Finally Free -- JATP Luke x MaleOC

Chapter 64

After the boys had disappeared, the audience all gasped. Julie and Jay both looked around them as if searching for the three of them, but they knew they were gone.

They had crossed over.

But despite their hearts breaking at the thought, the two of them looked around the crowded audience and waved to as many of their fans as possible. While Julie had turned to her family, Jay's eyes ended up landing on Bobby and Carrie. Bobby's frozen look of astonishment and shock brought a proud smile to Jay's face, the thought that Luke would be happy to see that face crossing his mind.

After a few more minutes of bowing and waving, Julie and Jay finally left the stage and went back into their dressing room, with Jay handing off his guitar to the crew member waiting by the staircase as they did.

When the two of them entered the dressing room and Jay had closed the door behind him, Julie had essentially thrown herself into his embrace. Jay eagerly and immediately returned the hug, holding Julie tightly as if she were also about to disappear and pass on to some other world. He could feel some of her tears getting absorbed into the thin fabric of his shirt, even more so when he put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her close.

"We need to go," Jay said eventually, his voice hard from emotion.

Julie nodded as she pulled away from Jay, using the back of her hand to wipe away any left over tears or remaining wetness around her eyes. As Julie went to gather her close and change, Jay gathered his own and moved to a corner where he couldn't see any mirrors. Just to make sure, he kept his head down as he changed so that all he could see was the dull yellow-brown wall and the floor.

"You decent Jules?" Jay asked as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Not yet."

Jay hummed in response and gathered the clothes he wore during the show, hanging them on the hangers that they came with. He made sure to keep his head down and his eyes to the floor as he walked out of the dressing room, not raising his head until he heard the click of the door closing behind.

"You need a ride home?" CJ asked him, standing nearby with Flynn.

"No, I'm spending the night at Julie's place," Jay answered quickly, letting out a light breath.

"Are you okay?" Flynn asked, her voice gentle.

Jay's intial response was going to be 'yeah, I'm fine.' But as he opened his mouth to respond, he found that he was unable to speak. The fact that the boys were all gone had barely processed in his head, he couldn't even pretend that he was okay anymore. There was too much that had disappeared with the boys tonight, too much that he held close that was torn away from him again.

"No," Jay admitted, his voice breaking as he shook his head. "No."

Without saying a single word, Flynn and CJ both came over to Jay. The younger girl wrapped her arms around Jay and held him tight and his hands, as if it were a reflex, immediately returned the hug. CJ, a person who was not as physically intimate with others for her own reasons, simply placed a comforting hand on Jay's shoulder. It was a small but warm gesture.

"They're gone," Jay mumbled into Flynn's hair, letting a few of his tears fall. "They're gone."

He wished he could say more than a few words but he couldn't. Those were the only few words that left his mouth for a while, the words that played in his mind on repeat.

The boys were gone.

Alex was gone.

Reggie was gone.