energetic voice calls your name from a few feet away. To Eren’s dismay, your hand loses its grip on his tie, falling to your lap as you tear your gaze from him to watch Sasha clumsily make her way to the booth. 
“Come on, Jean’s band is starting!”
She pulls you from your seat, urging you to follow her. Flustered, you slide out of the booth and allow her to drag you away, but not before looking back at a still dumbfounded Eren and saying “I’ll be right back.”
Eren watches you leave, the disappointment gradually settling into the deepest parts of him. He brings a hand to his lips to gently trace the place where you marked him with the pads of his fingers. He can still feel the plush of your lips against his. If he closes his eyes, he can conjure the moment again and replay it in his mind. The scent of your perfume lingers and it suddenly doesn’t seem like such a wild idea that he can deeply miss someone who’s only wandered a few feet from him.
“Okay, I had to get out of there. The girls are getting rowdy.”
Armin’s voice pulls Eren from his daze. He laughs as he slides into the booth next to his best friend. 
“What’s wrong?” he asks, making note of Eren’s flustered state.
Eren turns his gaze to the cluster of empty glasses on the table. 
“We kissed,” he murmurs, a red tint pooling his cheeks.
Armin’s face goes through a myriad of emotions. His features contort from confusion to realization, to shock, and excitement. 
“Are you serious?” he yells enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear at the news. “Dude, that’s fucking awesome!” 
He gleefully drums his palms on Eren’s back, slipping in a few teasing punches to his arm.
“I fucking knew it, I frickin’ called it. I’m literally Cupid!”
Eren finally laughs, raising a hand to comb nervously through his hair.
“So what happens next?” Armin asks, shuffling to find a cozy angle to hound his friend.
Eren shakes his head, still hesitant to accept his new reality. It’s starting to look foreign to him and he’d hate to think the kiss was just a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing.
“I don’t know. What do I do, Armin?”
The panic on his face causes Armin to soften with sympathy.
“What do you wanna do?” he murmurs.
A soft laugh pushes past Eren’s lips.
“I wanna kiss her again.”
Armin scrunches his nose, but he can’t help but grin at Eren’s bashful confession and his adorable demeanor.
“Well, she’s right over there.”
He juts his chin in the direction of the crowd in front of the stage. 
Eren presses a fist to his mouth. His cheeks are still burning and his heart has yet to fully calm down from the erratic rhythm your sudden kiss provoked.
“I think I still need a minute to recover,” he murmurs.
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You didn’t make it back to the booth as soon as Eren and you hoped. When you did, there was usually another person or two coming back to catch their breath, leaving you no privacy to talk about what needed to be talked about. Eren had a turn to be dragged away to watch Jean’s performance. After everyone was back at the booth, you volunteered to get Mikasa, Sasha, and Connie — the drunkest of your group — water to rehydrate. The entire time it seemed to Eren like his luck had run out for a second chance to be alone. 
You make your way to the bar, navigating between people sober and drunk just the same. A few minutes go by before you’re finally at the front of the line. 
“Three waters, please,” you say, holding up the same amount of fingers to the bartender. 
He promptly slides three bottles over the bar, a flirty grin on his face.
“Here you go, angel.”
When you don’t give him a reaction outside of politely nodding and thanking him while offering your card to pay, he kills off his coy demeanor. You start to make your way back to the booth, going over the exchange in your head and feeling awkward about it. You’re sure bartenders can act a bit friendly with patrons —  it’s part of the experience — but you’re not big on acting overly friendly with strangers. 
A tall, muscular figure bumps into you, causing your body to stumble back and your hands to lose their hold on the bottles. You glance up, ready to apologize before you can even collect your things, but you’re met with a pair of concerned eyes. 
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” 
He crouches down to retrieve the dropped bottles for you. When he stands again, he smiles at you warmly. 
“I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Again, I apologize.”
His polite manner seems sincere — certainly not like the kind other men have shown you.
For a moment, it seems like he hopes to hold a conversation with you. From the booth claimed by your group, a pair of stern emerald eyes watches the scene carefully, the owner ready to intervene against the man with his back to him. But the stranger’s chances of holding you up any longer are interrupted by a pretty girl calling his name — a name you don’t bother to register — from a few feet away as she stumbles her way to him. You catch a falter in his demeanor that goes as quickly as it arrives — though much too fast for you to get a hint of the emotion behind it. 
Before you can be witness to any foreign business, you murmur your own apology and thank him for his help before turning on your heel and continuing to where your friends are. 
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“Sash, you don’t need two rides. I already told you, you and Connie live in the same apartment.” 
Armin pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. For the past ten minutes, he’s been trying to convince a still lightly buzzed Sasha that it doesn’t make sense for her and Connie to take separate rides. In her haze, she argued that it was completely reasonable for her to book a ride for herself and then book a second one for Connie once she made it to their apartment.
“Jean, you think you can go with them and make sure they get home safely?” 
Armin puts on his best pleading look for him. Jean clicks his tongue in aversion.
“No can do. I gotta take care of my girl.” He nods over to the bench outside of the bar where Mikasa is curled up in a way that should be uncomfortable but makes her look rather peaceful as she dozes off in fragments. 
Armin purses his lips, hands on his hips. 
“You know what? I give up, I’ll take them,” Armin huffs as he swipes Sasha’s phone from her hands and waits to be matched to a ride. He turns to you. “Oh, but we were supposed to ride together.”
You dismiss his offer with a wave of your hand. 
“I’m really not that tipsy. I can ride alone.” 
“You sure?” Armin’s eyebrows upturn in worry.
Eren raises his hand, a meek look on his face.
“I can make sure she gets home okay.”
“Don’t you live in opposite directions?” Jean smirks, as he hoists Mikasa up by her waist to prepare for their ride’s arrival.
Armin shoots him a warning glare over his shoulder. 
Jean clicks his tongue and theatrically smacks his forehead.
“Ah, no you don’t, silly me. I’m so out of it tonight.”
Ignoring Jean’s poor acting, you turn to Eren.
“You don’t have to. It’s fine,” you assure him.
“I want to,” he murmurs gently.
Chewing on your bottom lip, you nod. 
He whips out his phone to find a ride and minutes later, you all head your separate ways.
The ride to your apartment building is quiet, save for the low music playing on the radio. Eren can’t keep himself from stealing glances at your side profile from the corner of his eye, and you can feel the burn in your cheeks as you stare out the window.
“Did you have a good time?” he asks, finally fed up with the silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but he’s been fighting for a chance to talk to you since the kiss and this is a very brief opportunity, perhaps not to address what happened, but maybe just to get a feel for where you stand after the fact.
But you don’t seem up for a lengthy conversation, as you barely look back at him when you nod and reply with a solemn “I did”. 
He shrinks into his seat, chewing on his bottom lip as he tries to find a different tactic to get you to look at him. But again, his luck seems to have run out, as you hit every green light on the way to your apartment. Sooner than he would’ve liked, the car comes to a halt in front of the brick building.
In a desperate attempt to collect a couple more minutes with you, he climbs out of the car with you. 
“I’ll walk you up,” he says. You just nod and turn to lead the way. 
There’s a hint of tension as you ride the elevator to the third floor. There’s something awkwardly polite about the strict distance you maintain until the elevator dings and you step into the hallway.
The silence between you has never felt so dreadful to Eren now that there’s something he so badly wants to talk about. But how does one bring up a surprise kiss if not right after it happened? By now it seems too embarrassing to suggest for conversation, even if it did happen less than two hours ago. The moment has passed, and if you don’t seem willing to talk, maybe it’s because you’re hoping to leave it in the past. 
You stop in front of your apartment door, number 307, and fish around your purse for your keys. Eren steps back in preparation to bid you goodbye as soon as the lock clicks open. 
“I’ll see you a—”
“Do you want some tea?” 
The question tumbles so quickly from your lips that he almost doesn’t comprehend it.
He blinks at you in surprise. A flutter stirs in his stomach at the idea of entering your apartment — your personal space. He doesn’t even think Armin has been inside before. It’s exciting. There’s a look in your eyes he’s never seen before. They shine differently now — with hope.
He runs a nervous hand through his hair and clears his throat, nodding fervently.
“Yeah, tea… tea sounds incredible right now.”
You release a breath of relief and push open the door, welcoming him to your corner of the world.
A flick of a switch bathes the area in bright, warm light. Eren soaks up every detail of your home, not wanting to miss a single thing. There’s a bookshelf overflowing with hardcovers and paperbacks, a collection too big for its modest size that you’ve opted for stacking anything that couldn’t fit on the floor beside it. A handmade blanket in warm colors is thrown over the loveseat fixed in front of the TV. Everything is colored in joyful pastel hues with a few more vibrant splashes from vases with flowers and some ceramic figurines scattered along the windowsill and the furniture — a stark contrast to your mostly neutral wardrobe. It’s all neatly put together save for a single forgotten book left at a careless angle on the coffee table — likely to be your current read — and a faint cinnamon scent wafts in the air, the probable work of a candle or an infuser somewhere. There are three more doors he assumes lead to your bedroom, the bathroom, and perhaps a storage closet.  
You toss your purse, headband, and coat onto the sofa and make your way across the open space to the kitchen, turning back to ask him to follow with an inviting look.
You move in silence to fill a pink tea kettle with water and set it on the stove. Your hands rummage through your pantry to find a pair of teabags to set aside while you wait for the kettle to whistle. 
“Your place is really nice,” Eren murmurs as he takes a seat at the breakfast bar. “It’s very… colorful.”
The corners of your lips tug into an awkward smile.
“Does it not suit me?”
He chuckles softly, bringing a fist up to cover his amusement.
“No, it does,” he says, looking around once more. “It’s a nice surprise, to be honest.”
Your lips curl inwards as you nod. 
An easy silence blankets the room until the kettle signals the water’s ready. 
Eren stands to help you. 
“Where do you keep your mugs?”
You point to the cupboard next to his head as you grab a tea towel to wrap around the kettle.
He sets two mugs on the counter next to the stove — a yellow one for you, a blue one for him — and starts wandering around in search of something.
“You want sugar, right?” he asks, going through his memory of the time you met at the coffee shop. 
He spots a set of green ceramic containers on the counter and starts reaching for them until your voice interrupts him. 
“Actually, I'll have it with honey. It’s over there.”
You point him to the pantry where you took the tea bags from.  
A proud grin takes over his face as he strides over.
“I see I've spread the honey gospel.” 
You smile.
“Not really,” you murmur. “I use honey all the time. That day we met at the coffee shop was just an exception.”
He pouts.
“Why the sudden change back then?” he asks.
You shrug as you transport the mugs to the bar and fetch a honey wand from a drawer.
“Some stupid reason. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Eren’s brow furrows in confusion, but he doesn’t press any further. You take a seat next to each other and take turns with the honey wand before your first careful sip of tea. 
A fuzzy feeling swells in his chest when Eren looks over at you. The domesticity of the situation has him biting back a smile. He loses himself in your image for a moment. the way your hands nurse the mug as you blow at your tea, and the sheen left on your lips after you take a sip. Maybe this — being welcomed into your home and sitting beside each other while you share tea — is all he needs to gain some clarity on where your head is at. 
He takes another sip and sets his mug down, the heat threatening his pain tolerance in his hands.
“So, you live alone?” he asks.
You nod. 
“Yeah, I’m kind of a lone wolf.” You pause and start smiling. “I might be growing out of it, though.”
“What do you mean?”
A few seconds tick by as you ponder for an answer.
“I’ve never had this many friends before. I just keep to myself, usually, and that's worked great my whole life. But now I’m really happy to have met everybody.” You smile. “I’m having a lot of fun being surrounded by more people now. I can feel myself becoming a different person.”
He mirrors your expression as he returns his gaze to his tea. Your words tug at his heartstrings. Frankly, he couldn’t be any happier to hear those words come out of your mouth.
“I also told a guy I wasn’t into dating, but now I’m hoping he didn’t take it to heart.”
Your words echo in Eren’s head as he turns to look at you with hopeful eyes.
“Me?”
The question has him feeling stupid, but he has to know you aren’t talking about someone else, that it can only be him. 
Your timid gaze has his chest pounding furiously against his ribs. It’s not until you nod that he finally releases the breath that was caught in his throat.
“I thought that— You said you didn’t see me that way.”
Your expression softens.
“You kind of grew on me,” you murmur, looking down at the remaining tea in your mug as your cheeks warm with shyness.
Eren watches you in awe as you bite down on your bottom lip, too focused on the yellow mug to even notice his shaking hands and burning cheeks.  
The following seconds pass by in slow motion. Eren’s warm hands wrap around your face, demanding your attention as he closes the gap between you. Like you at the bar, he spares a split second for you to realize what’s happening before slotting his lips against yours. You sigh into his mouth as an instant fever courses through your body. 
His strong hands pull you closer in his desperate need to devour you. It’s all much more real now. Now he knows how you feel, and you’ve known how he’s felt about you this entire time so all that’s left to do is act on it. 
One of his hands drops its firm caress on your face to pull you from your seat by the waist and settle you on his lap. He presses you into his chest, relishing in the soft moans you pour into his mouth. 
It’s a moment that he’s sure will be etched in his memory for the rest of his days.
Your heart thumps erratically, threatening to break free from its cage. Your breathing has grown shallow and eyebrows upturned in desperation as you cling onto his shirt. His cologne travels to your nose, enveloping you in a comforting embrace as the hand he has pressed against the small of your back pushes you closer to him with every wanton kiss.
You pull back abruptly, breathless, chest heaving, and eyebrows knit together as you swallow thickly.
“You okay?” Eren asks, equally short of breath.
You nod. 
“I just— I keep forgetting to breathe… and it feels like my heart is about to burst out of my chest.”
You look down at him with distress painted across your features.
“I'm sorry.”
For the second time since Eren met you, you look so small and fragile even if your compromising position has him tilting his face up to look at you. 
“You're joking, right?” he murmurs.
With a tremor still consuming his bones, he peels your right hand from his shirt and slides it down his chest, resting it right above his heart. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze, watching you closely to see if you understand his message and the effect you have on him — he’s right there with you. 
The erratic beat of his heart thumps against your palm. You stare at your linked hands, completely mesmerized by how perfectly your hand fits in his and how ardently his heart beats for you. 
A soft laugh travels past your lips as you find relief in Eren’s matching anxiety. 
Without removing your hand from where he’s pressed it, you bury your face into the crook of his neck.
You stay there for as long as it takes for your breathing to steady and your heartbeats to sync to a peaceful rhythm.
“I got scared when you barely talked to me on the way here.” 
The vibrations of his voice are a comforting sensation; if you could snuggle further into his chest, you would.  
“I thought you were regretting what happened at the bar.”
Your breath tickles his neck when you laugh.
“I just didn’t want to talk in front of our driver.”
It’s his turn to laugh and if you could capture the sound in a bottle to cherish forever, you would.
“I have a question.”
You hum in encouragement, feeling yourself grow sleepy in his embrace. 
“If I ask you out on a date right now, will you say yes this time?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to check my planner; now that I'm open to dating I’ll be pretty busy.”
You can’t tell from your angle, but you can hear the amused grin in his voice when he talks again.
“Ah, right, of course. I wouldn’t want to make a fool of myself all over again,” he jokes, rolling his eyes.
Neither of you makes a move to separate from each other. His thumb makes soft strokes against the back of your hand.
“I really like you,” he murmurs.
“I know,” you murmur back. “I really like you, too.”
“Did I tell you how pretty you look dressed like an angel?”
You straighten your posture but remain on his lap.
“Not once the entire night. I'm actually kind of disappointed,” you joke.
He stifles a laugh.
“The things you do to me, I swear,” he whispers as you lean forward, brushing your noses together. “I couldn’t stop looking at you. I felt like I was losing my mind.”
He leans closer, nipping at your bottom lip teasingly before pressing a chaste kiss on the corner of your mouth.
Your phone buzzes from inside your bag on the sofa.
“You think it’s an emergency?” he whispers against your lips.
“Not likely,” you whisper back before returning his kiss.
You’re fully prepared to ignore whoever is on the other end, but the buzzing refuses to cease, so you ultimately stand to answer the call, though with much reluctance.
“Hey, Armin.”
Eren brings a fist to his mouth, mentally cursing at his best friend for interrupting such a tender moment.
“Yeah, I made it home safe… Eren? Oh, um…”
You turn to Eren for a sign of what to say. You’ve never been in this situation before, so you’re unsure of what to do. 
Eren mouths a response you struggle to understand.
“He’s… he’s still here.”
Eren’s jaw drops. You shrug innocently.
“Yeah… he’s on his way out though. We just had tea… Oh god, Armin.”
Eren watches your flustered demeanor closely, trying to make sense of the buzzing that reaches his ears from your phone — he deciphers nothing.
“Well, you can come over next time… okay… bye.”
You hang up.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing. Just something about never getting to see my apartment,” you mutter with a shake of your head.
He laughs as he makes his way over to you.
“He’s definitely gonna hound me later for this,” he groans, rubbing his hands down his face. 
He rolls his shoulders back as he catches a glimpse of the time from the clock on your wall. “Oh, man, I really should be heading out, though.”
“I’ll walk you to the elevator,” you offer, already leading the way to the door.
The two of you walk side by side, now close enough for your shoulders to occasionally brush against each other. You exchange secretive glances along the way, biting down on smiles as you recall the events of the night.
When Eren steps into the elevator, you wave him goodbye. A second before the doors close, his hand shoots out to keep them open.
Your eyebrows rise in question.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow, then? Or, I guess, later.”
He watches your lips part and eyes wander in confusion.
“For what?”
“Our first date,” he grins. “Or is it too soon?”
A pleasant warmth tingles in your stomach as you try your best to contain your smile, but the excitement in your eyes shimmers brightly for him.
“No,” you say. “Tomorrow’s perfect.”
His lips curl inwards to keep himself from grinning harder. He nods.
“I’ll pick you up for lunch, then? Two o’clock.”
You smile and nod. He smiles back.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Eren.”
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October 27, 2024
There’s nothing I hate more than loose women. They’re the worst. Always throwing themselves onto men and desperately groveling for attention. That’s why I had to kill this one. Disgusting little whore wouldn’t quit following me around the bar the whole night. 
But the good news is, I met a girl tonight. An angel. She was a vision from my purest dreams dressed in white with a halo on her head, smiling and laughing with her sloppy drunken friends. But she’s different from them, I can tell. If she could just smile at me the same way she smiled at him, maybe then I’ll be satisfied. If I could just have her smile at me every day, I’d be so happy. I'll do anything to have that look of adoration directed at me.
I wasn’t even looking to fall in love tonight and yet there she was. It has to be fate.
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taglist: @erenjaegerwifee @youatemylollipop
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cheeze-whiz · 2 years ago
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what if after azathoth (?? I forgor how to spell it just ignore that) switched bodies with Bobby it developed itz own horrid style of clothez ... like one day it showz up in the UGLIEST outfit the band has ever seen .. and they love it. they love the horrible outfitz
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katsu28 · 3 years ago
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wookies vs. farm boys
pairing: Reggie Peters x reader (set in 1995)
summary: Reggie and Y/N have their first argument
warnings: arguing but nothing too serious you’ll see
a/n: i wrote this short imagine like last year but here's me testing out the waters for Julie and the Phantoms one shots :)
masterlist + taglist
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(gif found on google, credit to owner)
“Hold up. You’re telling me that you think Luke is better than Han?” Reggie spluttered, eyes bulging so wide it was almost funny.
The two of you were currently laid out on the floor of the loft in the band’s garage studio killing time until Luke, Alex and Bobby arrived for band practice. “In what world is a freakin’ farm boy cooler than an intergalactic smuggler??? With a cool ass ship and a Wookie!”
“Luke is cute.” You shrugged, fighting the smile threatening to overtake your face. Reggie scrambled to a sitting position, looking down at you like you’d just grown a second head.
“Okay, first of all, don’t say those words ever again,” He shuddered. “And second of all, you like him because he���s cute??? That’s it?”
“He’s blond. Blonds are cute.”
“Alex is blond, he’s not cute!”
“He’s kinda cute.” You hummed, to which Reggie shook his head rapidly, furrowing his eyebrows.
“Stop it!” He whined. You finally couldn’t keep in your laughter any longer, bursting into a fit of giggles that had you clutching your stomach and gasping for breath. “Oh, ha ha. Very funny, Y/N.” Reggie rolled his eyes, running a hand through his dark hair.
“I’m sorry, Reg,” You wiped a tear from your eye, finally catching your breath. His lips were turned down into a childish pout, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at you angrily. “You just get so cute when you’re jealous.”
You crawled over to him and poked his cheek, but he made a hmph sound, turning away from you despite your attempts to cheer him up. “Come on, Reggie, I was just joking.” Still no response. “Are you seriously mad at me?” Nothing. “I love you.”
Reggie made a sort of strangled choking sound, freezing up momentarily before turning to you with wide eyes, meeting your nervous gaze with a deer-in-headlights-esque one. “You what?” He squeaked. You reached out, lacing your fingers with his.
“I love you, Reggie Peters.” All traces of humor in your voice were gone, leaving you in a very vulnerable position—but honestly, you didn’t care because you meant what you said. You were 100%, without a doubt, in love with Reginald Peters.
“You—you love...wow.” Reggie blinked a few times before going pink in the face and letting out a deep breath slowly. “I love you too, Y/N.”
“Really?” You couldn’t help the grin that split your face as you all but lunged at your boyfriend, pressing your lips against his in a very eager kiss. Reggie’s arms wrapped around you with an oompfh as you barreled into him, barely having time to steady himself before kissing you back with just as much passion.
The two of you made out for a while, you only pulling away from Reggie when you heard the garage doors swing open and Luke’s voice drift in.
“Who’s ready to—where are they?” Luke stopped himself mid sentence, looking around the garage. “Bobby, I thought you said they were here?”
Reggie popped his head over the railing, causing the other boys to turn their attention to his messed up hair and flushed cheeks, and quickly putting two and two together when you peered over as well.
“Oh my god, guys!” Alex groaned, wrinkling his nose. “Not in the loft!”
“Y/N told me she loves me!” Reggie announced cheerfully.
