A/N: Okay so FINALLY we get to the song that inspired this entire fic. A fic that was supposed to be at most eight chapters but is now 20. Thank you, to all of you who have been reading and commenting. You're all freaking amazing 3
I'm so sorry for the delay. My home computer was not in the mood for posting and I ended up getting snowed in and couldn't get to my work computer and then the chapter just did not want to come out. Anyway, better late than never right? I'm not happy with it but after rereading it like eight times, I can't figure out how to make it better so I apologize in advance.
It seemed that in the time since Reggie came home from the hospital, the universe had pressed fast forward on their lives. Alice had been arrested for endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse. The restraining order had been extended. She was not allowed contact with him until he turned eighteen and even then, Reggie would have to initiate contact.
Their court date had been the last day of March. The judge had taken one look at the assembled bodies in the courtroom. Seven teenagers, seven worried adults. Reggie sat between Ray and Rose. Robert sat on Ray's right. Jason had supplied all of the evidence as the lead detective.
The kids sat lined up in the first row. Alex, Willie, Flynn, Julie, Luke, Carrie, Nick. Trevor, Mitch, and Leia sat in the row behind them. The social worker from the hospital sat next to Mitch. The courtroom was empty otherwise.
Jacob had not shown up even after multiple summonses from the court, calls and texts from both Robert and Rose. Alice had been arrested and charged, she was awaiting trial. Reggie had requested that she not be there during his testimony.
The Judge stripped both Alice and Jacob Peters of their parental rights and awarded them temporarily to Ray and Rose Molina with a loud bang of his gavel. It became official a week later when his adoption papers came in the mail. They had thrown a party to celebrate the newest addition to their family.
Reggie had taken Rose, Ray, and Julie aside and hugged them all close. He cried on their shoulders and thanked them for always looking out for him. Ray had clapped him on the shoulder and told him didn't want to hear anymore thank you's. He only wanted to see him thrive.
Rose had hugged him tight and just held him as he cried through his acceptance of the fact that he'd never have to be scared again. Julie had smiled and took his hand, leading him back to their friends.
In the blink of an eye it was the last day of school and they were leaving on tour the next day. They'd be joining Panic! at the first stop on the North American leg of the tour. They were starting in New York, and after that they were going to be stopping at forty eight states, finishing in LA's Staples Center. The same stage they'd watched the Backstreet Boys perform on.
Ray was going with them as he'd been hired by the band to be their videographer for a documentary airing on Netflix the following year. Flynn and Willie were joining them for the summer before coming back for the start of the new school year.
They'd flown into JFK the morning of June 22nd, the day after Luke's sixteenth birthday. His first without Emily. He had been quiet the entire flight, clutching Julie's hand and staring out of the window. She'd laid her head on his shoulder and breathed as deeply and calmly as she could, eventually his breathing evened out and matched hers as she'd fallen asleep.
Alex sat with Willie and clutched his hand for an entirely different reason. He'd never flown before and was terrified of heights. Willie tried to calm him with statistics but only succeeded in making it worse when Alex would list off every downed and missing flight he could remember from the hours he'd spent googling it all.
"They never found that flight from Malaysia, what if we disappear? What if we're never found." Alex asked him.
"Alright we;re going to have to work on this because you're going to spend just as much time in the air as on stage. Somehow I doubt Panic! Is about the tour bus life." Willie answered.
Alex whimpered in response, he hadn't thought about that. About being on a plane every few days. How hadn't he thought about that? His breathing was starting to speed up again so Willie distracted him the only way he knew to. He kissed him and kept kissing him until a flight attendant cleared her throat with a smile and offered a drink.
Alex had sat the rest of the flight with his fingertips against his lips and his face flushed bright red. Willie mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done and if his smile happened to be a bit cocky? Well, he was allowed that, wasn't he?
Reggie and Flynn spent the five hours of the flight talking about all of the things they wanted to do in New York. She had talked to him about concepts for their album cover art and Willie had turned to talk to them when Alex had finally, blessedly fallen asleep.
Their flight landed and there was a limo there waiting, courtesy of Trevor Wilson to take them to their hotel. The New Yorker. One of the best hotels in NYC. They'd be getting the penthouse suite. They felt like celebrities as the chauffeur opened the door for them, packed their luggage away in the trunk, and offered them all refreshments.
The bellhops at the hotel waited on them the same way, bringing them upstairs as they unlocked the room they'd be staying for the next week. Reggie had taken great pride in slipping two twenty dollar bills into the bellhops hand as he shook it. "Like a real pro." he'd said.
