Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Trevor Wilson is a very successful man

Rockstar, millionaire, inspiration to millions. He’s got it all. Aside from the tragic backstory and busy schedule, things are good. Amazing even.

But that was weeks ago. Recently things have taken a turn, and he’d definitely say for the worse. It had all started when he got a little visit from his old pals from 1995. Apparently, they’re back now, pretty crazy development. He’d been to his therapist several times that week. He’d been told it was all a nervous breakdown. Too much going on in his life. He needed to take a break. But it was the message they’d left that really scared the shit out of him. All two words of it.

“Hello Bobby.”

Nope nope nope. Absolutely not. Not even Carrie knows his old name. He’s got enough bullshit to deal with in his career. But then his suspicions were confirmed at the Orpheum a few days ago. He’d seen them. All of them. Living it up on stage with his pseudo niece. And in retrospect he had to admit, they’d killed it on stage. Ha ha… ghost pun. But it’s been bothering him since.

Aside from that, Trevor Wilson is a pretty great dad too… if you ask him at least. Yeah, he might be a little absent sometimes. But it's fine! Carrie knows how much he loves her. She knows he’s just busy providing for the two of them. So it's totally fine. It's just odd that she hasn’t talked to him since the Orpheum. And maybe it's because she saw how shaken he was that night. And the day after. And the day after that. She probably just wanted to give him space.

Wrong

Whenever she got home that day, he found out exactly why he’d been given the silent treatment in these last few days.

“You cleared your entire evening to go watch Julie’s band!” Ah, there it is. “You always miss my Dirty Candy events when you’re busy! But one mention of Julie's band, and you practically go crazy! What is up with that. You know how I feel about her. Don’t you love me at all?”

Yeah like he’s supposed to tell her it's because Julies band is made up of his dead friends. That would absolutely go over well. She might be right about the absences though he concludes.

He resorts to reasoning “Care look, It's not easy to explain. I-“ she cuts him off.

“Save it. If it's going to be another excuse about meeting with the label or another fan signing, I don’t want to hear it! You’ve been weird ever since that night, and I’m getting sick of it. I'm going to my room, and you can apologize to me when you can be sincere about it!” And before he can get another word in, she’s storming up the stairs, quickly followed by a door slamming loud enough to rival an explosion.

Ok. So that the end of that he guesses. Maybe he should go they to talk to her. It's definitely not the first time she’s blown up on him and it most likely won’t be the last either. And it's not that he doesn’t care. He really does feel bad. His dad wasn’t around much either and that hurt like hell when he was Carrie’s age. But he can’t really help it. Business is business, he’s gotta get things done.

“You cleared your entire evening to go watch Julie’s band.”

Yeah… that was kinda shitty. Undermining her feelings and all. But he had to see it for himself. Hell! His band came back from the dead. What else was he supposed to do?

Carrie didn’t know that though. And he definitely doesn’t intend on filling her in. Shit.

He’s gotta get out of here. It’ll definitely give Carrie some time to cool down, and everything that happened recently is making him pretty anxious. it's only 5 o’clock, he can stay out a few hours. He decides on a drive. Yeah, that’ll work.

He walks to the bottom of the stairs and hesitantly yells up at his daughter. “Care? I’m gonna be out for a bit…” no response. “If you need anything, just call ok?” Still no response. That was expected. There was no way in hell she’d want to talk to him right now. He knew that.

Getting in his car, he turns up the radio to a decibel that probably isn’t very healthy for the ears. He doesn’t care though. Music’s been louder on stage. He really doesn’t mean to make Carrie feel so terrible, it isn’t fair to her in the slightest. But it’s hard you know? Busy lifestyle. Ghosts. Never getting a break, always on the go. Ghosts. A daughter who’s achieving her dream and starting her career. Fucking ghosts. Trevor really needs a break he thinks, and an hour later of driving finds him on a beach looking over the horizon.

It's a fairly familiar spot for him. This is where he and the band would come and sit and goof off and talk about their lives. For hours on end. The entire day sometimes too when they didn’t feel like practicing in his parents' studio. It was sad really. how abruptly that tradition ended. But thinking now, it was just terrifying. It could have been him too that day if it weren’t for rose’s presence at the Orpheum all those years ago. And now they were back somehow. Chills. That wasn’t something he should think about right now.

The sun is setting now and he’s sat by the water (horrible for his designer jeans) tracing aimless shapes in the sand. Fewer people are walking the beach now, leaving him all by his lonesome to think some more. And he enjoys being alone like this, just him and his thoughts, until he hears a voice directly behind him. How rude.

“Excuse me, sir, are you alright? Forgive me for assuming, but that look on your face tells me you’re not in the best place right now.”

Trevor turns and looks up at the source of the voice to see an elderly man peering over him. His attire is quite odd for a stroll on the beach. What’s with the top hat? But Trevor can’t say anything in his 800 dollar Versace boots and leopard print leather jacket.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Just enjoying the view.” He responds.

“I imagine you come here often, this is quite the spot to watch the sunset. Very beautiful.” This man acted like he’d known this place for years. And he probably did too in his old age.

“Yep, really is. I’ve known about it for a while. Used to come here with my friends all the time back in the ’90s.” He made sure to leave out the part where they died. This was their escape. Roughhousing in the water, just talking on the beach. Enjoying the sun. It was good.

“Ah, yes, memories of the past always bring a person back.” Weird. “I used to come here often too you know. Oh, how fun it was to be with friends. They really can be your family. Reminiscing in the good old days. I know I sure do. It seems people like us wish we could return to those days huh?” This man definitely seems a little weird, but Trevor doesn’t care, he knows where the guy’s coming from.

“Of course I’d want to return to those days. Not a worry in the world. We all still had hope. Optimistic. Things could only get better for us…” he doesn’t need to be venting to a stranger, but he doesn’t talk to people much outside his therapist and his managers.

“I bet you wish you could live those days again,” the man states almost matter of factly. “I myself long to do so.”

The words settle over Trevor for a beat as he looks back over the water. He agrees. “You know it.” Then suddenly the tide decides to start coming in, and a wave grabs at his shoes.

“Shit!” he exclaims, he didn’t realize the water was coming in so fast. It's getting late. He turns around to say goodbye, but the man is already long gone. The hell? Fast for an old guy. even worse though, he feels a water droplet on his neck. Fuck. The forecast said nothing about rain today. Those liars. He’s practically running now. Why’d he have to park so goddamn far away?

The rain's coming down now as he nears his landmark, the pier. And he watches briefly as the waves splash angrily against it. Speaking of, who’s that standing up there during a downpour. Can't be a fisherman, there’s no pole in sight. As he gets closer he realizes in horror. The same man he’d just talked to -tophat and all- isn’t just standing on the pier, he’s on the other side of the railing completely. Shit shit SHIT. Had he just convinced the guy to kill himself? He could get in his car right now and pretend he'd never seen him, but Trevor’s shouting now.

“Hey! Get down from there!” Idiot, he can’t hear you. And for a split moment, Trevor thinks the man locks eyes with him. The man watches as he runs to the rescue, he thinks the man smirks, then grins widely. Eerie. There’s something about the man’s sickening grin that fills him with dread in this instant. And Trevor is terrified by it. He’s almost to the pilings now, but not soon enough. Trevors' heart stops as he watches gravity do its job. Forgetting his car, he runs into the water but he can’t see anything in the pouring rain.

The last thing he remembers of the night is being pushed into the ocean by a big ass wave.

Chapter Text

When Trevor wakes up, he’s in his car. Funny, he doesn’t remember how he got there. In fact, he can’t remember anything that happened after jumping in the water. The sun's up now, so he’s lost quite a few hours. That’s concerning to say the least. He dives into the ocean after an old guy the night prior, then ends up in his car presumably the next morning with no recollection of what went down? All he knows now is, he’s tired, exceptionally hungry, and a bit crusty from the saltwater and mucky sand. 

He doesn’t know what happened to the old man either, and for a moment he wonders if he should go back to the beach to search for the guy. But the memory of the man’s grin makes him rethink it. That shit was horrifying. Almost like he was thrilled Trevor got to watch his last moments. Almost like he wanted him there. But they're so many people walking the beach now, and if anyone were to wash up on the beach, someone would call it in. Oh yeah, he should probably do that now. Trevor reaches for his phone. A phone that isn’t on his person anymore. Damnit. Must have lost it in the water 

He sighs a breath of relief when he realizes his keys are still in his pocket though, an actual miracle in this situation, and starts up the car immediately. He worries for a moment about Carrie, but she probably hadn’t noticed he was gone this morning. She’d probably gone to bed last night, then left the house without a second thought for school. That’s good. At least she won’t have to see him walk in looking like a sand monster.

And even an hour later, standing at his front door, he’s still somehow a sopping mess. He pushes open the door and trudges through the entryway. It’s a long, uncomfy trip up to his bathroom where he decides to hose himself off. Is it even worth it to take off his clothes? No, he decides. His designer fit has been through this much. It can withstand another round of water. 

So now he’s spraying himself off, standing fully clothed in his way too large shower. That’s fine. But it’s when he looks up at the vanity that shit hits the fan. 

Who in the hell is staring back at him in the mirror?

He slowly reaches to touch his face, and his whole world stops when the reflection does the same.

He screams.

—-

Despite being dead, Luke Patterson is having the best week ever.

He’s alone right now in the studio, laying along the couch, staring at the ceiling. A great time to sort out his thoughts. They played the Orpheum! What else can he say? If someone had told him and the guys years ago that three tainted hotdogs would be their ticket to success, he’d have jumped on that opportunity so fast. Ok, that’s a little morbid, but that’s beside the point. And even though it’s been a few days since then, and the initial high has come down, the thought still makes him giddy.

But that’s not the only reason for his excitement though. They’d also succeeded in removing Caleb’s stamp, which was a huge relief. They didn’t know how they’d done it, but there was a sneaking suspicion that Julie had something to do with it. Magic hugs? Probably.