“Reggie!” You hissed, digging your fingers into his side. “Shut up!”
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issaxcharlie · 4 years ago
Text
Something so right
Pairing: Alive! Luke x Fem reader
Summary: A date with the golden boy of the school reveals Y/N’s and Luke's true feelings for each other and they have no choice but to face what they feel. Who will take the first step?
(The fragments of the song are from Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift)
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Luke Patterson was more impatient than usual. 7:30 pm and no sign of his best friend, the one who had never missed a Sunset Curve rehearsal in these two years that they had been playing together.
“Am I the only one worried about Y/N? She is not usually late."
Reggie slaps his forehead, a memory snapping back into his head. "I forgot to tell you she won't be here today, she said something about a date."
The guitarist feels a punch in the stomach, he tries to hide how bitter the news fell on him, but his friends know him better than that.
“A date? With who?” Alex asks, genuinely curious.
“Austin Grayson.”
“Ugh, really Y/N?” But of course it had to be the school's golden boy. Luke can't help not feeling insecure. Austin Grayson is everything Luke Patterson isn't, and that scares him. What if that's what she's really looking for in a partner? He just wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Nice, he really has to like her to invited her despite what everyone says." Bobby responds as he takes advantage of the short break to rest his hands. Reggie and Alex nodding in agreement.
“What do they say?” Luke asks, completely lost.
“Oh please, most of the school thinks you guys are dating. There isn't a day that I don't hear someone call her Patterson’s girl." Alex replies, and Luke looks even more lost.
He can somehow understand why they would think that, he always enjoys having her and feeling her close. Usually touching her hand or arm in some way, hugging her whenever he sees fit. Carrying her books in the hallways or supporting her at her basketball games, just like she accompanies them to all the band's rehearsals and performances, or how she sometimes wears to school the clothes that he 'accidentally' leaves at her home when her mom invites him to dinner. On second thought, it’s easy to understand the confusion.
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You don’t know what is happening. Austin is sweet, handsome, smart, and yet you feel nothing. Forced yourself to laugh falsely all night, and couldn't help but think that it would have been more fun to join the boys in rehearsal, especially when they were only a few days away from Sunset Curve's first performance at school.
When you finally get home, you walk with your head on the floor, trying not to make eye contact with your date. Austin gently grabs your chin so you turn to see him.
A fake cough from behind causes you both to jump away from each other. You don't even have to turn to find out who owns that perfect timed cough.
“What are you doing here?” You refuse to turn around, but you know he's smirking anyway.
“It’s movie night, love.” You force one more smile towards Austin as you curse Luke under your breath, who emphasized the last word in that seductive deep voice he sometimes does when he sings and that secretly melts your legs.
“Patterson." Austin tries to get past the awkward moment by participating in the conversation, and Luke responds by approaching and placing his arm on your shoulder.
"Grayson. Thank you for bringing her safe and sound." He sounds sincere, and that makes you smile for real for the first time of the night.
“It was nothing... I should go. Goodnight Y/N, I had a great time.”
Luke lowers his arm from your shoulder and leans back, ashamed of his rare moment of insecurity and letting you say goodbye to the boy.
As soon as he leaves, you turn to see your best friend, who looks sadly at the ground, and you hug him tightly.
Luke has been through very difficult months, and it is easy for someone who is vulnerable to feel insecure, especially in situations new to them. Not to mention that you are definitely not going to fight with the person you love for putting his arm on your shoulder or calling you in an affectionate way, which are things that he usually does, guy in your doorstep or not. You decide that he showing a little jealousy for once is not the end of the world.
“I missed you so much, rockstar.” You murmur still against his chest, your statement only makes him hold you tighter. You can't help but think about how just hugging him for a few seconds makes you so much happier than the whole date you just had.
“I’m sorry for making a scene. No wonder everyone thinks we are dating.“
“I don’t mind. I couldn't wear your cool flannels or your necklaces if I was dating someone. Plus it would take away valuable time that I can use as the president of the Sunset Curve fan club.” He chuckles. You can feel his body relax and his heartbeat begins to calm down. He gives you a sweet kiss in your hair before letting you go.
Best friends walk into the house, and as Y/N goes to change into something more comfortable Luke sits at the kitchen counter to chat with his second female best friend.
"You have to do something quick, I don't want to have you here crying and eating ice cream while she's on some date with some graceless snob.”
The guitarist can't help but laugh. Y/N's mom has always been a music lover and one of his greatest inspirations. She gave him his first guitar and taught him how to play, always supporting him in each of his steps as a musician. She has always loved him like a son, believing in him with all her might and always blindly entrusting him with what she loves most in the world, her daughter Y/N.
“I know, I will I promise. What I felt today when I saw Grayson touch her face and so close to her lips... I never want to experience that again. I was thinking maybe at homecoming? Sunset Curve is going to perform.”
She wrinkles her nose in response and Luke laughs again.
"Yeah too much information, I’m sorry. And I know, but we have to start somewhere. As soon as we get booked at a good enough club you'll be the first guest.”
They both make a pinky promise and smile.
“I’ll make you proud someday. I swear.”
“I’m always proud of you, my sweet boy. I know you’ll do amazing things, just take good care of my princess during tours.”
“You know I will.” They pinky promise again and reunite with Y/N in the living room to watch movies til the teens fall asleep cuddling.
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Homecoming day arrived and you don’t have a partner. It is not hard to imagine why, being surrounded by at least one of the Sunset Curve members 24/7, especially Luke who tries to be close to you as much as possible, as if he is afraid that you will forget him if you spend too much time separated. Which is actually something you like, if you are honest with yourself. Is not something you would tell him but feeling him close and having his attention devoted to you most of the time feels quite special.
The date with Austin didn’t feel right and only confirmed what you've been trying to deny yourself for months. You are in love with freakin Luke Patterson. And you are in really deep, loving the good, bad, fun, boring, charming, and annoying parts, absolutely every side of him. And now is the time to finally do something about it.
After the guys show tonight, even more girls will be raining down on them than usual and things could get really messy, it's best to make your move first. Inside your heart you know that he feels the same, and if he doesn't have the courage to act on it then you will.
The first and most important thing you need to do to get the operation going is to kidnap Reggie, Alex and Bobby.
After a little threatening session everyone sang about Luke's idea for tonight, which made you grin like an idiot and feel more confident about your plan. The surprise that he will get when he sees how you sabotaged his plan.
Convincing Luke that it was best for you to come on your own so that they would have more time to prepare was not easy, but in the end you succeeded.
He's not a suit kinda person, but you went along with him to get a dark blue one that looked unreal on him just a few weeks ago, and you knew he would find a way to wear it sleeveless so he will look even more irresistible. You opted for a black dress that fades beautifully to blue towards the bottom of the skirt and in which you really look pretty good If you can say it yourself.
Sunset Curve finishes singing the first song, Now or never. It's time for the song Luke wrote for you, but he turns to see his friends scared when he still can't find you in the crowd. They smile at him and start to play the song they practiced with you just a few hours before.
“The way you move is like a full on rainstorm, and I'm a house of cards. You're the kind of reckless that should send me running, but I kinda know that I won't get far.”
You walk onto the stage as you start the first verse, Luke is shocked for a few seconds but then grins from ear to ear.
“And you stood there in front of me just... close enough to touch.” He recovers much faster than expected and pulls you by the waist towards him, just the microphone separating you two while he looks at you with the most seductive face you’ve ever seen.
“'Cause I see, sparks fly, whenever you smile... Get me with those green eyes, baby as the lights go down.” He blushes a little and smiles while his eyes are locked on your lips, capturing every move.
After what seems like an eternity, the song ends and before you can even say thank you, Luke's lips crash against yours, and it’s even better than what you’ve dreamed plenty of times. All the people start screaming, but you especially hear Reggie and Alex a few steps away who sound pretty happy for you.
“Reggie, an issue occurred, I have to go, sing home is where my horse is if you want to.” Luke whispers to his friend, before effortlessly carrying you off the stage.
“Admit it, you just want to touch my legs.” You joke while he walks with you on his shoulder.
“I’m in love with a really smart girl.” You stay quiet, your heart wants to jump out of your chest and you don’t even want to imagine how red your face is right now.
The guitarist finally brings you down when you leave the building, and you both walk to the park next door, where you met when you were just kids.
"Do you remember exactly how we met?" He asks while taking your hand.
“Reggie and Alex teamed up to destroy you in a game they invented and I was the only one in the park, so you invited me to join your team. And when we managed to win you said that we were the best duo on the face of the earth, that we had to be best friends forever."
“I sound very intense.”
“You are.”
They both laugh at the memory.
"You were still right."
“When did you finally realize that you loved me?” Luke asks, smirking playfully.
“I've known for a long time, but I didn't dare to admit it until recently.”
He completely accepts my answer and sincerity and smiles at me.
“I always knew that we would end up together, you eat me with your eyes when I'm not wearing a shirt.”
His teasing takes effect and you blush just remembering him in that situation.
He smiles cheekily and then takes mercy on you and changes the subject.
“So, we are the best duo on the face of the earth, best friends forever, and now an official couple?”
“That’s right, handsome and smart. Nice.”
Both approach until their lips touch, the kiss begins calm but quickly becomes more passionate, his tongue claiming every inch of your mouth, his arms strong on your hips. You let this amazing sensations envelop you and you lose yourself in him, happier than you've ever been.
When you are with the right person, everything feels just right.
Thank you for reading!
Taglist:
@siennanoelle01 , @totomoshi , @kiss-themoongoodbye , @writerinlearning
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chickwiththepurpleguitar · 2 years ago
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flynn + soft pajamas
Here you go, love!
this takes place in the same universe as @joyandthephantoms's if love's elastic, then were we born to test its reach? which you should all go read cause it's fantastic. But gist is Modern AU, Everybody Lives, Luke/Bobby and other ships that aren't relevant for this fic. This takes place a couple years after CJ's fic, once Luke and Bobby have moved in together. Hope you all enjoy!
Send me girl prompts (I only need 5 more for the month)!
“Oh,” Flynn says, surprised, when the door swings open. “I thought you were at work.”
Bobby looks her up and down— at her flannel pajamas and sleeping bag tucked under one arm, the mutilated head of a twenty-year-old teddy bear sticking out of one end. He blinks and looks abruptly exhausted, like he doesn’t know what he did to deserve being disturbed by her everything first thing in the morning. Even though it’s four o’clock in the afternoon.
“Shift starts at six,” he says, voice all crackly like he really did just wake up. “Are you… Did we have band stuff I forgot about?”
“Oh, no,” Flynn assures him. “I’m actually here for—”
“She’s here for me, babe!” Luke appears in the doorway, tossing an arm around Bobby’s shoulders. He’s wearing plaid pants and hippopotamus slippers, shirtless so his top surgery scars are on proud display. “Sup, Flynn.”
“Sup.”
Bobby still looks painfully confused, so Flynn throws him a bone. “Your boyfriend invited me over for a slumber party. We’re gonna hate-watch Fifty Shades of Grey.”
“Hey, I never agreed to that,” Luke protests, tugging Bobby out of the doorway so Flynn can come in. “I still say we should hate-watch the 2010 Percy Jackson movies, they’re much more fun to yell at.” He shuts the door, then kisses Bobby on the cheek and pushes him down the hall toward the bedroom. “Go get ready for work, sweets. You’ll catch up.”
“I just didn’t know you guys were friends,” Bobby grumbles, but he obediently heads for the back of the apartment.
“He’s still waking up,” Luke apologizes. “Graveyard shift’s been kicking his ass.”
Flynn winces sympathetically. “I can imagine. When do you guys even have time to see each other?”
Luke shrugs. “We make do.” He starts toward the kitchen, calls over his shoulder, “Popcorn? Soda?”
“Yes and yes,” Flynn pleads as she follows him. “Thanks for having me over, by the way.”
“Sure, man!” Luke pulls two Dr. Peppers out of the fridge and hands her one. “Thanks for coming. I figure if you and me are gonna keep having deep conversations in parking lots, we should probably hang out more outside of band practice.”
“Totally,” Flynn agrees. “And what better way to get to know each other outside of crisis mode than by watching terrible movies in soft pajamas together?”
“Exactly.” 
Luke fist-bumps her, and Flynn can’t help but grin. She forgets, sometimes, in the craziness that is her life, how much she really likes Luke. Tonight’s gonna be fun.
--
Taglist:@whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @teenagedirtbag-dot-jpeg @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @shrimp-colours @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas @julieandthequeers @joyandthephantoms @it-tastes-like-lizard @jatpfs 
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Text
i ain’t gonna face no defeat
in which alex was a figure skater.
word count: 2,916
some willex, juke if you squint
tw: occasional swearing, period-typical homophobic parents (q word is used as a slur exactly once)
———
“Cut off my circulation even more, why don’t you?” Alex grumbles, grabbing his arm away from his sister.
She rolls her eyes and nudges him as he adjusts the arm band. “Hey, feel lucky you’re even doing this. I don’t think Mom and Dad actually realize what you’re skating to.”
Alex hesitates and sucks on his teeth. “You think they’ll be mad?”
“Oh, they’ll be livid,” she deadpans, then smiles softly. “But they can’t stop you.” She gives him a pat on the shoulder as he leans over to pull on his boot covers. “I’m gonna head to the bleachers. Break a leg!”
Alex calls after her, not looking up, “That’s only for theater and you know it, Mel!”
A few minutes later, he’s called to the boards, and he can’t shake off his damn jitters. He knows he’ll be fine once the music starts, but right now his skate guard won’t come off and he really has to pee all of a sudden and oh my god why is he wearing a tank top when it’s so fucking cold—
Alex steps onto the ice, and the announcer calls his name while he glides into a stretch before taking his beginning pose. He ignores the way his arm, raised in a fist, is shaking while the beginning harmonies start to play, and he skates.
•••
Alex began figure skating when he was six. It was an odd situation, really; he didn’t care about doing it one way or another, and he would’ve been fine with not doing it since his parents would always say it was a girl’s sport. His little sister, Melanie, however, wanted to skate so badly, but with her being the four-year-old she was, she was terrified of doing it alone. Begrudgingly, his parents signed him up for lessons alongside her.
Much to their dismay, he was good. Like, really fucking good. He landed his first single jump after only two years, and his first axel after six. He managed to get height in a way that his coach’s other skaters didn’t; maybe it was the inner pent up anxiety making him bounce like a jumping bean, who knows.
Alex wasn’t just good at jumps, either; he got his Y-spin after four years. He was that kid on the ice who accidentally cut people off with an impeccable spiral. When he practiced his programs, the other kids would move towards the boards to give him room and sneak a glance.
As much as Alex liked the attention from his peers (god, that support system was something else), he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that his parents never sat in on his sessions. They would only ever come to the shows and competitions his sister was a part of; he had to find his own ride to the others (thank god for Bobby's parents, honestly). It had made him angry at first that they didn’t want to be involved, but as he grew older, and learned more about himself, he realized he could use it to his advantage. He could skate to anything he wanted.
Alex was 13 when he chose to skate to Somebody to Love. To anyone else, it was very unassuming, just another kid skating to a popular song at the time, maybe even a tribute, since Freddie himself had passed two months before. It was everything to Alex, though. He pulled out all of the stops; his costume was the whole armband and wifebeater getup, and his coach let him assist in choreographing it.
He didn't know it was his last program.
•••
"Hey, Alex?"
He looks up from his math homework and hums in recognition.
Mel bites her lip and leans against the doorframe before mumbling, "I wanna quit."
Quit? Shit, nonononono— "—nonononono, Mel, you can't quit! If you quit, they're gonna make me quit!"
She closes the door softly behind her and walks slowly up to him. "Alex, the only reason I've been skating for the past year was so you could keep doing it. I'm really sick of skating at this point, and I wanna switch to something else. I'll keep going if you really, really want me to, but—" She sits next to him on his bed, lowering her voice to a whisper, "You saw how they reacted to the recital, 'Lex. You think they might make you quit anyway?"
Alex sighs and squeezes his eyes shut. She's right, he knows she's right. It just fucking sucks.
He tilts his head back. "You can quit," he whispers.
Mel places her hand on his and squeezes, whispering back, "I'm sorry." Alex looks back down at her. "I really with there was something we could do, but there isn't," she continues, recollecting her hand. "At least your last program was a good one."
He gives her a sad chuckle. "Yeah, I guess so. And, I'll have more time to focus on the band. Luke'll be happy about that."
Mel rolls her eyes, takes a breath, and leaves Alex to his own devices with a pitying look.
If she hears him practicing the beat to Somebody to Love in the basement the night she officially quits, she doesn't say anything.
•••
"Julie, what are you doing up there?"
Julie throws a shoe over the wall of the loft and into the evergrowing pile on the floor. "Cleaning out all of your old junk. Which one of you had a magician phase?" she asks, holding up a cheap, ratty top hat and matching plastic wand. "It was Reggie, wasn't it?"
Alex chuckles to himself, poofing up next to Julie. "Why do you think he knew who Caleb was when we met him?"
Julie lets out a loud laugh, continuing her digging. "Are the other guys here?"
"Nah, they're looking for a gig. I just got back from the park," Alex answers.
“Just the park?” Julie asks sarcastically, and before Alex can retort, she adds on, standing up straight, “Hey, whose skates are these?”
She’s holding his old figure skates in her right hand.
The black fabric is a little faded, with the familiar scuffs still on the toe. His dark blue skate guards are all dusty, but the blades still somehow look intact, given there wasn’t much opportunity for water damage in a loft.
Alex scratches the back of his neck, ignoring the rising blush in his cheeks and bracing himself for the inevitable teasing. “Those, uh, those are mine, actually.”
Julie looks up from the boots at him in awe. “Whoa, you skated? That’s so cool!”
Alex drops his hand, mouth open in hesitation. “Really? It’s not... weird to you?”
He can recall a tight grip on his arm, firmer than the band that had been ripped off. "Alex, what made you think it was okay to pull off this kind of stunt? You don't want people thinking you're some kind of queer, do you? Why we've let you continue this is beyond me, it isn’t any good for you.”
“Why would it be weird?” Julie asks, quirking her head to the side in such a Julie way that Alex would’ve laughed if he wasn’t so worried.
He shrugs, shuffling his feet from side to side, and mumbles with a wince, “I don’t know, because I’m a guy and figure skating is like, a girly sport, I guess?”
Julie shakes her head, eyebrows furrowed with a soft smile on her face. “First off, it’s not inherently girly, and second, if it’s something that you enjoyed, then that’s what matters, right?”
“I guess so,” Alex replies, looking down at his sneakers. Is that all that matters, though? He pauses for a moment in debate, then adds on at Julie’s encouraging expression, “My parents made me quit when I was fourteen.” He takes a breath. “They were never that involved in it, though, they actually only let me because my sister did it. I, uh, after I skated to a Queen song in a full Freddie Mercury getup, they weren’t too happy, and made me quit.”
At some point in his spiel, Julie had put her hand on his shoulder, and now she was squeezing it before pulling him into a hug. “Your parents are stupid,” she mumbled into his chest.
Alex chuckles, something emotionless, a bitter taste on the tip of his tongue. “Yeah. They were.”
Julie pulls away with a gasp, a bright smile on her face. “We should all go skating this weekend! The public rink just opened up a couple weeks ago, and I can bring Flynn so it doesn’t look like I’m talking to myself—” she falters, cutting herself off, “I mean, if you’re cool with it. I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
Alex thinks back to his many (many) practice sessions, and remembers the feeling of finally getting that move right, of flying in the air for that one glorious millisecond, of seeing some of his closest friends every other day. He misses it, of course he misses it. It was his biggest outlet before he focused all of his attention on drumming. But, he can’t help but feel that stupid fucking guilt clawing at his throat, can’t help but imagine oh, so clearly the look of betrayal on his mother’s face the night he came out.
Then again, he had lived the rest of his life out of spite of his parents. Why not keep it going?
“That sounds really fun,” he replies, pulling her back in. “Thank you.”
•••
A world sans Caleb was a new one to Willie. However, it was also a very welcome one, because it was in this world that he was able to just relax with Alex in the studio, enjoying every second they spend together without worrying about the time running out.
Which is why he was (reasonably) surprised when the time ran out.
They throw Alex an impressively offended look as he removed his arm from behind their shoulder. “What?”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Willie scoffed.
Alex chuckles to himself, pressing his lips into a line. "As much as I would love to stay here and cuddle with you—" At that, Willie's face goes bright red, and Alex counts it as a win in his head, "—the band and I are going ice skating when Flynn gets here, which should be in about five minutes."
"Oh," Willie's face brightens as they reply, "sounds fun!"
Alex winces. "Yeah, making sure Luke doesn't accidentally become tangible and run over a seven-year-old while playing human bowling on the ice with Reggie is super fun." Willie laughs something golden in response, and Alex only hesitates for a moment before adding on, "Uh- actually, would you want to come with us?"
Willie grows soft, still getting used to finally being included, but quickly schools his expression before replying, "Yeah, I'd love to! Though, fair warning, I'm kind of only good at the one kind of skating?"
Alex quickly scrunches his nose. "That's fine, I'll help you," he offers, slowly untangling himself from Willie.
Willie isn't sure how much help he's really gonna be, but they figure even an amateur would be better than whatever the fuck kind of Bambi creature he is on the ice, so they nod and pull Alex up by his hand off the couch.
•••
They arrived to the rink a few minutes ago, and while Julie and Flynn are buying their rental skates and Luke, Reggie, and Willie attempt to steal some without being noticed, Alex laces up his own skates by himself on an open bench.
It isn't until after he yanks the last bow that he realizes— putting on those skates should not have been that easy.
Yeah, their clothes are usually easy to put on, and they can summon their instruments any time they want, but touching anything else usually takes an immense amount of focus. Hell, the dahlia pin Julie had bought Luke for his guitar strap took five tries to actually hook on rather than just drop to the ground.
And yet, his skates just— went on? Laced up with no problem? His foot didn't go through the sole even once? He wiggles his toes around inside the boot, and only feels the familiar push of fabric against them.
