the next monday morning, it was only sydney and reggie together in the studio. they weren't sure where the other two had gone but neither really cared. after all the information that had been dumped on them after the party, the only thing they wanted to think about was each other. sydney kept trying to push away the pit in her stomach that had been there since they spoke with willie.
the two were sitting on the piano bench, as per usual, trying to talk about anything but their worries. sydney was playing a tune on the piano, while reggie was watching her with a soft smile. she was wearing his flannel and the sleeves were slightly too long, so she had the rolled and pushed up to her elbows.
"i know, this whole thing sucks." reggie speaks after a few minutes of silence. "but i'm glad we're spending our last days together." his voice was low, almost a whisper.
sydney simply nodded, she was glad they were together but she couldn't stop thinking about their inevitable second death.
"me too." she says after a moment, turning her head to look up at him. "i just wish it could last longer." she sighs, and her hands slowly stopped pressing the keys on the piano.
sydney just kept thinking about how all of this wasn't fair. it shouldn't be happening to them. she wished she was able to go back and do it all over. she thought about all the things she would have done differently in her life, how she should have spent her time, how she should have treated her parents better. she felt her head begin to spin thinking about it all.
reggie was watching her, he could tell she was getting sucked into her own thoughts, losing her awareness of the real world as her brain spiralled. he gently placed his hands on the keys, and began playing the song they had written together.
a small smile slowly grew on sydney's face as the melody filled the studio. they had yet to finish the songs, neither of them had had much inspiration, with everything that had happened in the last week.
she looked at him, idea for lyrics suddenly filling her head as she met his blue eyes. when he glanced at her, he could tell from the look on her face that she had some new words to put to the melody. he nodded slightly, knowing from her eyes that she was unsure about what she wanted to sing. she nodded back and took a breath, looking away from his eyes.
I'll let you take the wheel
My heart is yours to steal
I know this is real
So baby, don't crush me
she was trying to come up with lyrics for the way she wished her life was turning out. she was thinking about spending years with reggie, pretending in her mind that they have all the time in the world. she knew it wasn't true, she just wished it was.
reggie smiled softly, neither one looking away from each other. sydney didn't want to look away. she didn't want to go anywhere without him, she wanted to stay here, in this moment, forever.
he began singing too, making sydney smile slightly at the words. butterflies erupted in her stomach from the way he was looking at her so intensely.
The pedal's to the floor
And now we're heading north
I've been down this road before
So baby, don't crush me
sydney was getting sucked into the music, it was all her brain was focusing on now. well, she was focusing on the music, and reggie. the thoughts of everything else going wrong around them slipped from both their minds as they sang the chorus together.
It's just the way you are
The way that you walk
The way that you talk
The way that you, you read me, baby
And honey, don't hide that look in your eyes
Darlin', it, it drives me crazy
Don't crush, don't crush me, no
Say you'll remain my love
reggie could see sydney becoming happier just from the music, and it made him happier. he grinned at her and moved his hands from the keys, and sydney placed hers on and continued to the bridge of the song. the two alternated lines of the songs, some how both knowing exactly how it should sound.
And now that I finally found you
(I just can't be without you)
You're making me so all about you
(I just can't be without you)
I don't know what I gotta do if I ain't got you
sydney continued playing the piano as she glanced up at reggie, and he continued singing softly by himself.
Because it's just the way you are
The way that you walk
The way that you talk
The way that you, you read me, baby
sydney rested her head on his shoulder as she continued softly singing the remainder of the song.
And honey, don't hide that look in your eyes
Darlin', it, it drives me crazy
Say you'll remain my love
Don't let my heart break and crush
Don't crush, don't crush me, no
Say you'll remain
sydney let out a small sigh as she stopped playing, knowing that all the bad thoughts would soon be returning to her mind once the music fades away. she lifted her head from reggie's shoulder to look at him, and he quickly glanced around the studio, seemingly searching from something.
"what are you looking for?" she questions and he turns back to her quickly.
