Long Way Home ~ Reggie Peters

Chapter 12: Edge Of Great (Edited)

(Zach's POV)

Later that day, the guys and I are working on the song 'Edge of Great' for the party while Julie was in school. Luke convinced her to ditch and go rehearse, but she refused the offer.

"Look, we add echoes during the chorus, then Julie comes in with the melody," Luke explains. "It's gonna be perfect." We glance at each other with a smile before we hear a thud outside. We turn to the door to see Willie's head for a second before he ducked down, we looked in his direction with confusion.

"Again? What was that all about?" Reggie asks.

"I don't know," Alex responds before poofing outside, we glanced at each other with confusion. We waited for a while before I decided to stand up and talk to Alex outside.

"Alex?" I called him as I was walking through the door, Luke and Reggie followed behind me. Alex perked up at my voice.

"Is everything okay?" Reggie asks.

He looks down with a defeated look. "Willie said that he and I never should've met, and he just left," he murmurs.

"What? He really said that to you?" Luke asks him, Alex weakly nodded. Me, Luke, and Reggie glance at each other, before I sighed and pulled Alex into a hug, which he returned it.

"I'm really sorry, Lex," I say to him before he pulls away.

"I just... I don't get it, is there... something wrong? With me?" Alex asks.

"No, Alex, there's literally nothing wrong with you," Luke responded, stepping forward beside me. "It's something wrong with him, that's for sure."

"Yeah, you're an amazing guy. I legit can't imagine anyone rejecting you," Reggie chimes in, crossing his arms.

"It's his loss anyway," I added.

"Come on, why don't we get rehearsing to get your mind off of him?" Luke suggests.

"Yeah," Alex responded weakly. The four of us get back inside the studio and picked up our instruments to run the song together. As we played, Alex progressively starts drumming aggressively. We tried to keep up to his pace, but he was too fast.

"Woah! Woah, Woah, Woah! Alex! Buddy! Slow down!" I went to stop him from drumming, careful not to get myself hit with one of his drumsticks. I grabbed his arm and he stopped drumming.

"Calm down, okay? You were getting a bit too aggressive," I calmed him down and he looked at the ground, slightly embarrassed.

"Alex, are you alright?" Luke asks cautiously.

"Yeah," Alex responds quickly. "Yeah, why?"

"I know it's tough, man," Reggie starts. "People say you never forget your first ghost, maybe that's true. But I'm sure they'll be others."

"And whatever happens, we'll always be here to support you," I added.

"Yeah. Thanks, guys."

"Alex, you're a great drummer and a great guy, okay?" Luke tells him, leaning against Alex's cymbals. "I wouldn't let that stuff get in between you and what you love."

"I don't know man, sometimes a little fire can make things better on stage," Reggie smirks.

"Like you and Julie," I tease the brunette. Alex smirked as Luke starts stammering.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke asks.

"Oh, come on. Everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing," Reggie states as if it's the most obvious thing ever. "You guys ooze chemistry."