He decides not to question it, to not think about the implications of his skates possibly being attached to his soul, and tries to avoid yet another afterlife crisis as they walk toward the boards. Or, at least, he walks, while Luke just bolts onto the ice with no hesitation, and Reggie quickly follows. Alex falls back behind Julie and Flynn, who step onto the ice and begin gliding around, and Willie somehow finds their way next to him, grabbing onto his hand. They make it to the door, and Willie lets go with a small nudge to the shoulder. "Alright, hotdog, show me what you've got," he jokes.
Alex lets out a small laugh and steps out onto the ice, a weird feeling of deja-vu settling into his nonexistent bones. Once he gathers his bearings, he glides along before maneuvering closer to the middle of the ice and pulling himself into a scratch spin. It takes him a minute to really center the spin, but with the phantom tingling of blood rushing to the tips of his fingers before he pulls in completely, suddenly it's 1990 and he's doing his Lacrimosa program and he wants to try to land every jump he's ever learned, even though he knows that trying his axel right now is a horrible idea, and—
He's exited the spin now, looking back at the door to see Willie about a foot away from it, gripping the wall with a concerning amount of intensity, an odd combination of fear, shock, and something else (awe, maybe?) coming to rest on their face. He skates back over, and Willie's expression doesn't seem to change. "You—" they swallow, "—you can skate."
Alex slides his feet back and forth, his arms behind his back. "Yeah, I figure skated for eight years, actually. Did, did I not mention that?" he asks, smirking a little, knowing damn well he very much never mentioned that.
Willie closes his eyes, sucks on his teeth, and takes a breath, getting over their minor bluescreen moment. "Help me?"
"In order for me to help you, you need to let go of the boards," Alex responds. Willie looks at the boards, then back at him, eyebrows furrowed. "It'll hurt a lot more falling into two flat surfaces rather than one," Alex reasons, and Willie hesitates before finally letting go.
"There we go," Alex says softly, taking both of Willie's hands in his. He begins to slowly pull them along, not caring about passing through lifers, while Willie's feet slip and slide beneath him. Alex tries his hardest not to laugh, and Willie quips, "I thought I was supposed to be the athletic one."
Alex scoffs, "Who told you that? Are you the one lugging around an entire drumset every weekend?" At Willie's laugh, Alex tacks on, "I didn't think so."
They make a full lap around the rink before Alex lets go, having to prevent Luke and Reggie from pulling on some little girl’s milk boxes to make her go faster, because no, that’s not how physics works, and yes, people will notice, Luke.
After, Willie moves to get off at the boards, and Alex pulls a disappointed pout. Willie just motions toward the ice, saying, "I know you didn't just come here to pull me around the whole time, I wanna see your turns and stuff."
Alex hesitates, "But I don't want to leave you here by yourself—"
He’s cut off by a familiar harmony playing in the background, and Luke and Reggie poof by his side in an instant. Alex barely has any time to register it before Reggie is putting a hand on his shoulder and Luke is asking if he’s okay.
And Alex doesn’t know how to answer that right away, if he’s being honest. At first, he thinks he might not be, because all he remembers is scolding, leaving, hiding, but he reminds himself it’s 2020 and he’s a ghost; that his parents are as involved in what was left of his life now as they were when he came out— not at all. The feeling of freedom starts to envelope him; the same freedom as when he danced with Dirty Candy at Eat ‘n’ Beats, the same freedom as when he played the drums at the Orpheum, and the same freedom he had before his last recital. He takes a deep breath.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay,” Alex replies, trying to hide his newfound itching to just get back out there.
Reggie drops his hand from his shoulder with a smile; meanwhile, Luke catches notice of Julie and Flynn starting a mini snow fight, to which he immediately races over and shouts, “I want in!” Reggie just shrugs and poofs over. Whether to stop him or join, the world may never know.
Alex rolls his eyes at his friends’ antics and looks back over at Willie, anxious energy seemingly radiating off of him— except, not as it usually does; now it was more excitement than anything else.
“Go show off, Alex,” Willie says, shooting him away with a smile.
Alex unsuccessfully tries to suppress the overwhelming giddy feeling that rises in his chest, and he skates. Again.
Finally.
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Text
IN LIFE, IN DEATH...
PART SIX
:Masterlist:
Warnings: Swearing, fighting, angst (sorry <3)
A/N: this was definitely meant to be posted like a week ago but here it is! <3
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---
August 1994
The florescent lights of the hospital waiting room were starting to give you a headache. 
They were way too bright and flickered every so often that it made you dizzy to look at them. But you needed something to focus on to stave off boredom, so you focused your attention on the clock on the wall.
It read just after midnight and you silently cursed yourself, quickly pulling out your flip phone and dialing your mom’s number.
She was probably asleep by now, but thinking about her possibly waiting up and worrying made your stomach turn. The line rang for a moment, but then the ending tone chirped and you were left with her answering machine.
“Hey, Mom. Uh, we had a little accident at practice. Luke was practicing his guitar throw and he kind of threw out his shoulder. I’m gonna drop him off at home and then I’ll probably just stay at the studio so I’m not biking home so late. Okay, love you. Bye.”
You hung up the phone and shoved it in your pocket just as Luke appeared from behind the door. The nurse said something to him that made his eyebrows furrow but he nodded. As you got closer, you realized that his right arm was wrapped in a sling.
“So, you’re not dying?” You joked.
“I might as well be.” Luke pouted, lacing his other arm through yours as you start to walk out of the building and into the parking lot. “They said I can’t play guitar for two weeks.”
You hummed sympathetically, knowing more than anyone how much that was going to drive him crazy. “This is what you get for trying to be all ‘Rockstar’”
“Excuse you.” Luke said. “I am a rockstar.”
“Uh-huh.” You sarcastically nodded.
“You’re a jerk.” Luke grumbled petulantly, resting his head on your shoulder. “Here I am, in unimaginable pain and you have no sympathy.”
“Here’s a tip for the future, if you want sympathy then don’t make me drive through Hollywood past midnight.” You teased, lightly shaking him to show that you weren’t actually serious.
“I’m still surprised that Bobby let you drive ‘Amber’.” He gestured to the car you were walking towards.
‘Amber’ was a present that Bobby had gotten for his birthday a few years earlier and it was his most prized possession. Normally, he never would’ve let you take it, but he didn’t feel like driving and taking Luke to the hospital in the basket on your bike seemed a little impractical. So he had handed over the keys reluctantly.
“You got something to say about my driving skills, Patterson?” You asked as you unlocked the car and settled into the driver's seat. Luke got comfortable in the passenger seat, and winced as he looked over at you.
“Don’t get me wrong, (Y/n). You are many things,” He said. “But a good driver isn’t one of them.”
You flipped him off as you started the car and started pulling out of the parking lot. It was quiet for a minute, but just as you turned back on the street, Luke turned on the radio and a familiar song filled your ears.
“Mmm, yeah!
Tonight, I want to give it all to you,”
“Oh no.” You laughed, knowing exactly what you were in for from the way that Luke’s eyes lit up. He grinned as he cranked up the volume and shifted in his seat as much as he could, ready to give you the performance of a lifetime.
‘In the darkness, there's so much I want to do
And tonight, I want to lay it at your feet
'Cause girl, I was made for you
And girl, you were made for me,’
You were trying your best to keep your eyes on the road, but it was hard when Luke was being so frustratingly cute.
His hair was still messy from rehearsal so it stuck up in different directions and he had a dorky smile on his face as he drummed his fingers against the center console. You pulled up to a red light and Luke looked at you expectantly.
You rolled your eyes, but gave in, taking one hand off the wheel to make a makeshift microphone. Luke grinned as you both began to sing.
‘I was made for lovin' you, baby
You were made for lovin' me
And I can't get enough of you, baby
Can you get enough of me?’
One song turned into two, then three, then before you knew it, you had pulled onto Luke's street.
Unlike the rest of the neighborhood, every light in the Patterson household was glowing bright yellow into the night and Luke let out a heavy sigh.
"Thanks for driving me." He said, his voice suddenly a little quiet. You looked up to the window to see the shadows of Luke's worried parents as they passed the curtains and suddenly the levity in the air was gone.
"Of course." You said.
You both knew what was about to happen.
Luke had told you all about the famous Emily Patterson meltdowns, and how they had been getting more and more frequent since he formed the band. Luke spraining his shoulder was only going to give his mom more reason to push Luke away from music.
From your music.
"Hey," You reached over and interlocked his pinky with yours, making Luke raise his eyes from his feet. "Don't let her get in your head, okay? Our music is important, and I know she'll realize that someday."
Luke’s eyes held yours for what seemed like an eternity before lightly squeezing his pinky around yours. “How do you always know what to say?”
You laughed. “’Cause I’m the greatest best friend ever.”
Luke smiled, his eyes slowly drifting from your still connected hands back up to your face. “Yeah, you are.”
The softness in his voice made your heart skip a beat. “I’m serious though. We’ll get into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame someday and you’ll prove her wrong.”
Luke learned a little closer, his voice practically a whisper, "Is this your way of admitting that I actually am a rockstar?"
"Oh, shut up." You groaned as you threw your head back. "You're the worst, you know that?"
"You love me." Luke retorted.
"Unfortunately." You deadpanned. "Now get out of the car, dork."
Luke fake pouted as he wiggled out of his seat and started walking towards the door, he gave you a quick grin and a wave before disappearing into his house.
Once he was out of sight, you let out a sigh and leaned back against the seats, trying to remember the way his hand felt in yours.
---
2020
"(Y/n)! Where have you been?"
Alex demanded the second you stepped into the studio, a worried expression on his face. As soon as you left the diner so late, you knew that a lecture from Alex was coming.
"I’m sorry, Al." You said. "I just lost track of time."
"Were you with that guy from the diner?" He asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow.
"Someone's in trouble." Reggie loudly whispered to Luke who was next to him on the couch. Just like usual, Luke barely spared you a glance before he glued his eyes back to his songbook.
"I don’t think you have any room to be teasing anyone about cute ghost boys.” You said, mirroring his position. “How was your afternoon with Willie?”
Across the room, you could’ve sworn Luke’s writing got heavier against the page. But when you looked over at him, he gave no other indication he was paying attention. 
“Don’t change the subject,” Alex's cheeks turned a little pink but he stood his ground. “You’ve been gone for hours.”
“Hey,” You walked up and rested your hands on his shoulders. “I’m sorry I made you worry. But you don’t have to. I’m good.”
“Of course I’m gonna worry.” Alex said, finally dropping his grumpy face and nudging you. “What else are best friends for?”
This time it wasn’t your imagination, Luke’s writing was definitely getting harder, enough to where it was going to rip a hole in the paper. Reggie and Alex noticed this time too and you all exchanged confused looks but before anyone could say anything, Luke jumped up from the couch.
“So! We should get working on this song.” He puts the page on the piano for you all to read. “I could use your help on the bridge, (Y/n).”
Alex shot you one last confused look and you shrugged before shifting your focus to the song. It was mostly finished, and with Julie’s poem as a guide for the lyrics, you were confident that it would be one your best songs yet.
Next to you, Luke scanned the page with the edge of his pencil, pointing at things he wanted your opinion on. Even with all the tension surrounding the two of you lately, it was nice to know that you were still a great team when it came to music.
---
For someone who learned that ghosts exist, that four of them from the 90′s were living in her best friends garage, and that they were all in a band together in one afternoon,
Flynn took the news surprisingly well.
Which meant that once Julie agreed to join the band, Flynn immediately started coming up with T-shirt ideas and new band names. You weren’t surprised at all when Julie announced that Flynn had booked a gig at the school dance a few days later.
You had all decided on the setlist that morning and had been practicing all day. Which meant by mid-afternoon, you had everything memorized. Since it was the first performance with Julie as a part of the band, you figured that letting her take the lead with vocals would be a good idea.
During the second break of the day, Luke and Reggie were messing around up in the loft, leaving you and Julie with nothing to do. So she offered to teach you a little about piano. It was a slow-going process but you were slowly getting the hang of it. "Okay, so, like this?"
Julie watched carefully as your hand flew across the keys. You miraculously played all the right notes to the song that Julie had taught you over the past half-hour and she beamed.
“Yeah! That’s perfect!” She said, “Play it again.”
Your finger was about to press down on the key, but then Alex phased through the doors. Ever since yesterday, you had been waiting for a moment to tease him about Willie. It was only fair since he just grilled you about being out all day.
“Hey, Al.” You greeted as you stepped away from the keyboard and wiggled your eyebrows at him. “And just where have you been?”
“Yeah, man, we gotta start practicing.” Luke said.
“For what?” Alex asked just as Flynn came strutting into the room. You noticed the colorful paper in her hand and nodded your head toward it with a grin. 
“For that.” 
Flynn set the paper down on the keyboard to Julie to see.
Alex whined as he looked it over. “Aw, man. We’re playing a dance?”
“Yeah, it’s how you build a following these days.” Luke said as he plopped down into a chair.
“Yeah, get with the program, Alex.” Julie said and Luke laughed.
The sound drew your eyes to his face and you can’t help but stare at him as you tried to remember the last time you and Luke had joked around like that. It used to come so naturally, but now even just being around Luke felt like a ticking time bomb of awkwardness. 
Luke’s eyes flitted up to yours for just a second and for the next few moments you couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing.
Flynn shouted, breaking you out of your thoughts. “The band is here?”
She then proceeds to wave to the wrong side of the room and you laughed as Julie gestured towards where you all were actually sitting. You all still waved back despite knowing she couldn’t see you.
“Okay, so now that Alex has graced us with his presence, we should get back to rehearsing.” Luke said and everyone nodded in agreement.
But before any of you could move, Carlos strolled in. “Hey, Julie, remember those orbs from dad’s pictures? I think they’re ghosts.”
Julie’s eyes went wide as she looked at the photos Carlos set on the keyboard right in front of her. She looked back and forth between all of you as Carlos rambled on.
“But don’t worry.” He said as he spun in a circle. “This room is clean, I’m not getting any ghost vibes.”
You couldn’t help but laugh. Carlos was exactly what you always pictured a little brother would be like. You had always wanted a sibling, but the closest you ever got was Reggie.
“If they come back, I’ll protect you.” Carlos puffed out his chest a little. “Because I’m the man of the house.”
Julie raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t dad supposed to be the man of the house?”
“There can be two.” He said as he pulled a salt shaker out of his pocket. “According to the internet, salt burns out their souls.” 
Your eyes all got wide and you backed up until you were almost against the wall. Reggie and Luke both yelped and jumped up as Carlos spun in another circle. Alex screamed as salt went right through his torso, but he straightened a second later with a sheepish smile.
“I’m okay.”
“You’re such a drama queen.” You snort as Alex flipped you off. Julie nodded at Flynn to distract Carlos and she led him out through the doors and back up to the house.
Once they had left, you turned to Julie with an excited smile. "Wait, before we start, I wanted to show you some old Sunset Curve songs."
"Ooh, okay!”
Luke opened his songbook and a page quickly fell out. You instantly recognized the cramped but neat handwriting and laughed at Reggie. "'Home Is Where My Horse Is'? Again, Reg?"
Reggie beamed. "It's a gift."
"Thanks, Buddy." Luke patted his shoulder before opening his songbook to a page in the middle and laying it across the piano for Julie to see. 'I think you’d kill this one."
Julie’s eyes scanned the page for a moment before flipping through the book. "Who's Emily?"
The color drained out of Luke's face as he scrambled for the journal. But Julie kept it just out of his reach. "And this another one, 'She Is Love’? Who knew you were such a romantic?"
You shared confused looks with Alex and Reggie. Of course, you all knew about ‘Unsaid Emily’. Luke always eagerly shared every part of his music with the band, even if it was just a few scribbled lines or a riff he thought of off the top of his head.
But it was clear from the guy’s faces that none of you had ever heard this song. Luke writing a love song was weird in itself, but him not telling anyone about it was even weirder.
"It's just something I tried." Luke said, a faint blush on his cheeks. "But you should flip to the next one. It's got a killer beat."
He played one of the first songs you had ever written for Sunset Curve 'Last Place' and Julie nodded along with a confused look. "So you wanna use a sample?"
"What do you mean?" You asked.
"Sample someone else's music." She explained. "I've heard that riff a million times. It's a classic Trevor Wilson song."
"Who?"
With a couple of clicks on her computer, Julie pulled up a picture of a middle aged guy leaning up against a guitar and your head started spinning.
"Guys, is that...?" You trailed off, hoping that you were wrong.
"It's Bobby." Luke finished.
"Seriously? I just told you his name is Trevor." Julie said.
Alex ran his hands through his hair, a slight scowl settling on his face. "Okay well then he changed it. That's definitely Bobby, he was our rhythm guitarist."
"He looks so old." You said, resisting the urge to reach out and poke the screen.
"He looks like a substitute teacher." Alex added, producing a slight chuckle from Reggie. 
"Julie, what were his other songs?" You asked. You had a feeling the bad news was only beginning. 
"'Get Lost'." She said and your heart sank even further.
"I wrote that." Luke said as he tugged his strap over his head. You could tell he was getting angry beneath his calm exterior, and the same feelings were rising up inside you as Julie went on. 
"’Long Weekend'?' She continued. 
"That one too." Reggie said. "It took (Y/n) and Luke like a month to finish."
"This is freaking me out!" Julie rubbed her temples. "This whole time I thought you were connected to my mom. But you're actually connected to Carrie's dad?"
"Add it to our list of questions." Alex sighed, his leg bouncing as he sat in front of his drum set.
“We used to talk about music all the time.” Julie said sadly. “He never mentioned you guys.”
"Of course not." You scoffed and Luke walked across the room and threw a dart at the board with enough force to put a hole in the wall. “He takes all the credit and doesn’t even mention us.”
“And he’s rich.” Julie flipped her computer screen around to show a photo of a huge mansion. “He has his own helicopter.”
Luke abandons the darts and makes his way over to the screen as Alex jumps up. “Man, we live in a garage!”
“It’s not about the money.” Luke huffed. “It’s about the music!”
Reggie whined. “It’s a little bit about the money.”
“A little about the money.” Alex emphasized.
“He could have at least shared it with our families.” You said, thinking about your mom and how she used to work extra shifts to take care of the both of you. 
Reggie nodded in agreement. “Then maybe my parent’s house wouldn’t have gotten turned into a bike shack.”
Luke took a deep breath. ”What he did was steal our legacy.”
There was a moment of tense silence before he spoke up again.
“Where does he live?”
Julie hesitated. It was clear that all of you were angry, but Luke was on another level. His music was everything to him and being betrayed by Bobby was clearly getting under his skin. You gave her a pleading look and she sighed.
“Above the beach in Malibu.”
Luke glanced at the three of you, asking a silent question. You all nodded and Luke threw on his jacket, a look of determination on his face. “Let’s go teach him a lesson.”
Julie got up from the bench and tried to protest, but you all phased away.
-
As you walked into the front door of the mansion, a million memories raced through your head.
Of days when the five of you would go down to the pier or the park and play for hours, or take a drive around the city in Bobby’s car and talk about being famous one day. You used to joke about someone breaking off and starting a solo career, never actually thinking it would happen.
But clearly Bobby took it a little too seriously.
You and Alex walked to one side of the house while Luke and Reggie searched the other side. Every wall you could see was covered in awards and photos of his performances along with a giant portrait of his face right above the living room. From a little further down the hall, Alex shouted your name and you walked over to see him pointing at a display of shiny silver records.
“Have you seen these records? They’re Platinum.” He said.
“Platinum?” You repeated in disbelief. You ran your hands along the frame and were shocked that you could actually touch it. Across the room, Luke grumbled.
“He recorded ‘My Name Is Luke’.” He said. “My name is Luke!”
Suddenly, you heard the front door open and Bobby walked in.
“There he is!” Reggie called and you all turned to face him as he walked up the stairs. You snorted at his outfit choice and Reggie scoffed, clearly thinking the same thing. “He wears sunglasses indoors.”
Luke and Reggie started bouncing up the stairs after him but you and Alex hung back. 
“Wait!” Alex called. “You know, It’s my first time haunting someone. I want it to be special.”
You stifled a laugh as Luke and Reggie exchanged confused looks before continuing up the stairs.
“I made that weird, didn’t I?” Alex cringed and you patted his shoulder.
“Definitely.” You laughed as you nudged him forward. “Come on.”
You reached the top of the stairs just as Reggie and Luke phased through a door at the end of the hall. Alex was quick to follow but you found yourself stopped in front of what you assumed was Bobby’s office. 
It was a huge room with expensive guitars and fancy furniture. It looked like every other room in the house, but for some reason, you felt like you needed to look in there.
Alex noticed your hesitation and frowned. “You coming?”
“I think I’m gonna look around a little more.” You said.
“You sure?” He raised an eyebrow and you nodded.
Once he was gone, you walked into the room and spun around, taking in the sight of even more awards lining the walls. Your blood boiled thinking about all the hours you had spent writing them only for Bobby to take the credit.
You crossed to the desk to find the bottom drawer cracked open. You tried not to open it, but your curiosity won out. It slid open and you saw that it was completely empty except for an old shoebox that was pushed all the way to the back.
The lid was covered with a thin layer of dust like it hadn’t been opened for ages. It took a minute of pulling, but you finally got the lid off and peered inside.
The first thing you saw was a guitar strap. It was black with white skulls and flowers lining the sides. You recognized it instantly as the one Alex got Bobby for his 17th birthday.
The second was a picture of Sunset Curve playing at the winter formal freshman year. You cringed while looking back at your questionable fashion choices, but the memory still brought a smile to your face.
Finally, there were a few picks spread out across the bottom of the box, and a faded napkin from the diner. 
A wave of confusion and regret washed over you.
So Bobby hadn’t forgotten about all of you.
Maybe he was a music-stealing weasel that you wished you could deck in the nose. But why would he keep all of this stuff if he still didn’t care deep down? If that seemingly always grumpy but secretly dorky boy you had known wasn’t still in there somewhere?
Suddenly, you heard screaming down the hall and you quickly closed the drawer before following the noise. It led to the bathroom door, where Luke and Reggie leaned up against the wall as Alex held the door shut. Then he backed up and the door swung open.
Bobby stumbled out with a terrified look on his face, running down the stairs while he mumbled to himself. The boys laughed and high-fived, grinning at you before phasing out again. You groaned and started walking downstairs where Flynn was sitting on the couch rambling to Carrie as Julie snuck into the backyard.
