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And they play the Orpheum, and it's beautiful. Luke can still feel the tug in his chest, from where Julie literally tugged him from Caleb’s claws. Alex is still riding on the few moments of relaxedness he gets from playing. Reggie is still breathing in the scent of the crowd.
But it's not their unfinished business. Because the universe is very cruel. They know, as they stand in front of the crowd for the very last time, that it's over. That they lost, to Caleb, to the world. And they don't have to look at each other to know that Julie cannot know. None of them want her to feel that loss again, all of them want her to have that victory. So they revel in the crowd one last time, lingering for just one moment more. Luke looks at Julie's face one last time, she's smiling, but he can see the tear threatening to fall. He understands, feels the same euphoria and dread swirling in his gut. He tries his best to look brave.
And they teleport away. They go to the courtyard first, landing heavily on the pavement. Alex sighs, and the weight of it lands on all three of them like cement. They don't have to talk about it to know, they've always been able to understand each other like that. Even as Alex thinks of Willie, all the trouble he must be in right now, he looks at the boys, his boys, and knows that whatever they do they're doing it together.
"I don't feel very tall right now" Reggie says, pushing himself off of the pavement.
"C'mon, lets go to the studio" Luke offers him a hand up
"Julie will check in there. When she comes back" Alex says, looking more serious than suits him.
Luke pauses, considering for a moment. "No she-"
A jolt racks through their bodies, sending them all back down to the ground. They breathe heavily as they recover.
"If we're.. going, I want to go at home" Reggie says, his voice small.
"He's right. It's always been the studio." Luke says, "I don't want to die somewhere cold"
Alex sighs again, conceding. "No, not again." He pushes up again, pulling up Reggie with him. "Get up, I need to lean on you"
Reggie drags himself off the ground. "I'm not the most stable person in the world"
"Fine, you can lean on Luke" Alex retorts, flashing him a smile. Reggie laughs, and Luke huffs indignantly.
He joins them anyway, he knows they need his support as much as he needs theirs, and together they make their way into the studio.
The light is off as they enter, and none of them bother to turn it on. Something in each of them thinks it will make the transition easier, going from darkness to nothingness. Alex thinks that maybe that's stupid, that there won't be a transition, that it will all just stop. He leaves the light off anyway.
Alex and Luke feel the tension shift in Reggie's body, and both silently weave their fingers through his. Another jolt sends them to the wooden floor of the studio, but their fingers remain intertwined.
A moment of breath.
Reggie speaks, his voice cracks, but nobody mentions it. "D'ya think Johnny Cash is still out there as a ghost?"
"Who knows. I didn't even know he died" Luke says, rolling over and squinting through the dark to look at Reggie. He watches as a tear rolls down Reggies face.
"2003. I looked it up on Julie's phone" Reggie replies, as light as he can manage. "I wish we could have met him. Maybe he could convince you guys to do a country album"
Alex cracks a grin "We're not doing a country album Reg", his grin falters. They aren't doing a country album, because they're never making another album. Alex's face scrunches, and for a moment he hopes his last act on this earth isnt another social fuck-up. Luke reaches over and places his hand on Reggie and Alex's where they are still clasped. He knows, because of course he does, exactly what is running through Alex's mind.
"Since when do you call the shots?" He says, easing the tension "I say we get to do a country album, so we get to."
Alex huffs out a laugh, silently thanking the world that he gets to spend the rest of his life with people who know he's autistic and love every part of him. He hopes they know he loves every part of them too, then realises he doesn't have to hope, because they do.
"Finally, you're seeing sense, and it's right before we die" Reggie says, earning a grim laugh.
They lay in silence for a while, listening intently to each other's breath and realising that the sound is more familiar than any song.
Then the door creaks open, and Julie's breath is added to their melody. She speaks, and they can hear the tears in her voice.
"I know I already said this, but thank you guys"
"You're welcome" Reggie says, and Alex and Luke sigh heavily.
The light is switched on suddenly, and they all squint in the light, detaching themselves from each other. Julie is rushing back and forth, panicking in a way that breaks all of their hearts.
Luke can barely focus on what she's saying, or what he's saying, or maybe what the boys are saying, but the world shifts as he walks towards her and snaps out of his dissociation.
"No music is worth making, Julie, if we're not making it with you" He says, and it's maybe the most honest thing he's ever said. Each word is laced with subtext, a beautiful woven tableaux of I love you I love you I love you.
And she's in his arms, it's the most natural thing in the world. She fits there, even as she shakes on her tiptoes and he has to adjust his chin to fit in the nook of her neck.
And it washes over him.. something. Strength, definitely. Maybe freedom. Something that can only be described as love.
Alex and Reggie are called over, and he knows they feel it too, not just because they're glowing, but because he's loving them.
They know, somehow, what's happened. Like it’s lyrics being whispered into their ears. This is their unfinished business. Finding each other, finding Julie, becoming her family. In this moment, they have learned love in its truest form, and they know this is exactly how everything was meant to happen.
And somehow, they know that, even though they have finished their unfinished business, they aren't going anywhere. There is no other side for them, no heaven or hell. Not yet anyway. Not without Julie.
Because, sometimes, the universe is very very kind.