Dear Dahlia // B1

[51]

^^another Dahlia edited photo

Luke's P.O.V.

"The Orpheum, huh?" Julie's eyes stay focused on the papers spread out in front of her. "If we're gonna play there we better find something good."

"Julie, we won't make it," I shake my head. "Even if we pumped out songs and 'trendy' videos or whatever. It won't be enough. It took us years to even have a chance."

"We can do it, Luke," Julie says. Her eyes are glassy when she looks up at me. "We can make it."

"I'm going to go find Alex," I mumble before poofing out of the room. I can't handle crying. I just can't.

I appear at the front door, bracing myself to go inside. But there's a girl standing in front of the door.

"Dahl?"

"Luke," she turns to me, her hand pulling away from the doorbell.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, pointing to her hand. "What is that?"

"I-" she stammers. "I followed you here one day. And this is a song that I found. Alex told me her name is Emily."

"Alex," I stick my tongue in cheek. "You were spying on me?"

"I'm sorry," Dahlia holds the paper toward me, her face reddening.

"It's okay," I attempt to push her hand back, but mine just passes through hers. I huff before continuing. "Go ahead."

She looks up at me again before reaching for the doorbell. She takes a deep breath before pressing it. It's my dad who opens the door.

"Hello," Dahlia says. "My name is Dahlia Molina. I believe you had a son named Luke?"

"That's right," he nods. Even after all the times I've come here to see my parents, I can't get over how much older my dad looks. His eyes droop at the ends. His hair is a light silver, different from the dark brown it was when I-

"I live in the house where the band he was in used to perform. I -uh- found this song," Dahlia continues. "I thought maybe it would be something you like to see it?"

My dad opens the door wider. "Please, come in."

Dahlia steps through the doorway, before looking back at me. She mouths come on before closing the door behind me.

"Is this your son?" Dahlia asks picking up a framed picture from a table.

"Yes, that's Luke," Dad nods.

"Do you have any other kids?" She asks. Why the sudden interest in my life, Dahlia?

"No," Dad shakes his head.

"Did I hear the door?"

"Mom," I whisper. My eyes dart around toward the kitchen. My mom is walking to Dad. Nothing has changed, well besides the color of her hair and the deep lines around her smile.

"Oh hello," she smiles at Dahlia.

My dad wraps his arm around Mom, "Honey, this is Dahlia. She lives where Luke and the band used to practice. She found a song Luke wrote."

Dahlia holds it toward her. "It's about a girl named Emily?"

"Oh," Mom puts one hand over her heart while the other reaches for the paper. "I'm Emily."

"Then I think your son wrote this for you," Dahlia nods, putting the paper in my mom's hand.

As she reads it, her eyes fill with tears. I know exactly what she's reading, especially since she's the only person who's been able to decipher my terrible handwriting.

If you could only know, I'd never let you go.
And the words I most regret, all the ones I never meant to leave...
Unsaid Emily.

When she's finished reading, she holds the paper against her chest. Her voice is airy, "Thank you."

"My sister and I spend a lot of time in the same room where he wrote music," Dahlia says, her own voice wavering. "I can tell you that it is a beautiful and happy place."

I have a feeling that she's going to continue, but I can't stay any longer. I turn around and poof out of the house.

When Dahlia walks out and finds me sitting on the front step, she puts her hand on my shoulder, "Are you okay, Luke?"

"Yeah," I bob my head and stand up. "Yeah. I just needed to get out of there. I -uh-"

"You don't have to tell me," she smiles briefly. When I don't say anything back she reaches out and grabs my hand. It doesn't pass through. "I'm sorry about flipping out at you and for being so cold. I just - I don't know how to process things without totally detaching myself from them. And it was unfair of me to judge you - to treat you the way I did."

"No," I shake my head and brush her hair behind her ear. "I should have given you space when you needed it. I'm sorry."

She squeezes my hand once, "Come home when you're ready, yeah?"

I nod. She slowly lets go of my hand and walks away. Home.

I know that she's referring to her home, but it was nice to hear her just call it home. Like I do belong there, even if I don't feel like it a lot.

Either way, having a home was better than wandering the ghost world without an anchor.

A.N.

Hi.

Hope everybody had a fun April Fools! (Ik I did. Its my parents anniversary so we got really delicious family dinner)

Soooo... I decided that Unsaid Emily is too good for me to skip so I decided to write it.

So here's that experience. Hope you liked it!

As always "💀✌🦋😘❄😳🐍😎🏳️‍🌈🤠🥁"

-Redd