You followed Julie cautiously, knowing that she would probably be mad at you for leaving earlier. When you walked through the screen door and heard her start to lecture the boys, you knew you were right.
“So, did you guys have fun?” She asked, crossing her arms.
“You would do the same if he stole your music.” Luke said defensively.
“But you guys have new music with me.” Julie added. “And the best way to get back at him is for this band to do great. First we have to play dances, then clubs.”
“Then tours. I know.” Luke said and Julie sighed.
“I’ll see you guys at the school. We go on at 9:00.” She frowned. “Please don’t be late.”
“We’ll be there.” Alex said reassuringly. “Don’t worry.”
Julie turned and walked back through the screen door, giving you a tight-lipped smile as she passed. 
“I don’t care what Julie says. I’m glad we scared Bobby.” Reggie said as he glared up at the mansion.
“I mean, maybe it was a little harsh.” You said and all of them stared at you in disbelief.
“Harsh?” Luke sputtered, like he couldn’t believe that just came out of your mouth.
“I found some stuff upstairs.” You tried to explain.
“What kind of stuff?” Reggie asked.
“The picture of us playing back in freshman year, some of our old picks, his old guitar strap.” You said, but the boys didn’t look convinced. “Guys, Bobby was our friend. We shouldn’t forget that.”
Alex and Reggie looked a little conflicted, but Luke didn’t budge. “How are you so cool with this?”
“I’m not!” You sighed, talking a little louder than you meant to. “God, of course I’m not okay with it, Luke. I put just as much of myself in those songs as you did. But I think we’ve done enough. Besides, it's not like we can even confront him anyway.”
“Maybe we can.” Alex said and you all turned to look at him. “I mean, Willie knows a lot about ghost stuff. Maybe he knows a way we could talk to him.”
“Let’s go find out.” Luke smiled mischievously.
You frowned but nodded. “You guys go. I’ll meet you at the dance.”
“(Y/n)-” Luke started but you had already disappeared in a flash of bright white.
-
If there was anything you didn’t miss about being alive, it was school dances.
You were always wrapped up in work or band stuff to be able to go, let alone ask anyone to be your date. Playing at the freshman winter formal was the first and only time you had ever set foot in a dance until tonight.
Your eyes scanned the gym in awe as you followed Julie through the dancing crowd. There were bright lights and balloons everywhere. There were a few kids dancing but it wasn’t very crowded, but it was still early and you hoped more people would be there to see you perform.
Once you and Julie reached the stage, Flynn grinned from behind her DJ booth and gestured to the backstage area. Julie fiddled with the bottom of her shirt nervously as you both walked behind the curtain.
Flynn gave Julie a hug and you laughed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Are they here?”
“(Y/n) is.” Julie explained and Flynn waved in your general direction in response. “The boys will be here later. At least I hope.”
“I’m sure they will be.” You tried to reassure her. “They know how important this is.”
Flynn nudged Julie’s shoulder with a grin. “Well, let’s get your stuff set up then.”
-
By the time 11:00 rolled around, you were ready to track the boys down and kill them again.
The dance floor was twice as crowded as it was when you got there, and everyone was impatiently waiting for the main performance. You knew that wherever the boys were, they must’ve just lost track of time and didn’t know they were late. But that didn’t stop you from being angry. Especially when you saw the look on Julie’s face.
“Hey,” You sat on the floor next to her while she stared sadly at the projector. “I’m sorry they’re not here.”
Julie just shrugged. “I was really looking forward to playing tonight.”
Your eyes drifted to the crowd, then to the projector, then to Flynn and you got an idea. “Maybe we still can.”
She furrowed her eyebrows but there was a spark of curiosity in her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“We can perform the songs. Just the two of us.” You started. “Flynn can play some backing tracks and we can still rock this place!”
Julie looked nervous and a little hesitant but she called for Flynn and the girl raced over immediately. She explained the plan quickly and Flynn grinned in approval and assured you that she would take care of the backup music.
A pit of butterflies opened in your stomach. You hadn’t performed without the boys for years, but with Julie to lean on, you were fairly confident that you could get through it without throwing up.
You went on with Julie as planned, pushing thoughts about what the boys must be doing off to the side so you could focus on the performance at hand. It wasn’t quite the same, but it didn’t seem like the audience could tell. You belted your hearts out as they danced along, and both yours and Julie’s nerves disappeared as you got lost in the music.
It ended with a thunderous round of applause and you and Julie taking a bow at center stage. You took your cue to phase away and there was another wave of cheering as Julie waved and joined you in the backstage area.
-
As the crowd of students began making their way home and the stage was being torn down, you sat on the gym floor beneath a colorful balloon arch with Julie. Flynn had made her way to the cafeteria, taking advantage of the fact that there were no adults to stop her. 
You watched the last few students leave, including the blonde boy you’d noticed staring at Julie all night. You turned to her with a playful smile. 
"So? When were you going to tell me about the cute boy who obviously likes you?" You teased and Julie sighed.
"Nick is Carrie's boyfriend." She said as her eyes drifted across the empty room and you smiled sympathetically. She elbowed the air next to your ribs, "When were you going to tell me about Luke?"
"What about Luke?" You asked, trying not to blush.
"Don't play dumb, (Y/n)." Julie smirked. "It's obvious."
You groaned, falling onto your back against the floor and Julie laughed. "How obvious?"
"(Y/n), you wear his jacket like everyday, and that song in his journal was one hundred percent about you." Julie laid down beside you.
You snapped your head sideways and Julie laughed again at your shocked expression. "What?"
"Come on." She said. "Who else could that be about?"
You thought back to earlier, when Luke looked like a deer in headlights as Julie read the title out loud.. But you knew there was no way that it was about you. I mean,  Luke never exactly had a shortage of girls that wanted his attention. 
Just as you were about to point this out to Julie, there was a series of bright lights and Alex, Luke and Reggie appeared in front of you. You and Julie stood up, wearing identical glares, the anger you both felt earlier returning in full force. But before you could say a word, Luke launched into an apology.
“We are so sorry that we bailed on you guys.”
“The night just got away from us.” Alex added, looking everywhere but your face.
“It was about Carrie’s dad, wasn’t it?” Julie asked and when none of the boys answered, she scoffed. “You know what? Save it. Bands don’t do this to each other, friends don’t do this to each other. This whole thing was a mistake.”
“You mean the dance, right?” Luke asked hopefully and Julie shook her head.
“I meant joining a band with you guys.” She said, trying to keep a straight face. You could tell she was holding back tears as she ran out of the gym.
Once she was gone, you took a deep breath and faced them.
Alex immediately stepped forward, guilt etched on his face.”(Y/n), We’re so sorry.”
“I’m not the one you should worry about apologizing to.” You said, looking towards the doors where Julie left just a second ago. Alex followed your eyes and sighed, grabbing onto Reggie’s shoulder and steering him towards the door.
There was a moment of heaviness as you took another deep breath. You realized with a start that this was the first time you and Luke had been alone in months. Talking used to come so easily between the two of you, but now you found yourself struggling to find your words. 
“We really are sorry, (Y/n).” Luke said quietly. “We didn’t mean to hurt Julie. Or you.”
You scoffed, kicking your foot against the linoleum of the gym floor, “But you did, and for what? A chance for revenge?”
“No! Well, yeah. But there was something else that happened. You won’t believe-”
“What could’ve been more important than being here?” You asked, cutting him off. You forced yourself to look up and found him looking back at you intently. 
“If you just let me explain, I promise I would never purposely leave you hanging.” 
“But you have been leaving me hanging, Luke!” You fired back, your voice nearly echoing in the empty room. The second the words left your mouth, you felt nauseous. After months of keeping those words on the tip of your tongue, you had expected saying them to feel better.
Luke winced at your words, but kept your gaze, “Hey, I know I’ve been..” He paused, knitting his eyebrows together, “distracted”. 
“That’s one word for it.” You said and Luke took a cautious step closer.
“It’s just that everything has changed so much.” He said, and for the first time tonight, he looked away, “Even before we died.”
You opened your mouth to say something, but he cut you off, seemingly unable to stop rambling.
“It’s like there’s so many things I’ve been trying to say, but I can’t make the words come out. And it all gets so tangled up in my head and I just end up saying nothing.”
You could see him getting more frustrated as he continued on. “I’m sorry for everything. For being late, for being such a shitty friend and being so far away lately. I just-”
He took another step forward, eyes never leaving your face. “I’m just afraid of losing everything.”
There was an edge to his voice, like it was hard for him to get the words out. As he inched a little closer, you reached out your hand, fingers inches away from his when suddenly he jumped back. A purple shock flashing in the middle of his chest.
Luke fell to the ground, groaning as he clutched his side. You crouched next to him and his eyes fluttered open slowly. “Ow.”
“What the hell was that?” You asked and Luke sat up.
“I don’t know.” He said, rolling his shoulders, “That’s never happened to me before.” 
Suddenly, Alex and Reggie phased back into the gym, both of them looking just as shocked. 
“Guys, something so weird just happened.” Reggie exclaimed. Alex took in the sight of you and Luke sitting so close to each other and cleared his throat.
“Should we come back later?”
You glared at him. “Let me guess, you guys also got shocked with creepy purple magic?”
“How’d you know?” Reggie asked, wide-eyed.
Alex sighed at him before he turned back to you. “We definitely need to figure out what the hell just happened.”
“Yeah, let’s go home.” You said and Luke cleared his throat, staring at Alex and Reggie.
“Uh, you guys go. We’ll be there in a minute.”
Alex gave you a questioning look and you nodded, and with another flash, they phased out.
It was quiet for a minute as you both processed everything that just happened. You and Luke hadn’t had a fight like that since you were kids, and that was the most he had said to you in over half a year. Your head was spinning with all the change.
Luke rubbed the back of his neck and you could almost feel how nervous he was. “So..”
“So…” You repeated.
Luke turned a little more towards you and quickly wrapped his pinky around yours. He gave it a gentle squeeze as he smiled.
“Truce?” Luke asked.
You nodded, smiling as you squeezed back. “Truce.”
-
In Life, In Death Taglist:
@ifilwtmfc @instabull @wanniiieeee @tenaciousperfectionunknown @charliegillespiewife @merceret @itismeasmolpotato @lilostif16 @dangerouslyclose @iainttakingshitfromnobody @givemebooksorgivemedeath @sunsetcurvedotmp3 @askgeoff @mayleenicole5676 @puppy11148 
JATP Taglist:
@caitsymichelle13​
Let me know if you want to be added!
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jaskiers-sweetkiss · 4 years ago
Text
Worldwide
Pairing: Reggie x Bobby’s Sister Reader
Word Count: 2.5K
Request: Hey, I was wondering if you would write a reader x Reggie imagine, where reader is Bobby’s sister and secretly having a relationship with Reggie without the rest of the band knowing about it. 
Warnings: very light swearing
A/N: this fic also doubles as my (very late) submission to @jatp-btr week! I decided to set it in 2020 with Julie and the Phantoms going on tour but the guys are alive and Bobby is still a tennager! Also, shoutout to @txrii, who’s playlist of songs that Sunset Curve would cover got me through the final stretch of writing this! Anon, I hope you like this!! As always, let me know what you think and drop a comment/ask/message to be added to my taglist! 
Masterlist
___
“Hey Reg,” you said softly, smiling shyly as his face appeared on your phone screen.
You didn’t have any reason to be shy, you and Reggie had been dating for over a year and had known each other for much longer, but you still hadn’t gotten used to your only face-to-face conversation being over FaceTime. Plus, you’d learned to be wary when the two of you called, you didn’t want to say something mushy and have one of the guys behind him, or worse, your brother.
When you and Reggie had started dating you’d decided to keep it secret from your twin brother, and by default Luke and Alex too. Reggie had reasoned that Bobby would be pissed at him for starting up a romantic relationship with you, which was fair given how protective your slightly older brother had always been of you. However, you were certain he’d be more upset with you for dating one of his best friends and bandmates. So, you didn’t tell him. And then months went by and all of a sudden you were passing one year and Sunset Curve was going on tour and they still hadn’t told him.
“Hey, Y/N,” Reggie responded with a grin, clearly psyched to be able to talk to you.
“Are the guys around?” You started to ask when you were interrupted.
“Reggie, did you say Y/N?” A voice called from the background and all of a sudden your boyfriend was being pushed out of the frame and Luke’s face was front and center.
You giggled exasperatedly at the boy but smiled.
“Hi Luke,” you greeted and he grinned at you.
He had just opened his mouth to respond when he was shoved out of frame as well, Alex now taking his place.
“Hi Y/N!” He yelled and you winced slightly, leaning away from your phone at the increase in volume.
“Hi Alex,” you said quieter, though trying to match his enthusiasm in your tone. “Where’s Bobby? And Julie and Flynn?” You asked, trying to rush through any more potential disruptions.
“Bobby’s in the bathroom and Julie and Flynn are on their bus,” Alex explained while struggling to keep Luke from pushing him out of frame.
With Sunset Curve being such a large group (five performers and their manager), and all of them being so young, their parents decided it was for the best that the girls get one tour bus and the guys get another. Plus, you were pretty sure Ray was not very keen on Julie and Luke sleeping in the same space now that they had started dating, even though they were both adults and you knew  Luke was asexual. Still, parents will be parents you supposed.
Besides, it meant there were fewer opportunities for interruptions when you called Reggie while they were on the road.
“Y/N how come you always call Reggie and never me?” Luke pouted, finally having shoved his way back into the frame.
“Don’t be ridiculous, I called you yesterday,” you protested, rolling your eyes at the boy’s dramatics.
That had been another issue you’d had to work out when their tour had first kicked off. Calling Reggie every day was starting to seem suspicious, even though you claimed it was to talk to all of them. Alex had quickly pointed out that it was weird that you didn’t just call your brother, which you had tried to excuse as not wanting him to hog the phone time but then Luke had gotten jealous that you only called Reggie. It seemed reasonable enough when you thought about it from their perspective. You’d been friends with them all for years and they didn’t know about your relationship, so it probably did look like you were playing favorites with Reggie. So, you started making regular calls to Luke and Alex, making sure to give them enough one-on-one time on the phone with you to throw suspicion off your calls with Reggie. It had mostly worked, but Luke was still a butthead.
“Yeah but you called Reggie today,” he whined and you shook your head.
“Because it’s my turn,” Reggie responded for her, pushing both boys away so he could fill the screen once again. You hoped nobody noticed the way your smile brightened when you saw your boyfriend.
“Don’t you guys have other things to do?” He whined and you could practically hear Luke and Alex pouting off-camera so you tried to put on your best understanding-but-disappointed look.
“Sorry guys, it’s Reggie’s time,” you said, though not really sorry about it.
“I feel like it’s always Reggie’s time,” you heard Luke grumble and rolled your eyes.
“Maybe I like him better than you,” you shot back, with a raised brow.
You heard him gasp from off-camera and then you heard the stomping of feet and Reggie grinned broadly at you.  
“It’s not nice to lie, Y/N!” Luke yelled as he stomped away, and you heard Alex yelp as he was dragged away with him. “We all know I’m your favorite! I’m everybody’s favorite.”
“Nicely done,” he commended you and you laughed.
“I don’t even know what I did,” you admitted, assuming it would be a much larger fight to get Luke and Alex away.
“Well, whatever it was worked,” he chuckled before his face fell. “I wish you were here.”
Your smile turned melancholy at that. It was certainly nice to be able to see him every day when you got a chance to call, but it was nothing compared to actually being together.
“We’ll be together again before you know it,” you tried to comfort.
“We still have two months of touring!” He whined and you nodded.
Sunset Curve did still have two more months of touring, but what Reggie didn’t know was that as soon as they stepped foot on US soil to finish off the last leg of their tour, you’d be joining them. You’d been in cahoots with your brother, Flynn, and Julie to plan everything in secret. Of course, you were really only planning to surprise Reggie, but to throw off suspicions you had to claim to want to surprise all the guys. You’d be traveling on the girls’ bus but everybody knew you’d be spending the most time with the guys. You did grow up with them, after all, whereas you’d only known Julie and Flynn for a couple of years.
Still, it was difficult to talk to Reggie every day, watch him pout as he whined about missing you and how long you had before you’d see each other again, without throwing in the towel and telling him everything. The look on his face will be worth it, you had to remind yourself each time.
So, you nodded along, strategically choosing your words to avoid lying to your boyfriend.
“I only have a couple more minutes, babe,” you said after about a half-hour had gone by with the two of you sharing about your days.
“Oh, right, your class,” Reggie groaned, not wanting to hang up.
“Believe me, I don’t like this any more than you do,” you sighed, giving him a tight-lipped smile. “But, I’ll text you when it’s over and maybe we can call later?”
Reggie nodded.
“Don’t find any cute girls to replace me while I’m gone,” you joked and he shook his head.  
“How can I? I’ll be thinking about you the whole time,” he replied and you smiled shyly.
“I love you, Reg,” you said softly.
“I love you too, Y/N.”
___
You were practically running across the airport. No, not practically, you were running through the airport.
You and Bobby had strategically planned your flight out to the east coast to meet them so that you would land a little before them and be at the airport waiting for them when they arrived. Neither of you had considered delays in your plan and so you were running from your gate across the airport to try to get to the boys’ gate before they disembarked the plane.
You could feel your phone vibrating in your back pocket and cursed quietly to yourself, knowing it was Bobby texting you that they were getting off the plane. You groaned, though in your out-of-breath state it came out as more of a stuttered whine.
You were pretty sure you were nearly there when you heard it.
“Y/N?” A voice called out, sounding confused.
You cursed mentally, having hoped to have some time to compose yourself before seeing them, but obviously, you were too late.
“Reggie, what are you talking about?” You heard Luke ask the boy and you could practically hear your twin’s knowing smirk before you saw it.
When you finally spotted the group of teenagers grouped just outside the gate your eyes slid right past your brother and all your friends, finally locking onto blue-green eyes. Before you even realized what you were doing you were running again, launching yourself at your dark-haired boyfriend. Reggie caught you in his arms, spinning you around slightly before placing your feet on the ground. The two of you stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, relishing in the feeling of being in each other’s arms again before remembering the company you were in. Reluctantly you stepped out of his arms before embracing Luke and Alex, still thrilled to see two of your closest friends just in a different way than Reggie.
“What, no hug for me?” Bobby asked with a frown once you’d hugged Julie and Flynn as well.
You scoffed, wrinkling your face as if the prospect of hugging your brother was revolting.
“If I must,” you sighed before wrapping your arms around your twin. “I missed you.” You added more sincerely. You had never been the kind of twins that were attached at the hip, but this tour had certainly been the longest and farthest you’d been from each other.
You pulled away, moving back to stand by Reggie who was staring at you with a mix of awe and adoration that you hoped the rest of the group missed.
“Wh-when? How? I- I can’t believe you’re here,” he stuttered out, pulling you into his side and you grinned.
“Bobby, Jules, and Flynn helped me plan it all out,” you explained, smiling up at the boy. “I wanted to surprise you.” You turned to smile at Luke and Alex, knowing they were included in the surprise even though it was really only intended for Reggie.
“So wait, I don’t get it, what are you doing all the way on the east coast?” Alex asked, puzzled and you laughed while Luke smacked his chest. “Surely you didn’t fly all the way out here just to see us?”
“No, you idiot! She’s joining us on tour!” Luke exclaimed before faltering, eyes flicking between you, Bobby, Julie, and Flynn for confirmation. “…Right?”
You nodded, laughing again.
“Yes, I got sick of missing you guys while you were traveling the world,” you grinned and Reggie squeezed your shoulder, a reminder that his arm was still around you. Luckily all the guys were pretty touchy so it seemed friendly enough. “So I’ll be with you for the rest of the tour!”
The guys all cheered at your announcement and you grinned, so thankful to be back with them.
___
You’d made it surprisingly long into the North American leg of their tour before any mishaps occurred. You couldn’t quite believe you’d made it that long given that all you and Reggie wanted to do in your free time was stay wrapped up in each other but there wasn’t exactly the privacy for that.
Still, you couldn’t help but be frustrated when the slip-up finally happened.
You’d been backstage before one of their concerts, the guys had left you and Reggie alone in their dressing room so you took advantage of your momentary privacy and leaned in to give your boyfriend a good-luck kiss on the cheek. Of course, it was just your luck that the guys would bust back in looking for their bandmate just as your lips made contact with his cheek and before you knew it you were giving the other three boys good luck kisses and mentally cursing yourself while Reggie held back a laugh.
Needless to say, you were more careful next time but you were still stuck giving good luck kisses for the next few performances because the guys insisted that they actually performed better.
Of course, that whole ordeal was completely forgotten on the night of their last performance. You were all back in LA and after this performance, you’d be returning to your own homes and beds to sleep for the first time in weeks for you and months for the rest of the group. You knew they were all excited to be back home even though they loved touring.
You were excited to be home too, and maybe that was why you completely forgot the lesson you’d learned earlier on the tour and pulled Reggie in for a kiss when the guys stepped out of the dressing room for the final show.
It had meant to be a quick kiss so that the two of you could follow right behind them without arousing suspicions. However, you didn’t stop him when he pulled you in closer, prolonging your kiss. You were so focused on each other that neither of you heard the door open as Luke came back in to grab his forgotten guitar pick.
“Holy shit!” He yelled back down the hallway, scaring you and Reggie.
The two of you jumped apart hastily, but the damage had already been done. You could hear two pairs of footsteps as Bobby and Alex came running back down the hallway.
“You both owe me ten bucks!” Luke yelled triumphantly as the two boys appeared in the doorway.
“Aw, man are you serious?” Alex whined. “You guys couldn’t have waited until after the concert?”
Your jaw dropped open as the blond drummer and your brother began rummaging through their coats that had been left strewn across the dressing room couch for their wallets, each pulling out a ten-dollar bill and handing them to the guitarist.
“Y-you… you knew? And you were betting on us?” You sputtered, looking between the three guys in pure disbelief before whirling on your brother. “I can’t believe you!”
“Sorry, y/n, you’re not slick at all,” he shrugged, smiling smugly. “All the phone calls to Reggie specifically and then the good luck kisses?” He shook his head mockingly. 
