"we wanted to tell you that," her dad pauses again. "Rose was, is, your biological mother."
styx felt the world around her stop as the words repeated in her head. she couldn't breath, she felt like the room was sinking in around her.
she began stuttering out incoherent sounds, trying to form some sort of statement or even a comprehensive thought, but she couldn't.
"we know, this is a lot to take in." her pops says slowly.
both her fathers were watching styx carefully. her eyes were darting around the room, as she was still trying, and failing, to speak.
"but try to stay calm-"
"calm?!" styx cut her dad off, the statement somehow triggering her anger. she jumped up from her seat as the words started pouring out of her mouth. "you- you lied to me! for 17 years!" she shouts, pacing in front of them. "about the woman who birthed me! who was also the main female role model in my life! who just died!" she continues.
both her dads were taken back by her anger. they had both expected more confusion or sadness. but all of those emotions were currently being reserved for the ghost boys in her life, so anger was the only outlet she had.
"and you choose now to tell me?" she stops pacing to face them.
"you've been feeling so close to julie with the band, and when you were born we all decided to wait until you girls were 18 to tell you, but then last year," he pops trails off, glancing down sadly.
"yeah! last year!" she yells. "i knew her for 16 years and you never told me. a-and now she's gone, and i-" styx feel tears forming in her eyes, and she felt like throwing up. "i can't do this." she spins on her heels and walks towards the door. both of her dads were quickly behind her.
"where are you going?" her pops asks as she pulls on her shoes.
"julie's." she states, though she wasn't sure if she would even be able to stay over there. "or should i say, my sister's." she adds snidely, causing her dad to roll his eyes.
"no, you aren't." he states. "take your shoes off and let's talk about this."
"yeah, well, how's this for talking?" she pulls open the door and spins to glare at them. "bite me."
she slams the door shut, running to her car and quickly getting in. she pulled out of the driveway as fast as she could.
she didn't go to julie's straight away, instead she texted to ask if she could stay the night. while waiting for a response, she was just driving around the neighbourhood trying to clear her head.
so much new information had been dumped on her today and she couldn't handle it. how was all this happening? how is it possible?
and how the hell was she going to tell julie?
julie finally responded saying she was already in bed, but when styx said she needed a place to stay for the night, julie told her she could stay in the studio.
after driving around for a while longer, she finally pulled up to the molinas. she took a moment in the car, trying to collect herself. she hadn't completely realized that she had tears streaming down her face.
she focused on taking deep, steady breaths as she made her way down the path to the studio. she pulled open the door to see the ghost boys spread out around the room.
"why are you here? what's wrong? are you okay?" reggie asks quickly, noticing the distraught look on her face. reggie stood to his feet and sped across the room to her.
she wanted to say yes, to be strong because she knew the boys were the ones in real pain, but she couldn't speak. styx felt tears begin to form in her eyes again and she just shook her head and looked down, hugging her arms around herself.
reggie immediately wrapped his arms around the girl, pulling her to his chest and gently rubbing her back. she sobbed into his shoulder as he lead her across the room to the couch.
she sat between reggie and alex, still sobbing. luke made his way across the room to sit in the chair across from them. the boys watched her carefully while also glancing at each other with confused looks.
"what's wrong?" reggie repeats softly and styx sits up slightly, wiping under her eyes.
"my- my dads just told me," styx took a deep breath, trying to find the strength to say it out loud. "that julie's mom, is my biological mother." tears continue to fall from her eyes as the boys absorb the information.
"woah." alex lets out a sharp breath. styx nodded, still sobbing slightly.
"and then what?" luke asks hesitantly.
"and then i left." she explains, wiping under her eyes. "they lied to me, for 17 years, and then they wait until a year after she had passed to tell me." styx shakes her head.
her anger was beginning to build and she didn't want that. she took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down as reggie continued to rub circles on her back.
"did they explain why they told you now?" alex asks softly.
"because of the band." she answers quietly. "they said that since i'd been feeling so close to julie and music, they thought it would be a good time."
styx watched as all the boys faces fall, all looking slightly guilty. she wasn't trying to make them feel bad, she loved this band. but they all knew if they hadn't showed up, her life wouldn't be nearly as messy as it is now.
none of the ghosts knew what to say. they just glanced at each other, all of them wondering what they could do to make the girl feel better.
"i don't even know what to say." alex says, and styx looks at him. he offers her a small smile, hoping that might make her feel even the slightest bit better.
"it's okay," styx nods, taking a deep breath. "you guys don't have to worry about me."
"we'll always worry about you." reggie tells her, making styx smile slightly. the other two boys nod in agreement.
"are you going back?" luke asks, speaking for the first time since styx had arrived.
"not tonight." she shook her head.
"does julie know?" he asks, his voice almost in a whisper. styx shook her head slightly, making all the boys faces fill with nervousness.
"i don't know what i'm going to do." she mumbles, rubbing her hands over her face. "but i'm not going to worry about any of that until after tomorrow."
her voice became more confident as she continued talking. a big part of her was just changing the subject because she didn't want to talk about this anymore. she still couldn't even figure it out.
"for the next twenty-four hours, nothing matters except how amazing we're going to be playing the orpheum." she tells them, her voice somewhat excited. the boys all perked up slightly, small smiles growing on each of their faces.
"you wanna go there?" reggie asks with a smirk, looking to the other boys.
"to the orpheum?" she questions, raising an eyebrow. "won't there be people there?"
