The title is based off of the song "Fix Me Up" written by A Firm Handshake. This was inspired by a moment and a relationship in the movie, "Clouds" on Disney+ This movie was amazing and I 100% recommend watching it if you have not!
This will take place sometime after where the show left off. Some things included in this oneshot are not accurate to the storyline, but I felt like they would fit for this story.
Another band practice.
Another day of pain in his chest.
A day of smiling when he really doesn't feel like it.
Luke and Julie sit at her keyboard and they discuss the song lyrics to a certain song she's been working on. It's usually just the two of them in their own little world.
Alex on the other hand lazily taps his drumstick on the crash cymbal on the drum. The sound of light shattering rings in his ears.
Reggie sits on the table in front of Alex's drum set and let's his fingers dance on the guitar. Him and Alex are usually the ones waiting for instruction. Either that, or Alex disappears with Willie, leaving Reggie alone while Luke and Julie hang out.
"Hey Reggie, what do you think they're really talking about?" Alex teases, pointing his drumstick to the other two.
Reggie knows that mischievous look and he looks at the other 2 for a moment. His stomach churns slightly, but he tries to push that feeling aside. He shrugs and smirks, replying,
"They're probably too busy smooching than writing music."
At this comment, Julie turns and shoots a glare at the other two boys, Luke hadn't heard their conversation so he just furrows his eyebrows.
"Uh, you good Jules?" Luke asks, a small smile on his face as he laughs a bit.
"Oh yeah, I'll be great when I kill your friends...again!" Julie jokes, an evil grin appearing on her face, leaving Alex and Reggie feeling intimidated.
The boys laugh together and Julie joins in soon after rolling her eyes and scoffing. That moment was short lived because Luke and Julie went back to working with each other. Alex went back to his drums, but realized Reggie was still staring at the other two.
He lowered his eyebrows and leaned over his drums to poke Reggie's back, pulling him out of his trance.
"You okay, Bro? We were losing you there!" Alex asks, a small grin on his face.
Reggie turns and smiles, nodding before chuckling a little. He replies,
"Yeah, I'm great- it's just um," He stammers, staring at the two lovebirds before turning back, "their chemistry is just magnetic! I can't pull my eyes away! Heh."
Alex isn't convinced because then Reggie goes back to staring again... almost longingly.
Alex stands up and walks over to Reggie, patting his back before pointing his thumb back to the door. Reggie raises an eyebrow, ready to ask what Alex was doing, but Alex is already walking out of the door.
Reggie stands up from the table and makes his way to the door, looking to see if Luke or Julie were noticing, but they didn't say anything. He shrugs and steps out and the moment he does, Alex quickly yet gently closed the door.
"Reginald, I think you're jealous."
Those are the first 5 words that come out of the blonde's mouth.
Alex is leaning on the door with his arms crossed and a slight smirk.
Reggie let's out a huff of air out of disbelief before nervously laughing and posing awkwardly to look normal.
"What? That's crazy! Why would I be jealous?" Reggie asks, his voice going higher and his smile becoming awkwardly bigger.
Alex chuckles slightly and puts his hands in his pockets.
"I know you're jealous because I was the same way one time in my life. Reggie! Did you have a secret crush on Julie and you didn't tell us? Come on! You can tell us anything!" Alex exclaims, throwing his hands out of his pockets.
Reggie feels his face flush and his legs grow a little wobbly.
No.
That's not right.
It is jealousy..., but
"No man, you're crazy! I don't have a crush on Julie! I would tell you if I did!" Reggie replies, punching Alex's shoulder playfully.
Now Alex is lost. Reggie definitely looked like he was longing for something. He looked the same way when Julie and Luke were holding each other's faces the night they didn't cross over.
He didn't like Julie...
So what was the problem?
"I don't get it..."
"What don't you get?" Reggie asks, rubbing his arm, feeling the leather from his jacket brush on his palms.
"Why are you jealous?"
Oh
Reggie felt like there was a lump in his throat and his eyes turned to peek through a window and Luke who began to lean into Julie, wrapping his arm tightly around her. His mood drops drastically.
