To say Julie was anxious was an understatement.
She usually got pre-show jitters, but none like this. She wasn't normally under a time limit that could spell death for her friends. Or a second death for them actually. The fact that Jay still hadn't arrived worried her too, but she just pushed that off as traffic problems. Luke, Reggie, and Alex could all teleport wherever they wanted to go and they still hadn't arrived. That was what really made the pre-show jitters worse.
"Hey Julie," Rob's voice came from the door as he knocked. "I've got your roadie."
"Come in," Julie called out, closing the tube of lip gloss she was using as the door opened and Rob and Flynn came into the room.
"Holograms are good to go boss," Flynn said with a knowing smile as she walked towards Julie.
"Best roadie ever," Julie says to Rob.
"I'll be back in a few minutes to walk you to the stage," Rob said before looking around. "Is your other bandmate not coming?"
"He's on his way," Julie said, reassuring Rob and trying to do the same for herself. "Thanks Rob."
Rob gave one last smile and nod before he turned and left the room, making sure to close the door behind him. Flynn looked over her shoulder as he left, making sure he was gone before she turned back to Julie and began fangirling.
"You see this backstage pass?" she asked, raising her pass that read 'VIP ALL ACCESS' in large black letters. "I had sushi with Brendon Urie!"
"Good for you," Julie said. "I threw up in the car on the way over here."
"And you still look amazing," Flynn complimented, making Julie chuckle. "I made friends with the tech crew. You're gonna love what we have planned."
Flynn then looked around the room with a sly sort of interest and Julie had a feeling she knew exactly what question was going to leave her mouth.
"The guys are here, right?" Flynn asked, making Julie's stomach drop and tie itself into a knot.
"I haven't seen them," Julie admitted, turning back to her mirror.
"Wait, you don't think they changed their mind and took Caleb's offer, do you?" Flynn asked and Julie stomach tied another knot.
"No," Julie stated with confidence. "No, that's the last thing that they wanted."
Julie was sure of that. But she couldn't help the worry that rushed through her. Not only were Luke, Reggie, and Alex missing in action, Jay was also no where to be seen.
Beside her, Flynn sighed and Julie could see her pull out her phone in the mirror. She couldn't see who was being called, but whoever it was didn't pick up and Flynn let out a frustrated sigh.
"Honestly, where is he?" Flynn mumbled to herself, though Julie could hear it loud and clear. Flynn quickly gathered herself together and gently put her hands on Julie's shoulders, both girls looking into the mirror.
"You are going to kill it tonight," Flynn said with a genuine smile. "We should get some snacks."
Julie smiled at the thought of snacks and the knots that her stomach had formed slowly started to unwind themselves.
She should have known that it was too soon.
The moment that Flynn had opened the door and both girls stepped out of the room, they turned their heads to see two people who had their faces obsurced from the dim lighting of the hallway. The way their silhouettes moved made it look like someone was trying to help their drunk friend to the car, but as they stepped into the light, Flynn and Julie got a clearer look of their faces.
"Jay?" Julie muttered, looking at the two. She was utterly confused at what was happening before her but she quickly realized that the situation was more dire than she initally thought.
Both Flynn and Julie exclaimed Jay's name and Flynn went to help carry Jay into the room while Julie froze with fear. Even after Flynn and the other man had led Jay inside, she could barely follow behind them as the door closed behind her and Jay was set down on the couch in the room.
"What in the world happened to you?" Flynn asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Caleb," Jay breathed out and the weakness of his voice made Julie loose all air in her lungs. His voice had no volume and was incredibly hoarse and weak, like every syllable he spoke took the energy to move a mountain.
"Caleb got to you?" Flynn asked Jay, who nodded weakly in response. The movement of his head was so minute that Julie barely even noticed it. As Julie stepped closer and closer to the group on the couch, she noticed that his face was soaked with sweat and his skin was noticeably paler.
"The boys," Jay forced out. "Forced...club..."
Caleb forced the boys into his club.
"Stop talking you idiot," the man who brought Jay in snapped. "You're literally dying, save your energy."
"He's dying?" Julie repeated, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She suddenly found the strength to move her legs again and rushed to Jay, crouching down so that she was almost on equal level with him.
"His pulse is super weak, I could barely find it earlier," the man explained. "Honestly I'm surprised he can still talk."
"Stubborn," Jay said, the barest trace of a smile on his face. His eyes could barely stay open, they were narrow slits that he could probably barely see out of.
"Damn right you're stubborn," Flynn snapped. "You should be at the hospital, not the Orpheum!"
As soon as the word 'Orpheum' left Flynn's mouth, there was a faint purple light that shone over Jay's gut, the same light that shocked Luke. As the jolt ran through Jay's body, he jerked suddenly and then began to slowly curl in on himself, his limbs shaking with the movement and the pain.
"The hospital can't help that," the other man said. "He told me to bring him here, said he needed to see Julie."
"You needed to see me?" Julie repeated, looking down at Jay. She wasn't sure how, but Jay managed to find the strength to move his hand to Julie's face, though it trembled incredibly. He cupped the side of her face as he spoke what he could.