“But, it was fun to watch you both squirm,” Luke added and you glared at him.
“I can’t believe you guys,” you pouted, glaring at the three of them.
“Well, at least we don’t have to sneak around anymore,” Reggie pointed out, slipping his hand into your own and you turned to smile up at him.
You leaned up to press a kiss to his lips and heard the guys groan.
“Okay but I still don’t want to see that!” Bobby whined and you smiled into the kiss, flipping your twin off with your free hand.
“What the hell are you guys still doing back here, we have a show to do!” You heard Julie call, her voice getting closer as she approached. “Oh, I see. It’s great that you guys are public now but we still have to get onstage.”
You laughed as you pulled away from the kiss.
“Knock ‘em dead, rockstar,” you said softly before letting go of his hand so he could follow his bandmates out into the hallway.
___
JATP Taglist: @meangirlsx @morganayennefertyrell
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creativeashproductions · 4 years ago
Text
In the Beginning // Alive!Luke Patterson
Summary: Reggie (Rhodes)’s older sister is the epitome of cool in his, and his friends, eyes with her in a band. Pushed by a hazel eyed brunette with a huge crush on the eldest Rhodes teen the boys decide to start a band. While at first the band is for Luke’s dream of landing you he finds his passion with music.
Warning: Swearing, angst, fluff, dad!Luke
Words: 4.1k
A/N: I couldn’t resist writing another alive!Luke fic with Luke crushing on his band mate’s sister. Ugh, just imagine Luke suggesting a band to impress his crush only to fall in love with music instead.  For my fics it will be Alex Mitchell and Reggie Rhodes until JATP reveals their canon names. 
Masterlist
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Los Angeles, 1992
The guitar case was a familiar heaviness as you walked into the home for the first time in months after a practice. You ached from the long travel, and all you wanted was your bed. The yawn came first, then the startled yell at the living room.
Four pairs of eyes met the girl standing in the entryway, surprised at a sleepover with her brother and his full friends. Eyebrows coming together you shook your head wondering why they had come here instead of the typical Patterson home.
“Hey!” Fourteen-year-old Reggie beamed towards his older sister excited she was back from her weekend band practice. Your eyes blinked at his usual upbeat personality before switching to the brown eyes from Bobby, too shy to full meet yours.
Spread around the living room watching a movie was Reggie’s best friends; the socially awkward Alex, the shy Bobby, and the Patterson boy Luke. The young typically spent their time at Luke’s place, so seeing them in your home was strange.
“Reg, what’s up?” You asked crouching to untie your shoes confused at the sharp audible gasp coming from Luke. Standing straight up, you saw Luke awkwardly looking away with bright red cheeks.
“How was practice?” Reggie inquired with the smile he got from your mom and his dark hair from your dad.
Reggie usually wasn’t interested in your band leading you to wonder what the hell was going on with them. Being sixteen you didn’t socialize with Reggie’s friends, thanks to the two year age gap, but you were happy he had good friends. Well, less than two years between you and Luke.
“It was good. Since when are you interested in Crimson Queen?” You questioned moving more into the room with the four young teens, “You haven’t even touched your bass in years.”
One eyebrow raised you individually looked at the boys in the room all with sheets of paper around them. From a distance, you couldn’t tell what was on them, but it couldn’t be homework. They all attended the same high school while you had done correspondence with the band and a tutor.
“Luke’s parents got him a guitar,” Reggie spoke gesturing to the decent brand new acoustic guitar on the floor beside the Patterson. Luke’s hazel eyes widening as you came closer to the group.
Your hand picking up the guitar to look it over finding it was decent for a beginner, but it was definitely not tuned. The sheer sound made you wince.
“So, you guys want to be a band?” You questioned sitting on the floor beside Luke. The boy shifting nervously, you weren’t blind that he got shy around girls, “Do you guys even play instruments?”
“I got the bass, Bobby can play rhythm guitar, Alex plays dru-“
“I wouldn’t call it proper drumming. It’s just something my therapist suggested with my anxiety and frustrations.” Alex raised his hand leading to everyone in the room looking at the tall male, recently had a growth spurt, with the backward black hat.
“And Luke will learn guitar as well.” You added, looking at the quiet, “How well can you play?”
“I don’t even know how to properly tune it,” Luke admitted playing with his fingers adorned with a ring.
Luke had chosen a cutoff shirt in an attempt to gain your attention to his arms he hoped had gotten more muscled. He had a massive crush on you but with the guys your own age he had step up; he started working out. He actually enjoyed it, but he’d enjoy it more if you were checking him out.
“You’ll need a place to practice.” You mumbled glancing out the window at the ocean waves thinking. The house was on the prime real estate edge of the beach all thanks to your well off parents; Dad, a doctor and Mom, an interior designer.
Your fingers tapped on the ripped blue jeans you had chosen that day with the flannel shirt opened over the black AC/DC t-shirt. You started standing up, grabbing Luke’s hand to pull him up as well; the boy’s cheeks grew pinker, and his heart fluttered.
“What?” Luke spluttered, staring at his hand, caught in yours in sheer awe.
“You’ll need a place to practice.” You answered, dropping is head to reach in your pocket for your key chain.
The key chain had a few keys on it: one for home, one for your car, one for the band van for gigs, one for the garage, and lastly one for the house the garage belonged to. The boys piled into the car, apprehensive for where you were taking them. The only sound was the radio playing local greatest hits, your foot slammed on the brake at the house of your bassist.
“Well Marty, this song has blown up on the charts. New band Crimson-“
“Holy shit.” You breathed staring at the radio. Your door opened as you sprinted down to the steps that led to the garage. The footsteps of the boys following.
The garage was open already with your band members lounging around the space filled with instruments and amps. Their heads swivelling as you frantic turned the radio on.
“Come on.” You mumbled, turning the radio station to the right one, “Guys listen!”
“-Crimson Queen is an LA-based band making waves in the LA Nightlife and hit the top ten with their newest song Sorry Now.” The radio host spoke, “If you haven’t heard the song before, this is the band’s new single.”
The song was blasted from the radio leading to the four girls screaming the song out dancing around the room. Euphoria was the only way you could call the feeling rising in the bodies of the girls in the place. The room burst into more screams as your drummer. Faith switched the radio station.
“Today history was made, Crimson Queen is an all-female rock band fronted by Y/N Rhodes. They started as a hobby at fifteen, but a year later at sixteen they’ve made waves.” A hit radio station, the second one so far, was talking about your band. Holy shit.
“Lucy, this band is going places. My daughter is seven years old, and she’s telling me this band is the talk of her school. I can’t tell how much Lucy listens to their demo.”
Your eyes saw Reggie having a meltdown of excitement for older sister and her band, and you were so unbelievably happy you should care the moment. You rushed over to Reggie to pull him into a hug.
“Girls…and boys.” Mrs Taylor spoke furrowing her brows at the young boys in the garage her daughter had begged to use for the band. Shaking her head, the middle-aged woman turned her attention to her daughter.
“Hey, Ma.” Dawn, your bassist, spoke spreading her pink painted lips to her perfectly straight teeth too hyped up on energy, “What’s up?”
“First congratulations on the single. Secondly, we’re gonna need to get a personal line for the band because our phone is blowing up.”
A sharp gasp from Dawn before the three of the four girls rushed to the house of the Taylor’s. You hung back to look at your brother and his band.
“So? What do you think?” You inquired with the group, “This idea of yours has to be one hundred percent what you want. It won’t be easy in LA, it will come with hardships, and Reggie Mom and Dad won’t let you drop out.”
The four boys nodded their heads because the excitement they saw in your big break was something they wanted. To be able to connect with people cemented their decision.
“Feel free to hang around.” You suggested glancing around the garage that started it all, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
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The Orpheum, Los Angeles, 1995
The crowd screamed as Crimson Queen, the song that started this road played with the girl crouching to grasp the hand of fans. At the beat of the chorus, you stood up eating up the energy of the last show of the tour. You went jumped on the drum riser rocking on the guitar as Faith did her magic.
Dawn on her bass made her way to rock with your rhythm guitarist Sara sharing grins with you still feeling the euphoria of this success. As the song came to an end, your entire band went to the front of the stage.
“We’d like to thank our fans for the last nine months of our world tour. We started this band in LA in 1991, so we thought it fit to end our tour at The Orpheum.” You spoke to the crowd, feeding off the energy as the concert came to an end.
The road crew would load your instruments up in the van to take home after months of travelling. You were so excited to see Reggie, who would be seventeen now, having celebrated his birthday while you had been in Europe. Too excited were shocked as Reggie backstage.
“Reggie!” You exclaimed tugging the teen into your arms, leaning back to take him in, “Damn you grew!”
Reggie grinned not giving a shit you were coated in sweat from performing your setlist, but your eyes went over his shoulder. Standing close and just as excited was Reggie’s friends. Alex was taller, Bobby looked more confident, and Luke could meet your eyes. Luke also had changed, no longer baby faced.
“Sunset Curve.” You spoke, stepping back to look them over, “I haven’t seen you guys in months, how did you change so much!”
“That’s what happens when you go on tour for almost a year.” Luke teased tugging you into his arms for a tight hug.
It was odd seeing Luke taller and more muscled than when you left for tour, and the confidence was honestly hot. You had seen Luke as anything other than your brother’s friend, who tended to stare a little too long.
“You played the fucking Orpheum!” Alex screamed, holding your shoulders with a wrinkled nose at the damp red thin flannel shirt. The girls wandered up behind you each with a grin at the guys.
“Well if it isn’t Sunset Swerve,” Sara spoke swinging her arm over your shoulder with a teasing smirk plastered on her face. Her blonde hair swept up in a bun high on her head from a recent shower.
“Sunset Curve!” The male quartet snapped at the name before they fell back into a happy demeanour. Luke and you both staring at each other with a pink-hued face.
Faith was quieter in the group leaning closer to your band to whisper in your ear, “Jay scored us some drinks. But MJ got us into a party.” Faith’s textured hair tickling your neck.
Grins split the three girls at the suggestion each excited for the party with fellow musicians and plus ones. Sure, the parties had drugs and alcohol, but they were fun and part of the scene. Half of you wanted to go, but the other wanted to spend time with your brother.
“I’ll think I’ll pass.” You spoke up to the girls motioning to the guys, “I’ll head back with them. Meet you at the house later?”
Your black vans moving backwards as you moved to be closer to be flush against Reggie’s side grinning as he bumped his hip against you. Sara, Faith and Dawn each raising an eyebrow at your response since you often dragged them to parties.
“Orrr…we could each take one of them.” Faith cajoled mocha skin gleaming in the light with her hands, tugging her hair into a thick braid.
“You want me to take my seventeen-year-old brother and his friends-“
“-I’m like two weeks from being eighteen-” Luke cut into the conversation buzzing at the possible date, but not date, with the girl he had been crushing on for years. He was pretty sure he was in love with you at this point; he did date a little, but nothing stuck.
“-To a party in Hollywood.” You finished pinning your gaze on the three girls ahead each with mischievous grins. Your cheeks puffed as you breathed out, thinking of the positives and negatives.
Bobby was bouncing on his heels with Reggie leaving Alex shifting uncomfortably in his place. His partially relaxed when Luke squeezed his forearm through the distressed black jean jacket that bought his outfit together. Luke himself was apprehensive on your decision because either way, he got to spend time with you.
“Come on.” Dawn implored, pulling out the big guns with her ocean blue eyes widening into the puppy gaze that did you in each time. Her curtain of short dyed pink hair framing her heart-shaped face.
“I’m going to pass this time. Do some shots for me! Not tequila though, that was a huge mistake.” Faith’s grin widened at having you carry you out of the house in the early morning after a wicked party.
“Did you ever find your tho-“
“Faith!” You hissed turning a bright red at her revelation that you definitely didn’t want Reggie to know. The atmosphere turned awkward as everyone realized what the sentence would end with.
Okay so maybe you had hooked up with a few people over the last three years but nothing permanent. It was fun, drunk fun, but still fun and nothing had gone wrong. Your eyes avoided looking at Luke for a reason you couldn’t decipher.
“I’ll see you later.” You spoke motioning for the guys to follow you to the dressing room you had settled in early in the day. The corner of your lips quirked at the awe on each of the boys’ faces.
“I’m in the dressing where bands become legends.” Reggie gasped circling the room with wide-eyed interest. Alex was interested in the band posters on the walls from previous performers.
Luke, however, was more interested in your curves covered by your sweaty stage clothing that stuck to your form. His Adam’s apple gulped as you grabbed your shower bag moving towards the connected bathroom.
“I’ll grab a shower, and we can head out.” You supplied, “I’ll just need to stop at Rudy’s office for our portion of the concert.”
The guys mumbled a response finding a place to wait without hushed conversations of when they would get to play. Luke’s eyes found yours at the low call of his name from the bathroom; a crack opened he walked over.
“Do you have a sweater?” You mumbled at the taller teen with widening eyes as he realized that you were naked behind the door.
Luke stumbled over his feet, retrieving the black pullover Crimson Queen merch he had had for months now. He had saved up money to buy the merch to support the band. The door closed as you tugged the sweater in the bathroom momentarily before walking out.
“Thanks Lu. I forget to pack a shirt.” Luke awed as your nose scrunched up adorably to the amusement of his friends, “So, do you wanna hit the beach? Or maybe give me a concert in the garage?”
Luke intertwined his fingers in yours as he tugged you out of the room with your bag in hand. His heart fluttered as you held on to his hand even in the little office of the Orpheum’s management for the thick envelope of money.
“Thanks, Rudy!” You called over your shoulder at the short, stout man going over the financials and upcoming performances.
The smell of Sunset Boulevard brought a smile remembering the first time you performed and the small group that had waited outside. The first night of autographs and recognition.
“So, Reg how’s my car?” You questioned the teen who impishly grinned tugging the key chain from his black jeans. You had given him the keys when you revealed Crimson Queen had a world tour.
“Right there.” Reggie pointed leading the group of five to the car that would take them to the garage. Reggie drove with Alex in the passenger while you were crammed between Bobby and Luke; Luke was delighted in your warmth against his side.
While your band members partied, you got a first-row seating to Sunset Curve’s talent in the garage where you had started out. It was amazing to see how much they had accomplished in the three years since they started.
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The sudden knock on the door had you flailing off the couch onto the floor with a sheet of paper stuck to your cheek. Your spine cracked as you sat up glancing at your watch, finding it was after midnight, only an hour of sleep after inspiration for a new song.
The door was knocked on once more and coming close the sound of crying could be heard, and you wondered if it was Luke. He had been over a few days in the night following a fight with his parents and needed to crash; helped you were giving dating a chance after his well-rehearsed speech.
Imagine your shock when it was Reggie sobbing, “Reggie.”
“C-can I stay here?” Reggie whimpered cuddling himself into the leather jacket he received at Christmas from you. You had inside in your arms in moments, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Are they fighting again?” You murmured to your younger brother content to hold him as he cried. Bringing him to the living room, you held him as he cried humming under your breath the first song you ever let him see.
“Yeah. The music doesn’t work anymore.” Reggie murmured leaning back to wipe his tears off, “Sorry for crashing. I can go stay with-“
“Here. Reginald, you can always stay here.” You soothed the seventeen-year-old boy with sad eyes and a sombre look. His sad eyes shattered your heart, knowing he had suffered the fighting for months alone, “This house is empty Reg. You can move in here.”
His lip quirked up, “Can we play country music?”
“And eat breakfast at night.” You teased him grinning as his lips pulled up into his trademark grin, “The guys can come over whenever they want. I’d actually prefer they know they can stay here, they deserve a safe place to stay.”
You knew that Alex endured living with his parents, who had gone out of their way to avoid him after he came out. Luke couch surfed at your old house, never at Alex’s home; after coming out, Alex didn’t feel comfortable bringing anyone over.
“Good, because they’re outside.” Reggie sheepishly admitted raising his thumbs-up, “Go thinking ahead!”
Snorting the human version of a golden retriever you opened the front door to the house finding two guys in strange positions. Alex was inspecting the light fixture, and Luke was leaning against the wall with his elbow, foot across the other.
“You guys need lessons in the art of pretending you weren’t eavesdropping.” The sigh fell stepping aside for the two to enter the home—each carrying a backpack and small duffle bag for wherever they would have crashed.
The male trio got comfortable in the living room curiously glancing at the mess of papers, sticky notes and pencils. While with good intentions, they didn’t follow boundaries well, even for Alex.
“Whatcha working on?” Luke inquired, leaning closer to a sheet of paper. His pout coming over his face when you quickly tidied up the papers.
“Nothing. I fell asleep on the couch. The label wants new songs.” You groaned rubbing your eyes, “I got inspired last night. Oh! Hey, I took a message for you guys.”
Jogging to your office studio for the band you quickly grabbed the envelope along with the note that you had been given.
“So, Rudy called me, and I had a meeting with him.” You started sitting on the coffee table in front of the trio. The trio leaned forward.
“Rudy?” Luke questioned, pursing his lips together at the male name. While you and Luke were dating it wasn’t official, he was just really nervous with his dream girl liking him back.
“He’s the management for a venue. He asked if our band was available for a concert, but we collectively decided to focus on songs and recording, which you can’t tell anyone about, but he’s in dire need. So, I might have given him something. Specifically a demo of yours and knowing your home situations I gave my information.”
“Okay…so?” Alex questioned, leaning forward. His eyes growing wide as you pushed the envelope in his hand.
Alex quickly opened the cream envelope finding inside a paper along with a mock-up promo poster with Sunset Curve. The squeal was shocking from the teenager as he read the letter and note out loud.
Y/N,
I gave the demo a listen, and we usually wouldn’t do this, but Crimson Queen has been gracious with us. Always mentioning where the band got its start and closing the tour here. To repay the favour, we would formally like to invite Sunset Curve to perform. In the envelope is a mock-up poster as an option for the promo. Get the Sunset Curve’s people to get in touch. I can get the word out to some friends from some labels to come for a listen. Get in touch as soon as possible.
Manager of The Orpheum in Los Angeles,
Rudy West.
 “The Orpheum?” Luke screamed, yanking the paper from Alex to re-read it in complete shock, “We don’t have people!”
“But Crimson does.” You smirked, “On a temporary basis Crimson Queen formally offer our manager’s help.”
In his excitement, Luke lunged to pull you into a kiss freezing the room in shock.
“He got the girl.” Alex breathed elbowing Reggie in the side who’s mouth was open at his best friend kissing Reggie’s older sister. The older sister who was the driving force behind Luke wanting to form a band to impress her, “We need to tell Bobby!”
1995 was the best year for Luke Patterson. He got the girl, his band made it, his parents finally saw his dream was worth it.
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The sound of music hypnotized the woman as she wandered down the hall to the open door of the large home. Nothing too over the top like Bobby’s mansion, but it was a nice size in a gated area. Your neighbours being Reggie on one side and Alex on the other side with his partner Willie; Willie had skated into Alex and into a love story pretty much.
Resting against the door edge of the designated home studio you saw Luke had moved a rocking recliner in. Softly playing in the room was a soft acoustic song recorded months previous as a surprise for you.
“When are the lessons starting?” You questioned bringing Luke’s attention to your soft smile and the love in your eyes. Luke’s grin widened glancing down at the miniature version of his love-filled eyes.
“Given her legendary parents, I think at two.” Luke chuckled shuffling the baby to the crook of his arm shifting, so you could curl into his side as well. Both eyes gazing at the little baby you had welcomed what felt like yesterday.
Stevie could fall asleep only to the lullaby her father had created during the pregnancy, and he had written. Stevie had Luke’s eyes, and so far her blonde hair had yet to darken so the question of if she’d take after your hair or his hair was unanswered.
“Hey sweetheart.” You whispered to your daughter falling asleep to the sound of her father’s voice in the room. An adorable yawn pulled from her little body as she nestled into Luke’s arms.
“She’s so gorgeous.” Luke breathed tears welling up as he could understand the reasoning behind his parents’ opinions in his teens. He truly felt terrible at hurting his mom now that he felt the love for his child.
“We did good Patterson.” You murmured back to the man who had held your heart since you were nineteen and back from tour. Your finger tracing Steve’s soft cheek, “I think she has your mom’s mouth.”
Luke’s lips lingered on your cheek heart full of love for his family with you and his little girl. He had known since his eleventh birthday he would marry you even if you were a year older. A year that made the difference when he was months older than his friends, so the year felt like two for you. At eighteen when was tentatively dating you, he knew he would marry you. He never anticipated the sheer amount of adoration for the little girl he would have at twenty-one.
God, he loved his life. He made up with his parents, his best friends, had the girl of his dreams, the most beautiful daughter and it all thanks to music. Can you see why he lives and breathes music?
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legolasghosty · 3 years ago
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“you were having a bad day so i got you _” + your favourite rarepair!
Hello there! Funny thing, I haven't actually written much with rarepairs before this, so here's one I love reading. Apologies for the mess that is my first time writing these two. Hope you enjoy!
Bobby dropped onto the couch, exhausted from the day he’d had. Not only had they had to wake up at 4 am to work an opening shift at the coffee shop they worked at, but Luke had also insisted on band practice for the gig they had that weekend. He’d said three hours, but it had ended up being more like five. Afterward, Julie had left for work and Willie had picked Alex up for a night out together, so Bobby had been left to wrangle Reggie and Luke alone. It had taken nearly another hour to get the two of them to actually eat dinner, what with them constantly getting distracted by a combination of music and cute dogs.
They’d finally settled down to watch a movie in Luke’s room, finally giving Bobby a chance to breathe. He loved his friends, but sometimes it was hard to get them to take care of themselves. He supposed their whole friend group was a bit like that at times, him included. There were plenty of times where Reggie had carefully taken away his coffee so the caffeine wouldn't keep him up all night or Luke had casually leaned against his side to provide the physical grounding Bobby never knew how to ask for. But after the steady stream of rude customers this morning and the extra-long band practice, Bobby really wasn’t in the best shape to be the one reminding Luke that food was, in fact, a necessary part of life, and keeping Reggie from impulse ordering a set of measuring cups because he’d forgotten Julie had gotten them some a couple of weeks ago.