They had a show tomorrow night and would be spending the day in sound check and wardrobe. Thankfully they landed early enough that they had the rest of the day to enjoy the sights. So Ray had taken them out to some of his favorites that were less tourist attractions and more real New York. Thankfully, his memories of his college years had served him well.
Luke had chosen to stay behind. He wasn't in the mood to walk all over the city and when Julie had tried to stay behind with him, he'd urged her to go. It was all of their first time in New York City and just because he didn't want to leave the suite didn't mean he had to hold any of them back.
Alex had noticed his mood and put his arm around Julie, leading her out of the room. She had looked back at him with a sad smile, eyes full of understanding. He wanted to be alone, he wanted to work on music, to try and get these lyrics out of his head and down on paper.
As the quiet of the suite settled in, he sat on the couch in front of the floor to ceiling windows and stared down at the lyrics he'd written down a few months ago.
Be something greater
Go make a legacy
Manifest destiny
He read and reread them, letting the tears fall as he remembered his mother's words. The memories of their fights took over and he flung the book onto the floor. He paced back and forth mumbling to himself, fragments of lyrics and answers to questions no one could answer because the subject of the questions was dead.
No. Nope. I'm not doing this again. Luke thought to himself as he picked up the book and tossed himself on the couch again. He spent the next few hours writing and rewriting. Crossing out the lines that didn't flow and adding ones that did.
By the time Luke had finished the song, it was an anthem. He had started out wanting it to be a ballad, something to keep his mother's memory alive but in the end it had become words to live by for all of them and anyone else who'd been told their dreams were too grand to come true. It wasn't what he planned but it was everything he didn't know to ask for.
At eight in the morning the next day they were all ushered out of the room by an overwhelmed Ray lugging his camera equipment while the kids lugged their wardrobes. They literally ran the two blocks to Madison Square Garden.
When they got there, the band was already on stage and Brendon was instructing the stage hands in the way he wanted the instruments to be set up. He beamed when he saw them approach the front row. Ray had gone back stage to set up his camera equipment and meet with the interviewer for the documentary.
"Hey guys! Glad you here, I just had an idea and I wanted to run it by you." He said to them.
All of them froze on the spot. The fact that Brendon Urie was asking to run his ideas by them as if this wasn't his headlining show left them mind blown.
"Of course." Julie squeaked out.
"Okay, well we're going to save Ma, I made it for the encore and I think it would be awesome if you guys performed with us. I was actually waiting for you guys so we could try playing it together a few times so we can get the flow going. What do you think?"
"Ye-Yeah. That sounds good. Where do you want us?" Luke stuttered out.
They made their way to the stage following Brendon and he placed them around the stage so that they blended in with the entire band instead of it feeling like two separate entities. They played through the song three times before it felt cohesive. Then they played it once more to make sure.
Ray had recorded the entire thing because the producer wanted shots of their opening band as well. A window into Panics soul and how much they thrived on helping up and coming artists step into the spotlight.
Luke had an idea during the soundcheck and approached Brendon with it.
"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you about something. I'd love to thank Flynn somehow for everything she's done for us. She plays trumpet pretty damn good and I was wondering if we could bring her up for the encore too?" Luke had his hand on the back of his neck, rubbing. A nervous gesture he'd never outgrown.
"Really? That'd be awesome. Bring her up here and let's get her the music." Brendon walked over to his trumpet players and informed them that they'd be helping Flynn learn the song.
Luke ran down from the stage and stopped in front of Flynn who was sitting next to Julie. He grabbed her hand, winked at Julie who let out a loud giggle, and dragged Flynn up to the sax and trumpet players.
"Luke, what the hell? I have to go talk to the tech guys." She said.
"Later. You're going on stage with us tonight for the encore."
"Excuse me? I'm what?" Her eyebrows had shot up into her hairline and her voice had raised at least four octaves at this news.
"You deserve some applause for everything you've done for us. Why not twenty thousand people? That seems like enough, right?"
"Twenty what now?" Flynn was having a hard time processing what he was saying to her.
"Twenty thousand." Reggie whispered in her ear from behind. She jumped up, startled.
"No, no I can't." She started backing away from them, her arms raised in denial.
"Yes, you can. And you will." Julie said as she came up next to her.
"Come on, if anyone can do it, it's you." Alex said. "Plus, our first stadium show? You have to be on stage with us." Alex added on. Willie whooped and clapped his agreement from the front row directly in front of them.
"But I only learned for fun. I never actually imagined playing. In a band. In front of twenty thousand people." she started hyperventilating at which point Reggie had hugged her tight and whispered in her ear.
