Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Go to Denver for a winter vacay, she said,” Flynn mocked, “it will be fun, she said.”

Julie looked up from her chair by the airport terminal window, tucked away in the back corner of their gate.

“Lemme guess, no good news?” Julie asked.

“Worse!” Flynn threw up her hands as she took the seat next to her. “No news at all. How can an airport literally have no news about the status of all the flights in this terminal?”

“Could have something to do with Snowmageddon happening outside…”

They both looked out the window at the brewing snow and ice storm, which seemed to have only gotten ten times worse in the past hour. The storm wasn't supposed to hit until later that night, whch should have left them plenty of time to take off, but somehow between leaving their ski resort in Denver, Colorado and getting through security at the Denver airport, it was a blizard out there.

“All I’m saying is it’s December 23^rd,” Flynn declared, “and Christmas is at stake here.”

“You’ll be home for Christmas, everything will be fine!” Julie assured her. “What's the worst that can happen?”

Right on cue, the monitor screens at their gate flashed to ‘cancelled’, and a sea of protests could be heard all around them as announcements came on about the storm closing the airport. Flynn glared at her.

“Never ask ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ at an airport, Jules. Never.”

The two of them pulled up their weather app, only to find the outlook for the storm now looked…well, worst case scenario, over the next twenty-four hours. And some quick googling told them the nearby hotels were already full with tourists and stranded passengers. They were stuck at the airport.

Quite frankly, Julie was secretly, selfishly, relieved she would be delayed spending time at home over Christmas. This year was the tenth anniversary of her mom’s death; twenty-five year old Julie had been without her mom for a decade of her life. The anniversary had brought back all kinds of old grief Julie thought she had moved past- and it didn’t help that it was also her dad’s first anniversary with his new husband, Trevor. It felt like as soon as she got home, she’d get sucked right into making new Christmas memories with their new family, and a little bit more of her mom would feel gone forever. 

Julie would happily hunker down in her corner of the Denver airport for as long as she could.

“Well, if we’re going to be stuck here all night, I’m going to scope out the place,” Flynn announced, jumping up from her seat. “Watch my stuff for me?”

“You got it,” Julie replied with a bit of a forced smile.

Flynn seemed to see right through her. She reached out for Julie’s hand and she took it, melting at the familiar soft, comforting, touch.

“Jules, are you going to be okay?” Flynn asked in her ‘serious best friend’ voice.

“I’m fine!” Julie insisted. “I’ve got my travel blanket, got my snacks, got my shows. I’m good. Go, explore. Fill me in on all the good shops around here.”

“I will! Maybe I’ll find me something- or someone- pretty.” Julie rolled her eyes; her bestie was not subtle. Flynn nodded to a cute boy who just started singing Christmas music along with his guitar. “Maybe you should take a look around too.”

With a wink and a smirk, Flynn disappeared, and Julie couldn’t help but to let her eyes wander back to the boy with the guitar. He looked about her age. His eyes were soft hazel and he was fit, with muscular arms that he showed off with his sleeveless Rush t-shirt. He wasn't at all dressed for a snowy city; the only winter gear he had on was his orange beanie. As he finished up “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” everyone clapped and cheered.

“Hello people of…whatever airport we’re in!“ Cute boy cried.

“Denver, dumbass!” Some teenager called out.

Cute boy rolled his eyes. “Right. Denver. Hello people of the Denver airport! I know this really sucks, and we’re all stressed and want to get home, but getting stranded at the airport is its own journey, ya know? So let’s make the best of it.”

That’s when he looked right at her, as though sensing her watching him, and he winked. Cheeks red-hot, Julie managed to keep eye contact long enough to hopeful convey yes, I see you. She nervously tugged a strand of hair behind her ears. Julie pretended to go back to watching her shows while cute boy kept playing, but she couldn’t help but to listen in. His voice was powerful, yet smooth in all the right places, and genuine. The way he smiled through his singing lit up the whole room of stranded passengers- and lit up her heart too. For a single moment, Julie almost felt a calm peace listening to him sing.

All it took was Luke transitioning into “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” to send her right back into her sad Christmas memories that made her feel happy and sad and angry and confused all at the same time. Turning away, Julie pulled her knees to her chest and let herself get lost in watching the snowfall outside. She didn’t realize her eyes got so teary until a voice asked her:

“Hey, you okay?” It was guitar boy. Julie quickly tried to wipe her wet eyes, but it was no use; he sat down across from her, concerned. “Do you not like the Grinch or something?”

And she didn’t know why, but there was something about this boy that made her feel a bit warm inside. That made her feel a pull toward him, like she could trust him.

“I love the Grinch,” Julie told him. A sad smile crossed her face. “So did my mom. She died ten years ago.”

“Oh…I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she lied. The blanket fell off of her as she straightened up in her seat. He was definitely checking her out, and she would have been flattered if she didn’t look like a complete mess. Julie caught herself combing her fingers through her curls. “Sorry if I brought the mood down, it’s just been a bad day. You sounded pretty good.”

“Thanks! I’m Luke, by the way, and this is kind of my spot, if it’s okay I sit here-" Luke waved his hand toward a whole group of bags that definitely couldn’t all belong to him that were sitting in the row across from her. “But if you need space…”

Maybe it was because her heart felt that weird pull to him…or maybe it was because she was afraid he would go away and sing more Christmas songs…but for some reason the last thing she wanted was for him to disappear forever.

“No, by all means, your spot’s your spot!”

Julie winced at her own stupid comment, but he simply let out an adorable laugh as he sat down and began to retune his guitar. His hands looked strong and rough, callused from years of playing.

“Guess you got left holding the bags too,” Luke smirked, nodding toward Flynn’s bag as he working on his guitar.

“Um…yup, that’s me!” She replied awkwardly. She held up her purse, for some stupid reason. “Julie Molina, bag holder. At your service.”

“Yeah, my friends ditched me too,” he replied. “Reggie wanted the ‘authentic airport bar experience’, whatever that meant and Alex ‘needed to go for a walk’. Just in case you were wondering why one single person had so many bags cause I’m totally here on my own…single.” He winced. “Wow…I just said that.”

“You did…” she teased, then stopped, feeling even more awkward. She waved to the bags beside her. “These are my friend Flynn’s. Took her about two seconds to leave me stranded alone while stranded at the airport to go try to meet someone. I think that’s a record.”

Now that they both established, in the most awkward way possible, that they were 1) stranded at the airport together 2) stranded by their friends and 3) single…Julie kind of wanted to break through the windows and run until she was buried in the snowstorm. What did she even think she was doing? She was terrible at this.

Here lies Julie Molina, died of flirting with cute airport boy. She fought the good fight.

“It’s good to meet you, Julie. Nice to know a fellow airport strand-ee.” He glanced up to her as he said it, his arms around the guitar in her lap, smile laying effortless on his face. “I’m sorry about the music, I guess Alex was right, not everyone’s in the mood.”

“It’s really okay,” Julie assured him. “Like I said, just…”

“Bad day,” Luke nodded. “I get it. I’ve kind of had a bad past twenty-five weeks. I guess I thought I could blow off some steam by playing a bit, while I still have some kind of audience.”

Then his face contorted into horror when he realized how he said that and he quicky corrected: “Not that I’m trying to compare my thing to you losing your mom!”

“It’s okay, we’re all allowed to have our own thing,” Julie offered. “Sorry about your bad…twenty-five weeks.” Scrunching her nose up, Julie stopped, considering it. “That’s a really specific period of time.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” he muttered.

His face fell, and her heart reached out to him. In that one flash of emotion, Julie could tell Luke was carrying a lot of baggage of his own- and not just the bags on the seats beside him. At last, he shook his head solemnly.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter, for my thing,” Luke went on, “everything’s going to be fine.”

His knee was bouncing and he was looking back at the spot he had been playing in, right in the center of the terminal, perfect for an audience. He was clearly desperate to distract himself with his performing. Then his eyes lit up like he had an idea. “You don’t sing, do you?”

Julie’s heart sank as she remembered singing Christmas carols at the piano with her mom. Back then, her whole family thought Julie was going to be a star. That’s before her inner light, her passion itself, went out altogether. Flynn helped her find music again, enough to finish Los Feliz and enough to give Double Trouble the old college try (literally), but since entering “the real world”, her keyboard had been shoved into the back of her closet. Her old songbook was buried in a box under her bed.

She finally shook her head.

“Not anymore.”

Luke looked grief-stricken at the wording, and he was clearly curious, but he hesitated, like he knew better than to pry that far into a stranger’s baggage.

“I’m sorry,” Luke said at last. He swallowed hard. “I guess to me, music’s always been the one thing that’s been with me, through it all. Even when people leave or…when things get ruined. It always helps.”

His words were laced with self-loathing and regret, and she had a bad feeling it had to do with his bad twenty-five weeks.

“Then you should play,” Julie found herself saying. “You made a lot of people feel a lot better about being stranded at the airport when you were playing.”

“You’ll be okay?” Luke asked hesitantly.

“I’ll make it,” she promised.

“Any requests?” He asked with a cheeky smile as he got up with his guitar.

“Dealer’s choice.”