He's happy for them..., but it doesn't feel right.
There shouldn't be an issue.
Luke is happy!
That should make Reggie happy.
But-
Alex looks over to where Reggie seems to be distracted and suddenly
it clicks.
"You said something about their chemistry earlier....right?" Alex asks, now turning to look at Reggie, his eyebrows are now lowered and the corner of his lips fall to become more serious.
Reggie swallows nervously and tears his eyes away from the window, laughing quietly, but somewhat sadly.
"What does that have to do with anything," Reggie asks almost in a somber whisper.
Alex blinks.
He eyes bore into Reggie and Reggie let's out a sigh, looking up at Alex anxiously.
"I-" He stammers, running his hand through his hair.
Alex steps forward to rest his hand on his arm and looks at him with nothing but complete patience.
He takes a deep breath.
"I'm jealous of Julie because...."
"Okay."
Reggie crosses his arms and looks back to the window.
"-because I like Luke."
Alex smiles kindly, but also sorrowfully for his friend.
Reggie feels like his eyes are burning as he looks back at the blonde. Before he could say anything else, Alex has his arms wrapped around him and has pulled him into a firm hug.
"I'm here for you Reg."
Reggie nods into his shoulder and Alex pulls away to see a teary-eyed Reggie.
"Reggie, are you crying?"
Reggie wipes his eyes with his sleeve and laughs a little before he comments, "I thought you didn't like hugs."
"Well you looked like you needed one," Alex teases, punching his shoulder softly.
Reggie smiles and nods at the ground before looking back up.
"Thanks, Man, ...yknow, for listening."
"Anytime."
"I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."
Alex shrugs and puts his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
"I don't know, tell him?"
Reggie laughs out loud at this before patting Alex's arm.
"That's funny!"
"I'm serious!"
"Alex- I can't just come up to him and be like 'Hey Luke, I have a fat crush on you, but was too scared to tell you because you like Julie, but hey! You know now! Wanna go out?'" Reggie throws his arms up.
Alex cringes and sucks in through his teeth before saying, "Yeah, don't do that. Just- you have to tell him at some point. Okay?"
Reggie nervously bites his lip and thinks about it before giving in and replying, "Fine! You win... I'll tell him!"
"Good idea," Alex pays his arm twice and smiles, turning to head out.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm supposed to meet Willie at the skating park! Tell Luke and Julie I left, okay? See you later!" Alex then poofs away, leaving Reggie outside by himself.
Reggie exhales a deep breath before turning on his heel back to the door of the shed. He steps forward until he enters and both Julie and Luke turn to look at him.
***
"Hey! We didn't even realize you left, um.. where's Alex?" Julie asks, standing up from her keyboard.
"Ah, y'know, he went to hang out with his boyfriend!" Reggie replies, awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets and chuckling a bit.
Julie nods and replies, "Well, we can't agree on song lyrics for the next song. We're completely uninspired. I was hoping we could do a band activity or a fun warm up, but seeing as Alex is gone, we're going to have to wait."
"Yeah. Our lyric ideas are just so bland and unoriginal, but hopefully we'll bounce back and come back as awesome as ever!" Luke adds, laughing and running his hand through his wavy hair.
His laugh is so adorable.
His eyes wander to a piece of hair that stands out of place. He wants to reach up to fix it because of course the dork doesn't notice. Reggie shakes the thought from his head and he nods in response to Luke's comment.
Julie looks up and giggles as she reaches up to fix the piece of hair. Reggie feeling the stinging pain in his chest. She rests her hands on his face and the two look at each other absolutely enamored for one another.
Reggie puts on a smile and clears his throat, breaking those two from their moment. They turn to look at him with embarrassment.
"Just wanted to remind you two that I'm still here," Reggie teases, laughing a bit.
Luke snorts and rolls his eyes and Julie shakes her head.
"Julie! Your boyfriend Nick is here!" Julie's little brother Carlos calls from outside.
"He is not my boyfriend!" Julie yells back.
Luke just snorts and Julie punches his arm before walking out of the shed.
