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The chill of the night air bit at Luke as they walked down the beach towards the pier. Bobby and Alex were on either side of him, Bobby lightly strumming his acoustic as they busked their usual strip of beach. It was always just the three of them, Alex and Luke and Boby, for as long as he could remember. Since that fateful day when Alex was getting bullied on the playground during recess and Bobby, who’s two years older than either of them, jumped in to fight back against the homophobic asshole. Sunset Curve was born the second Luke found out their savior could actually play guitar. “You see that kid out there?” Luke asked, nodding at the kid standing at the edge of the docks.
“You guys are two years younger than me. You’re literally children,” Bobby said, nudging Luke with his elbow. Alex held out an arm to stop them in their tracks. Luke turned his head to look at him and a mixture of emotions twisted across Alex’s face before he settled on concern.
“Guys isn’t that Reginald? He’s in our english class, right?” Alex asked, and Luke realized he was right. Reginald - Reggie to his friends, though he didn’t seem to have many - sat in the back of english, never volunteering unless the teacher called on him personally. He was the cute - wait what? - kid who just kept to himself, tried not to cause too much trouble.
“You’re right,” Luke said, before running ahead waving his arms. “Hey Reginald! It’s Luke from class, remember?!” Reggie didn’t seem to hear him, distracted by fiddling with something heavily in his pants pockets. He wasn’t wearing his leather jacket like he usually was, which is what made something unsettling curdle in Luke’s stomach.
“Luke wait!” Bobby’s voice yelled out, chasing after him. Luke skidded to a stop, staring in horror when Reggie stepped off the edge of the dock fully dressed with bricks shoved into his pockets. Realization twisted it’s way into Luke’s mind as he caught up to what was about to happen. He shook Bobby’s clamped hand off his shoulder and bolted towards the docks. They were only fifteen fucking years old, no one was going to die today if he could help it.
“Reggie!” Luke screamed, surging forward. He ditched his heavy coat halfway down the docks and tripped over his feet as he kicked off his gym shoes. “Reggie!” Luke yelled again, reaching the edge of the docks only to be met with the dark ocean below them.
“Luke!” Alex shouted, sounding more distressed by the minute. “Luke no you can’t -” the drummer’s warning was cut off as Luke leapt off the dock and dived headfirst into the cold waves below them.
The darkness of the water made it hard to see but the moonlight reflected enough light for him to make out the sinking shape of Reggie’s body falling fast towards the ocean floor. Luke clamped his mouth shut as he propelled himself, kicking in Reggie’s direction. He didn’t know why Reggie would try to kill himself but he always knew there was something special about him. It wasn’t his time to die yet, not if he had anything to say about it. He wrapped his arm around Reggie’s abdomen, ignoring Reggie’s weak attempts at fighting back. Trust me , Luke thought when Reggie looked him in the eyes. Reggie didn’t seem to even realize he was there. Luke held Reggie close to his chest as he kicked the both of them up as hard as he could.
They broke to the surface and Bobby leapt into the water to help Luke drag Reggie to shore, each of them taking one of his arms over their shoulders. “Don’t fucking scare us like that again dumbass,” Bobby said through a fit of coughs as the three of them laid on their backs on the beach. Luke let out a laugh, ignoring how dry his lungs felt.
“I’ll try my best,” Luke said back, letting Bobby check him over for injuries before they both turned their attention to Reggie. The poor boy was soaked , water and sand dripping from everywhere. He was shaking everywhere, arms wrapped tightly around his chest as he coughed up seawater.
“Shit Reggie. Here, take Luke’s jacket,” Alex said, running up behind them from the edge of the beach. Luke grabbed his jacket and helped Alex wrap Reggie up in it, who was still shivering. Luke gathered Reggie up in his arms, wrapping him up tightly. Bobby wrapped his arms around Luke, trying to hold him as close as possible. Alex came in on the side, burying his face into Luke’s shoulders as the four of them just broke down into tears.
“I don’t know what I was - no that’s a lie -” Reggie said through a fit of sniffles. “My parents they… they drink a lot. They fight and they fight and they fight and I’m always alone and I’m just tired . I’m so fucking tired all the time becuase they fight so loud I can’t anymore and - “ he fell into a blubbering mess, tears staining Luke’s sleeveless t-shirt.
“Shh, we got you,” Luke whispered, pressing a kiss to the crown of Reggie’s forehead. “We’ve got you Reg, you’re ours now.” Bobby reached his hand out to brush strands of hair out of Reggie’s face.
“You’re never going to be alone again Reg, I promise ,” Bobby said. He buried his face into the back of Luke’s shoulder, Alex trying to hug the three of them from the side, his own face pressed into the nape of Reggie’s neck. Reggie stopped shivering, but Luke didn’t want to get up. When Reggie tried to pull out of their arms Bobby and Luke just held onto him tighter; pulling him close. Alex started drumming something against Reggie’s leg, and he let himself relax in Luke’s arms.
“You’re stuck with us now Reggie,” Alex mumbled, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Reggie hummed and nuzzled more into Luke’s warm chest.
Luke held Reggie close to him, gathering the skinny boy up in his arms and refused to let go. “Mine now,” Luke mumbled as Reggie let out an exhausted sigh, falling asleep lying with his bandmates on the beachfront. “Mine,” Luke growled when Reggie tried to pull away again, but the attempt was weaker this time, he just readjusted himself into a more comfortable position, the side of his face pressing into Luke’s bare chest.
“Yours now,” Reggie mumbled back, earning himself a warm chuckle from Luke. “‘m comfy.” Bobby hummed in response, nuzzling his nose into Luke’s hair. Luke gathered up his boys and let them all relax, trying to sleep after the night’s chaotic events.