Chapter Text
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes, we've just begun
-The Carpenters
Everything had happened so fast. One minute, Luke was giving yet another ‘first day of the rest of our lives’ speech, the next Alex was throwing up in his mouth a little after finishing half the hotdog. Then, against his better judgement, he finished the hotdog, began anxiously scrolled through Instagram to distract him from his show nerves and soon was throwing up, for real.
“Alex?” Reggie asked, his voice a little too high pitched. “What…oh.”
Then he bent over, throwing up right at their feet, and before Luke could ask what was wrong, he was coughing and choking.
“Text…Bobby,” Luke managed before he too was sick.
Alex drug a shaky hand across his mouth as he sent Bobby a 911 text. Their friend had stayed behind to chat with some of the crew at the Orpheum; he had started some new vegetarian diet to impress a new girlfriend and hadn’t come with them to get the hotdogs. Bobby raced back across the street to find Reggie curled up on some raggedy couch in the alleyway, with Alex hunched over him and Luke curled up on the other side.
“What happened?!” Bobby demanded, crouching down to check on Reggie.
They all looked pretty bad, like whatever was in those hotdogs tore right through them, but Reggie was already too pale and shaking.
“I don’t know!” Alex breathed, letting out a rough round of coughs. “It feels like my lungs are on fire.”
“My whole stomach is on fire!” Reggie whined, cutting himself off with a horrible choking sound.
“What were in those hotdogs, man?” Luke moaned.
Without warning, Luke threw up and Bobby closed his eyes, looking away.
“Just…just breathe,” Bobby instructed them. “Everyone just needs to breathe and…it’s gonna be okay.”
But Reggie was practically foaming at his mouth as he leaned over and was sick too, and Alex threw up just at the sight of everyone else being sick. He looked around for the hotdog vendor, furious that anyone would feed his friends food that was clearly bad.
“I don’t feel right,” Reggie whispered, lowering himself to the ground.
“It’s okay, Reg,” Bobby promised, running a hand through Reggie’s hair, which was already soaked with sweat.
There was an awful pain in his own chest, like something was sitting on him, like he knew this was bad. Really, really bad. Luke was throwing up again and Alex was just coughing- he was coughing blood. Their eyes met, and Bobby knew for sure…they needed to be in a hospital like yesterday.
What could make them so sick so fast that he would already be coughing up blood?
Alex began to panic, his chest heaving and Bobby tried to hold Reggie up with one arm while reaching into the drummer’s fanny pack with another for his inhaler.
“Ugh…I feel so gross,” Luke complained. “How are we this sick?”
“Don’t try to talk!” Bobby pleaded. “Do you guys have water?”
They shook their heads because of course, these idiots would spend all their money on guitar strings and crappy band shirts but not on decent food or any water. He called over to one of the onlookers, begging them to go find them some water bottles. Alex took a whiff of his inhaler, his hands shaking madly as Reggie trembled in Bobby’s arms.
“Bobby…” Alex whispered through gasps of breaths.
Why did Reggie already look so far gone? Why did he feel so out of it?
“Don’t talk, man.”
“Bobby,” Reggie attempted, “tell Stevie…”
“I won’t need to tell him anything, you guys are going to be just fine.”
Yet this was looking way too much like the murder shows Bobby’s grandmother liked to have on, where one minute the wife was at dinner, acting perfectly normal, then the next she was found dead on her apartment floor, poisoned…
“Call 911!” Bobby shouted to the crowd that had gathered around the alley. “Please! Please! Is anyone a doctor?”
They would never forget how they already smelled so bad, smelled almost inhumane as Luke too began coughing up blood and then vomited, right on his shoes.
“I’m so-"
“Don’t worry about it,” Bobby whispered, cradling his head. He turned back to Alex who lay limply against the sofa; it looked like the inhaler did nothing at all as he simply stared distantly, fighting to breathe.
It felt like life itself was fading from him, and while Alex, at seventeen years old, had never thought about what it would feel like to die, if this wasn’t dying then he didn’t know what was. Luke was whimpering, asking for his mom and it tore his heart in two. They had survived the Great Flu of last winter without any of them wanting their parents or getting this sick. What was happening to them?
“Please,” Alex coughed.
“Alex, don’t talk,” Bobby pleaded.
“Please, god…please.”
