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A lot had changed since Jinx and Lux patched things up. The band had a heartfelt discussion about their future and agreed it was time to bring the fun back into their music. They decided to prioritize quality over quantity—spacing out shows, cutting down on soulless brand commitments, and focusing on what made them love music in the first place.
But they needed a fresh start to make this new chapter work for their new record label. That meant creating a new album. Each member was tasked with writing a song, and everyone delivered—except Lux and Jinx.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. Jinx had suggested they write a duet for the album—a bold idea the record label immediately latched onto. The suits loved the idea of a rekindled partnership immortalized in song, and they promised the pair all the time they needed to make it perfect.
But that “as much time as possible” had an expiration date, and now the clock was ticking. Lux and Jinx had spent countless late nights scribbling lyrics, strumming chords, and bouncing ideas off each other. Yet somehow, nothing felt right. Every idea seemed too forced, too hollow, or too much like the past they were trying to move beyond.
Now, with the deadline looming, the pressure was on. And if there was one thing Jinx and Lux knew better than anyone, it was how to turn chaos into something beautiful. They just had to figure out how to do it—together.
Ekko paced the length of the studio, tossing a drumstick between his hands as he glanced over at Lux and Jinx. "Alright, hear me out. What if you start with something big? Like a loud, punch-you-in-the-face kind of opening?"
Ezreal, sprawled on the couch, strumming his guitar absentmindedly, chimed in. "Or, maybe you keep it soft and build to something epic. You know, that slow-burn vibe people love."
Seraphine, who was there because she had a gig in the city that weekend, sat cross-legged on the floor, her notebook open. "What if you focus on the journey? Start with where you two were, then bring it to where you are now?" She smiled at them both, trying to keep the mood light. "It could be powerful."
Jinx sighed, tapping her pen against the empty page of the notebook. "I don’t know. That all sounds good, but..."
"But it doesn’t feel like us," Lux finished, her voice quiet but firm. She looked at Jinx, then back at the others. "This has to come from *us*, not from outside ideas. Otherwise, it won’t work."
Ekko stopped pacing, tossing the drumstick onto a nearby table. "Yeah, I figured you'd say that."
Ezreal sat up, setting his guitar aside. "Honestly, I think you’re right. This is your song. We’re just getting in the way."
Seraphine closed her notebook, nodding in agreement. "You two have always had this... connection. It’s not something we can help with."
Jinx looked up, a small smile playing on her lips. "Thanks, guys. We’ve got this."
Ekko clapped his hands together. "Alright, we’ll give you some space. Let us know if you need anything, but we’ll get out of your hair for now."
Ezreal stretched, already heading for the door. "I’m thinking coffee break. Anyone else?"
Seraphine got to her feet, grabbing her notebook. "I’m in."
Ekko followed them out, but before leaving, he turned back and pointed at Jinx and Lux. "You two better come up with something amazing. No pressure or anything."
Jinx rolled her eyes but smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Go drink your overpriced lattes."
As the door clicked shut behind them, the room fell quiet. Jinx glanced at Lux, who was already picking up her guitar.
"Just us now," Jinx said, her tone lighter than before.
Lux nodded, strumming a soft chord. "Just us. Let’s make it count."
As they began tossing ideas back and forth, Lux strummed her guitar softly, her mind trying to stitch together melodies and fragments of lyrics. Across the room, Jinx started pacing, her boots tapping against the floor with increasing urgency. She rubbed the back of her neck, muttering under her breath as her thoughts seemed to race faster than she could keep up with.
Lux glanced up, her fingers pausing on the strings. Since they got back together, Lux made sure that she paid attention to how Jinx acted so she could help her before it got worse. Lux recognized Jinx's energy—restless, frantic, teetering on the edge of a spiral. Jinx’s mind was spiraling, and the frustration would take over if she didn’t anchor herself soon.
“Jinx,” Lux said softly, putting her guitar aside.
“Hmm?” Jinx responded distractedly, still pacing.
“Hey.” Lux’s voice was steady but gentle, as she used to speak when Jinx needed grounding. “Come here. Sit with me.”
Jinx stopped, blinking at her. “What? I’m fine. I’m just...thinking.”
