You Can Find Me In The Space Between

Chapter Twenty

Fiona stared at Nate. "Will he what?" Everyone else had a shocked look on their face and were starting to look around, but Fiona just felt plain confused. Honestly, Nate's response didn't make sense to what Pete had said. Nor did everyone else's reactions to what Nate said.

"He's a 'who', not a 'what'" Benji quietly whispered to Fiona, not feeling like he had the right to fully break the silence.

"Who?" Fiona asked, confused by who Benji was referring to.

"Exactly!" Benji replied.

"What?" Fiona was even more confused now and felt like she was in some weird comedic bit.

The rest of the group had now taken notice of the ridiculous side conversation, so Nate spoke up, trying to clarify the situation. "Fi, I think... I think I remember that guy over there." Nate gestured to the figure who was approaching them.

"Wait – you remember him?" This was a huge deal! As long as Fiona had known Nate, which arguably, wasn't that long, this was the first time he had remembered anything. "Are you sure?"

"I mean, it's not so much like I remember what his favourite colour is or something like that, but he feelsfamiliar, like... well I don't know. But I do know his name, which is more than I've ever been able to say before."

"So, you really don't remember us?" Julie gently spoke to Nate, almost as if she afraid to ask.

"Should... should I remember you? Do you know me?" Nate was staring hard at Julie now, confusion spread across his face. Julie shared a quick glance with Pete and Benji, and the three communicated silently.

Pete took a deep breath, hoping he was about to do the right thing. "Um... okay so there was this band in the 90's called Sunset Curve. Does that sound familiar?" Nate gave a noncommittal shrug, so Pete attempted to continue. "So, one night, we – they ended up eating some tainted hot dogs," Pete watched as Nate's brows furrowed. "The band ended up dying."

Fiona cut in with a gasp. "That's so tragic!"

"Eh, not really. We got to come back." Benji said happily, earning a slap from Flynn.

Fiona gave an awkward chuckle, sure this was some sort of weird joke. At this point, Julie took over. "Nate, I know this sounds crazy, trust me, I've had a lot of time to think about just how crazy this whole situation is. But the band did come back to life... just twenty-five years later."

"They came back as ghosts?" Nate asked. Not bewildered or shocked, but rather just confirming what he already had thought.

"Exactly," Pete confirmed. "And then they met Julie, and she changed everything. They formed a new band, and got to play at The Orpheum, and they became like family." Pete's eyes were the epitome of heart eyes as he spoke, his gaze focused on Julie. She blushed at his words, but whispered how the feeling was mutual.

"And you can't forget Ray! And Carlos. And obviously Butter! Though maybe also Caleb if we're going through everything." Benji said, muttering the last part.

Trying to not overwhelm Nate with too many details, Julie decided to leave out some of the bitter details. "So, a little more than a year ago, some stuff happened and the guys – the ghosts – disappeared. And I thought I'd never see them again. But then Pete showed up, and um he had gotten a letter a few months prior."

Nate's eyes now snapped to attention. "A letter? They came back and had a letter?"

"Yeah man. We came back. You got a letter too, right? From Michael?" Pete asked.

Nate nodded quickly. Then he asked the question that had been on his mind since Pete started talking. "Do you guys know who I am?"

"Yup. We think you're Alex. He was – you were, the drummer in our band. I was Reggie, the killer bassist," Benji said proudly. "And Pete was Luke, guitar player extraordinaire and lead singer, till we met Julie of course. But now we all have new names now. Well not Julie obviously. Although we did give her nicknames so I guess she has new names? But you usually called her Julie. Or Jam I think? Pete calls her Jules, but I get to call her Killer. We're close like that."