Chapter Text
The girls were on their third round of drinks at the club when Sunset Curve finally arrived. It was Julie’s turn to buy and as she leaned against the bar, (So she didn’t have to scream her order.) someone sidled up beside her brushing her arm in the process.
Luke grinned when she realised it was him beside her and she enthusiastically wrapped her arms under his, her hands gripping the back of his cut off. He squeezed her back with an amused huff. “Luke! You guys finally made it!”
“Hey Julie, how’s it going?” Luke murmurs into her ear, pulling back with his big earnest grin directed at her. Julie had spoken to him and the boys a tonne this past week in their new group chat, but seeing his charming grin again flustered her all over again. She dropped her gaze, grateful the layer of foundation on her face would hide the blush filling her cheeks.
The new group chat had been seeing a lot of messages, but Julie had found all three of the band members had also messaged her privately at some point to chat. She’d talked video games and comics with Reggie. Drag Race, books, and their mutual obsession with Lady Gaga to Alex. And of course, with Luke, who she had probably spoken to the most, they had talked almost exclusively about music.
Luke was funny and passionate, he loved music in a way that reminded Julie how much it used to mean to her and her Mom. She loved that they could spend hours talking about a single band or album or could recommend songs to each other and always expect an honest review.
She’d only been in LA for about two weeks now, and every day that she spoke to the boys, or hung out with Willie, or explored something in the city with Flynn and Carrie, Julie felt more and more sure of her decision to come and find the love her Mom had told her about.
“I’m good! Settling into the city, I think, I mean I still haven’t found a place to live, but like, baby steps.” Julie jokes, asking Luke what the boys wanted to drink so she could add them to her order when the bartender came back with three gin and tonics. “I haven’t seen Flynn DJ live in a really long time, I’m so excited to see her slay.” Paying for the drinks, the pair balance the four glasses and two bottles delicately on their way to the booth Julie, Carrie, and Rachel had commandeered.
Flynn had disappeared only a few minutes before the boys arrived to get ready for her set and when people had started to recognise her and approach her while she was relaxing. It had been so strange for Julie to see her best friend, someone that she’d known literally since they were in diapers has to all but flee to the green room because more people who actually knew of her had shown up to her little hole-in-the-wall show than she’d expected.
“She opened at this festival I went to a year or so ago and since then I don’t think me or the boys have missed a show,” Luke admits, pulling Julie back into the conversation with his proud grin.
“She was so smug when we all became friends not long after the first show and I admitted I was a fan.” Julie laughed already knowing exactly how much Flynn would’ve been flattered and tried to hide it behind her usual sassy and unaffected façade.
The moment Julie sets the drinks down on the table she pulls Reggie and then Alex into tight hugs. The group falls into an easy rhythm, catching up on the week while they wait for the announcement that Flynn would be taking the stage. Julie and Alex are discussing their mutual love of second-hand book stores when the house DJ announces that Flynn’s set would start in ten.
Luke and Reggie decide to head to the bar for another drink while the rest of the group finds a good space on the dance floor where they can see Flynn but still have room to move. The second Flynn’s opening hits, the crowd goes wild and palpable energy fills the small club. A single spotlight highlights Flynn alone behind her booth before the colourful pulsing lights hit and Flynn launches into a remix of her newest original song; No Good.
“I wanna see every person in the room feeling themselves tonight, this is a safe place. I wanna see you all dancing and grinding, and just fucking being tonight. The Gay Lord knows we deserve it.” The crowd hollers and Flynn laughs into the mic, her voice sultry and soft over the smooth sounds of her song. “If you don’t know me, my name is Flynn, you can follow me at ‘Flynnspins’ or you can buy my shit from the bar. I fuck with this energy, Y’all let’s fucking get it!”
The fun and quick synth beat of Kim Petras’ I don’t want it at all dances around the room and the crowd cheers again, already filling the room with the sort of energy only good pop music can provide.
Alex and Carrie were instantly back on their bullshit. Both had an insane gift for choreography and for every song that Flynn plays, the pair quickly come up with a dance and then drag Rachel and Julie into it. Julie and Rachel were happy to indulge their friends when they began teaching the moves or cheered them on when they took over the dance floor, mostly they were both just happy to twirl and jump and scream the lyrics happily.
Julie had to admit, she was glad that tonight was her first real clubbing experience. Her twenty-first had been shrouded by the then-recent loss of her Mom, so going out had been the very last thing on her mind. When she got back to school weeks later, her friends had forced her to the local nightclub, and she hated every second of it. She stayed till two a.m. because she felt bad and then ducked out before her college friends could stop her.
