· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎ 𝑭 𝑨 𝑹 𝑭 𝑹 𝑶 𝑴 𝑵 𝑶 𝑹 𝑴 𝑨 𝑳 ▎
𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ━━ STAND TALL.
࿔·ﾟ*ೃ࿐ ࿔* 🎸🥁🎤🎶
even if i'm the last standing
i'ma 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹, i'ma stand tall
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
JULIE sat at the mirror in her dressing room, giving herself a reassuring look through the glass. She was trying her hardest to ignore the annoying, erratic pounding of her heart behind her ribs, hurting her chest with the ferocity if it.
She jumped when there was a knock on the dressing room door.
"Hey, Julie!" It was the sound of Rob, the Orpheum's stage manager who had been taking care of her since she got there, calling to her. "I've got your roadie."
Just the one? There was supposed to be two.
"Come in."
The dressing room door opened and Flynn was stood on the threshold.
"Holograms are good to go, boss." Flynn made her way into the room.
"Best roadie ever." Julie smiled at Rob as she began to speak.
"I'll be back in a few minutes to walk you to the stage."
"Thanks, Rob." Julie smiled at the man again as he made his way from the room. Flynn seemed to be waiting for her moment to scream, holding out till Rob had left the room and closed the door before she started to get excited.
"You see this backstage pass?" Flynn held her VIP pass up and shook it excitedly, the grin wide on her face. "I had sushi with Brendon Urie!"
"Good for you." Julie was smiling at her friend, chuckling a little. "I threw up in the car on the way over here. Ashley called it, but I didn't believe her."
"And you still look amazing," Flynn smirked. "Where is Ashley anyway?"
"I don't know, I'll be honest." Julie was trying to hide that her hands were shaking a little from where they were sitting in her lap, hoping Flynn would pass it off as nerves as she balled her hands into fists. "She left her keys in the studio before we left and went back to grab them. We left without her."
"Maybe she got stuck in traffic on her way over here? There was a lot when I was on my way and she could be stuck." Flynn shrugged. "Anyways, I made friends with the tech crew. You guys are gonna love what we have planned."
Flynn's eyes suddenly started wandering around the room.
"The guys are here, right?"
"I haven't seen them either." Julie turned to face her mirror, frowning.
Not only was Ashley M.I.A but the boys were, too.
"Wait. You don't think they changed their mind and took Caleb's offer, do you?" Flynn's face suddenly dropped as a horrible sense of potential hit her.
"No. No, that's the last thing that they wanted." Julie's voice raised a few octaves and Flynn caught it. She didn't sound sure. "And besides, if Ashley went back and caught them contemplating, she would've stopped them."
Julie sighed and still sounded unsure.
Flynn came to stand behind Julie as they looked at each other in the mirror.
"You're gonna kill it." Flynn smiled. "You both will. I will say the same thing to Ash when she gets here. We should get some snacks, maybe calm your nerves. Maybe call Ashley a few times, see if she can reach her phone."
Julie chuckled, nodding, as she got up from her chair to head over to a table in the dressing room which had a bowl of snacks sitting on the top. She sat down on the sofa beside Flynn as the girl continued to gush over how excited she was.
The whole time, Julie couldn't focus.
Where was Ashley? Where were the boys?
She couldn't help but feel like something had happened. She was used to the boys showing up last minute but Ashley? Ashley should've been there. She had been just as excited for the show as Julie had been and she wasn't there.
What if something had happened? What if she was hurt?
If the boys had seen something happen to her, they'd have come to Julie and told her, right? If she had come into the studio and something had happened to her, one of the boys would have come and told her that something was wrong.
But what if the boys couldn't either? What if they were gone?
Julie's heart was racing so much that she physically lurched when there was a knock on the dressing room door. Both she and Flynn looked up at the noise.
"Hey, Julie. It's time."
It was Rob, ready to take her to the stage.
"Just a second." Julie leapt up from her seat and started pacing the room.