"We'll be right there with you. You won't be alone. Our dreams are coming true, Flynn. Our dreams. Which includes you. Why shouldn't you be soaking up the applause with us. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." She nodded at his words. Letting them soak into her brain as she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
Flynn ended up reluctantly agreeing and by the time they had ran through the song with her trumpet added, it sounded amazing.
After they had finished practicing for the encore, they watched Panics soundcheck and were blown away yet again. They sang to every word, Luke and Reggie had stood up on the chairs to rock out as hard they could.
When Reggie slipped and his knee got caught in the gap between the seat and the back they all fell over each other laughing. When the tech had to come over and unscrew the seat to get his leg out, Flynn had placed him in a chair and commanded him not to move.
"The last thing we need is you getting hurt hours before the show, Reg." She said and then she went over to the tech booth to go over the staging and the lights for their five song set.
The show was set to start at eight. It was 7:45 and they could hear the cheers and the volume of the crowd from their dressing room. Ray was with Panic! Recording them getting ready for the show. Alex and Flynn were racing each other in their pacing back and forth. Willie and Julie were watching them. Luke and Reggie, both being used to nerves before a performance took selfies and pictures of everyone around them.
Ten minutes before they were set to go on, Reggie reached out and snagged Flynn's hand.
"You're going to be great. We're all going to be with you up there. Take a deep breath." Reggie coached.
"Good one more time." Flynn's heart rate was starting to slow.
"Five minute call for Sunset Curve." The stage hand called through the door.
"Come on, you got the prime seats for the show." Reggie said as he pulled her forward.
Flynn was going to be seated in the front row of Madison Square Garden, right up against the stage with Willie. Ray was going to be there too but he would be busy working and so that left Willie to try and enjoy the show and also help to try and calm Flynn.
Turns out he didn't really have to because as soon as Sunset Curve took the stage the crowd erupted and the energy zipped through the stadium. It affected everyone there, front of the crew to the audience, to the bands and back.
It fed them all, in through one person, out of another, around and around it went until it felt like the entire place was buzzing with electricity.
"Hello, New York!" Julie said into her mic. Her voice echoed around them. The audience erupted with cheers yet again.
"We're Sunset Curve! Welcome to the show!" He paused to let the crowd applaud. "This is Bright." Luke spoke into his mic and once again the cheers exploded all around them.
Julie brought them in on the keyboard and the audience hung on every word. Flynn watched Ray in front of her recording the band with pride shining from every pore. When The boys crashed in, Flynn and Willie were absolutely lost in the music, dancing and singing along. She forgot to be terrified.
They continued into Finally Free, followed by Teenagers, then they transitioned into Secret Crowds, and finally they finished their set with Edge of Great. The audience absolutely loved it.
"We've been Sunset Curve!" Alex said into his mic, his smile almost lighting up the stage. Willie was beaming at him and Alex only had eyes for him in turn.
"Tell your friends!" Reggie said to the crowd. Willie and Flynn got up and headed back stage to congratulate them on an amazing show.
"Give it up for Panic! At the Disco!" Julie said to the crowd and they ran off stage. The sound of the crowds applause followed the band off stage
"You guys were amazing!" Willie said as he threw himself into Alex's arms.
"Absolute rockstars!" Flynn said, launching herself into Reggie.
Julie and Juke were hugging too, all of them were smiling wide and buzzing with post show energy. Flynn pulled out her phone, holding it up to her face. She'd been curious to see how their first stadium show would affect their following.
"Um..Guys? Look!" She held her phone out, facing the rest of them, they all crowded around it, looking at their follower count climb. It was sitting at 100k now but the way the notification count kept going up was a sign of much more to come.
Before they could say anything though Panic! had taken the stage. "One more time for Sunset Curve! How great were they?" Brendon spoke to the audience who erupted yet again.
They all ran to the entrance of the stage to watch the show. They danced and sang along, Brendon's voice sent chills down Luke's spine and he found himself hoping that one day he could have their audience as entranced as they were now.
Oh, well imagine
As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor
And I can't help but to hear
No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words
At the sound of Julie's absolute favorite song, she was lost. Singing along and jumping around the backstage area. When the band stopped playing in the middle of the song to let the audience sing instead it was like sorcery.
Twenty thousand voices singing together. All as one, Luke would later describe it as the closest he'd ever come to a religious experience. The band performed for two hours before they were called back on stage to perform with them for the encore.
"Hey, New York! How about we welcome back Sunset Curve?" Brendon said into his mic and then laughed as the place exploded with sound.
When the five of them walked onto the stage and took their places, the venue was hushed and silent. Like everyone was holding their breath. Flynn was, literally though and Julie had to pinch her elbow to get her back to the here and now.
