(tessa's outfit for this chapter) 

After Julie and Tessa preformed during the pep rally, the boys suddenly showed up and preformed with them. Julie and Tessa managed to convince everyone that the boys are holograms and after everyone went back to class they talked with Principal Lessa and Mrs. Harrison. Thankfully they didn't get in trouble and Julie was even let back in the music program.

But when Flynn found out that they kept the boys a secret from her she wasn't that happy and ran out of the gym after the two girls tried explaining to Flynn without telling her the boys are ghosts. The two girls lose her in the hallway and when they go around a corner they let out a scream at suddenly seeing the boys there. Luke stood on Alex's and Reggie's thighs and they each outstretched their arms, looking at the girls with smiles as they said the girl's names.

"Stop that!" Tessa exclaims, putting a hand over her fast-beating heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." Reggie apologizes while Luke jumped down. "But this one's all on you two. We were here first." He points to the other side of the hallway they're standing in. "Well, actually, we were over there, and then we came over there."

"Are we not going to talk about what just happened?" Luke asked, looking at Julie and Tessa.

"Yeah, the whole school saw you." Julie nods. "It's kind of freaking me out." She commented and Tessa nodded in agreement.

"Okay, good, 'cause it's kind of freaking me out too." Alex nods and began to rant. "You know, you two could see us, and people can see us whenever we play music, and my clothes are made of air, but for some reason, I'm still getting a wedgie." He inhales sharply. "So many questions."

Tessa shakes her head with a small chuckle. "The important thing is that we rocked that place." Luke looks at Julie and Tessa with a smile. "They were loving you two!"

Julie and Tessa shared a smile before looking back at the boys. "Are you kidding? They loved us." Julie corrects him. She looks at Luke with a smile. "That was a great song, Luke. Thanks."

"And did you see those cheerleaders looking at me?" Reggie asks with a grin on his face. The smile on Tessa's face fell and she felt her heart ache at the thought of Reggie liking someone else. "I think they were looking at me." Reggie looks at Luke with a pleading expression, putting his hands on Luke's shoulders. "Please tell me they were."

Luke puts his hands on Reggie's face, laughing a bit. "Bro, they were looking at you."

They take their hands off of each other while Reggie grins. "Oh! I knew it!" Tessa couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. Even though she felt kind of hurt since she thought maybe Reggie liked her, he was really adorable and it was hard to stay upset around him.

"I'm so...I'm so confused, you know?" Alex stammers. "The afterlife should come with instructions or a quick start guide or something."

"I'm just glad everyone believed you guys are holograms." Tessa sighed.

Julie nods in agreement. "And I got back into the program."

The boys look at her and Tessa with confusion, wondering why they had sad expressions on their faces. "Why do you guys look so bummed?" Reggie questioned.

"Yeah," Luke wraps his arms around Alex and Reggie as they each make sad expressions similar to the ones that were on Julie's and Tessa's faces. "You two are making this face."

Julie shakes her head. "That...That is not my face."

"Yeah, and I didn't make that face either." Tessa crossed her arms and frowned.

"You both did." Reggie nodded.

Julie sighs. "Things just got weird between us and Flynn."

Tessa nods. "We had to lie about you guys and I hate lying."

"You're awful at it too." Julie told her.

"Yeah, I know." Tessa sighed.

"Sweet. Girls are already talking about us." Reggie grinned, high-fiving Luke.

Julie points at them. "Stop. We're serious. We can't tell Flynn about you guys for the same reason we can't tell our parents."

"They'll think we both gone off the deep end." Tessa commented, gesturing to herself and Julie. The boys step to the side when the janitor walks by, pushing his cart. Tessa's eyes widen at seeing him and her heart dropped. She and Julie didn't know the janitor was nearby when they were talking to the boys.

Reggie points at the janitor. "This dude definitely thinks you two gone off the deep end."

Tessa shares a wide-eyed look with Julie when they both realize that the janitor was in the area they were in with the boys the whole time. The janitor did probably think they were crazy since all he could see was Julie and Tessa talking to air. The boys step to the side as the janitor pushes his cart towards them. Julie and Tessa awkwardly smile at him, stepping to each side to let him leave.

"Yeah, okay, we gotta get back to class now." Tessa voiced, beginning to walk down the hallway with Julie.

****

In one of her classes, Tessa was writing notes as the teacher did a lecture. She jumped when she heard a familiar whisper and was shocked to see Reggie standing beside her. Tessa's eyes widen, her eyes flickering between him and the front of the class. The last thing she needed was for her teacher to catch her not paying attention. Reggie smiles, waving at her and the girl could only wave back. She looked around the class, noticing that no one else noticed him. She still couldn't believe she and Julie were the only ones who could see Reggie, Luke, and Alex. She had to admit it was a bit strange that they were the only ones, but she was happy that they were at least there. And she couldn't deny how much of a cute dork Reggie was.

