The Lead Guitarist //Reggie Peters

Chapter 33: Freedom

Ash's POV* 

"...I'm the last standing I'mma stand tall. I'mma stand tall. Whatever happens even if I'm the last..." me, Julie, Carlos, and Ray all sang as we walked up the pathway to the house.

"Tall!" Ray exclaimed as the four of us walked up the stairs. "You two and your Phantoms were unbelievable tonight. You know, I'd like to thank them for bringing music back into your lives." Ray said to me and Julie as we all stood on the front porch, Julie and I smiling at Ray.

"We already did. But we didn't thank you, Papi." Julie responded as she handed Carlos her Dahlia; Julie and I then walked up to Ray, hugging him as he hugged both of us back.

"Hey, Julie, Ash, can I talk to you two for a second?" Carlos then asked the two of us as we ended the hug.

"Yea, sure. Just give us a sec." I said to Carlos as he nodded.

"Ok, I'll wait up. Don't ghost me." Carlos then said to the two of us, winking as Julie and I both just looked at him, shocked about how he could possibly even know; Ray chuckled as Carlos walked inside.

"Just a minute." Julie said to Ray as he nodded; she kissed his cheek as Julie and I headed down to the studio. 

"How did he figure it out?" I asked Julie, talking about Carlos, as we walked through the gate. 

"I bet it was Reggie." Julie told me as the two of us walked down to the studio, opening the doors. We walked inside as I looked around, replaying all the memories Julie and I have with the boys in here...reliving all the memories I have with Reggie. I sighed, putting my hands in my pockets as I looked down at the ground. 

"I..." I started as I looked at Julie, "...I know we already said this, but...thank you, guys." I then said into the empty studio; after a few moments of silence, I let out a quiet sigh; I was about to walk out of the studio again, but I heard something.  

"You're welcome." I then heard Reggie say and Alex groan.

"Dude!" Luke exclaimed as Julie and I looked at each other, confused; I turned on the lights, seeing Alex, Luke, and Reggie all just lying on the ground. All three boys groaned in pain as Luke let out a cough. I looked at the three boys, shocked as to why they're still here. 

"Why...why are you here? I...I thought..." Julie started, not knowing what to say as we both look a few steps towards the boys; the boys got another jolt as they all groaned in pain, coughing.

"no...no!" I said mainly to myself as I looked at all three boys. "I thought you crossed over. Why didn't you cross over?" I then asked the boys, starting to panic a little as they all sat up.

"I guess playing the Orpheum wasn't our unfinished business." Alex told me, his hand on his side as he let out a cough.

"Point Caleb." Reggie then said, leaning against the chair, his arms on the armrest.

"We wanted you two to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to." Luke told us as Julie and I looked at him; this was the first time I realized that he was crying...all three of them were crying. "We just...we had nowhere else to go." Luke then said to us. I looked at the three boys as my heart broke. 

"We thought you two would go straight to bed." Reggie then said as Julie and I both looked at him.

"Yea, well, I knew they were gonna come out here, but nobody ever listens to me." Alex then said as he stood up; the guys got another jolt as they leaned over, groaning in pain. Julie and I looked at each other scared as we looked back at the boys.

"Guys, you have to save yourselves right now. Go join Caleb's club. Please. It's better than not existing at all." I then told the boys, begging at this point as Luke and Reggie both stood up.

Please just go. Go! Poof out! Do something! Please. Do it for us." Julie then told the boys as we both started to cry.

"Please." I begged, crying as Reggie shook his head.

"We're not going back there." Reggie told me as I walked up to him, all of us still crying.

"No music is worth making if we're not making it with the two of you." Luke then said as he walked up to Julie.

"Ash..." Reggie then whispered to me as I looked at him again, "...no regrets." He told me, taking a shaky breath as I decided to try my luck. I wrapped my arms around his neck as Reggie immediately wrapped his arms around me; I started crying into Reggie's shoulder as his arms wrapped tighter around my waist. 

"I can't lose you. You're the best thing in my life." I whispered to Reggie, still crying as he ran his fingers through my hair.

"I'll always be with you, Ash." he whispered back, also still crying; I heard Alex gasp as I looked at him, seeing him looking at me and Reggie, Alex still crying. 

"I love you guys so much." I told the boys as I noticed that Reggie was starting to glow a golden color; realization came to mind as I looked at Reggie, putting my hands on his arms, so I can know that I can actually touch him now. "Reggie, I...I can touch you now." I pointed out to him, shocked as Julie and Luke also looked at me and Reggie. "How...how can I touch you?" I then asked Reggie, still crying, confused as we put our hands on each other's cheeks.

"I...I don't know." Reggie answered as he ran his finger over my cheek. "This is...it's real. This is real." he then said, laughing a little as I also let out a laugh, smiling at him through my tears. 

"Oh, my god, just kiss already!" Luke then exclaimed as Reggie cupped my face, kissing me. Do you know that saying about fireworks exploding in your stomach during your first kiss with someone? Well, that's exactly how I feel right now. Fireworks exploded in my stomach as I kissed Reggie back. I even managed to tune out Julie, Alex, and Luke's cheers as I wrapped my arms around Reggie's neck, not wanting to let him go; sadly, I then ended the kiss, resting my forehead against his as he chuckled a little, smiling at me. I grabbed Reggie's hands as he looked back at Luke and Alex. "I feel stronger." Reggie then said to the others as Luke and Alex just looked at him.

"That could be the after-kiss talking." Luke told Reggie, a small smirk on his face.

"Alex, Luke, Julie, come here." I then told the three as they walked over to me and Reggie; the five of us then hugged as Luke and Alex started to glow a golden color, too; the boys all gasped as we stopped hugging, looking at each other.

"I...I...I don't feel ask weak anymore." Luke then said as he looked at Julie.

"Yea, me neither." Alex continued on as we looked at him. "Not that, you know, I was ever that weak." Alex then added as we all laughed; the boys then gasped in pain as they all grabbed their wrists, seeing Caleb's stamp starting to glow purple.

"What...?" Julie and I both asked, confused as the stamps floated into the air before disappearing.

"What do you think that means?" Julie then asked the boys; the boys didn't answer, but they just smiled at each other.

"That means they're free." I answered as I wiped a tear from Reggie's cheek; he smiled at me, grabbing my hand again and just holding it, enjoying the touch we never got to have until now.

"I think the band's back." Luke then said as we all looked at him.

"You guys think we could try that hug thing one more time?" Alex then asked us as we all chuckled.

"Yea." Reggie told him as the five of us hugged again.

"Hugs are good." Alex commented as Julie patted mine and Alex's back; we all laughed again and we ended the hug.

"I like this." Reggie then said to us, laughing.

"Me too." I responded as the five of us hugged once again.

"We played the Orpheum!" Julie then exclaimed as we all started jumping around.

"Yea, we did!" Alex exclaimed.

Ok, there's the end of that chapter! I'm planning on having two more chapters after this one, so stay tuned! Please comment and vote for the next chapter which will be out in the next few days.

StarWarrior...signing off!