Left Behind

0.9 Slow Dancing in the Dark, Joji

(What River is wearing ^^)

After I had finished getting ready for the day it was around 10am, and when I walked out of the bathroom, all three of the boys were awake, Alex and Luke in the loft and Reggie on the couch. I smiled at them as I flopped next to him.

"Good morning River" Reggie said happily to me. He never failed to brighten my day which was one of the main things I loved about him. He did actually seem much more excited than usual so I decided to question him about it.

"What's gotten you so chipper?" I giggled, nudging my shoulder against his.

"You're back home! Why wouldn't I be happy?" He grinned. It made me extremely happy to hear but something was off. That wasn't the reason.

"Hmm. I'm not sure if I believe you but okay." I said suspiciously, causing Reggie to break out into laughter. I shook my head and laughed with him. My attention was brought to Luke climbing down the ladder and into the room.

"Are you not coming down too Alex?" I called up to the boy who was sat just out of my sight.

"He'll be down in a moment." Luke responded for him. I looked up at Luke with a questioning look on my face, to which he replied with a sly wink. I felt my face flush and I looked down at my lap.

"Behold!" Alex exclaimed whilst clambering down the ladders, something in his hands restricting his movement. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"No way." I said quietly jumping up off the couch. I walked towards Alex, grinning widely. "No freaking way man!" I yelled. In his hands was my old guitar, which I had just assumed was gone.

"We figured now that your back home you're gonna want to keep playing." Luke explained while Alex gave put it in my hands. I felt the familiar wood and the worn strap around my neck. I closed my eyes and strummed the first few chords of Bright and sighed in content.

"You don't know how good this feels." I whispered. When I opened my eyes, the boys were looking at me, quite intensely. Luke cleared his throat and smiled at me again.

"Are you ready for our walk?"

--

Walking down the street in front of the beach, it felt like no time had passed at all. The smell of the different food shops floated around us before being completely masked by the overwhelming scent of sea salt. The strong wind tousled my hair and I shivered from excitement.

"Are you cold?" Luke asked, starting to take off his jacket.

"No, no I'm fine." I replied. I was about to walk onto the sand, when he took my hand and pulled me towards a small cafe.

"I'm hungry, I didn't eat breakfast. I was nervous " He admitted.

"Hmmm. Since when does Luke Patterson get nervous around me." I teased as he led me to a table in the corner of the room. I sat down and he placed a menu in front of me.

"Shut up." He went red and shook his head. I scanned the list of food but realised I didn't have any money. I frowned as I didn't know what to do and Luke looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I don't have any money Luke." I admitted quietly feeling extremely embarrassed. He reached across the table, took my hand and squeezed it causing me too look up from the table.

"We performed at the Orpheum, Junie." My mouth fell open and I took a deep breath, feeling very conflicted. I was so happy for them, that they finally got to fulfil their dream, but it was a bittersweet happiness as they did it without me. "We got a huge check from the person that hired us. We're okay."

"I'm so happy for you but I can't let you pay for me. I don't have anything, I have no idea when I'll be able to pay you back. " I gently pulled my hand from his grasp and smiled softly at him.

"I don't want you to pay me back, it's on me. And anyway, you'll probably get money at our next gig, because of how much we blew up from our last one, Julie is convinced we will start making proper money from performing."

"That's great for you guys. But I'll need to get a job and find somewhere to stay if I want to keep up with you all." I said, not quite understanding what he was saying and why he started laughing.

"River, you already have a job. You were a part of Sunset Curve and you are a part of our family. You are going to join Julie and the Phantoms."

--

After he dropped the bombshell of him wanting me to join the band, a waiter had come to take our order. For the next couple of hours, Luke was explaining to me all of the things that I needed to know to keep up with the story of them being from Sweden and other things from the 21st century that I needed to know, such as mobile phones and social media. Apparently Julie had set up different accounts for us and it was up too Luke to explain everything. He also told me about Julies high school that we would apparently start attending tomorrow.

"And that is how you post an Instagram!" Luke exclaimed, sounding proud of himself. I didn't really understand how it worked but I was finding him too cute to burst his bubble. "We could go take pictures on the beach before we head back if you want?" He said sounding unsure of himself. I pushed myself up from the table and held my hand out to him.

"Lets go." He grinned and took it, and led me out of the cafe. We walked hand in hand onto the sandy shores, taking in the empty beach.

"I've never seen this place so quiet before. Its nice." I said looking at the horizon.

"Its because its a Sunday afternoon. Most people are at home preparing for the start of the week." Luke replied to me. Once again, I found myself shivering in the breeze and Luke slipped off his flannel jacket and placed it around my shoulders before I could stop him.

"Thank you," I said gratefully. He smiled and rubbed his hands together.

"Right. Lets get down to business."

--

@ RiverBeckett

Liked by AlexMercer, Reggie Peters & 4 More

Day at the beach with @ LukePatterson. Don't know how this works :)

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LukePatterson: I had fun with you Junie :)

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Omg I'm sorry this took me so long to write. I just had no idea what to write and I wanted to add a bit of social media to it so it took me a bit longer to write.

I'll try and update again soon guys :)))

icantenglish xxx