Tessa glances down at the notes she was writing, noticing that she was writing gibberish. She blushes, realizing that she was too distracted by the fact that Reggie was standing beside her and the thoughts of him were on her mind again. She pulled out a blank piece of paper, writing on it 'you need to leave, I can't be distracted in class', and put it where Reggie stood.

He looks at her with a pout, but then he grins. "Oh, so I distract you?" 

Tessa's eyes widen and she can feel the heat rising up in her cheeks. She quickly covers her face, groaning as Reggie chuckles. "Just please go." She wrote on the paper.

Reggie frowns, nodding and disappeared from the classroom. When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Tessa grabbed her backpack and her notebook and left the class, feeling like a lovesick fool.

"Hey, Tess." A familiar voice greeted and Tessa let out a yelp, seeing Reggie standing in front of her. She put her hand over her chest, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly.

She pulls her phone out, pretending she was on a call so she didn't look crazy since to other people she would have been talking to air. "You gotta stop scaring me like that." She said, walking over to her locker.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you." Reggie apologizes with a sheepish smile. "It's just that you and Julie are the only ones that can see us." He continues, watching her put her notebooks in her locker. "And I like hanging out with you. And that makes me want to hang out with you more."

Tessa felt her cheeks flush, a small smile on her face. "Well, I like hanging out with you too, and it's nice getting to meet you and Luke and Alex. But you can't just pop up in class. If my teacher or the other students catch me talking to no one then they'll think I'm crazy." She explained to him, grabbing a couple books.

"So I'm supposed to wait until after school to see you?" He pouted.

Tessa chuckles and rolls her eyes. "Okay, I guess you can show up in class, but you can't distract me. Or Julie if you show up in class she's in." She tells him, closing her locker and began to walk down the hall with him. "I'm not trying to sound rude or anything, I like talking to you."

Reggie grins. "It's okay, I get it. I just didn't realize how distracting I am to you." He teased.

"Reggie, I swear." Tessa groaned, putting a hand over her face to cover her blush. She couldn't believe the crush she had on the boy was growing. This wasn't good at all.

"Oh, also this will be random but I wanted to tell you that the boys and I decided on the name musician spirits instead of ghosts." Reggie grinned.

Tessa chuckles. "You're right, that is random. But I'll keep that in mind."

"Then I guess I'll see you after school." Reggie smiled and he sent her a wink before he poofed away. Tessa groaned, covering her face that was bright red. She hated that she was getting a crush on a ghost.

****

When Tessa gets home, she put her multicolored jacket on the coat hanger before she goes anywhere else.  She walked down the hallway where family pictures are showed. She stopped at one in particular, it was a small sized frame right besides the family picture of Tessa and her parents. The one she was looking at was a polaroid picture of her mom when she was fifteen and Alex. She still couldn't believe that her dead uncle was now a ghost.

She didn't know if she should tell her mom about the fact that her dead brother is a ghost. Would her mom even believe her? Probably not. If Tessa was her mom and her daughter told her that her dead brother and his dead bandmates are now ghosts that she can see and talk to she would've thought her daughter is crazy. She furrowed her eyebrows when she felt movement behind her and a surprise yelp escapes her lips when she turned around to see Alex standing in the hallway near her. 

Alex looks away from the picture of him and Everly he was looking at to look at her with an apologetic expression. "Sorry." He puts his hands in his pockets while Tessa calms down since it was only Alex. "I guess I should've warned you that I was here or something."

"I don't think it would've helped." Tessa shakes her head. "I have a feeling I'll never get use to you and the boys showing up randomly. So, uh, what are you doing here?" Tessa asks him, tilting her head to the side with a confused look. Then she looks panicked and quickly adds, "I-I mean, not that I mind, I just...Didn't expect to see my dead uncle in the hallway when I got home from school."

Alex sheepishly smiles and shrugs. "I just needed to get away. All of this changing stuff is overwhelming to me. I did meet another ghost though, he was cool."

Tessa didn't fail to notice the smile on his lips when he talked about the ghost he met which made her smile a bit. "Also I came here 'cause I wanted to know how my sister was doing." Alex glances down the empty hallway and then back at Tessa. "I thought she would be at home now."

"She's still working at the vet clinic." Tessa responded.

Alex's smile widens. "So she's a veterinarian?" He asked her, his smile widening when Tessa nodded in response. 

