A/N: Chapter song: Born to Run by American Authors

I'm going to slow down the update schedule after this because posting every day, even though it makes me super proud of myself, is stressful and I don't want to burn out on this fic. I'll be posting twice a week after this update. Tuesday's and Friday's. It might change if I have the chapter finished sooner.

Luke had not gone to sleep after Alex's text. Instead he had stayed up all night writing. Ideas for Alex's song along with ideas for others. Alex's chorus, which was perfect, all they'd need now was just to build around it. He'd need Reggie's input for the chords and progressions. Alex's and Julie's to build on the rest of the song.

The song felt like it needed the four of them. It had all of the makings of an anthem and didn't every great rock band need an anthem?

Thankfully it was a Sunday, their homework had been done for the weekend and if they could complete this one song today, then that would leave them with almost three weeks to come up with the other two songs they needed.

Luke to Soulmatez 6:24 AM: Don't make any plans today, we're gonna be writing all day. Gotta get this song done. Bring your song books.

Julie 9:02 AM: Alex you owe me 10

Alex: I shoulda known better

Reggie: Sir, yes sir!

Luke: ?

Flynn: They bet that you'd go into drill mode today

Luke: Rude!

Willie: Accurate

Luke: w.e I'll be at the studio whenever you guys decide to get to work. Preferably within the next 10 min

Alex: Translation: You have your marching orders, troops. Get to it.

Julie: Sounds about right

Luke: I hate you all

Luke smiled at his phone. They knew him too well. He knew they were probably still in bed but Rose and Ray would be up so he got dressed and made his way over to Julie's. As he dressed and brushed his teeth, the conversation he'd had with his parents replayed in his head.

Flashback:

They'd just walked into the house, back from celebrating his birthday. He went upstairs to put away his gifts and clothes before coming back down to talk to his parents.

Emily placed three cups of tea and three slices of the tres leches cake that Rose had sent them home with on the table.

"Hey mom." Luke walked into the kitchen and kissed his mom on the cheek before sitting at the table and digging into the cake. He'd already had three slices, what was one more?

Emily smiled at him as Mitch walked in to join them. It was the first time in a long while that Luke's voice hadn't been tinged with anger. It was the first time since he was little that he initiated physical affection, her heart swelled.

"Hi Hon, are you feeling up to talking or are you too tired?" She asked.

"No, I'm still pumped. Did you see the band? They were great! And Julie, she wrote me a song, mom!" Emily laughed and nodded.

"She is pretty great, isn't she?" Mitch offered.

"She's a wrecking ball!" Luke slapped the table to punctuate his words and leaned back in his chair, staring off into space. Emily and Mitch grinned at each other.

"Listen, son. I think we need to clear some things up. I don't want there to be any more miscommunication between us okay?" Mitch started. Emily nodded in support. Luke sat up and gave them his attention. It didn't sound like the beginning of every conversation they'd had in the last few years, he hoped it wouldn't become that.

"You know how hard it's been for me, right? Having to leave my dreams in the past. Coming to terms with the fact that they weren't achievable for me. I never meant to make you feel the same. I just wanted to spare you the pain of it. Do you understand?" Emily explained. Luke nodded in response. There was a lump in his throat, he didn't want to talk just yet.

"It's not that we don't think you guys are great or that you're not good enough. It's just such a one in a million chance, you know? And the industry, it's so cutthroat. We just worry for you all. All we want is for you to have something to fall back on, in case it doesn't work out. The last thing we'd ever want is for you to live a life that feels unfulfilled." Mitch continued.

"There is no plan B, guys. Music? It's my thing. It's the only path I want, the only one I can take. There is no other option." Luke said. Emily nodded. Her son lived and breathed music, it was no surprise that he'd be so adamant about pursuing it.

"You're young, right now it seems as though everything is in reach. Like all you have to do is reach out and grab it. Right? The older you get, the farther away it feels. So chase your dreams, be something greater than us. Build a legacy, manifest your destiny. Just remember that no matter what, we're here for you, okay?" Emily finished. There was no controlling it now, the tears overflowed and Luke launched himself off of the chair and came around the table to hug his parents as tight as he could.

Later he ran up to his room and wrote down his mothers words:

Be something greater

Go make a legacy

Manifest destiny

Those words were the most important he'd ever heard his mother say. They buzzed in his head and he knew that they were potential lyrics.

End Flashback

He ran out of the house after grabbing some toast and chugging the orange juice his mom had ready for him on the counter. Kissing her cheek and ruffling his dad's hair on his way out.

He got to the studio and was unsurprised to find it empty. He dropped off his bag and notebook by the piano and went to the back door. Looking in, he saw Rose with Carlos at the table and Ray at the stove making breakfast. He knocked twice to signal his arrival and then let himself in.

"Morning, Luke. Julie's not up yet." Ray said for his place at the stove, flipping pancakes as he went.