His eyes sparkled at her response, and when he winked at her again, Julie was certain she’d combust. Strapping his guitar strap around him, Luke wasted no time in beginning sing:

Hang all the mistletoe

I'm gonna get to know you better

This Christmas

Luke practically bled charm as he sang and played, stealing glances toward her throughout the whole song. She couldn't deny Luke was warm and comforting as he played and, strangely, it made her miss playing music too. It wasn't that she hated music, not like she truly did for awhile after mom died, but it was more like at point she simply let music go. All around her, people were smiling amongst the stressful airport rush, an older couple even danced. For the first time all day, Julie felt like she could come up for air out of her ocean of grief and simply be present. Whatever reason she was instantly attracted to this boy, he seemed instantly attracted to her too, and as scary as the idea of putting her heart on the line again was, maybe a cute stranger with soft eyes, a bright smile, a heart full of kindness and an air of mystery about him was exactly what she needed tonight. 

After all, Julie was going to be stranded with Luke all night, maybe getting to know him wasn't the worst idea ever.

Chapter Text

“One old fashioned, please and thank you,” Reggie coolly asked the bartender as he took a seat at the airport bar.

The bar was packed with stranded passengers. Everyone here seemed so grown up and mature versus the people he was used to meeting at the bars Sunset Curve played at on tour, which made him a little self-conscious , but Reggie was twenty-six now. He could sit at a grown-up bar by himself, order a grown-up drink…and hopefully meet a fellow grown-up to chat with.

Reggie nervously tugged at the sleeves of his blue and white flannel (a Hanukkah gift from Luke and Alex…pre-Big Fight) and stole a look around the bar to check out his fellow bar-goers.

That’s what he saw her: the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

She strut through the open bar area wearing black leggings, a cream-colored cardigan, and a soft ivory grid-pattern coat. Her hair was in really long braids and her acrylic fingernails sparkled with white glittery snowflakes on a soft blue nail color. As she took the seat next to him, Reggie caught a whiff of jasmine and vanilla from her perfume and he practically melted.

“Can I get an espresso martini, please?” The pretty girl asked. She stole a playful look to him. “Don’t judge, if I’m going to be stuck at the airport all night, I need my alcohol and my caffeine.”

“Oh, no judgement at all!” Reggie quickly replied. “Sorry you’re stuck here too.”

“Yeah,” the girl sighed. “My bestie and I came to Denver to see some snow at Christmas, but we didn’t want to see this much snow.”

They both looked over at the big window nearby. Just sitting near the window made Reggie shiver; he swore his hands hadn't felt warm since the Sunset Curve arrived in Denver for their show last night. Most of this leg of their tour had been in the south and east coast of the country, where it wasn't too cold yet. It was Luke's bright idea to do a couple of stops on the way home, 'since we'll be near mountains anyway'. Luke's version of 'near the mountains' wasn't exactly the same as everyone else's, and it turned into hours of driving out of their way in a cold-weather state none of them had the clothes for. Long story short, it didn't spell great news for Reggie's anemia, which tended to make him more intolerant to the cold even on mild winter days.

Outside the big airport window, the sky was an ugly grey color; so much snow was flying around he couldn’t even see the planes that should be sitting nearby. The only other snowy holiday season he had was a couple of years ago, when they played New York clubs all through December. Bobby purposefully fought to get the tour scheduled like that specifically so that Reggie could have a magical, snowy NYC holiday. While he didn't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, he still loved the festivities, the pretty lights, decorations and music. He loved getting into the fun of this time of year: celebrating the end of a long year of touring, toasting the start of a new one. Delving into random acts of kindness for each other and doing whatever they could to keep the Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year spirit alive on the road. He loved celebrating with his friends and giving each other gifts for their respected holidays, even if they usually couldn't afford to do anything too fancy. Just getting to walk the snowy streets of New York, hand and hand with Bobby, felt enough for him that year. His heart ached at the memory, which he quickly shoved away. This year, tensions had been so high in the band that nothing felt that special about December, and Bobby...well he and Bobby had been done as boyfriends for awhile, but now Reggie was afraid they were done for as friends and bandmates too.

“I'm all for a snowy Hanukkah,” said Reggie, "but the snow's only fun when you get to play in it."

“Agreed!” The girl smiled. “Also, Happy Hanukkah! I’m Flynn, by the way.”

Not only was she really pretty, ordered fancy coffee drinks he’d never heard of, and knew when Hanukkah was but she had a super cool name.

“I’m Reggie," he replied, "and Merry Christmas!"

"Thanks!"

“Here are your drinks,” the bartender announced, sliding over his old fashioned and her espresso martini.

Reggie confidently reached for his whiskey drink, took a large swallow of the alcohol…and immediately spit some back into the glass.

“Oh my god!” Reggie coughed at the burn in his throat. “Apparently, I do not like whiskey.”

“The first time you tried whiskey was ordering an old fashioned at an airport bar?” Flynn teased.

“Yeah…I’m usually more of a cocktail kind of guy,” he admitted, “but I wanted to try something new and you know….” Adult. “Classy.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, hoping it helped him look adorable and not like the idiot he felt like. Thankfully, instead of rolling her eyes or mocking him she simply slid her drink over.

“You can be classy and not order nasty-ass whiskey,” Flynn told him. “Here, try mine!”

Normally, accepting drinks from strangers would be a huge no-no for him, but the bartender had just made it, and he’d been with her the whole time so he threw caution and tried the fancy coffee martini. Instead of burning his throat, this one was really sweet and strong- but a good kind of strong.

“See this, this is amazing!” Reggie gushed.

“Can I get another espresso martini?” Flynn asked the bartender. She winked at him, and Reggie was pretty sure he was going to die, right then and there.

Here lies Reginald Peters. Died of Cute Girl at the airport. Could have solved all his problems if he hadn't been such a child to begin with.

“Thanks,” Reggie said, blushing as he took the new drink. “Put all our drinks on my tab.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Flynn quickly countered. She turned to the bartender. “Really.”

“No, it’s okay! I…I’m here on business.” He blurted it out without thinking. He froze. He almost clarified that he was not here on paid business, but she already seemed impressed. “So you know, it’s paid for. Cause I’m traveling on business. I do that a lot. For my businessy job.”

Technically, his credit card was for traveling and for work. And technically, weren’t all jobs some form of business?

“Okay then, Mr. Businessman,” Flynn replied slyly. “Imma let you pay my way then, as long it’s on the company’s tab.”

“Yup! Yup, that’s totally how my credit card works.”

What are you doing? Alex’s voice scoffed in his head.

Reggie mentally swatted the voice away. Not talking to you ‘Lex, remember? We’re in a fight.

“So…Flynn. What brings you to this lovely, snowed-in, airport? Besides seeing lots of snow?”

“I was in Denver on a ski trip with my bestie,” Flynn replied. “We needed to get away from L.A. for a bit.”

His heart skipped beats at hearing his hometown’s name. “You’re from L.A.?!”

“Yup!”

“I’m from L.A.!”

They both squealed and freaked out for a moment about that before launching into a Q&A about their childhood in Los Angeles. It turns out, they grew up not far from each other at all (though Flynn was definitely from a better neighborhood than he was).

“I’m so jealous you got to go to Los Feliz!” He told her. “That would have been my dream high school. What were you there for? Music? Dance? Theatre?”

He said ‘theatre’ with a ridiculous British accent that made her giggle, and her giggle made his heart flutter. Reggie decided it was his new favorite sound ever.

“Music,” she told him, flashing him a bright smile. “Not to brag, but I was kinda in a band. We were kinda a big deal in high school and UCLA.”

A pit fell in his stomach. For the first time in ten years, the last thing Reggie wanted to talk about was music or being in a band. The last thing he wanted to have to admit to this gorgeous, super sweet, clearly talented and smart girl was that he spent the last ten years chasing a dream that crashed and burned in a matter of twenty-five weeks.

“That’s amazing,” Reggie made himself say. “What was the name of your band?”

“Double Trouble. It was me and said bestie, same one who’s with me on this trip. The band didn’t work out after school, but it was a ton of fun. I’m more on the business side of music business now. So what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yup.” She finished her drink in one swallow. “What do you do? What brings you to this snowed-in airport?”

Maybe he could still save this, without fibbing too much.

“I was also in Denver for work,” Reggie began carefully. “I was only supposed to be here for the day, and I was finally going to get to go home after being on the road forever. It’s been a pretty stressful year at my job, to be honest.”

“That sounds rough,” Flynn offered genuinely.

He bit his lip as he nodded. It had been hard. Most of the time, Reggie loved being on the road with the band- they were living the dream. But ten years of traveling in a van with three other guys could wear down even the most free-spirited soul…and sharing a van with his ex?

It had been nothing short of a nightmare.

The band had one last Christmas Eve show in Los Angeles, and after that they all had some pretty big decisions to make. They had the option to renew their indie rock label contract for another year, make a third album and go on tour again next fall. Just the thought of going through the physical motions of recording and touring for another year, let alone the mental game, made Reggie wanted to curl up into his suitcase and stow away on a plane going as far from Hollywood as possible.

Reggie was tired. His brain was tired, his body was tired, his heart was tired.

“Yeah,” Reggie finally replied. “To be honest, I’m looking to make a pretty big change next year. I might actually probably quit my job, for good, after Hanukkah.”

“Wow!” Flynn’s eyes blew wide, but then she shook a fist in the air, cheering for him. “You know what, good for you. Life is too short to be that stressed over work.”