He remembered how Everly always wanted to be a veterinarian. Everly was always an animal lover and she always wanted to help everyone, even animals so he was happy she actually got to be a veterinarian. Alex still couldn't believe that his own flesh and blood was standing right in front of him. The more he looked at Tessa the more he saw the resemblance of Everly and even himself.

"We, um, we actually have a place in the basement that has your stuff that my mom kept when she moved out if you wanna check it out." Tessa offered.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Alex nodded.

Tessa guided him to the basement of the house. No one really went in it, it was more of a place to go when bad thunderstorms took place or when family came over to visit. There was a living room area along with a kitchenette, two bedrooms, and one bathroom. Tessa went into the living room area where there was a somewhat old drum set at near the left corner of the living room that was by some other instruments.

"Wow." Alex whispered, a nostalgic smile forming on his face.

Tessa watches as he walks over to the drums, putting his hand on the drum sticks and picked one up, twirling it in his fingers. She's jealous of how easy he made it look. "I'm surprised she kept all this. I was so sure she would've gotten rid of them after..." He trailed off, the nostalgic smile on his face falling.

Tessa frowned. She didn't want him to get sad. She couldn't imagine what it was like for him, being in his situation and it made her feel a little guilty for not telling her mom that she could see him. Maybe if she did, maybe her mom could see him too and they could have a reunion.

"She said that drum set used to be yours until you got that one that you use now and that you let her have it." Tessa spoke up.

Alex smiles and nods. "She always said she wanted to be a drummer. I even taught her how to play and she was pretty good at it." He glances at her curiously. "Does she play at all?"

Tessa shakes her head. "No. I honestly used to play it when I was little since I thought being a drummer looked cool."

"Trust me, it is pretty cool." Alex grinned.

Tessa chuckles. "Yeah," She grimaces as she thought of the memory she speaks about. "But then I decided not to be a drummer after I accidentally tripped over the snare which fell onto the rest of the drums and it was just an awful mess."

Alex chuckles lightly, shaking his head. "Clumsiness runs in the family. Sorry, 'bout that." He rubbed the back of his neck, sending her a small smile.

"It's okay. It's not like it's a bad thing or anything." Tessa reassured him, sending him a warm smile.

Tessa still couldn't believe that she was talking to a ghost who was her dead uncle. It was all a bit strange. It wasn't bad or anything, it was just weird. She watched as Alex looked at the rest of the instruments, his fingers brushing across them as he took a trip down memory lane. She didn't fail to notice the way his face scrunched up when he looked at a photo of himself, Luke, Reggie, and another guy.

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and stepped closer, her eyes widening when she saw who it was. It was Bobby Shaw, a member of the band Sunset Curve. She heard all the stories about the band from her mom, she knew their tragic story and it was still so sad. She remembered how her mom had said Bobby was their best friend and was in their band. She said that he stole their songs and didn't give them credit after the boys died.

Tessa's frown deepens when she saw the sadness in Alex's eyes. "I'm so sorry that happened." She said, not really sure what to say but she just felt like she should comfort him. "I can't imagine what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you thought was your friend and bandmate."

Alex looks at her, the sadness still present in his eyes and he sighs, nodding. "Thanks. I don't really wanna talk about it though." He said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, no, that's okay." Tessa nods, understanding why. She frowns. "I just wish I could help you and the guys in some way."

Alex smiles a bit, shaking his head. "You are. Just by being here. It's nice having someone around to talk to."

Tessa smiles, glad that she was able to make him feel a bit better. "Tessa!" She jumped, startled by suddenly hearing her mother's voice.

Tessa turns around when her mother walked into the room. Her heart was beating fast since she didn't know if her mom could see Alex yet. "What's up, mom?" She asked, watching her mom walk down the stairs to the basement.

"I was wondering where you were, sweetie." Her mother responded, giving her a curious look.

"Oh, I was just, uh, looking at all the old instruments and stuff." Tessa responds. "Just got home from work?" She guessed.

"Yeah." Everly smiles softly, glancing around the room. "And honestly, I've been meaning to come check this stuff out." Tessa knew she was lying. Ever since Alex died, Everly found it hard to talk about her brother or even go near things that had to do with him. She just didn't like remembering her older brother and Tessa understood that. 

Everly looked around the room, noticing how the instruments seemed to be moved and dusted off. "Has anyone been using these?"

"No, I was just looking at them." Tessa lied, her eyes flickering over to Alex, silently pleading him to keep quiet and to not move.

Everly raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure, sweetie? These instruments look like they were dusted off."

"Uh, maybe the wind blew some dust off when the window was open." She lied, grimacing after noticing the window was closed.

