"oh my fucking god! my eyes"
Mickey felt truly sick at her stomach as she stood outside Carrie's room. She was thankful that the house was so large, meaning the chances of her running into her brother were slim. She really couldn't handle that yet. After taking a deep breath, she stuck her arm through the door and knocked.
"Come in," Carrie said, giggling a little. She greeted Mickey with a smile when she walked through the door. "Hey. You'll never hear me admit it to others, but I did sort of like your song tonight."
"Thanks," Mickey said, chuckling. "I totally loved you guys. It was so fun to watch, and I wasn't the only one to love it. Alex totally got up on stage to dance with you guys. I wish you could've seen it."
"Well, I live to entertain," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Mickey's smile slowly slipped and she hesitantly sat on the end of Carrie's bed. "Um, so, I really need you to be open-minded about what I'm about to tell you. And I swear that I'm telling the truth."
"Okay?" Carrie tilted her head and studied Mickey, not sure why she was so nervous all of the sudden. "What is it?"
"I - I think I figured out why you can see me, but not the guys," she said slowly. "But it's a complicated story."
"Well, I'm a straight-A student, so I think I can keep up," Carrie said, smiling. She still didn't know why Mickey was being so serious.
"Just... let me get it all out," Mickey requested. "You're gonna want to interrupt a lot, but you have to hear all of it."
Carrie nodded slowly. "Okay."
"Um. I - well, we actually knew your father. B - back when we were alive," she said, looking down at her hands. Carrie opened her mouth to comment but stayed silent. "Your dad, he was actually in Sunset Curve before we all died. He was the rhythm guitarist. We didn't know about him until Julie played one of his songs for us, and we recognized it... because Luke was the one to write it. In fact, he wrote all the songs on Trevor's first album."
Mickey glanced at Carrie, who had narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you accusing my dad of lying and stealing someone else's music? That goes against his integrity as an artist! I can't believe you would even—"
"He has a song called My Name Is Luke," Mickey interrupted, sighing. "Last I checked, that wasn't his name."
"But—"
"And Julie told us that none of his other albums ever had the same sound or did as good as the first one. That's because he didn't write the first one," Mickey insisted. "B - but that's not even really the thing I came to tell you about. I don't care about the songs."
"I'm not gonna sit here and listen to this," Carrie snapped. "You're obviously lying, and you can't even keep your stories straight. I mean, you said he was the rhythm guitarist. But after the spirit rally, you told me that your twin brother Bobby was the rhythm guitarist before you took his spot. So, maybe come up with a better backstory next time."
"Carrie," Mickey said slowly. "Your dad is Bobby. Trevor and Bobby are the same person. That's why you can see me. I'm his sister and I died with the rest of his band."
Carrie glared at her angrily. Things were starting to escalate. "You — you're a liar!"
"No, I'm not. Care, you know I'm not," Mickey insisted. "Why would I lie about this? What could I possibly gain from this?"
"My dad wouldn't hide the fact that he had a twin sister who died. He — he wouldn't!" Carrie practically shouted. "You don't even have the same last name."
"Because he changed his. Go ahead and ask him about me," Mickey told her, crossing her arms. "But make sure you do it when I'm there to see his reaction. I want you to ask him who Michelle Williams is and why he hasn't said a single fucking thing about me to you or anyone else!"
Carrie's lips parted as if she had suddenly realized something. All the anger seemed to leave her body, but Mickey didn't know what she had said to calm her down. "Michelle?"
"Yeah, that's my full name," she said, rolling her eyes. "Julie already told me he wrote a song called that."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not... not that. My, uh, my middle name is Michelle."
"Oh," Mickey mumbled weakly.
"He - he only ever said that name belonged to someone special, but he never told me anything else," Carrie whispered, looking down at her comforter. "Are... are you really telling the truth? You were his sister?"
"I am. I promise."
"Wh - I mean, were you on bad terms with him or something?" Carrie asked, glancing up at her. Both girls' eyes were filled with tears.
"No," Mickey said, shaking her head. A tear slid down her cheek. "We loved each other more than anything in the world. He was the best brother in the world. Bobby would've done anything for me."
"T - then why didn't he tell me about you?"