"That's fine, I was gonna start working on songs for the Orpheum while I waited. Just wanted to say hello first."

"Morning, mijo. Grab a seat, going to have to fill your stomach if you're planning on assembling the troops." Rose said. Luke walked around to say hello to Carlos who squealed loudly and basically demanded Luke pick him up. Ray placed a stack of pancakes in front of him.

"Why is everyone saying that?" He asked. He wasn't looking for an answer, he knew why but Ray gave one anyway.

"Well...you do get kind of intense when you have a gig coming up." Okay, intense was a nice way of saying overbearing but Luke appreciated it anyway.

Julie walked in then, her Gryffindor pajama pants scrunched up on top of her fuzzy monster feet slippers. She had Luke's Blink-182 t-shirt on. Her hair was extra frizzy and he found it extremely adorable. He couldn't help himself, he leaned over the kitchen island, put his head on his hand and admired the view as he dipped a pancake into peanut butter with his other hand.

He knew he had to be too young to feel the way he did but how was he supposed to tell his heart that? When she laid claim to every cell in his body, when his brain turned to mush at just the sight of her in pajamas, when her voice had the power to incapacitate him.

"Intense is a nice way of saying drill sergeant. But yeah, dad's right." Luke was going to answer but Julie held up a hand and looked at him in fond exasperation.

"Give me twenty minutes to become human, please." He closed his mouth and nodded. She walked up and whispered 'thanks', kissing him on the cheek.

He could hear Flynn, Alex, and Reggie walking up to the door. Alex and Reggie discussing lyrics. Flynn asking them about wardrobe preferences.

It took twenty five minutes to get everyone out of the house and into the studio. Luke was bouncing by the tenth and by the eighteenth Flynn had clapped her hands onto his shoulders and physically kept him in his seat. By the twenty second Luke was bouncing again under Flynn's hands and the rest of them took pity on him and made their way to the studio.

Luke laid out the notebook with the chorus written in the middle of the page, on top of the piano. Alex, Reggie, and Julie gathered around him. Flynn was on the couch scrolling through pinterest for inspiration. She had a notebook open in front of her writing out sizes and colors of each band member.

"How about, for the intro" Reggie started singing, his deep voice making the lyrics sound like butter.

I'm born to run down rocky cliffs

Give me grace, bury my sins

Shattered glass and black holes

Can't hold me back from where I need to go

Luke looked over at his friend with worried eyes. The Lyrics had come a little too easy for him and he looked to Julie who mirrored his expression. They hoped that everything was going well but they were ready in case it wasn't.

"Wow, that's really good!" Julie said

"Always the tone of surprise." Reggie smiled and winked at her, she bumped his shoulder with hers. Julie turned back to the page writing out Reggie's words on the first lines.

"How about this?" She sang, her own voice bringing the sound they so loved, breathy and slightly wild.

Yellow hills and valleys deep

I watch them move under my feet

Stranger things have come and gone

To see the world and take the throne

"Perfect! Alex? Any more ideas?" Luke asked, turning to the blonde expectantly.

He was quiet for a moment as he worked the words over in his head, mentally moving them around and crossing out words that didn't fit.

Don't hold back

Oh, I won't hold back

"For the pre-chorus and then" Alex continued, his head bobbing along to the melody swirling in his mind.

I wanna see Paris, I wanna see Tokyo

I wanna be careless even if I break my bones

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young

Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

"Oh! I got it!" Luke hummed as he wrote

A winding road where strangers meet

To feel the love of a warm drink

My body moves, it's speaking loud

Don't have to say what I'm thinking now

"And then maybe we repeat this bridge and the chorus. I already have a few ideas for the arrangement too" Reggie said.

"This is gonna be so good!" Julie added.

"We keep going like this and we might have an entire album by the time we go on stage." Luke was beaming and so proud of his band, his friends.

Willie walked in then, walking over greet them around the piano, Alex getting a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey! Where's my kiss?" Reggie asked. Willie smiled at him and walked over, taking Reggie's face in his hands and squishing his cheeks together. He laid a super wet kiss to Reggie's forehead. Reggie beamed at him and Alex laughed and rolled his eyes.

They spent the rest of the week writing songs and had come up with five new songs. Three of them were going to be used for the Orpheum performance, the rest added to their library. Yet again they were practicing every day, only getting breaks for food and sleep.

When Alex had brought up his impending date with Willie, Luke had agreed to give everyone a day off so the following Saturday they all split up. Flynn and Reggie had taken off to the beach where they'd spend the day before heading to the pier for some rides. Luke and Julie had secluded themselves in the studio, continuing to bounce ideas off of each other.

"What better way to spend our day off than making beautiful music together?" It was a joke but Luke's heart fluttered all the same. No one understood him like she did.

