Rae.. and what not

“Why?” I ask.

Charlie let’s out a frustrated sigh, “I just want a guy’s night.” I scoff and look back at my morning coffee. “What?” he asks, hearing my reaction to what he said.

“Charlie, you’ve had a guy’s night almost every day this week! Will you at least be home for dinner?” I question.

He stops packing his bag to look at me. “No, (Y/N). I’m going to his right after work. You know this,” he says, placing a hand on his hip.

I could feel the anger growing inside me that has been slowing building over these past few months. “Fine,” I state, finishing my coffee and place the mug into the sink.

I hear Charlie walk closer to me, “Okay, what’s wrong?”

I keep my back towards him because I couldn’t even think of looking him in the face right now. “Nothing,” I mumble. “Have a good day.”

I start walking towards our room before Charlie grabs my arm to make me stop. “No! Something is wrong! What is it?” he asks, raising his voice a little.

Tears started to brew in my eyes slightly. I tug my arm out of his grasp and look at him, “Why don’t you take a guess, Charlie?! Why could I be so upset?!”

“I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking, (Y/N)!” he says, analyzing my face. He then looks straight into my eyes as a tear dropped on my cheek. He furrows his eyebrows and places his hand on my cheek to wipe the tear away. “You’re crying!”

I take his hand off of my face as more tears started to fall. “Please, come home tonight,” I whisper.

“Babe, I just said I was going to Owen’s,” Charlie whispers as well, reaching to wipe more of my tears.

Before he could reach my face, I back away. “And that’s the problem!” I shout. The anger that has been swelling up in me is finally coming out, and I didn’t know how to control it or let it out in a calmly manner. “Charlie, you are never home anymore! I have been eating alone for a while now, and I have been going to bed alone because you are at Owen’s! ”

Charlie shakes his head, “Babe, you know I work these long hours. Sometimes I need guy time! We’ve talked about this! This wouldn’t even be a problem, if you wouldn’t make one out of it.”

“Are you kidding me?!” I shout. “I understand all of that, but what about having time together?! We haven’t had dinner together in two and a half months! And how does that make it okay?! How does that make it okay to leave your wife alone all the time?! Do you understand how lonely I am feeling?”

I stare at Charlie, finishing my statement of emotions. He had a shocked expression on his face as if he didn’t know that he has been doing this. Tears were now forming in his eyes.

“I am.. so sorry, (Y/N). I had no idea,” Charlie whispers, stepping closer only for me to take another step back.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it this time, Charlie. You have been leaving your wife alone for three months, and you didn’t even notice. Does this marriage even matter to you anymore?” I cry. There was a moment of silence as both of us had tears running down our faces. Charlie’s mouth kept opening and closing, not knowing what to say. “Whatever, I am going to Jeremy and Carolynn’s. Have fun at work,” I mumble.

I walk quickly to the door, slipping on my shoes and grab my keys. I heard Charlie protesting for me to stop and to come back, but I couldn’t look at him anymore. I was so upset and angry to continue speaking to him. I get in my car and drive away to our friend’s house.

***

I pull into the driveway of Jeremy and Carolynn’s house, sobbing uncontrollably. I texted Carolynn that I was on my way and that I wanted to hang out for the day. I slowly climbed out of the car and walked to their front door to ring the doorbell. I few seconds later, Care opens the door. Once she noticed my tear stained, red cheeks, she pulls me into a hug. “Oh my goodness, what happened?!” she questions, rubbing my back.

I pull away from the hug to wipe away the tears with my sleeve. “Charlie and I had a fight. I finally told him how lonely I was because he’s never home,” I whimper, more tears threatening to fall. “He didn’t even notice, Care,” I cry out.

“Oh, sweetie,” Carolynn whispers, pulling me back into a hug. I sobbed quietly in her shoulder. I suddenly hear footsteps coming from inside the house. I look up from Carolynn’s shoulder to see Jeremy standing behind her. I pull away from the hug to wave at Jeremy. He doesn’t say anything, but instead he too pulls me into a hug.

“Everything will be okay. Charlie will come to his senses,” Jeremy whispers in my ear. I nod my head and pull away from his grasp. Jeremy steps to the side to let me into their house. “I am on my way to set. I will see you later. I love you,” he says, giving Carolynn a kiss on the cheek. Care says her goodbyes and closes the door. I plop myself on the couch and grab a blanket nearby to let it cover my legs.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Care asks, sitting down next to me on the couch.

