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Bobby and Willie decided to spend the first week stalking the band. They had to divide and conquer, since Alex spent most of his time having an afterlife crisis. Bobby let Willie tag Alex while he hung closer to the studio, trying to summon the courage he needed to make himself visible to his ex-bandmates. Reggie and Luke were playing their electrics on a low volume, trying to build a melody set to a poem the girl, Julie, had written. “Dude,” Bobby said, knowing full well Luke wouldn’t be able to hear him. He was sitting on the couch watching them, hating himself for what he had to do for Caleb. “That sounds sick .” Luke’s eyebrows furrowed together and Bobby had somehow forgotten how cute he looked with those puppy dog eyes.
“Reg, did you hear that?” Luke asked, swiveling his head, looking around the room. Reggie shook his head, playing an absentminded melody on his bass. Bobby poofed from the couch to standing right next to Reggie, leaning an arm against the wall.
“Bobby?!” Reggie squeaked, looking up at Bobby with wide surprised eyes. Bobby frowned slightly, they shouldn’t have been able to see him. Luke’s guitar clattered to the ground and Bobby was suddenly trapped against his chest. Bobby shook, tears falling as he let Luke’s space-heater warmth fill his chest. After a beat of hesitation Reggie rested his bass against the wall and sandwiched Bobby from behind, hugging both him and Luke at the same time. “Bobby!” Reggie exclaimed, this time sounding more excited than before. Stuck between his two band mates Bobby had never felt more at home in all his time spent at the ghost club… but he had a job to do.
“Luke - Luke I can’t breathe!” Bobby protested, managing to pry his way out of Luke’s arms. Reggie let him go first, but Luke still held onto him tightly. “You’re the ones who died!” Bobby said accusingly, poking Luke’s chest with his index fingers.
“How - I thought - I mean, how come you didn’t… how come we weren’t together?” Luke asked, refusing to stop touching Bobby. Not that he could blame him, Bobby wanted nothing more than just stay here in the studio, surrounded by his family again. With his left hand Bobby reached up and scratched the back of his neck.
“Bobby is that a tattoo ?” Reggie asked, grabbing his wrist and pushing up the sleeve of his leather jacket. “HGC? What does that mean? Is it some ghost thing we don’t know about yet?” Bobby twisted out of Reggie’s grasp, shoving his hand back into his pocket. He shifted his feet, wrapping one arm around his chest.
“Bobby?” Luke asked, reaching a hand out to lightly cup his face. “Bobby it’s us, whatever it is… it’s okay.” A sharp jolt of pain stabbed into Bobby’s wrist and he grabbed it tightly, hissing as he balled his hand into a fist.
“I’m fine,” Bobby promised when Reggie moved to help him stand back up. “I’m fine, it’s just a membership tattoo for a club in Hollywood I play in.” A wide grin stretched across Luke’s face.
“Dude a club? Wait, so you can just -” he snapped his fingers “ - poof your guitar too you?” Bobby nodded, trying hard to not let the feeling of guilt eat him up.
“Get good enough with your ghost powers and you can do a ton of really cool stuff. My uh, my boss, he does these immersive shows, gives lifers a hint of what the afterlife looks like,” Bobby said hoping Willie was doing better than he was.
“That sounds so cool ! Can we play there too?” Reggie asked, bouncing on his heels. Luke seemed hesitant, briefly glancing at the piano. Bobby shrugged,
“I can see what I can do, but uh… lifers aren’t always exactly welcome in. Only if they’re some big celebrity or famous person.”,
“We have got a band though, with Julie. And now we’ve got you back! I’m sure she’ll let you join, there’s no reason why she wouldn’t. Why would we play for some dude’s club?” Luke asked, exchanging a look with Reggie. Bobby didn’t want them to play at the club at all. He wanted to keep his family as faraway from Caleb Covington as fucking possible. Bobby bounced his knee anxiously, looking anywhere except in Luke’s eyes.
“I - I made a deal,” Bobby admitted. “I can’t play any music other than Caleb’s for the rest of eternity.” Luke frowned,
“That can’t be allowed. Music is about connecting with everyone, not just what one guy wants to do.” Bobby shrugged and figured he’d been away from the club for too long when he felt a tug in his gut. Plant the seed and they’ll fall into line , Caleb had taught him early on in his afterlife. Luke was always about his music connecting. He’d be able to connect to thousands of people every night if he joined up with the club. Not to mention; Bobby didn’t know what Willie was spinning to Alex, so he figured now was a good time as any to leave before he ended up doing something Caleb could punish him for. He stood up to poof away, but Luke’s hand wrapped around his wrist tightly, keeping him in place.
“Please don’t,” Luke pleaded, the damn puppy dog eyes fully activated. Bobby laughed lightly and ran a hand through Luke’s hair.
“I have to go Luke. Caleb owns my soul, but we’ll see each other again.” He’ll make sure of it, Bobby thought begrudgingly. Luke pulled him in for another hug and Bobby let him, basking in the warmth of his friend.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Luke said when he finally let Bobby pull away. Turning to Reggie, Bobby pulled the bassist in for his own hug. Reggie’s arms held him close,
“Alex is going to kill you for showing up when he isn’t here.” Reggie said through his sniffling. Bobby nodded, letting a watery smile stretch across his face.
“I know, but I’ve got a feeling he isn’t going to be too upset about it. Especially since one of my friends said they met Alex earlier this week. My friend thinks he’s cute,” Bobby said with a shrug. The blatant look of confusion that twisted in Luke’s face made Reggie snort in laughter. Giving his friends a small wave Bobby let Caleb’s familiar pull warp the world around him and drag him back to the Hollywood Ghost Club for tonight’s evening performance.