No longer did they have to worry about the searing pain from those jolts, or the fear that at any moment, they could simply stop existing, leaving Julie behind. Huge weight off their shoulders. That of course didn’t mean Caleb was no longer a threat, but they didn’t feel that impending sense of dread either. Luke’s counting that as a win. 

 He hears a familiar woosh sound next to him.

“Hey, Reg where’ve you been?” 

“Oh, I just followed Ray to work. I wanted to stay through the whole shoot, but I didn’t wanna bother him all day. Hardworking man that guy.”

“Good on you man, very considerate.” 

It’s really sweet of Reggie to think that way, just a little sad though considering he’s a ghost.

“Thanks, gotta give him his space sometimes though. Can’t have him start depending on me as company you know.” 

It’s cute, Luke thinks. Reggie especially has been happier since playing the Orpheum that night. His usually goofy, happy-go-lucky self amplified to eleven. He loves to see it. Luke knows how much the thought of leaving hurt Reggie. He was pretty good at hiding it, the fear, but Luke could see. Alex probably could too, to be honest. He’d finally found his family. And yeah, it might have taken him literally dying to get to that point, but he’d found it. A pretty good one too. And knowing he could keep it longer than expected clearly gave him all he needed. 

“So what do you plan on doing when Julie gets home from school?” Reggie asks, pulling Luke out of his thoughts. 

“Ah, I don’t know, though I’d run through some new song ideas I’ve been thinking about with her. I’m thinking we take on a more pop-punk kinda feel to it. Just minus the gritty lyrics.”

“Alright, I dig that.” Reggie nods excitedly.

“So with the intro, I thought we could- oh, hey Alex.” At some point during the short-lived conversation, Alex had poofed into the studio. Like Reggie, Luke hadn’t seen the drummer all day, but the expression on his face said enough about his whereabouts.

“Hi, guys.”

“Out looking for Willie again?” Reggie asks.

He nodded silently. While Luke and Reggie have been living off the high of their performance, Alex has been in a subpar mood. Ok, that’s an understatement. He’s been moping lately. A lot. And they can’t blame him. His not-boyfriend-boyfriend has been missing since the day of the Orpheum. And Alex isn't stupid. He knows Caleb had something to do with it. He probably knew where Willie had been off to, and Caleb wouldn’t let him off easy. Even still, Alex looked for him. Every day. 

“Hey man, it’s gonna be ok-“

“You don’t know that!” Alex snaps. That hurt a little, Luke couldn’t blame him though. 

“Look I’m sorry- I’m just really, really scared guys.” Sigh “Willie’s the first person I’ve ever really connected with like this.” He stammers “I-I don’t wanna lose him.”

“You don’t have to apologize Alex. I can’t just assume anything in a situation like this, sorry man.” Luke realizes that he can’t relate with him on this one, yeah he’d thought he’d lost someone before, his mom for Instance. The only difference here is that he’d seen her again. He’d gotten the closure he needed. This wasn’t the same. They honest to god didn’t know what was going to happen. 

“No I do, I can’t blow up on you guys over this. It wasn’t your fault.” 

“You’re right, but we shouldn’t act like we know what’s happening. You’re clearly upset and we have no idea what the hell is going on here.” 

Alex looks down, Reggie stays silent

“You know what? We might not be able to control Caleb’s actions, but we can control ours. Whaddya say we all get our minds off of this and visit our old friend Bobby again? Haven’t seen him in a little bit. That should be a pretty fun distraction.” Luke suggests, desperate to lift the gloomy mood. 

“I don’t know, last time we did that, Julie was pretty mad. I don’t think that’s a great idea.” Alex is right, but Julie will just have to understand. Alex is having a rough time. It couldn’t hurt to cheer him up a little. And besides, what Julie doesn’t know can’t hurt her. 

“That does sound kinda fun.” Reggie agrees. “We’ll be back before she gets home from school, and we won’t freak Bobby out too much. Not intentionally. No harm no foul right?”

Alex sighs. This is just them asking for trouble. Even though he knows it’s a bad idea, he’s gotta admit, it does sound like fun. And he does want to get his mind off of Caleb and willie for a bit. Yeah it’s not the best pastime, and they really should learn from their mistakes… you know what? To hell with it. Let’s screw around with bobby.

He decides, “ok, let’s go then.” 

Luke and Reggie cheer.

—-

In a matter of seconds, the boys are standing in Bobby’s living room. Same pristine white walls, the same stupid canvas print of Bobby, same too white couch, same platinum records. Luke still hasn’t let that go. Reggie inspects the area.

“Man, Bobbys such a slob, look at all the sand on the floor. I expected better from him. I thought rich people kept cleaner houses.” 

“Yeah, well I don’t expect much from a song stealing pig. I think it’s pretty fitting-“ he’s cut off by a loud, shrill scream coming from upstairs. 

“What was that?” Alex whispers, frozen. He slowly looks in the direction of the stairs. It’s terrible timing really. Of course mere moments into their arrival they were met with a terrifying scream. This was supposed to be a fun little field trip. Not a scooby doo episode. Perfect.

“I don’t know but I don’t wanna find out, let’s go.” Reggie swiftly turns in the opposite direction, fully intending to poof out, but Luke catches him by the shoulder. 

“Nah, we gotta check it out. What if someone’s dying up there? We can’t just walk away now.” 

“And what do you suppose we do about it?! We’re literally ghosts! How are we gonna do anything about that?!” Alex is frantic, shit. 

“I don’t know, I’ll figure it out!” And Luke makes the executive decision to go investigate. He doesn’t poof up there though. He walks cautiously up the stairs. Can’t be too quick to act. 

He looks around once he reaches the landing, and turns around to see Reggie and Alex at the bottom of the stairs. No intention of moving from their current spot. The jerks. Obviously, he’s safe, it’s not like he can die again, but a little support would be nice.

He continues creeping down the hall, and his search stops abruptly when he realizes the only door that’s open. All the other doors up here are shut, all except the meditation room. He’s familiar with that one. 

He contemplates turning around. No, too far in now. He peeks around the door. Ok, no one’s there. This is getting progressively more terrifying. What if it’s Caleb? No, he wouldn’t know to come to Bobby’s. He doesn’t know of their connection. He can check that one off the list. An ax murderer? Not that he hopes Bobby’s being ax murdered, (not that he doesn’t deserve it) but it’s still unlikely. Luke wants to turn around and leave, but the bathroom door is wide open, and the shower is running.

Damnit. 

Luke quickly runs back to the top of the stairs, beckoning for the others to follow him, and after what feels like an eternity of convincing, Alex and Reggie reluctantly make their way up the stairs.

The three walk into the bathroom together, Reggie clinging to Luke like they’re in a haunted house, which, they technically are. Only they’re on the opposite side of the scaring. 

They’re in the bathroom now, and there’s clearly a figure under the running water.

“Bobby probably just saw a spider, let’s just go home now,” Reggie begs.

“He’s probably right Luke, let’s just go-“ but they don’t get very far.

“Hello?” They hear in a shaky voice. 

The boys look at each other in shock. That didn’t really sound like Trevor/Bobby. And how the hell did the figure hear them? They’re fucking ghosts?

Luke whirls around, and the figure finally steps into view. It’s a scraggly kid, probably around their age. He’s standing fully clothed, soaked. Wet hair sticking to his very distressed face. What the hell is he wearing? 

A pause

The figure breaks into another scream at the sight of them, and the boys return the favor.

Chapter Text

Ok, Trevor will admit, maybe freaking out as a first resort wasn’t the best way to go. He knows he should have stopped and thought rationally about this, (or as rationally as you can think in this situation) but that’s really difficult when the faces of three long-dead friends show up in your bathroom while you’re in the middle of a crisis. 

Come to think about it, how the hell can he see them right now? Unless they somehow figured out how to appear in front of people, shouldn’t they be invisible right now? Before it seemed like they only showed up -visibly that is- when Julie was around playing music with them. But Trevor doesn’t hear anything aside from the screaming right now, and Julie isn’t anywhere in sight.

But maybe that’s what they wanted. They wanted him to be able to see them. They knew how much it would mess with his mind. After all, they were there that day when they sent him into a spiraling mental breakdown. Maybe they really are three vengeful ghosts. Vengeful ghosts with whack ass powers who did this to him out of spite. It kinda made sense. He steals their songs, they turn him into a fucking teenager. OK, maybe it doesn’t make a lot of sense. He makes a split decision.

He attacks.

He grabs the nearest solid object, -a hairdryer of all things- and launches it straight into Luke’s face. He bolts.

“Ow! What the hell!”

No remorse, he dashes around the guys and makes a break for the stairs. This situation is way too much to compute at once. He’s gotta get out of here. 

“H-hey wait up! How can you see us?!” 

That sounded like Reggie. Ah, they’re playing dumb now. He flies down the stairs. In retrospect, maybe they hadn’t intended on him seeing them, that would explain the terror-filled screaming, but it didn’t matter. They did this to him, and now they’re gonna deal with it.

From the bottom step, Trevor looks up and sees Alex and Luke making their way after him, Reggie not far behind.   

“Wait! Stop! Who are you?!” Alex shouts. They must think they’re pretty funny, acting like they don’t recognize him. Such comedians. Now they’re all hot on his heels. He’s in the center of his living room now, surrounded by furniture. Shit shit shit gotta get away. In a panic, he climbs up on the couch and vaults over it. Huh, surprisingly simple. If he had done that the day before, he’d be feeling it for the next several days. 

The boys are circling him now like goddamn sharks. No thanks. He grabs the decorative pillows that he can reach from behind the couch and hurls them at the closest victim. One goes sailing smack dab in the center of Alex’s face, another bounces harmlessly off of Reggie’s chest. Luke dodges him though, and Trevor hears something shatter. Crap. Time to run some more.

