EVERYWHERE || REGGIE PETERS [JATP]

THREE

Two Days Later

With Julie and Carlos at school, and Ray Molina off at work, the guys decided to take advantage of the empty home and work on new music.

They'd been warming up for about a half hour, trying to get themselves into the zone, when Alex went from smashing hard on his drums to sounding like a drummer of a speakeasy. Reggie and Luke exchanged a silent look for as long as possible until the curiosity got the better of Luke. The last time Alex had been out of it during a jam session, they'd found out Caleb had them under a soul-destroying curse. Aside from being there for his friend, Luke needed to know there was nothing else he should be concerned about taking them from Julie.

"Alex, what's going on?" Luke blurted, stopping his strumming to meet Alex's eyes. The blond ignored him; still tapping out a rhythm absentmindedly. Luke looked at Reggie again.

"Is it something to do with Willie again? You know we're here for you," Reggie added. Still, no response.

Sharing one final, slightly annoyed look, Reggie stopped the cymbal Alex had just hit while Luke snatched the sticks out of his hands.

That got his attention. "Hey!"

"Hey right back," Luke said sarcastically. "Dude, what's going on with you? You've been out of it for a couple of days now."

"Yeah, we figured you would tell us eventually, but—"

"We're impatient," Luke interrupted, meeting his friend's green eyes. "Now spill. What's up? Did something happen between you and Willie?"

"What, no," Alex finally answered, still seeming a little distracted as he backtracked slightly. "I mean, now that you mention it, I haven't actually seen him since the night of the Orpheum but I guess I'm just hoping he's hiding out from Caleb somewhere..." His brows drew down in concern, a new worry for him to dwell on in his mind.

"So, what's bothering you?" Luke prodded gently.

"Does it have anything to do with what Julie pulled you away to talk about the other day?" Reggie added.

Alex's face twitched as he tried to hide the emotion there, but it only served to confirm Reggie's question. Alex balled his hands into fists, pressing them into the tops of his legs, his shoulders stiff by his ears. "Yeah, actually," he sighed quietly. "Carlos wanted to help and... he found my sister. Julie gave me the address."

"Oh," Reggie said softly, somewhere between happy and nervous for his friend.

When they were alive, Alex's sister Johanna was one of their first fans and supported Alex through everything, including his coming out. But in the weeks before their deaths, something had shifted between them at home and their relationship had grown tense. Where he once had someone at home he could confide in, he'd ended up with someone who barely looked his way outside of direct contact. None of the band knew what had happened and none of them asked.

Reggie looked at Luke again, this time a nervous glance, before focusing once more on Alex. He said his words carefully, not entirely sure where Alex's head was on the topic. "Well, I mean, that's good, right? We wanted to at least know how are families were and now you can check in on her."

"I know, it's just..." Alex trailed off, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. "It's not just Jo, it's...her daughter. I have a niece. I mean, I probably should've expected something like this, right? We've been dead for 25 years but life went on for everyone else. I guess, in my head, I never really saw Jo growing up and having her own family, you know? I just saw her as the same nineteen-year-old we left behind. And now..."