One Of Us Running Out

Untitled Part 2

(A/N: So I wasn't really planning on adding a second chapter to this, but a few people had asked so I figured, why not? I'm still not sure why anyone would actually request my writing, but I hope you enjoy this second chapter! Happy Valentine's Day!)

As Julie shuts the door behind her, Luke and Alex make their way over to the edge of the bed. Luke stops, not sure if he's welcome, but Reggie pats the space next to him. Luke hesitantly sits down on one side of their friend as Alex sits on the other.

Reggie immediately leans his head on Luke's shoulder, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

"Reg," Alex starts, sounding choked up. "We are so sorry."

"Yeah, man." Luke adds, resting his head on top of Reggie's. "Alex and I just got caught up, we didn't mean to scare you."

He can feel Reggie shake his head. "Didn't scare me," the bassist mumbles.

Luke sincerely doubts that, and he can feel the confusion radiating off of Alex too, but they both wait quietly for Reggie to continue.

After a moment, Reggie speaks again. "I know you two would never hurt me," he says into Luke's shoulder. "I guess I was just worried that this was it."

Luke looks over to Alex, but the drummer seems just as confused as he is. "What do you mean, Reg?" The drummer asks.

"...That this was the end of the band." Reggie says it so quietly that Luke has to strain to hear it, but his stomach drops all the same.

"Reggie," Luke chokes out. "Why would you think that?"

Reggie sniffles and buries his head further into Luke's neck. "I just figured that things were pretty stressful right now, with everything that's going on, and that you guys would need a break from me." He says the last part so softly that Luke almost misses it.

"Reggie," Luke tries, but the bassist keeps going.

"I know I'm annoying and I never have any big contributions to your songs Luke, and I'm just so stupid and I figured you'd be sick of me by now so I-"

"Reggie," Alex cuts him off. "Look at me." When Reggie doesn't lift his head, the drummer squeezes his hand. "Please?" he asks.

The bassist slowly sits up to face Alex. "You are not stupid, and will never, ever be sick of you. I promise."

Reggie looks unconvinced, so Luke adds his support. "Yeah man," he says, grabbing Reggie's other hand. "We'd be lost without you. Who else would write terrible country songs to sneak into my notebook?"

Reggie laughs wetly, but Luke knows he can hear the hidden meaning behind his words. Just to make sure his point has gotten across, he leans into his friend's side. "We love you, man." Luke says softly.

"You mean the world to us, Reg." Alex adds.

Reggie sniffles again before saying, "I love you guys too." The bassist sinks into his friend's hold, and they sit basking in each other's presence.

They've been sitting for a while when Julie knocks on the door and poked her head in. "Everything okay in here?" she asks softly, looking mostly at Reggie.

"Yeah," Reggie reassures her. "We're all good now."

Julie smiles, stepping fully into the room, and opens her arms. "Group hug?" she asks.

Reggie scrambles off the bed immediately, and practically jumps into her arms. Julie laughs and hugs him in return. Luke climbs off the bed a slower pace, coming up behind Reggie to wrap his arms around the both of them. He feels Alex do the same on the other side of Julie, and he sinks into the hug.

They stand there for a while before Julie steps back. "Now that that's out of the way," she says, and Luke only has a moment to register her words before she's grabbing his ear and pinching gently.

"Ow, Julie!" Luke whines. He sees Alex in the same position on his other side, and Reggie is barely suppressing the grin on his face.

"So you two idiots have finally sorted your stuff out?" Julie says, almost shouting in their faces.

"Julie, we-" Alex tries, but Julie cuts him off.

"No," she says. "You two are going to shut up and listen for once in your lives. Okay?" They nod dejectedly, so she continues. "What were you two fighting about? Do you even remember?"

Luke opens his mouth to argue back, but he sees Alex shake his head. Luke snaps his mouth shut, realizing it's probably better to just let Julie yell at them for a little bit. They deserve it anyways.

"Was it really so important that you made your friend feel like that? Huh?"

Luke tunes out a little after that, mainly focusing on the way Reggie giggles every time Julie waves her hands for emphasis, dragging their heads along by accident.

Luke knows that he and Alex messed up, but he knows things are better now. He knows they still need to talk to Reggie about his self-worth issues, and he and Alex need to work out the issues in a better way, but those are problems for another day.

For now, he's happy to see his friend smiling again.

(A/N: I hope you enjoyed this!! Let me know what you think!)