“Yup!” Reggie chirped, wishing it were that simple. He took another long sip of his drink and shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”

“You didn’t at all. We all have a story, it’s what makes airports so fascinating,” Flynn pointed out. He supposed she was right; he and Luke could probably write a whole album about people’s airport stories. "Plus, you didn't bring the mood down, the storm did! It's a total bummer everyone's stranded at the airport when they're trying to get home for the holidays."

“Yeah,” he smiled. “It’s not so bad though…the company here’s pretty good.”

She looked totally flattered at the comment, and Reggie felt rather proud of himself for that one. It felt like a blush was permanently on his cheeks as he stared back down at his now-empty drink, wondering where to go from here. That’s when his stomach growled, and Flynn definitely heard.

“I’m starving,” Reggie confessed. Throwing caution to the wind, he dared to ask: “Would you maybe want to order an early dinner too?”

Her eyes lit up. “Dinner sounds amazing.”

911! I HAVE FOUND MY AIRPORT BOYFRIEND. He’s sweet & cute & from L.A. We’re getting dinner. You still good?

Julie shook her head, smiling to herself as she read Flynn’s text. Of course Flynn actually met someone at the airport within an hour of being stranded there.

Happy for you! I’m ok I PROMISE. Be safe. Have fun with airport guy, she replied.

Will do!!! Have you talked to cute guitar boy yet????

“Hey,” Luke’s voice spoke up before Julie could reply. He had asked if she didn’t mind watching his stuff for a moment and had now returned with a bag. He smiled at her. “I went to get some snacks, and then I thought you might be hungry too so I grabbed us both some food. Then I realized I had no clue what you liked or if you had allergies or anything, so I just got, well…everything.”

A big grin crossed her face as she peered into his bag, which was full of sandwiches, wraps, salads, chips, fruit cups, waters, and what smelled like two delish-smelling burgers. Her mouth watered at the sight; she had been getting hungry.

“That’s super sweet of you,” Julie told him. “The food looks amazing. I can pay you back-“

“My treat! But as a thank you, if you’d like to join me, I’d love some company.”

He looked rather proud of himself for thinking of that, and Julie was swooning, she was so flattered. Outside, the snow was still falling steadily, creating a gorgeous backdrop for a dinner date, and Julie had an idea. She took her blanket, gracefully lay it down on the floor between their aisles and asked:

“How about a picnic?”

Dinner with Reggie was amazing. The two fell into an easy rythm of swapping stories about traveling, holidays and growing up in Los Angeles. After finishing their burgers and trying some local Denver craft beers(which Reggie loved), they took a walk together around the terminal.

"I had no idea airports were so cool!" Reggie's face was lit up like a kid in a candy store as he took in the sheer amount of shops around them. "It's like a mall!"

"You travel this much for business and have never been to an airport?" Flynn inquired.

He tugged at the sleeves of his flannel, a nervous tick she'd noticed him do a lot. He only had a single travel backpack with him, which had definitely seen better days. The boy kept shivering, like he was cold, making her wonder what he was doing traveling to Colorado in the winter without so much as a light coat. She also hadn't seen him check his phone once, as though either he had no one to wonder where he was or he didn't care to let them know. 

"I mostly drive?" Reggie's answer was more like a question. 

"And the mystery thickens," Flynn said under her breath. 

"What?" He squeaked. 

"Nothing!" Flynn replied quickly. She grinned at him. "So if you've never been to an airport, you don't know the joys of an airport spas then."

Reggie's eyes blew wide. "They have spas here?!"

If anyone looked like they could use a spa day, it was this mysterious boy she met at the bar. Even though Reggie was super fun to talk to, he was clearly exhausted from work and travel stress. He had been hunched over as he sat at the bar, shoulders slumped and kept massaging his wrists and neck, like they were sore from a long year of working on a laptop in his business job. And, of course, Flynn could never say no to a spa day. Throwing caution to the wind, she dared to throw her arms around his shoulders and playfully teased:

"Oh I have so much to teach you about airports. To the spa!"

She could practically feel him melt under her touch and being this close to him turned her insides into goo too. She loved it.

Flynn had definitely done her fair share of dating around ever since she and Julie decided they were better off as best friends- and not girlfriends or bandmates- almost two years ago, but she had never found someone she so instantly connected with like Reggie. Sure, it was more than obvious that Reggie wasn't telling Flynn the whole truth about what he was doing in Denver or his job, but what was a super cute, really nice and funny Californian boy without some mystery about him? She knew how to protect her heart. Plus, she wasn't exactly being truthful about the fact that her old bandmate and bestie, who was at this very airport with her, was also her ex-long term girlfriend. 

But she and Reggie just met, and really all they both needed was someone to help make this disasterous adventure at the airport much more worthwhile. If it happened to turn into a little more when they both got home to California, they could go from there. 

Who knew she had to go all the way to Denver to find the perfect L.A. boy?

Chapter Text

Alex felt shaky with anxiety as he walked down the terminal. His travel backpack felt heavier than usual on his shoulders, his legs felt like lead. Everything was too loud, too bright, and there were way too many people around him. He needed air, he needed space. He hadn’t slept in two days, he couldn’t remember the last time he ate, which is why he grabbed the first food he saw after leaving the gate, a sketchy-looking hotdog.

In the matter of two days, the entire future of Sunset Curve, his entire future, was up in the air(ha!). He had nowhere to go back in L.A. and worse, he had to fly back there to get there. In a metal death trap with a hundred other people, breathing the same circulated air during cold and flu season, probably with someone coughing in his face and some kid crying the whole way because babies understand how terrible flying is. Flying would probably fuck with his sinuses, which were already fucked from twenty-five horrible weeks of traveling, he’d probably have another asthma attack…and he realized if he didn’t have the band and didn’t re-sign Sunset Curve’s contract he’d no longer have health insurance next year and fuck he was going to have to re-sign what was definitely a more than sketchy contract extension just to have health insurance, wasn’t he? Stupid fucking America. Stupid fucking Sunset Curve. Stupid fucking Bobby and stupid fucking airport and stupid fucking Christmas…

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

With no warning whatsoever, Alex was jarred from his anxiety spiral by someone running straight into him at top speed. Him and his attacker crashed to the ground. Something hard, with wheels, jammed into his shin.

“Aw man, you dinged my board!” A voice whined.

“Your board?!” Alex shot as he sat up, rubbing his shin, and his neck, and his back. Everything hurt. “You nearly killed me!” Aside from his shin hurting, he realized there was mustard on the bottom of his pants and his hot dog had fallen splat on the floor. “And you ruined my hotdog…”

He looked up to find the skateboarder shrugging off their helmet and froze.

The skateboarder was, quite literally, the prettiest person he’d ever seen. He was hot, with long, flowy hair, beautiful eyes that seemed to stare right into his soul, and a winning (and very amused) smile. They had a canvas backpack with them that had a rainbow pin, a ‘he/they’ pronouns pin, nonbinary flag pin, and a ‘be gay, do crime’ button.

Alex’s heart pounded in a way that had nothing to do with his anxiety.

Cute Guy made a face at the fallen hotdog on the floor and did a cross symbol over their heart. “My bad. You really didn’t miss out on anything though, I hear those airport dogs give people horrible food poisoning. Sorry about your jeans though.”

“Huh?” Alex had already forgotten about the mustard. “Oh, I...I didn’t really like these jeans anyway.”

“Lemme help you.”

The guy reached for his hand, as if Alex could simply take some cute skateboard guy’s hand and not burst into a million pieces, but somehow, he made it to standing on his own two, still shaky, legs.

“Woah, you’re totally shaking all over, are you okay?” Cute skateboard guy asked.

“I…I…” he stammered uselessly. “Sorry, I just...”

Alex blinked, still not fully out of his bluescreening…and maybe his anxiety was still taking over more than he’d like to admit because of course he would have a panic attack in front of the cutest person he had met in ages. Just like that, the walls were closing in again, he felt a bit dizzy and nauseous and wasn’t even all the way aware when cute skateboard guy led him over to sit on a nearby bench. He felt ridiculous, like the craziest person in the world that his anxiety was ramping up so badly over nothing, but he really did feel like shit.

“Just breathe with me,” cute skateboarder instructed calmly.

He listened as the guy breathed with him and counted, then walked Alex through a very familiar set of exercises about 5 things he could see in different colors, and it worked. At last, he let out a long, but calmer, breath. Cute skateboarder smiled.

“Better?” They asked.

Nodding, Alex tried to explain:

“Sorry. I guess my anxiety’s been kind of peak…me today.”

“Hey, it's no problem,” cute skateboard guy assured him. “I used to have pretty bad anxiety, I totally get it. Plus airports are stressful, especially when you're stranded in them."

“Yeah..." his mouth still felt a bit cottony, and he made himself reach for his water bottle to take a cool, refreshing, sip of water. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cute skateboard guy asked; they sounded genuinely concerned too. They were so calm and kind, Alex could have spilled his whole life story.

“It’s just been a bad day,” Alex sighed. He added under his breath: “and a really fucking bad past twenty-five weeks.”

“That’s…an oddly specific amount of time.”

“Yeah,” he sighed again, still trying to catch his breath. Fuck.

Removing his cap, he ran a hand through his hair, partly to relieve excess anxiety...and partly to show off because he too had long, pretty hair now- though nowhere near as impressive as skateboard guy. Who was definitely checking him out.

“So…I’m kinda in this band,” Alex admitted.

“Woah!” Their eyes lit up this time. “Any band I've heard of?"