"You got this! Just look at us if you get nervous okay?" Flynn nodded at Julie's words and took a deep breath, bringing the trumpet up to her lips.
"All my life, been hustling And tonight is my appraisal. 'Cause I'm a hooker sellin' songs And my pimp's a record label" Brendons sang to the audience.
"This world is full of demons. Stocks and bonds and bible traders. So I do the deed, get up and leave A climber and a sadist, yeah" Julie took over the next verse. Her voice filled the empty air around them.
"Are you ready for the sequel? Ain't you ready for the latest? In the garden of evil I'm gonna be the greatest. In a golden cathedral I'll be praying for the faithless. And if you lose, boo-hoo" Brendon took over, his voice silky and smooth.
"Hey look ma, I made it. Hey look ma, I made it. Everything's comin' up aces, aces. If it's a dream, don't wake me, don't wake me. I said hey look ma, I made it'' Luke wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or something more that had him singing this particular part of the song but he belted the words out like Emily was standing directly in front of him.
"Friends are happy for me or they're honey-suckle phonies. Then they celebrate my medals or they wanna take my trophies. Some are loyal soldiers while these other thorns are rosy. And if you never know who you can trust then trust me you'll be lonely, oh" Reggie belted with more power in his voice then there'd ever been before. It was the audience, his friends, Flynn beside him playing the trumpet for all she was worth that fed him.
"Are you ready for the sequel? Ain't you ready for the latest? In the garden of evil I'm gonna be the greatest In a golden cathedral I'll be praying for the faithless And if you lose, boo-hoo" Alex thought it had to be some kind of cosmic joke that this was the verse he'd been given. He loved it anyway, the words sending goosebumps over his skin.
He looked over to where Willie was sitting alone. Ray was circling the stage and both of them had matching expressions. All pride and love and Alex realized then, as he stared at Willie who was mouthing the words but only looking at Alex even though one of the most gorgeous men in the industry was directly in front of him, that he was completely in love. He beamed at Willie who must have seen something in Alex's eyes because his widened and then he was smiling at Alex, softer than he'd ever done before.
"Hey look ma, I made it. Hey look ma, I made it. Everything's comin' up aces, aces. If it's a dream, don't wake me, don't wake me. I said hey look ma, I made it, I made it. I said hey look ma, I made it, I made it. I see it, I want it, I take it, take it. If it's a dream, don't wake me, don't wake me" Brendon finished out the song and then they were lined up at the head of the stage bowing to the audience.
"You've been amazing, New York! Thank you all for coming out!" The lights went down and the band ran backstage to help pack away everything. They had a fight to catch in the next two hours.
Countless flights, sleepless nights, and running purely on adrenaline, Sunset Curve was at their final soundcheck of the tour. It had been a long eight months. More work than they'd ever experienced and they weren't done yet. In two days they were expected at the recording studio to start on their debut album.
It was so tiring, so draining but they wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Their dreams had come true and now all they had to do was put in the work to maintain it. Vocal rest was the name of the game, their texting had shot up along with the follower count which now sat at a healthy 600k.
Flynn and Willie had flown home after their stop in Hawaii, which ended up being their favorite part. They'd spent four days there. Two in Maui and two in Oahu. They had performed in the street, a free show for the locals, refusing any tips they tried to give.
School was starting in a week and if they were honest, Willie and Flynn missed their families. Robert and Leia had picked them up from the airport and when they got back to Flynn's house Carrie, Nick, Rose, Trevor and Jason were all there to greet them. They'd spent hours watching videos Flynn and Willie had recorded. Looked at pictures they'd taken and told stories from the road.
It seemed like they'd blinked and it was February 7th. Flynns 16th birthday and the last stop on the tour. They'd all gotten tickets, all front row, taking up almost the entire aisle. At eight on the dot, Luke, Julie, Alex, and Reggie made their way on stage to massive applause and screaming cheers.
Their biggest following was in their home town and it became obvious when signs went up all over the venue. Comments had been pouring in on their socials.
"Don't even care about PATD, I just want to see Sunset Curve live." and "When is Sunset Curve headlining? I need a two hour show!" flooded the comment sections.
"Los Angeles! How are we feeling?" Reggie asked. The crowd cheered, their emotions bleeding out.
"It's so good to be home! We've missed you!" Julie said and the crowd went wild.
"We're going to start you off with something new. You're all here for the live premiere of High Hopes!" Luke said. The audience hushed. The idea of being the first to hear their new song made them all clam up with anticipation.
"We hope you love it as much as we do." Alex said.