"I wish I knew," she mumbled, wiping under her eyes.
Carrie sniffed softly. "Can... can I just be alone right now? I - I'm not mad, but this is a lot to take in. I just, I need to think about all this."
Mickey nodded, understanding how overwhelmed she must feel. She slid off the bed and looked over Carrie one last time. "You know, I don't think he could've raised a better niece."
Carrie smiled weakly at her before Mickey flashed out. Once Mickey was gone, Carrie reached for her laptop. She wiped the tears under her eyes before typing Sunset Curve into the search bar. She stared closely at the blurry pictures of the band, focusing on the rhythm guitarist. In another tab, she searched up images of young Trevor Wilson. She bit her lip as more tears fell.
It was her father, no doubt about it.
|||
When Mickey landed in the studio, she was immediately embraced by Reggie. She hadn't been expecting him to wrap his arms around her and shove his head in her neck, but she hugged him back. They were the only two in the studio at the moment.
"Where the hell were you?" Reggie asked her. He pulled back and held her out by the shoulders so he could look down at her. "You never came to the studio after messing with Carlos. I was so worried!"
"I - I just had to go somewhere," she told him, rubbing his arm comfortingly. "You didn't have to worry."
"Of course I had to worry," he insisted. "You can't just disappear like that, Mickey. Every time you disappear, I'm terrified that you won't come back. And don't tell me that it's stupid. I - I watched you die, Mickey. And then you weren't there when we came back as ghosts. You keep going off without telling us where you're going, and now we're getting these painful shock things. I just - I need to know that you're safe."
Mickey held his hands tightly. "Reggie, I'm sorry that I've been worrying you. I just - I had to do something."
He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "Just take me with you the next time you want to disappear. I don't want you to be alone. You can trust me with whatever it is you had to do."
Mickey bit her lip, knowing she couldn't tell him the whole truth. "I was... at Bobby's house." Reggie's eyes fluttered open and he stared down at her, surprised. "I - I don't know if I'm gonna go back again though."
Reggie pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. He kissed the top of her head. "I know that I could never understand what you're going through, but please let me be there for you, Mick. You were always there for me. Let me do the same."
She sighed and leaned into his chest. Reggie started gently rocking them side to side. "Reg, I don't expect you to, like, pay me back for all of that. I told you after the first time that I'd never expect anything in return."
Reggie couldn't help but chuckle and roll his eyes, but she didn't see it. "It's not to pay you back. I want to be there for you like you were for me. I want to be the one you come to when you're upset — the one you want to comfort you when you've had the shittiest day. I care about you so much, Mickey, so please come to me instead of going through all this alone."
"I'll try," she whispered, sniffing. She pulled her head out of his chest to look up at him. "Thank you for caring about me."
"I care about you more than anyone else," he said softly. "No one else matters more than you."
She playfully rolled her eyes. "You're exaggerating."
Reggie shook his head. "No, I'm not. You are the one that is always there for me no matter what. Your window was always open for me, and I can't count all the midnight drives you took me on when I just needed to get away."
"Yeah, but any of us would've done that for you," she reminded him, looking down at her feet.
"Maybe, but there's a reason I always went to you."
"And why's that?"
Reggie held her chin and tilted her head back up. "Do you really not know? I thought I was supposed to be the dumb one."
"Reg, you aren't dumb—"
"I'm in love with you, Mickey." A soft gasp left her lips at his confession. Reggie stared down at her with a look that made her feel like the most important person in the world. "I've been in love with you for a really long time. Back when we slept, you were the first thing I thought of when I woke up and the last thing on my mind before I went to bed. I love how smart and caring you are. I love how carefree and happy you are when you dance. I love everything about you, Mickey. And I should've told you that when we were alive. I've tried to tell you so many times since because I don't want to spend another moment of this second chance without you knowing how much I love you."
"Reggie," she muttered softly.
"Am I just a complete idiot for thinking you might feel the same way?"
"Reggie," she said again, leaning into his touch. "I love you too." He let out a shaky breath and smiled down at her. "I don't remember what my life was even like before I met you, and I don't want to. I love how sweet and funny you are. Whenever you wrap me in your arms, I feel like my heart is gonna pop out of my chest. And when I let a day go by without talking to you, then that day's just no good. I love you so much that it hurts me sometimes."
