alex and amber had been inseparable since birth, but then again most twins are.
and that included when alex began drumming for a band called sunset curve. though amber never the musical twin (with the exception of trying clarinet in the fifth grade...
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"So let me get this straight... when you play with this girl- Julie- you can be seen by other people?"
"Yep."
"And last night you bailed on a really important gig to figure out how to get revenge on Bobby- who is actually Trevor Wilson- and now Julie's left the band?"
"Yep."
"All because you couldn't get it through your stupid heads that your friendship with her was more important than revenge?"
"Yep, pretty much."
Amber whacked the back of Alex's head. "You are such an idiot. Out of all the boys, I thought you'd have the most sense in you!"
"That's fair, but in my defense, Willie makes me forget everything I'm doing..."
Amber's brain was racing as she put the pieces together. "Alex, you sly dog! You like Willie!"
"Maybe just a little," Alex blushed, shrugging. "But we're just friends!"
"If I don't hear a 'for now' after that I'm going to smack you again."
"Fine! Hopefully for now..."
"There it is," Amber smiled, wrapping her arms around her brother. "You have no idea how much I've missed this."
"Me too," Alex agreed. "Those months without you were torture... there's way too much testosterone in the room if you're not there to calm down the other boys."
Amber was quiet for a moment before finally speaking up. "Alex... you may have only had a few months without me, but I had to live through twenty-five years without you. I need you to know that I can't just come back to the band, just like that. I've built a life and I have promises I need to keep."
Alex visibly deflated, not having realized how hard it must have been for his beloved sister. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you didn't just skip from 1995 to 2020. That must have been terrible."
"In some ways, it was. I didn't have anyone to turn to at first, but eventually, I built up a support system that helped me through the hard times. And because of that, it wasn't as terrible as it could've been... but the worst part wasn't being alone or even being a ghost." Amber sucked in a shaky breath as tears began to fall from her eyes once again. "The worst part was the fact that I left things on such a bad note with you, with..." She trailed off, not wanting to talk about the boy who had ruined everything.
"I know," Alex replied, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. "Ambs, you need to know that I'm okay with the fact that you were with Luke. I wasn't even mad. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, and if it was with him, that was okay. I was only upset that you hadn't told me."
Amber looked up at her brother in surprise. "Really? I was so terrified to tell you because I thought you'd hate me forever... then again, all of that seems so trivial looking back on it. I mean, that was within three weeks of us being kicked out. That was obviously the least important thing at that moment, but yet it changed everything."
"Just because it seems laughable now doesn't mean it wasn't important back then," Alex reminded her. "I know you loved him, and that's okay. I forgave Luke ages ago, and I forgave you the second you walked out per my request."
"How could you forgive him so quickly?"
"I knew it was what you'd want me to do."
Amber knew that was exactly what she had wanted, but that made it even worse because her own twin had forgiven Luke before she had.
"You're right, but it's just hard for me to forgive and forget. He said some really awful things that night," she replied with a sigh. "And I know that he didn't mean any of them, but it's just hard to push what he said from my head. When I saw him tonight, it was like we were dancing on the pier at sunrise again and standing in the rain yelling at each other at the same time."
"Do you still love him?" Alex asked curiously.
"I don't know. I pushed him from my mind for so long... I pushed all of you from my mind and my afterlife for so long. I thought I'd never see any of you again, so it was just too hard."
"I know."
"I guess I'm just worried that if I even talk to Luke, all of my feelings will come rushing back and I'll lose all of the progress I've made trying to move on from him."
"I know."
"You know what I need? I need to meet Julie. That's what I'm going to focus on right now."
"I know," Alex laughed, positive that it was what she needed to hear.
"And I can deal with Luke later. But I have a few things I need to do tomorrow."
"I know."
"I love you."
"I know."
(AN: sorry that it's been so long! i've been studying for all my tests bc it's miterm week babyyyy! anyway thank u so much for reading, and please let me know what you thought! this chapter was more of a much-needed convo between the siblings but next chapter... amber meeting julie for the first time!! love you all!)