“Sunset Curve?” Alex half-replied, half asked. The guy gave this adorable half-shrug. “Yeah, we’re not that big. We mostly play bars, clubs, some small venues. Anyway, we just got off the worst tour of our fucking career. We were supposed to sign this contract extension in January, but our fucking rhythm guitarist up and fucking quit and we all got into this massive fight. He took off with our fucking van and just left us here. Oh and also, I’m like really afraid of flying, like I do not do planes or airports. Or winter for that matter. I’m not made for this!”

Almost immediately he regretted dropping all of his baggage like that, but although cute skateboarder looked surprised for a split second, his face softened into sympathy.

“That does suck!” They replied. “I can totally see why you’d have an anxiety attack.”

“Right?” Alex let out a nervous laugh. “I guess I realized all at one that I had no clue what's going to happen to me, and the cancellations made everything feel that much worse. When I say I normally I have anxiety I mean, my middle name is anxiety, so to say my anxiety is high today is saying a lot.”

Cute skateboard guy smiled.

“Do you have a first name?”

They were gazing at Alex with shimmering eyes, drawing Alex’s soul right to his…

Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit they were gorgeous and sweet and nice and wanted to know his name.

“Alex,” he finally blurted out. “I’m Alex.”

“I’m Willie,” they offered. “I’m sorry things suck so much. It’s totally valid to be anxious right now, and I know it doesn’t help being stuck here. But this airport is actually super cool and not scary at all. Okay, it’s a little scary. I mean, if you believe what they say."

Alex blinked.

“I…what do they say?"

“Don’t you know?” Willie teased. They waved their hand around “This airport is known for two things- okay, three. One- it’s America’s largest airport. It's like twice the size of normal airports."

His legs ached in response to that revelation. “So that’s why it feels like I’ve literally been walking for miles!”

“Yes!"

Willie’s hand gripped his shoulder as he giggled, and Alex nearly died, right then and there.

Here lies Alex Mercer. Died of cute skateboard guy at the airport. In lieu of flowers, donate to the Support for Anxious Bitter Gays Fund.

(okay, that wasn’t an actual charity, but he was seriously considering establishing one)

“Okay, dare I ask what are the other two things that this place is known for?” Alex asked. “And if one of them is most planes that crashed after taking off from here, I don’t want to know.”

“Okay, the other thing this airport's known for is art. And also- pause for dramatic effect- conspiracy theories.”

They wiggled their eyebrows, and Alex gaped at him. If anyone was not a conspiracy theorist, it was Alex Anxiety Mercer. Mostly because he assumed by default that most people were bad, no one had good intentions, and some horrible disaster was always waiting around the corner.

“I…I don’t know what to say to that,” Alex stated. “Does this have something to do with the truth being out there- cause usually the truth is usually pretty fucking bad."

“Oh no, none of it’s that’s serious or real!” Willie assured him. They cocked an eyebrow again. “Well…it’s probably not. I know this place pretty well, I can show you around, if you want.”

“Do you work here or something?” Alex asked, looking for any sign of a badge.

Though they wore no badge, Willie simply replied: “Something like that. C'mon. This will be fun, promise! Besides, we need to find you some real food."

Jumping up, they grabbed their penny board and motioned for Alex to follow them…and of course, they started skateboarding again through the terminal. He called after Willie:

“I don’t think you can skateboard in airports!”

“Catch me if you can, Hotdog!" 

Alex sputtered for a full moment at the nickname before finally shaking his head one last time, a half smile on his face as he rushed to catch up with Willie, equal parts nervous about what he was getting himself into and strangely excited. 

Luke was incredible.

There, she admitted it.

Julie’s face felt hot the whole time they chatted, her heart was all fluttery, she kept catching herself smiling- it didn’t help that he wore this big, goofy, grin the whole time they talked. Luke was so animated when he spoke, so passionate about every story and spoke with practically his entire body. He waved his arms and jumped up randomly, tapped his foot and fidgeted with his hands and the rabit’s foot he wore.

“I can’t believe you’re from Los Feliz!” Julie gushed. “It sounds like we basically grew up around the block from each other.”

“Crazy, right?” Luke laughed. “I love coincidences like that. Like one time, at this show the guy who used to deliver our mail was in the front row. He didn’t even know it was my band!”

And that was the other thing. He was in a band: lead guitarist, lead singer. Which was really no surprise, given his talent, charm, and effortless way he worked an audience.

“That’s amazing,” she said with a smile.

“So what do you do?” Luke asked. He took a huge bite out of his turkey sandwich.

Hesitating, Julie tucked a curl behind her hair. There was this weird pull inside of her whenever Luke spoke about music. It was a kind of addicting in a weird way she couldn't explain at all; at the least, it made her feel comfortable telling him about her life. 

“I work for a non-profit,” Julie replied. “We help keep music in schools by finding instruments that can be donated, scoping out music teachers, volunteers, and ways to keep programs funded. We even host competitions and showcases for the kids."

His eyes lit up, twinkling.

“That sounds fucking amazing!” Luke exclaimed through a mouthful of sandwich. He swallowed, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and went on: “I had no idea programs like that exist. Sunset Curve could totally get on that, if there’s like any way we could help. Do you have a contact number or something?”

The question threw her for such a loop that her heart skip beats.

“D-do you mean like…my office number? Or cell?”

A blush blossomed on his cheeks as he sheepishly replied:

“Maybe…both?”

Julie bit her lip, trying her best to keep from smiling like an idiot as she fished out a business card from her bag and wrote her cell number on the back of it.

“I’ll keep this safe,” he smiled, taking a photo of it first with his phone before carefully placing the card into his bag.

Their eyes met for a long moment before she had to look away or she might actually die of pining. She couldn’t explain why she was so taken with him so quickly, but she just felt safe with him. And, well, it didn’t hurt that he was super cute too. He’d thrown on a flannel, which made her feel better about him not wearing sleeves in Denver, and somehow he was almost even cuter in the oversized flannel. Almost.

At the least, he was doing a great job of keeping her from wallowing in her grief. And admittedly, seeing how impressed he was with her work did make her feel pretty proud and excited for her job.

“I literally never knew work like that was a possibility,” Luke said, shaking his head after she told him about some of her coolest projects she’d work on lately. “That’s totally rad. I mean it, the band will have to figure out a way to help out.”

“We’d love that!” She took a look around, noticing the bass guitar and bags that were still by Luke, but no band. “Your bandmates still haven’t come back?”

“Nah,” Luke said through another bite of sandwich. Even when he talked with his mouth full, he was still cute. (okay, she might be getting carried away now). He smirked. “Apparently, Reggie found his ‘dream airport girl’ and Alex is MIA.”

“Flynn basically said the same as Reggie,” she snorted. She noticed they had both finished eating and felt little sad that their picnic was over. “Are you going to keep playing?”

“Actually, I have some work to do,” Luke admitted. He took a notebook out of his backpack. “We have a Christmas Eve show tomorrow night back home, and I’ve got to perfect this setlist. And I’ve got these two songs I’ve been working on for ages. Actually…” he studied her for a long moment before asking: “Would you want to take a look at them with me?”

Julie gazed at him, stunned to be asked. She hadn’t worked on music with anyone since Flynn, and aside from her college professors, Flynn was the only person who even saw her original music since her mom. Working on a song was something so personal, it felt like a huge deal for Luke to ask.

“Like I said, I really don’t do music anymore myself."

Luke threw her a playful look. “’c’mon. Everyone does music, even it’s just listening to it in the car. You said you went to Los Feliz, right? You’ve got a music background, and you work with musicians all the time.”

“I work with schools who work with kids who play music..."

But he still was throwing her pleading puppy dog eyes, not backing down. He waved his songbook in front of her face, taunting her with it.

“And it takes so much passion for music to run-"

"Help run-"

"To run a music non-profit like that! I can see it in your soul, Julie!” Luke declared. Hearing him say her name sent a shiver down her spine. “You’ve still got the music in you, somewhere, I can feel it! And I could really use a fresh set of eyes on this song so pleaseeeeeee. For me? For Christmas?"

She didn’t know why, but she wanted to believe him. Music really had made her life better: with her mom, after her mom, with Flynn. Music was never easy, and lately it was easier to pretend like she had moved on than to fight the ever-evolving grief and emotion songwriting brought back up for her. But maybe she wasn’t supposed to fight it. And Luke did make music seem easy and fun again.

Shaking her head and rollying her eyes teasingly, Julie finally giggled and made a grab for his notebook. “Show me what you got.”

Chapter Text

“My nails look sooooo pretty!” Reggie boasted, proudly holding up his navy nails with gold flecks for Hanukkah colors. “And I feel so relaxed, it’s like I’m on a cloud!”

“You totally need to hit up the spa more!” Flynn chimed in. “Shit’s amazing.”

“Yes it is!”

They almost walked right past a restaurant that was giving away free cups of hot chocolate to stranded passengers and backtracked to pick up theirs and slid into a space by a nearby window. Outside, the snow was still rampant, planes were still grounded, and all around the terminal, people were losing their damn minds. But Flynn was in paradise. All she had to do was look over to Reggie’s sweet face and see the way his eyes lit up every time he discovered something new. He was a bundle of energy, warmth, and a bright spot in the chaos all at the same time.

As much as she wanted to get home to Christmas, she didn’t want her time with Reggie to end.  

“So, Reggie, are you sticking around L.A. long once you get home?” She asked hopefully.