"Give it up for our best friend and manager, Flynn Ryder!" Alex finished. She walked out, dressed head to toe in gold, matching the rest of them, carrying her trumpet. She waved sheepishly to the crowd and took her place next to Julie on the keys.
They had borrowed Panic's sax players for this and had invited Flynn back onstage with them for this part as well.
Had to have high, high hopes for a living
Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing
Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision
Always had high, high hopes
Had to have high, high hopes for a living
Didn't know how but I always had a feeling
I was gonna be that one in a million
Always had high, high hopes
Luke started them off, his voice had changed, become deeper and slightly raspy. It fit the song and made Julie shiver with the sound of it. The song talked about everything they'd always felt. How sometimes it had felt like their 'High Hopes' were the only things keeping them afloat. How Luke's dreams had felt a million miles away until suddenly they weren't.
Mama said
Fulfill the prophecy
Be something greater
Go make a legacy
Manifest destiny
Back in the days
We wanted everything, wanted everything
His mothers words rang through the arena on Julie's voice and it brought everything back to Luke. His eyes filled with tears as he continued to play and sing back up for Julie. He could almost see her, Emily. In the corner of the stage. She was smiling at him, at all of them. She looked younger than he'd ever seen her and her eyes shone with pride but when he blinked she was gone and he chalked it up to a trick of the light.
Mama said
Burn your biographies
Rewrite your history
Light up your wildest dreams
Museum victories, everyday
We wanted everything, wanted everything
Mama said don't give up, it's a little complicated
All tied up, no more love and I'd hate to see you waiting
And they did. They wanted it all. The Grammy's, the platinum records, the recognition but most of all they wanted this. They wanted this connection to the audience. Twenty thousand faces staring up at them, hanging on every word, every chord, every melody. It was charged and it was exactly what they'd dreamed of.
Had to have high, high hopes for a living
Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing
Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision
Always had high, high hopes
Had to have high, high hopes for a living
Didn't know how but I always had a feeling
I was gonna be that one in a million
Always had high, high hopes (high, high hopes)
While they sang, Julie thought back to the nights they'd stayed up late talking about where they'd be in five, ten, twenty years. She still hung on to the idea that they'd win their first Grammy by 2023. Three years, that was doable. Especially if the audience reaction was anything to go by. They'd always shot for the stars and they'd yet to hit the ground. It was a miracle.
Mama said
It's uphill for oddities
Stranger crusaders
Ain't ever wannabes
The weird and the novelties
Don't ever change
We wanted everything, wanted everything
This was Alex's favorite part of the song. He'd always felt like an oddity, a novelty and knowing Luke, he'd written this part with Alex in mind. He didn't know where he'd be if it wasn't for the people that loved him, surrounded him with love, his found family. The one he had chosen. So as he sang, he sang it to them, lined up in the front row and cheering so loud he could make out their voices if he focused hard enough.
Stay up on that rise
Stay up on that rise and never come down, oh
Stay up on that rise
Stay up on that rise and never come down
Mama said don't give up, it's a little complicated
All tied up, no more love and I'd hate to see you waiting
They say it's all been done but they haven't seen the best of me
So I got one more run and it's gonna be a sight to see
Reggie put his whole heart into it as he sang, he had eyes only for Flynn who was next to him, playing her trumpet with all she was worth. When she wasn't playing she was singing along and mouthing "I love you" to Reggie.
As he looked around to the rest of them, all smiles and shiny eyes. Full of pride and energy, he sent a silent thank you to whatever higher power had been watching over them and making their dreams come true.
It's probably Apollo he thought to himself. He was the first god they'd put up in their studio and the one they'd always thought of as theirs.
The lights were blinding and they were sweating under them as they brought the song to a close. The audience went wild and the stage shook with their stomping feet and clapping hands. Flynn ran off the stage and back to the front row as soon as the song was over.
They went with Bright next, they'd decided beforehand, even though it was a risk, to let the audience sing instead of them for the chorus. It wasn't a guarantee that they'd know the words but Luke had had a good feeling about it and so they followed his lead and let it happen.
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
Twenty thousand people all knew the words. They sang them from their souls and as they did, Alex, Luke, Julie, and Reggie exchanged looks. They were all teary and trying so hard not to let their voices crack as they came back in for the bridge. Luke failed but that endeared him even more to the people as his voice cracked and he bent over, clutching at his knees.
The screen behind them showed his face, wonderstruck and in awe. He mouth 'wow' and then sang like all the weight of the world had lifted off of his shoulders. Magic was right. They all felt it, their fingers tingled with it, their heads throbbed with it.
Magic. Magic. Magic.