Chapter Text
Things had been different lately.
Bobby quit the band after the Orpheum gig, said something about going solo.
And the boys had played but the band was missing something.
"What are we gonna do boys,"Luke asked.
They were walking along the beach, near the shops.
"Watch out!"
Alex was pushed to the ground, knocked over by a skateboarder.
"What the hell,"Alex exclaimed getting up.
"Sorry man,"The boy said taking his helmet off and letting his hair fly out.
Alex was speechless.
Reggie and Luke shared a knowing glance.
"It's alright,"Alex said.
"Cool, I'm Willie,"The boy said.
"I'm Alex,"Alex responded.
"Luke,"Luke said.
"Reggie,"Reggie finished.
"Well, sorry for bumping into you,"Willie said to Alex before he skated off towards the skate park.
Alex turned to look at Luke and Reggie, who were raising their eyebrows at him.
"What,"Alex asked.
"Oh come on,"Luke said.
"Dude,"Reggie finished.
It had been another week and now the three were playing for money on the beach near the skate park.
Luke was pretty sure Alex had suggested the location so he might run into Willie again.
"Something is definitely missing,"Luke said.
"Do you think we could convince Bobby to re-join,"Reggie asked.
Alex didn't say anything, the two boys looked towards him.
"Alex. Alex!"
Alex snapped out of his trance, and the two boys looked to where he had been staring.
Willie was standing in the skate park, talking to some girl.
"Alex, if you're not gonna focus we should leave,"Luke said.
"Sorry, I'm focusing,"Alex said.
"Let's just try to do Bright again,"Luke said.
"1,2,3,4!"
The group started playing the song, but no one seemed to be listening and it didn't sound right.
"Maybe we should just give up"Reggie said as they stopped playing.
"We can't just give up,"Luke said.
"You need harmony, you're unbalanced."
The three boys turned to look at a girl sitting at a bench near by.
She walked up to them, laptop in her hands.
"What do you know,"Luke said.
"I've been sitting there for a while, heard you play that song earlier. Your music is unbalanced, there's too much of one sound and not enough of another,"She said.
"Who are you,"Alex asked.
"My name's Julie,"She said.
"Well then, how can we balance it,"Luke asked.
Julie sat down near them and typed on her laptop.
"Start playing,"Julie said, plugging her computer into the amp.
"Alex, count us off,"Luke said.
"1,2,3,4!"
The band started playing, and Julie played piano behind them.
Then she started singing.
"And rise through the night, you and I. We will fight to shine together, bright forever,"Julie and Luke sang together.
They drew more people towards them, watching them perform.
They finished and the people clapped.
As the crowd dispersed, the boys talked about how amazing that was.
"That was amazing,"Reggie exclaimed.
"You're an amazing singer, and piano player,"Alex said.
"Thanks,"Julie said,"My mom taught me."
"Well then she must be amazing,"Luke said,"You have to join our band. We've been missing something and that was definitely it."
"Julie!"
The boys saw Willie and the girl he had been talking to rush over to her.
The girl hugged Julie, before she hugged Willie.
"That was fantastic, I didn't know you were singing again,"The girl exclaimed.
"Flynn, I sang this morning,"Julie said.
The girl, Flynn, hugged Julie again.
"So Julie, can we talk about what just happened,"Luke exclaimed,"That was amazing!"
"Yeah, you did sound really good,"Willie said speaking up.
Alex was trying not to stare at Willie, but it was impossible.
He had his hair tied into a bun, and he was messing with the bracelets on his wrist.
Alex did that too.
"Alex, you alright man,"Reggie asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine,"Alex said quickly looking away from Willie.
"Julie, you have to join our band,"Luke said,"It's called Sunset Curve."
"Tell your friends,"Reggie added.
"Look, I just got back into music,"Julie said,"I don't know about joining a band right now."
"And if she was going to be in a band she would be in mine,"Flynn added.
"Just, think about it,"Luke said,"Here's my number if you ever want to come see us pratice."
Flynn dragged Julie away, Willie looking at Alex one more time before following after him.
"Alex has a crush,"Reggie said.
"Shut up Reggie,"Alex said.
They were rehearsing in Alex's bedroom basement, which was their temporary studio, after school one day.
"It just doesn't sound right without Julie now,"Reggie said.
"Yeah, she really added a lot, Luke singing is just boring,"Alex said.
"Hey,"Luke said.
They hear the doorbell ring, and the door open.
"Down here,"Luke called.
"Who's that,"Alex asked.
Julie, Flynn, and Willie all came down the stairs.
"Luke, you didn't tell us they were coming,"Alex said looking around at his messy room.
Luke just shrugged.
"Nice studio,"Julie said looking around.
"Thanks,"Alex said,"It normally isn't this messy."
"Yes it is,"Reggie said.
"Shut up,"Alex said shoving Reggie.
"Are we gonna play or what,"Julie asked.
"Well, I don't have a keyboard,"Alex said.
Julie pulled out her laptop.
"You should show the boys Flying Solo,"Flynn said.
"What's that,"Luke asked.
"A song I wrote about Flynn,"Julie said,"But it didn't sound right."
"Let's try it,"Reggie said.
