A year and a half straight of pining from Luke over Reggie had Alex ready to snap. The whole sharing a mic thing was cute at first; he and Bobby had bet on how long they would sing in each other's faces before they kissed, with him betting a week and Bobby betting two, but it was almost two years of singing up close and they were still dancing around each other.

One time, they almost kissed. Or at least, he thought they were about to. They had been in the middle of a somewhat heated debate about something with their music and had been moving closer and closer. And then, when they were basically within inches of each other, Bobby had barged into the room, sending them both skittering away from each other, cheeks bright red and refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

Alex had fumed, and resigned himself to continuing to listen to the constant pining. He had talked to both of them numerous times, reassuring them that the other felt the same way, talking them up to the other, and trying to play matchmaker, backed up by Bobby.

He hadn't come up with the perfect idea of how to get them together until they got the gig at the Orpheum. Singing in each other's faces with the euphoria of performing at one of the best theatres around would definitely get them to snap and kiss each other. Right? There was no way that this could go wrong.

And yet, somehow, it went horribly wrong.

Luke smiled as he wandered down the street with Alex and Reggie, refusing to meet Alex's knowing look as he watched Reggie for perhaps a little longer than he should have. They crossed the street and headed into a dark alleyway where some street dogs were being sold, each of them still riding the high from their strong soundcheck performance.

They got their hotdogs and headed into a small room in a nearby shop where they sat on the couches to eat. Luke glanced to the side towards Reggie, smiling slightly to himself before he realized what he was doing and abruptly turned away, continuing to eat his hotdog.

It happened too quickly for him to realize. One moment he was fine, psyching himself up to tell Reggie that he was in love with him as soon as they left the Orpheum stage when it all went wrong. The next, he was staring in horror as his best friend, the person he had been in love with for almost two years at that point started choking and fell to the side.

He vaguely saw Alex fall to the ground next to him, but then the pain hit him too. He felt sicker than he had ever felt before, but even more terrifying was the fact that next to him Reggie was shaking. No, not shaking. Seizing.

The only more terrifying thing was when his friend went still next to him, his eyes closed, his breathing far too shallow.

He wanted to move, needed to help him, needed to turn to Alex to see if he was okay, but he couldn't move. The last thought he had as his vision went black was the sick feeling that after waiting two years to tell Reggie that he was in love with him, he had lost his only chance.

Waking up was painful, but was still a far more pleasant experience than when he had finally faded out of consciousness in the ambulance, with both Reggie and Alex by his side, still unconscious.

His eyesight was blurry at first, but finally cleared. His mother was sitting in one chair, her hand gently holding Luke's, her eyes closed. On his other side was Bobby, who was half sprawled on the bed.

"Hey." His voice was hoarse and scratchy, and he winced.

Then he jumped slightly as Bobby slipped off the bed, raising his eyes to meet Luke's. Luke had a split second to notice the dried tear tracks on his best friend's face, the large circles under his eyes before his friend engulfed him in one of the biggest hugs he had ever given him.

Luke relaxed into it for a minute, wrapping his arms tightly around his brother, but then pulled back. "Bobby, where's-"

"Luke!"

He was pulled into another embrace as his mother grabbed him. He went stiff at first; he had wanted to make up with his mother, but after everything that happened- and didn't she hate him for running-

"I could never hate you."

He froze as he realized he had spoken out loud. "I-"

"It's okay. We can talk later. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

He could feel tears building in his eyes. His mom was here, and she didn't hate him. He could hear a small voice inside him whispering, and despite himself, he started to listen to it. It'd all be okay.

He pulled back a little, and tried to blink his tears away. He opened his mouth to apologize, or tell her that he loved her, but what he was desperate to know slipped out instead. "Where are Reggie and Alex?"

He could see a flicker in her composition, and bit back annoyance. He knew she liked both of them though, and wouldn't she be worried? Come to think of it, why was Bobby by his side instead of by Reggie or Alex's? He was the closest to Reggie out of all of them.

The little voice inside of him turned malicious. "They're dead, that's where they are. And you're left alone, just as you deserve to be."

Luke pushed it away firmly. He was fine, and his friends would be as well. They had sworn not to leave each other, and to always be there for each other. Reggie had never lied to him.

He saw the tears glitter in Bobby's eyes, saw him open his mouth, only to let out what sounded like a choked sob.

No.

His mother hesitated for a long moment, and though it felt like an eternity, Luke suddenly wished he could live forever in that eternity rather than having to learn what happened to the two people he loved most in the world.

And then finally, she spoke. "They didn't make it."

He could hear her continue talking, but he couldn't hear her. The tears blinded him as they started to stream down his face, and images flashed before his eyes.

Reggie, singing in the studio, lit up by the late afternoon sunlight, smiling at him in that unique way that could make even the worst day something special.

Alex, hugging him after a particularly bad fight with his parents, telling him that they would be there for him no matter what.

Reggie, falling to the floor, the remaining bit of hotdog falling from his grasp. The shudders before he finally went still. The barely there breath that ghosted past his lips.

Alex, collapsed on his other side, where Luke couldn't even see him.

The promise they had made in June of '90 to be together until the end.

The promise that Luke had made himself, first when he realized how horrible Reggie's parents were, and then when Alex's parents kicked him out, to protect his friends no matter what.

And then the memories began to fade away, taking his friends with them. Because that's all they were now, memories. Two of the most amazing people in the world were dead and gone, while he had survived, and would have to learn to live without them.

He remembered the night before, when he had almost told Reggie that he was in love with him, but then decided to do it in the Orpheum post performance haze. Something he would never get.

And now, he was gone. They had died and left Luke behind, to live in a world where he was without his brothers, without the one person who could make him smile, who could give him hope no matter how bleak the world was.

Reggie had never known. And each night, as Luke went to sleep, he dreamed of a world where he had told Reggie how he felt, where the ghosts and memories that haunted him didn't exist, a world where he lived with happiness and love. But each morning when he woke up, the world remained hopeless and grey.