What if his parents were right, what if he really was going to hell?
“Please, I’m not…I tried…”
Tried to be a good person. Tried to love my friends more than their own parents even loved them. Tried to be the best person he could be, to prove them all wrong, to prove himself right.
“Please…”
“Alex,” Reggie whispered, reaching for his hand.
“Guys,” Luke croaked.
There were sirens in the background. Reggie coughed up more blood. Alex was shaking as he mumbled a prayer incoherently. Bobby wanted to pray with him, even though he didn’t have an ounce of religious belief in him, but he was in too much shock to think. He was trying to figure out how everything happened so fast. One minute they were healthy seventeen year olds rocking soundcheck, the next they were…
He didn’t let himself think dying.
“Help is coming,” Bobby promised as the sirens grew closer. He heard himself speak but it was like he wasn’t aware he was consciously doing it at all. “You’ll be okay…everything’s going to be okay.”
Help had come in just enough time. After days of puking their guts out in a hospital, being on oxygen, fluids, losing weight they didn’t have to lose, and Alex getting more breathing treatments than he could count, the guys managed to beat death. They were lucky, incredibly lucky, but it turned out surviving was just the start. For Alex, surviving near death only worsened his anxiety more than ever, causing him to have a vicious eating disorder and making it impossible for him to play music again.
And so Alex had turned to an old love: dance.
That’s how he met Willie.
That’s how he fell in love.
That’s how he became a professional dance teacher.
That’s how he ended up owning his own dance studio with his fiancé, at just twenty-three years old.
That’s how he ended up here, getting married.
And their wedding date? July 22nd. After years of Alex struggling to get past the horrors of the night they almost died- including a viscous battle with an anxiety fueled eating disorder- they had decided maybe it was time to give the date a happier meaning. As Julie put it, it wasn’t the night they almost died it was the night they had survived. Maybe their lives changed forever after that night, but the messy roads they took after the Orpheum led them to where they were today. Led them to the people they had in their lives today.
Alex was still in shock of how everything unfolded, even as he stood in front of the mirror, admiring how he looked in his pink tux. It matched the colors of the pink suit he wore to prom, which Willie loved on him. Willie would also be wearing pink, and Alex couldn’t wait to get to stand next to them in their matching pink and get married.
“How do I look?” Reggie asked as he stepped out of his dressing room, tugging at the cuffs of his own white suit jacket.
To honor their wedding colors, Reggie wore a sleek white suit and purple bowtie. Julie and Luke’s wedding would be in a church with Alex and Willie’s wedding at the beach at sunset. To keep it simple Reggie and Bobby decided they would wear white and change out bowties. He let the pink bowtie hang loosely around his neck to check out how the color looked on him.
“Wow,” Alex breathed. “You look so…”
“Stupid,” Reggie mumbled. “It drowns me out, doesn’t it? I’m too pale! I’m not meant for wedding colors!”
“Reg!” Alex declared, grasping his friend’s shoulders. “You look amazing.”
A bashful smile peered at the corners of his lips.
“Really?” Reggie asked shyly, and Alex beamed at him as he nodded. “Thanks. You look amazing too. I still can’t believe you’re getting married, ‘Lex.”
With a sigh, he muttered:
“Neither can I.”
They looked at each other in the mirror, Reggie throwing himself finger guns. Alex batted his hands away to stop him, only for them both to try out different poses, taking pictures for Reggie to show to Flynn. Reggie and Flynn had been together since September and between the both of them had taken complete control of wedding planning, which was the only thing that saved Alex from going nuts with wedding anxiety. The Day was only a week away now, and though everything was settled, to the point where they just needed their tuxes altered and to drive to the airport, Alex still wasn’t sleeping nearly as good as he was letting on.
“Flynn’s going to love this,” Reggie grinned, “dunno why she hasn’t been answering my texts this morning though.”
“Maybe she’s working,” Alex shrugged.
Flynn worked in the music business industry as a promoter and often worked from home, including on weekends, but Reggie didn’t seem convinced. He had a look like he really thought something might be wrong and. Shaking his head, Reggie pocketed his phone and swiped a hand through his hair and plastered on one of his classic smiles. Overcompensating.
“Okay, so we know we look hot,” Reggie announced. “Bobby!”
