Chapter 10
After a little bit, the band finished their set, and as promised Carrie recorded the whole thing and Trevor was sending it to his label, but Alex and Reggie asked for the first song to be left out. It was Alex’s song. They wanted to share it with their friends, not the world.
Over the next few months, they had several meetings with an agent, and Trevor and Ray were present for all of them, making sure their kids weren’t getting a bad deal and wouldn’t need to hide parts of themselves like Trevor had to steer away from his old friends, Ryan and Chad. Nicks dads had welcomed him back into their lives like no time had passed when he apologized to Nick and Dylan. When all was said and done, the kids were halfway through their senior year, and they were signed to a music label to start upon graduation. To celebrate, the band went cosmic bowling with their friends.
“Baby!” Reggie laughed after Alex threw his ball straight in the gutter again, “You need to aim.”
“I’m trying!” Alex answered, a look of confused concentration on his face, “This is hard.”
“Of all of us, you should have the most hand-eye coordination, man.” Nick added, “Except maybe Dylan.” He gestured to his own drummer boyfriend.
Luke nudged Reggie, “Why don’t you show him how it’s done?” Reggie looked up, and halfway through the the first game he was the only one breaking a hundred.
Reggie made his way up to Alex as he grabbed his ball from the return, “Want me to help?”
Alex scoffed but immediately followed it up with a nod, “Please?”
“Of course. I’ll get to put my arms around you.” Reggie winked, and Alex blushed in the colorful lights. Reggie stood behind the taller boy, wrapping his hands around Alex’s as he brought the ball up to his chest. “When you swing the ball forward, make sure your thumb is pointed straight at where you’re aiming. Okay?” He walked him through practice swings before Alex actually released, knocking down all the pins to get a spare. “There you go!” Reggie grinned, Alex spun around and pulled Reggie into a kiss.
“Alexander!” They sprang apart at the loud voice, turning to see Alex’s mom standing there with his thirteen year old sister. Reggie watched as the color drained from his boyfriend’s face.
“Mom-“
“Don’t you dare call me that. We knew there was something wrong with you. Let’s go, Madison.” She grabbed the girl’s hand, turning away to leave.
“What? Mom, no!” She pulled on her arm, trying to get it free from her grasp. “So what if Alex kissed Reggie? They’ve been into each other for years!”
“You knew?” Their mother gasped, releasing her hand and extending her arm to slap her across the face. “Why wouldn’t you warn us so we could’ve saved him?”
Alex ran forward, cradling his little sister in his arms. “Madi! Are you okay?” Reggie moved between his love and their mother, trying to be a protector, “Reggie, what are you doing?”
“I’m not going to let her hurt either of you.” Reggie answered, trying to control his shaking hands.
“It makes sense that my broken son would want someone broken.” Missus Joyner scoffed. Flynn was beside Reggie a second later.
“Neither of them are broken.” She crossed her arms, glaring at the older woman.
“You know what? Keep them both. After how hard we work for him, after letting him play in your silly band, he’s still just a sad excuse of a son.” She turned on her heel and marched toward the doors. But Reggie wasn’t going to let her talk about Alex like that.
“You barely even know him!” Missus Joyner stopped, turning to look at Reggie. He hated fighting, he hated arguing, but he was going to fight for Alex. “He’s top of our class because he tries. He has a big heart, and he helps anyone that needs it. And he’s gonna be one of the greatest drummers of our generation because he puts in the effort, and one day you’re gonna hear his name when they talk about rock legends- rock icons, and you’re gonna regret never taking the actual time to learn about him.” Missus Joyner just walked out. Reggie wanted to follow her, wanted to make sure she knew exactly what she was leaving behind, but those thoughts left when he saw the tears on Alex’s cheeks, “Baby, please don’t cry. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“No need,” Carrie announced as she put away her phone, “Daddy says they’re coming home with me.”
“Reg, you- you stood up for me.” Alex muttered quietly, his boyfriend barely heard him over the music.
“Of course I did.” Reggie scrunched his face up in confusion, “Why wouldn’t I?”
Madi nudged her way out of Alex’s arms, pushing her brother at the bassist, “Because he’s worried ‘cause you generally have your own panic attacks when there are arguments.” Reggie blinked at her.
“You knew we liked each other?” He blurted, Alex laughed threw his tears, wrapping his arms around Reggie’s waist.
“Of course.” She answered, like it was obvious as Carrie and Flynn threw their arms around her shoulders with a look of ‘we like her’, “You guys have been joined at the hip for over a decade, and stared dreamily at each other whenever the other wasn’t looking. Quite frankly I was surprised Luke didn’t notice before he asked you out.”
Luke let out a yelp of indignation, “I didn’t ask him out!”
“You didn’t?” Reggie tilted his head, “I always thought you did.”
Alex sighed, dropping his forehead to Reggie’s shoulder, “I asked him out. I knew I got weird feelings whenever I was with you guys, and I knew Luke was into guys, so I assumed it was cause of him. God, I’m an idiot.”
“Maybe,” Reggie answered fondly, “But you’re my idiot.”