Luke stands, still staring at the door and Reggie watches as he does so. He comes up behind him and wraps his arm around him.
"Hey! You do know she's not standing there anymore, right?" Reggie jokes around, poking Luke's face. Luke just chuckles and playfully pushes Reggie off of his shoulder.
Reggie turns to sit on the couch and he leans back lazily. Luke sits by him and turns to rest his legs on top of Reggie's. Luke stares at the ceiling and let's out a sigh.
"I'm so glad we met Julie. I don't know what we would do without her," Luke says, breaking the silence.
Reggie nods and thinks about how scary it would be if Julie hadn't played their CD the night they met. Where would they be? What would happen to them?
"She's pretty awesome!" Reggie replies.
"And talented," Luke continues
"An amazing singer."
"She made us better people!"
"She brought us closer together."
"I think I'm in love with her," Luke says quickly, it was so quiet it was almost a whisper. He runs his hands through his hair as if he just came to that conclusion.
Reggie frowns and he brings his head back to look at the ceiling. The pain and jealousy is overwhelming.
It isn't fair.
She's not even a ghost.
They could never work.
He shouldn't think of these things. He should be hopeful for his best friend. He should be happy for him! He shouldn't be wishing misery upon his and Julie's relationship. That's not right! Reggie would never normally have thoughts like this...., but he did.
He wanted the thoughts to end.
Luke would never want him.
He doesn't stand a chance either.
Even if they hadn't met Julie, Luke would've chosen anybody else.
Without realizing it, he had tears streaming down his cheeks and he was silently crying. He sniffles and hiccups, but quickly tries to wipe away the tears from his cheeks.
Luke is sitting up now, watching Reggie with confusion and concern. Reggie turns to look at Luke and he puts on a smile.
Luke's face doesn't change.
He couldn't be fooled.
"Reg, what's wrong?" Luke asks calmly.
Reggie swallows and takes in a deep breath,
"Nothing! I'm great! Your relationship with Julie got me choked up that's all!"
Despite Reggie throwing out jokes, Luke doesn't smile.
Reggie hates seeing Luke upset. He doesn't want his friends feeling bad for him! They should be happy! He wanted them to be happy!
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Mhm!" Reggie hums and nods, the sound from his hum cracking a bit.
Luke sighs and reaches to put him hand on Reggie's shoulder.
"No secrets Reg... you can tell me anything."
***
Reggie can't keep looking into his eyes. It's too painful for him. He feels like he's going to break, like he's going to just lean in and do something he'll regret. He taps his foot aggressively quick on then floor and looks around for anything to distract himself.
Why is everything going by so quickly right now? Why does his breathing sound so loud! Why does it feel like the world is crushing in on itself.
But then there's contact.
Bringing him back.
Luke has Reggie's face resting gently in the palms of his hands. He moves his hands down to hold on to Reggie's and he gently says, "Hey... you're okay... I'm here. No need to freak out okay? I'm here for you, Reg. Okay? Please... tell me what's going on."
Reggie breath comes out shaky and a single tear falls from his reddened eyes and he carefully says,
"I like you. In a more than a friend way."
Luke's eyes widen and his mouth opens to let out a small, "oh."
Reggie is shaking now, but Luke brings his hand to his back to gently rub it in circles. Reggie bends down to cover his face in his own hands, trying to hide. Luke tries to calm down the other boy, but Reggie cries and this time he can't stop.
He's crying in front of Luke.
He just expressed his feelings to him.
Despite that, Luke is still here with him.
They stay like this for a while before Luke brings Reggie's face back up so that they can look at each other.
"Do you hate me now?" Reggie asks, laughing pitifully as he sniffles and rubs his eyes.
Luke chuckes and shakes his head.
"No.... not at all."
"I just want you to know, I didn't want to come between you and Julie or anything! I mean... you don't like me in that way anyways, so I guess I'm not really ruining anything, but still," Reggie rambles.
Luke just smiles and let's out a sigh.
"I- I used to."
"What?" Reggie asks.
"I used to have feelings for you... well at least I think I did.... it was just the wrong time."
