Infinite

Ghosted

• ♫ •
Your presence lingers
Even though you're not around
My skin starts to shiver
There's creeks in the house
The lights start to flicker, the candles blow out
Baby, I'm losing it now
• ♫ •

The one thing that Reggie noticed was different from all that was, was his picture, framed in a small, five by eight inch frame, hanging next to a regal, painted portrait of his grandfather. It must've been put up by his parents after he passed because it wasn't there while he was alive. In fact, they hadn't visited since the funeral of his grandparents, who both died in a car crash.

"Cathy, can I get some help?" Reggie heard his dad calling his mother from the direction of the drawing room. He ran to the next room to see his father in a wheelchair next to an empty chair that still had the original fabric. The lines showed on his face, etched in from years and years of smiles.

"I'm coming, Dean." His mother looked tired, but her eyes lit up at the sight of her husband. He hadn't seen her get that way in years. Reggie almost didn't recognize the emotion on her face. It was nice to see her happy for once. "What do you need, hon?"

"I just wanted to get some help finding the remote." Reggie could see how happy his father had gotten as well, even becoming a little shy at his mother's presence. His father's cheeks went rosy as he told her where he'd last seen it.

"I know where it is." She pulled out the remote from a cushion in the couch, handing it to him. "Now, if you don't want me to finish these cookies, don't distract me."

Reggie stood there, mouth agape at the scene in front of him. His parents were getting along. They were in love. He didn't even know that was possible anymore. There must have been years of marriage counselling just to get even halfway to what it seemed to be. It made him proud, because all he'd seen before then. They'd actually managed to work through everything that they had problems with.

"They look happy." Reggie nodded. That was all he needed. Nothing more.

"Yeah, they do." And he was okay with them being happy even if he wasn't a part of their lives anymore. "I'm just happy they didn't kill each other. It was definitely a possibility."

The two of them watched his father and mother for a few more minutes before Reggie decided to leave. He didn't need any kind of apology from them for what they did. They were happy. They were actually happy. "I'm ready to go, now."

"Okay." Lynn didn't question it. He clearly got the closure he needed to move on with his afterlife. They both went back to Lynn's place, where Reggie wondered whether his parents forgot about him altogether. They couldn't have—his picture had been hung in the foyer next to his grandfather—but did they forget about him in all the other ways? All the ways that truly mattered?

"You know, you don't need them. They're happy. But they're not the people who should destroy the beautiful joy that lives in your spirit. You make everyone else happy just by being around." Lynn wanted to see his smile again, and it was clear the one present on his face wasn't a happy one. "You make me happy." She wrapped her arms around him and she felt a tear slip onto her t-shirt. If it weren't for the tears, Lynn wouldn't know he was crying at all.

He had to be too strong for too long. Reggie was a light in everyone's life, and he didn't deserve his own parents leaving him in the dust. She'd give them a piece of her mind if she could. Heaven knew they deserved that much.

"I forgot to mention that we're doing an audition gig to try to get into Coachella." Reggie took a breath before pulling himself out of the hug. He needed it more than he knew.

"Wait, really? That's fantastic." Lynn couldn't be happier for him than she was. But she couldn't figure out why he put himself through seeing his parents all over again. And what they saw was, probably, the best case scenario. Every other option she'd thought of was more likely and far more depressing. "So, why did you—"

"I needed to see for myself. Whether it was the two of them buried six feet under or one of them in jail for killing the other or the two of them far, far away from each other, I just needed to know." Reggie squeezed Lynn's hand and knew that everything would be okay.

"How about we spend tonight at a club having the time of our lives before you're whisked away to practice for days and days?" Lynn asked. She didn't know that Reggie was more interested in writing his own song to work through what he secretly felt towards his parents. They'd forgotten him after all these years.

"Maybe another time." Reggie left her to her own devices, and Kendall, to have fun for the night and until they were done with their audition for Coachella.

"Okay." She didn't question it. After everything that had happened that day, she had no room to judge what he did and didn't want to do with his limited free time. "You know where to find me."

Reggie left her to head to an abandoned theatre on the edge of Los Angeles and Pasadena. It felt like forever ago he watched Lynn dance her heart away on that very stage. Forever since they went to France and he told her about his childhood. Forever since he wanted to be hers. Yet, all that his mind could think of was how little his parents cared whether he lived or died that fateful night.

"Why don't you care about me?" His voice echoed through the huge room, quieter with each instance. "Did you never care for the one thing you made together?" He summoned his bass guitar, the only safe thing in his hands now.

Reggie strummed chords as loud as he possibly could. The only thing that would've made it better was if everyone could hear them, around the world. Every time his fingers plucked the strings, the echoes built up a little louder. He wanted them to swallow him whole if they could. And the words he sang only added to the noise in his head and in the theatre. His parents ghosted his very existence.

If he never existed, would they have been happy?

The music took him through every emotion, from joy to wonder to anger to hope to crushing sadness. By the last word, the only one left was disappointment. He stared at the guitar in his hands, almost wishing he could break it apart. It would be the only way to physically manifest his pain. But, the ruby red details caught his eyes.

Not the glitter. Not the pure contrast between the red and black. Not even the white details that swirled up the neck. He'd never noticed this detail in the years he'd had the guitar.

To the best thing in my life,

Somehow, he knew that couldn't be the only thing etched into the details. Yet an hour of searching revealed absolutely nothing in regards to what could be hidden. Then. he noticed the continuation on the thin side of the guitar, etched in a dark grey. That must've been why he never noticed it before—you'd have to look extremely hard to see it at all.

I'm sure you're wondering why there's always a fight. And I don't know that I could be completely honest. Sometimes, it was things we didn't know about each other. Some random quirk or habit that we thought would disappear with time. Others, it was about something we couldn't begin to change. Like how much money we had or where we lived. But, I promise you, you were never the real reason for the fights. No matter how many of them seemed to be about you, they weren't. We both love you too much. And we argued with each other because we wanted what was best for you. Although your father isn't here writing this with me, we're both so proud of the man you've become. I promise, we'll always be proud. How could we not? You were the blessing we needed. The blessing we always hoped for but never thought we'd get. No matter what, we will ALWAYS love you. Always. Until the edge of infinity. Love, Mom

Until the edge of infinity. He'd completely forgotten about that. His mother always told him to reach to "the edge of infinity" and to never stop. Because the edge of infinity was where dreams lived.

The Edge of Infinity. It had a nice ring to it.

Author's Note: In this series, I wanted to add in a part where they all get closure from seeing their parents. This one is not my favorite (that would go to another one), but I'm happy that Reggie's happy. Vote and let me know what you think in the comments. All the best, MistyRider921.