Finally Free -- JATP Luke x MaleOC

Jay didn't show up to school the next day.

Luke knew that because he had gone to Jay's trigonometry class and saw with his own eyes that his desk was empty. Julie had also needed Ray to take her to and pick her up from school. Luke assumed that Flynn had to do something similar.

After Julie had gotten back home, the boys had all noticed her concern. She tried to hide it from them but the boys knew her better than that. Her dad and brother noticed too, but whether they questioned her about it, Luke didn't know. 

Eventually Luke had grown tired of lounging around and waiting for something to happen. His guilt and worry was starting to eat away at him and he needed to work through it. The next day, he said nothing to the boys as he warped away to Jay's room, where Jay studied in complete silence. Luke put on his usual cheerful attitude to talk to him. 

"I really wish there was a warning bell for when you guys did that," Jay said, not looking away from his work.

"That takes the fun out of it," Luke said, looking over Jay's shoulder to his homework. "What're you workin' on?"

"Comparative government," Jay answered dully.

"Sounds boring," Luke said. "Wanna come to the studio?"

"Did you forget that I don't have my car anymore?" Jay asked. 

"You can walk over," Luke said. "C'mon dude, you need music. Especially now."

"Music was what got me in this mess in the first place," Jay said acidly, glaring at Luke. Luke got a good look at his face and felt a small sense of relief. The swelling on his lip had gone down a bit, although there was still a light blue tint to his lip. The cut on his cheek had a bandaid on it, which comforted Luke. He was glad that Jay had used that first-aid kit after all.

"So, what?" Luke asked, pulling back and standing next to Jay's desk. Relief could come after Jay came to the studio. "You're going to quit the band?"

"Yes, exactly."

Luke wasn't expecting that answer. His face and cheerful attitude fell away as Jay gave his answer.

"You-You're joking right?" Luke stammers, forcing a chuckle. "'Cause that's a bad joke."

Luke really hoped that Jay wasn't serious, even if his tone quite clearly showed that he was. His heart dropped when Jay didn't give a verbal response, only writing on his paper.

"You can't quit the band," Luke said seriously. "We need you in the band Jay."

"You've already got a guitarist, I think you'll be fine-"

"That's not why-"

"What, you need a lyricist? You've already got two-"

"Jay, listen to me," Luke said, continuing before Jay could cut him off again. "We need you in the band for you."

"That's not what you said when you were trying to get me to join."

"You're right," Luke conceded. "I wanted you to join the band because I didn't want you to regret not choosing music."

"Well guess what?" Jay stood suddenly and turned to Luke, making the latter take a step back. "I regret choosing music in the first place. Because if it wasn't for that then none of this would have happened."

Luke looked into Jay's eyes, filled with anger. But behind that anger was pain and fear, the true motivators of his actions right now. Jay's words hurt Luke, making his voice quiet.

"You don't mean that."

"I do," Jay said firmly, but his eyes told a different story to Luke. "I regret joining the band, I regret all those rehearsals, I regret those stupid gigs, and I regret ever meeting the three of you!"