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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟔
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍

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While the guys were off with Willie trying to book the band at the Orpheum, Lexi sat on her favorite armchair in Julie's mom's studio. Her fingers fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist while her eyes followed the pacing Molina girl in front of her. Just as the redhead was about to tell her friend to sit down and relax, her phone went off a few times before she pulled it out to see messages from her parents. A small smile formed on her face after seeing a text in her family group chat saying that they needed a new band to open tonight. But before Lexi even had a chance to tell Julie about the message, the pair were greeted by a faint whooshing sound and a flash of light. It wasn't long after that when the ghosts of Sunset Curve appeared in front of them.

"Oh my gosh! What took you guys so long?! Did Willie do it?! Did you talk to them?! Did they watch it?! Did they like us?! Are we playing?!" the curly-haired girl shouted at the grinning phantoms while the Daniels girl sat upright in the armchair to get a better look at everyone in the room, "can someone answer me?! Why's no one talking?!"

"Because they're waiting for you to breathe," Lexi muttered, receiving a playful glare from her best friend before the two girls turned their attention back to the ghost band.

"That was a lot of questions!" Reggie explained while waving his arms out in front of him then he turned his gaze to his shaggy-haired friend, "Luke, you wanna take this one?"

"Take a seat," the guitarist said, making the Molina girl sit down on the leather couch behind her while the redhead made herself more comfortable, "it's fine. Everything's fine."

"Yeah. You should be getting a call right...now!" Alex told the two girls before pointing at Julie's phone that was sitting in the middle of the coffee table, only for it to remain silent. The three boys sent Lexi and Julie awkward smiles then the blonde boy gestured to the phone once again but this time it started to ring.

While Lexi let out a laugh and Julie let out a victory shout, the guys did their triple high-five. It wasn't long before all attention landed back on the Molina girl, who simply stared back at everyone with a giant grin on her face. After a moment of the five of them just looking at each other, the guys gestured toward the phone while the Daniels girl tried to hold back another laugh before Julie answered the call.

"Hi, this is Tasha from the Orpheum in Hollywood," a female voice said through the phone as the four of the teens began jumping and dancing around the studio while Lexi watched with a smile on her face before they all froze after hearing the woman ask, "is this Julie of Julie and the Phantoms?"

"Yes, it is."

"Are you available to open for us tonight?"

"Yeah! Totally! Thank you so much!"

Another laugh passed over Lexi's lips at the sight of Luke and Reggie holding Alex over their heads while spinning around in a circle. This continued for another minute or two before the four teens finally calmed down and turned their attention toward Lexi, who was the only one of them who was still sitting normally in her seat.

"Why aren't you excited about this?" Reggie questioned with his head slightly tilted, reminding Lexi of a puppy.

The Daniels girl let another moment pass before reaching into her back pocket and placing her phone on the table with the message from her parents on the screen. "I already knew but I didn't wanna ruin your guys' moment."

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After rehearsing the song they were planning to play for a few hours, Lexi went back to her house to get a few things that she needed for the performance that night. However, what she didn't expect to find when she walked into her room was Alex sitting alone on her bed with his head down and his fingers intertwined. The redheaded girl awkwardly stood in the doorway for a moment with her eyes glued to the ghost. What felt like an eternity passed before she snapped out of her daze and closed the door behind her, drawing the ghost's attention away from his hands and towards her.

"I thought you'd still be rehearsing with Luke and Reggie," the redhead said, breaking the silence as she sat down across from the blonde in her desk chair. When she was finally at eye level with her uncle, Lexi picked up on the sadness in the boy's eyes before they fell back down to his intertwined fingers. "Is something else bothering you?"

"Maybe...yes?" the drummer mumbled under his breath as he looked back up to find his niece staring back at him with confusion in her eyes before letting out a long sigh, "I thought that maybe we could try that 'family bonding time' you mentioned a few weeks ago."

"You wanna get to know each other better before the possibility of you vanishing from existence?" Lexi asked with a quirked eyebrow, only to receive a small nod in response from the boy in front of her before a small smile formed on her face, "that's great timing."

"Why does it look like you're about to start laughing?"

"Because that's something I would do. Guess my dad was right when he said I take after you," Lexi smiled before she noticed Alex's entire body tense at the mention of her father.

His actions made the Daniels girl think back to her conversation with Andy before she left for the school dance and how guilt-ridden he was just thinking about his brother. After studying the boy in front of her for a moment longer, the redhead got to her feet and grabbed her father's songbook from her shelf before moving to sit next to Alex on the bed. Her eyes scanned over the worn cover of the book before she flipped through it until she landed on the note she found written in the back.

