A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now up!

April 14th 2020

Chapter 105
Their Sounds of Glory

Waking up the morning after a TXNY show, Lucas would open his eyes to find his fiancée in her most 'I didn't fall asleep, I passed out' pose as she slept on. It was the kind of thing you could only find as cute as he did if you loved the person as much as he did. When she would finally start to stir, he would patiently wait until she slowly acclimated herself to her surroundings all over again and eventually looked over to him.

"I had a dream that I crowd surfed. That was a dream, right?" she mumbled.

"A figment of your imagination," Lucas confirmed.

"Oh, good," she nodded. "That thing needs to be restrained."

"Your imagination? Never," he refused, which earned him a smile and some cuddling.

"That was a really fun show," Maya hummed, tracing her finger along the curve of his jaw, paying no mind to the prickling of the stubble soon to be shaved. "I think they really liked the new song."

"Sounded that way, yeah," Lucas agreed, never so happy as he was when they could just have this, when he could hold her in his arms and think of little else. "I really liked what you all did with it, from when you played it to me the first time," he told her, thinking back to the moment when they'd started to play it at the show. He had heard those first notes and known that this was the song she'd played for him in the basement, with only her voice and her guitar. The audience had heard those first notes and known that this was something new, and the rise of curiosity and excitement was always so great for the rest of them to see, like 'yeah, those are our people up there.'

"Do you have to go to school today?" Maya asked, in the right tone to convey her actual question went something more like 'won't you just stay here with me?'

"You know what I'd do if this was up to me," Lucas gave as his response, setting a kiss at her temple. She grumbled, scrunching up her nose at this.

"No comments," she declared as he carefully reached to push hair from her face when it slid over her eyes. "What are we doing about tonight?"

"I talked to Dot, she'll get the wardrobe delivered around six, so we should all be out there by then."

After they had all come home from the club the previous night, Ramona had declared that she wanted to get started with the apartment revamp, wanted to get moved back in before Halloween, which was a great little event in her building, with all the kids going around. The previous year, Ramona and Robbie had waited until after the passage of the trick or treaters to finally make their way out to the house for the party, and from all they'd told of it, the wait had been worth the delay. Now, even though she was coming into this solo, she didn't want to miss it. So, she needed the apartment to be ready.

"We can start tomorrow night after you get back from school," Maya had declared, possibly a bit post-show delirious. Either way, the others were on board, and checking their texts that morning after the show, there was no doubt that the rest of the band would be up for pitching in, too. Along with those calls to assistance, Lucas had checked in with his aunt on the status of the wardrobe delivery. He'd gotten a response shortly after having written to her, while Maya had already been down for the count.

Once Lucas and Maya had finally relented and left the comfort of their bed, they had joined Sam for breakfast and headed off on their respective days. Maya had a full day of phone calls ahead of her, in her efforts toward the expansion of the Stage Ready program. More than likely this day would also involve a vast amount of thinking about the band's new Christmas album plans. They had a few classical singers within the main Stage Ready attendees, and the summer campers, too. Those who came to the regular sessions would train for their singing specifically, while the campers already had teachers of their own and simply wanted to be at a camp where they felt surrounded with kids like them. This past summer had created some connections for Maya, connections she hoped would come through for this new project.

Meanwhile, Lucas was school bound, along with Ramona. The rides to and from school had been sort of awkward in the beginning, after his classmate had started staying at their house, and after Robbie had stopped being a part of their road team. In those days, it had just felt like his absence made the whole time a bit off, like something was missing. One could have assumed someone had died, with how quiet they would be, when Robbie was very much alive and would be out there at school when they arrived. In time, the trio turned duo had become more of a thing they were used to, and so the conversations had started again, all for the better. The more the wound started to heal, the better it was for everyone.

Ramona would still get the news regarding her soon to be ex-husband and his family situation via Lucas. From what they'd been hearing, Robbie had finally met his secret half-brothers. It had not been smooth sailing from the beginning, and the waters were still very much on the choppy side, in some parts more than others. With the older two, Dale, who was sixteen, and Billy, who was twelve, the arrival of this new, blue haired older brother, had not been met with much enthusiasm. They were starting to bridge the gap, but there was still a lot of resistance.

But then there was the little one, who had been the cause of this revelation even happening. His name was Scott. He was four, and he was sick, and when he'd met his new big brother, the first thing he'd said to him was 'Are you an alien?' with such a smile as to suggest he would have thought this to be the coolest thing in the world if the answer had been yes. Even though Robbie had to inform him he was only human, Scott had been happy to know him nonetheless.

"How's he doing?" Lucas asked Robbie when they met up in their first class of the day. He could just sense Ramona not far behind, just within earshot and likely listening in.

"I don't know," Robbie shook his head. "He was looking better for a while, but then it was bad again this weekend." As much as Ramona was standing by, pretending like she wasn't listening, Lucas had a feeling, looking at his other friend, that Robbie was aware of his ex's tactic, and he spoke out well enough that she could hear him without straining. He wanted to keep her in the loop, wanted to contribute toward the potential for a friendship if not a marriage.

By the end of the day, he would have to lead the conversation for the ride home, or else there was a risk of their sinking back into silence. Lucas asked Ramona what she wanted to do first once they got to the apartment.