"i was just making sure there were no eavesdropping drummers or annoying brothers to bother us." he says, making sydney crack a small grin and she looked around too.
"it would seem were alone." she says slowly and reggie nodded.
"good." he smiled.
"good?" sydney raises an eyebrow at him.
"it makes it a lot easier to do this." he says before gently kissing her again.
it was just a quick kiss, he pulled away after only a moment. sydney didn't say anything, she just shook her head slightly and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, pulling him closer again. reggie placed his hands on her hips and slid closer to her on the piano bench, holding her as close as possible. sparks were shooting through every part of sydney, her body just lit up from every where he was touching her.
their happiness and bliss was cut short when they were struck by another jolt to the chest, knocking them away from each other and almost causing sydney to fall off the bench.
they both let out groans of pain as their horrible reality set back in, holding their chest where the jolt had hit them.
"wow, that caleb really knows how to ruin the mood." he says with a small chuckle, making sydney shake her head at him, a small smile on her face.
"you're an idiot." she jokes, and reggie fiends hurt for a moment.
"come on," he nods his head towards the door. "let's get out of here for a bit." he suggests, and sydney nods slightly, following him out of the studio.
~*~
they didn't make it very far from the studio after they left. they had actually only gone as far as the molina's dining room, where reggie got distracted by his new best friend. he quickly sat beside ray at the table, his smile growing. sydney took a seat across from him, giggling quietly at how adorably excited he looked.
"ooh, i like this one." he compliments, looking at the computer screen. "it's got a good composition, buddy." he tells the man happily, making sydney's smile grow.
alex appeared in the chair next to reggie, glancing at the two.
"hey alex." sydney greets him.
"what are you doing?" he asks, looking at them curiously.
"we needed a pick-me-up." reggie states. "and hanging with ray always does the trick." he explains, still more focused on ray than their conversation.
"does it?" alex questions, glancing to sydney. "okay." he nods. sydney shrugged slightly, ray wasn't really the one making her feel better, reggie was.
"dad, i have a ghost update." carlos enters the room, carrying a small box.
"okay, this might be interesting." alex turns to him.
"really? come one, carlos. we've talked about this." ray looks up from his computer.
"i know you're not a believer, but i want you to listen to this." carlos stops him.
"do i have a choice?" ray asks.
"no." carlos states quickly.
"you go, little man." reggie encourages him, making sydney chuckle softly. he grinned at her and hooked his feet with hers, lazily swinging their legs.
"after julie played with her hologram band, i couldn't sleep." carlos starts.
"those songs do get stuck in your head, huh?" ray responds, smiling slightly and nodding.
"he likes our new music too." reggie grins.
"eh, still doesn't count." alex mumbles.
"i learned on youtube that hosts haunt because something is bothering them." carlos explains. "so, to get rid of them, you gotta find out what crawled up their ghost butts."
"ha, he said ghost butts." reggie laughs slightly.
"language!" ray scolds his son.
"sorry!" carlos and reggie apologize quickly.
"so i searched the house for clues on who used to live here. and i found a bunch of old stuff in the garage." carlos continues, pulling the lid off of his box. "what i learned is, we are being haunted by a ghost, with a dream."
"okay." ray nods, not entirely sure what carlos was talking about.
"a dream that never came true." he says, rising from his chair. "a dream that was cut short, by a tragic accident."
"okay, you don't actually think..?" alex says slowly, leaning back slightly. sydney and reggie glanced to each other with nervous eyes.
"our house is being haunted by a very talented.. chef!" he announces, making each ghost let out a sigh of relief.
"looks like somebody fell asleep watching Ghost Hunters and Chopped." ray chuckles.
"you know how there are two restaurants in LA that have claimed they invented the french dip?" carlos ignores his joke and continues with his ghost explanation. "guess what i found in this box? a recipe for a third french dip!"
"no way!" reggie stares at him in shock.
"no way!" ray says shortly afterwards, though his excitement was much less real.
