Two Broken Wings

Chapter 27

Luke's POV

I woke up on the couch with Reggie lying on top of me and Alex was asleep in the chair next to the couch. Last night is mostly a blur. We played a gig, i went home with my mom and we got in a fight and I ran away.

She said I had an older brother. Why would she keep him a secret all this time? And where is he now?

Reggie's eyes flutter open and he smiles at me. "Hey." He says.

"Hey." I say.

"You okay?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say, although the truth is I'm not sure. My mom said that if I left to never come back, did she really mean it?

Reggie get up off the couch and I stand up. I pull him  into a hug and he kisses my cheek. "Are you sure." He whispers in my ear.

"Hm Hm." I say. "Promise." I kiss him but he still gives me a worried look. "I'm fine Reggie. Don't worry about me."

"Alright, so are you going home then?" Reggie asks.

"I..." I can't tell him no...he'll just get worried about me, but I can't lie to him either. "I can't." I say. "Not until I can prove to her this dream is worth chasing."

"Well, I guess we better hurry up and play the Orpheum so we can get you home." He says.

"Thanks for understanding." I say taking his hands in mine.

Just then Alex woke up and me and Reggie immediately step away from each other.

"Hey." Alex says.

"Hey." I say.

"How long have you two been awake?" He asks.

"We just woke up." Reggie says. "Actually...I should probably get home. I'll see you guys Monday."

"Bye." I say as he gets his stuff and walks out the door. Once he's gone Alex looks up at me.

"So." He says. "You and Reggie."

"What about us?" I ask.

"What's going on between you two?"

"There's nothing going on between us." I say. There's no way he could know we are dating is there? Is he mad? Is he hurt? I can't tell.

"Okay then." Alex says. "Well, moving on. About last night..."

"Look, I'm fine if that's what you're asking." I say. "And no I'm not going back because I have to prove to my mom that this band can make it far."

"Alright. Well you're gonna need a place to stay you know." Alex says.

"I was just gonna stay here." I say.

"Here?" Alex says eyes going wide.

"Yeah." I say. "Is that a problem?"

"No. No, not at all." Alex says his voice raising three octaves higher.

"Alex...?" I say raising my eyebrow in question.

"Okay, fine. It's just...I didn't want you or Reggie to find out, but I'm living here now."

"What, they kicked you out?" I say. "Alex, I'm so sorry."

"Ah, don't be. It's fine." Alex says. "It's not that bad here. Besides they ignored my existence before kicking me out so this is better believe it or not."

"Alex, why didn't you say anything?" I say.

"Well, it was right when Reggie found out about his mom, he was living with you, and you were fighting with your mom so I figured you both hand enough to worry about, you didn't need me to add to your problems."

"Alex, we would have been happy to help you." I say. "You could never be a problem."

"I just thought- I don't know but it's really not that bad here. And now that I've got a roommate to keep me company it'll be even better." Alex smiles.

Reggie's POV

I walk back into my house and they are fighting again. I can't even tell what this fight is about but I don't really care. I head to Steve's room and knock on the door.

"Steve? You in there?" I say.

"Come in." He says. I open the door and step into his room closing the door behind me to muffle the shouting. Steve was sitting on his bed, his hands covering his ears.

"They're fighting again." He says.

About a month or so after I started living with the Johnsons they have been fighting. About a lot of things, mostly about money, but sometimes I hear them arguing about Steve and his schooling. His mom wants him to be moved to a better elementary school but his dad says they don't have the money for it.

I try to help the best I can by distracting Steve when they argue. I tell him stories, play games with him, and play songs for him on my bass. I didn't have my bass this time but I do have an idea.

"Do you wanna build a fort?" I ask. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Duh!" He says.

"Alright I'll be right back I'm gonna go get some more pillows and blankets from my room." I say. When I come back we begin building the fort in his room. He is laughing and having a good time, the arguing in the other room going forgotten.

Once the fort is all done, we logically go inside. Why else would you build a fort?

"Tell me about your gig last night." He says. "See any cute girls." He teases,not knowing I'm dating someone.

"Nah, they were all outta my league." I say.

"Are you sure you weren't outta their's?" Steve laughs. "You know, you're the coolest big brother ever."

Not gonna lie, my heart melted a little at that. I never knew he even looked to me as an older brother, let alone a good one.

"So tell me everything about last night. Was it fun? What songs did you play?"

I tell him all about the gig, except for the bad parts like Bobby being rude.

"One day I'm gonna be a musician just like you." He says.

"You can do anything you want to do little man." I say ruffling his hair and he grins.

Just then there was a knock on the door and we hear it open up. "Hey boys, nice fort." Sheryl says. We peek our heads out through the opening. "Sorry about the shouting."

"Are you and Dad still mad at each other?" Steve asks.

"It's complicated sweetie." She says. "But me and your Dad love you very much. Both of you." She says looking over at me. "How was your gig?"

"It was good." I say.

"Can we all do something today? All four of us?" Steve asks.

"I'm sorry Stevie, your dads busy." Sheryl says. "And I gotta go in for work, it's an emergency. You boys have fun though and don't go anywhere."

"Alright." Steve sighs. His mom came over and kissed him on the head.

"I love you." She says.

"I love you too." Steve says.

"You boys have fun, I'll be back in a couple hours." She says before leaving.

"I just wish we could all be a family again." Steve sighs laying down in the fort."

"You will. Your parents love you a lot, and they may fight sometimes but I'm sure they love each other. You three will always be a family."

"Four." He says. "Us four. You're part of the family too." He says. He sits up and wraps his arms around me. "I love you." He says. It caught me off guard, Bobby's words have really been getting to me and I thought that I wasn't really a part of the family, but Steve is the best little brother I could ask for, even if we aren't related. I hug him back, a warm feeling circulating through my body.

"I love you too." I say.