I let out a heavy sigh, “Yeah, I just need to vent.”

“I’m all ears, (Y/N/N),” Care says.

I tell her everything that happened just an hour ago. I tell her that Charlie was going to be at Owen’s again for the 5th night in a row, leaving me alone again. I tell her how frustrated I have been with him that he hasn’t even payed the slightest attention to me. I tell her that I have cried myself to sleep because I miss his arms around me at night sometimes. I tell her everything.

“Do I sound selfish for all of this?” I ask quietly. I had finally stopped crying. My eyes were burning from how much crying I have done.

“(Y/N), you are not selfish at all!” Carolynn says. “Charlie married you for a reason, and he isn’t keeping the promises he made to you. He is 100% in the wrong, and he needs to make up for it!”

I shake my head, “I’m not going to work for it if he’s not going to. I’m tired of trying to keep making this work. Maybe this whole marriage thing was a mistake.” I look at my left hand, fiddling with my ring.

“No, (Y/N)!” Carolynn protests. “It’s only been almost a year! You guys can get through this and fix it! Please, don’t give up!”

“Why? Why should I not give up?” I frustratingly ask.

“Because you both love each other so much. I know this is awful and frustrating, but you guys need to communicate so you can fix this,” Carolynn advises.

“Well, he has a funny way of showing that he loves me, recently,” I mumble.

There was a pause in the conversation to let everything sink in. I think Carolynn knew that she shouldn’t push it too much. “Let’s have a spa day. Let’s do facemasks, paint our nails, and watch comedy movies to make this day better,” Care says, standing up with a big smile on her face.

I look up to see her bright face. I slightly smile at her positivity. “That sounds wonderful,” I say. Care claps her hands and runs to get the spa stuff.

***

Hours pass and Carolynn and I’s spa day had come to an end. My stomach was growling to let me know that I needed food. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” Carolynn asks.

I shake my head, “It’s okay, Care. I have leftovers waiting for me at my house.” Care cocks her head to the side, not believing that it was okay to go back home. “I’ll be fine. I promise. I am a little nervous to go home, but it’s okay. I need to go home eventually.”

Carolynn gives me a sympathy smile. “Okay, if you say so. Text me when you get home,” she says, pulling me into one last hug before I go.

I wave goodbye before climbing into my car. I let out a heavy sigh, starting the engine to drive back home. I don’t put on any music like I normally do. I drive in silence. About a half an hour later, I arrived back home. I saw that Charlie’s car wasn’t in the driveway which didn’t surprise me, but my heart still dropped at the sight of it not being there. I get out of the car and go to the front door to unlock it. I stop my tracks as I could hear music coming from inside. I listen closely, but I couldn’t make out the song. I slightly twist the door knob to see it was unlocked. I slowly open the door and peak inside. The song started to be clearer as I open the door, and I realized that it was Charlie and I’s song. It was Everything She Does is Magic covered by Sleeping at Last.

As I open the door fully, I saw Charlie standing in the kitchen. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was cooking something on the stove, and it smelled delicious. Charlie turns around to see me frozen at the front door. “Hey, you’re home!” he exclaims, a smile forming on his face. I slowly put my keys on the key holder and take off my shoes, still staring at Charlie.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I am cooking dinner for my wife,” Charlie says, turning back to the stove.

I tilt my head to the side, confused, “But.. but I thought you were going to Owen’s tonight?”

Charlie covers the pot and walks over to me. “I told him that I need to spend time with my wife tonight,” he says, taking my hands into his. I could feel my heart pounding. He squeezes my hands before he continues to speak. “I have been a total dick towards you, and I don’t think I could apologize enough to earn your forgiveness. I totally understand that. I shouldn’t have been leaving you alone so many times, and I can’t believe that I let myself do that to you. I can’t believe I didn’t realize how lonely you were. I shouldn’t earn your forgiveness, but I can’t imagine you not in my life. This marriage does matter to me! I’m truly, deeply, immensely, sorry, (Y/N).”

This time, Charlie’s eyes were brewing with tears as he was talking. I could see the guilt painted on his face. I could tell how sincerely sorry he was. As I was analyzing his face, I could tell that he was wanting me to say something. However, I am speechless, so I pulled Charlie into a big hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around my waist. I rub his head as he slightly sobs in my neck. I pull away, keeping my hands wrapped around his neck.