He thinks he’s gained some headway until a face pops up right next to him. Luke. Right. Ghosts. He shouts in surprise and Luke lunges to grab him. Sike, Trevor narrowly dodges the attack and stumbles into the kitchen. 

Trevor frantically scans the vicinity for his next weapon. Aha! A lone spatula laying on the granite countertop. Perfect. He snatches it off the counter and swiftly points it in the direction of the carefully approaching ghosts. Luke steps forward slowly with his hands up, and the other two right behind him.

“Stay back!” He swats at Luke.

“Hey man, we don’t wanna hurt you we just wanna talk.” Yeah right, like he’s gonna believe that. He jabs the spatula in the air closer to Luke as a warning, they’re a few feet apart now. 

For a moment no one moves. Trevor stands in a defensive position. Knees slightly bent, ready to dash at any moment. His spatula arm stretched out, ready to swing. His other hand tightly gripping the counter beside him. 

Luke looks like he’s trying to comfort a wounded animal, arms out low and cautious, if Trevor didn’t know better, he’d almost say the kid looked just as scared and confused as he was. Trevor can’t be fooled though. He knows these ghosts have it out for him. 

Alex and Reggie stand behind Luke, Alex is incredibly tense. They hadn’t called him anxious Alex for no reason back in freshman year of high school. And Reggie? The guy looks like he’s seen a ghost. The others acted clueless, but Reggies face made it clear that he knew exactly who he was talking to. And it looked like it scared the hell out of him. Why would he be scared if they were the ones who did this to him? Was he scared because Trevor could see them? Was he scared of the consequences? Not that there were many for them saying as how they were ghosts and answered to virtually no one. But he’s getting off-topic.

“What did you do to me?” Trevor asks bluntly. He’s backing up again, arm still outstretched.

“What do you mean, we don’t even-“ He cuts Luke off. Of course, they’re gonna keep up the act.

“Bullshit. I know you have something to do with this. What’d you do huh? Ask one of your ghost buddies to fuck with my mind? Get me vulnerable and then mess with me like this? That little stunt last night almost killed me. This isn’t funny you assholes. Fix it right now!” 

“What are you talking about-"

“Bobby?” Reggie asks, almost In a whisper. And they all go silent for a beat. Trevor doesn't even get the chance to respond before the atmosphere explodes.

“What the hell?!”

“I knew he looked familiar!” 

“Why aren’t you old?!” 

“What the hell are you wearing?!” 

“Aren’t you like 50 or something?!”

“Why are you soaking wet?!” 

“How can you see us?!”

Trevor panics again at the sudden outburst. He considers jumping in his car and driving off again, but that probably wouldn’t work. If they decided to tag along he’d be stuck with them in a confined space. That would be so much worse. Not to mention incredibly dangerous. With no other clear options, Trevor chucks the spatula at the nearest target and takes off running before it can even hit the floor.

“Bobby, wait!” Luke's shouting again. But this time Trevor doesn’t get very far, because the moment he makes it out of the kitchen, Reggie poofs into the air right on top of him, and tackles him to the ground.

Chapter Text

“Get off of me!” Trevor shouts from underneath Reggie, who’s celebrating his successful capture. For a ghost, the kid is surprisingly heavy, and even more so, solid. The last time he checked, that’s not how ghosts work. Even so, he finds himself completely pinned down. But he digresses. Trevor’s faced down on his kitchen floor, cold tile pressing up against his body, which is still sopping wet by the way. His hair is somewhat drier now but still stuck to his face, and his clothes are freezing from running through the house. 

“Don’t make me call an exorcist! Get the hell off me!” Trevor tries his best to roll over to no avail. Damn this kid is heavy- or maybe Trevor's teenage self is just that weak. A terrifying thought.

Luke crosses his arms with exasperation painting his face, “Not until you calm down, man. Were just trying to talk to you-“

“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you! It shouldn’t even be possible- you’re dead!” 

Luke scoffs, “Yeah and you’re a twink. Thanks for the newsflash, smart one, how would we ever have figured that out on our own,”

“Luke-“ Alex sighs. Reggie laughs.

“I’m not gonna argue with you about it,” Trevor bites back, “If you had nothing to do with this then why were you here at all, huh? Answer me that one,”

“Busted-“ Reggie mutters.

“Well, yeah,” Luke sputters, “we did come to mess with you. But only ‘cause Alex has been having a rough couple of days.” The boy in questions blushes slightly. “We weren’t gonna do anything horrible, I promise. We just wanted to screw around a little bit, maybe move your furniture, knock some things off the walls, y’know, take a load off.” 

“Yeah at my expense, you assholes! How old are you twelve? Go find someone else to fuck with!” 

“Sorry, it's just that nobody else stole our songs and got rich off of them.”

Trevor doesn’t respond. Luke’s right, he knows it. It's a sudden punch to the gut, he can’t deny it.

“So are you both gonna shut up now? Or are we not gonna acknowledge the fact that one of us is like, twenty-five years too young?” Alex cuts in, gesturing to Trevor, looking between him and the exceptionally irritated ghost. Reggie remains, perched on top of his captive, looking mildly uncomfortable with the topic.

“That applies to you guys too you know,” Trevor mutters.

The room goes quiet again. Reggie fidgeting with his hands, Alex looking to the floor, Luke clenching his fists. Trevor knows he shouldn’t have said it. They know their situation well enough. They don’t need him to keep reminding them how dead they are. It’s not like they intentionally died of food poisoning. He probably shouldn’t keep bringing up their death like an accusation.

Trevor sighs and looks up, no trace left of the anger on his face, “So you really- honestly had nothing to do with this?”

“That's what we’ve been trying to tell you!” Luke throws his arms in the air, “We’re just as confused as you are!” He’s not sure if he should feel relieved or not at this.

Reggie shrugs his shoulders, finally standing up to let Trevor go -thank god- and adds, “The one time we deliberately tried to mess with you, we got involved with a really bad ghost guy, joined a ghost band for like, ten minutes, and almost lost our after-lives. It was really painful. I think we learned our lesson.” 

Trevor furrows his eyebrows as he picks himself up off the floor. 

“Long story,” Alex shrugs.

“See, what happened was-“

“Reggie I’m gonna stop you right there. Look, as much as I’d love to hear about your evil ghost man - and don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind listening sometime - I don’t care for your long story right now. I've got much bigger problems to deal with at the moment,” he gestures to all of himself, “if you haven’t noticed.” 

“Fine, but what the hell even happened to you?” Luke gives him an incredulous look, “like, I didn’t believe ghosts were real, and here we are. But this ,” Luke waves, “this is freaking me out.” 

“This is freaking me out! I’m pubescent!” Reggie seems to find this statement hilarious, releasing a bark of laughter.

“Bobby, dude, calm down. How did this happen?” Alex asks.

Trevor looks moderately unnerved at the use of his old name.“I don’t know, I just…came home to it?”

“You ‘came home to it?’ So where were you this morning then?” 

“At the Beach…” Trevor wrings his hands together.

“What were you doing at the beach? Swimming?” Luke asks, clearly referring to the soaking and sandy not-teen in front of him.

“No- I just needed some space ok? Carrie and I had a fight last night, and I had to get away. With everything going on lately? You specifically…”

Reggie gasps, “So Carrie’s a witch too!”

“No! Carrie’s not a witch you ding-dong! She had nothing to do with this, she couldn’t have. And what do you mean ‘too?” 

“Never mind that,” Alex shakes his head, “so if Carrie had nothing to do with it, then what caused this? Did anything out of the ordinary happen yesterday?”

“Well, yeah- there was a really old guy who came up to me, we were talking for a bit, oddly personal questions. At some point, he just disappeared.”

“Ok and? What’s a speedy little old guy got to do with this?” Luke asks, mildly annoyed.

“Impatient much?” Trevor rolls his eyes, “I was getting there. Anyway, after he disappeared, it started raining hard . And on the way back to my car, I saw the same guy again on the pier,” Trevor takes in a sharp breath, “and he jumped.”

“What do you mean? Like he jumped up and down?” 

“Oh my god, Luke. He jumped off the fucking pier.” Alex groans.

“Oh shit-”

Reggie pipes up, “So what did you do? Watch him hit the water and then sleep in your car?”

“No- I dived in after him, but I don’t remember what happened after that. I only remember waking up in my car and driving home.” 

“Did you go out and look for him again at least?” Reggie asks.

“No, maybe I should have, but I figured he was gone by then. And I wanted to call it in, but I lost my phone in the water.”

“So what then, this suicidal old guy turned you into a teenager?” Trevor shakes his head in annoyance. The stupid questions are strong with this one.

“I don’t know, Luke. But I know that he saw me before he jumped. I know he did. I didn’t think he could hear me yelling at him over the water, but we made eye contact. It was creepy.”

The boys remain quiet, Trevor sighs.

“Let’s just table this conversation for later, because it doesn’t seem like we’re making any breakthroughs right now,” Alex suggests, “I’m just wondering what you’re gonna do about Carrie.” 

Trevor reactivates freak-out mode, hands flying to his head. he was doing pretty good, staying calm and all, but the mention of his daughter fills him will panic. 

“Oh my god, Carrie. I can’t stay here looking like this! She’s gonna freak out!” 

“I can tell, she definitely takes after you. Dramatic.” Luke half-smiles.

Trevor scrunches up his face, offended. “You can’t tell me you didn’t freak out when you realized you were dead.”

“Actually me and Luke were pretty chill about it. Alex was the one who cried the whole time while we were in that dark room.” Reggie shrugs, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Again with the crying,” Alex practically hisses, throwing his arms out in frustration, “can you please drop that?”

Trevor mentally bangs his head against a wall. Their conversation is getting them nowhere, and the three ghosts can’t seem to stay on topic for shit. He’s trying his best to give them the benefit of the doubt, but their dumbassery is making it excruciatingly difficult. 

“So what do you suggest I do then?” Trevor crosses his arms over his chest, cutting through the developing banter. Reggie looks up, about to say something when the absolute worst happens.