Everly looks over to the window, raising an eyebrow. "The window's not open."

"Uh, yeah, well...It was, before. I closed it. 'Cause I, um, I didn't want bugs to get in the house." Tessa stammered.

Everly gives her a questioning look, not quite believing her. "You sure, honey? You're not hiding anything, are you?"

Tessa gulps, nervously shaking her head. "N-No, I'm not. I would never hide anything from you, mom."

Her mom looks around the room once more and sighs. "Alright. I'll leave you alone, but come upstairs in a couple minutes. Dinner will be ready soon." She pauses when she looked in the direction where Alex stood and then her eyes widen. How did she not notice him there before? Was she just so distracted that she didn't notice the person standing in her basement? She thought she saw his blond hair in the corner of her eye, but didn't think much of it.

"Alex?" She breathed out, her heart racing.

Alex perks up at hearing that, his eyes lighting up at the possibility of his sister seeing him. His hopeful smile drops when he sees Everly's expression and hears her next words. "I-Is that you? You're...You're a ghost."

Alex's lips twitch upwards slightly, he couldn't help but smile a little bit. His sister could see him, and it was so nice knowing that. "Hey, Ev."

Everly's eyes were filled with tears, her chest heaving. After seeing this, Tessa looks at her mom in concern and puts a comforting hand on her arm. "Mom, calm down. Just breath. It's okay."

Everly shakes her head, stepping back. "N-No, I...I have to go. I'm sorry." She stammered, running out of the basement and back upstairs.

Tessa frowns, glancing at Alex and she sighs, feeling her chest tighten at the saddened expression on his face. "I'll go talk to her." She reassured him, running up the stairs to catch up with her mother.

"Mom! Mom, wait!" She called out to her, reaching the kitchen.

"How could you not tell me, Tessa?" Everly demands, turning around to face her daughter. "You could've told me. How long have you known?"

"Yes, I know, but honestly, I only found out last night." Tessa replied sheepishly. 

"Last night?" Her mother's eyebrows furrowed, her mind racing as she stared at her daughter with confusion and disbelief.

"He showed up in Julie's garage after she played a CD of his band she found." Tessa explains. "And Alex's bandmates are here too "

"They're...They're all here?" Everly's eyes widen, her heart still racing. "Luke and Reggie..."

"Yeah. They're all ghosts. But they're still themselves." Tessa reassured her.

Everly covers her mouth to stop a sob that wanted to escape, a tear rolling down her cheek. "This....This can't be possible." She sniffles, shaking her head. "I-I mean, I went to their funeral. They're all buried six feet under. How is this happening? I don't understand."

"I don't know, but Alex is here." Tessa reaches out, grabbing her hand. "He's right downstairs. Pretty sure Luke and Reggie are in the studio next door at Julie's if you're ready to see them."

"I-I can't. I'm sorry." Everly pulls her hand away, running a hand through her hair. "This is a lot to take in. I can't.." She shook her head, walking away and heading to the kitchen, opening the cabinet and getting a bottle of wine and a glass.

"Mom, you haven't even eaten dinner yet. You should have something to eat first." Tessa said with wide eyes, trying to reason with her. She didn't expect her mom to do this.

Everly ignores her, pouring herself a drink and chugging it. "Wow," Alex said as he suddenly appears, not expecting to see his sister downing a glass of wine. "Do I upset you that much, sis?"

Everly jumps, her eyes widening at the sound of his voice and she sets the glass down. She was speechless, not really knowing what to say. The last time she saw him was when she was fifteen, the day of the Orpheum. It had been over twenty-five years and now he's here, standing in front of her and looking just the same as the day he died.

"Hey." Alex greeted and waved awkwardly.

Everly slowly walks closer to him, not taking her eyes off of him. She didn't want to take her eyes off of him in case he disappeared when she looked away. "Is this real? You're actually here, aren't you?"

Alex nods, smiling a bit. "Yeah. I'm really here, Ev."

"How is this happening?" Everly whispers, not believing this was real. "This is crazy. This is just a dream."

"It's not." Alex reassures her. "I'm here."

"Why are you here?" She asks him, shaking her head. "You should be...Wherever the dead go. Not here. How are you here?"

"I don't know." Alex shrugs. "I-I just woke up here okay, well actually, Luke, Reggie, and I were in this dark room at first and then we were falling and we ended up in our old studio. But now that's Julie's moms studio. No one can see us but Julie and Tess and now you. People can only see us when we play music. Well, we think." He grimaces. "It's kind of confusing."

Everly stares at him in shock and Tessa cringes. "Yeah, I know. It's confusing."