"I don't know what happened between the two and honestly it's not my business but I think you should look at this," she said while shoving the book into his hands. Lexi did her best to hide her shock at the journal staying in his hands before she watched him read the words her father wrote all those years ago. When he finally closed the journal, Alex kept his eyes glued to the floor beneath his feet while he tried to take in everything he just read. Lexi's brown eyes stayed glued to the blonde boy sitting next to her for a silent moment before she finally found the courage to speak.

"He doesn't hate you, Alex. If he did, do you really think he'd name both his kids after you? Or would he have given this to me for good luck?" she questioned while holding up her wrist that had the blonde boy's bracelet. After he stared at the pink string for a long moment, the Mercer boy slowly looked up to meet her gaze once again before Lexi continued speaking. "If anything, he feels guilty about whatever happened between the two of you. Every time either Ryder or I bring up your name, he closes himself off from the world before he finds a way to change the conversation."

Before Alex had a chance to respond, there was a soft knock at the door then it was slowly pushed open to reveal Andy standing in the doorway. It took everything within the youngest Daniels not to panic before she caught her uncle getting to his feet out of the corner of her eye. After sending the blue-eyed boy a pleading look not to poof away, the redheaded girl got to her feet while sending an innocent smile in her father's direction as the blonde ghost sat down in her desk chair.

"Hey, Lexi. I just wanted to wish you luck for tonight. I can't wait to see you guys perform tonight! Also, can you tell Luke, Alex, and Reggie I said good luck," the Daniels man told his daughter with a hint of sadness in his eyes before he caught Lexi glancing over in the direction of her desk. When he followed her gaze, he was met with nothing but her empty desk chair before he finally figured out what the redheaded girl was really looking at. "Which one's here?"

"What are you-"

"You know, just because I can't see them doesn't mean I can't see you. You keep looking over at your desk," Andy interrupted the girl before letting out a sigh and sitting down at the end of her bed, "so is Luke, Reggie, or...or Alex in that chair?"

Lexi hesitated for a moment before glancing over at the blonde ghost, only to find him just as stunned as she was while he stared at his twin brother. Her eyes then traveled down to her father's songbook which was still sitting on the edge of her bed before she got an insane idea and sprinted out of the room. The two males stared at her with confusion in their eyes when she reappeared with one of Ryder's bongos in her hands before shoving the instrument into Alex's hands. Lexi tried to ignore her father's shocked expression caused by the floating bongos as she grabbed the worn book from her mattress and made her way over to where the ghost was sitting.

"You need to play this song right now," the redhead told her uncle, who was looking over the lyrics on the page before his gaze fell back on the girl in front of him.

"We don't know if we're seen when we play with you, Lex."

"Well, I guess we're about to find out. Start playing."

Alex continued to stare at his niece for a moment longer before a shaky breath passed over his lips and attempted to play the opening of "Now or Never" on the bongos. Lexi just listened for a moment before she started to quietly sing the lyrics to the song Sunset Curve was supposed to sing the night they died. Her eyes stayed on Andy to look for any sign that the ghost tapping the small instrument could be seen.

Just as the Daniels girl was about to give up hope that the brothers would be able to see each other again, Lexi saw the blank look on Andy's face change to utter shock. Not even a second after that passed when he got to his feet while keeping his eyes glued to his brother's ghost sitting in his daughter's desk chair. A small smile appeared on the young girl's face while she gestured for the two to start talking and started singing the song from the beginning again.

"Uh...hey, Drew. How's it going?"

"Um...hi. Okay, uh...I don't know how much time we have or if we're gonna be able to do this again so I gotta tell you this before you...vanish?" Andy paused his ramble to take a breath while Lexi and Alex exchanged a concerned look. It wasn't long after that when the pair turned their attention back to the blonde man when he began to speak once again. "I'm sorry, Xander. I shouldn't have said what I said. I was just surprised and lashed out but that doesn't excuse those words. I know it barely means anything and I will try my best to make it up to you somehow but I'm really sorry."

Lexi looked back and forth between her father and uncle in utter confusion and completely out of the loop while she sang "Now or Never" for the third time. Even though what happened between the brothers was none of her business, she wished she had some context so it didn't feel like she just turned on a movie that was halfway over. After another moment of the three of them sitting there with nothing but the Daniels girl's singing to cut through the silence, Alex suddenly stopped playing the bongos while keeping his eyes glued to the man sitting in front of him. The redheaded girl just watched him with a lost look on her face as he got to his feet and walked over to stand in front of his brother.

"I forgave you a long time ago, Andy, and if I could hug you right now, I would," the blonde ghost told the man before his eyes landed on Lexi, who was still watching them with curiosity in her eyes, "I'll see you back at Julie's."

Before anyone could say another word, Alex poofed out of the room.

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