All eyes are directed to the front door, and Trevor whips around with dread as he hears it creak open, the familiar jangle of keys echoing through the open room. Trevor's heart instantly sinks.

Oh shit. Speak of the devil…

He instinctively ducks behind the kitchen counter, the boys remaining in their positions. This is the one time, he thinks, that he’ll ever be jealous of ghosts. Invisibility is so unfair. He looks up to the boys, eyes wild, desperate for a quick escape. 

“Dad?” Carrie calls out. He can hear her hang her bag up, then the clanking of her keys as she sets them down, followed by the steady clicking of her heels, drawing closer with every step. He crouches to the floor faster than the speed of light, petrified, pressed up against his kitchen cabinets. His heart is beating a thousand miles an hour, and the boys all look alarmed in their own various degrees. It's just a little sad how terrified he is of his own daughter at this moment, but he really doesn't want to have to explain himself twice in one day. Especially to someone as stubborn and difficult to convince as Carrie.

“What do I do?!” he exclaims in a frenzied whisper. He’s trying everything in his power to make himself less visible as his daughter marches through the den.

“There's only one thing to do,” luke hesitates, then fiercely grabs his shoulder as he hears Carrie rounding her way into the kitchen. “Run.” And without another warning, Trevor feels like his entire body is being warped from existence. His vision blinks out, and a tingling sensation shoots through all of his limbs at once. He doesn't know if Carrie rounded the corner in time to see a strange, soggy teenager hiding in her kitchen, only to disappear in an instant. But he does know the pain that shoots through his spine when he lands on a cold hard floor in what is unmistakably known as the Molinas’ music studio. 

---

It's cold and endlessly dark where Willie sits right now. Where he’s been sitting for the past… few hours? Days? Weeks? Willie doesn't know. Time moves differently in the dark rooms. This isn't the first time he’s been in one of these, although he can't say he's used to it in the slightest. His first encounter was right after he’d died. He’s convinced this is where all ghosts go after they die. A limbo of sorts. Of course, that wasn't his only time in a dark room. Aside from his initial death and now, Willie's seen the dark room plenty of times. 

His second time was a few years after joining Caleb. He’d failed to rope in a new ghost. She’d been scared, alone, distraught… vulnerable. She wasn't his first target, and while he’d felt bad about the others before her, she’d hit a little closer to home for him. She was similar to his younger sister in appearance. She was short, had long, dark brown hair cascading down her shoulders, and large brown eyes. What was even worse: shed also died in a skateboarding accident. Turns out, LA traffic was more of a killer than he’d thought. So he’d let her go. He told her of some other local ghosts he knew in the area. Other ghosts Caleb hadn't gotten to. He thinks that got him three weeks of dark room time. But again, he couldn't tell just how long it actually was, and his time in here felt like an eternity. 

Of course, there were plenty of other times he’d landed himself here. Various pranks, disobeying a few orders, that one time where he misplaced Caleb's favorite tophat- in other words, he's no stranger to the dark rooms. But that never makes them any better. 

The only difference now is, there's someone he hopes is waiting for him this time. He wonders about Alex. Is he still on stage with his band, performing under the control of Caleb? Did he and his friends escape and cross over? Is he looking for him? Did he ever to begin with? Willies heart throbs, aching in a way that he hasn't felt in a long time. For the first time in decades, there's a person he’d do just about anything for. Someone who he longs to be with. Someone who makes his life -if you could call it that anymore- worth living. Someone that, dare he say, he loves.

But his thoughts are cut off when he finds himself sitting in a chair in Caleb's dressing room. Sat at a desk, facing the man himself. 

He’s picking at his nails, they've been freshly painted with a new layer of clear coat, shining in the low light of the mirror lights surrounding them. His top hat is on his desk beside him, looking pristine as always. Only the best for Caleb Covington.

Willie almost thinks he doesn't see him before he speaks, “Hello William.” he says with no emotion, clearly apathetic to willies presence. 

“Caleb.” willie answers him in a gentle voice.

Caleb turns to him, his piercing eyes locking onto willies own. Willie has to look down. 

“I hope you enjoyed your stay, I know how much you love your dark room. Anyway, I’ve got another job for you.” Caleb smiles, although it doesn't reach his eyes.

Willie nods, glancing back up, then down again. His hands are tucked tightly in his lap, and he sits still, compliant. “What do you need me to do?”

Caleb stays silent for a beat, and it looks like he’s choosing his words carefully. “There's been a new development with my band, courtesy of yours truly,”

Willie grimaces, he’d hoped Alex and his band had gotten away from Caleb, and maybe they had, but Caleb isn't the type to give up easily. 

“Don't think id let them get away so easy,” Caleb begins cooly, “you know, they never did mention that they had a fourth member. Funny how things can go unmentioned. And I thought we were so close too.” he stares willie down some more, fake smile fading. “I don't know how they broke free from my stamp last time, but I've made sure that this time, I'm their only option, whether they've realized it or not.” willie nods slowly, still refusing any eye contact.

“When they realize only I can help them, they'll be back, that I'm certain of. And even better, with their good friend Trevor Wilson thrown in the mix, I've got the whole band in my grasp. I'm going to figure out how they broke free. What makes them so strong. See William, you're my leverage. Alex has been looking for you, and that boy will do anything in his power to get you back.” Caleb croons in a mocking manner. “All it's gonna take is a little push,” Caleb smiles, “and those boys will fall right into my hands.”

Chapter Text

Trevor gasps for air, lying still on the concrete floor to let the pain subside. Whatever the hell Luke just pulled is something he never wants to experience again, and In his couple hours as a teenager again, he’d almost forgotten the constant pains plaguing him as an adult. Although one is reminded when you’re zapped presumably through time and space, and you land on what he guesses is solid concrete. The age to pain ratio doesn't matter in the slightest at this moment, he realizes. 

His body is throbbing, and there remains a distinct tingle in his limbs like pins and needles. Through swimming vision, he tries to focus on the spinning ceiling, but his eyes are still too fuzzy to see, and it almost makes him feel sick.  

Trevor groans as he stiffly rolls over, and picks himself up off the floor. He looks around, taking in all the familiar details of his surroundings. He recognizes it instantly: the band's old music studio. Well, more like the Molinas studio. But he had lived here for most of his youth. 

The Molina's have made some changes since he’s lived here, but it's recognizable nonetheless. The floating chairs and grand piano are new, (he should know, he’s the one who bought the piano for rose) but the same beat-up couch, the wooden interior, the dartboard, the lights strung around the ceiling, even the way the sunlight streams through the window, it all brings him back. 

Still cradling his aching limbs, his attention is drawn to the boys again. He finds them staring, wide-eyed and stunned.

“Luke, how did you do that?!” Alex breathes, “when have we ever been able to teleport lifers?” Wait, That wasn’t a skill they were already aware of? Trevor is immediately concerned.

Luke stutters, “I-I don’t know. I panicked! I just freaked out and went for it!” He runs his hands through his messy hair in distress.

“Man, that was a close one.” Says Reggie, releasing a big sigh.

“Wait wait wait. So you’re telling me you had no idea what you were doing?” Trevor demands, “that hurt like hell! You could have killed me!” He points an accusing finger at Luke. Bad move. In all honestly, the pain has pretty much faded by now, but Trevors not gonna let it slide.

Lukes’s frantic demeanor changes instantly at the comment, and rolls his eyes for probably the thousandth time today, “I’m sorry- who's the one who saved you from Carrie back there? If anything you should be thanking me right now instead of worrying about what didn't happen!” 

“I could have thought of something!” 

“Yeah sure, you definitely looked like you had a genius plan while you were begging for our help!”

He can hear Reggie snicker beside him somewhere.

“I was coming up with a plan!” That’s a blatant lie. His fight or flight response was the only thing available to him at that moment.

“Your ‘planning’ face looks an awful lot like desperation to me.” Luke mocks, acutely aware of Trevor's bullshit.

“Can you two stop, please?” Alex groans. His request is ignored.

“Aren’t you ghosts? You could have knocked something over and caused a distraction so I could escape.”

“You just love to complain, don’t you? Get over yourself dude, you did escape! Thanks to me!” Luke looks seconds away from pounding Trevor's face in. 

“For the love of- Shut up!” Alex barks, quickly stepping in between the two and grabbing Luke’s tense shoulder, “I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing here. We got out unnoticed, that’s all that matters.”

Trevor refuses to give Luke any sort of eye contact, but he knows he’s still being glared at in his peripheral vision. His arms are crossed defensively, and he can almost feel the intensity of Luke’s gaze.

“We also discovered a new ghost power- that’s something…” Reggie says awkwardly.

Luke narrows his eyes at Trevor, acknowledging Reggie, “Yeah, you’re right. And you know what? That’s pretty rad even if some people can’t admit it.” He walks away from Trevor finally.

Fine, maybe it’s kinda cool that he discovered another ghost power. But Trevor already argued his point, and there’s no way he’s agreeing with Luke after this. Not even if someone paid him to do it.

“Ok so now what?” Luke asks, changing the subject. “What are we gonna do about crybaby over there?” He throws his arm in Trevor’s general direction, and the ‘crybaby’ in question scoffs. “Are we just gonna harbor him here until he magically ages back up?” 

“Well, he can’t just go home- not unless he wants to face Carrie again.” Says Alex. Luke's face indicates that he doesn’t like the implications of this.

“There’s no way in hell that’s happening.” Trevor sighs. He’d love to go home, really, but there’s no way in hell that Carrie would believe him. She’d sooner call the police than hear him out.

“Why can’t he just stay here?” Reggie pipes up, catching the room’s attention. Lukes’s face can’t hide the several problems he has with that suggestion, and he looks to Alex for help. Unfortunately for Luke, Alex seems to agree with Reggie. For a moment it looks like they’re having a telepathic conversation, one exclusively through facial expressions. 

