ＰＥＲＦＥＣＴ ＨＡＲＭＯＮＹ ◼LUKE PATTERSON◼

twenty-two

Luke, Reggie and Alex were alone inside of Julie's garage, practicing for the performance the next night even though they definitely knew that they shouldn't be doing it alone. Julie would have their heads if she knew.

Reggie and Luke were just constantly sharing looks, noticing the way that Alex was furiously playing the drums and banging on the cymbals a lot more than he normally would.

Alex only looked up and stopped playing when he noticed that his friends had as well, the pair just staring at him as he looked between them.

"Alex? You alright?" Luke questioned, knowing the response he'd get would be a lie as Alex nodded back.

"Yeah, yeah. Why?"

Luke shared a look with Reggie, motioning for him to do the talking on this one.

"Look, I know it's tough man. People say you never forget your first ghost," Reggie tried to comfort him, referring to his ghost friend Willie that had been ignoring Alex ever since that night at the Hollywood Ghost Club. He had just suddenly shown up outside the studio before disappearing on their bandmate once again. "Maybe that's true. But...I'm sure there will be others."

Alex paused for a moment, letting his friend's words sink in before looking up with a genuine smile.

"Yeah. Thanks Reg,"

"And Alex," Luke caught his attention, walking closer to his friend's drums. "You're a great drummer and a great guy, okay? Don't let all of this stuff get in between you and what you love, okay?"

"I don't know...sometimes a little fire can make things better, especially during the song writing process," Reggie commented, mischievous smiles on both his and Alex's faces as they both turned to Luke. "I don't know, like you and my sister this morning?"

Luke looked between them, his cheeks heating up as he stumbled over his words.

"I- what? I, I don't know what you're-"

"We were right outside the doors, Luke," Alex commented. "Don't lie. We heard it and SAW it all."

Luke stumbled again, looking over to Reggie as he tried to cover up for what they had seen this morning.

"Listen, what you saw, that was nothing okay? I mean, Reggie, you gotta believe me-"

"Oh, I'm not mad. No, you two are, like, my OTP ship," Reggie looked over to Alex with a giddy smile. "Julie taught me that phrase. I have no idea if I used it right. Point is, we were there, we saw the way you sung together AND wrong that song so clearly about one another. Plus, the way you look at her every time we sing. PLUS, you guys ooze chemistry."

"You should never say ooze again," Alex reprimanded their friend before turning to look at Luke. "But yeah, I agree."

"What you guys saw this morning was nothing. I have chemistry with everyone I sing with," Luke tried to convince them, putting his guitar down as he turned to look at Reggie. "Seriously! Watch."

Reggie's eyes went wide as he looked to Alex for help, Luke moving toward him.

"I believe, I believe that we're just one dream. Away from who we're meant to be," Luke stood directly in front of Reggie, his eyes never leaving his bandmates as he grabbed the back of his neck. "That we're standing on the edge of...great."

Reggie swallowed the lump in his throat as Luke backed off of him, Alex smiling at the pair.

"Wow. I see chemistry,"

"That was pretty hot," Reggie choked out as Luke kissed his fingers, placing them on Reggie's before moving back to his own guitar. "Girls, am I right?"

"Yeah," Luke laughed out.

"No," Alex commented, a tiny grin on his face. His eyes trailed back to Luke, watching him put his guitar back on his shoulders. "Luke, you're not getting out of this. We already know the truth. Hell, you've called her hot in front of us like a thousand times. Just admit it."

Luke sighed, looking between the guys as he realized that he was caught, and there was no getting out of this. It was his own fault, he hadn't been very subtle about it in the slightest.

"Look, I really don't know when it started, okay? Maybe the second we met her?" Reggie and Alex only had sweet smiles on their faces as they watched Luke begin to rant, pacing around his microphone. "I looked at her and I was just captivated, and then she sang, and then the more time she spent with us I just fell and I didn't know how to stop. I'm still falling and I don't think I'm ever going to stop. And this morning...it happened out of the blue. I was just thinking about her and I started writing and I never imagined that would all happen, but it did and I have never felt more alive. And I know you guys feel it, you feel alive when we're with Holland and Julie. But this morning I laid it all out on the line and she walked away, and I feel like if there was even the slightest of chances that she felt what I was feeling I ruined it."

"Luke, you have to understand that she was probably overwhelmed," Alex tried to reason with his best friend. "Think of what she's been through in the last week alone. She said she was already falling out of love with Mason, but what happened still hurt her and it was so obvious. To so quickly after that have to face the obvious unspoken thing between you two? It probably freaked her out and that's why Julie stepped in. Also, you really didn't explicitly tell her how you felt either."

Luke sighed, trying to ignore the fact that Alex was probably right, but it was hard to do so. He turned to look at Reggie.

"Aren't you supposed to be, like, completely against this? Isn't that the big brother thing to do?"

"My best friend and my sister falling head over heels for each other?" Reggie only shrugged his shoulders, an excited grin on his lips. "Sounds like the best thing ever to me! It's like a two for one deal."

Alex and Luke couldn't help but laugh at his comment. Luke looked down to his guitar, sighing as he took it off and placed it back on the ground.

"It's not like it matters. Holland...she could have any guy in this world. She's not going to choose a ghost over one of them,"

Reggie and Alex shared a look as Reggie turned to watch Luke as he played with his guitar, tuning some of the strings.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Something about you two...it just works. I think you'll figure it out," Luke never looked up at his friends as he spoke next.

"Maybe one day,"

All three boys let out a cry as they were zapped with the sharp pain that they had grown accustomed to after leaving Caleb that night at the club. They all doubled over in pain, the sharp pain they were feeling becoming increasingly worse over the days.

"You better make that day soon," Alex commented, wheezing as he grabbed his side and looked at his bandmates. "Because I don't know how much longer we can take this."

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We love a supportive brother in Reggie and a supportive best friend in Alex