There was incoherent grumbling as Bobby threw open his dressing room door, striding over to them. Bobby pulled off a bowtie better than any of them, Alex thought, though he was bitterly messing with his to get it to look right.
“Bobbers all grown up,” Reggie croaked out, faking wiping at a tear.
“Shut up,” Bobby mumbled, messing with is hair next as he glared at himself in the mirror.
“You clean up real nice, Bobbert,” Alex chimed in.
“I look nice?” Bobby challenged as he turned around. He waved a hand up and down, whistling at Alex’s pink tux. “Willie is going to be speechless when they see you. Speechless!”
Alex blushed, secretly hoping that could be true. He nervously spun his engagement ring around his finger as he stared himself down in the mirror, trying to imagine himself standing at the altar. What he really needed was his friend who could understand exactly what he was going through right now.
“Now we just need…” he started.
“Luuuukeeee,” Reggie called, grinning ear to ear. “You can come out any day now.”
“No,” came the grumble from one of the dressing rooms.
The three of them exchanged amused looks, not surprised at all Luke was reluctant to be seen in his tux. Alex had been friends with Luke long enough to know he loathed how he looked in a suit. Sleeves were never his thing, unless it was a bad day, and dressing up was definitely never his thing. Unless he was trying to impress Julie.
“Luke,” Alex called in a warning, get out here now, tone.
Groaning, Luke finally stepped out of the dressing room, and the three of them froze at the sight of their youngest friend in his groom’s tux. Luke and Julie’s wedding colors were blue and purple. The guitarist wore a sharp blue suit and purple tie, the blue brilliantly bringing out his eyes as he stepped into the bright dressing room light. The suit made him look older than his twenty-four years, he looked so adult and so…ready to get married.
“Wow,” Reggie croaked out. He looked between Luke and Alex, in awe. “You guys are really getting married.”
“Yeah,” Luke squeaked, swiping at the sweat on his brow. He was rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet, looking sick with nerves. Alex could understand perfectly. “You sure you don’t want to join us?”
Blushing, Reggie’s eyes drifted away innocently.
“Maybe one day,” Reggie squawked. “It’s been a hard year for me and Flynn, you know? We don’t want to rush anything.”
Alex gave a small nod, understanding exactly. Reggie was a school teacher now. The guys had reconnected over saving his severely under-funded band program, via playing a music concert as Sunset Curve for the first time since almost dying as Sunset Curve. At the same time, Reggie’s PTSD from abuse he suffered at the hands of his father was triggered, leading to horrific flashbacks, night terrors, countless hours of therapy and medication. He was much better now, but all of that happened at the same time he and Flynn were trying to start their relationship. That they got through that together, Alex thought, was a true testament to how much they loved each other.
“I just can’t wait to take Flynn on a real vacation,” Reggie declared, wearing a sloppy smile. “Puerto Rico is going to be amazing.”
After he, Willie, Luke and Julie decided to have a double wedding, it felt only right they do it in the Molina family’s home country of Puerto Rico. That way she could reunite with all of her extended family, and Alex had to admit the beach looked pretty spectacular. Ray had been talking for ages about the gorgeous sunset photos he would be able to take; he had even taken a trip by himself to test the best shots to set up for at the beach they were getting married on.
Alex pulled both of them together, the three of them drawing in deep breaths as they gazed at themselves in the mirror.
“You guys look amazing,” Alex breathed.
He was trying really, really hard to not get emotional over how grown up they all were…and he was failing quickly.
“Are you crying, Lex?” Bobby chided, smirking.
“No!”
He quickly wiped at his eye, but as soon as Luke saw him shedding tears, Luke’s eyes welled up, then Reggie’s.
“Come on, Bobbert,” Reggie sniffled. “You’re really not gonna cry?”
Even as he breathed in deeply, clearly fighting off tears, Bobby shook his head.
“No, nope. I do not cry at weddings. Or in dressing rooms.” But at last, a tear slipped through, and he bitterly rubbed his fist at it. “Damn it! Fine. I love you guys.”
“I’m proud of us, boys,” Luke choked out.
“Yeah,” Reggie echoed tearfully. “Real…real proud. I love you guys.”
They were all sniffles and tears now as they totally lost it.
“We’ve just been through so much together,” Alex stated quietly, feeling a little shaky. “Overcome so much together.”
“Now we’re getting married together,” Luke grinned. They both look to Reggie “You sure you’re sure…?”
