Part Vingt-six

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When Luke woke up that Sunday morning, he was incredibly disoriented. His eyes felt sticky, and there was some soft snoring coming from above him. And, oh, he was holding someone's hand?

He slowly turned and recognized Ray, memories of the previous evening flooding back. 'H-he stayed with me.' A few tears slipped out and he quickly reached up to wipe them away.

This movement, however, woke Ray, and he blinked, smiling down at Luke softly, squeezing his hand once before pulling away and stretching his arms over his head. *Yawn* "So, Luke, will you help be make breakfast burritos this morning? There's a lot of prep and several steps, so I could use an assistant."

Luke just stared at him for a moment, then, "Yes, of course. That would be great."

"Perfect! Now, why don't you go wash up a little, and I will start getting the ingredients out?"

Luke sat up and they both got off the couch. "Ray..." Luke's voice was small.

"Yeah, Luke?"

"Thank you."

Ray reached out and gently shook Luke's shoulder a little, "I've got you, mijo."

They shared a long look, and Luke finally just nodded, sniffling a bit and turned to go to the restroom and wash his face.

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Back in the studio, it had been a restless night for Reggie and Alex. They hadn't known, not really. Luke's family had always seemed like the most normal of the three of them, and he never really said much beyond the big thing, his mom not wanting him in the band.

Reggie had laid awake for quite awhile after the movies, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out when Luke had stopped telling them everything. He used to go to Luke's house when the fighting got bad between his parents, but then, Luke had started coming to his house, and then the studio once they got the couch. It had been almost gradual, and he felt awful for not really noticing. Even when Luke had written 'Unsaid Emily', the guys just thought it was about the big fight and that was it. They remembered Emily as loving and involved in Luke's life, to Reggie especially, that seemed like the best thing ever. Alex had always had complicated feelings about parents, there had been tension between him and his for almost as long as Reggie could remember, they had always pushed Alex towards more 'manly' stuff, but he just wasn't interested. 'But why didn't Luke ever say anything? That wasn't just about the band, that was a complete lack of understanding of Luke and everything that makes him happy and him, the little digs about the "music hobby" not to mention the little comments about how and what he should eat.' Reggie thought hard, 'Were there things I should have noticed back when we were younger? I mean, the look on his face at the table, stoic, with little flashes of hurt when she said things, it was kinda like watching someone be attacked and not lifting a hand to defend themselves. I know Julie told us to stay out here, and I believe Ray can help, but I need to be there for Luke too. We are going to need some serious time together tomorrow, he needs to know we're here for him and he didn't need to hide how bad he was really hurting.' Reggie finally fell into an uneasy sleep, he couldn't wait to give Luke a hug in the morning.

Alex was also awake late, he was on his side, staring into the darkness towards the door. 'I knew Luke always seemed to understand my problems with my parents, but that was crazy. There was obviously a lot more going on than just her wanting him to quit the band, and me and Reggie both missed it. We need to do better, he never hesitated to be there for us, always cheering us up and making us smile. I think we forgot he had a lot going on too.' Alex gasped, rolling onto his back, 'Oh, no, we've still been doing that, no wonder he's in there with Ray and Julie. We died and ended up ghosts and all he's done is encourage us and push us to look on the bright side. Sure, we knew about him visiting his parents, and we helped get Julie back in the band by showing her, but he's the one who even thought of asking her to be in the band in the first place! He was generous enough to help her, basically a stranger by giving her 'Bright', just so she could get back in the music program. We need to do better.' He tossed and turned for a long time, eventually falling into an exhausted sleep.

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The breakfast burritos were almost done, and Julie had made her way downstairs, her eyes still sleepy, and gone straight to Luke for a hug. She held him tight and he curled into her, his face buried in her hair, a position that had fast become one of their favorites.

Ray watched them out of the corner of his eye as he rolled the last of the breakfast burritos. A pang of nostalgia went through him, that was similar to the way he used to hold Rose. He sent a message up to her, 'Our daughter found a good one, honey. I still don't know if you had anything to do with sending them here, but it's been the best thing to happen since we lost you. Thank you.'

When Luke and Julie finally stepped back, immediately entwining their hands as a way to keep contact, he turned to them and smiled, "Mija, why don't you and Luke go wake everyone up and bring them in for breakfast?"

She smiled back at him, "Sure, Dad. We'll be right back."

They went out the back door. There was a lightness to Luke today that hadn't been there before, things weren't totally resolved, but Luke had needed last night with her dad. She paused on the last step, tugging on Luke's hand and pulling him around to face her. "I love you."

He blinked at her, before breaking into a huge heart-stopping version of her smile, "I love you too. So freaking much, Jules."

She beamed at him and leaned forward, dropping his hand to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. It was nice that she was still on the last step, and he was on the ground, it made them almost the same height. His arms slid around her, and they stayed wrapped together for a few long minutes, even after finally breaking the kiss, they pressed their foreheads together, just enjoying holding each other.

The creak of the studio door being pushed open intruded on their solitude, and they turned to see Carlos rubbing his eyes and yawning, his hair standing up everywhere. "Oh, hey. Is there breakfast?" There was a hopeful note in his voice, he loved that his dad was cooking more again.

"Yup. Guess what?" Julie grinned at her little brother.

His eyes went wide and he started jumping up and down a little. "No! Really?! Breakfast burritos?!"