He rolled onto his stomach and squeezed his eyes shut as he buried his face in a baby Yoda throw pillow. They just wanted to go to bed and leave the long day behind, but they wanted to wait for Julie. She would probably be home soon, and they always slept better with her tucked into their side. He hadn’t been totally sure about it when the band started talking about getting a place together, since he and Julie had been together for less than a year at that point, but now he couldn’t imagine living with anyone else. It was like living with their family; not everyone got along all the time, but they all loved each other and took care of each other.
He barely registered the soft click of the front door opening, too worn out to look up as light footsteps came closer.
"You still alive?" Julie asked. 
Bobby felt the couch dip as she sat down beside their legs. "No," they grumbled, keeping their face hidden by the pillow.
"I guess I'm too late then," Julie chuckled, rubbing a hand over the back of his leg.
Bobby lifted his head to look at her with a mixture of confusion and adoration. "Too late for what?"
She grinned triumphantly and reached forward to pull a cloth grocery bag up onto the couch from the floor. "I noticed you were having a hard day," she started, sticking a hand into the bag, "so I got you some ice cream on the way home." 
She sat back up, now holding a carton of mint chip ice cream and a couple of spoons. Bobby felt a real smile cross his face for the first time in hours. They never got mint ice cream because Luke, Reggie, and Willie all insisted it tasted like toothpaste, but it was Bobby's favorite. He forced his aching body into a sitting position and reached out toward their girlfriend. 
"I love you," they murmured, pressing a chaste kiss against her lips before taking the carton. 
"I love you too," she answered as he peeled off the lid.
They lapsed into easy silence as she handed him one of the spoons and helped him adjust so he was leaning against her as they dug in. The cool flavors flooded Bobby's taste buds and Julie overwhelmed the rest of his senses. Her warm body pressed against his side, the sensation mingling with the smell of her perfume and old books as her soft humming filled his ears.
The whole carton didn't get eaten that night, they were both semi-responsible adults after all, but they stayed there on the couch long after they stopped eating. Julie filled the silence with stories from work, letting Bobby just relax for a while before dragging him up and to bed. 
As Bobby drifted off that night, they decided that today hasn't been quite so bad. How could any day truly be bad when Julie was in it?
And there we have it! My first real attempt at Jubobby. Hopefully it wasn't too bad? Thanks for the ask, have a good day!
Send me a prompt from the list below and a ship and I'll write a thing!
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aliasimagines · 4 years ago
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word count: 1061
a/n: this is set in the 90s
you had a crush on each other for like forever, but neither of you acted on them because you were afraid to destroy your friendship and didn't want to mess up the band 
and you were oblivious to the other feeling the same way
it wasn't until Bobby flirted with you that you started to notice that Reggie might like you back
it was super late after a whole night of band practice and you were starving. Bobby offered to take you out for dinner with a grin saying that he would even buy your food in exchange of a kiss
of course you laughed it off and so did the boy along with Luke and Alex but you couldn't miss Reggie's…angry? expression, like he was about to smash his bass at the rhythm guitarist guessing by the way he tightened his grip on it
to test out the little theory you made up you decided to pay extra attention to the other guys. 
Bobby and Luke went along and you often spent breaks between practice flirting with each other
and Reggie's was furious
he was so frustrated, like he just didn't get it. why couldn't you give him attention too? he was head over heels for you but you obviously didn't care about that.. Not that he ever made any attempt of showing this to you
Alex watched everything from behind his drum set. 
he could see how you looked at Reggie before and after you went to flirt with Luke or Bobby. 
he saw how Reggie's eyes went dark went Luke placed a small kiss on your cheek after you nailed a part in the new song you were practicing 
and he could pinpoint the exact moment Reggie lost it. it was in a club you were playing in at some night. Luke was singing the chorus and with each word he walked closer to you, you noticed and winked at him. that's when Reggie jumped between the two of you while pretending that he was just aggressively rocking out to the song 
Alex was laughing his ass of behind his drums
Luke was only surprised for a moment before turning to Bobby and singing to him like nothing happened
that left you staring at the cute bassist who tried to hide his blush with violent headbanging 
you went to confront him after the show
‘hey, Reggie! Wait up! ..What the heck was that man?’
he blinked at you, surprised by your tone. he opened his mouth than closed it cause nothing came out
‘you aren’t even gonna say anything?’
‘look y/n, i don’t know what am i supposed to say… i just.. i saw Luke getting closer to you and i just couldn’t watch that..’
you stepped closer to him, searching for his gaze ‘why not?’
Reggie nervously looked around debating whether he should say it or not. was this the right time to tell you? well, only one way to find out..
‘because i...because i like you y/n. and i- i get it if you like luke, he is the lead singer and he is an amazing dude so it”s fine i just wanted to-”
‘ oh my god Reggie stop it!’ you grabbed his shoulders and shook him.’i don’t like Luke, you silly boy. i...i only flirted with him and Bobby to make you jeals… cause i kinda have the biggest crush on you.’
‘YOU DO????’
‘is that so unbelievable?’
‘no i-kinda? yeah? you know how many times i imagined this happening?’
‘well, does reality meet your expectations?’ you ask smiling.
‘well, you know, there's one more thing that i imagined-’ he cups your cheeks and looks at you.’can i?’
needles to say you nodded and let the boy press his lips against yours, you both had some sweat dripping from your faces from the show and the kiss was rather awkward but for you it was perfect
from that night on you were inseparable 
you earned a lot of teasing from the rest of the band but over all they were super supportive
Reggie has a flirty personality but like he just can’t use it with you in the first two weeks of your relationship because he still can’t believe you want to be with him and he is afraid that he would scare you away with that attitude
but he forgets that that is part of the reasons you fall for him
lots of cuddles, he loves cuddles
long walks on the beach, while holding hands and talking about the future
him coming to you when his parents are fighting which often result in him spending the night so you can watch movies to take his mind off of his home 
so movies, you go to the cinema a lot. both with the band and just the two of you
Reggie always bugging you about getting matching tattoos 
"Babe, we legally can't do it." 
"Bobby knows a guy."
Helping him keep his things organized 
Him being energetic and genuinely excited about things always hypes you up too
Writing songs till 3 am (often country songs too) 
being his no 1 supporter all the time 
leaving encouraging sweet notes for each other 
i feel like his parents would be away from home quite frequently sooo cooking together! (and making an absolute mess) 
if you agree with me on Reggie having little siblings then watching over then all the time! 
and them loving you so much 
and Reggie loving you so much because of it
i think he would say i love you first and pretty early on in the relationship 
calling him "my cowboy" will definitely do things to him
him always finding his way over to you during performing
i can definitely see him suddenly just pulling you into a kiss in the middle of a show and than blushing real hard when you ask him about it later
getting to borrow his flannels and leather jacket, even if they don't fit you just having them when Reggie's not around is so comforting 
reading together / for each other 
he definitely wants to adopt puppies with you (a hamster will do too) and if you do he ends up bursting into band practice shouting: "Y/N AND I ARE HAVING A BABY!" which obviously leads to a HUGE confusion 
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rosycheekedandsmilin · 4 years ago
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Here Comes the Sun
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Here Comes the Sun
Luke Patterson Imagine
Summary: Luke sees you at one of the boys’ practice sessions.
Warnings: just fluff with a hint of angst, I think. There is a mention of a pregnancy rumor and implied bullying, but not extensively
(A/N: I’m soooo sorry this took so long. Things have been hectic. Also, this would be before they died back in 1995. Plus, I’m new to all this so any recommendations, comments, tips, etc would be appreciated)
You had told your friend, Dianne, that you had homework to do, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. The boys of Sunset Curve were rising quickly on the LA scene and your friend was just one of the many to join their legions of female fans. It also helped that they happened to go to school with you. You couldn’t deny that they were all pretty cute, but you sided with many when you decided you had a preference for the front man: Luke Patterson.
You both used to be close your freshman year, but after he joined Sunset Curve your sophomore year, you both went your separate ways. You’d actually seen him several times in the hallways this year when he wasn’t surrounded by girls. He would be stepping in time with some imaginary beat, his fingers plucking on the old messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. He was always looking up, ever the optimist, looking at the horizon like only good things could ever come his way. His bottom lip caught in his teeth through a beaming smile, his hair brushing along his long eyelashes-
Whew. He was gorgeous.
And trigonometry homework could wait for you to see that gorgeous again up close.
The boys would sometimes hold open practice for a few fans to come watch and hang out, but it was starting to become exclusive as more people began to show up than they had room for.
Thus, your friend lept at the opportunity when she cornered Reggie alone in World History. You giggled at his adorable smile as your friend twirled her hair and flirted his socks off. Before you knew it, she was running back to you with a grin and the promise to see the band practice that coming Thursday after school.
You dressed in some simple mom jeans and a graphic tshirt tied at the waist, hopefully to flatter your figure. Dianne guaranteed you looked “smokin’ hot”, in her words. 4:10 struck and you both got in her car to head that way. The practice started at 4:00, but Dianne told you repeatedly that being fashionably late would set you both apart from the crowd.
On the way to the studio garage, you found yourself extremely nervous. You didn’t even fully know why; it was just a band, just a boy. It wasn’t a date or you throwing yourself at him, but you couldn’t help the fluttering feeling in your stomach at the thought of seeing Luke Patterson perform before a selected crowd, you being one of them.
Meanwhile, the boys were starting to warm up when Reggie started rambling.
“Isn’t it weird that no one comes on Thursdays?”
Bobby snickered. Alex and Luke shared a look before Alex turned to Reggie.
“Dude, that’s because the school has lacrosse games on Thursdays. No one wants to be here when our team is on a winning streak.”
Reggie thought a moment before laughing at himself.
“Oh yeah! I completely forgot. Then Dianne must have forgot too.”
Luke, Alex and Bobby all turned back to Reggie.
Luke spoke up this time.
“Dianne as in Dianne Parker?”
Reggie nodded. Luke’s eyes widened.
“Dianne Parker, as in friends with-“
Reggie smiled. “Yep. Y/n y/l/n.”
Bobby turned to Luke.
“Isn’t that the girl you’ve liked since-“
“-freshman year. Yeah,” Luke sighed.
He turned to Alex, but Alex waved him off.
“Even I have to admit the puppy dog eyes you used to get around her.”
Luke smiled softly, falling back into a memory.
You and he had been lab partners in Chemistry your freshman year, as well as shared a homeroom together. This was back before he was introduced to the music that saved his life, so he was still a shy little kid. He hadn’t found the passion that spurred him to connect to people. You, on the other hand, were everything he wished he could be: kind, smart, and courageous.
You weren’t quite an extrovert, but you always made sure others felt included and valued. When someone fell quiet during group discussion, you encouraged them to speak up and always made sure they knew you valued their input. When he would inevitably get an answer wrong in class, you would quietly show him the correct answer and explain it to him in a way that he didn’t feel stupid. And you would regularly invite people eating alone to join your small group of friends.
There came a point where Luke’s parents pushed him to get a tutor because of his failing grades, and you offered immediately after hearing about it. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you both would meet in the public library after school. As time went on, Luke grew to enjoy your time together and even grew a crush, but he never thought you would like the little shy kid that couldn’t speak up for himself. Then his sophomore year, his parents gifted him with his first guitar and it changed him forever. He connected with people in a way he never had before. By the time he worked up the courage to tell you how he really felt, you were in your first relationship with Danny Fenton, the star quarterback.
Luke just had to watch as you walked with him everyday and cheered him on the loudest on Friday night football games. Then, you had a messy break up. Not even a week later, a rumor spread that it was because you had cheated and were pregnant. It was a nasty, false rumor, but enough people believed it that you moved away your junior year.
In the meantime, Luke had already formed a band and was rising through the social ranks. When he learned you had moved back your senior year, he flipped. Still, he could never find the nerve to talk to you again, and you kept your head low to avoid the social radar.
That all changed today. The boys cornered Reggie.
“Is she coming today?” Luke asked.
Reggie gulped, his eyes darting between the three faces in front of him.
“I-I don’t know! Dianne just stopped me in world history and started asking about the band and Luke and-“
“She asked about me?”
“Well, yeah and she was twirling her hair and you know I have a thing about hair-“
“Did she mention anything about y/n?” Alex piped in.
“Well, she said that she and a friend wanted to watch practice today-“
“A friend? I’m sure it’s her,” Luke spoke to himself, running his fingers through the scruff on the back of his neck.
“Dude, are you gonna be okay?” Bobby asked, the three other boys staring nervously at Luke’s retreated figure.
He turned slowly, his deep hazel eyes wide in uncertainty.
“Well,” he said, taking in a breath, his shoulders dropping in finality, “it’s now or never.”
•••••
“We’re here!” Dianne cheered as her mom’s van screeched to a halt in the drive of the studio garage.
Forget the butterflies, hornets filled your stomach now. And they were angrily looking for a way out.
“Are you sure about this?” You asked weerily, holding your stomach.
“Absolutely!” Dianne beamed, turning to you from the front seat.
Your eyes finally caught the obvious problem outside your window.
“Um, Di?”
“Hmm?”
You blanched.
“Where is everyone?”
“Oh. My. Gosh. Well, what do you know! I must have completely forgot that everyone goes to the lacrosse games on Thursdays! Looks like we’re the only ones to watch today!”
It took all the zen you had not to throttle her little neck.
“Why do you hate me?” You cried out.
She giggled. “‘S all love, darling.”
“Dianne,” you begged, “you know our history.”
“And I know your chemistry too.”
You let out a small wail and looked out the tinted window at the studio garage. The doors were closed, but you could hear the muffled sound of guitars and drums warming up still.
Dianne had already stepped out of the van.
“Y/n, c’mon. We’re already late.”
“That was your idea!”
She held out her hand, giving you a pleading look.
“Di, I don’t know if I’m ready to face him again. So much had happened since-“
“Since you realized you liked him? And Danny got jealous and started that rumor?”
You nodded.
“Darling, that is the past. This is the now.”
“But what if-“
“Can I let you in on a little secret?”
You took a deep breath.
“Yeah?”
A small smile made its way onto her face.
“Reggie told me that Luke still has it bad for you.”
Your jaw dropped.
“You’re lying.”
She shook her head, smiling.
“I’m completely serious. That’s one of the reasons that Reggie was so excited to have us come today.”
You rolled your eyes.
“And what was the other reason?”
Dianne blushed.
“I may have told him that I would make out with him under the bleachers tomorrow at lunch.”
You smiled softly at her.
You were still a scarlet letter when you came back to school, so you couldn’t find anyone willing to be seen with your reputation. That was until you met Dianne, who was known as a serial home-wrecker. That wasn’t true, of course, but a bended truth of a spited ex-girlfriend. Still, she’d had more romantic exploits than you could count on your fingers and toes.
“C’mon, (y/n). Prince Charming is waitin’ for ya.”
You blushed as you made your way out.
•••••
There was a knock on the studio doors and three heads snapped up.
Alex, Reggie and Bobby all looked to each other and Luke.
Luke was facing a nook in the back, his headphones playing from a Walkman. He was still trying to see if he could learn the riff from Wonderwall by Oasis before you came in, but none of the boys wanted to be the one to nudge him with the way he was practically vibrating in his seat.
They shared a silent look before Reggie nodded knowingly.
“Rock, paper, scissors, boys.”
Alex turned to him, blinking.
“Reggie, there’s three of us. That’s not gonna- ok.”
Alex walked up to the door and opened it to reveal you and Dianne, both smiling nervously.
“Hellooo, Dianne,” Reggie crooned as Dianne waved at him, a suave smile painting his features. Dianne giggled beside you and you found yourself bristling with nerves. 
“Uh, hey, y/n,” Alex greeted you warmly, nudging Bobby forward as well to greet you. 
You pressed your lips in an awkward smile and forced your hand up into a wave. Your mind began to get caught in a cycle.
I should not have come I should not have come I should not have come-
“Hey, y/n, welcome to our practice. Because you both made the wonderful choice to come watch today, we have decided to gift you with free merch!” Reggie grinned, winking at Dianne. 
“Reggie, all our merch is free-” Alex started, but Reggie pressed a finger to his lips, pressing them to the side as Alex glared at him. Bobby laughed and you quickly joined in, eager to rid yourself of your nerves. You all began to fall into comfortable banter and the boys were hilarious. Dianne was flirtingly feeling up Reggie’s bicep, asking him about his workout schedule. 
“Oh, yeah,” Reggie said, his voice jokingly low and gruff. He flexed his arm. “I have quite a regime.” 
Alex scoffed. “What regime? Your type of workout is chasing down the ice cream truck and lifting meatball subs to your mouth.”
“Hey,” Reggie said, turning to Alex with a look of betrayal on his face, “it is an intense regime none the less!”
Suddenly, there was a creaking sound from the back corner.
You stiffened.
The boys had forgotten about the tense guitarist behind them, who had been blocked from your and Dianne’s view by their figures.
A footstep. Another. Then another.
The boys parted and your heart stopped.
Two perfectly sparkling hazel eyes looked up at you through brown tasseled hair. And there it was, that beaming smile that warmed every inch of your body.
You were thrown back three years to the vision of that shy boy with a nervous bounce asking you for help with number three.
That same boy stood before you now, gazing at you like you were a triple-chocolate sundae surprise, a brand new guitar, an open stage, a raging crowd, and every answer he would ever need, all wrapped up in one person.
 “Hello there, Sunshine,” he said, at last.
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issaxcharlie · 4 years ago
Text
Spectacular!
Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader
Summary: Inspired by Nickelodeon’s Spectacular! Luke Patterson needs the money for his bands demo, and miraculously, that same night he gets an offer to fix his problem. The catch? Rockstar boy has to join his school’s show choir and put up with their fearless Female Lead Singer. (don’t come here searching for accuracy remember it’s inspired by a movie)
Note: I had a lot of fun with this one, hope you like it! Oh and it’s a little long so keep it in mind +8k👀💜
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Say this is not her scene would be to fall short, but she has to make sacrifices to find greatness. The first thing she notices when she walks into the little club, is that it's packed. The people look excited and somewhat desperate and she doesn't blame them. The pamphlet marked they were supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. and it's already 8:40. She makes her way carefully until she finds a perfect place in the middle of the room.
The musicians take the stage visibly anxious, especially Alex who cannot stop moving his hands trying to probably calm himself down. Reggie and the rhythm guitarist take their positions. They look at each other one last time before beginning to play the enveloping sound of the pop-rock song. The bass line sounds insane and she hasn't heard Alex play drums in years, he’s exceptional. They could both play without their singer all night and she wouldn't mind.
The space in the center of the stage that belongs to who she came to see today, completely empty. The bassist seems about to take the first verse when Sunset Curve lead guitarist and vocalist Luke Patterson appears on stage.
She has seen him multiple times in the hallways laughing with her childhood best friend, Alex Mercer and her lab partner, Reggie Peters, but she has never spoken directly to him. Still, it's hard not to notice how handsome he is and how much of a charismatic personality he has.
“I'm living my life just the way I like, they say I get a little too loud. Try to push me in a box, over analyze. But I'm never gunna turn it down”
His voice is enchanting and mesmerizing, a sound that immediately reminds her of the best rockers in history and his movements and energy are electrifying. In seconds the entire audience is jumping and dancing to the beat.
“They say never and I say right now!” Y/N analyzes him excitedly. The passion with which he sings and plays his guitar reminds her of when she is on stage, although the two of them dedicate themselves to totally different things, their love for music is the same. She definitely has a lot of work to do to polish him and make him the perfect performer she needs, but if there's anyone who can accomplish the impossible, it's her.
“No one's gonna stop me tonight! Thank you, we are Sunset Curve, tell your friends!” The presentation ends and Sunset Curve leaves the stage. The girl moves quickly to catch up with them at the back of the club, but when she finally arrives, screams can be heard from two of the members of the band.
“I know you don’t like me, Bobby. But trying to sabotage the show by giving me the wrong time is just the most stupidest thing you've ever done!” The guitarist looks furious, his muscles are really tense and Y/N can't help staring at his biceps way more than she probably should.
"This fight of egos between the two of you has to stop, we can no longer continue to be in the middle." The bassist cries out, tired of all the bickering.
“You no longer have to, Reggie. It’s time to decide. The lousy rocker or me. Remember that the money for the demo is mine before choosing... I'm not sure Patterson's lyrics can compete without the money to record them.”
The guitarist looks down at the ground, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face. Alex and Reggie turn to see each other for a second and then position themselves on either side of Luke, no sign of doubt on their faces.
“We’ll find a way without you. Let’s see If you find one without us.” Reggie declared with a little smirk. Bobby grabs his stuff and gets into his truck without looking back, completely furious.
"Some things Bobby was angry about are true and you have to improve them. You are not a solo artist, you are part of a band." Alex points to Luke as soon as the truck is out of sight, but before he can respond the blonde intercepts the girl at the door.
“Y/N?” The three of them turn to see her, Reggie smiles at her while Luke looks pissed off.
“Hey guys, I came to talk to Luke.” Luke frowns in surprise while the other two gape for a few seconds.
"Really?” Y/N turns with a murderous face towards her friend, who puts his hands in his pockets and begins to walk. “...Okay. Meanwhile Reg and I are going to figure out how to get the drums in Luke's car."
"If you come for an autograph please be quick, I don't feel like socializing." The guitarist declares to the wind, not wanting to pay attention to the stranger who approaches him in the middle of the alley, no matter how cute she looks.
“I’m not a fan.” She confesses in a firm voice, trying to measure the situation.
"Oh, then I'll go. See you later beautiful." He's about to leave when her voice stops him.
“Patterson, come back here!” There's something about her tone that makes Luke suddenly interested. He turns to see her carefully, her chin is up, her shoulders back. Her lips are press together and her eyes look determined and he can't help but admit that the confidence she projects is really doing something to him.
“2 minutes, firecracker.”
“I’m Y/N Y/L.” Faced with no comment from the guitarist, she decides to continue. “I need a male lead singer for my group and I think you might be the perfect fit, after I'm done with you, of course."
He’s unable to believe what he hears. “A band? I think you know pretty well I'm already in one.”