“Alex- please.” Luke is begging now. 

“C’mon. You know he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.” At this, luke huffs.

Trevor is amazed. 25 years ago, luke would’ve welcomed him with open arms. Trevor had let the three of them live here, so he expected as much in return. Of course, 25 years ago, he wasn’t stubborn and arrogant, and he definitely hadn’t stolen luke’s songs. 

“guys- we can’t just make that decision! This isn’t our house- we don’t live here anymore! Scratch that, we don’t live, period. ” 

“Yeah but, Julie wouldn’t just let him go without a place to stay-“

“Reggie, what would we even tell Julie?”

“What are we telling Julie?” The boys freeze. And in the moment all Trevor can hear is Luke cursing.

“H-hey Julie.” All three boys dive in front of Trevor in an attempt to block him from her sight. He ducks his head, but it seems it’s too late.

It’s stupid really. They should have seen this coming. Hadn’t Carrie just come home? That should have been their first clue not to come here.

“Guys? Who’s that?” Julie tries to move around the boys, causing Trevor to trip over his feet and land on his ass in a panic. It’s a clusterfuck of events, Julie moving from side to side, and the barricade scrambling to block her view.

“It’s no one, Julie, just- wait!” Fed up, she shoves past the boys, and Trevor holds his breath as she locks eyes with him.

“Hi Julie…” he gives an awkward little wave.

She whips around in frustration to face the boys, “who is this? So we’re just bringing random people in here now?” 

“We can explain,” Reggie offers, but he doesn’t look so confident about that, and Julie definitely notices it.

“Oh, can you? How come you were so hellbent on hiding him from me? Why does he know my name? Is he another ghost?”

Trevor gracelessly stands up, dusting himself off. This is not going well for any of them.

Reggie hesitates, Julie standing inches from his face. “Ok, we can’t really explain but-“ 

“That’s what I thought- who’s gonna tell me what’s going on? Why are you being weird?” The boys are scrambling for an answer now, and Julie is quickly losing her patience.

Trevor shakes his head. As the adult in the room, he really should be taking more charge of the situation. 

“Julie,” he speaks up. The boys all pause, and Julie turns to face him. He doesn’t know what he’s gonna say, but it’s too late to backtrack. 

“…you probably won’t believe me,” she’s sizing him up now (it’s the outfit again damnit). And he hesitates. Man, he really shouldn’t be so scared of a teenage girl. This is really sad. 

“I’m Trevor Wilson.” 

No one says anything for a good second.

“Yeah right. And I’m Celine Dion. Who are you?” well that was expected. 

“Julie it’s really him you gotta believe us!” Reggie pleads.

“I’m sorry. I can believe in ghosts but there’s no way this random dude is Trevor Wilson. You know what Trevor looks like right?” 

“If you’d just hear him out, maybe-”

“Cmon just look at him.”

Trevor’s already frowning face drops, “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Julie gives him a weird look before Alex (having poofed out somewhere in that mess) returns, clutching a piece of paper in his hand. 

“What’cha got there?” Trevor asks him as he passes it over to Julie. 

“Just look,” he says as Julie cautiously takes it from his outstretched hand. Luke and Reggie curiously gather around to look over her shoulder 

“Your old sunset curve logo?” she asks, and Trevor notices that the other two boys have caught on to whatever Alex is trying to do. 

“Yeah not quite, open it up.” luke smirks.

Julie follows through, revealing a photo of the four of them from their summer 1995 tour demo. Trevor hears her gasp, but he’s more focused on the image than the reaction itself. He hasn’t seen this photo in years. It’s succeeding at digging up a feeling he thought he’d suppressed. And even though the guys in the picture are standing right next to him now, it still leaves him feeling a certain way.

“Oh my god, what did you do?!” Julie exclaims, looking wildly at her phantoms. 

“What do you mean ‘what did you do?’ we didn’t have anything to do with this.” luke is offended by the assumption. 

“Did you kill him?!” Trevor gets no warning before Julie grabs his arm in the affirmation that it’s still tangible and alive. He yelps as he’s yanked down to her level, and almost hits the concrete floor again. 

“What?! No!” Trevor hears shouts of protest as he continues being poked and prodded.

“Julie- Julie ! It’s okay! they didn’t kill me!” he blurts. Julie pauses, giving him one last scrutinizing glance and letting go of his arm. Trevor straightens up and composes himself while she backs away a few steps.

“I need an explanation,” Julie demands,

“ Now. ”

So he tells her

Chapter Text

Carrie Wilson has had a shitty day.

Really it all started yesterday when she blew up on her clueless father (the father that disappeared all night and well into the next morning). She didn’t mean to upset him (and cause him to drive off for hours on end). She just wanted the apology she deserved. But the silent treatment and the way she’d blown up on him were starting to make her feel really gross. The kind of gross that doesn't leave you alone. Eats you up inside until it’s all you can think about. Just- gross. The attitude comes with the persona, the classic mean girl. But she has never liked using it on the people she cares about. Especially not her father.

It didn’t help her day at all when she was surprised by a pop quiz in her first period. A pop quiz that she had just most definitely failed. She isn’t an all-A student by any means, but she definitely tries her best. She can feel the inevitable “talk” this grade will bring about when her dad finds out about it later.

The school lunch was utter garbage. A half-cooked hamburger and most definitely expired fruit. The horrors of the public school system.

Her locker jammed before fifth period, making her late to class.

Even better was on the way to third period when she tripped over her new pair of red stilettos in the hallway, fell flat on her ass, and made a fool of herself to every one of her peers in the vicinity. Her face heats up just thinking about it. It’s one of the many struggles of being popular. Just a single unfortunate move and the whole school knows it. She’s a little jealous of Julie and Flynn in that regard, being able to fly under the radar.

And speaking of Julie Molina-

It was almost the last straw having to hear the girl receive praise all day for her amazing performance at the Orpheum. It’s infuriating. And while she truly did an amazing job, not a soul will ever hear her admit it.

It hadn’t been the worst day in shitty day history, but her pent-up anger had her speeding home from school, white knuckle gripping her fluffy pink steering wheel the entire way there.

---

Two blown stop signs and an almost cop encounter later, she finds herself pulling into the driveway of the Wilson mansion. Carrie throws her car into park, angry tears starting to form at the sight of her father’s vehicle. So he had come home? Nice of him to let her know. Not that she was worried or anything. It’s just that people usually don’t leave their kids by themselves all night and fail to let them know when they’re coming home. 

Her foul mood darkens.

She sits in her car for a minute, getting herself together. Knowing if he sees her seething (and starting to cry) he might try to talk, and there’s no way in hell she wants to do that now. She’s too angry to be rational.

So reluctantly, she gets out of her car, bag slung over her shoulder, and her heels clicking relentlessly up to the front porch. She glares at the doorknob for a second, feeling her heart speed up as she shoves the key into the lock.

What if he’s waiting for her behind the door, ready with a heartfelt apology and tickets to some sort of concert or amusement park? Maybe she’ll gratefully run into his arms, thankful for the apology, and able to forgive him finally.

It’s unlikely.

Carrie turns the key after an eternity and lets herself in.

She wonders what he’ll say. Maybe a, “I’m sorry I’ve been such a distant, jerky, lunatic for the past few days. Wanna go get some ice cream?” or maybe, “I’m sorry I've made you feel so lonely and neglected recently. Let’s binge-watch The Office again.”

“Dad?” she calls as she steps into the entryway. I’d really like that apology now, she adds on silently. She sets her stuff down, half expecting him to round the corner and give her a hug. At least, she’d like him to.

But there’s no response.

Well, there’s some distant shuffling, Maybe he’s just upstairs and didn’t hear her.

Carrie makes her way through the den, but all of a sudden that distant shuffling doesn’t seem so distant. She can feel a strange shift in the aura of the room as well. All she can feel is anxiety. Straight, concentrated worry. It’s odd, and it almost seems to intensify as she gets closer to the kitchen.

She makes a beeline for the kitchen, anger turning into plain frustration. What’s it gonna take to get a simple apology from this guy?

Nearing her destination, she almost hesitates. The feeling is dense, and it’s a little scary now. Maybe this is a sign not to go in there, but she ignores the feeling and rounds the corner anyway.

She stops dead in her tracks.

Nothing. 

Absolutely nothing.

She notices an instant shift in the room again as the feeling of dread seemingly evaporates into the air.

That was a little weird , she decides. 

Carrie calls out to him again, noticing his keys sitting on the counter. He has to be here.

Carrie makes her way up the stairs. Only, her father is nowhere in sight. She checks just about every room on the floor.

Nada.

Last she saw, the helicopter was still perched on its pad on the roof. where the hell did this man go? 

She’s made her way downstairs again, having checked every room in the house now. 

It’s useless. Carrie lets gravity take over as she falls onto the couch, frustration and anger turned into pure confusion. Her father was literally nowhere in the house, and all the signs gave her reason to believe he was.

She met with his voicemail message when she decides to call him, and sighs defeatedly.

Where the hell is Trevor Wilson?

___

Trevor Wilson sits in a borrowed pair of sweatpants (presumably Ray’s) and a t-shirt just a size too small (presumably Reggie’s), on a couch he hasn’t sat on in at least a decade, surrounded by three dead musicians and a contemplative teen girl. 

At some point, the boys commented on his grimy (and “stupid”, Julie was compelled to add) attire during his second retelling of events. Reggie had made it his personal mission to find the man something comfortable to wear instead of the “Jonny Depp” but “really sad” and “without the cool facial hair” style he was sporting since last night. Reggie had returned after about 2 minutes with the ensemble (including a pair of bright pink socks which were most definitely Julies), while Trevor sat there and defended himself against the clothing slander made by the other three in the room.

He really hasn't appreciated the comments made about his fashion choices lately, but he's admittedly grateful for the change of clean and sand-less clothes.

