1995, Saturday, the night of the gig
After 9:00 p.m.
Despite the chaos the day presented them with, they played their hearts out to a packed house and their set was wildly successful. Every guitar riff was clean, not a single cue was missed, drumsticks remained intact and undropped, Luke nailed the guitar spin he had been practicing for days, and the audience's response to their newest song 'Now or Never' was incredible.
The guys are back in the small hallway behind the stage, drenched in sweat from giving it their all, and trying to cool down from the hype of performing. From their places sat on the cold floor and drinking water, they are interrupted by the venue owner.
"Alright, if I don't get you guys to play here more, I'm gonna have a few dozen girls coming after me with pitchforks and torches." he says with a laugh. The guys all stand up, engaging in the man's laughter. "Seriously though," he continues, "before you guys leave for the night, come find me. We've gotta talk about some kind of deal to make Sunset Curve a regular showing."
Not even trying to remain calm and professional, they all chime a loud chorus of "YES!" "YEAH!" "OF COURSE!" and "TOTALLY!" followed by hearing their over-eagerness and clearing their throats.
Luke takes a step forward from the group and towards the owner, "Of course. We'll be sure to come and talk to you about playing here again. This place is really nice and we'd love to be able to keep bringing in crowds like tonight for both our sakes." he says.
The owner nods at them and says, "I agree. We'll talk later. Right now, you guys gotta get back out there and talk to some of your fans before they start a riot." he says, then heads back out the doorway.
Unable to contain their joy, they all start to jump into a tight group hug with large smiles plastered on their faces. After taking their minute of celebration, they pull away to collect themselves and head out to go talk to the fans. Leaving the back hallway, the DJ enters with his equipment, getting ready to take over for the night. Out on stage, the guys grab their stuff and move it to back against the wall, then walk towards the edge of the stage to talk to fans.
The excitement of the night almost made him completely forget, but as Luke, Bobby, and Reggie, all jump down from the stage to talk to the fans, Alex's eyes fell on the hallway next to the bar where the bathrooms were and he immediately fell cold with the reminder of his and Luke's unfinished business.
"Hey, guys. I'm gonna hit the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute." Alex says. Bobby and Reggie toss back a nod and a thumbs up. Luke goes to do the same, but remembers what Alex is referring to. He looks at Alex and holds up his hand to wordlessly signal that he'll meet him there in 5 minutes. Alex nods, then walks over to jump off the side of the stage and head down the side hall to wait.
A few minutes pass before Luke sees his opportunity to go meet Alex. He was waiting for Bobby and Reggie to be engulfed with girls so they'd be too distracted to notice he had walked off. Luke looks to the girl that he had been talking to and excuses himself, then climbs back on the stage to quietly walk behind his friends, then jumps off the other side to get to the bathrooms. He can see Alex pacing back and forth as he walks down the hall and speaks up to get his attention.
"Alex." is all Luke says. The boy stops pacing and looks up. He takes a few steps forward to meet in the middle with Luke. "Hi." Alex says. A short pause, then Luke responds, "Hi."
The both of them stand in the short hall, Alex playing with the rings on his fingers and Luke looking down at his shoes and shuffling one on the ground. Finally, they both speak up and overlap each other.
"I think-" Alex says. "We should-" Luke starts. They look up at each other. "Sorry, I-" Luke spits out. "Sorry, that-" Alex begins. They both try again. "You first." Alex says at the same moment Luke offers, "Same time." Luke just stares at Alex, not wanting to be the first to say something. Alex can see the subtle sense of pleading in Luke's eyes, then says, "Alright. Same time. Rip the band-aid off."
YOU ARE READING
Alex and Luke; A 'Julie and the Phantoms' AU
FanfictionA while ago on an Instagram live with Madison and Charlie, it was brought up very briefly that Luke and Alex -- when the guys were still alive, that is -- were together. To this, Charlie responded by saying "yea, of course." Furthermore, in a Wikipe...