“Nope!” Reggie coughed. “No, nope. When the time is right, maybe, but for now it’s just going to be me giving a killer best man speech. And Flynn and I looking hot and drinking all the virgin Piña Coladas on the beach.”
Alex let out a long breath, wishing he could just look forward to what should be a nice, romantic, trip- not to mention their honeymoon. There was just so much that had to go absolutely perfect first.
“You doing okay, Alex?” Bobby asked, noticing he was getting anxious.
“Yeah,” he lied, “yeah, yup just…getting married. Just the rest of my life. Nothing stressful about that at all.”
“Now that you mention it, how are you not panicking more, Luke?” Reggie teased.
Luke rubbed the back of his neck nervously, stammering. Knowing Luke, he was trying to play it as cool as possible on the outside but was secretly panicking on the inside. He was always trying to hype them up and calm them down, even when he was scared himself.
“I’m…I’m cool!” Luke squeaked. “Totally, totally cool. It’s just marriage. Just me and Julie…forever. Like always. Totally cool.”
“How’s your wedding song to Julie going?” Reggie quipped.
Looking away innocently, Luke admitted:
“I’ve re-written it about a hundred times.”
The guys all giggled at that, not surprised at all.
“I’m glad we’re going through this together,” Alex confessed, meeting Luke’s eyes.
“Same, bro. I could not imagine doing this alone. I’m glad all you guys are here. Can’t believe it’s really time.”
“Just a week to go,” Reggie mused.
Alex tried to ignore the gnawing bundle of nerves in his stomach. They were right, this really was it. Picking up their tuxes was one of the last big things on his list. In a little over a week, he would be married.
“I can’t believe everything’s done,” Alex shook his head, “this is really it.”
“Just one thing left to do,” Luke stated, placing his hand in front of them. “Legends on three?”
Their eyes twinkled as they followed, placing their hands on top of them and Luke counted off:
“One…two…three…legends!”
Reggie smiled to himself as he carried the garment bag with his tux in it into his apartment. It felt like a huge weight off his shoulder to get his tux. Now all they had to do was pack and drive to the airport the day they all left for Puerto Rico. School was out for the year now, and Reggie was relishing in his last few weeks of summer break before it would be back to lesson planning. Not that he wasn’t excited for the new year- he would be an assistant band director this year, helping to set up their new music program before the school moved to its new location in the spring. He already had some calls with the new band director to talk curriculum and was teaching music lessons at a community center (where his students could come learn for free) to gain more experience. But for the next two weeks, Reggie had blocked out his calendar to focus solely on the wedding and Flynn.
Flynn had stayed over the night before, and he knew she was still there when he saw her shoes by the door and her purse on the counter.
“Babe, you are not going to believe how hot I look in this tux!” Reggie bragged, but there was no answer. “Flynn?”
Maybe she was grabbing an afternoon nap, Reggie thought. Wearing a smile, trying to not feel too worried, Reggie wondered into his bedroom, expecting to find Flynn cuddled up with one of his blankets. But there was no Flynn.
Now he was really concerned.
“Flynn?” He called.
Then he noticed the bathroom door was ajar and the light was on. There was a small choked sob from within, and his heart sank.
“Flynn!” Reggie called again in horror, worried she might be sick. “What’s wrong, are you-“
Reggie stopped short when he did find Flynn on the bathroom floor, but she wasn’t throwing up.
“…Flynn?”
Swallowing nervously, Reggie felt his blood turn cold as he slowly sank down beside her. His heart was pounding as he wrapped an arm around her. She was paler than he had ever seen her, her face stained from tears. She was shaking. His girlfriend looked completely, utterly, defeated as she sat on her bathroom floor.
And Flynn was staring down at no less than ten pregnancy tests.
“Babe,” Reggie whispered, brushing her dreads out of her face. “Baby, say something. Please.”
“Reggie,” Flynn choked out, immediately crying again. “Reggie…”
Instead of talking she just stared at him helplessly, her eyes hollow. Reggie’s hand shook as he brushed over her shoulder, trying his best not to look down because he knew there was only one explanation. She just looked at him helplessly and swallowing hard, trying to speak again but she couldn’t. Reggie rubbed his thumb against her neck and whispered:
“Please tell me.”
“Reggie…I’m pregnant.”