“I don’t think I can describe how hurt I have been feeling these past few months. I felt like you didn’t want to be with me anymore, so you avoided me by not coming home or coming home super late. I know you film late at times, but there wouldn’t be a text if you would come late because of filming or hanging out with Owen or Jeremy. We need to communicate better, and I would appreciate it if you would at least spend time with me,” I rant.

Charlie let’s go of my waist and places his hands on my face. “Of course, (Y/N). I should have been doing that anyway. I used to spend time with you and let you know when I was coming home. I don’t know if it’s because how stressed I have been with filming that I got out of routine, but I shouldn’t have stopped. I’m so, so, so sorry. I will work on it; we can fix this,” he says, placing his forehead onto mine.

I then take my hands and place them on his cheeks as well, wiping away his tears. “Thank you,” I whisper. I bend his head down to kiss him on the forehead. Charlie pulls me into another tight hug, rubbing my back. I pull away and grab Charlie’s hands. “Wait, where is your car?”

“Oh, it’s at our neighbors across from us. I wanted to surprise you by being here tonight, and I didn’t want you to know I was here. Which probably wasn’t the best choice, but I wanted to make you dinner to slightly make up for my absence. There is a lot of making up I need to do,” Charlie explains.

“I won’t deny that,” I joke, but at the same time am serious. “Is dinner ready?” I question.

“Are you going to come to the dance tonight, (Y/N/N)?” Alex asks as the Sunset Curve group walks with the girl to their shared class.

“Hmmm,” (Y/N) hums. “I’m not sure. I have a lot of homework I need to catch up on.”

Luke groans and rolls his eyes at the girl’s excuse. “Oh come on, (Y/N)!” he exclaims, walking in front of her, making him walk backwards. “You have got to live a little every once in a while! All you do is worry about school work. You need to come to the dance. The best band is going to play at the dance!”

(Y/N) tilts her head, “Oh yeah? What band?”

“Sunset Curve, duh!” Reggie says. (Y/N) giggled as she already knew the answer to her question.

“Please?” Bobby pouts. “It’s going to be a lot of fun!”

The group stops outside of the classroom door and she looks at the boys. They all had pleading looks on their faces.

“(Y/N), please!” Luke begs, grabbing her shoulders. “I need my lucky charm tonight. I promise tonight will be worth it!”

(Y/N) looks down at the charm bracelet the boys got her for her 17th birthday. The boys collectively got a charm for her bracelet that meant something to them. Luke got her a clover as she is his lucky charm. She looks back up at the green eyes staring at her waiting for her to answer.

“Fine,” (Y/N) sighed. “I will go to the dance, but you have to promise me that you guys will dance with me!” Luke smiles and pulls her into a quick hug. The rest boys cheered and high fived one another.

Luke wished he could go back to that night. It was a few months before they started dating. He and (Y/N) slow danced together which made him realize that he that had feelings for the girl in the first place. He realized why she was his lucky charm, why his heart would always skip a beat when she laughed, why his palms would get sweaty when she held his hand, why he would always want to be around her because she made him feel safe. He couldn’t stop thinking about her even in the afterlife. He would wonder where she is. Did she get married and have a family? Did she follow her dreams to become a(n) (Y/D/J)? Did she live her life to the fullest? Did she-

Luke’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling out to him, “Hey, Luke!” His eyes tore away from his journal he zoned out on. He saw Alex and Reggie standing in front of him.

“Hm?” Luke hummed, sitting up from leaning against the piano.

Alex took a step closer and asks, “Are you okay?”

Luke tosses his journal on the couch and takes off the acoustic guitar that was wrapped around his chest. “Yeah! Just thinking about a new song!” Luke said. Alex tucks his hands into his jacket’s pockets as he doesn’t believe that Luke is okay. He has been spacing out a lot recently.

“Cool! What is it about?” Reggie questions.

“Uh, I’m not sure yet,” Luke answers. “I was just brainstorming. Trying to think of a meaning to it.” Alex turns his attention to the journal. Luke had doodled clovers around the edges of the paper. Alex taps Reggie with his shoulder and tilts his head at the journal. Reggie analyzes the book, realizing what Luke has been thinking about.

“You making another song about (Y/N)?” Reggie wonders, still looking at the song book.