"Yes!"

"Yuuuuummmm!" Carlos dodged past them and almost flew up the stairs, those were his favorite.

Julie and Luke laughed at his enthusiasm and walked into the studio to wake up the others, if Carlos's yelling hadn't done it already.

They found Willie sitting up, he nodded at them, "What was Carlos yelling about?"

"Breakfast, it's all ready, but it's his favorite, so you better get in there." Julie told him with a teasing look.

"Cool. Thanks guys."

Julie and Luke were left with just Alex, still asleep on his air mattress, and the faint sound of Reggie snoring from the loft.

She glanced at Luke, then up to the loft, and down to Alex at their feet. "I'm going to go make sure there's plenty of food left for you guys. Take your time, Luke." She went up on her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek, squeezing his hand. "Just talk to them, you all need it."

With a last reassuring nod, she slipped back out the door, leaving him alone with his friends, his family. It may have recently grown, but he, Alex, and Reggie were still brothers, and Julie was right, they needed to talk.

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Luke stood there, wondering about the best way to wake them both up at once. His eyes darted around the studio, finally falling on the piano. Julie had been teaching him a few basics, so he sauntered over and lifted the lid. Arranging his fingers carefully, he forcefully pressed down the keys for a C Major chord. The loud, bright sound did the trick. He heard Reggie snort mid snore and a slight thump as he rolled off his air mattress, Alex just bolted up, his head swiveling wildly, one drumstick held up in his hand, trying to figure out what was happening.

Luke couldn't hold back a laugh, his friends were ridiculous. And he loved them.

Finally Alex woke up enough to register Luke standing by the piano. "Luke!"

"Luke?!" Reggie's voice screeched from the loft, followed by scrambling and then Reggie was practically falling down the ladder in his haste.

Luke closed the piano lid and came out from behind it, just in time, too. The boys converged on him and threw their arms around him, practically smothering him in their efforts to convey how worried they had been.

"We didn't know it was so bad!"

"We love you, you could have told us!"

The rest of their words tumbled over each other and Luke couldn't quite catch any more. He desperately wiggled free, holding his hands up so they wouldn't grab him again. "Guys, it's fine."

They both crossed their arms and frowned at him.

"I promise. Ray took care of it, and we talked. I know there's some stuff I didn't tell you, and I'm sure I will tell you at some point, but for now, it's okay. I'm okay."

Alex and Reggie exchanged a long look, both of them clearly dubious about his claim of being okay.

"Guys, Ray is incredible. Just- if you ever have to talk about anything, just, he's there. I've never really had that, not exactly, and I know you haven't either. But, he's awesome. Trust me."

"Oo-kay, I guess." Alex still had trouble with the idea of good parents, last night with Luke's parents not helping. Ray had been so nice about Willie, and he hadn't done anything to make Alex wary, he had only been kind and generous with them. Alex did like him, so he could probably afford to loosen up and try to get to know him better.

"Yes! I told you guys he had a good heart."

Luke patted Reggie on the shoulder, "You were absolutely right, buddy."

"Luke." Alex fidgeted a bit with the hem of his shirt. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Luke was confused, Alex sounded so serious.

"We died, and then we came back, and me and Reggie kept freaking out about everything, and you just always stayed positive and tried to help us. We knew you were going to your parents', but I know I never really asked about it, or let you know you could talk to me. I wasn't very good about being there for you, and I'm sorry."

Reggie's eyes had widened, and he was nodding in agreement by the time Alex finished. "He's right. Even when we were stuck at the Club, you were thinking about Julie and encouraging us, we wouldn't have made it out if it weren't for you. I know you distracted Caleb so we could get away first. That's why you were flickering, why it took so long. He was directing all his power at you then, trying to keep you there."

Luke's eyes went cold, empty, and he shivered. That was one of the worst moments he could ever remember. It had hurt. He shook himself, 'One more thing to thank Julie for, if she hadn't been singing and found my eyes when I was flickering I would never have made it out.' He cleared his throat, "You guys don't have to be sorry. We're good."

"Well, we are sorry. And we promise we won't take you for granted anymore, Luke."

"Yeah, we're here for you, Luke, always."

"Aww, guys." He opened his arms and they united in a three-way group hug, happy that their bond would only be stronger after this.

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When they got inside, they found Julie fending Carlos off with a wooden spoon, clutching the edge of a platter of breakfast burritos, hiding them behind her on the counter. "No, you've had like 5! We have to save some for the others!"

Willie and Ray were leaning on the back of the couch, just watching in amusement. Ray saw them and leaned his head a bit to speak to Willie, his voice purposely loud enough to carry, "Should we tell them there's a whole other platter hidden in the oven?" Ray met Luke's eyes and winked. They had made a ton, but Ray had been giddy about playing this prank on Julie and Carlos. Luke grinned back at him warmly, Ray had a great sense of humor, he was so much fun.

"What?!" The two siblings froze in their battle and glared at their dad, before both lunging towards the oven. This set off gales of laughter from everyone watching. 'Yeah, the best thing. Thanks Rose.' Ray thought happily.

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A/N: Whew. This turned into a little bit of Luke appreciation, but he really did do those things, and I totally HC the part about the guys at the club, and why it took Luke so much more effort. The next chapter should be a little more fluffy, and it features a little bit of Carrie.