Throughout her confession, Reggie's eye's had flicked back and forth between her eyes and her lips. And once she was done, he wasted no time in dipping his head down and his lips brushed hers softly. It was a gentle kiss and just long enough for the both of them to want even more. Mickey stood on her toes and chased his lips with hers, capturing them in another kiss. Reggie gripped her hips to pull her even closer to him, and she hummed happily against his lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Neither wanted to stop, but eventually, Mickey pulled away to breathe. They both smiled softly and leaned their foreheads together. Heat rushed to Mickey's cheeks as Reggie's hands slowly trailed up her body — he took the time to appreciate how soft the satin of the dress was against her form — and cupped her cheek gently. His hot breath fanned across her face, and her eyes fluttered open.
Reggie held her cheek and looked at her as if she was the most important person in the world to him — and at that moment, it felt like she was. Mickey bit her lip as she stared up at him, but he brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, pulling it away from her teeth.
"I've wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you," he whispered before kissing her again.
It was a more eager kiss, and she moaned happily as he slipped his tongue in her mouth. Reggie slowly backed her up until she bumped into the piano, which she quickly slid on top of. Mickey grabbed him by the tank top and pulled him to stand in between her legs. She whined when he broke the heated kiss, but was silenced when his lips landed on her neck.
Mickey couldn't count all the times that Reggie had placed a comforting kiss on her neck, but this was a completely different feeling. She tilted her head to the side and whimpered as he started sucking on the skin. Yup — definitely a new feeling, one that she really enjoyed. But soon, she tugged on his hair and pulled him back to her lips. Mickey would definitely never get tired of kissing Reggie.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to pull him even closer, but that was impossible. Reggie groaned as he ran his hands down her body, gripping her hips tightly.
"Fuck," he mumbled against her lips, his eyes closed. "You're so—"
"Oh my fucking god! My eyes!"
Mickey and Reggie quickly untangled themselves and turned to the studio door. Alex and Luke stood at the door, the first with a smirk on his face and the second had his hand thrown over his eyes dramatically. Mickey slid off the piano and stood behind Reggie, staring up at the ceiling so that she could avoid looking at them.
"H - hey guys," Reggie muttered shyly. Whatever confidence he had mustered while making out with Mickey was gone now that he had been caught by their friends. "What up?"
"W - what up?" Luke repeated. He removed his hand and glared at the pair. "What's up is that you two were just about to bang on top of my piano! Disgusting! I'm gonna have to disinfect that now."
Alex was grinning and looking back and forth between Mickey and Reggie, who were both blushing furiously. Though they had reached for each other's hands. "It's about time, guys. However, next time, maybe put up a sign. Perhaps a sock on the door. We don't need to see that ever again."
"Well, then will you two doofuses leave so that we might continue?" Mickey asked, crossing her arms and glaring at them.
"Ooh-hoo-hoo," Luke said, grinning. "Someone's eager. Damn, Reginald. You must be one hell of a kisser to have the princess all riled up like this."
"Oh god," Alex groaned as a look of realization crossed his face. "We were so concerned with wanting them to be together that we didn't think about how unbearable you two are about to become."
Luke made a disgusted face. "Oh, ew! We're gonna have to walk into stuff like that all the time now."
"Can you guys just leave?" Reggie asked, clearing his throat. "We were kind of in the middle of something."
Luke put his hands up in defense. "Alright. We'll leave you two crazy kids alone. But keep it PG and keep it off my piano. Oh, and my couch! Take it up to the loft or something."
Mickey smirked and shared a look with Reggie. Then they both poofed up to the loft. Reggie landed on the beanbag chair and Mickey leaned over him, giggling. He grinned before pulling her down on top of him and into a kiss.
"At least wait until we leave the room!" Alex exclaimed.
Without breaking the kiss, Mickey grabbed a pillow and blindly threw it down from the loft. No, it didn't hit either of the boys, but they got the hint.
"Finally," she whispered. Mickey bit her lip and stared lovingly down at Reggie.
He brushed his thumb against her cheek and smiled. "I can't believe I went twenty-five years without kissing you."
"Well then, start making up for the lost time."