His face fell a bit; he downed the rest of his hot chocolate like it was a shot and tossed it into a nearby bin.

“Um…I guess it depends on if we extend our contract.” He looked caught and quickly corrected: “If I extend my contract, I mean. For my business job. I work on contract and they decide where to send me and when so…who knows.”

Reggie looked as worried as she sounded about this contract. Something definitely wasn’t adding up about his job and his story, but Reggie himself seemed so sweet and sincere, she decided he was entitled to his privacy if he needed to keep some of his story to himself. But she for sure was paying attention.

“That must really suck, having your life owned by work like that,” Flynn sighed. “What do you think you would do, if you changed jobs?”

Shrugging, Reggie let out an uneasy laugh. “I have no idea. I don’t think I could do just anything next.”

“You could though!” Flynn insisted. “Like take my BFF for instance. When music didn’t work out, she found her way into non-profit work and now has an amazing job working with an organization that helps keeps music in schools.”

“That sounds so cool!” Reggie gasped, eyes wide. Then he shook his head solemnly. “I don’t think I could ever do anything like that.”

Flynn officially wanted to slap whoever this boy’s boss was for not only tying him down to some awful contract for some shitty job but for convincing him he couldn’t do anything better.

“Of course you could.”

Reggie stared longingly out the window.”

“I guess I just don’t feel like I’d be qualified to do much else besides what I do,” he replied sadly.

“Please,” Flynn rolled her eyes. “People change careers all the time, in all kinds of ways. Honestly, if I hadn’t found my music business job I was kinda sorta thinking of law school.”

Flynn held her breath; she had never told anyone that, not even Julie. She was great at social media marketing, she knew she was. Sometimes she just wondered if it was truly what she wanted to do…forever.

“I can totally see you kicking butt at being a lawyer!”

“Thanks!” Flynn beamed, feeling relieved he didn’t think the idea sounded ridiculous. “I could get into something niche with being a music business lawyer, like helping bands navigate contracts and stuff. We almost got ourselves into some crazy stuff when I was in Double Trouble. I kinda really liked digging into the legalities of it all, is that weird?”

Reggie looked lost in space for a moment before shaking himself out of it. “No, that actually makes a lot of sense. It’s pretty cool that you were able to save yourselves. A lot of bands don’t.”

His voice fell, he was squirming again and fidgeting with the sleeves of his flannel. Then he let out a violent shudder.

“You okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Reggie replied quickly, tugging his flannel around himself.

“You’ve been getting a lot of chills. You’re not like…getting sick, are you?”

He blushed; he shivered again. “No, I…I have anemia. It’s stupid, sorry. It’s not a big deal. It’s usually okay, but I get pretty-“ shiver, “intolerant to cold. Which isn’t normally a big big problem, but I’m not normally in the-“ shiver, “mountains.”

“Anemia’s not nothing!” She insisted. “Do you take iron?”

“Yeah,” he shivered again, "but I'm not always the best about remember to take it while on the road- uh, while traveling for work."

She still didn’t understand why he was even on a work trip in the mountains with no coat, even if he was only supposed to be passing through for the day, but she couldn’t help but to feel for him. Flynn shrugged off her long coat and placed it around Reggie’s shoulders.

“You don’t have to-"

“My cardigan is plenty warm,” she promised. “Besides, it looks good on you.”

The light color actually drowned out his too-pale skin, but his blush darkened beautifully as he pulled her coat up over him.

“I feel warmer already,” his words were breathy and intimate, and his callused hand inched out of the coat sleeve. “My hand’s still a bit cold, though.”

Her heart fluttered at his flirting, and she reached out to take his hand in hers. She instantly felt warmer too. Heart pounding, Flynn was almost tempted to kiss him, and he looked like he wanted to kiss her too. But instead, he smiled and said:

“So…do I get to pick out something to do for you next?”

After getting Alex a proper sandwich and juice, Willie led him away from the crowds until they managed to find a quieter hallway. The hallway was dim, save for a lit up neon sign suggesting he ‘relax’ sign, which he did as he and Willie took a seat on a bench. Willie launched into the whole crazy history of the airport they were in, showing him articles and youtube videos as he went, and they were not wrong about Denver International Airport being known for conspiracy theories. In the internet’s defense, this airport was weird: it was $2B over budget, twice as big as most American airports, for seemingly no reason, had some the creepiest art with the creepiest symbolism ever, and apparently had multiple floors and tunnels on the airport that no one knew what they were for.

“I think my favorite theory is that the airport’s connected to the big bunker under Cheyenne Mountain,” Willie bragged, “cause like, we’re not that far away, and it would make sense, you know? To need top secret tunnels to take supplies and people and stuff over there. And did you know the Cheyenne Mountain place is built to withstand a freaking atomic bomb? There’s so much crazy shit that goes on there…”

He launched then into a history of the area and all the government things they were nearby, and as crazy it all was to here…in a weird way, this felt like the most normal conversation he had in months.

“I think I’ve learned more about government conspiracies and the Freemasons than I ever wanted to know,” Alex snorted as he walked and Willie glided along on their penny board down the dark hall. “I had no idea this place was so crazy, and I thought that devil-horse statue thing outside the airport was weird.”

“Oh yeah, and the guy who designed the statue was totally killed by it.”

“And they just…still put the statue up?!”

“Yup!”

Alex gaped at him. “Okay, this entire airport is definitely cursed.”

Willie threw their head back, laughing again as he ran his hand through their long, flowy hair. Every time they laughed, Alex’s heart sped up even more; his whole body felt warm and buzzing with anticipation at the same time. And calm. He had felt strangely calm, ever since meeting Willie.

“This might have been the weirdest attempt to calm my anxiety ever,” Alex offered, “but it’s appreciated. Thank you. It’s really helped.”

“Course,” Willie flashed a smile at him that made his heart skip beats.

They came to a stop at a long mural depicting a beach front; Alex could just imagine being back in California, standing on the sand and feeling the warm son his skin. Maybe there were some things he was looking forward to about going home.

“Makes me miss home,” Alex admitted, “I’ve been away for a few months…L.A. doesn’t have anything on actual island beaches, but the ocean is nice.”

“Wait?” Willie asked. “You’re from L.A.? So am I!”

His heart leapt with hope; maybe his airport crush wouldn’t have to be only his airport crush.

“Wait, seriously?!”

“Yeah!” Willie playfully slapped his arm and giggled. “I’m going back home to spend Christmas with my old man. I’ll probably stick around, through New Year’s at least. We should totally hang out in L.A.”

Alex’s chest felt so tight he thought he might bust with panic and excitement and anticipation and pure joy and warmth and so many things. He was grinning ear to ear as he coolly took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair again.

“Absolutely!” He agreed. “Hey, you still haven’t told me why you’re in Denver.”

Willie’s eyes twinkled. “That’s still because there’s one more piece of art I have to show you.”

They took an underground tram that connected between terminals; as they road, what seemed like hundreds of tiny propellers on the underground walls spun around.

“It’s called the Kinetic Air Light Curtain,” Willie explained, grinning. “Yet more art. There’s more wall art going inbound too.”

“This is so cool!”

When they got off the tram, Willie led them via skateboard down a hallway, where a new art exhibit was roped off in the corner, right across from a cozy coffee shop. Willie simply stepped over the rope.

“Are we…supposed to be here?” Alex asked, glancing around nervously.

They wiggled their eyebrows. “Yeah. At least, I say you can be.”

Holyshitholyshitholyshit.

Blushing, Alex teased: “I don’t think this is about the art anymore. I think you just like breaking the rules.”

Willie simply waved for him to join. “C’mon in, Hotdog.”

Letting out a long breath, Alex stepped over the rope too so he could take a closer look at the art on display. All around him there were photographs and drawings of Colorado’s mountains and springs, including an incredible drawing of a man walking through the mountains, facing not just two paths, but many possible paths.

“What is this place?” Alex asked as he spun around.

Grinning, Willie casually stood by the ‘about the artist’ display on an easel that read: About the artist: Willie Covington.

Alex’s jaw hit the floor as he leaned back up to meet Willie’s eyes. “You…you’re the artist?”

Willie tapped at the photograph of their own face and sing-songed: “That’s me!”

Holyshitholyshitholyshit

His airport crush was not only super cute, a wicked cool skateboarder, really amazing to talk to, kind and sympathetic, but they were an incredibly talented and accomplished artist.

“You’re an artist,” Alex breathed. “You’re…you’re amazing!”

“Thanks,” Willie beamed.

“So this is why you know so much about airport art…”

Alex was so in shock all he could do was walk around in circles, admiring the art. Willie looked so proud- and so anxious to see his reactions.

“Normally, I do smaller art shows and have galleries in markets and stuff,” Willie explained, “but some airports have public art programs and take submissions. I through caution to the wind and sent something in…and they wanted me to build a whole exhibit.”

“That’s so amazing!” Alex gushed. “Wow. I mean, just…wow.”

“It is pretty wow!” Willie admitted with another beautiful laugh. Then he let out a low breath, his eyes flashing as he looked back up to Alex. “You’re pretty wow yourself, Hotdog. A ten year career in music is really impressive, even if it might not feel like it right now.”

His heart fluttered as he blushed again. “Thanks. So…can you tell me about all these pieces?”

“I’d love to.”

Luke was a really good songwriter. Like, really good.

Her mom would have loved him.