"Sorry," he said, his voice quieter than before. "Couldn't...protect..."
"Shh, stop," Julie shushed, tears beginning to flow down her face as she pressed her own hand against Jay's. "You did what you could."
"Willie...help..."
"Willie?" Flynn repeated, looking to the man for explanation.
"Some guy named Willie texted me from Jay's phone," the man explained. "I was waitng out on the road for him and then I got this message that Jay was inside the garage and needed help. By the time I got there, the dude was gone and this kid was on the ground."
"Caleb..." Jay breathed out. "He...Willie."
"Caleb got to Willie?" Flynn completed for Jay, who meekly nodded again.
"Julie..." he rasped. "Perform...please."
"I can't," Julie said immediately, her voice cracking as she did. "Not without you."
Julie could feel Jay's hand against her face get colder and colder and time went by. His breathing was also becoming weaker and softer and it truly made Julie panic inside. And what she said was entirely true: she couldn't perform without Jay. Nor without Luke, or Reggie, or Alex. She needed the boys up on the stage with her, she needed her band so that they could play their music.
"Please..." Jay repeated. "For...us. The...band."
"Exactly. We're a band. You, me, and the boys. We perform together."
Jay sighed and began to close his eyes properly. Julie felt his hand going limp against her face.
"Jay?" Julie breathed out, her hands moving to cup his face as his hand fell.
"Hey," Flynn said, shaking Jay's motionless body. "Hey, you can't die on us here. C'mon."
There was a small groan that came from Jay and Julie almost sighed in relief. But another jolt hit Jay and he curled in on himself more, almost going into a fetal position.
"CJ...thank...you..."
"Don't thank me you son of a-" the man, CJ, cut himself off with a sigh. "You still haven't told me how you got yourselves booked tonight."
Jay moaned as a reply as that was all he could do now. His body barely moved anymore. The only motions remaining were in the slight rise and fall of his chest as he took in strained breaths.
"Jay please," Julie cried. "Please, I can't lose you too. Please."
Julie rested her head against Jay's chest, her face turned away from his. She couldn't bare to look at his face, his sweat covered face that was filled with his pain. She wrapped her arms around him the best she could, her ear pressed tightly against his chest. She could hear every beat of his heart, struggling to keep going. She could feel his lungs inflate and deflate as he kept breathing, stubborn as he was. Her pleas were quiet yet audible, repeating the word 'please' over and over again. Her words seemed to follow the rhythm that his heartbeat set, slowing at the same time it did.
And then she felt his heart start beating faster.
And then she felt his lungs swell with air.
Julie pulled herself away from Jay in shock, staring at him in awe. There was a faint glow coming from Jay's body, almost golden. There was color coming back to his face, though he was still paler than he normally was. His breathing became a lot more audible and he groaned as his eyes fluttered.
"Jay?" Flynn said as a reaction to his sudden improvement.
"You crazy kid," CJ muttered, taking one of Jay's hands and pressing two fingers to the pulse point on his wrist.
"Stop calling me a kid," Jay groaned, his head rolling to the side to face CJ. "You're not that much older than me."
"Yeah but I'm old enough," CJ responded snarkily, gently dropping Jay's wrist. "He's okay."
Those two words were enough for Julie to relax and heave the biggest sigh she's heard from herself. Her hand covered her mouth as she held back a sob. Flynn wrapped her arms around Julie and squeezed her tightly as Jay tried to sit up on the couch, groaning from the effort.
"Hey, easy," Flynn scolded. "You almost died, give yourself a break."
"I can't," Jay breathed out, one arm hugging himself while the other was pushing against the arm of the couch where his head rested earlier. "We have a show to do."
The sudden relief for Jay's condition slowly trickled away at Jay's words.
"You can't perform like this, are you crazy?" CJ exclaimed.
"I have to," Jay said as he stood up. Both Flynn and Julie stood up with him as he stumbled across the room to the clothes rack.
"Jay we can't," Julie argued softly as Jay grabbed his clothes from the rack. "Not without the guys."
"That's exactly why we have to go on Julie!" Jay snapped at her, making her flinch back from the sudden increase in volume. "You think they'd forgive us if we skipped out on this?"
"They're gone Jay," Julie said softly, the tears returning quickly to her eyes. "We can't get them back from Caleb."
Jay froze at Julie's words, his jaw set tight and his eyes staring ahead of him, though it seemed like he was staring at something that wasn't there. As if his mind were elsewhere.
As if to respond to Julie's statement, Jay grabbed the rest of his clothes off the rack and tossed them on a nearby table as he began changing. A lump formed in Julie's throat as she opened her mouth to say something again, but nothing came out.
She couldn't take it anymore.
Jay might be able to push away the facts for the moment, but Julie couldn't. She didn't have it in her.
Luke, Reggie, and Alex were gone. Trapped in Caleb's club forever.
She didn't even get to say goodbye.
She couldn't bare it. Before she knew what was happening, Julie's legs took her out of the room, past a startled Rob, and out of the Orpheum to the back alley.