They all sit relatively close now. Luke sitting halfway on Julie's armchair, Reggie’s on the floor, and Alex standing with his hands on his hips. How sassy.

“So just let me get this straight- you had a fight with Carrie, met a creepy old guy, fell into the ocean, turned into a teenager, and need somewhere to lay low?” Julie asks, sitting cross-legged in her chair.

Trevor nods, “yep, pretty much it.”

He doesn’t expect the cackle that leaves the girl’s mouth.

“Sorry, this is just so weird. I can’t decide if I believe you or not.” She shakes her head and crosses her arms as her laughter subsides.

Trevor sputters, “what other proof do you need? I’m sitting right here .”

“Maybe she has a hard time trusting suspicious, greasy, teen boys.” Luke shrugs, like the butt wipe he is. 

Trevor scoffs.“You’re one to talk, hat hair.” Luke pays him no mind.

“Oh, you said ‘suspicious and greasy?’ Or ‘suspiciously greasy?” Alex chimes in. Good God here they go. Now Julie’s giggling, and if those boys weren’t already dead, Trevor might have offed them himself.

“No, I think he said sour like funky.” Reggie grins. The boys lose it, and Julie congratulates him on his successful use of a social media reference. 

Trevor can tell his face is heating up. This is humiliating. He shoots up from the couch in frustration as the rest of the room continues to clown on him. “I don’t need your help you know. I might look a little different but I’m still rich.” 

Luke rolls his eyes, throwing him a smug smile. Trevors really starting to get sick of that face. “That didn’t seem to be the case earlier. Money doesn’t get you very far when you’re having a meltdown, dear Bobert.”

Trever glares at him from where he stands, “I wasn’t having a meltdown-“ but the whiney tone that laced his sentence proves otherwise.

“If that’s the case then why are you here? You could’ve left the moment you got here.” Julie pipes up. Trevor imagines she doesn’t want him hanging around much longer. He understands though. If he were in her position, he wouldn’t exactly want to harbor a strange kid in his house either. Although it is ironic that he’d done the exact same thing in this very studio for the other boys 25 years ago. Except they were runaways- not fake teenagers.

Although now that he thought about it, Julie’s discomfort could be due to how close they are. It’s gotta be a weird feeling for a family member (basically) to beg for refuge from a 16-year-old girl, in order to hide from said girl’s arch-nemesis (who also turns out to be said family member’s daughter). The complexity of the thought could definitely give someone a headache.

But Trevor hasn’t answered Julie’s question, and Alex lets out his best ‘mom’ sigh. “Dude, you have to stop being so difficult if you’re trying to stay here.” He can see Julie is quickly losing her patience, and his face heats up all over again. Damnit. 

It’s about the second time today that he realizes, that maybe he should start acting like the adult he is, and not the whiny teen he looks (and sounds) like. 

“Fine. You’re right, and I’m sorry.”

Alex gives him a sort of ‘keep going’ look. Trevor complies.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go, and I’m sorry for acting a fool.” Trevor wrings his hands together and gives Julie his sincerest of facial expressions.

Luke raises his hand to get his attention, “You mean a suspiciously greasy fool.”

“Watch it.” Trevor bites back. Luke snickers and throws a mischievous glance Reggie’s way.

Julie redirects the banter, and her face becomes serious.

“Thank you for apologizing, but I’m still not sure I wanna let you stay here. My dad doesn’t even know about the guys. What do you think he’d say if he found you here?” She has a point, a disappointing one, but still. 

He knows Ray well enough, but he definitely wouldn’t take the news as well as Julie just did. It would be astronomically difficult to convince the man. And that’s saying something considering how trusting of a person he is. The only reason Julie had believed Trevor was because he had the boys on his side. They were idiots, but at least they were convincing idiots. They don’t have that advantage with Ray.

“Julie, please,” he begs, “I promise he’ll never find out.” Trevor can’t believe it’s come to this. He never in his life thought he’d beg a 16-year-old girl to let him hide out in her studio. But he’s desperate, and this would be extremely convenient.

Julie looks terribly conflicted, but Reggie chimes in excitedly. “What if we could make him invisible when ray comes around?” 

Julie throws him an incredulous look, and he continues, “Luke teleported Bobby here earlier. With practice, I bet we could do even more.”

Trevor doesn’t like the sound of this.

“Yeah, but do we even know how he did it?” Alex asks, “we can’t really practice what we don't understand.” 

“That’s ok! We'll figure it out! Please Julie, just let him stay!” At least Trevor has Reggie on his side now. Not that he wants them to “practice” their mojo on him, but it’s better than going home.

She looks to Alex for help, who just shrugs his shoulders indifferently. Luke isn’t much help either, choosing not to say anything in support of the decision.

With a final look around and a little huff of defeat, she nods her head. Reggie cheers, throwing a fist in the air with success. Trevor thanks Julie profusely, making sure she knows just how grateful to her he is.

“I’m not letting you stay here forever though,” Julie assures him, “you have to figure this out quick, I don’t know how long I can keep you a secret from my family.”

“Aye aye captain,” Trevor salutes her, giving a small smile. He glances around at the lingering ghosts. “This doesn’t mean I’m gonna be your guinea pig though.”

“Oh, that’s absolutely what that means,” Alex says matter of factly.

“You signed that contract when Julie said you could stay.” luke grins, biting his tongue between his teeth.

Trevor runs a nervous hand through his hair. This is gonna be interesting.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Bobby?”

Trevor groans, rubbing a lazy hand over his tired eyes. He's not quite sure what time it is, but the darkness of the loft tells him it's late enough to be bothered by this impromptu company. Julie, after reluctantly agreeing to let him stay, cleared up some of the loft to let him sleep in. It had taken a bit of effort, saying as how the last time she tried cleaning it up, she accidentally unleashed three- high maintenance ghost boys from the 90s. Trevor would admit that he kind of felt bad since the job was clearly difficult for the girl. But she’d managed (with help of course).

So here he is now, lying under an old crocheted blanket on a flat pillow Julie found in a closet somewhere. The solid floor beneath him stabs at his lower back like daggers, but he did beg to stay, so he won't complain about what he’s got.

He can tell without even looking that his visitor is Reggie Peters, and he turns his head to meet the ghost’s curious gaze.

“Yes Reginald?” he asks, glaring into the darkness to let his fuzzy vision settle. The boy smiles, happy he’d been noticed.

“Were you awake?” he asks, and Trevor squints his drowsy eyes again, this time directed more towards the obvious answer to Reggie’s question rather than the encapsulating darkness.

“Not anymore I guess.” it would've been followed by a shrug if Trevor wasn’t lying down, so he adjusts his position, flipping slightly to face Reggie on his side. That took a little pressure off his aching back, but he imagines his shoulder will start to throb sooner or later. 

“Oh shoot! Sorry about that.” Reggie fidgets with his hands, leaning on the floor from where he stands on the ladder awkwardly. Trevor doesn't care that he’s sorry, longing more for a peaceful night's rest, but Reggie doesn't look like he’s going anywhere, so that's a lost cause.

“What's up Reg?” Trevor sighs, closing his eyes while the boy composes his question. 

“Oh-” he stammers like he's suddenly surprised by Trevor's invitation to continue talking. Maybe he'd expected to be shooed away immediately from the loft or something. He’d almost considered telling the boy to go away, but after that, he’d just feel bad if he did.

Trevor gives him an expecting look, edging on the conversation after Reggie’s hesitation. Although he’s not sure how well it translates in the low light. 

“I was just wondering about Carrie.” He continues, which makes Trevor cringe a little. “I remember you said you'd lost your phone, and wanted to know how you were going to connect with her while you’re gone.”

Trevor rolls over onto his face and groans again. This is definitely a concern. On one hand, he could find a phone somewhere and tell her a little white lie about leaving for something work-related. He’d had to pack up and take off quickly before, but he’d never failed to tell his daughter. On the same hand, she’d probably pick up on his bullshit and demand to know his whereabouts. He isn’t so confident he could come up with a good enough excuse, let alone prove it to her. 

Reggie fills the silence that Trevor has left him in, “You’re not just gonna leave her in the dark are you?” The boy's face screws up in concern, and before Trevor can muster up any sort of response, another head pops up through the entrance of the loft. 

“Wouldn’t put it past him” Luke states, and Trevor can tell through the dimness that the newcomer wears his signature smirk. He can also tell that he won’t be sleeping any time soon, and the thought makes him sink further into his pillow. 

“Shut up Luke, be nice.” And here comes Alex. Trevor is amazed there’s even any room left on that ladder.

“Respectfully, Alex? Eat my shorts.” Oh god, they never stop, do they? Trevor bangs his head repeatedly into the pillow.

“Sounds like you need your television rights restricted,” Alex suggests.

“Thanks, mom , didn’t ask.” Luke retorts with an eye roll, really highlighting his age.

“How do you guys ever get anything done?” Trevor sits up from his makeshift bed. He’s not surprised by the arguing, having lived through it two and a half decades ago, but it sure is annoying as hell. 

“Usually we have Julie to set things straight,” Reggie adds as the boys continue to bicker beside him.

“Back to the question though,” Alex redirects his attention to Trevor, whose mouth is drawn into a thin, aggravated line, “what are you planning on doing about your kid?”

Trevor opens his mouth, but Luke can’t restrain himself from making another unnecessary comment. “It would make you a pretty terrible father if you chose to do nothing.” Ok, so maybe it wasn’t completely unnecessary. It was definitely true, but Trevor refuses to admit to that.

Trevor grimaces, throwing his arms into the open air, “Fine.” He crosses his arms tightly. “Find me a phone and I’ll call her.”

Reggie raises his hand and prepares to answer, but Trevor shuts him down. “Julie’s cell is off the table, Carrie’ll know the number.” Reggie lowers his hand.

“There’s a payphone in the convenience store down the road if you guys wanna make a short trip.” Alex offers, earning over-the-shoulder glances from Reggie and Luke. 

“What?” He shrinks in on himself slightly under the scrutiny.