He was absolutely buzzing with passion every second they worked through his songbook. The setlist was easy enough to put together for the Christmas Eve show, Julie really wasn’t sure why he pretended to act like he needed her help with that. Some of his songs though were just fascinating to look at. Some were complete and songs the band played routinely, like “Now or Never”, which was simply a bop. Others were fragments of lyrics and ideas that he showed off to her while playing his guitar softly:

Life is a risk but I will take it

Close my eyes and jump

Together I think that we can make it

Come on let's run and

Rise through the night you and I

We will fight to shine together

“Bright forever,” Julie found herself singing along without thinking about it, showing off her vocal range.

Luke froze.

She froze.

“What was that?” Luke teased, grinning like an idiot.

“I…I don’t know,” she lied, anxiously tugging at her curls.

“Julie, you have an amazing voice!” Luke gushed. “That was freaking incredible! ‘Don’t do music’ my ass, you’re like a wrecking ball of talent.”

Julie felt her cheeks grow hot.

“It was one note,” she replied playfully. “You’re the one who’s super talented.”

“No, Julie for real though! I have so many ideas-“

“…ideas for what?”

“Sing this with me.”

He tapped his pencil at the next verse.

“What?!”

His eyes, somehow, shone even bright as he pleaded: “Sing with me Julie, please!”

“I don’t know…”

People were throwing them curious glances, a few silently begging her to join in, their eyes lit up, fascinated. All of them just thankful for some kind of entertainment. She turned back to Luke, who gave her her best puppy dog eyes, and she gave in. He started out by singing:

In times that I doubted myself

I felt like I needed some help

Stuck in my head

With nothing left

Then he motioned at her to jump in for the next verse:

And when I feel lost and alone

I know that I can make it home

Fight through the dark, and find the spark

They sang the chorus together the next time, all the way through, and Julie felt like she was floating on a cloud, transcending to an entirely different world. She forgot where she was, she was only aware of lyrics and music and Luke.

She felt breathless as they finished the song.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Yeah,” Luke replied, looking gobsmacked himself. “Wow. That was…that was the most magical thing. Like…I forgot music could sound like that or feel like that.”

“Yeah,” Julie whispered, “so did I.”

Something was different about singing with Luke though. Maybe it was just her body, her soul, missed music more than she ever realized, but singing with Luke felt addicting, like a drug. And now that she had a taste, she knew she couldn’t let go. They worked on a couple of other songs, writing and piecing together notes and choruses for what felt like hours, including writing almost in its entirety one song called “Edge of Great” that Julie helped with a lot of lyrics for.

“I’ve got to tell the guys about this!” Luke blurted out.

“Huh?”

“The guys!” Luke proclaimed, jumping to his feet. “They’ve got to hear this song, they've got to hear you sing Julie. I’ve never heard my music sound like it just sounded, this could be it.”

She blinked and scrambled to jump to stand too. “What do you mean ‘it’?”

Luke let out a delirious, beautiful laugh and shook his head in awe at her.

“You’ve got to join the band!”

Her heart dropped. How had Luke possibly gotten that much of the wrong idea about what she wanted here? Sure, it was nice- it was a relief- to realize she did, in fact, still have music inside her. That music could feel like this again. And she desperately did want to sing with Luke more, but joining a band…

“I…I can’t join a band, Luke!” She blurted out. “I have a job! I have a life, I have…I have to think. This is too much."

She needed air. This was too much, too fast. She needed air, she needed to walk, she needed to talk to Flynn. She needed to feel in control cause she was definitely spiraling. So Julie grabbed her bags and looped Flynn’s bag around her arm and raced off down the terminal.

911, she started to text to Flynn as she ran, cute guitar guy wants me to join his band! WHAT DO I DO?!

But she didn’t send the text. She sounded insane. She couldn’t simply uproot her whole life and join some traveling band she met at an airport- two members of which she hadn’t even met yet.

Right?

“JULIE, WAIT!” Luke’s voice called after her.

Julie stopped in the middle of the terminal and turned to find that Luke had chased after her. His chest was heaving, he somehow managed to run with his and his friend’s bags, the bass guitar case, and his own guitar still strapped around him.

“I’m sorry,” Luke offered, earnest, as he stepped up to her. “The guys are always saying I come off a bit strong and…I guess I do. What happened back there was just so magical, I lost my freaking mind. But I mean it, Julie. You have a gift, a real gift. You have more talent flowing through your veins than the three of us guys combined.”

Not only did Julie somehow forget how singing like that made her feel, how connecting to someone with music like that made her feel…but she forgot how nice it was to have someone root for her like this. She didn’t have Flynn working with her, cheering her on every day now. She tried to shove music away, like it was a bad ex, but music was still the true love of her life. She knew it was.

Maybe that’s why she was so scared.

All of a sudden, it felt like she had so much she could gain again by getting back into music, by getting to know Luke more, by singing with him…and she suddenly had so much she could lose too.

“I don’t know, Luke,” she sighed. "Singing and music...ever since my mom, it's been this one never-ending struggle. Sometimes it gets better and worse and it hasn't always worked out for me, and I don't know if I want to put my heart through that again."

Luke looked her in the eye.

“It will get easier, Julie. I promise. I know I threw a lot at you, but I really think you should consider it, if at least for our Christmas show. You should sing with us tomorrow night, please.”

He cocked a smile, but she felt a bit sick. She felt dizzy with possibilities and decisions and her life getting flipped upside down all in a second.

“I just…I don’t know,” was all she could say.

Feeling pathetic, Julie turned away from him again. It was stupid, letting her heart get so attached to a boy she only just met. If she didn’t join the band or play the show tomorrow, Luke would probably hate her forever. She’d never see him again. If she wasn’t good playing with the band or couldn’t do a tour and couldn’t save them from falling apart, he would definitely hate her.

“This is like fate, Julie!” Luke declared over the hustle and bustle around them. Julie stopped again but didn’t turn around. “The very city that Bobby ditches us in, the very city we get stranded in, at the gate where I meet you, sitting right across from me, and you’re a singer too and your voice is magic and I…I haven’t felt this excited about music in a long time, Julie, and I need this. The guys need this. And I bet you need this too.”

He bit his lip; his face fell. He shook his head. As he went on his voice was still genuine, determined, a bit defeated but hopeful all the same time:

“I know you do, because I know you love music, and I get that you’ve been hurt and have gone through so much and let yourself think you can just move on but…I know that’s not how it works. And selfishly…I just really liked singing with you, Julie. And I really like you, and I don’t want us to get on that plane tomorrow and never see each other again. But I get it, if you were just looking for someone to talk to and just want to get on with your life. That’s fair. It would just…it would mean the world to me if you considered doing the one Christmas show. That’s all.”

All around her, people were staring at her and watching Luke turn to leave. She could hear them murmuring: how could she say no to that poor boy? He seemed so sincere. I bet she can’t even sing.

Closing her eyes, Julie thought of her mom, wishing desperately she could talk to her. All she wanted out of this trip was some time away from it all, some time to breathe and recharge and grieve. She wasn’t expecting to make any big life decisions, she didn’t feel like she was capable of that right now.

What do I do, Mami? She whispered to herself, right in the middle of the crowd. Give me a sign.

She never thought she’d be able to play music again; her heart had been through so much. How could she risk hurting it again?

Someone bumped into her, jerking her out of her thoughts and Julie looked up to find a woman with a kind smile- and a Dahlia flower in her hand. Her mom’s favorite. She handed one to Julie, and tears were in her eyes as she took it.

She knew what she had to do.

But when she turned around, Luke had already disappeared further down the terminal. It was too loud and crowded for Julie to call after him. In a panic, Julie did the only thing she could think of to do to let Luke know her answer.

She begin to sing:

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

Ever so slowly, Luke turned around in shock and began to walk back toward her

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

Her voice echoed through the terminal as passengers quieted down to listen; the whole airport seemed to come to a halt. Julie didn’t notice Flynn and the cute boy she was with stick their heads out of a nearby shop- or the cute blonde boy and skateboarder that emerged from a nearby art exhibit to listen.

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

Grinning like an idiot, Luke took his guitar in hand. She nodded for him to join, and he began to play and sing along:

Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas

I won't even wish for snow 

Everyone around her giggled at that line; Julie was smiling so hard it was a wonder she could still sing.

I'm just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe

I won't make a list and send it to the North Pole for Saint Nick

I won't even stay awake to hear those magic reindeer click

'Cause I just want you here tonight

Holding on to me so tight

What more can I do?

Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you

You, baby

Oh-oh, all the lights are shining so brightly everywhere (so brightly, baby)

And the sound of children's laughter fills the air (oh, oh, yeah)

And everyone is singing (oh, yeah)

I hear those sleigh bells ringing

Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need? (Yeah, oh)

Won't you please bring my baby to me?

Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas

This is all I'm asking for

I just wanna see my baby standing right outside my door

Oh, I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you

You, baby

He was right, they were magic together. She was filled with more hope than she had been in a long time, filled with more happiness. Her heart was fluttering out of control; they were drawn together, like some force was tugging at both of her souls…

Luke took her hand. He met her eyes.

“So...you're joining the band?”

“At least for Christmas Eve,” Julie replied with a grin, “and we’ll go from there, okay?”

“You got it, boss.”

Without thinking, without letting herself feel any doubt or worry or a care in the world, Julie threw her arms around Luke.

And she kissed him.