Luke glances at what Reggie was looking. “I don’t know. She’s just been on my mind recently,” he sighs and looks at the floor. Alex and Reggie nod in agreement as they too have been thinking about their friend.

Alex takes another step towards Luke, “Do you want to talk about it?” Luke kept his eyes glued to the ground. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about her. He didn’t know if it would make him feel better, or if he would just burst into tears.

His thoughts were interrupted once more as Julie skips into the room. “Ready to rehearse, guys?” Julie smiles.

Luke puts on a happy face, “Hell, yeah! Let’s rock out!”

Alex and Reggie look at one another, concerned for their best friend who seems to be hurting. The group walks to their respective spots in the studio.

“What song should we start with?” Luke asks as he plugs his electric guitar into the amp.

Julie flipped her song book. “Should we warm up with Finally Free? We haven’t done that song in a while,” Julie suggest.

Luke look at the boys who were nodding their heads in agreement. “Sounds good to us!” he answers for the group.

Julie starts off the song with her intro, and the rest of the band joined in. As they were performing, Luke messed up here and there, but not enough to notice. At least Julie didn’t notice as she was rocking out with the boys. When they finished Finally Free, they decided to do a new song Julie had started writing. They hadn’t settled on a title just yet which was okay because it was still in the works. They started to practice the first verse going into the chorus, but Luke wasn’t 100% focused. He kept playing the wrong chords.

Because he messed up, he let out a load, frustrated groan. The rest of the band halted their actions to look at Luke. “Woah, you good?” Julie asks concerned.

Luke shakes his vigorously to try to get his mind straight, “Yeah! I’m just not used to the pattern yet. Let’s try again.”

Julie looks at Alex and Reggie. They both shrug their shoulders, and they start the song again. However, this time Luke could barely get past the intro without messing up. He tried to continue, but he couldn’t do it.

“Damn it!” Luke shouts, dropping his guitar to hover over his chest as he roughly runs his hands through his hair.

Julie stands up from his keyboard. “Luke?” she softly says. Luke could feel the tears welling up in his eyes.

“I-uh,” Luke stutters as he takes off his guitar. “I need s-some air.” Luke suddenly then poofs out without another word.

Julie looks at the empty space where Luke was standing. She couldn’t figure out why Luke wasn’t in the right head space. He was always focused on the band, or at least he always seems to be. Julie takes her eyes from the dead space to Alex and Reggie who had sad looks on their faces. Reggie takes his bass off and sets it next to Luke’s guitar.

Julie steps off to the side of her keyboard. “What’s up with him?” she asks Alex and Reggie. They glance at each other before Alex steps away from his drums to standing next to Reggie.

“We’ve been thinking about an old friend from back in the 90’s,” Alex confesses.

Julie shrugs her shoulder, “Who? Bobby?”

Reggie shakes his head. “Gosh, no. I wouldn’t want to spend my spare time thinking about that song stealing dummy,” Reggie says in disgust.

“She wasn’t part of Sunset Curve. At least she didn’t perform with us. Her name was (Y/N),” Alex states, ignoring what Reggie said about Bobby.

“(Y/N)? How come I’ve never heard you guys talk about her?” Julie wonders. Both Alex and Reggie shrug their shoulders, unsure why they never talk about one of their best friends. “Well, who was she then?”

A slight smile grew on Alex and Reggie as they thought of (Y/N). Alex started to reminisce the memories of his old friend, “She was one of the most important people in our lives. She helped us with our struggles, helped us study, came to almost all of our gigs, helped us get gigs… she was just the glue of Sunset Curve. We wouldn’t hardly function as a band if it wasn’t for her. She was even the one who got us the gig at the Orpheum…”

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and Sunset Curve was writing a new song for their new demo. They wanted to make new songs as they always perform the same songs at every gig. “Hey boys,” Luke calls out. Bobby was playing random notes on his guitar, Alex was trying balance his drumstick on his index finger, and Reggie was catching dust. They all turned to Luke who had written some stuff in his song book. “How does this sound? When all the days felt black and white those were the best shades of my life!” Luke sings.

“Dang, Luke!” Bobby exclaimed. “That’s really good! How did you come up with that?”

“I don’t know. It just came to me!” Luke smirks. “I’m also half way done with the song!”

“It’s been, what, 30 minutes and you’re already half way done?!” Alex says. Luke nods his head as he writes down more in his journal. Next thing they know, they hear clicking heels coming from the driveway. They all look up to see (Y/N) with a huge smile on her face.

