CHAPTER NINETEEN

EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD — TEARS FOR FEARS
Help me make the
Most of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever

LUNCH AT THE Patterson's house was far more enjoyable than the time Olivia had dinner there. The older couple stayed far away from any topic regarding Sunset Curve, not wanting to start a fight at the dining table in front of their guest and not wanting to upset their son in front of the girl they speculated he had a crush on.

After their meal was finished, Olivia stayed over for a couple more hours. She listened attentively to Mitch as he spoke about his book collection, excited that someone other than his wife or child was willing to listen. She even asked questions from time to time when she didn't understand the topic of whatever book he was going on about. He had an extensive collection that ranged from broad topics like fiction and poetry to niche topics like the timeline of evolution and string theory. In her opinion, the collection was quite cool and he spoke with such passion, it wasn't hard to tell where Luke had gotten his from.

While Olivia and Mitch were in the living room, Luke was helping his mom clean up the kitchen. Emily was grilling him about the girl in the next room over, asking him if he liked her and telling him how much she and Mitch approved of her. She was glad to see that Luke had met someone who could keep up with him. As a kid, he was always so energetic. When he spoke, he'd bounce from topic to topic leaving them winded by the rapid change in pace. His thoughts ran faster than his mouth could speak, and as he got older, he never grew out of it. But ever since he met Olivia, he had seemed to settle down a bit. He still jumped between topics and was generally overexcited about most things, but finding someone who could handle his fast paced nature gave him peace. Olivia and Luke complimented each other and Emily liked that.

When Emily and Luke were finished in the kitchen, they joined the pair in the living room. Luke watched as Olivia and his mom got onto the topic of knitting. Olivia had complimented his mom's sweater, which caused his dad to proudly state that Emily had made it herself. The young girl gasped in disbelief and explained how she harboured a lot of respect for anyone who could knit wearable articles of clothing. She tried to pick up knitting in the past, but never progressed past casting on. This of course prompted his mother to grab a spare pair of needles and teach the girl herself.

"You don't have to kiss up to her, you know," Luke said with a teasing grin, leaning over her shoulder.

Olivia looked up from her needles, remnants of concentration still on her face. "I'm not," she said with narrowed eyes. She bit the inside of her cheek. "I genuinely want to learn this."

Emily lightly scolded her son. Even if Olivia was doing this to please her, she didn't mind it. She loved knitting and Luke was not going to spoil the opportunity to teach someone new just because he wanted to be cheeky.

After his mom chewed him out and turned back to Olivia with a warm smile, he watched them fondly. They were his favourite girls. He loved that his parents liked Olivia and it made his heart swell to see her get along with them.

When the sun began to leave its peak, Olivia declared that it was probably time for her to leave. Luke offered to walk her home and Emily made sure that the girl knew she was welcome to join their lunch every week if she wanted to. Olivia laughed and promised that she's come around the next week.

And she did. Except this time, she was accompanied by her mom and brother.

Over the course of the week, Mikey grew very jealous—not of Luke for spending so much time with Olivia, but of Olivia for spending so much time with Luke. He thought Luke was insanely cool and hated that whenever the guitarist was at their house, they couldn't speak for long because the band had to practice for their upcoming gig. But once he found out that Olivia was going to Luke's house for lunch, he begged her to let him join. He even bribed her with his weekly allowance.

Like the good older sister she was, she accepted the bribe and asked Luke if Mikey could tag along. Luke, who was very fond of the boy, said yes and the next thing he knew, his mom was instructing him to invite Sylvia along as well.

Lunch that week was very interesting to say the least.

As the Christmas formal drew near, Sunset Curve spent hours upon hours in Olivia's garage. They needed their set to be perfect, especially since Harmony Lane would be opening for them.

By the time their gig came around, they had no doubt that they'd crush it. The crowd loved them and cheered louder for them than they did for Harmony Lane, bringing a smirk to all of their faces. They played a few of their old songs and a couple new ones as well. They ended up compromising on which Christmas song they'd cover and decided to do a rock rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, which was met with thunderous applause. When their performance was over, they found themselves in Reggie's car on their way to Sonny's for celebratory milkshakes.

"Did you see Christa and Josh's faces when we came on stage?" Bobby laughed, remembering their rival band. He turned in the front passenger seat to get a better look at his friends.

"Yeah," Luke chuckled in the back seat, his hand playing with the bracelets on Olivia's wrist. "They looked like they saw a ghost!"

Lighthearted conversation filled the air as they drove through downtown Los Angeles. Despite it being late at night, the city was bustling with people.

"So," Alex started, "what're you guys doing for Christmas?"

Bobby rolled his eyes. "I'm meeting my dad's girlfriend's family."

"That sounds..."

"Vomit inducing?"

"I was going to say interesting, but okay."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at the rhythm guitarist, remembering all the fiery tangents he's gone on about the woman. "Is she really that bad?" she questioned, having a hard time telling if he was serious or over-exaggerating.

"Oh, yeah. Jenny's horrible and I hate her," Bobby deadpanned. "She's not my mom no matter how hard she tries to be. The bitch could choke for all I care."

"C'mon, Bobby," Luke said with a disapproving look. "Don't be a dick."