"So are you gonna tell me which beach we're going to?" Alex asked when he got into the uber Willie had ordered after having breakfast with the Ryder's.

"Nope, it's a surprise. It's one of SoCal's best kept secrets." Willie responded, winking at him.

They drove for about fifteen minutes before getting dropped off in front of a bungalow style house. There was a porch that wrapped around the structure with beach chairs, umbrellas, surf boards and everything else you'd need for a day spent in the sand and sun.

"What is this place?" Alex was walking over, looking at the house as if it held all of his dreams within its walls. It was beautiful. He could totally see himself living in a place like this.

"My house." Willie answered, smiling at the expression on Alex's face.

"Seriously? You literally live in paradise!" Willie laughed and walked over to look around, trying to see his childhood home through his boyfriend's eyes.

The sun was high in the sky, blue and almost blinding in its intensity. The trees, both palm and otherwise, surrounding his house shone like emeralds under the light. He looked around and saw the short driveway done up in cracked cement, grass and sand mixed to surround the home and the white sand that stretched behind it, cut by the sharp line of the sparkling blue ocean in the distance.

Yeah, he could see why Alex was so taken by it. They were the only house for about a mile. It was quiet, secluded, and most of all right on the beach. Willie came up and took Alex's hand, twining their fingers together. Before they could speak though, a tall thin woman opened the door.

She was beautiful, with high cheekbones and a jaw that could cut glass. Her hair was as dark as Willie's but longer, hanging down to her waist in two thick braids. She had warm brown eyes and a very kind face.

"Hi, Bunny! You didn't tell me you were going to be coming back so soon." Bunny? Alex thought with a smile and looked at Willie. And then, he realised he was still holding Willlie's hand. He tried to pull away but expecting this, Willie tightened his hold.

"Hey, mom! We're gonna be surfing today so I thought I'd bring Alex to the best beach in Cali." He answered. Willie pulled Alex over so they stood directly in front of her.

"Alex, this is my mom. Mom, this is Alex, my boyfriend." Alex's eyes widened. His throat went dry and his words froze in his throat.

The Ryder's had accepted Willie, but they understood Alex's situation more than anyone. He'd never thought about a situation where he would be introduced as someone's boyfriend. As a boy's boyfriend. His parents would have thrown a fit and probably drowned them both in holy water. He didn't have a frame of reference for a situation like this, a situation where both mother and child looked completely at ease, as if nothing about this was abnormal. It's not. I have to stop thinking like that. Jason would be so upset if he knew I thought this. His rushing thoughts were cut off.

"Alex? The Rockstar? I've heard so much about you. I'm so glad to finally meet you." Her smile was wide and bright, her eyes crinkling in the corners. Everything about her was so inviting.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Watts." She came over and hugged him close. Welcoming and so motherly that Alex almost wanted to cry at how much he'd missed a mother's embrace. Rose had tried and succeeded majorly in showering him with motherly affection but something about this encounter was wildly different. He'd have to examine it closer at a later time.

"No! None of that. Call me Leia." She said as she hugged tighter. "Yes, my father was a huge star wars fan." Alex laughed at that. Willie was beaming from the side.

"Have you guys eaten? Can't go out there on an empty stomach." She smiled.

"Yeah, Alex's dad's made us eat breakfast before we left but we'll come back in for lunch." Willie answered. She nodded, patted them both on the cheeks at the same time and went back inside shouting "Have fun." before closing the door.

Willie walked up to the porch grabbing two boards. One shorter than the other. He recognized the shorter one from the day they'd met. It was blue and had different sea creatures painted all over it. The second was longer and wider, Willie walked up and handed it to Alex.

"Long boards are easier for learning, better for balance and traction to keep you on the board." Alex nodded and smiled. He took Willie's hand and tugged him towards the beach.

Willie spent an hour with Alex teaching him how to balance on the board. First in the sand where he held Alex's hips to keep him steady. Then coming up behind him to correct his posture and footing so that their skin touched at every available point. Alex didn't need the sun to warm him after that, his body was doing a fine job on it's own.

Then he brought the board into the water where the waves were just crashing over the shore. They spent another thirty minutes there until Willie was certain he was comfortable enough to go out deeper.

"Ready to try the big leagues?" Willie asked after Alex stayed on his board for the third time.

"I was born ready, Bunny." Willie busted out laughing at that.

"Yeah, she loves to tell the story and I'm sure you'll hear it when we go in for lunch. When I was little, I had a lot of energy. Like, a lot. My favorite mode of transportation, for lack of a better word, was… bouncing. Literally. That's why she calls me Bunny." Alex grinned at that, picturing a little Willie hopping around his house while his mom chased after him.

"That might be the most adorable mental image I've ever been gifted. Thank you. I'll be thinking about that for the next month." Willie laughed and pointed at the water.