“How do you know that ?” Luke asks.

“We haunted a few patrons there on a little tour of the town a couple of weeks ago, Willie and I.” Trevor senses that there’s something a little deeper in that statement, and chooses not to ask. The other boys have quieted down a bit as well, only confirming Trevor’s sense.

“You seriously want to go now? At-“ Luke poofs away to check the time, then returns just as fast, “at 3 in the morning?”

“No- Carrie won’t even be awake. ‘sides, I’m pretty sure she keeps her phone on do not disturb at night anyway.” 

“Psh, whatever that means,” Luke murmurs, receiving no response. 

“Let’s go tomorrow then!” Reggie says, “you can call Carrie in the morning before she goes to school!”

“Yeah,” Alex quirks his lips into a snarky smile, “maybe then you can buy yourself something other than your usual wardrobe.” He then finishes it off with a little grimace, and Trevor can’t help but take offense.

“Hey, not cool.” He glares at the ghost, then eyes Luke who he can tell is ready to pick another fight. 

“Oh so you get to mess with him but I can’t? How rude.” Alex pays him no mind, which Trevor deems an amazing feat with the small space the three of them occupy. 

“Have we decided then? Can I please go back to bed now?” Trevor pleads in a desperate attempt to get back to his interrupted rem cycle. 

“Oh no- now we have to tell Julie!” Luke grins and dives to grab Trevor’s wrist.

“Hey wait a minu-“ Trevor protests, but he’s too late, and he can feel reality warping again as luke poofs away with Trevor in tow.

This is where he finds himself landing straight on his face in Julie’s bedroom, resulting in a loud thump. His body doesn’t ache quite as badly as the last time, probably due to the difference in distance, but he’s greeted with an acute wave of nausea. Damn, does he just want to go back to bed. 

He can see Luke standing triumphantly next to him, and Reggie and Alex pop in not too far behind.

“And this couldn’t wait till tomorrow morning because why?” Trevor whispers through another surge of nausea. He picks himself up off the ground and notices Julie stirring from her sleep. Another victim of the phantoms’ shenanigans, sigh. 

“That’s so cool! I did it again!” Luke celebrates, referring to the disgruntled teen standing next to him.

“I wanna know why I can’t seem to land on my feet,” Trevor whispers to the boy with a scowl.

“I don’t know man.” Luke offers, but he strides the short distance over to Reggie before it can even be discussed.

Julie picks her head up off her pillow and notices the ensemble with confused eyes. She shares a similar reaction to Trevor, groaning dramatically, and throwing her head back into her pillow.

“What do you guys think you need from me in the middle of the night?” She asks, face smothered in her pillow. Reggie takes his opportunity to flip on the bedside lamp.

“We wanted to tell you our plan for tomorrow.” Luke smiles innocently. Trevor’s beginning to think Luke’s only purpose in life aside from music is annoying people. And he’s pretty damn good at it too. 

“Guys, I get up at 7 in the morning. This seriously couldn’t wait?” Trevor doesn’t know how in the world this boy managed to get into a relationship with the girl. In his experience, Julie didn’t ever take shit from people, nor their tomfoolery. But somehow…

“Sorry, Jules, just got excited I guess.” And the boy smiles the cutest face-splitting smile he can muster. ‘Ah, so that’s how,’ Trevor decides. 

Julie makes a sound similar to a growl and rolls over. “Go on then. What couldn’t wait till morning?”

Luke’s eyes light up, and the other two ghosts take a seat on Julie’s bed.

“So, first thing in the morning, we’re gonna go to that payphone at the convenience store,” he excitedly takes a seat next to Julie on her bed, leaving Trevor the last one standing. “Then he’s” he points at Trevor, “gonna call Carrie and tell her he’s away for work or something.” He finishes the recap with another signature smile, and Julie closes her drowsy eyes.

“Is that it?” She asks, looking to Trevor for help, who nods slowly in confirmation. 

“Yep!” Reggie chips in.

“You seriously have nothing else to say?” She puts her face in her hands, “you woke me up at three in the morning for two sentences?” 

“I’m beginning to think this wasn’t the best idea.” Luke claps his hands together and drops them on his lap. 

“Well,” Alex adds, “I told you guys not to wake either one of them, but nobody listens to Alex.” He tilts his head towards Luke, who opens his mouth in rebuttal. Julie beats him to the punch though, and Trevor silently thanks her.

“No arguing! I’m going back to bed. Either sleep or find something else to do, but now's not the time to concern me with tomorrow's agenda.” She punctuates her sentence by throwing herself back under the covers and tossing in a muffled “goodnight.” 

Luke kicks off his shoes and joins Julie under the covers, without a care in the world that she’d just told him to shut up. Reggie follows suit, instead, draping himself over the foot of the bed, and Alex chooses the beanbag in the corner of the room.

When Trevor just stands there in a moderate state of shock, Luke quirks an eyebrow, “you heard the woman. Goodnight Robert.“ 

Trevor’s jaw drops defensively, “you’re just gonna make me walk all the way back to the studio? You literally dragged me in here!” Luke's only response is a single nod, and Trevor grumbles on his way towards the door. 

“Hey, Bobby?” Reggie calls quietly.

“ What? ” He draws out slowly in agitation. He turns around, the door handle already tight in his grip.

“Can you get the light on your way out?” 

Trevor could genuinely tear his own hair out at this moment.

—-

“Oh, Bob-sie!” A sing-song voice calls from below the loft. 

He hoped to wake up this morning to realize the last day of his life had been nothing but a dream, but alas. He can hear the lot clambering up the ladder again, and he dreads every single step.

“Seven AM! Rise and shine!” Luke’s face comes through the loft’s entrance to Trevor’s disappointment. He’s closely followed by Reggie, and he can just about see Alex’s head, the boy opting not to come up all the way. “Time to call your little ankle-biter and lie to her face!” Luke always has to make these things difficult, doesn’t he? 

Trevor lets out a large, exhausted yawn, causing his tired eyes to water. He pries himself up off the ground and sits up to better face the intruder despite how much he’d rather just stay asleep.

“Pretty sure school doesn’t even start till 9, Luke. You couldn’t have given me another half hour?” Trevor complains. 

“Nope!” The little jerk beams. “Every second counts! Get off your ass, Roberta!” Luke lunges to give Trevor a single slap on the side of his face and poofs away after his success. Trevor can hear a mischievous snicker from underneath the loft and exhales his pent-up frustration.

“Good morning Bobby!” Reggie greets as Trevor throws his blanket off his lap and stands up. 

“Morning Reg,” Trevor grumbles in response. Both boys poof out of his way as he stiffly makes his way down the ladder. He grimaces as his body reminds him where he slept last night and has to take a moment to stretch when he meets the floor. So much for invincible teenage bones.

“So I was thinking,” Alex starts as Trevor pops his back, “since you have your wallet still, maybe you can go buy yourself something else to wear other than borrowing clothes for the foreseeable future.”

Trevor raises his eyebrows slightly, giving Alex’s suggestion a nod.

“sure.” He agrees, finishing up his quick stretch, then sitting himself down on the couch. As his back hits the cushion though, his stomach growls, drawing all attention to his midsection.

Now that he’s on the topic, Trevor realizes he hasn’t eaten in over 48 hours.

“I guess I’ll grab some breakfast too while we’re out.“ he chuckles, although the empty feeling in his stomach isn’t very funny.

“Cool! Let’s go then.” Luke blurts, making his way over to Trevor. He can anticipate what Luke is planning as he brings his arm up to grab Trevor’s shoulder, but he jumps back before the boy can touch him.

“ Absolutely not.” He smacks the attacker’s hand away, “We’re walking, Lucas.” 

“C'mon man. Walking? You’re no fun.” Luke whines, but steps back anyway. ‘ Finally ,’ Trevor thinks, ‘ point Trevor.’

“I kinda wanted to shower first,” Trevor crosses his arms, still side-eyeing luke, “I still smell like the pacific.”

“Gross-“ says Reggie, screwing up his face. Then he lights up just as suddenly, “I’ll get you something else to borrow for today!” And he poofs out of the studio in search of an outfit without another word.

Trevor’s eyes linger where Reggie just stood for a moment, as do the others, then shakes his head and stands up.

“Ok, guess I’ll be out in a minute.”

—-

Freshly showered, and wearing one of Ray's old California state hoodies and a pair of jeans, Trevor walks down the sidewalk to the aforementioned convenience store. To his left, he’s flanked by Luke and Reggie, closely followed by Alex.

It had taken a little longer to get out of the house than anticipated, with Luke insisting he tell Julie their agenda (again) before she left for school. 

The girl didn’t seem to mind it much, only warning them to be wary of her father, who hadn’t left for work yet. This wouldn’t have been an issue if Luke hadn’t teleported Trevor (even after he’d told him not to) back inside the house. 

They were in such close proximity that Trevor could hear just about every move the man made from beyond Julie’s bedroom door. So with one final blip back into the studio, and a rather stern talking to from Trevor, the four made their way cautiously out of the perimeter, and on their way to the payphone.

“You’re sure this thing even works?” Trevor asks, turning his head to the boy in question.

Alex looks up from his intense inspection of the sidewalk as they continue, tilting his head to one side in a half-assed shrug. “Yeah, I’m sure. I saw this old woman using it to call her doctor right before me and Willie scared the shit out of her and the other customers.” 

They continue walking through a beat of silence, then Alex adds, “I’m not too proud of that part, but it was rewarding to make Derek Manson almost piss his pants.” That name sent a bolt of recognition through Trevor, and he whips around again in surprise. He hadn’t heard that name in years.

Apparently, it struck a similar chord in Reggie and Luke too, causing an outburst of “no way!” And “holy shit!” Respectively.

“You mean that kid who used to bully you in high school?” Trevor asks, but he didn’t really need to. He knew well enough the shit Alex had gone through for being openly gay in a 90s high school setting, and by association, that meant luke, Reggie, and himself had also suffered from his antagonizing too.

