Chapter Text
“Hey Alex, do you have a minute?”
Blinking, he looked up to see Luke smiling at him and his stomach flipped. Sure he had a minute but he wasn’t sure he was ready to give it to Luke. He didn’t know what it was about, honestly that didn’t matter, it was more being alone with the frontman of their band.
It had only been a few weeks since he had joined the band which had just settled on the name Sunset Curve. He had known Reggie in Junior High school, they had been in a band together back then, and when they had connected at a party and the other asked if he still played drums he was more than excited about the trial offer for the band. He didn’t know all the details about the other drummer leaving but it was his good fortune at any rate. High school was hard enough to navigate was it was, at least being part of a band would give him some clout. Especially if they were good and they were very good. Sure he’d formed bands with friends in the past but none of them had really stuck and none of them had ever had anyone as talented as Luke Patterson.
The moment he had met Luke he’d been blown away, not only was the boy handsome as hell he was also one of the nicest people he’d ever met. His lyrics were pure gold and he had a really good ear for catchy melodies and riffs. It hadn’t taken long for him to realize just how special Luke was and honestly that scared the ever living shit out of him. Usually he did everything in his power to avoid people like Luke but it was kind of hard to do that when being in a band together.
“Hey, I’ll see you guys tomorrow?” Bobby waved, his guitar securely in its case as he slung the soft case over his shoulder.
Reggie tried to rush the zipper of the case on his bass which of course only caused him to struggle with it, “Wait up, I need a ride!”
A smile pulled at the corner of his lips, some things never changed.
“Yeah see you tomorrow.” With a deep breath he turned to Luke, “Yeah sure, I’ve still got some time before I need to be home.”
They waved goodbye to the others and then stood awkwardly for a moment, Luke not saying anything yet and Alex freaking out inwardly about what it could be he wanted to say.
“So how are things going? You’re liking the band and everything?” Luke finally asked.
Oh, okay so it was just a check in or whatever. He could handle that.
“Yeah,” he nodded with a smile before running his hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes. “It’s great, I really love your songs.”
Luke nodded as he took in the others answers, “Good good. So then why are you always so weird with me? Have I done something?”
“What?” Alex laughed nervously, “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Luke gave him side eye as he sized him up. “You barely ever talk to me and usually try to avoid eye contact, kind of like right now. If there is something wrong we really need to talk about it. I don’t want anything getting in the way of our music.”
He had to admit, Luke had a point. Friction within a band always ended badly. The problem was, this wasn’t something that he was really sure he wanted to talk about. Sure friction was bad for a band but what he needed to say would probably end things before the friction would have a chance to settle in. Though Claire, his sister, had said that practice was good. Maybe it would be easier to do this with Luke than it would be with his parents.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Alex took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I like you Luke.”
Luke couldn’t help a chuckle, “I like you too Alex, that’s why I want to resolve this. You’re a great asset to the band and I don’t want to lose you.”
“No,” Alex shook his head before looking up to meet Luke’s gaze, “I like you.”
There was a moment as Alex watched the other process the information and he could pinpoint the exact moment when it finally clicked into place. He braced himself for his reaction.
“Oh, cool.”
Alex blinked. He had prepared himself for a plethora of reactions but oh, cool was not one of them.
“Cool?” He looked at Luke confused, “what does that even mean.”
Luke just shrugged, “I don’t know, what do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know, maybe that I’m disgusting or wrong or something?” He was panicking, this was a reaction he had never thought was possible.
Luke reached out, his hand placed on Alex’s shoulder, “Is that really what you want me to say?”
Alex bit his lip, he had heard the way his peers around him talked. Being gay was seen as something being wrong with you, a trait that was undesirable. He had never expected unconditional acceptance from anyone before. Shaking his head he could feel hot tears start to well in the corner of his eyes.
“Hey, it’s all good, alright? Each one of us has things we’re dealing with. I mean my parents hate that I’m in a band, I know it’s not the same thing, but we all have our own crap. I think that's part of being a teenager,” Luke pulled him in for a hug.
Alex hated the fact that all of this only served to make him like Luke that much more.
“You really don’t care at all?” He asked as he took a step back, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
Luke shrugged, “It’s not like we can help who we like. Besides, it’s kinda flattering having a cute guy like you into me.”
Alex blushed, “You think I’m cute?”
“I can appreciate beauty when I see it,” Luke winked. “I don’t know, I guess I’ve never seen love as something black and white.”
“You, you’re not gay too are you?” Alex couldn’t help but wonder.
Luke shook his head, “Nah, I haven’t really thought about things in terms of labels like that. And I’ve fallen for girls as much as I have for guys, though I mean at 16 it’s not like I’m really an expert on love or anything.”
“Yeah,” Alex nodded and he turned his attention back to his drumstick bag, starting to zip it up.
“Alex…” Luke started, “I don’t want anything to interfere with the band.”
“I know,” he gave a half smile, “don’t worry I’m sure I’ll get over it.”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” Luke rolled his eyes before smiling at him. “I mean, I don’t know how I feel about you but I’m also not against seeing what happens. I just don’t want for it to affect Sunset Curve.”
Alex stood there dumbfounded. How was it that the first guy he’d ever come out to was actually interested in seeing where things might go?
“Yeah, I get that,” he cleared his throat. “I don’t want anything to happen to the band either.”
“Good,” the other leaned in, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Can the other guys know? I’m sure they’ll be cool but at the same time it’s for you to decide.”
His hand came up to rest on the cheek that Luke had just kissed. He felt like his heart was going to burst. He was sure Reggie would be okay and if Luke felt they could trust Bobby then he didn’t see why not.
“Yeah, sure…”
He didn’t think it was possible but Luke just grinned wider and brighter at him.
“Sounds good, I should probably get home. My mom gets pissed when I’m late. But I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Alex was still in shock over everything that had just happened, “Yeah, tomorrow.”