Lux tilted her head, giving her a knowing look. “I know you are, but you’re pacing like trying to outrun your thoughts. Just sit with me for a minute, okay?”
Jinx hesitated, her eyes darting around the room as if weighing her options. But something in Lux’s tone—steady, familiar—broke through the noise in her head. She slowly walked over, letting Lux guide her down into her lap.
Lux wrapped her arms loosely around Jinx’s waist, her chin resting on Jinx’s shoulder. “See? Better already,” she murmured, her voice a soothing hum.
Jinx let out a small laugh, her tension easing slightly. “You’re so cheesy.”
“Yeah, well, you love it,” Lux teased, picking up her guitar again with one hand while keeping the other resting lightly on Jinx’s side.
Jinx sat in Lux’s lap, her back resting against her chest, playing absently with the notebook's edge in her hands. “We’re screwed,” she muttered, her voice tinged with frustration. “We said this album would be different, and we don’t even have our song yet.”
Lux let out a calm sigh, her guitar resting on her knee as she strummed absentmindedly. “We’re not screwed,” she countered, her voice steady. “We’ve written under pressure before. We can do it.”
Jinx rolled her eyes, turning her head to look up at Lux with a skeptical smile. “Yeah, but this isn’t just any song. This is *our* song. It's our first duet since we got back together. Expectations are through the roof.”
Lux met her gaze, her fingers stilling on the strings. “When have you ever cared about expectations, Jinx? So, let’s stop worrying about the pressure and focus on what’s real. We make it about *us*.”
Jinx furrowed her brow, clearly unsure. “What do you mean, ‘about us’?”
Lux shifted slightly, her hands finding Jinx’s waist momentarily before resting them in her lap. “Maybe Seraphine was right. We write *our* story. Not what people think they want to hear. What *do we* want to say? What’s real? What’s *us*.”
Jinx thought for a moment, a slight frown forming. Then, after a beat, she smirked and grabbed the pen off the table. “Alright, real, huh? Let’s start with the beginning.” She tapped the pen against the notebook, eyes searching for something in the air. “What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
Lux didn’t hesitate. “The school parking lot. Our first public kiss.”
Jinx grinned, her voice teasing as she tilted her head back to look up at Lux. “You were so nervous after that kiss.”
Lux smirked back. “You acted cool like it wasn’t a big deal, but your hands shook.”
Jinx burst out laughing, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’re killing me.” She scribbled in the notebook, then paused, looking back at Lux. “Alright, what about that time we—”
“Called your sister and Caitlyn because I got too high, and you panicked?” Lux interrupted, laughing.
Jinx groaned and hid her face in her hands. “God, I’d blocked that out. But yeah, definitely add that in.” She gave a resigned sigh, but her eyes were bright with humor.
They continued the memories flowing naturally, each spilling onto the pages like a snapshot of their chaotic yet passionate history. The tension that had initially settled between them slowly dissolved, replaced by a quiet, easy rhythm. As they shared their favorite moments—those wild, reckless times and the sweet, soft ones—they began to weave a song that reflected everything they’d been and everything they were.
Jinx glanced at Lux, her voice softer now. “You were right,” she murmured, her tone almost awed. “This is us. This feels... right.”
Lux looked down at her guitar, fingers stilling. She met Jinx’s gaze with a soft smile. “Told you.”
Jinx smiled and rolled her eyes, playfully shoving herself against Lux’s chest. “Fine. You win. But don’t get used to it.”
Lux chuckled, setting her guitar down beside her. “No promises.”
They sat there for a while in comfortable silence, the notebook between them filled with bits of their lives—imperfect, raw, but undeniably theirs. The song wasn’t finished yet, but it was the start of something real. And that felt like enough for the first time in a long while.
The crowd excitedly buzzed as the lights dimmed, signaling the night's final song. The energy in the room had been electric all evening, and now, with the final moments of the concert ahead, the air was thick with excitement.
On stage, Lux and Jinx stood side by side, their hands instinctively reaching for each other as they exchanged a look. The rest of the band stood back, knowing this was their moment—the moment Lux and Jinx had been working toward for so long. The crowd's cheers faded into a hushed silence as Lux adjusted her guitar and Jinx stepped closer to her.