“Uh, oh. Here comes trouble,” Luke teases. “What’s got you all smiley, babes?”

(Y/N) stops at the entry way of the studio. “Well, I have some pretty big news to tell you boys!” she says, shifting her weight from the balls of her feet to her feels.

“What? You got the best SAT’s scores of the school?” Bobby asks.

“You’re graduating a semester early?” then asks Alex.

“No! You got us a puppy?!” Reggie asks excitedly. The boys looked at Reggie as if he asked the most absurd question ever.

(Y/N) giggled, “As much as I would love to give you a puppy, Reggie, you are incorrect. All of you are incorrect. I just did the best thing that is ever going to happen to Sunset Curve!”

Luke raised an eyebrow, curious at what his girlfriend could have done. “What did you do?” The group slowly walks towards (Y/N). Her smile thinned out as she took a pause for dramatic effect. However, the boys were anticipatingly waiting for her to say something. “WHAT?!” they outburst.

(Y/N) chuckled at the band, and she took out a piece of paper from her back pocket. She cleared her throat dramatically before readings out loud, “Dear Miss (Y/L/N). Thank you for sending us Sunset Curve’s demo and sharing their amazing talent. We would like to offer them the chance of a lifetime. On July 22nd, we would like to invite Sunset Curve to perform here at the…” (Y/N) looks up at the guys who got even closer to her and each other.

“Perform where?!” Reggie shouts.

(Y/N) smiles even wider than ever before she throws her arms in the air and shouts, “TO PERFORM AT THE ORPHEUM BABY!” All four boy’s eyes widened and screamed out happy cheers. Luke tackles (Y/N) in the biggest hug. She wraps her legs around his waist as he ran to the drive way to spin her around.

“This is amazing!” Luke exclaimed, putting his girlfriend down. “You really are our lucky charm!” (Y/N) blushes at the compliment. Luke then presses his lips to hers to give her a sweet kiss. She smiles in the kiss as she is the happiest she has ever been.

“Hey, Patterson. Let us give (Y/N/N) some lovin’!” Bobby tugged on Luke’s shoulders which makes the couple pull away from each other. Alex, Bobby, and Reggie then take their chance to hug (Y/N). Luke joined in by hugging her from behind. They boys thanked the girl over and over again as they were in their group hug.

“Guys!” (Y/N)’s voice muffled from the inside of the hug. “One of you guys need to put on deodorant. Plus, I can’t breathe in here!” They all laughed at her and pulled away from the hug, but Luke kept his arms wrapped around the girl from behind.

“What would we do without you?” Alex smiles.

(Y/N) let out a playful sigh, “I don’t know. Never be able to play anywhere?” She giggled at her own joke. Luke sneaks in a kiss on the cheek. “Alright boys, you need to start rehearsing now that you have this mega-important life changing gig! I will order some pizza and soda so we can celebrate even more tonight!”

“You’re the best (Y/N)!” Bobby says before walking back into the studio with Alex and Reggie.

“You really are the best,” Luke whispers in (Y/N) ear. She turns around and gives him a peck on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too”

Julie felt her heart drop at the thought of Luke hurting even more for leaving behind two of the most important women in is life. Luke is not that open about his past life. Julie couldn’t imagine the pain he has been going through. Alex and Reggie had tears welling up in their eyes as they finished telling the story of how they booked the Orpheum gig. Her mind wandered to a song that she saw when she was flipping through Luke’s song book when Luke wanted to show her Sunset Curve songs. She remembered walking to the studio to hear Luke singing a song she never heard before, but she recognized some of the lyrics from his song book. “She sounds amazing. Do you guys have an old photo of her at all?” Julie questions.

Reggie looks at Alex, knowing he has a picture. “Yeah, I do actually. However, Luke doesn’t know, so please don’t tell him we have this,” Alex says, walking over to his fanny pack that was near his drums.

Julie tilts her head to the side in confusion, “Why doesn’t he know about you having a picture of her?”

Alex grabs his fanny pack and unzips it. “Luke’s been pretty happy recently, but I know that thinking about (Y/N) makes him a little sad. I would hate to show him a picture that brings back all these happy memories to make him sad that they didn’t get to have more of a life together,” Alex explains. Julie slowly nods her head.

Alex reaches in his back and grabs the polaroid picture. He walks back to Julie and hands her the photo. She slightly smiles at the picture. It was of (Y/N) and Luke. (Y/N) had a big smile on her face as Luke was giving her a kiss on the cheek. You could see the pure happiness radiating from the photograph. “Wow, she’s really pretty. Luke was a lucky guy!” Julie compliments. “You know, I’m sure Luke would love to have this picture. I think it’s time you guys should give it to him.”

Julie hands the picture back to Alex. Reggie started to play with his fingers nervously. Alex analyzes the picture in his hand and puts it in his back pocket. “We should probably go look for him,” Alex says quietly. Reggie nods his head and stands closer to Alex. Julie gives the boys a slight smile before they poofed out of the studio.

*****

Luke was sitting at the beach, the water hitting his feet when it came to shore. He watched the sunset which was helping him calm down. Him and (Y/N) liked to come to the beach and watch the sunrise, the sunset, and star gaze all the time! This was their spot when they wanted to get away from everyone and have a bit of privacy with just them two. They would invite the band sometimes to have bonfires and eat s’mores after a gig. Luke watched the lifers around him playing in the water and having fun at the beach. He wished he could join the teenagers jamming in a big circle across the beach.

Suddenly, he hears a poof behind him. He turns around to see Alex and Reggie. “Well, you guys found me,” Luke quietly says, turning back to face the sunset. In his peripheral vision, he saw his friends sit on both sides of him, Alex on his right and Reggie on his left.

“I figured you would be here. You are kind of predicable sometimes,” Alex says. Luke nods his head slightly, agreeing with Alex. “What’s up, Luke?”

Luke lets out a heavy sigh. He takes a handful of sun and lets it fall in-between his fingers. “I just..” he starts. “I just wish I could see her again. I wish I could hold her. I want to know how she’s doing. I wish I knew where she was, so I could see her one last time…”

Reggie patted Luke’s back to try to comfort him, “It’s okay, buddy. I know we all wish we could see her again.”

Luke shakes his head, angry tears forming in his eyes. “Sometimes I wish we didn’t die when we did. There was so much we wanted to do as a band, and there was so much I wanted to do with (Y/N),” Luke exclaims.

Luke shifts his weight to the left to reach in his front pocket. What he takes out of his pocket shocks Alex and Reggie. Luke is holding their best friends charm bracelet. “Wait, you’ve had this this whole time?” Alex asks. Luke nods his head, a tear finally falling on his cheek. Luke turns the bracelet to have the clover charm facing him.

“I found it at my parent’s house. When I first went there to visit them, I went to look at my room to see if anything changed. I found it on my bed with some of my flannels she stole. I don’t know why she would give it back. Maybe because looking at it gave her so much pain. I can’t imagine the pain she went through,” Luke explains.

Alex glances at Reggie who had tears brewing in his eyes as well. He suddenly became anxious as he wasn’t sure how Luke was about to react with what Alex was about to give him. He nervously fidgets before he speaks, “I actually have something to show you.”

Luke turns his gaze to Alex. Alex opens his fanny pack to reach for the photograph. Luke looks at his friend’s hand to see the polaroid picture. He hesitantly grabs the photo. He lets out a sad chuckle. It was the picture of (Y/N) and Luke. “Where did you find this?” Luke asks.

“I found it when I found our stuff upstairs in the loft. I’m sorry I didn’t give this to you earlier,” Alex apologizes.

Luke shakes his head to dismiss Alex’s apology. He studies the picture of the two of them. He remembered this day vividly. It was him and (Y/N)’s first date. He had taken her to a drive-in movie and ice cream. The picture was taken right before the movie had started. (Y/N) had always taken polaroid pictures for the memories. She had given this to Luke because she wanted him to remember that day, but how could he forget? He would never forget her or the memories they shared.  

(Y/N) and Luke were setting up the back of his truck before the movie. Luke was spreading out the blanket and pillows while (Y/N) was grabbing the snacks from the front. Once they finished, they jumped in the trunk and started to get comfortable. “Are you excided?” Luke asks (Y/N).

She pulls the blanket to her lap, “Yes! I’ve always wanted to go to a drive-in movie!” Luke smiles at her excitedness.

“I know!” Luke says. (Y/N) slightly smiles and looks down at her lap, blushing. “Which snack would you like to eat first, m’lady?” he asks in a dramatic British accent.

(Y/N) giggles. “Hmmm, why sir pass me the sour gummy worms!” she replies too in a silly British accent.

Luke chuckles, grabs the snack, and hands it to her. She opens the bag and takes out a blue and red gummy worm. She eats the blue side first and looks at Luke who was watching her the whole time. She could feel her cheeks getting warmer. She flicks her wrist to give the red side of the gummy worm to Luke. He looks at the gummy worm before grabbing it and taking a bite. “This is crazy, you know?” (Y/N) admits.

Luke sits up a bit and furrows his brows. “How?” he questions.

She shrugs. “I don’t know,” she mumbles. “Sitting here.. on a date.. with one of my best friends who I’ve had a crush on for forever. I never thought it would actually happen.”

She kept her gaze on her lap, playing with a gummy worm. Luke cocks his head to the side to try to get her to look at him. However, she continues to look down. He takes his hand and pushes her chin gently to face her towards him. She looks into his green eyes. “Well, you better believe it because I wouldn’t want to be on a date with anyone else,” he says. He tilts her head down and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

(Y/N) then remembered that she had her camera in her bag. “Wait!” she exclaims. Luke moves to the side a bit as she reaches for her bag that is behind them. She unzips her bag to grab her polaroid camera. “I want to take a picture!”

“How come you always bring that where ever you go?” Luke wonders.

She fidgets the camera in her hands. “I want to create memories. I want to remember my adventures and experiences. I want to remember it all, so I take pictures,” she says, checking to see if she has enough film.

Luke smiles, “That’s amazing!”

(Y/N) scoots closer to Luke and angles the camera up to get them both in frame. They smile, getting ready to take the picture. He then had an idea for a great picture. Right as she pushes the button, he kisses her cheek. (Y/N) smiles even wider and lets out a slight giggle. The film shoots out and she grabs the photo. She looks at Luke who was smiling like a kid in a candy store. You could see the love and adore in his eyes. Luke flicks his eyes to her lips for a second, but it was enough for her to notice. He leans in, but she stops him. “I thought you weren’t supposed to kiss until after the date. Or even on the first date at all?” (Y/N) jokes.

“We can be different,” Luke smirks before giving her a kiss. As his lips touch her, she takes in a large breath and leans forward in the kiss. He takes his hand and places it on her cheek to deepen the kiss. Butterflies were flying around in their stomachs. (Y/N) pulls away slowly.

Luke opens his eyes to see her cheeks were bright red. “The movies about to start,” (Y/N) says. He chuckles and pecks her lips one more time. They shift around to where they were laying down, resting on the pillows behind them. (Y/N)’s head rested on Luke’s shoulder. She grabs the bag of sour gummy worms and takes a handful out. “Gummy worms?” she asks Luke.

Luke looks down to see her handing him some gummy worms. “Don’t mind if I do,” he says and takes the candy out of her hand to place it on his chest. As the movie starts, Luke smiles to himself. He’s on one of many dates him and (Y/N) will be on, and he couldn’t wait.

Luke didn’t notice that he was full on sobbing when he was reminiscing on the past. He suddenly felt a hand rubbing his back, trying to comfort him. He looks to see Reggie comforting him. Luke pats Reggie on the back to thank him. “It’s okay to be sad, Luke,” Alex says. Luke looks at Alex and nods. “You don’t have to be strong all the time.”

Luke thins his lip in a sad smile. Luke puts the photo and the bracelet back in his front pocket. He wipes his wet face and sniffs the snot that his slightly falling out of his nose. “Let’s get back to the studio. Even though we don’t sleep, I need a nap,” Luke says, getting up and wiping the sand off of his pants.

Luke looks around the beach once more to see the lifers having fun. Alex and Reggie follow Luke’s actions and stand up as well. Luke walks towards the teenagers still playing their guitars and singing around the fire. He watches them smile and laugh with one another. Alex places his hand on Luke’s shoulder to signal that they should leave.

Before they poofed back to the studio, Luke noticed someone in the distance. He saw someone watching the group of teenagers like he was. He noticed the (Y/H/C) girl wiping away a tear from her eye. Then, their eyes connected. He recognized those (Y/E/C) eyes. He squints and walks closer to get a better look. He halted as he got a little closer. His heart beat quickened at the sight of her.

“(Y/N)?” he whispered before the girl poofed away. Luke’s breath started to quicken as he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Luke?” Reggie called out. Luke turned around. “What’s wrong?”