Claps and cheers filled the terminal around them. Luke tasted of coffee and cream and felt warm and so alive; she felt so alive, in a way she hadn’t in a long time. She had loved Flynn and would always love her. But this…

It was just magic.

“I’m sorry, she’s joining what band now?” An unfamiliar voice interrupted them.

The two broke apart, lips swollen from kissing, breathing heavily, arms looped around each other’s necks. A cute blonde boy in a pink hoodie was gaping at them- specifically, Luke.

“Oh, shit,” Luke hissed under his breath as he leapt away from Julie, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Alex…”

“Julie?” Flynn’s voice called. She let out a nervous laugh when she realized Flynn had seen the whole thing With Flynn was who Julie assumed was her friend’s ‘airport boyfriend’ with her. The boy was wearing Flynn’s coat.

“Reggie?” Alex asked, frowning at the boy.

“Wait?” Flynn asked, pointing between Reggie and the guys. “You guys all know each other?”

Reggie’s face fell. “Crap…”

Chapter Text

Reggie felt a cold sweat wash over him as he took a subconscious step back away from Alex. Maybe he should just make a run for it. Forget about Flynn, forget about going home. He’d hide as a stow away until the storm passed and fly far away from what used to be Sunset Curve and his best friends.

“Do we know each other?” Alex snarked. “We practically lived in a van and motels with each other for ten years, fuck yes we know each other.” He rounded on Luke. “I can’t believe you invited someone to join our band without asking us!”

“I’m sorry,” Luke shot, “but if you're probably not going to stay in the band anyway, why do you care?”

His heart dropped in panic.

“Wait,” Reggie spoke up in a small voice, “you’re really gonna leave the band, ‘Lex?”

“Wait, you’re in a band?” Flynn asked Reggie. “Why wouldn’t you just tell me that? I told you the story about being in Double Trouble with my bestie.”

“Wait!” Luke squawked, rounding on the girl he was with. “You were in a band?”

“Uh…..” the girl innocently looked around before giving into Luke’s puppy dog eyes. “Okay, yes! I was. But it’s a long story that happened a long time ago and more importantly, you invited me to be in a band that’s breaking up?!”

“We’re not breaking up!” Luke cried desperately. “Alex doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Alex gaped at him. “Of course I don’t. Because the only person that knows what’s best for this band is you, right?”

“Well, yeah!”

“Fuck you, Luke!”

The cute guy with the skateboard that Alex was with cleared their throat. “Alex, are you sure you want to do this here?”

“What do you know?” Luke shot to the stranger. “Who even are you?”

“Someone who’s already cared a hell a lot more about me in the last few hours than you have in the last twenty-five weeks!” Alex exclaimed.

Cute skateboarder guy gave the rest of the group an awkward smile and wave. “Hey, I’m Willie."

But Reggie was too busy hanging onto Alex’s every word, taking them to hard like a dagger to the chest. It felt like his entire youth with the guys, everything he knew that was good in the world, was crumbling apart.

“I care about you, ‘Lex,” Reggie mumbled.

“So do I,” Luke added, sounding hurt. “I care about you so much, man, I just…”

“Care about the band more?” Alex muttered.

“No!” Luke whined. “I mean, yeah, I care about the band a whole fucking lot, you guys know that, but I’ll always care about you guys more. The idea of not having you guys in my life terrifies me. That would be the worst thing in the world which is why I’ve got to save this band! It’s why I’ve been killing myself trying to figure out ways that Sunset Curve can turn this around and save us, our futures…our friendship.”

Reggie hugged himself as the strength of Luke’s words hit him. Maybe the scariest part of losing Sunset Curve wasn’t just the big question mark that was his future or even not having the guys in his life every day anymore- it was the fear that their friendships never meant as much as Reggie had thought. Bobby had spit on them just like that, like they were all nothing. Like Reggie was nothing. He was secretly anxious the other guys felt the same way and would friend-dump him in heartbeat.

“Can we go back to the part where you’re in a band?” Flynn asked Reggie, turning to him.

“You didn’t know?” Alex snorted. “Usually ‘I'm with Sunset Curve, ever heard of us? Yeah, I play bass.’ is the first thing out of his mouth when he flirts.”

“I don’t sound like that!” Reggie pouted. “And…I guess I figured it wouldn’t be worth it, explaining it all too you cause my future is probably toast- and not the good kind of toast with honey and butter but…burnt toast.”

“So you decided lying to me was better?” Flynn questioned.

“I thought it was just a little fib!” Reggie insisted. “I mean, aren’t all jobs technically some kind of business?”

"Okay..." Alex scoffed.

“He has a point,” Willie chimed in. Reggie pointed at them in agreement.

But he knew he had to come clean, all the way clean. Flynn deserved that. With a sigh, Reggie attempted:

“Who wants to tell the prettiest girl they’ve ever met that their band is breaking up and their future is burnt toast?”

Flynn’s eyes lit up; she sheepishly tugged a braid behind her ear. “I’m the prettiest girl you’ve ever met?”

The guys watched, equal parts impressed and looking like they were expecting this car to crash at any moment.

This was Reggie's chance.

“Flynn, you’re the prettiest, kindest girl I’ve ever met. Your smile is like a thousand suns, and you smell like lavender and vanilla and makes my heart feel all kinds of funny-“ he dramatically clutched at his chest, “You’re fun and funny and make me feel so…good. I want to get to know you better so bad, but for you to get to know me…there’s not much to know.”

Taking a step toward him, Flynn took his hand; her palm was so velvety soft, instantly easing his anxiety.

“Why would you say that?” Flynn asked gently. “Reggie, I have loved hanging out with you.”

At last, he looked up at her, heart pounding.

“You have?”

“Yes!” She replied with a smile. “You’re super cute and funny and lots of fun. We just met, it’s okay that I don’t know all your dirty laundry yet or even a lot about your career. But you don’t have to lie to me just because things aren’t going good right now.”

He chewed on his lip, desperately wanting to figure out the right way to reply. The guys were looking on nearby, with Willie and the girl Luke was with; the hustle and bustle of the airport moved around them. But to him, all he could focus on was Flynn. He wanted to believe her, that he was worth it, just being him and not some mysterious airport guy.

“But I’m a failure, Flynn,” Reggie finally confessed. “The band’s breaking up because of me and…there’s so much you don’t know.”

“What do you mean the band’s breaking up because of you?” Alex asked, stepping up to him.

Chest impossibly tight, Reggie turned back to his friends; he felt helpless.

“Bobby was only ever in the band because of me!” Reggie blurted out. “And I was the one who broke up with him, knowing we were going on tour, and then he started to hate the band. He didn’t want to be around me. So…I ruined the band, I ruined everything.” He turned back to Flynn. “That’s everything you need to know about me. I’m sorry. I swear, I don't have any feelings for my ex, but did want to keep him as a friend and bandmate and couldn't. I'm just...I'm mess…I’ll just go.”

He turned around, ready to bolt toward the nearest gate and beg them to let him on a plane- any plane- when Alex called out:

“You’re not a mess, Reggie. Well…maybe you are a little, but you’re our mess.”

“And we love you for it, bro,” Luke declared. "You were brave to break up with Bobby. You knew it wasn’t going to work out so you broke up to save your friendship and that was so brave.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, “it’s on Bobby if he couldn’t make it work, but I don’t think he quit because of that.”

He honestly hadn't thought there could ever be a reason Bobby left the band that wasn't because of him. Reggie was the one who ruined things with Bobby, so Bobby felt like he had to leave. Reggie was a child who just reminded Bobby of all the time he wasted on his ex, so Bobby had to get out and go live his life for once.

“You don’t?” Reggie sniffled.

“No,” Alex shook his head. “I think he just had to sort out his shit. He just…did it in the worst way possible. That’s what I’ve been so pissed about. It hurts, how he left. But I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, no matter what. You’re my best friend, Reggie, my brother, and I’ll always care about you, no matter what. I’m sorry.”

Alex was so sincere, and Reggie wanted so badly to not be mad at him anymore that he rushed forward, giving his friend a big hug.

“Does this mean that you’re talking to me again?” Alex teased.

“For now,” Reggie replied, smiling against Alex’s shoulder as they hugged.

Luke appeared beside them, pouting, looking left out.

“I’m really sorry too,” Luke offered. “It felt like everything fell apart so fast. I got so hyperfocused on trying to make the band work because I was so afraid of losing you guys too.”

“So have I!” Reggie admitted, feeling relieved that they both understood.

Alex rubbed his arm nervously; his eyes fell to the floor.

“To be honest, I could take or leave doing music like professionally. It’s so different when your livelihood depends on it and honestly…the thought of having to sign another contract kind of makes me throw up.”

If he were being completely honest with himself, the idea of extending their contract made him nervous too, and not just because it was a lot, constantly being on tour and recording. On the off-chance that Flynn really did still want to give him a chance, he wanted to spend time getting to know her. Proper, quality, dating time, in person. 

“It makes me nervous too,” Reggie confessed. “What if we keep fighting about everything? Or things never get better after Bobby? Or we never get any further than we are now and we never settle down and have lives?”

“Hey, I’m supposed to be the anxious one,” Alex stated playfully, nudging him. He let out a long breath. “But yeah…what if all those things happen?”

“Would that be the worst thing in the world?” Luke asked. “We would still spend our lives playing music, just like we dreamed.”

Shrugging, Alex muttered: “Sometimes dreams change.”