"I still don't even understand it." Alex admits. "But I am really happy to see you." He added with a smile.

Everly looks away from him, not saying anything for a few moments and she shakes her head. "This isn't right. You shouldn't be here."

Alex looked down at the floor, not surprised by his sisters reaction. He knew his sister wasn't ready to see him yet, or maybe she would never be ready to see him again. He was hurt by her reaction, but he still wanted her to know that he was there.

"Look, Ev.." He started to say, but Everly cut him off.

"No." She snaps. "You're not my brother. My brother died twenty-five years ago. This is just a dream or...Or I'm hallucinating. That's what this is." She ran a hand through her hair, pacing the kitchen.

Alex's shoulders slump and Tessa frowns at seeing him so sad. She steps closer to her mom with concern in her eyes. "Mom, calm down."

"Hey, Tess, Julie needs you to come over. She said you weren't answering your phone and-" Reggie starts as he poofed in the room, his eyes widened at seeing the situation. "And now I know why you haven't answered your phone."

Everly stares at him with wide eyes. "Reggie?" She knew it was him. After noticing that iconic leather jacket he almost always wore and his messy black hair, she just knew it had to be him.

"Hey, Everly." Reggie smiled sheepishly.

"No, this...This can't be happening." Everly's hands were shaking and her breathing was getting faster. "Tess, did you know that they were gonna come here?"

Tessa shrugs. "They kinda just show up where and when they want to."

"In our defense we recently just learned we could teleport." Reggie shrugged.

Alex could see his sister was beginning to freak out and he hated that. He remembered how she used to have panic attacks before and he wondered if she still did. It was looking like she still did.

"Everly, I need you to breath, okay? Everything's fine." Alex said softly, stepping closer to her. 

"No, no, don't." Everly holds her hands out, letting out a shaky breath. "Just stay back."

Alex frowns and backs away. Reggie gives him a look. "Is everything alright here? Because we can go. I'm sorry. I can go get Luke. Maybe he can talk some sense into her. If you couldn't do it, he normally could." 

"Don't." Everly quickly said. "This is all just happening too fast. I-I need a minute."

"You guys haven't seen each other in almost thirty years." Tessa reminds them. "Can you give her some space?"

"Right." Reggie nods, his gaze softening. "We'll come back later. Maybe she'll be less freaked out."

"Maybe." Alex shrugs and sighs. "I guess I'll see you later, Ev." He smiled a little, hoping she would feel better. He wanted to help her calm down, having this brotherly urge to comfort his little sister, but he also knew she needed her space.

With that, the boys disappeared, leaving Everly and Tessa in the kitchen. Everly's breathing was slowly returning to normal, but her hands were still shaking. She didn't even realized she had moved to sit on the floor until Tessa had joined her and was rubbing her back.

"Are you okay, mom?" She asked softly.

Everly didn't answer. She was too busy trying to process everything. Her brother was a ghost. Her brothers bandmates were also ghosts. And they had somehow managed to not cross over to the other side. It was just crazy, unreal, and scary. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Mom?" Tessa frowned, concerned for her.

"I'm sorry." Everly apologizes, heavily sighing. "I should've handled that better. It's just..." She frowns. "This is a lot."

"I get it. You have a right to act the way you did. You're not used to the whole 'your brother and his friends are ghosts' thing." She reassures her. She chuckles. "Believe me, I'm not either."

Everly smiles a little, shaking her head. "You seem fine."

Tessa nods. "I had a while to process it though."

Everly sighs. "I-I just need some time. To wrap my head around all of this."

"Take your time." Tessa smiles reassuringly. "Just know, I'm always here if you wanna talk about it. We don't have to talk about it right away."

Everly nods, pulling her daughter into a hug. She didn't know how she got so lucky to have a kid like Tessa, but she was thankful. Tessa was one of the reasons she got out of bed in the morning, and her husband. She was also glad that she had Tessa because now, she was helping her come to terms with the fact that her brother and his bandmates were ghosts.

Tessa checks her phone after hearing it buzz and noticed a 911 text from Julie. "Is it alright if I check on Julie? Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Everly nods, giving her a small smile. She sighs and stands along with Tessa, glancing at the clock. "Besides, your dad should be home from work anytime soon."

Tessa nods, kissing her cheek. "I love you. Just remember that I'm here for you. And so are the boys. But you know they'll respect your space if you don't wanna see them. So will Julie and I."

Everly nodded, appreciating her daughters words. Tessa kissed her cheek before leaving the house, walking over to Julie's. 

A/N alex & everly finally reunited yay ! definitely a bit of a rocky start for them, but dont worry she'll come around eventually!