"Yeah, whatever." Bobby faced the front of the car, glancing over at Reggie as he did. "What are you guys doing for break?"

Each of them took turns sharing what their plans were for the holidays. It seemed that each of them was meeting up with family for dinner and Olivia was no exception.

"It's my family's turn to host Christmas this year, so my house is gonna be as busy as the motel down the street," she said as they neared the diner.

"Ooo," Alex sang, "big family?"

Reggie looked at her through the rearview mirror. "Any cute cousins?"

She shook her head. "Most of my cousins are Mikey's age, unless you want to catch a case."

"Oh, never mind then."

Olivia let out a laugh while the boys shared amused smiles. "I have two cousins around our age," Olivia shared. "Rose and Victoria. You'd like them, they're into music too."

The topic of conversation switched as they pulled into the parking lot of Sonny's diner. Reggie was adamant that they do something as a band for Christmas. They all agreed and nominated Olivia to host, mainly because they knew Sylvia would have mountains of baked goods for them to eat.

When they were parked in their usual spot, they got out one by one. Luke was the first one out of the car, spilling a sentence about what he believed to be the best Christmas movie, but stopped once his eyes landed on the building in front of him.

His friends turned to look at him, concerned as to why he stopped talking in the middle of a sentence. The shaggy haired brunet said nothing but pointed above the diner with a look of awe on his face. The others turned in confusion, but once they saw what he was looking at, their expressions melted into one of utter disbelief.

Posted on the billboard above Sonny's Diner was a picture of Sunset Curve.

"Is that...?"

"That's us."

It was an action shot, taken from a gig two weeks prior. Reggie and Bobby were on the edge of the stage, both mid-jump with their guitars in hand, Alex was on the drum riser, his hair flying in all directions, and Luke and Olivia were front and center, singing into one microphone with their eyes locked on each other and smiles on their faces.

Their band logo was painted above their heads with the signature E curving towards the middle.

None of them knew what to say. For the first time in any of their lives, they were truly and utterly speechless.

Gravitating towards each other like magnets, they wrapped their arms around each other. Their eyes never left the billboard.

"It's beautiful."

"This is only the start."

It was Bobby who popped the bubble of their peaceful moment. A car was pulling into the lot and they were standing right in the middle of it. Not wanting to get run over, he ushered his friends into the diner where Sonny was waiting for them.

"Did you see my little Christmas gift?" The older man already knew the answer. He saw them through the windows when they arrived.

"I wouldn't call it little," Bobby laughed.

"Sonny, you did that?" Reggie questioned as the group sat down in their usual booth.

"Of course, I did." He walked over to the small window the connected to the kitchen and pulled out two baskets of fries. "Who else would? You guys? You're broke!"

Luke gave him a cheeky smile as he placed the food in front of them. "Maybe you should pay us more."

Sonny rolled his eyes. "Consider the free promotion a bonus."

"Seriously, Sonny," Olivia said with sincerity in her voice, "thank you."

"No, thank you!" The man replied, walking across the room and grabbing the milkshakes his son-in-law just finished making. "Ever since you started playing here, business has been booming. It's the least I could do."

He placed the shakes on the table and gave them each a look. His hand fell on Alex's shoulder and he gave it a pat. "You kids are going to be big, I can feel it. Just make sure I get free concert tickets whenever I want, yeah?"

There was a chorus of 'yes' that rang though the air. As the man turned to leave, Luke started to go off about the special connection they had with their fans and how Sonny was right when he said they were going to be big.

Olivia tried her best to listen, but her mind kept drifting away. When she sat in this booth three months ago, reluctantly agreeing to a band with four boys she barely knew, she would've never guessed that they would mean as much as they did to her. She couldn't picture life without them anymore. What would she do without Bobby's sardonic humour, or Reggie's optimism, or Alex's sarcasm? What would she do without Luke?

It was hard to believe that no more than three months ago he was nothing more than her boyfriend's ex-best friend. He was a passing face in the hall, a student in her music class, but now? Now, he was so much more. He was her best friend and she's never had one of those before.

"Olivia, are you about to cry?"

The conversation ceased as the four boys turned to their favourite girl. Each of them had concerned expressions of varying degrees.

Olivia hadn't even noticed the tears swell in her eyes. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes before the tears could fall. "Sorry, I just—" She laughed at how ridiculous she must've seemed. She couldn't help it. These boys, her boys, were everything to her. They were her chosen family and she cared about them in ways words couldn't express. "I'm just really happy."

She loved them, and she didn't have to say the words because they already knew.

Boyish grins spread along their faces and a slow growing cheer erupted. Reggie shook her by the shoulders, causing her to roll her eyes and take what she said right back.

When they calmed down, they gave her a look. "We love you too, Livy."

Luke took her face in his hand and squished her cheeks. "I mean, how can we not? Just look at that face!"

"Shut up, Luke." She swatted his hands away with a laugh and reached over for some fries, ignoring the burning sensation left behind by his touch and blush that graced her skin.

Luke laughed it off and pushed the basket of fries closer to her with a lovesick and dopey expression on his face, completely oblivious to the knowing glances his friends shared with each other.

RAE SPEAKS !
this was a little bit of a filler chapter but enjoy this picture :)