“Sometimes that’s not a bad thing,” Flynn’s voice cut in. She looped her arm around the arm of the girl with Luke and smirked. “Did you learn nothing from my Double Trouble story?”

It really did feel like more than a little fate that the perfect, beautiful, girl he met at the airport had such a similar past to him; maybe he should have embraced that instead of hiding his failures.

“Change doesn’t mean you’ve failed,” the girl with Flynn announced. She smiled at Reggie, Alex and Willie. “I’m Julie, by the way.”

“Ah, yes, I was wondering who this girl was serenading my best friend and making out with him in the middle of an airport terminal,” Alex teased.

“You have the voice of an angel, by the way!” Reggie gushed.

“Thanks!” Julie beamed. She slinked away from Julie and rounded on Luke. “And…I’m not really comfortable with you inviting me into the band without asking the guys. I really like you, Luke, and I loved singing with you. But you’ve got to respect your bandmates.”

Reggie was loving this girl already. Luke chewed on his bottom lip, gazing at her with this look in his eye, clearly already impossibly head over heels for her.

“Well, if that’s how you belt out Christmas songs…I can’t even begin to imagine how good you’d be on some of our hits,” Reggie grinned.

“Or…maybe some new stuff?” Luke asked, uncharacteristically shy. He dared to place an arm around Julie’s back. “Julie helped me finish some songs I’ve been working on for ages. I think we could really go in a totally new direction, as a band. If you guys want to work on it. As a band.”

“We will definitely be establishing boundaries and communication,” Julie insisted. She stopped herself. “For the one Christmas Eve show I agreed to do.”

Flynn snorted and playfully patted her friend on the shoulder. “Oh sweetie. There is no way in hell you’re only going to be able to do one show with these boys. You are so gone for them already.”

Rolling her eyes, Julie didn’t argue with Flynn as she held onto Luke and smiled back at them all like an idiot. Reggie was reeling- he’d felt so hurt and confused the past twenty-four hours and now…was everything really just okay? Could he really just have the band? And Flynn?

Reggie turned to Flynn.

“So…you’re not mad at me?”

Flynn giggled the most beautiful giggle in the world.

“For not telling me the complete truth about your band baggage within a few hours of meeting?” Flynn quipped. “No sweetie.” She held up a finger to him. “But for the record, if we want to keep this going, I expect honesty.”

“Yes ma’am!” And for some reason, Reggie saluted. “I…I mean um…you want to keep seeing me?”

“Yes, Reggie, I do,” she flashed a smile at him and her eyes twinkled in a way that made Reggie gulp, his heart pounding. “And if it’s okay, I really don’t think it’s fair that my bestie is the only one who gets a big romantic airport kiss.”

He licked his lips. “Y-you want to kiss me?!”

Her answer was a single nod as she leaned in close to him, her hand holding onto his arm. They leaned in closer until their lips finally met in a soft, gentle kiss. Flynn tasted of coffee and wine and that simple touch of her lips was enough to make him whimper as he held onto her, kissing back. His whole body felt warm, his face went red as he stood there, wearing Flynn’s coat over his Hanukkah flannel, the gold speckles on his blue nails sparkling. The kiss was perfect. 

When they broke apart, their friends were cheering. He let out a squeak of delight, too overwhelmed with happiness to string words together.

“Bold of you to kiss a stranger in front of your ex,” Julie teased Flynn.

Reggie’s eyes bulged. “Wait, this is your ex?!”

His girlfriend's ex was going to be their lead singer and Luke's girlfriend?

Flynn looked rather pleased with herself. “Yup. You got a problem with that?”

“Nope!” He replied quickly. “Nope nope nope, not at all. Nope. This is fine, this is amazing.”

“This is a little weird,” Julie admitted. She took Luke’s hand. “But a pretty good kind of weird.”

“I agree!” Luke grinned, giving her another quick kiss.

Alex leaned into Willie and murmured: “This is the part I officially have to apologize on behalf of my friends for basically…everything they’re about to do ever.”

“I think your friends are adorable,” Willie gushed. They leaned closer to Alex, and Reggie heard them murmur: “I might want one of those romantic airport kisses too. You know, when all of your friends and a hundred strangers aren’t staring.”

He couldn’t help but to let out a bark of laughter himself at Willie’s boldness and definitely enjoyed the way Alex was clearly about to explode from both pining and embarrassment.

“I guess we all have a lot of getting to know each other to do,” Flynn announced. Crossing her arms, she stood back and narrowed her eyes at the boys of Sunset Curve. “That is, if you plan on sticking around L.A. enough to make it worth it.”

“I will!” Reggie blurted out. He turned to Luke with puppy dog eyes. “Please can I?!”

“What are ya begging me for?!” Luke retorted.

“Dude,” Alex sighed. He reached over, cautiously taking Willie’s hand; when Willie accepted, the two shared the sweetest smile. “I think if we’re going to make the band work and go in this new direction, we need to take some time to figure things out. We don’t need to just jump into a new contract.”

“Wait,” Reggie made a face. “We can just…say no?”

He really hadn’t considered that to be an option: that he could simply not sign the new contract and keep his friends.

“I think we all just need to take a step back,” Julie spoke up. “Take this one step at a time.”

“Yes!” Flynn agreed. “Let’s just get through tonight, get you guys through tomorrow night, and we’ll figure it out.”

Their hands interlaced; Reggie squeezed Flynn’s palms. He wasn’t exactly sure how he hadn’t melted to the floor yet, he was so taken by her.

“Do you think I can come to this concert, Hotdog?” Willie asked Alex, wiggling their eyebrows. “Maybe check out these drumming skills of yours?”

He squeezed Alex’s arm as though checking out his muscles, which even Reggie had to admit Alex had plenty of. Alex and Willie together would make a hot couple.

It was Alex’s turn to blush, his cheeks turning pink.

“I…I…I um…I…guys! Help!” Alex squawked. Willie cackled.

“We’d love for you to come bro!” Luke replied.

“Wait!” Reggie’s brain just caught up to what Willie said. “Did you just call him hotdog? How did you guys meet anyway?”

Julie and Flynn snorted, while Alex stammered away again, rubbing his neck nervously.

“I totally pancaked him with my board,” Willie grinned, holding up their pennyboard. Everyone stared, not getting it. “You had to be there.”

Reggie’s stomach growled at the thought of pancakes, his mind switching gears completely as he cooed: “Oooohh!! Pancakes sound good!”

“I could eat,” Flynn agreed, “again.”

They both hi-fived, and Reggie was even happier for himself as he realized more and more how perfect he and Flynn were for each other.

“We did see that diner,” Willie spoke up.

“Luke and I actually had our own little picnic lunch,” Julie told them, grinning as Luke blushed. “But I could totally go for a diner milkshake.”

As everyone followed Willie on their skateboard down the terminal to the airport diner, Alex murmured into Reggie’s ear:

“Nice coat, by the way.”

He had almost forgotten he was wearing Flynn’s coat, but it was possibly his new favorite thing in the world. His face practically a permanent shade of red, Reggie beamed and hugged the coat around himself until Flynn fell into pace with him and he took her hand again.

The rest of the night was as perfect as a night stranded at the airport would be. The gang made up camp in their corner of their gate waiting area and spent the evening rehearsing Christmas songs for tomorrow- and serenading grateful passengers who needed a little cheer. By midnight, Julie was curled up with Luke, Reggie and Flynn were sat in their own little corner, talking quietly until the two of them fell asleep with their heads rested together, and Alex stood by the window with Willie, admiring how much snow had fallen.

“It really is pretty amazing,” Alex admitted. “Kinda magical, if you ignore the part where the snow ruined thousands of people’s holiday plans.”

The weight of Willie’s hand fell in his palm, and Alex found himself being turned to them. “I think even that part’s pretty magical. I’m really glad I met you, Hotdog.”

“Me too.”

Gravitating toward each other, Alex let his forehead rest against Willie’s. Most of the passengers in the terminal were asleep; it was quiet, save for the sounds of their breathing. Meeting Willie took his entire life for a spin in the best way possible. Alex felt more hopeful about the new year than he ever thought he would be- both for his career, his friendships…and maybe his new relationship.

He couldn’t wait to dive right in.

“If it’s okay,” Alex murmured, “I’d like that romantic airport kiss now.”

"I'd like that too."

Alex’s heart pounded, his chest feeling impossibly tight. His hands felt sweaty in Willie’s, his eyes were wide with hope and anticipation. Their heads tilted toward each other just so. The kiss was a simple brush of lips, a quiet hum as the snow continued to fall outside the window behind him.

It was perfect.

They gasped as they broke apart.

“Merry Christmas, Willie,” he murmured.

“Merry Christmas, Alex.”

The next night, the gang made it back to Los Angeles just in time to get their gear ready for soundcheck. Julie had been buzzing with anticipation all day at the thought of getting to sing with Luke again- at getting to play with a band again. When the stage lights shone on her at her keyboard and she sang the opening notes of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” again, with her dad, brother and Tia Victoria in the audience smiling up at her and Flynn and Willie jumping up and down and cheering in support, Julie knew right then she made the right decision in joining Sunset Curve. Playing on stage again, singing with Luke, harmonizing with Reggie, grinning up at Alex- it all felt like magic- and she could practically feel her mother’s presence, cheering her on.

If the fates allowed, Julie hoped she would get to spend many more Christmases with these boys.