“Yeah.” Alex glances down to the ground again, stuffing his dangling hands into his pants pockets. “I told Willie about him, and he offered to show me another ghost ability.”

“That’s awesome.” Reggie applauds a now sheepish Alex. “What’d you guys do?” He asks eagerly.

“So get this, with enough focus on emotion, ghosts can change the atmosphere of a room. Whether that be temperature or mood.” Trevor listens in curiously, and the other boys look like they just won a large sum of money. “Willie made the room so cold you could see your own breath,” not that they had any, “and then I ,” he grins, “gave Derek a wet willy.”

The boys cheer, taking a moment to appreciate Alex’s achievement. Thinking back on it now, Trevor should have known right away who it was when the boys had haunted him those few weeks ago. The way Luke (it just had to be) had done the same to him. Trevor lets out a little chuckle. These boys definitely need to learn more about being ghosts. Normally when you think ‘ghosts,’ your mind would conjure up images of fear and death, but you wouldn’t think ‘wet willy.’

“Didja do anything else?” Reggie asks, a glimmer of mischief evident in his bright eyes.

“We knocked some stuff off the walls to freak the customers out a bit. That along with some flickering lights, but we didn’t want to freak them out too badly.” He finishes with another little grin. Reggie gives him a high five.

“Why didn’t you mention this last night when you brought up going here?” Trevor asks, and Alex just shrugs.

“Just didn’t think about it I guess.”

Their walk stalls as their destination comes into view. 

"You think old Derek is working his shift today?" Luke asks as the group saunters up to the entrance.

“Guess we’ll find out,” Trevor says as he pushes open one of the heavy glass doors. As he steps into the building, the real fear sets in. Not because Derek Manson is 100 percent standing behind the counter. Without looking up from his phone, he offers an emotionless “good morning,” to who he thinks is a customer. Trevor’s real fear is that in mere minutes, he’ll be on the phone with his angry, and confused daughter. His head spins as he follows Alex through the aisles, mind filling with possible excuses, and preparing himself for the inevitable hell Carrie’s about to give him. Trevor will admit, he feels terrible, lousy. Which he should. He up and left his only kid without a word (not that he had any other choice). It’s the fear itself though that makes him feel so bad, and the way he’s about to lie (like luke said) to her face. 

“Voila,” Alex says, gesturing grandiosely to the dinosaur of a machine hanging in front of him. “your phone call awaits.” he steps out of the way for Trevor to do his thing. It’s weird to him now, seeing one of these. He used them before as a kid, obviously with the lack of smartphones in the 90s. And he probably had used this exact one too, living right down the road from it, only he can’t find any memory of it in his 42 years of age.

“They don’t got a lot of these around anymore,” he says in a low voice.

“Dude, you’re stalling.” he hears luke nag from behind him, and yeah, he is. He’s pretty sure in this situation anyone would. He’s still not even sure what he’s gonna say.

“Yeah, yeah.” Trevor counters, opening the thin glass door and snatching the phone from its pedestal. 

He puts the phone up to his ear before anything else, “Derek’s gonna think I’m crazy talking to ‘myself’ like this” he says into the phone, but the boys get the message. He casts a sideways glance at the man a distance away and notices how he’s moved on from his phone to reading a magazine.

“Oh yeah, cause were invisible, sorry.” Reggie laughs, and Trevor shakes his head as he puts his quarters into the slot. He raises an unstable hand to the keypad hesitating to dial the memorized number.

“C’mon man, we don’t have all day,” luke complains, and Trevor rolls his eyes with a scoff.

“Lay off luke, I’m going through some shit.” he musters up whatever courage he needs, and punches in the number. 

He feels like an idiot as the tone rings in his ear. Standing there in fear. Trevor wouldnt call himself the sensitive type, but all his senses feel dialed to the max as he waits for his daughter to pick up on the other end. His heart is beating right out of his chest, and he can feel his head starting to spin again. He can hear the city outside starting to wake up, and he can feel his clammy palms as he holds the phone up to his head. There’s no way he should be this scared.

But the world comes to a stop as the line picks up.

“Hello?” He hears, and he takes in a shallow breath.

“ Try to make your voice deeper!” Reggie whisper shouts from behind him, and he nods curtly with his heart in his throat.

“ Hello? ” she asks again after a few seconds of silence.

“Hey Carrie, it’s dad,” he croaks. And it’s done, there’s no going back now. He’s sealed his fate with one phone call.

“Dad?!” Carrie exclaims, “where are you?”

‘Time to come up with an excuse,’ Trevor thinks, clutching the phone tightly.

“I uh- the label called,” he decides. He’s sure he can hear a little scoff come from her end. “They needed me to come in for some big new project they’re planning. Sorry for the short notice.” ok, that’s a start, a pitiful one. He knows it’s not the best he could come up with, but it’s something at the very least.

“But your car’s here. When did you come home?” she asks with a little twinge of concern. It’s wild to Trevor that she’s actually showing any care at all.

“Oh uh- they had a driver pick me up shortly after I got home. That was hours after you left for school,” he says turning around to face the ghosts. There was some truth to that at least. He had come home after she left for school, and he had been ‘picked up’ shortly after arriving. He just couldn’t tell her it was by her nemesis’s ghost band who also just so happened to be his band. 

“Why didn’t you call me?” Carrie asks, and he expected more power and accusation behind that sentence, but all he can sense is hurt. After her outburst the other night, he expected her to be livid, but instead-

‘That’s not fair,” he thinks, ‘ she isn’t emotionless.’

“I-” he starts, trying to come up with another excuse, “I dropped my phone last night and kinda murdered it.” he gives an awkward laugh, but it’s evident that Carrie doesn’t find it funny.

“How are you calling me then?” she presses on.

“Payphone- I found one in a gas station in West Hollywood.” aside from the payphone part, that was a blatant lie. He’s definitely not in West Hollywood, but he doesn’t want her to know how close to home he is.

“Wait a minute-” she demands, “where did you sleep if you didn’t come home that night?” Trevor knows what she refers to when she says ‘that night,’ and his free hand comes up to run through his hair in distress.

“Dad?” she asks again after receiving no response. “Tell me you didn’t sleep in your car.” oh boy.

He hesitates a beat longer, “yeah, I slept in my car.” and then he winces as Carrie raises her volume.

“Are you serious?!” she all but shouts, “just when I think your mental health is getting better you disappear for two days and sleep in your car! What is wrong with you lately? Do i need to call your doctor?”

“Carrie! Slow down! I’m alright I swear.” he assures her, and he can hear snickering from behind him. While he doesn't like it, he understands why they would laugh at him getting scolded by his daughter.

“How long will you be gone?” she sighs. Trevor doesn’t know the answer to this.

“I- I don’t know baby, but ill let you know as soon as I can.”

Carrie gives a little mutter of ‘ok’ and adds, “Look- I can’t stay on the phone much longer, I need to get ready for school.” she dismisses him, and he stammers.

“You’re running low on time dude,” Alex adds. Shit, payphones only run so long.

“Wait! Give me a second,” Trevor searches for something to say in her silence. Her moment of genuine concern was gone, back to her usual brash self, but he needed one more thing.

“Are you ok?” he asks her, and she doesn’t respond right away.

“I’m fine.” she states after that brief moment, “I’m used to it.” Trevor's face screws up in worry, and the girl goes on.

“Don’t worry about me dad, I gotta go.” 

“Love you,” he tosses in quickly, but it isn't reciprocated, and the call cuts off. It’s safe to say he feels worse than he did to begin with, but at least now he knows she’s doing alright (kinda) and she knows he didn’t just drop off the face of the planet.

He hangs up the phone hastily, only for his stomach to growl again, reminding him that he needs to eat.

“Ok cool, we got that out of the way.” luke breaks the silence, being the first to start walking towards the exit.

“Hey wait a minute,” Trevor calls after him, “I’m gonna grab something.” He makes a beeline for the snack food aisle, snatching the nearest twinkie he can find.

“You’re gonna go up there? What about Derek?” Alex asks walking beside Trevor as he makes his way up to the cash register.

“I just wanna see if he recognizes me,” Trevor says, and with that, the son of a bitch looks up from his magazine.

“Are you alright kid?” he asks in a gruff voice, probably noticing the lack of other people to talk to in the store. Trevor has to hide a smirk as that expected recognition flashes in Derek’s dark eyes.

He lays the item in front of Derek, and the man looks increasingly more disturbed with every passing second.

“Yep-” Trevor answers, “doing just fine, Derek.” the man’s eyes go wide at the knowledge of his name, and bewilderedly takes the card Trevor hands him. In an instant, Trevor notices a temperature change in the air, and by the look in Derek’s eyes, he has too. he hurriedly processes the purchase, and It’s even better when the lights overhead start to flicker. He can hear the boys laughing like the evil little twerps they are, and takes his breakfast from the confused man.

“Might wanna get that checked out there, D,” Trevor says slyly, “that can’t be good for business,” and the man nods absently.

“Have a nice day!” he smiles as he turns toward the door, leaving Derek to take in what just happened.

He pushes past the door to meet the guys, who’re cackling their asses off.

“Man did you see his face when the lights started flickering?” luke wheezes, “That was a nice one Alex, you gotta teach us how to do that.” 

Trevor revels at the moment. His phone call didn’t leave him feeling the best, but that little experience sure helped brighten his day. He joins in on the laughter, high-fiving Alex.

Alex takes note of what he’s holding and the conversation shifts gears.

“Are you gonna eat that? That cannot be good for you.” Alex furrows his eyebrows.

“Look man, I'm gonna use this kick-ass metabolism while I’ve got it.” He stuffs the whole twinkie into his mouth haphazardly, and the group walks on towards their next destination.

Chapter Text

I'm rewriting this lmao. I want it to follow the original story a little better but I'm keeping a lot of what's already written. :)