"it was invented in 1905, by a guy who dreamed of a soggy sandwich. but died before he could share his gift." carlos bows his head slightly.
"ah, the gift of dipping." reggie and ray speak at the same time.
"it's like we're the same person!" reggie exclaims happily.
"just like!" alex responds sarcastically, and sydney smiles slightly at the blond.
"so we gotta make his sandwich, and we gotta eat it." carlos explains.
"oh, then he'll see his dream realized, and finally leave this world for good." ray nods understandingly.
"so are you in?" carlos asks excitedly.
"yeah! let's make a dream come true." ray nods.
"all right!" carlos celebrates, quickly making his way to the kitchen with the recipe card.
"i do love french dips." ray mumbles to himself, shutting his laptop and following carlos out of the room.
"i'm gonna miss them." sydney sighs, and the other boys nod.
"yeah." reggie agrees, following ray with his eyes.
"me too." alex nods, and the three poof out of the room.
~*~
sydney, reggie and alex were sitting in the studio later that day, not really talking, just hanging out in a comfortable silence. at least, as comfortable as you can get with their inevitable doom towering over them.
luke entered the studio, his eyes rimmed red and sydney instantly became worried. she sat up in her seat on the couch, looking at him curiously.
"can i talk to you for a minute?" he asks quietly, nodding towards to the outside. sydney quickly stood up and followed him out of the studio.
"what's wrong?" she questions as he slowly turns to face her. luke took a deep breath and glanced around, seemingly unable to stay still. "luke?" she grabbed his hand and his eyes finally focused on her.
"julie gave mom and dad the song." he says, his hands shaking slightly. sydney felt her breath catch in her throat and she nodded slightly. "and i told her about caleb." he adds.
"oh, wow." she mumbles. "are you okay?" she took a small step closer to him and he shook his head slightly, taking a shaky breath.
"i'm pretty sure she never wants to see us again." he sighs, looking down.
"i'm sure that's not true." sydney assures him. "she's probably just upset and needs some time."
"you didn't see her face, syd." he shook his head again. "she just, i don't know." he rubs his hands over his face, wiping away the tears still in his eyes.
"what did she say?" she asks softly.
"nothing, she just walked away." he sighs again.
she wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, and that julie would forgive them, but she wasn't sure it was true. instead, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. he wrapped his arms around her too, letting out a small sigh.
"let's just, go back inside and try to figure something out." she suggests, and luke nods, following her back into the studio.
luke took a seat on the floor in front of alex and sydney sat beside him, in front of reggie. she leaned back against his legs, lazily playing with the buttons on reggie's flannel that she was wearing.
the four ghosts sat in silence for a while, aside from reggie occasionally strumming on his bass. none of them sure what to say. it seemed with each moment things were looking worse and worse for them.
they were all torn from the somber thoughts by julie's loud voice.
"snap out of it!" she shouts, causing alex to jump and fall off the couch, nearly landing on luke.
"jeez, i think you broke alex." reggie tells her as luke helps push him back up on the couch.
"do you guys want to cross over or what?" she asks quickly, though none of them respond. "get it together!" she claps her hands with each word.
"they're never going to let us play the orpheum." luke says, rolling his eyes slightly.
"we're nobody." alex says.
"less than nobody." sydney shrugs, glancing up at reggie.
"we have no bodies!" reggie reminds julie, who rolls her eyes.
"someone once told me that you don't ask for permission. you book gigs by doing." she states, making a small smile appear on luke's face.
"that was me." reggie says proudly.
"no it wasn't." julie tells him.
"no it wasn't." luke shakes his head at the dark haired boy.
"yes it was." he mumbles. sydney gave him a small smile in an attempt to make him feel slightly better.
"this isn't over!" julie continues. "we were brought together for a reason. to help each other."
"yeah but like luke said, people don't just play the orpheum because they want to." alex reminds her with a sigh.
"people don't." julie shrugs, a small smirk growing on her face. "but ghosts do."
~*~