“It’s not a band, it’s a group. THE group If I can say so myself. Spectacular!” She affirms with the first smile he sees her that night, and he can't believe it is possible that she can look even more beautiful.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit with the spectacular thing? At least tell me the name or what kind of band is." She rolls her eyes and he chuckles in response, thinking it was adorable and hot at the same time.
“I already told you, Spectacular! It’s a show choir.”
“Is this a joke? Did Bobby sent you?”
“No and no. I know it’s not really your style, but I’m telling you I can make it work. I heard a bit of the conversation you had with the band, the prize of Nationals is 10,000 dollars. I'm willing to give you half for the demo, if we win, obviously. And I can assure you we will if you accept and do absolutely everything I say.”
“Firecracker, are you trying to tell me that all I have to do to raise the money is put on some stupid cowboy or tiger-print outfit and humiliate myself in front of an entire audience with my best jazz hands? Wow, sounds like a dream!” Maybe he got a bit too sarcastic, but meh, as pretty as she is, she's still a stranger.
“My name is Y/N, and I'm not appreciating your tone of voice.” By this moment the girl seems tired of the musician, who feels the frustration in her and tries to be more gentle.
“I- I’m sorry. Thanks for the offer, but I don't feel as desperate yet as to end my reputation in that way. I hope you find what you are looking for, but that’s just not me. I'm just a guitarist.” She nods, entwining her arms against her chest. He admires her for a few more seconds and turns to his car, where his friends are already waiting for him to help with the drums.
Before getting behind the wheel he turns to her one last time, but she is nowhere to be seen.
Fights between Luke and Bobby weren't new to the band. The big-headed attitude of both collided practically all the time and things had been getting worse in recent months with the more overconfident attitude of the guitarist, but they never imagined that they would end up in this situation.
The days go by and the boys are running out of time. They have to deliver the demo to the Orpheum offices in two months so that they can be taken into account for the great concert they will hold at the end of the year presenting the best new talents in the city. All they've heard from Bobby is that he's trying to build his own band but without much success. Still, he doesn’t fold his hands and continues to try on his own.
The three remaining members of Sunset Curve are in Alex's room lying on the floor with their instruments around trying to think of solutions, when Y/N's voice coming from outside refreshes the blonde's memory. “What did Y/N want to talk to you the other day?”
“Who?” Luke narrows his eyes in confusion.
“Y/N? The captain of the school’s show choir? She went to talk to you after Bobby left the band. Small, fire in her eyes, a lot of attitude.”
“OH, Firecracker! So that group is our school's choir? that's even worse. She tried to recruit me, even offered me the money for the demo if we win the competition in which they will participate.”
“What? She wants you in Spectacular? What did you said?” Alex heard that his friend's ex-boyfriend broke up with her and joined last year's national champions, but he never imagined that she would try to replace him with someone like Luke. Luke is distracted by a melody and doesn’t answer his friend's question.
"Why does your mom always leave her music on when she leaves to work?" The music is definitely not his style, they are always usually pop songs or even songs from musicals, but the singer's voice is one of the most beautiful he has ever heard so it never bothers him.
“It’s not her music, is Y/N.” Alex responds, wondering what the young woman is up to since she is never usually home at this hour.
“Who?” Alex's eyes widen, not able to believe his friend.
“Really? I already told you!” The guitarist tilts his head and shrugs. “Firecracker?”
“What does firecracker have to do with this?” Alex opens his balcony curtains and the silhouette of a young woman singing and dancing through her transparent pink ones comes to their visions.
“She’s so good bro, I thought it was a record too.” Reggie looks at her with a big smile as Alex rolls his eyes at Luke.
As soon as he sees her, the musician is in a trance, admiring the grace and energy with which she moves, wanting with all his might to remove the pink curtain that does not allow him to see her properly.
The song ends and a well-known melody begins to play with prominent bass and drums. “Guys, shut up! I’m trying to hear her sing.”
“It’s not us, man.” Reggie answers almost screaming with how loud the girl’s music is.
“What do you-” Luke turns around and sees his friends with their hands raised, the cables finally connecting in his brain. "She is listening our song?"
"Not just listening, she's also destroying your career, her vocals are amazing." The black-haired boy adds, smirking and running to connect his bass.
Luke excitedly opens the balcony window and sings the pre-chorus as loud as he can to get the singer's attention. “Call me in the morning to apologize, every little lie gives me butterflies.” She immediately turns around and smiles at the guitarist's cocky smile. She opens the curtain and the window and her sunset curve t-shirt is the first thing the band notices.
“Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive.” Luke sings seductively towards her, each word fully dedicated to the woman in front of him.
Reggie accompanies them with his bass while Alex looks at his friends incredulously, an "Are you fucking kidding me." Comes out of the blonde almost like a whisper when he identifies the shirt that the girl wears as his.
Both sing the chorus together and the chemistry is unquestionable. Alex had never thought of this two together because at first glance they seem completely different, but thinking about it a little more deeply they couldn't be more similar. They are both passionate, headstrong, live for the stage, and are ridiculously talented and confident.
“Fight so dirty, but you love so sweet. Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth. Late night devil, put your hands on me. And never, never, never ever let go.”
The performance between the duo is playful, driving, sexy and intense and Alex and Reggie can't help but feel like they're interrupting a private moment. As soon as the song ends, the girl moves closer to the window, blows them a kiss and closes it.
"Where did that woman come from?" Luke whispers as he tries to catch his breath. Nobody had enchanted him so much just by singing, well, nobody had enchanted him, period. But she’s definitely something.
“She has been my neighbor since we were 6 years old, we used to be best friends but we both drifted apart when we entered high school. She’s amazing, the best performer in the city.” Alex informs him and then Reggie adds his own piece of valuable information. “She’s my lab partner. Fun, smart, beautiful, the whole deal. A true gem.”
“Answering your question, I said no to her offer. But I guess the group of someone this rad can't be that bad. And we really need the money." The drummer purses his lips and nods. His friend definitely took the hook.
"Honestly, I always wanted to audition, I guess the three of us could try in, to support you obviously."
“Of course man, she sounded desperate when she asked, and if the shirt and song is any indication she is definitely a huge Sunset Curve fan. She tried to fool me by saying she wasn't a groupie, as if that was possible after seeing us perform.”
His friends leave the house and Alex plays on the drums the secret signal he had with the girl when they were younger, a minute later the girl appears in her window with an amusing smile, dressed in her classic blue pajamas.
“Really?” The drummer chuckled and his friend’s smile grows even bigger, a little laugh leaving her lips. “The shirt was a nice touch. A little much, but that idiot must have fallen for it completely. I want it back by the way.”
“You can see right through me. You know the invitation is open, right? I would love nothing more than to have you there.” He has known her his whole life, and realized early on that she was just trying to get his friend's attention to reconsider her offer by raising his ego, and he honestly doesn't mind. It's about time Luke met someone of his caliber. Perhaps her influence could do him good.
“I- thank you. I guess we’ll see. See you tomorrow.” She blows him a kiss and closes the window. Tomorrow sure is going to be an interesting day, Sunset Curve joins Spectacular.
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Having to face Spectacular! And telling them they still don't have a male lead singer who can compete against Damian was not easy. Her options are running out and she honestly doesn't know what to do to save them.
Damian on stage is the best, it pains her to admit that she has never seen anyone like him. At first she thought she could continue without him, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he is just impossible to replace.
Everyone continues to practice the routine, clearly discouraged after her bad news and it honestly breaks her heart. She knows how much the group means to everyone for different and personal reasons and she can't let them lose this. So whatever she has to do, she’ll do it so they can have the leader they deserve.
“I thought the children in the choir would have more energy, this is just sad, firecracker.” She hides her wide smile before turning to the owner of the voice, who is entering the auditorium with his best friends. Money really talks, otherwise she can't explain what would make him appear here.
“Dude, can you please play nice? This is important!” Reggie looks flustered and scolds Luke probably louder than he planned. The guitarist just ignores him and winks shamelessly at her. Seems her little plan from yesterday was successful, now she just has to play the situation in her favor.
“Mercer, Peters... Patterson. Can we help you with something?” The performer shows a perfect poker face, Spectacular continues to practice but they can't help but turn their attention to the rock band.
“I came to accept your proposal, but only If we can include Reggie and Alex in the deal. I guess as long as I’m in whatever I ask shouldn't be a problem." He crosses his arms and gives her a confident smile.
“I could actually do with a few more members, specially as talented as Reg and Alex. As for you, you've already turned down my offer Lucas, but if for some reason you don't graduate this year, make sure you audition the next one. Now, let’s start boys." Y/N moves within inches of Luke to gently close his open mouth with her index finger, and gives him a small wink before turning and taking the other two musicians each on each arm and pulling them closer to where the group is still practicing.
“Y/N, you can’t be serious.” The skilled singer continues to ignore him as she explains to her new members something Luke can't quite hear.
The musician frustrates and walks until he is directly in front of her. “Y/N” He groans.
“I'm not firecracker anymore? That is just sad.” Luke looks upset, but she's determined to not let him have what he wants after what he said at the club, so if he wants the money that bad he's going to have to prove it.
“I’m going to explain you something quickly so you can go and stop wasting my time. I’ve seen your band play, I know how good these two are at singing, which means I don't need you anymore, nor do I have to put up with your rockstar wannabee attitude. I need someone that I can connect with and have the chemistry that leaves everyone forgetting how to breathe, and after yesterday, I just don't think that's you.” Right now she is grateful to be such a good actress because yesterday's act melted her legs, even though they were separated by the balconies. This man is unreal, totally unfair.
"I do, I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed at any moment." The bassist whispers as Alex looks at him with an incredulous face, he just slowly shakes his head from side to side and continues to see the leader of their band and their new leader in a starting contest, is kind of an amusing sight since Luke is definitely not used to having to face someone like him.
“It’s like you said, you are just a guitarist. Thinking you could handle something like this was ridiculous of me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a group to direct."
Y/N hopes she hasn't pushed the rockstar too much, but remains firm in her tactics and turns to the others to continue with the rehearsal. She signals them to put the most similar song to the Sunset Curve sound that she can remember at the moment to make Alex and Reggie feel more calm and to see if she finishes catching Luke’s interest, who still doesn’t move from where he is with his eyes fixed on her, which she takes as as a good sign.
The moment the song start, both sunset curve members smile, and Luke's voice is heard from behind. “So you're the girl, I heard the rumor.” He sounds powerful and captivating and immediately sets everyone's eyes on him. She doesn’t give him the luxury of turning to see him, but he is not going to give up and in a quick and agile movement he turns her by the hand.
“Why don't you break my heart, make it hurt so bad. Come on give it your best, nothing less, I insist, I want it just like that.” The girl should have thought more about her choice before asking for a song like this. Every word that comes out of the musician's mouth is addressed directly to her with an intensity in his eyes and movements that should be illegal.
She tries to get out of his way but he makes it pretty clear that he's not singing to prove himself to the group, he's doing it to prove something to her. Specifically, to prove her wrong.
“Stare me down, intimidate me. Oh baby please you'll never break me.” He comes dangerously close to her, basically inches apart, his eyes fixed on her lips and smiling flirtatiously as he sings, his eyes glinting mischievously.
She enters the song so as not to make him feel like she’s defeated and starts dancing with him to the rhythm, their movements matching effortlessly as they move across the stage.
She pulls herself back as far as she can, but Luke surprises everyone by doing a body roll on the floor, his arms looking more gorgeous than ever in that sleeveless shirt as they take the full weight of his body without any problem, his eyes never losing contact with hers. All the girls start to do small screams while Y/N's cheeks turn red at her thoughts. He slides on his knees towards her and gets up as he puts his foot on her to make her lose balance and catch her right at the end of the song.
“Why don’t you break my heart.” They've been in a trance since the song started and it's like it's just the two of them in the auditorium. Their lips are almost touching, neither willing to give up eye contact or move from their current position, until the applause and shouts of excitement bring them back to reality.
“I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with, firecracker.” He whispers to her lips before shifting the girl's full weight to his right arm to raise his left one to her face and carefully close her mouth with his finger, winking with a cocky smile before lifting her up.
Immediately everyone begins to advocate for him with all kinds of arguments that ranged from how sensual he was to how much of a presence he had on stage. Her best friend’s comment is the one that catches his attention the most. "You have even more chemistry with him than Damian, I didn't think it was possible." That definitely sounds interesting.
Y/N pretends to listen to her teammates before saying Luke can enter the group. The truth is that she knew from the first moment she saw him perform with Sunset Curve that he was a star, but this facet without the guitar and irradiating passion from his pores was something that left her speechless.
Still, she knew all the work that would go into preparing the band and it really was exhausting. For them to understand that they couldn't just sing like they do at the club, that there are rules to follow, dance steps they have to learn, facial expressions they have to master, notes they have to hit perfectly, wasn’t easy but they succeeded.
Along the way, she regained her bond with Alexander, her friendship with Reggie grew stronger, and each day she felt closer to Luke. She has been practicing a duet with him for weeks now, and the chemistry that they have set to burn the stage more than once. It was hard for her to ignore how the guitarist's hands feel on her thighs as he lifts her or the way he wraps himself around her, breathing softly down her neck or brushing his lips teasingly over her cheekbone. Both are very physical to show affection so small contacts such as hugs or caresses, as well as small kisses on the cheek or hand were very recurrent. They had also gone out multiple times alone and with their friends, from the cinema, the park, to see them play, to small parties at home, to midnight talks.
Reggie was the one who had her alone the most because they were lab partners, but no matter how hard the bassist tried to get information from the girl, he never succeeded. The truth is that not even she knows what is happening with the guitarist, she is for the first time in her life letting herself be carried away and enjoying the moment, and she’s loving it.
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Luke and Alex are in detention after the brown haired boy made a mess in the classroom by putting together a little concert with the help of the blonde, and as they die of boredom, his mind can’t help to go to her for the 14th time of the day. "How did she end up in the show choir?"
Alex is blank for a few seconds but analyzes the question and realizes who they are talking about. “Spectacular used to be the most important show choir in the country, led by her mother, may she rest in peace. Y/N always wanted to be a part of it and when she lost her, it became a goal. She suffered a lot to get to the perfect star we see today, especially because her father is rarely there since he works outside the country. She has practically had to face alone auditions, injuries, she had to learn to sew, comb her hair and put on makeup for the show, sing for hours her solos with no one to encourage her, without mention that the current director could not care less about the group and practically leaves all the work to her. That’s why she’s so be fearless, she kind of has to."
“I didn’t know.” The sight of Y/N as happy as ever with his mother when he took her home for lunch the week before appears in his memory. She looked radiant as she ate his mother's famous stew and listened to stories of little Luke as he gently stroked her thigh while songwriting with his other hand. When was the last time she got to experience something as homelike as that? Luke probably doesn’t want to know.
Alex's sad voice brings him back to the conversation.“I was supposed to be there, you know? At first I was. We were going to audition for Spectacular together, but that summer I met you and Sunset Curve was born, and I didn’t have the time anymore so I abandoned her. I knew how important it was for her to have me there, and I didn't even go to her audition. And do you know how many times she has reproached me? Not even one.”
Luke knows that Alex would never hurt her on purpose and that the situation was probably much more complicated than he expresses it, so he reassures him and lets him know that she loves him and is proud that he took his own path. As soon as the blonde calms down, he begins to tell him multiple stories about when he and the girl were kids, the songwriter takes out his journal and begins to add lyrics to the song he has been working on, more inspired than ever.
“You are falling so deeply for her, man. I’m happy for you both.” His friend comments to him while reading the verses written on the paper. He totally is.
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“Bowling, nice. I'm going to finish you off, Patterson.”
“As sexy as your confidence sounds, I'm not going to let you win.”
“I'm pretty sure you've never gone bowling.” Alex adds with furrowed eyebrows.
“Your point is, Mercer?” She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue. Reggie chuckles amused.
"How can you be so sure that you are going to win?"
“Oh, my dear cute blonde. I’m good at everything.” She makes a slight remark on everything with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who chokes while blushing.
She smiles cheekily at him and confidently steps into the room, Sunset Curve behind as Alex and Reggie tease Luke for being completely whipped.
Happiness doesn't last long when the first thing they see inside is Damian Miller along with a couple of his new teammates. The moment their eyes meet, Y/N seems to melt, but not in the good way.
Her firm and perfect posture now all bent as she embraces herself with her arms and tries with the strength that has left to hold her gaze at the person who took everything from her without much more than an empty sorry.
When she feels the guitarist at her side again, she unconsciously stretches her hand to intertwine her fingers with him, who tilts his head to see their hands together and then to see her face.
She is not doing it to make Damian jealous, but to feel supported. And when Luke realizes it, he can't help not feeling angry at the boy in from of them. In the month that he has been with her, he has never seen her doubt, fear, or believe anything less than that she is unstoppable. And today for the first time ever he sees her intimidaded, and the fact that it's because of a jerk like this makes it even worse.
He rubbs her hand to make her feel less anxious and when she turns to meet his eyes, he brings his index finger to her chin and winks at her, hoping she gets the message. She seems to do it because she immediately smiles playfully and begins to look more relaxed.
The guitarist is aware that Damian was his firecracker's first boyfriend, and he also knows how much he betrayed her love and trust. No matter how strong the woman is, her reaction is completely normal and valid, and that she has the confidence to be vulnerable and let him be there for her means a lot to him.
“Princess.” Damian whispers as he moves closer to her, his eyes fixed on Y/N and Luke's clasped hands.
“I’m not your princess, Y/L is just fine. Listen, Damian. I could pretend this is not uncomfortable and boring but, I don't want to. So yeah, excuse us.”
She pulls the hand that joins her to Luke to make him walk and Alex and Reggie follow behind them, looking at her ex boyfriend with little smiles of pride. Alex knows how much Damian turned off Y/N’s spark and seeing her put him in his place makes him feel so proud.
"So someone is going to teach me bowling or what?"
“I’ll do it baby, but another day. Today we came here with a different purpose.” Luke points to the large Rock the World machine located in a comfortable corner space.
“Of course, is always about music with you, eh Patterson?” She smirks, getting a little closer to him.
“Pretty much, but I can tell that attracts you, Y/L.” He wrinkles his nose, his lips parting slightly.
“Hell yeah it does.” he smirks, not at all expecting her to admit it so openly but he definitely should have seen it coming.
“Good thing I’m into dominant firecrackers then.”
“Could you stop flirting for a second and start playing? I have plans to destroy Alex and your daily session of sexual tension is not going to ruin it.”
Both smile at Reggie while Y/N takes the games microphone and Luke the guitar. The song that Y/N chooses is She’s so gone by Naomi Scott, and it goes without saying that the boys have never played it in their lives but they love a challenge.
The mastery with which the girl interprets the song makes a good number of people come to see the round, including her ex-boyfriend and his new friends.
“Here I am, this is me, and I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be. Are you shocked? Are you mad? That you're missing out on who I really am.”
The singer sings the verse directly towards Damian, as his friends start pointing out and teasing him. Reggie goes over to tell Luke he thought he would join her, but the guitarist only replies, "I want to see her shine."
She gets carried away with the music and draws Luke to her, jumping and twirling to the beat of the music. The guitarist hyping her up every single second og the song. At the end the night was incredible, the four of them spent it singing, dancing and even bowling, which Y/N ended up dominating from the second round.
Luke thought that there would be no better time than that night to show her what he had been working on, so after saying goodbye to her he went to Alex’s where he had left his journal.
Before he can say goodbye to the blond, screams are heard from the house next door. “I wasn't trying to embarrass you, Damian!”
“No? So what were you doing shaking your hips against the rock boy?”
“I don't have to explain anything to you, but I think it's pretty obvious why I wanted to be against that body, have you seen it?” She says it playfully with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who is walking with the blonde to her door, her eyes glinting wickedly in the dark. He chuckles, knowing it's the girl's way of reassure him and she smiles as she sees his expressions relax.
“Everything alright, firecracker?” Luke does not stand in front of her like a brave prince, he stops a meter from both of them and asks before intervening, and that makes her heart melt. Because he wants to hear her first, he trusts that she can take care of it and has the confidence to tell him if she needs help, which is also completely valid. And it's something she has to work on, know that there are also times when it's okay to trust someone. That you don't always have to carry the weight alone.
“Go away, punk. My girl and I are in the middle of something.” The three of them start laughing at the ex-boyfriend's intimidation attempt, who seems to get angrier with every laugh that comes out of their mouths.
“I’m fine baby, but you guys could show him the way out? I’m tired of his bullshit.” She asks the boy with a cute smile, and he would disintegrate over the nickname if her horrible ex-boyfriend and her best friend weren't there.
"Don't touch me, I’ll go. Right now the numbers are not working in my favor so we will fix this where it really matters, on stage. Let's see if this attempt at a singer can save you from total humiliation, because let's be honest Y/N, you are nothing without me."
The faces of both members of Sunset Curve begin to tense, Luke's fists completely white from how much he's clenching them. For her part, the singer, who is already used to that type of comments from her ex-boyfriend, only tells him "yes, yes, you're right. It was a pleasure Dami, never come back." while pushing him to the other side to make him go away.
The nickname comes off her tongue in the most natural way in the world, she doesn't even seem to notice it and Luke feels some annoyance hearing it. As if someone had hit him in the stomach. But immediately the discomfort goes away when the girl turns to them again with a big smile and runs to hug them excitedly.
“Thanks for coming to check me out, guys. Things can sometimes get out of control with him.”
"We will always be there for you when you need us, okay? I actually went into Alex's house to get something I wanted to show you but it's late, I’ll come back tomorrow." The blonde turns from his friend to the other, a tired smile appears on his lips as he passes Luke his journal to place his arm on his childhood friend and lean on her.
"No, don't go please. Damian was pretty mad and... I don't want to be alone." She can be very dramatic at times but the fear in her voice sounds sincere, and remembering the scream that brought them outside in the first place Alex imagines how scared she really was before seeing them show up and his heart clenches at the thought.
“O- Okay, sure.” He sounds nervous but the excitement is evident in the way his left leg keeps moving, just like when he's on stage.
“I do have to go in, you already know mom. Will you be alright with just Luke?” He already knows the answer from the girl's radiant gaze but it doesn't hurt to confirm. She hugs him tightly with her arms around his neck and whispers a "Yes, I love you but go away already." which makes the drummer laugh out loud while high-fiving his other friend goodbye.