Jinx took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly with emotion as she leaned into the mic. “This one’s for us,” she said, eyes locking onto Lux's. There was a moment where the crowd’s presence seemed to disappear, and it was just the two of them, vulnerable and raw.
Lux smiled softly, fingers brushing across the strings, and as the first chord echoed through the arena, the crowd held its breath. The familiar melody filled the air, and as the lights flickered to life, Lux began the first verse.
“Let’s drive for no reason, let’s see where these wheels land,
Let’s grind down the curve of this earth,
You look fine in the evening, and honey, it’s starting to storm.
When we kissed in the car in the school parking lot.”
The crowd swayed, captivated by the lyrics' raw honesty. Jinx’s voice picked up seamlessly, her tone full of warmth and familiarity as she added her part.
“Where I'd go with my friends to get drunk,
Used to wish I meant anything to anywhere, to anyone.”
Lux and Jinx stood side by side, almost unison, as they belted out the next lines.
“When forever was a sentence, sentence to death
Oh, when you were a running tear, I was a drop of sweat
And the edges of your soul, I haven’t seen yet
Now I’m glad I get forever to see where you end”
Jinx kept that energy as she sang the next part
“I won’t be alone for the rest of my life
I’ll build a boat for when the river gets high
And I’ll meet a girl in the heat of July
And I’ll tell her so she knows
That I’m broke, but I’m real rich in my head
That I broke a bone that never healed in my hand
So, when I hold her close
I might loosen my grip, but I won’t ever let her go
I won’t ever let her go”
The music swelled, the drums picked up the pace, and the crowd surged forward, hands raised in the air. Lux and Jinx exchanged glances before Jinx jumped into the second verse, her voice carrying that familiar mix of edge and playfulness.
"Remember when we called the cops?"
Lux picked up the following line, her voice lighter, almost laughing at the memory.
"'Cause I got too high, and you got scared,"
"And the cops just laughed?" Jinx added with a sharp grin, tossing in a dry, "Fuck them for that."
They both broke into the chorus together, their voices blending effortlessly as they sang in unison.
"We can't make rent, so we window-shop
In the Upper West Side, oh, my God
Could you imagine that?"
The chemistry between them was undeniable. Their voices wrangled together like they'd been made for each other, bringing the lyrics to life with nostalgia and raw emotion.
Lux sang the next part without breaking eye contact with Jinx. The last time she did that, it led to their breakup, but this time, it was different. It was a promise to make sure they stayed together.
“I won't be alone for the rest of my life
I'll build a boat for when the river gets high
And I'll meet a girl in the heat of July
And I'll tell her so she knows
That I'm broke, but I'm real rich in my head
That I broke a bone that never healed in my hand
So, when I hold her close
I might loosen my grip, but I won't ever let her go
I won't ever let her go.”
They then joined back for the outro
“When forever was a sentence, sentence to death
Oh, when you were a running tear, I was a drop of sweat
And the edges of your soul, I haven't seen yet
Now I'm glad I get forever to see where you end
To see where you end.”
The crowd cheered as the song's last note faded, but Lux and Jinx barely noticed. Their eyes were locked, and the world around them faded into a blur. Without hesitation, Lux leaned in, and Jinx met her halfway. Their lips crashed together in a kiss that carried years of love, loss, and longing.
It was electric, like the very air between them crackled with energy. The kiss was soft at first, then deepened, filled with everything they’d been too scared to say. When they finally pulled back, breathless and flushed, they both froze.
For a split second, they saw it—something impossible yet undeniable. Lux’s blonde hair shimmered into a vibrant purple, and her blue eyes glowed with a soft violet hue. Jinx’s trademark blue locks flared fiery red, and her mischievous eyes became a molten, glowing scarlet. It was fleeting, like a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but it left them staring at each other in awe.
No one else seemed to notice; the crowd and the band continued as if nothing had happened. But Lux and Jinx saw it, and they both burst into laughter—genuine, unrestrained, and filled with a joy they hadn’t felt in years.
“I found you again,” Lux whispered, her voice trembling with emotion.
“I found you too,” Jinx replied, her grin wide and genuine.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, they both knew they were exactly where they were meant to be.