"Hopefully I'll give you other things to think about." Willie winked at him and picked up his board. Alex flushed.

"Let's go. The water's perfect." He pointed at Alex's longboard.

Willie watched as Alex surfed. At first he was awkward and clumsy but within twenty minutes, he surfed like he owned the ocean. He was confident on the board and his posture was perfect. This definitely wasn't his first time on the waves and all of the sudden Willie felt completely bamboozled. He'd been played and it was the cutest thing he'd ever experienced.

Alex paddled up next to him and Willie admired the view. His hair was wet and slicked back making it look about three shades darker. Droplets of water were making their way down his back, his arms, his chest. Alex looked at him and his blue eyes sparkled with joy. Suddenly Willie was extremely thirsty.

"If you just wanted some...close contact, all you had to do was ask." Willie said with a wink. Alex's eyebrows shot up a question in his eyes.

"Come on, you're completely comfortable out here. This is not your first time." Willie said. Alex laughed nervously at being caught.

"I learned when I was eleven. Reggie decided that if music didn't work out we'd join the national surfing team. Didn't exactly work out but it's one of my favorite activities now. Aside from the drums it helps a lot with my anxiety. There's something extremely calming about being out in the ocean." Willie smiled and nodded in understanding.

"You're full of surprises, Lex." Alex smiled at the sound of the nickname.

They spent the rest of the day surfing, at some point Willie had abandoned his board on the beach and instead, they shared the longboard. Trying to push each other off as they hit the bigger waves. They went in for lunch where Leia told him every embarrassing story about Willie she could think of.

They brought the day to a close in the middle of the water, watching the sun set. Willie straddled the board in the back and Alex was in front, leaning back, his arms hanging off over Willies legs on either side, his fingers gently dancing through the calm water. His head rested on Willie's chest, his arms around Alex's shoulders, resting on his stomach.

It was a perfect day and Alex hoped the rest of his friends had the same perfect day. They had. Luke and Julie had spent the day alternating between writing, playing, and chasing Carlos around the yard. If they snuck away a few times to make out, well that was their business.

Flynn and Reggie had swam, sun bathed, walked along the beach and then made their way over to the pier where Reggie had won her the world's largest stuffed dragon at the water gun races. They'd ridden the ferris wheel and taken selfies at the very top as the sun set behind them. She'd rubbed Reggie's back when he'd insisted he'd be fine going on the pirate ship right after eating an entire funnel cake by himself and promptly throwing it up. Thank the universe that he'd held it until they got off. She gagged at the thought of what would have happened if he'd thrown up on the ride.

Over all it had been a much needed break. No matter how much they lived and breathed music, they still needed time to themselves. Julie had invited them over for a sleepover and a movie, that way Ray would drive them all to school in the morning since he was headed that way for work.

By eight, they all piled onto the air mattresses Julie and Luke had set up in the living room and took votes on what to watch. Lilo and Stitch won. They laid under blankets, piled on pillows. Heads on chests, legs tangled, arms thrown over each other. No one knew who they were touching aside from the person directly next to them but somehow everyone was touching and it was absolutely heavenly.

The smell of sun and ocean tickled Julie's nose and she inhaled deeply, letting the scent bring her comfort. Luke did the same except it was the scent of peonies, the perfume his mother had gifted Julie. Flynn had her head on Reggie's chest and basked in the smell of her friends. Her people, her home. All of them so different and yet so similar at the same time.

Yeah, this is home. Alex thought as he ran his fingers through Willie's hair while the other boy's head was in his lap.

"This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good." Reggie recited as Stitch said the words. Speaking them to the people around him. He snuggled in deeper into the cuddle pile and they shifted closer to him.

Rose smiled sadly from the kitchen where she and Ray were making tea. She had a pit in her stomach that she couldn't get rid of whenever she thought of Reggie and hearing him say these words made it grow about ten sizes.

"We've got them, mi amor. Let's go to bed." Ray took her hand and led her upstairs.

Flynn's phone chimed as Rose and Ray climbed the stairs behind them, and then continued to chime for the next twenty minutes until all of them yelled at her to silence it. She reached for it but the screen caught her attention before she could flip the switch.

Notifications both from YouTube and Instagram streamed over her screen. Followers and comments, and likes, and shares, moving faster than she could track.

"Ugh.. guys? I think we just went viral." She opened the YouTube app to the video of Bright showing 576K views and climbing...in under a week. Their Instagram follower count was at 64K, shooting up by thirty thousand in six days.

"We really are genius' " Willie said. Flynn held out her hand and he gave her a high five.

"So this is really happening then?" Julie asked.

"Fuck yes it is!" Luke whooped and then quieted down when they all shushed him.

"I love you guys!" Reggie whisper-shouted. They all laughed and answered with various "We love you too's" floating around the room. None of them went to sleep before four that night. Too amped up by all the things that had gone right for them.