Reggie's eyes widen and before he can ask anything, Luke continues.
"After I broke up with Alex..., do you remember how scared I was? I didn't want to lose one of our best friends! Plus I was always fighting with my parents! You were always there... you always tried to make me laugh and you were just.... Reggie! I could always tell you everything and you let me laugh and cry without making fun of me for it! In fact... sometimes you would cry with me... I never realized how you always put me before yourself."
"I'll always be there Luke..."
"You don't have to be."
"But... I want to be."
Luke smiles fondly at the other and continues, "I... I actually wrote a song, but I was scared when I realized I had fallen for you. The song was filled with things you would always say to me when I was having my breakdowns. I didn't want our friendship to be ruined too..., so I never showed you. I- I should've shown you, but... I was just so glad I had you as my best friend. You still are and I'm happy this way!"
"Yeah... I wish I would've known.. except, I didn't fully realize my feelings for you, so it wouldn't have worked out."
Luke shrugs and answers, "I guess it was.. the right person at the wrong time kind of situation..."
Right person?
"Yeah..."
Luke stands up and walks to grab his music journal. He flips through the pages before he reaches a song that is hidden near the back of the book. He hands it to Reggie and Reggie squints, trying to see what the words say.
"Luke- I- uh.." Reggie laughs, pointing at the handwriting, "I can't read this."
"Oh yeah, yikes! I'll just... read it for you!"
Reggie leans in as Luke takes the book and he takes a deep breath before beginning.
Tell me something you never told before
Before I walk through the door, I adore you, I adore you
I do, I do
Smile with me and cry with me
I won't ever tell a soul
Hold my hand
I'll squeeze it back
And I'll never let go
Luke continues before pausing at the chorus. He looks up at Reggie and softly he reads,
"Dry your tears up, all your crying
Cannot fix me up my darling
Fix me up my darling" Luke reads before saying, "This part I think would switch to my point of view... I didn't finish the song, but... I wanted to show you."
Reggie exhaled and said, "I love it..."
"Thanks Reggie."
"Thank you, Luke."
Reggie looks back at the song before he gets an idea.
Julie walks in and stops when she sees the two boys.
"You guys going alright?" Julie asks, laughing a little.
"Yeah! Luke has a song he's been working on! We think it would be really good for the band! I mean... it's not like our usual stuff, but it has potential."
Reggie hands the book to Julie and Luke's jaw drops. He looks over at Reggie and whisper yells,
"Reggie... are you sure? That song is about y- I just-"
He stops when he sees Julie reading the lyrics and he rubs his arm nervously. Looking over to see Reggie smirking.
"Luke.... this song.... it's beautiful... what is it about?" Julie asks, looking up at him.
"It's... it's about someone really important to me," Luke replies and he turns to look over at Reggie for a moment, but then he turns back to Julie who didn't seem to notice.
Julie blushes, thinking it might be about her. Reggie notices this, but instead of frowning, he smiles a little.
Out of excitement, Julie quickly pulls Luke to the keyboard and the two go back to jotting down song lyrics.
Reggie thinks about what Luke had told him...
Right person..., wrong time
It should hurt more than it does. Reggie feels more content and relieved than he had earlier. He's okay with Luke not feeling the same way now because they still have their friendship. That's what mattered most to him. Reggie's not over his feelings, obviously, but...
At least he knows Luke cares.
That's enough for him.
Maybe in another universe... those two worked out. Maybe it was the right time for them in another world.
Reggie looks at Luke knowingly and Luke smiles back before mouthing a, "thank you".
Reggie smirks and throws finger guns at the other boy before stepping out of the shed, feeling a weight being lifted from his chest, but a small sting still stays.
Im sorry for starting this off with angst! Ha!
At least it ended with a semi- happy ending 😂
The ownership and writers of the song are Zach Sobeich and Sammy from the band A Firm Handshake. Please check out the song and give it some love out of respect for Sammy, Zach, and his family! ❤️
RIP Zach Sobeich ❤️😊 (he passed away a few years ago, but I still want to show my respect).