"Not sure yet," Ramona shrugged. "I was thinking though, I need to get my own car again. Our car was Robbie's so he has it now, but I still need one, too. Do you think maybe you and Maya could come along when I go looking?"

"Absolutely, of course," Lucas agreed at once, glad to see the smile on his road buddy's face. "Does that mean we're going to start alternating again? Not that I mind the drive, but I kind of miss the old way."

"Yeah, so do I," Ramona nodded, letting out a sigh that suggested she was left thinking that she could do with a bit of the old times returning.

They arrived at the apartment building to find they had been preceded in this arrival by Maya, Rosa, Riley, and Dylan, the four of them sitting on the low stone wall next to the entrance. They all had this look about them that said 'we are here and we are ready to get to work.' They'd also brought dinner and drinks. Lucas met Maya's gaze as they drove up, catching a discreet sign that told him his aunt's truck was somewhere nearby, waiting to unload the wardrobe when the time came.

"We really need to go inside," Riley addressed Lucas and Ramona as they walked up from the car.

"Gotta use the bathroom?" Ramona asked.

"No, the food just smells really good and we're all hungry," Rosa informed her, as Maya and Dylan nodded firmly.

"I can only guard it for so long, okay?" Maya pointed out, holding up the bags and immediately pulling them aside as Dylan made as though he was about to snatch for one of them.

Into the building they went and on to the elevator. One look at Ramona showed how nervous she was, no matter how hard she tried to keep it hidden. She hadn't been back here since a few days after she'd walked out and shown up on Lucas and Maya's doorstep. Since that day, Sam had volunteered himself to go and get her mail for her, on his way back from school every day. Robbie was all moved out by now, but that was equal parts a good and a bad thing, wasn't it? He was gone… The place was clean, on the whole, which suggested that Robbie had intended to leave it as orderly as he could. For all that though, there was nothing to be done for the fact that the things he had removed and the things that remained left the apartment looking like a half made puzzle. He had left a lot of the furniture, anything he wouldn't need once he moved in with Simon.

"Right, where do you want to start?" Maya asked Ramona, even as the others who'd been waiting outside with her were now giving her looks like 'seriously?' Thankfully, Ramona replied by saying they would have dinner first. They had barely gone into the kitchen and distributed plates, utensils, and food and drinks when there was a knock at the door. Everyone but Ramona knew what this was, but it would have been wrong to let her go alone while the rest of them sat and ate, so they followed.

When she saw the wardrobe, as it was carried into the apartment, she was in awe. She was confused, too, naturally, but very much in awe. They had done a truly wonderful job in restoring Thomas Friar's old wardrobe. It had in no way been falling to pieces – save for the doors and their encounter with the sneaky Babineaux pair some years ago – but it had needed that bit of care to bring it back to shining life and it had gotten it.

"What did you…" Ramona started to ask, looking to the others.

"It was my father's when he lived at home, growing up," Lucas explained. "It's been in storage since I started the work on the house. We got it out of there, worked on it. It's yours now," he smiled.

"For new beginnings," Maya beamed. Ramona may have started as 'Lucas' classmate,' and 'our old classmate from middle school we hadn't seen in years,' but even before she'd started sleeping on their couch she had become a friend, through and through, and even if she hadn't been… It would have felt like the right thing to do. And to look at her now, to see how happy she was to receive this gesture, there was even less doubt about it.

The wardrobe sat like a great monument in the middle of the living room as they all finally went and had dinner. When this was done, they'd made a plan, to tackle the task ahead of them. They needed to make the place feel new again, to welcome Ramona back into the home she no longer shared with Robbie. In time, she would need a roommate, one who actually lived with her and didn't just pay half the rent and the bills, and they would probably have to move some things here and there all over again, but that could wait.

The six of them split off in teams of three. Dylan, Riley, and Rosa went one way, while Ramona, Lucas, and Maya went the other. The wardrobe was carried into Ramona's room only once the furniture there had been reorganized. It found its place, and as they stood back and looked around, they could just see how well it fit with the rest. Ramona had wanted to do something for the walls, too, paint or wallpaper, but in the end it really wasn't important enough. Maybe she'd get around to it with her future roommate, over Christmas, over the following summer…

"So, what do you think?" Lucas asked, when all was said and done and they were going around the apartment to see what the others had made of their tasks. Ramona looked at everything, and it was hard to tell what was going through her mind. She wanted to come back, and they wanted that for her, too, but maybe she'd come to the conclusion that it was still too soon, or that no matter what she would still think about what had been and how much it hurt to see it end.

"I never would have thought to put everything like that," Ramona finally spoke, gesturing around the living room, which had been handled by the others. "The room looks so much bigger now. In a good way," she added, turning back to them with a smile. "Thank you," she nodded to Riley, Rosa, and Dylan.

"Do you think you're good to come back?" Maya asked.

"If it's alright, I'd like to stick around a few more days? It's just I promised I'd help Missy out with something and…"

"Absolutely, yeah," Lucas cut her off, assuring in this way that she didn't need any reasons.

"Oh! We haven't even told you about the secret bit!" Maya blurted out, moving to pull Ramona back to the room and the wardrobe, to show her the compartment underneath.

"That's amazing," Ramona laughed as the panel was pulled free.

"Any idea what you want to use it for?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something," she nodded, and Maya was glad to see the smile on Ramona's face felt a lot like what she'd told her before… a new beginning.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners