Nothing to Lose | Luke Patterson

Chapter Twenty-Four

As soon as we appear in the living room, I know where Luke poofed us away to, his childhood home. "what are we doing here?" I ask him, my eyes scanning the familiar room; not much had changed since my last visit.

"I-I come to see them sometimes," Luke admits; I nod; I figured he had paid Emily and Mitchell a visit the other week when he was crying. "And, I was just curious if-"

"If they'd celebrate your birthday?" I ask him after he hesitates; Luke nods; I hear talking coming from the kitchen, instantly recognizing the voices of Luke's parents. "Do you want to go see them?" I ask him, gesturing to where the voices were coming from; Luke nods, but he doesn't move; he just stays put, wringing his hands nervously. I hesitantly placed my hands on his, causing him to look up at me. "I'll be there the whole time," I remind him, lacing my fingers through his, "and if it gets too hard, we can leave." Luke nods, this time leading the two of us into the kitchen. As we enter the kitchen, I see Emily and Mitch walking around, preparing a cake.

"They made me a cake," Luke mumbled, pushing self-up onto the countertop; I nod, leaning against the counter he sat on; The two of us watch his parents as they silently move around the kitchen, both wearing solemn expressions on their faces. Neither of us makes a noise, that is until I hear Luke quietly sniffling behind me. I glance back, my heartbreaking at the sight; Luke's eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down his face.

"Let me just grab the lighter," Mitchell told his wife, speaking for the first time since their son and I entered the room; Emily nodded, placing the plates and cutlery on the table before sitting down; Mitch joined her seconds later, lighter in hand. Luke slowly pushed himself off the counter, reluctantly walking over to where his parents sat. I frowned, following behind him. His dad lit the candle, and Luke blew it out seconds later, causing both of their parents to search the room with tear-filled eyes; Luke then sat down, joining his parents at the table. I could have moved and sat across the table in the other empty chair, but I decided against it, choosing to stand beside Luke instead.

"I miss him," Emily mumbled, her breathing growing shaky; Luke slumped his shoulder, watching his mom sadly. I placed my hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly.

"I do too," Mitch told his wife, reaching forward for his wife's hands; Luke moves his hand, hovering it over his parent's interlocked hands, moving it back when he remembers he cannot touch them.

"It's okay," I comfort him, moving my hand from his shoulder to his hands, interlocking our fingers together; Luke nods, squeezing my hand.

"Happy birthday, son," His dad says, relighting the candle on the cake.

"I miss you so much, my sweet boy," His mother chokes out, tears threatening to spill from her eyes; Both of them lean forward, and Luke and I follow, all four of us blowing the candle out together. We sit there for a little while longer, leaving once his parents have cleaned up the cake, both going into the living room.

"T-thank you," Luke stutters, the two of us poofing to the outside of his house.

"Of course," I tell him, squeezing his hand reassuringly, "are you okay?"

"Honestly, no," He shakes his head, his voice cracking; My heartbreaks, and I sigh, preparing myself to do something I typically never do; I wrap my arms around Luke's shoulders and he instantly relaxes, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Y-you're hugging me?" I chuckle; that's what he decides to focus on right now.

"This is a one-time thing," I inform him, not moving my arms from their place around his neck.

"I figured," Luke sighed, "just one more second," Luke squeezes me tightly, burying his head into my shoulder, "Okay, I'm done." I chuckle, pulling away from the boy.

"You feeling better?" I ask him, worriedly scanning his face.

"A little bit," He says; I nod, grabbing his hand once more.

"We should probably head back," I tell him; he sighs, nodding in agreement anyway, "the boys are probably worried." Luke nods, poofing the two of us back into the studio; when we get there, we expect to see Alex and Reggie waiting for us; instead, we're greeted by the sound of our bandmates rehearsing, Julie included.

"Julie," Luke greets, his eyes slightly wide in shock; neither of us expected to find Julie waiting for us, especially after the things she said to us earlier.

"Grab your guitar," She says to Luke, gesturing over to his instrument, "Go to your keys," She says to me this time, pointing over at her keyboard, "We've got work to do." Luke and I share hesitant glances, him shrugging and moving to his guitar moments later.

"Charlie," Julie sighs, stepping closer to me, "I am so, so sorry," She apologizes; I cross my arms over my chest stubbornly. "I should never have said those things about you; you're not pathetic or insecure; you're loyal and an amazing friend." Julie looks at me with pleading eyes, and I sigh, moving over to my keyboard.

"You're forgiven Molina," I tell her, sitting down at my keyboard, "what made you come back anyways?"

"I realized how important music is to all of us," She answers, glancing around at our bandmates, "and we've lost so much already, we can't lose this too."

"Thanks," Luke says, smiling over at her gratefully, "all right, where we at?" Luke asks, strapping his guitar over his shoulder.

"Let's go from the pre-chorus," Julie tells us; I nod, hovering my hands over the chords, "oh, and Luke, happy birthday." Luke turns to look at me, his eyes wide; I chuckle lightly at his adorable confused expression, shaking my head.

"It wasn't me," I tell him, holding my hands up in defense; Luke goes to reply, but my brother cuts us off, counting in the song.

So sorry for the late updates, this week has been crazy!

I hope the rest of your weekend is great, love you all!