The girl walked over to where Flynn was still seated on the sofa.
"Somethings wrong." Julie could feel a sob crawling up her throat but she tried to swallow it down. "The boys were getting those jolts pretty bad as we were leaving. And they wouldn't stand me up again. And Ashley? Ashley wouldn't miss this show for the world. If something hadn't have happened, she'd be here."
Julie didn't know what but she couldn't help but assume the worst.
"The boys must've run out of time."
Julie had an image flash in her head of Ashley going back to the studio for her keys, seeing the boys prepping themselves for the show but then the jolts overtook them and the worst had happened. What if Ashley had been there when they ran out of time? What would that have been like, seeing her older brother disappear before her eyes and not knowing how to help him? What if Ashley had had to have seen that on her own and not be able to help?
What if it was something else entirely?
"I'm so sorry, Jules." Flynn was frowning, sympathy in her eyes.
"They didn't cross over." Julie's voice was choked as realisation slowly began to flood her system. "They're gone. And I didn't even get to say goodbye."
Flynn got up to hug Julie. She couldn't help but worry about Ashley, too. The boys were already ghosts but Ashley was human. If something had happened to her, how were they to know? Nobody could get into contact with her.
"Maybe we can call Ashley again?" Flynn was grasping at straws, but she was trying. "Or send someone out to look for her? I mean, she must be some-"
Flynn was cut off by another knock at the door and Rob's voice.
"Hey, Julie! You're on."
Before Flynn could continue speaking, Julie had unlocked herself from the girls embrace and had taken off from the room, ignoring Flynn's calls for her.
Julie ran through the corridors of the Orpheum, not stopping until she felt the cold air hit her face as she collapsed out of the doors of the Orpheum and into a side alley. She wondered for a brief moment whether this had been the alley the boys had walked down as they headed towards what would lead to their deaths.
Julie, the sobs at the top of her throat now, let out a trembling breath. She looked up towards the sky for a moment, realised she was alone in the alley and let a sob come crawling from her throat as she stood dead centre of the alleyway, not knowing what to do. What could she do in that moment?
"I don't know if you can hear me, Mom, but..." Julie paused, not realising what she was doing until she was doing it, but going along with it anyway - it was worth a shot, right? She was alone after all... "I can't handle it."
Another sob released itself from Julie's throat.
"Flynn says you're supposed to be behind everything, but I don't know. If I was supposed to help the guys, I didn't. Ashley took care of me, as Flynn said you always wanted, but the guys? We failed. They're gone. And I'm so sorry.
"They were my friends. My band. My family. Ashley is my family. You brought her to me. But now something has happened to her as well and I failed her too.
"Why can't you just come pick me up... and... and hold me in your arms and just tell me that everything's gonna be okay and that I'm gonna get through it? And that... even though they're not here with me, they're still up there with you. And if Ashley is hurt, that you're taking care of her, that you're helping her.
"I just wish you were here."
Julie had sobbed the whole time as she spoke to the empty alleyway, wishing on her lucky stars that her mom could hear her. That she was with the boys, that she was protecting Ashley, looking after her or bringing her back to Julie. Julie had lost her mom already, she couldn't do this without Ashley either.
Her mom would know that, wouldn't she?
Julie barely even noticed the woman walking silently up the alley-way towards her until she had paused in front of her. The woman was holding a bag full of purple flowers and handed one to Julie, smiling at her softly before wandering off down the alley towards the main road, without saying a word.
Julie's heart was in her throat when she realised what flower it was.
A dahlia. Her moms favourite.
Not daring to breathe, she reached underneath the petals to count how many leaves had grown from the stem, counting them in her head. There were three.
That also sent a shockwave of heat through her chest.
࿐
"Did you know that dahlia flowers are only supposed to flower one to two leaves if it's a single flower on its own?" Ashley's voice had risen from where she was lying on Julie's bed, dangling upside down as she watched Julie at her desk.
Julie chuckled, shaking her head at her best friend.
