Now Or Never

Chapter 5

After school, I walk to the studio. I expect Luke to be in there but instead I'm greeted by Alex. He seems different today. A lot sadder. Alex was a pretty bubbly person or he tried to be.

"What's wrong?" I ask, sitting next to him. He doesn't even look up from the ground. "Today's the anniversary of the day I came out to my parents.. and they didn't accept me." He says softly, his voice breaking behind each word. I frown and move closer to him to pull him into a soft hug. Alex was strong for everyone else but himself sometimes. He needed someone to have his back just as much as he did everyone else. He immediately hugs me back.

"Alex, you were born exactly who you were meant to be. You love who you want to love. They didn't get it, but your family you made does. The band, Willie, Julie, and me. We accept you and care about you so much." I tell him, rubbing his back softly. He nods a little letting the words sink in. "You're right.." He says quietly, looking at me. "Family doesn't always mean blood." He says and smiles softly. I smile at him, hugging him tightly one more time before pulling away.

"Come on. Want some ice cream?" I ask and look at him. He nods quickly and stands up. "One more thing.." He says shyly, looking down at me and shifting on his feet a little. "Anything." I say smiling at him. "Could you paint my nails.. maybe?" He asks, playing with his fingers. I smile and grab his hand gently. "I thought you'd never ask."

We had gone to a small ice cream place nearby before returning to my house to let me paint his nails. I found out he likes chocolate ice cream in waffle cones. That was his comfort food. Reggie had his pizza and Alex had his ice cream. Alex sits on my bed as I grab a container full of nail polishes. He looks through the colors before picking a beautiful light pink. I smile and sit beside him, starting to paint his nails. "Tell me more about you.." I say, focusing on his hand to not mess up.

"What's your last name?" I look up at him briefly. "Mercer." He replies, watching me paint his nails. "Alex Mercer? I like it." I say smiling softly, blowing on his nails to help them dry a bit quicker. He continues to tell me about himself. How much he loves the beach, how drums weren't his first instrument but they were his favorite, how pink was his all time favorite color, and how much he wished he was sometimes alive to go talk to his parents again. Alex knew telling them he was gay was going to be a situation, especially because he knew how his dad was. His dad had always dreamed of a son. He said when Alex was born, it was the best day of his life. Alex began growing up and his dad could tell something was different about him. He just wanted to deny it. Alex's dad didn't want his only son to be.. different. Alex wasn't different. He was smart, sarcastic, and had such a big personality. He enjoyed dancing and singing. But he also had crushes on boys.

"My first crush on a guy.. was Luke." Alex tells me honestly. I look up at him and smile. "Really?" I ask, kind of curious about this. Alex's cheeks turn a bright red and he nods. "I grew up on his street. Reggie and him started to form a band, doing their best to find other members. Bobby joined. Then me." He says while I finish his nails. I continue to dry them to let him finish talking.

"Luke was charismatic. I don't know, he was cute too." Alex says making me laugh softly. "He is cute." I say, nodding along with him. He smiles at me. "You two are cute together." He says which makes me look at him. A blush makes it way onto my face this time.

"Thank you.." I stand up to walk and put away my nail polishes. Alex and I lay on my bed, both staring up at my ceiling as we share random stories of our lives or more experiences. We'd eventually gotten tired and fallen asleep beside each other, my head on his shoulder.

I woke up to Luke shaking me gently. "Hey baby." He says quietly, his voice sounding a bit tired. I noticed Alex had left. He must've left a little while before Luke arrived. "Hi." I say quietly, lifting the blanket up to let him climb under it. He moves to lay down next to me and comes closer to lay in my arms. I nuzzle my head into his chest. His arms move around me softly. "Where were you today, rockstar?" I mumble quietly into him. He smiles softly and moves to kiss my forehead. "Just went to the beach. I wrote a few songs while I was there." He says, playing with my hair gently. I smile tiredly and keep my eyes closed. He keeps me close as I begin to fall asleep again. He relaxes with me and soon enough we fall asleep together.

I begin to wake up again, this time I know it's morning because of the sun shining through my window. Luke isn't in my bed anymore. Instead he's sitting at my desk, reading through something. "Bub?" I ask, standing up before walking closer to him. "Perfect Harmony." He says and looks up at me. I immediately stop in my tracks when he said that. The song I imagined him and I dancing to. The song I wrote in my journal.

"Luke Patterson.." I quickly go over to snatch my journal from him. He chuckles softly and looks up at me. "You never told me you wrote a song about me.." He teases standing up. I cross my arms and look at him. "Technically, you thought it was about Josh." I defend, placing my journal back in it's hiding place. Luke walks behind me to wrap his arms around me. "We say we're friends.. we play pretend.." Luke sings quietly, holding me close to him. I smile and lean my head back onto his shoulder. "You're more to me than anything.." I finish before leaning up to kiss his cheek. He turns his head quickly to catch my lips with his instead. I smile softly when I feel him. "Smooth.."