The third wheel enters his house and finally they are alone. She smiles and takes him by the hand to enter the house. Luke takes a moment to admire it, everything is in place but there are several instruments throughout the living room. A keyboard on the couch, a guitar next to the TV, even a tambourine on the table.
"May l?" He walks over to the guitar and turns to see the girl nodding and pointing up the stairs for him to follow. Her room is quite similar to her style, white is the predominant color but there are many details in pink and gold, as well as multiple yellow lights giving a romantic tone to the room at midnight.
“Do you want to show me now?” she asks eagearly, with joined hands, closed eyes and pursed lips.
“Y- yeah... of course.” He sits on the rug and puts the guitar aside, then puts his notebook between his legs and when he finds the sheet he is looking for, he carefully tears it off. The girl looks at him adoringly, the happiness of having him with her making her heart beat louder in her chest. She sits across from him making sure to brush his legs and waits for him to speak.
“Here.” He looks nervous, his cheeks totally flushed as he avoids eye contact for the first time since they met.
Y/N takes the sheet in his hands and a huge warm smile appears on her face when he sees the guitarist's terrible lyrics. BRIGHT written and highlighted several times in the title.
“It’s for you.” Luke whispers while bringing his face closer to hers, making her shiver.
“You wrote me a song?” She doesn't know what to say. Since her mom, no one had done anything so beautiful, considerate, and selfless for her. Something so vulnerable and full of love.
“Don’t be mad, but Alex told me a little about how you ended up in show choir, your friendship with him, your mom.” He turns to see her looking for her reaction, she just nods to tell him it’s okay to continue. “A sweet story about a little girl with the voice of an angel who loved to sing love songs. And you know what was in my head all that night? That even though I've never written one, I would write millions of love songs for you.”
Some tears fall from the girl's face, she carefully places the lyrics on the guitar and throws herself on the guitarist, who falls in surprise against the carpet, making sure to grab her by the waist so that she falls safely on his chest. She rests her arms on either side of his head and brings her lips against Luke's, brushing them gently.
Luke doesn't move a muscle, not wanting to do something to make her uncomfortable, when he suddenly hears her talk. “And what about teeth? I mean is not the sweetest love story ever told but-”
The boy chuckles, Y/N's curious eyes a few inches away. “Alex wrote that one after his first breakup, Reggie and I did the melody.”
“Good. Guess we’ll have to start making some experiences to help you write all that songs.” At that moment she finally pushes her lips against his, both in a moment of euphoria at the taste of each other. She presses her body against him and he bites lightly with his teeth on her lower lip to shove his tongue against her mouth in response. Her little hands pulling his hair hard as his hands go down her butt. Both of them enjoying what they had been dreaming of for so long.
When the two finally separate they fall in a comfortable silence, she starts to admire his facial features, delicately running her fingers through his nose, his mouth, his cheekbones, until he interrumpts her. “I knew you want me from the beginning, I could see the lust in your eyes. Everything about the choir was a complex plan to get me under you.” Luke affirms with his best poker face, and sees clearly how her eyes fill with light while a pure laugh escapes from her now swollen lips.
“And as always, I achieved the goal. The hot local rockstar is sleeping on my bed tonight.” No matter how hard he tries, he can never catch her off guard and he always ends up being the one blushing. She kisses him softly before getting up and taking the song lyrics back. “Luke, do you mind if I sing a bit of the song?”
“Of course not, it's yours. I will accompany you with the guitar, from the pre-choir?”
She nods and begins to sing the words he wrote for her. “Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump. Together I think that we can make it, come on, let's run.”
She is reading the choir as she sings and the urge to cry reappears. He's basically telling her that she no longer has to go on living life alone, that she can lean on him, she can trust him to fight by her side. That it can be us instead of I.
“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together. Bright forever.”
As soon as they finish singing Luke puts the guitar aside and goes over to wipe the tears from the girl's face. “I know that at first glance it doesn't seem like a love song, but..."
“But it is. It’s perfect, thank you Luke.” She didn't know that someone other than her could make her feel so special, but he proved her wrong, again.
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The night before was like a dream. Y/N sleeping with his shirt while he wrapped her completely in his arms, singing softly in her ear and leaving little kisses on her neck every few verses until she fell asleep. At this point there is no way to deny how completely in love he is with her.
“Man, we need to talk.” His blonde friend wakes him up from his daydream and starts pulling him down the hall to an empty table in the cafeteria, where Reggie is already waiting for them.
They both sit down and Alex takes a deep breath as he plays with his fingers, trying to form coherent sentences with the words in his head. “Bobby called last night.” Luke's gaze instantly shifted to disgust, while Reggie looks quite shocked.
“So? What did he want?” Luke whispers, trying to sound disinterested.
“He sent some of our videos to an important person at Destiny Management and they are interested in the band. He said that if we comply with certain requests he will give the money for us to record the demo this Friday so that it’s ready for the appointment."
“And I guess you told him we don't need him or his money. What did he answer you? He cried?" the guitarist asks with an amused face, but his friends just look at each other.
“Don't you think we should think more about it? What happens if we don't win nationals? We’ll have lost something as sure as Bobby's deal for nothing."
“She’s my friend and I love her but I have to agree, Luke. As difficult as it is, our priority has to be Sunset Curve, not Spectacular"
“But-”
“They are right, Luke.” All three look at the girl, as pale as If they had seen a ghost. “Spectacular is my dream, And I know I'd do anything for it. It would be unfair of me to get angry because you’re fighting for yours. Don't hesitate, if anyone can find a way out of this it's me.”
“But, the duet...”
“I’ll just have to be the melody and the words. I’ll be fine, and honestly I'm so proud of you guys, I know you will be rock legends one day.” All three feel guilty but don't know what to say or do to make it right. She goes over to hug the drummer and the bassist who take her in their arms with all their strength, a “I’m so sorry” from the blonde accompanied by an “I know” from the girl can be heard. Then she stands in front of the guitarist and kisses his lips intensely, but breaking away painfully fast. The guys leave lovers alone for a moment of privacy.
“I believe in you, baby. You are destined to be a star, forget everything else, even me. Take the moment and knock them off their feet.” She kisses him lightly on the lips and walks a few steps back. “This month was the happiest of my life in a long time, thank you. Guess I’ll see you guys around.”
“Why do you sound like you are saying goodbye? And a horrible one? I thought you were good at everything.” Luke walks over to her again and places his hands on her cheeks, rubbing them gently. His voice is shaky and his eyes are glassy, she snorts at his sudden taunt, a little smile covered with the tears.
“Once everyone gets back to their own business, do you think you'll still have time for me? Alex is my damn neighbor, and we couldn't keep in touch.” And Luke gets it. She is used to being alone, to people not being permanent in her life. Neither her parents, nor her best friend, nor her boyfriend, nor anyone else has stayed. So this time to protect herself she decided that he too was going to leave, that it would be foolish to think that he of all possible people would stay.
“I‘m not letting you go baby, you're the only one I would let to boss me around.” The girl laughs when she remembers the millions of times she had to correct him and how he always ended up making her blush in some way, especially when they danced. She can't remember telling him but dancing with him has been the most special thing she has ever experienced. She danced with Damian for years and it never felt like the first time Luke put her long, strong hands on her waist and pulled her close to him. She can only hope to feel that way again one day.
“You are my one and only, firecracker. We’ll find a way, neither of us is a quitter.”
They say that actions are worth a thousand words, and Luke had definitely missed his first chance to show Y/N that he was serious about them by not getting in time to wish her good luck before she left with the group to the city of the competition, a few hours from there. He couldn't help but feel more miserable when he returned to the studio and found a small yellow sheet in his journal.
“You got this, rockstar. I have so much faith in you, so go make me proud. And I don’t want you feeling guilty, okay? I always want to see you shine, baby, no matter what. Your firecracker, Y/N.” Luke laughs softly, dazzled by her attempt to be sweet. If she trusts him so much, why doesn't he return the favor? She assured him they could win and when she says something, she follows through.
Why ruin his life with all of Bobby's ridiculous demands while ditching his girl in the process when he can go sing with her and do band things their way, without selling their soul to the devil. He sits on the couch thinking about what to say to the boys when they both rush in and pick him up, one from his feet and the other from his arms.
“What the hell are you two planning this time?” Luke sounds annoyed but does nothing to stop them from moving him, they throw him into the back of the car and he hits his head, getting him to kick them before they close the door.
"I'm not going to let her down again, I can’t."
"Yeah, and surely we can win, the number is spectacular... do you understand what I did there?”
Alex rolls his eyes and Luke smiles. They drive at full speed to Luke’s for him to take all his things and when he returns to the car, stands thoughtfully by the window.
“What are you doing?!” Alex is not having it, looks like a vein is going to burst from stress any second now.
“Do you think we’ll make it?” Questioned the guitarist, clearly nervous.
“If you stop asking stupid as fuck questions and get in the car, maybe.” Luke pouts but listens and finishes loading everything in the trunk.
The road is full of music to try to calm all the nerves, there was also plenty of time to rehearse the number over and over again, Luke analyzing in his mind every move he had to make, from time to time his bossy girl correcting him in his head. The only difficult thing was probably changing into the costumes, especially for Alex.
They arrive directly to register and the band turns pale when they hear the powerful and breathtaking voice of the singer who is playing her solo right now, a heavenly version of 'Never enough’. By the time they are ready to go, the main number has already started, the imposing woman in the very center of the stage with one of the boys of the group, who although does not have the voice of the guitarist, is making a good effort. Damian is on the other side, staring at her with a superiority smirk and Luke can't help but want to punch him.
“I never realized how anyone could make everything so right, I was so sad, you brought me back.” Alex quickly indicates to him how to enter the stage from the back, and Luke prepares to jump in time for the chorus, taking care of not being seen as he climbs the platform. The song is an old pop-rock song from the 80s, specifically chosen to make the guitarist's voice shine. He and his firecracker sat listening to music for hours until they finally found it, the girl's eyes shining with excitement as she imagined all she could do with the potential of the melody.
“You give me something to believe in, after all that we've been through.” He appears on the platform just in time, the lights and smoke coming out right in his grand entrance. Y/N turns immediately upon hearing her voice and he dances his way towards her.
“The love you give, it all comes back to you. You give me something to believe in, you can see the real me. And here with you is where I'm meant to be.” both singing together the remainder of the chorus and dancing to the beat. The biggest smile he has seen in his girl since he met her on her beautiful face. With that he feels satisfied with his decision, whatever happens, win or lose, it was worth it.
“And here we are together side by side, and nothing seems impossible tonight.” the duet between them is electrifying as always, he puts his hands on her thighs and lifts her with ease, both of them moving and enjoying themselves as if they were the only ones in the place. The dance ends as the first time they danced in the auditorium when he showed her that he was the right option, he holds her with one arm, their lips inches from touching but holding the magnetism back for a few more seconds until finally leave the stage.
As soon as they are backstage Y/N throws herself at Luke, wrapping her legs around his hips and devouring his lips with hers. “Someone missed me.” Luke whispers catching his breath.
"I can't believe you guys did this for me." Expressed the girl as she turns to see her other two friends, still wrapped around Luke who has her tightly held with his huge arms around her butt.
“We trust you as much as you trust us. We know that you will win, you worked like nobody for this moment.” Affirmed the blonde, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.
“I feel like I won already.” And she did. She won the trophy, the money for the demo, friends, and a ridiculously gorgeous rockstar who drove her crazy in more ways than one. All this years working hard were finally worth it... and Damian throwing a tantrum in the middle of the stage felt good too, not gonna lie.
“When are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend? As much as I love you more than anything, a man has to have some pride, you know? We've been together for like 5 months and I'm getting desperate.” They are both lying together on the girl's bed, their legs intertwined as he makes little circles with his fingers on his girl's stomach.
She raises her head resting her hand on his bare chest, her thoughts impossible to read. What are you talking about? I'm waiting for you to ask me!” He chuckles, prepared to tease her. “Bu-”she interrumpts him, pushing the hand that is resting on him to sit down. “Ba-”
“Wait a second, Lucas!” He bites his lip, he never liked being called by his name but for some reason it sounds incredibly sensual when she says it. “Yeah, baby?”
“D- did you say you love me?”
“I did, and I do. Everybody knows you've got me trapped in your claws.” He jokes to make her laugh, and he succeeds.
“I love you too, so much.”
“I know baby.” He winks teasingly at her. “Returning to the topic, you are the most bossy and confident person I have ever met, and you want to tell me that you were waiting for me to take the first step? Doesn’t sound like my firecracker. You literally pretended to be a sunset curve super fan to get my attention.”
"I totally did, I was awesome, first thing next day you were at the auditorium.” She says proud while Luke rolls his eyes with a smile. “But if it makes you feel better, I'm 100% a fan now, and...You are completely right, for once.”
She takes a deep breath, intertwining her fingers with his. “Lucas Patterson, I want you, if we're being honest, probably from the first time I saw you at that Sunset Curve gig we met at. You are annoying, cocky, passionate, and I love you with all my heart. Be my boyfriend... please.”
“There it is, that’s my girlfriend.” His eyes full of lust after hearing that she wanted him from the first night, he draws her closer to him to push his lips against hers, his girlfriend's tongue quickly dancing with his.
"Oh my god, we already talked about this, close the damn window, I don't want to hear it!” The blonde cries from his balcony, the couple can't help but laugh before joining their lips again.
Thank you for reading ✨
Taglist: @writerinlearning, @ghostofmgg @strangerthanfanfiction713 @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals, @imsydneywalker, @really-dont-forget-it @agentstarkid @talksoprettyjjx @kaitieskidmore1 @lukeys-giggle @katie-navarro @crybabyddl @cocopuffs0211 @marvel-ousnesss @txrii @tuttigunner @dpaccione @justalittleweirdoo @mrstodorooki @averyharrypotterlife
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thegingerwriter · 4 years ago
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The Vegas of Hollywood- JaTP: Reggie x She/Her Reader- Part 1
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NOT MY GIF. CREDIT TO CREATOR. IT IS A PRETTY BEAUTIFUL GIF.
(I usually don’t ever put gifs on my fics so we’ll see how this goes)
Requests:  a) Reggie always hugging reader and just being a soft little fluff ball in public, like at the orpheum. The guys teasing him but he just agrees and continues being Reg
b)  Can you please do something with Reggie from Julie and the phantoms? 
c) Julie and the Phantoms x reader where they have a nickname for her that they use more than Y/n. I thought Vegas was cute. Like she’s energetic and lights up a room and stuff. Maybe she pretends to hate it but she absolutely adores it?
Pair: Reggie x reader
Words: 1.5k. It’s more of a prologue!
Warnings: None fam. PG 13.
Perspective: 3rd person for this chapter
Pronouns: She/Her
Note: I wanted to start a new series ever since finishing Julie and the Phantoms and then I got requests and got some proper inspiration. Lemme know if you’d like to be tagged!
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“It’s now or never!” All the boys sang the last line of the song as they played their final chords. Out of breath and sweaty, they all looked out into the empty venue, imagining exactly what playing in front of a full, packed and excited audience would be like that night. 
“Dude, that was so good!” Luke yelled, high-fiving Bobby next to him. 
Alex got up from his drums and walked over to Reggie, who clapped him on the back excitedly. 
“Okay Alex, man, you were on fire!” Reggie exclaimed, causing Alex to go shy and look at his feet slightly. 
“Oh, no- I was just warming up. You guys were the ones on fire.” 
“Could you just own your awesomeness for once?” Reggie rolled his eyes, holding a finger up to Alex. “If Y/n was here for that song, you know she would agree.”
The four boys on the stage all turned their heads at once when they heard a single person excitedly clapping from the bar at the back of the room, their cheers and whoops echoing around the space, causing the boys to smile- one of them in particular beaming far more than the others. 
“Y/n!” They all yelled excitedly, gently putting down their instruments before bouncing off the stage. 
“I’m so sorry that I’m late, I had an issue with the van, and I know that I missed the sound check, but hopefully there’s enough time after we get dinner for one more practice with me-” The young girl was cut off as she was half squeezed to death by a crushing hug from the boy in the leather jacket. 
“Jesus, Reg- don’t kill the poor girl.” Alex laughed. “And don’t worry about it Y/n. We weren’t playing without our lead pianist and singer on purpose- but the guys were getting restless and we needed to let off some steam-”
“It’s all good, Alex. And by the way, I thought you were pretty awesome.” Y/n smiled and winked at him before squealing as Reggie squeezed her again. 
“Reg, if you kill my best friend- I’ll kill you.” Alex said, laughing as he said it, failing to make it seem like he didn’t actually mean it. 
“I mean, what a way to die,” She laughed as the boy hugging her took this as an invitation to lift her up. “No wait, REGGIE THAT WASN’T LITERAL!”
“Surely you’d still love me, even if we were dead?” Reggie laughed as he eventually put her down. He shrugged his signature jacket off his shoulders, automatically handing it to Y/n. She had once shyly asked for it- and now he just seemed to give her any clothes he had on him that he wasn’t immediately in need of. It soon just became unsurprising to their bandmates when Y/n would just rock up in one of Reggie’s shirts, the boys not really wanting to ask about it anyway.
Y/n laughed at Reggie’s previous question. “Hmm. I’d have to think about that one.” 
Among all of the loving interaction that seemed to happen more often then the other band members could count- Y/n, Reggie and Alex noticed Luke and Bobby chatting up a girl next to the bar, the other boys’ demeanor practically screaming that they were already flirting.
“Oh, here we go.” Y/n laughed, leaning into Alex as the tall boy slung an arm over her shoulders while the three of them walked towards the bar. 
“...you guys were really good.” Y/n heard the girl say as they stopped next to the two other boys.
“Tell your friends!” Reggie chimed in excitedly, interrupting the conversation. 
“No seriously. I was really feeling it.” The girl insisted, causing all of them to break out in smiles- even Y/n, despite not being present to sing for the soundcheck. 
Bobby laughed awkwardly, giving the girl his best smile before snapping his head towards us. “Weren’t you guys getting hot dogs?” He turned back with his sweet smile again. “I’m a vegetarian.Could never hurt an animal.” 
“Too good for us now, are you Bobby?” Y/n teased, causing the boys to chuckle as Bobby shot her a glare. 
“Though he is right, I am starving and I need energy before the show.” Reggie said, Luke and Alex nodding while Y/n roller her eyes. The four of them, minus Bobby, began to walk towards the back entrance of the venue. 
“Oh wait-“ Luke turned towards the girl again. “He had a hamburger for lunch!” He exclaimed, before running after his other band mates. 
They all laughed as they walked out into the back alley that the Orpheum led out to, eager for food. 
As they walked together towards where they knew they would find food, Y/n unexpectedly jumped on Reggie’s back, causing him to have to desperately throw his hands out behind him in order to hold her properly and not let her hit the ground. 
“Jeez babe give me some WARNING!” Reggie laughed, spinning her around, resulting in her laugh being projected throughout the alleyway. 
“Yea, calm down, Vegas.” Luke said, jumping out of the way as Y/n threw her foot out to kick him. Reggie lightly swatted at her leg in response. 
“Hey, no violence up there young lady.” He said, pretending she was in trouble. 
“But he called me Vegas.” Y/n pouted, shooting a glare at Luke. 
Alex adjusted his hat, laughing at the girl's defense. “It’s a very fitting nickname, and an even cooler stage name. You can’t tell me it’s a lie to say that the fans also love it.”
“I still don’t get it.” Y/n grumbled. 
“You’re loud and stay up till ungodly hours of the night. Sounds just like Vegas to me.” Luke laughed and he would have been hit by her swinging leg if Reggie hadn’t grabbed both her ankles to prevent her from doing so. 
Reggie adjusted his girlfriend on his back. “I like to call you Vegas because you’re great at keeping secrets, you light up all hours of the day and night, and people are just dying to get to see you.” He said, putting her down as they reached Sam and Ella’s Street Dogs.
Y/n’s face went hot at the compliment, causing Reggie to smile and pull her into his side, leaning down slightly to kiss her forehead. 
“You know what? You can call me Vegas, just for that.” Y/n said sweetly, pulling on his jacket to bring him down to kiss him on the cheek. 
They were interrupted as Luke pretended to be annoyed. “Gosh, would you look at these two!”
Alex shook his head disapprovingly, but he couldn’t hold the smile back. “Can not take them anywhere.” 
Luke and Reggie volunteered to get the hot dogs while Alex and Y/n went to snatch a spare couch under a veranda many people in the street went to eat their food on a Friday night. 
Alex plopped down onto the couch, leaving enough room for Y/n to sit down next to him before pushing her back against the side of the couch and throwing her legs over Alex’s lap. He routinely threw his hands up to give her room for her legs before letting his hands fall back onto her thighs. 
“Hey.” Y/n said, as she suddenly noticed her best friend looking nervous, tapping her legs like his drums to the beat of a song she had written for them to play tonight. “You know you were great in there just then? And I know you are going to be great tonight.”
“I can’t wait to hear you sing in there tonight, V.” Was all Alex could respond, giving her a small, precious smile she was more than grateful to see.
“A hot dog for you, m’lady!” Reggie suddenly appeared in front of them, handing a hot dog to Y/n while Luke, who appeared a second later, gave one to Alex. 
The other two boys let themselves fall onto the couch, Luke letting out a dreamy sigh while looking at the neon sign above them displaying the venue name they’d been trying to get into for far longer than they could count. It took everything the had- and even then it was a serious struggle. 
“Gosh, this is awesome you guys. We’re playing the Orpheum! This is gonna be one of the greatest nights of our lives!” Luke shared excitedly. 
Y/n raised her hot dog, the boys following suit as they all smiled. One could really tell they were all happy to be in this together, finally on their way up in the world.
“Eat up boys. Tonight definitely changes everything.” Y/n said before they all took a bite. 
A couple seconds of chewing later, Alex partly screwed his face up. “That’s a new flavor.” 
Reggie laughed with food in his mouth, Y/n giving him a shove with her foot for his lack of manners before he swallowed properly and tried again. 
“Chill man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.”
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Chapter 2 is here.
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