"You and your random facts." Julie allowed herself to become momentarily distracted from her homework to shoot Ashley an amused look. The blonde was grinning at her, still upside down. "The dahlia over there has three."
Ashley sat up from her laying position, looking at the single dahlia flower that Julie had in a vase of water near her window. She stared at it for a moment.
"Yeah, that's because I gave it to you." Ashley was giving Julie a dumb grin and Julie shook her head. "Your mom's thing is flowers, my thing is leaves."
Julie couldn't stop smiling. Ashley really was something else.
"So you're telling me that if I ever get a flower with three leaves, its from you?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ashley was still grinning and Julie finally put her pen down to devote her whole attention span to her best friend. "Even if the flower comes from Nick, of all people, if it has three or more leaves, it's my way of showing you that I love you, in some weird flowery way.
"It's my way of showing you that I'll always be here. No matter what."
࿐
Julie felt her insides constrict.
If Flynn had ever been right about her signs, this was the moment to believe her. A dahlia flower with three leaves from a woman Julie didn't even know? Right after she had spoken to the air in the hopes of her mom hearing?
Signs. Flynn had been right the whole time.
Julie hugged the flower to her chest, still sobbing.
After a moment of standing in the alley, hugging the flower to her chest, thanking her mom silently in her head for showing her that she was out there, somewhere, keeping an eye on her, Julie realised what she had to do.
For herself. For the boys. For Ashley.
Jogging back inside, still gripping tightly to the flower in her hand, she burst into the side stage space where Rob was speaking hurriedly into his headset. Julie put herself between him and Flynn, holding out the flower out, breathless.
"Signs."
It was all Julie said before she carried on her mission towards the stage.
For herself. For the boys. For Ashley.
"Wait, where are you going?" Flynn called after her, confused for a moment, before realising what was happening. "She's going on stage! That's my girl!"
As Julie slowed her pace, walking onto stage slower now, she heard an announcement over the speaker, announcing Julie and the Phantoms.
For herself. For the boys. For Ashley.
The crowd clapped and cheered as she came on and Julie lifted her eyes to meet her dads who was standing in a secluded area off to the side of the room with her little brother and tia. She saw his eyes flash when he realised she was on stage alone but she gave him a smile, a smile so reassuring that he knew there was a reason she was alone and even though he didn't know it, he understood.
Julie, with a soft sigh, placed the dahlia flower atop the piano where Ashley would've been standing beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, thinking about her. She didn't really want to do this without her, but she had to.
"Hi, I'm Julie." The girl had picked the mic up from the holder and was addressing the crowd, nerves tweaking her voice a small bit. "Tonight, I'd like to dedicate this song to my mom, who's been there with me every time I've played and thank her for..." Julie looked towards the sky for a moment... "not giving up on me and bringing me the best friend I could ever have asked for."
Julie's mind flashed with Ashley again.
"I'd also like to dedicate tonight's performance to three special friends who have changed my life completely, who have brought music back to me. It was their dream to play here and... this is for them. And to Ashley, my partner-in-crime, my music buddy, someone who should've been here tonight but..." Julie paused, not knowing how to answer herself before she took a shaky breath and continued... "is here with me, no matter what, as she always has been.
"This song is for anyone who's lost their way. Step into your greatness. Don't give up. Stand tall. Thank you."
As Julie slipped the mic back into the holder, the crowd cheered again.
The cheering died down and Julie placed her fingers on the piano keys, ready to play. She looked up at the sky again, thinking of Ashley, thinking of the boys, thinking of her mom. She hoped that the boys were safe with her and wherever Ashley was, whatever had happened, her mom was taking care of that too.
Julie took a deep breath before beginning to play the piano.
For herself. For the boys. For Ashley.
"𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠
𝙉𝙤, 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙩
𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩
𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙬𝙤, 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚, 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩
𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨
𝙄'𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙."
