Infinite

Emotionless

𝄃 𝄞♬♪ 𝄂
But then, those days end
And the dreadful days come
When you fight until it's done
And you fall apart
Because you swore it should've lasted
But it didn't
And you can't
And now you're emotionless
𝄃 𝄞♬♪ 𝄂

Alex had learned guitar a long, long time ago, but this was the first time in the last three decades that he'd touched one for a purpose other than to put it away. He wasn't even sure, after all this time, that his friends knew he knew how to play the instrument they both knew like the back of their hand. Before the drums, he'd learned a fair few chords, then dumped it once he discovered the percussion instrument that managed to relieve him of the majority of his anxiety.

He plucked out a few notes on the acoustic guitar—the one Luke didn't cherish more than his life—tuning it to the right notes. After all this time, something within Alex felt right. As his fingers settled on the strings, he started to pluck out a melody, one that felt far more cheerful than he was presently feeling.

However, it quickly turned somber as thoughts of Willie started to plague his mind. It was the first time in a long time that Alex had truly wanted and wished for something on his birthday, but it was a one-day-only deal and it killed him when Willie had to leave.

"Can you hear the beauty? And can you hear the pain?" Alex's voice started to shake as he sang, but it didn't stop him. The song that he'd crafted over the last several weeks of heartbreak before his birthday, and for a week after, didn't have a melody yet, but it didn't seem to stop him from singing it. "Do you understand how hearts break? And why the tears run down their face?"

He didn't know Reggie and Luke were listening, but once they realized who was in there, they couldn't help it. The words and emotions were raw and they could both tell this song was for the special ghost in his life.

"We should get Willie," Luke proposed, and Reggie immediately jumped on the bandwagon. They managed to find Willie in record time (they only had to look at the Hollywood Ghost Club) and pull him back to Julie's (without telling him why).

"And you fall apart, because you swore it should've lasted," Alex sang, before Luke and Reggie had the chance to explain the situation. There wasn't any time to do so—not that Willie actually needed it. He figured out what was going on pretty quickly. They were trying to get him to reconsider cutting Alex out of his afterlife. It wasn't going to work, though. Willie had made up his mind.

And if he'd learned nothing else from his scoldings from his mother, he was very, very stubborn.

The song quickly ended, and it didn't take Luke long to start begging Willie. "Please, Willie. He's hurting because he doesn't have you in his afterlife. You are the best thing to ever have happened to him, don't you see that?"

Willie faltered for a moment. He couldn't be the best thing in Alex's afterlife. The thing that held that position was the band. He was not even a close second if he was second. Though, it didn't take much for Willie to come up with a sizeable list of things that ranked above him.

"I'm not the best thing for him," Willie sighed, "And, until Caleb's out of the picture, I can't risk his afterlife."

"Fine. But can you at least say hello to Alex?" Luke grabbed Willie's arm, which was covered with yet another hoodie. This one had a simple saying in white on the front, "These battle scars aren't fading," complementing the light blue of the fabric.

"Sure. I can't be away for long, though." Willie agreed with a huff, walking into the music studio as Alex put away the guitar. He had on his ripped jean jacket, which only highlighted the light pink of his shirt. Although Willie hadn't made any noise, Alex's head snapped in the direction of the doors. "Hey, Alex."