This Feels Right

Ten

⚠mentions of self harm⚠

POV-No one

It’s been almost a year since the boys left the Mercer’s house. Luke, Alex, and Reggie are all 18 now. Luke and Reggie rented a two-bedroom apartment and the three of them share the bills that must be paid. Reggie is a host at a high-ish class restaurant, Alex works in retail at a local clothing store, and Luke is a server at the restaurant Reggie works at. They all joined a new band with a girl they met, Julie. However, they kept the name Sunset Curve because the name Julie liked didn’t make sense to them. Not to mention Luke is the lead singer, not her, and the name she came up with was Julie and the Phantoms.

Reggie wasn’t a huge fan of Julie. She was nice, mostly. But kept getting way too close to Luke and it made Reggie uncomfortable, even though Luke was constantly reassuring Reggie that it was the two of them for life and that Julie couldn’t ruin that. Something still didn’t sit right with Reggie. Luke made many attempts to calm Reggie. Constant (secret) date nights, fun in bed weekly, movie nights, cuddling for hours on end, dancing in the living room, even just being bored together. But everytime Julie was anywhere near Luke, Reggie was a completely different person.

                                   ~~~

Reggie was tuning his bass waiting for practice to start. They were all in the living room waiting for Julie to get there. Luke was on the couch beside Reggie, Alex was at his drum set off to the side next to the empty piano. Julie was now five minutes late and Reggie was getting restless.

“Can’t we just start without her?” He asked, sounding a little too desperate. “It’s not like we haven’t done it before.”

“We did that to Bobby and where is he now?” Luke asked.

“Bobby was a dick,” Reggie argued.

“Reggie,” Alex spoke sympathetically, “just drop it. Luke won’t start without Julie and you know it.”

“I’ll be right back,” Reggie huffed as he threw his bass on the couch and walked into the bathroom.

Alex knew Luke and Reggie were dating, but he hasn’t told them he knows yet. He found out when they were living in his house. Two best friends don’t sleep with each other multiple times within a few months. And they definitely don’t make out every time they think they’re alone. And as much as Alex loved them, it was getting a little annoying that they wouldn’t just tell him.

A loud knock rang through the apartment. Luke got up to answer the door, Reggie was still nowhere to be seen, and Alex was just neutral. Julie came in and sat down at the piano ignoring the hello she got from Alex, playing a few notes to warm up, then turning to the only two boys in the room.

“Where’s Reggie?” she asked.

“Bathroom,” Alex replied honestly.

“Well, if he doesn’t get here soon we’re starting without him,” Julie demanded. “He’s late.”

“So were you,” Alex pointed out.

“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “And you’re not in charge anyway. I decide when we start.”

Reggie came walking out of the bathroom just then, not making eye contact with anyone or greeting Julie. He, yet again, seemed off in her presence. The band practiced a few songs. Luke and Julie often sharing a mic. Reggie made a sarcastic comment, but everyone took it seriously.

“You two ooze chemistry,” Reggie rolled his eyes as he spoke, but no one noticed.

“I know we do,” Julie proudly said as she looked at Luke in a flirty way.