Julie couldn't help but think about how this was one of Ashley's favourite songs. She thought about how long it's been since she performed without her, how weird it was to be standing on stage alone. She was heartbroken the girl was missing the chance to sing with her and it felt so foreign to Julie not to split the verse with her best friend that she almost choked on the lyrics, but she knew that wherever Ashley was, she would be proud of Julie for doing this by herself.
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
Julie couldn't get over how weird it was only hearing her own voice, but she continued, allowing the music to flood into her as the tension in her arms released slightly. Once the music was inside her heart, she would be okay.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
There was a brief interval until there was a whooshing sound behind Julie and the beat of drums kicked in. Julie felt goosebumps prickle up her spine as she turned to see Alex sitting behind his drum, where he belonged, grinning at her.
He was here? He was actually here?
Before Julie could start singing the second verse, there was another familiar whooshing sound and the next thing she knew, Reggie was standing right beside her, bass guitar in hand. He was grinning at her widely, and he seemed relieved, but Julie didn't miss the way his eyes flicked to the empty space beside her where Ashley should've been behind the piano, concern flashing through his pupils.
Had he been expecting her to be there? Or was that hope in his eyes? Lost hope, the realisation that Ashley wasn't here, almost as if he had known she wouldn't be, as if he had been let down but had been expecting it.
And where was Luke?
Shaking off his concerned look, Julie started singing again.
"𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬
𝙄'𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣
𝘾𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙣𝙤
𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩
𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠."
There was a stuttering sound, like the sound of a failing exhaust and when Julie looked across the stage, Luke was there but was gone again within a moment. She watched on, watching as he tried again to sputter in, but couldn't.
Alex and Reggie shot each other concerning glances but Julie, for some reason, didn't feel worried. It was almost as if she knew he would make it, knew he would manage to pull enough life into himself to make it onto the stage with them.
If Ashley could've seen them, she'd have been so proud.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙬𝙤, 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚, 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩
𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨."
"𝙄'𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙."
Luke appeared, whole and without a sputter, as he sang the line out, smirking.
But he wasn't alone. Julie hadn't only heard his voice.
Ashley.
When Julie caught sight of her friend, she seemed disoriented for a moment, as if she hadn't expected to be standing in the centre of the stage with the band but had caught on to what was happening and had tried her best to catch up.
The crowd let out a shocked gasp as she did. Julie could've sworn she heard Flynn scream from where she standing side stage. Julie wanted to scream too.
How had Ashley done that? Where had she been?
Julie didn't miss the sigh of relief that puffed from Reggie's chest as he caught sight of the blonde girl, every tension in his shoulders settling when he saw her.
She had told him she would be okay. She had told him she would make it out.
For Ashley, everything was still pretty much a blur from the moment Caleb had poofed her away. She had no idea how she had gotten from inside the Hollywood Ghost Club to standing in the centre of the stage at the Orpheum. She truly had no idea of the extent of Caleb's powers - he had whooshed her away from his club with his threat and had transported her there.
'You tell those boys of yours that this isn't over.'
The words were still ringing around in her head as she had dropped onto the Orpheum stage, almost losing her balance. She had had a floor to collapse to the last time that had happened, but now there were people watching and she did not want to fall to the ground in front of the whole crowd.
When Ashley caught Julie's eyes, every worry she was housing inside of her temporarily washed away. Here she was, on stage at the Orpheum with her best friends, her brother and her boy. The ordeal at the HGC could wait.
How she was going to explain her sudden appearance on stage to everybody but Julie, she had no idea, but she would think of something. She always did.
Julie, a grin on her face so wide it almost stretched all the way, pulled her mic from the holder as she bounded over to Ashley. She pulled her best friend into the tightest hug she could muster while the two of them and Luke began singing.
They were together.
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
Julie, seeing Ashley eyeing the bassist who was standing on Alex's drum podium, knew she needed to go to him just by the look in her eyes, so she grabbed her best friend by the shoulder, shoving her over to where Reggie was just jumping off the podium onto the stage. Ashley giggled softly into the mic.
