The River Styx - jatp/reggie

1.12

when styx finally got back to her house, it was after midnight. she quietly opened the door and tip-toed in, thinking that her dads would be asleep. to her surprise, both of them were sitting on the couch in the den, arms crossed and glaring at her.

"uh, hey." she chuckled awkwardly, dropping her bag at her feet and smiling at them.

"how was studying?" her dad asked and she sighed, knowing that ray probably called them and told them she helped julie sneak out.

"i'm so sorry." she says quickly, sitting in the chair across from them.

"yeah, you've been saying that a lot lately." her pops reminds her and she nods.

"not only did you lie to us about where you were going," her dad starts. "but you also helped julie break her dads rules."

styx look down at her feet, avoiding their eyes.

"you said you would tell us when your band started playing shows?" her pops questions, sounding much less angry than her dad. he almost sounded hurt.

"i know, but i didn't think you'd let me go." she explains quickly. "because i missed school this morning."

"well you thought right." her dad nodded.

"it's just, this was our first real gig." styx sighs. "i didn't want to let the band down. julie needs this! it's helped her feel so much closer to her mom."

her dads glanced at each other for a moment, both of their faces softening slightly. they didn't say anything for a moment, and styx looked back and forth between them.

"i guess, that's understandable." her pops sighs, and she smiles ever so slightly.

"but you're still in trouble!" her dad adds quickly, looking to her pops for confirmation, who nods in agreement.

"understood." she nods quickly.

"so, how was the show?" her pops asks, making her dad smack him lightly on the arm. "what? it's not like we can change that she did it!" he explains and her dad sighs.

"fine, how was it?" he asks plainly.

styx smiles and sits up slightly.

"it was amazing! we rocked it." she gushes, and smiles grow on both her dads faces. "and after we played a manager came to talk to us!"

"that's amazing!" her dad says excitedly, suddenly much more interested in the conversation than before. "what did they say?"

"well, she introduced herself, and then julie's dad showed up." she says, frowning slightly. "but hopefully we'll get another gig like that and eventually someone will sign us." she perks up slightly.

"absolutely, i'm sure you guys are amazing." her pops tells her. her dad quickly checked his watched and sighed slightly.

"it's late," he starts. "you need to get to bed so you don't miss school tomorrow too." he says, turning back to a somewhat serious tone.

"yes, chef." she says, grinning jokingly. her pops chuckles slightly while her dad rolls his eyes.

"bed, now!" he points towards her room, and she grabs her bag and heads down the hall, giggling slightly.

when she reached her room, she was surprised to see reggie sitting casually on her bed.

"uh, what are you doing here?" she asks quietly, shutting her door.

"i kind of haunted carlos and tía, so i'm hiding out from julie here." he shrugs, flipping through styx's song book, which they'd been using to write music together.