Alex was trying not to freak out from where Willie was looking around his room before ploping down on his bean bag chair.
Julie showed them the song.
"How about you play and we'll figure some stuff out to try and back you up,"Luke said.
Julie started singing and then the boys came in, making some stuff up to support Julie's sound.
After that day, they were a band; Julie and the Phantoms.
Reggie thought it was funny because the fans names could be Fantoms.
They were rehearsing in Julie's studio now, and had moved all of the equipment from Alex's.
Alex was home alone one day and went to answer a knock at the door.
He openend it and found Willie there.
"Hey,"Alex said.
"Hey, can I come in,"Willie asked.
"Yeah,"Alex said stepping away so Willie could walk inside.
They went down to Alex's room, which he was in the process of cleaning.
"Sorry, it's a mess. I'm cleaning I swear,"Alex said.
"It's alright, Flynn's room is a lot worse than this,"Willie said.
"You and Flynn, are you together,"Alex asked.
Willie started laughing.
"What,"Alex asked.
"Flynn's my sister,"Willie said,"My parents adopted her when she was 2."
"Oh, oh,"Alex said,"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."
"It's alright,"Willie said,"It's not like I can just wear a sign all the time that says 'I'm Gay' on it."
Alex froze.
Willie was gay.
"Sorry,"Willie said,"Probably shouldn't have said all that."
"No, no no no no,"Alex said,"It's fine. I am too actually."
"Yeah,"Willie asked.
Alex nodded.
Willie stepped closer to Alex, standing in front of him and staring at his eyes.
"Is it okay if I kiss you then,"Willie asked.
Alex squeaked, and nodded quickly.
Willie closed the distance between them, pressing a kiss to Alex's lips.
Alex pulled away only when he had to breathe, after a few seconds of holding his breath.
"That was, wow,"Alex said.
"Ahem."
The two boys turned quickly to where Luke was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Luke,"Alex squeaked.
"I just came to see if you had any more stuff you needed to move to Julie's,"Luke said.
"No, I got everything,"Alex said,"Um, Willie. Do you think you could give us a minute?"
"I have to head home anyway. I'll call you later,"Willie asked and Alex nodded.
Willie left, and Alex akwardly stared at the ground.
"I'm sorry I interrupted,"Luke said.
"No it's fine,"Alex said,"We weren't, I don't..."
"Alex, I'm happy for you,"Luke said.
"Yeah,"Alex asked looking up.
"You know what happened was a long time ago,"Luke said.
"I know, but I just thought it might be a little akward,"Alex started.
"I like Reggie,"Luke blurted.
"Yeah,"Alex asked.
"Yeah,"Luke said.
"That's great Luke,"Alex said.
Alex and Willie were currently making out in Alex's room.
Alex was straddling Willie's lap who was sitting on the beanbag chair.
He loved being this close to Willie, completely focused on one another that everything else melted away.
He kissed Willie, breaking away for a second and resting their foreheads together.
"Do you want to stop,"Willie asked looking up at him.
"No,"Alex said,"I just wanted to look at you."
Willie smiled and started kissing him again.
"Alexander."
Alex whipped his head around, and found his parents standing there.
"Mom, dad,"Alex said standing up quickly, and Willie followed his action.
"I should probably,"Willie started.
"Yes, you should,"His mother said harshly.
But Alex grabbed onto Willie's hand.
"No,"Alex said,"This is my boyfriend Willie and I don't want him to leave."
"Alexander, you know how we feel about this in our house,"His dad said.
"How you feel about it is wrong,"Alex said,"It's completely natural to be gay."
"Don't say that word,"His mother said.
Willie squeezed his hand after noticing the tears start to form in Alex's eyes.
"Alexander, we are going to get you some help,"His dad started,"And once you get away from this boy then everything will go back to..."
"No,"Alex exclaimed,"I don't need help, and I'm not going to stay away from Willie."
He turned and started packing a bag with clothes.
"Alexander,"His mother said moving towards him.
"I thought you would feel different about it if I can out to you,"Alex said,"I guess I was wrong."
"Honey, everything is going to be fine,"His mom said,"We'll just talk to the Minister...."
Alex didn't even listen, he just kept packing his bag with clothes.
"Let's go Babe,"Alex said grabbing Willie's hand and marching out the door.
He ignored his parents calling out for him.
He stormed down the street with Willie.
"Alex,"Willie said softly.
"I thought that they would change their views if they knew I was,"Alex said,"I was wrong, they hate me."
"They could never hate you,"Willie said.
"Yes they could,"Alex said.
"No one could ever hate you Alex, not for any right reasons. You are amazing and if your parents can't see that it's their loss,"Willie said.
"Thanks Willie,"Alex said.
"Also, calling me Babe was really hot,"Willie added.
"You call me Babe all the time,"Alex said.
"Yeah, but you've never called me Babe,"Willie said stopping them so he could face Alex,"I loved it."
Alex smiled and leaned down to kiss Willie.
"Where am I gonna go,"Alex asked.
"You're coming to my house,"Willie said.
"No, I can't do that,"Alex said.
"My parents are gonna love you,"Willie said.
"Will they care about me being,"Alex started.
"I came out to them when I was 11,"Willie said,"It'll be fine, Babe."