"nah, we were there like an hour ago and everyone was leaving." alex assures her. she checked her phone and realized that it was almost one in the morning. it didn't feel like it was that late, so much had happened today and it went by so fast.
styx felt a grin grow on her face as she looked to the other boys. they were smiling widely at her, and she nodded quickly. reggie laced his fingers with her and she saw a familiar flash of bright light.
she opened her eyes, and she was standing centre stage facing the empty room. reggie was still holding her hand, as luke and alex were already looking around. she let out a small laugh in excitement, making reggie grin even wider.
"this is so cool." she states, walking closer to the edge of the stage.
reggie followed with her, keeping a tight grip on her hand. he didn't know how much longer he would actually be able to hold her, and he wanted as much time as he could get.
styx didn't want to let go either. she never got tired of the way his hand felt in hers. it sent sparks through her whole body and she already knew it was a feeling she would be longing for, for the rest of her life.
"this is going to be insane!" luke says, hoping across the room and spinning to look around. "i can't wait to play here."
"we still don't know if we're actually going to get to play here." reggie reminds him, as he and styx take a seat on the edge of the stage.
"don't worry, willie said he could do it." alex speaks up, walking past luke to stand next to where styx was sitting.
"and it's going to work." styx says. "we're gonna book this gig, rock that stage, and you guys will cross over, and everything will be fine."
her smile fades slightly at the end, as do the rest of the boys. styx feels reggie's grip on her hand tighten, and she squeezed his hand back. he smiles softly at her.
alex and luke glanced at each other briefly, exchanging knowing looks. alex cleared his throat slightly.
"uh, we're gonna head back, we'll see you guys at the studio." he says, before he and luke poofed away.
styx let out a small laugh and turned to look up at reggie, who was already staring at her. he was smiling slightly but she could see the pain behind his eyes.
she desperately wished there was a way that she could help them without them having to leave. but flynn was right, she had to let them go, it's what they deserve. they've made her so happy, and they should get to be happy too. even if it's not with her.
styx wasn't sure how long they had been sitting there looking at each other. it felt like ages but she didn't care. she loved looking at him. she wanted to memorize every single feature so she could have it forever.
he slowly leaned closer to her, pressing his lips to hers for the second time. styx suddenly felt like she forgot all the horrible things going on. all of the anger and sadness that had been filling her head just drifted away.
reggie just had this magic about him, he made her feel better just by being near her. but when they kissed, it was like a whole other level of feeling. she didn't know how to describe it, other than complete and utter bliss.
he pulled back, resting his forehead on hers and smiling slightly.
"sorry," his eyes are locked on hers and he was pretty sure he couldn't look away even if he tried. "i just had to do that at least one more time." he explains and styx let out a small chuckle.
"how about two more?" she asks with a grin and he nods slightly, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and kissing her again.
both of them relaxed into the kiss. neither of them ever wanted to leave this moment. they just wanted to freeze time, and stay here forever. when they kissed, everything just felt so simple, so easy. it was a feeling neither of them had ever felt before.
when they finally pulled apart, neither of them said anything for a moment. they just smiled at each other.
"it's late, you should probably get some sleep." reggie says eventually, grabbing her hand again. she nodded slightly, still smiling, and he flashed them back to the studio.
they landed on the couch, where luke and alex were sitting on the chairs waiting for them.
"you two have fun?" luke teased, wiggling his eyebrows, and styx rolled her eyes.
"i'm still not opposed to punching you." she tells him, walking across the room to where she had a bag of clothes. she had ended up keeping some of her things here with the amount she had been sleeping over at julie's due to late night band rehearsal.
"trust me, it hurts more than the jolts." reggie says with a nod, making luke's eyes go wide.
"never mind, have a good night sleep!" luke says quickly before poofing away.
styx laughed slightly and shook her head as she walked to the bathroom to change.
when she came back out, alex was gone too. reggie patted the spot on the couch next to him and she grinned again, laying down next to him and resting her head in his lap.
he chuckled softly and began running his hands through her hair as she drifted to sleep.
~*~
when styx woke up the next morning, she wasn't surprised to see that none of the guys were there. they were going to meet willie to fulfill the plan they put in place last night.
she quickly got up and changed, texting julie to let her know she was still in the studio. styx also realized she now had to come up with a reason good enough for her leaving home without telling julie the truth just yet.
the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. she had always felt so connect to julie and rose, and even carlos. styx really had always felt like she was a part of the family, and apparently she really was all along.
she just didn't understand why her dads would lie, or why they would wait to tell her the truth. she had so many questions and emotions running through her mind, but she knew she had to focus. the only thing she could worry about today was the show.
she also realized that she never actually got a chance to tell her dads about their show tonight. she wasn't sure if she wanted them there, but she also didn't not want them there. she decided, for now, to wait until they actually knew for sure if they even had the gig.
"hey, are you okay?" julie says quickly, opening the doors to the studio.
"yeah, i'm okay." styx says with a nod. "i just got in a fight, with my dads and i couldn't stay there." she explains, hoping it will be enough.
julie looked at her skeptically, unsure whether she should push for more information or not. she decided to just let it go for now, they could talk about it later.
"okay," she says slowly. she glances around the room quickly. "the guys left already?" she asks and styx nods.
"yeah, they were already gone when i got up." styx informs her, looking around.
"so, what do we do now?" julie asks, rocking back and forth on her feet.
"wait, i guess." styx shrugs.
the room falls silent for a moment before they both let out small sighs. they spent the rest of the morning anxiously waiting in the studio for the boys to return.
~*~