He landed directly in front of Ashley and she gave him a smile.
Reggie had never felt relief quite like that before.
He had to admit to himself, he had been terrified that Ashley wasn't going to make it out of the Hollywood Ghost Club. There had been a small part of him that had believed in her but it had mostly just been consumed by fear. He was worried he was going to lose her and he was worried it was going to be his fault.
He had given her the leather jacket. She had left her keys in the studio because of him. If she hadn't have come back into the studio for them then maybe...
Ashley could see his eyes slowly filling with guilt and if she was able to touch him, she'd have shoved his shoulder or jabbed him with her elbow.
She knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Told you I would make it out."
The words were silent, but it was enough for Reggie to puff out a sigh of relief.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
As Reggie broke away from Ashley with a wink to begin heading down the stage's walkway with Julie, Ashley focused her attention on her brother for a moment, still struggling to believe she was truly on stage with them all.
She had been so convinced she was going to be stuck in Caleb's club forever.
But Alex hadn't. He had known Ashley would make it. She was his little sister, she was made of tougher stuff than Caleb would ever have given her credit for.
"𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄'𝙢 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠
𝙄 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩."
Ashley had bounced over to Luke, knowing she shared these lines with him. She could see the relief in his eyes when she held the mic between them, and she could feel it too. Luke hadn't shown it in the club, but he had been scared.
They had both made it back to their girl. The relief was all they could feel.
"𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙝 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩
𝙊𝙤𝙝, 𝙤𝙤𝙝."
"𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠."
Julie and Reggie both bounded back down the walkway towards the guys on stage and Julie bounced over to Ashley with the biggest smile on her face.
Alex stood from his drums slowly, readying himself for his solo.
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
Ashley felt her heart clench when she heard his voice. She hadn't heard his voice on its own yet, so isolated and solo and she felt like she could've cried.
She was so proud of him.
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
Julie squeezed Ashley's hand tightly, watching her best friend as she eyed the bassist for a moment, listening to him as Reggie sang on his own. The girl remembered the night of the garage performance when Ashley and Reggie had sung together and she remembered the look in both of their eyes when they had.
She knew Ashley loved him. And she knew Reggie loved her too.
"𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
"𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
Julie shot Ashley a wink, giving the girl a slight push towards the bassist as she slowly began to make her way over to Luke. Julie was the queen of giving subtle hints, Ashley was beginning to realise. She was always pushing her to him.
Ashley smiled at Reggie when she reached him, nodding her head towards her mic as she held it between them. They had only recently begun doing this, singing in Ashley's mic together and Reggie only wished they had started doing it sooner.
There was something so pure and raw about singing right with somebody.
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡
𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
"𝙄'𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡."
Alex had jumped down from his drums and had come to stand with Reggie and Ashley, not getting too close as not wanting to get in the way of their moment, but close enough that Ashley could see him clearly in her peripheral vision.
For the first time since she had been poofed onto the stage, she felt safe.
The whole band finished with a flourish as they somehow managed to squeeze onto the end of the stage's walkway together, all five of them. How they did it, Ashley didn't know, but they were all there grinning at the crowd which had now broken out into a raucous cheer and the deafening tones of clapping hands.
The five of them, Ashley nestled between the two most important boys in her life, looked across at one another. They all knew what was coming.
They all knew what was about to happen.
They raised their hands into the air and bowed to the crowd as the people on the floor continued to cheer, whistle and clap for the performance. When they bowed, there was a collectively loud whooshing sound and when Julie and Ashley stood back up, it was just the two of them on the walkway, staring at one another.
Ashley felt tears spring to her eyes but she tried to hold them back.
She couldn't cry yet.
Julie, seeing her best friends face, grabbed the girls hand and gave it a tight squeeze, trying to push strength through her. Ashley felt reassurance flood through her as the two of them waved to the still-cheering crowd, trying to smile for them even though they were both aware of what had just happened.
The boys had crossed over.
They were gone.