Being constantly harassed by losers in an oversized room with shitty lighting and bass-heavy music you could barely dance to wasn’t a scene she would ever enjoy. The club that Flynn was performing in was small, packed with vibrant people, and full of good vibes. She assumed she was enjoying herself more not only because she liked the people she was with, but also because she felt safe in the smaller, queer space.
It helped that she felt beautiful. Julie had borrowed a stunning wine-coloured corset top with dramatic sleeves that left her shoulders bare from Flynn. She’d paired it with high-waisted black flares and a pair of heeled sandals. Carrie had dusted her shoulders, collarbones, and cheeks with the same gold dust, painted her lips a deep, glossy red, and drawn on a thick wing for eyeliner when Julie admitted she hadn’t had a chance to get out and buy going-out make-up yet. They had finished her look with a pair of her Mom’s gold clips, that Julie had used to pull her curls away from her face.
The songs were passing in a blur as Julie danced with her friends, Reggie eventually coming to join the group when he started to ‘feel the FOMO’ so he said. Dancing like a fool with Reggie and Rachel while Alex and Carrie pretended not to know them was the first time in longer than Julie could remember that she felt careless and truly free.
“Tell me you know this sweet move, Julie!” Reggie shouts, busting out a move that looked like he was a broken sprinkler, his arms moving stiffly around him. Julie met Rachel’s gaze and the pair burst into fits of laughter, cheering Reggie on as his moves evolved into a perfect impression of a wacky inflatable tube man.
A few songs later, Julie realised she hadn’t seen Luke since the start of the set. He had never come to join them on the dancefloor, Reggie saying the guitarist had gone to the bar again when he’d made his way out to join the others. Glancing around she can’t see him or his signature cut-off tee through the throng of sparkly people.
“What happened to Luke?” Julie shouts to Reggie over one of her favourite Dorian Electra songs.
A grin crawls onto Reggie’s face and he gestures directly behind Julie. “When I left he was going to buy that guy a drink and shoot his shot because he vaguely smiled in Luke’s direction.” Julie turned, finally spotting Luke right up the back of the room talking to a boy who was standing right in front of him.
He looked like he was moments from a complete breakdown, pure terror and confusion written all over his expressive face visible from nearly clear across the room, his lips moving a mile a minute and clearly adding to his distress. Julie had only ever seen Luke be confident and easy-going so seeing him so unsure of himself was a strange experience.
“Luke thinks the guy he’s talking to looks like Jimin from BTS,” Reggie explains into Julie’s ear, his arm thrown over her shoulders while they both watch their flailing friend. “Naturally, that means he’s having a breakdown that a guy he finds super-hot is talking to him. He’s literally so lead by musical talent that when he talks to people who aren’t musicians he panics, especially if that person is like, visibly masc. It’s weird and pretty adorable.”
“He wasn’t like that when he met me,” Julie shouts back, frowning at her memories of smiley Luke, charming her to high heavens, his elbows resting on the shoulders of his best friends.
Reggie laughs, “Ahh, yes, but he already knew you were a musician. He had common ground with you.” Julie tips her head in acceptance of Reggie’s explanation. “Also, you’re Julie. Your special.” He shrugs. She can’t help the small smile forming on her mouth at her friend's words. It only widens when the boy in question visibly winces at something he said and seems to talk even faster than before.
“I didn’t expect that from Luke,” Julie admits, feeling a little bad for being amused by her struggling friend. “He just seems so… Luke.”
“Ah, no. If you ever want to see Luke not be his usual annoyingly confident self, because he’s actually trying and not letting his natural charm ooze out of him; put him in front of a cute boy.” The bassist’s voice filled with amusement.
Did Julie think it was weird that she thought it was ridiculously charming and adorable, not to mention super relatable that Luke couldn’t talk to cute boys? Yes. However, the weird situation was not currently stopping her from being completely charmed by her friend’s flailing from across the room.
“Should we… maybe, go rescue him? Or wingman? I don’t know,” Julie hesitated, her head tilting. “He’s talking a lot and I just know he’s probably as red as a tomato. That’s probably not good.” Reggie seemed to contemplate for a second before his light gaze moved to hers.
“Yeah, are you sure you want to wingman for Luke to hook him up with someone else though?”
Julie felt a confused frown pull at her mouth, “Yeah, well, I mean everyone deserves a chance with someone who looks like Jimin, why?”
Reggie chuckles, pulling on Julie's arm. “Alright, let’s go save him.”
Reggie successfully weaves them through the crowd and when Luke spots them coming toward him his panicked smile stretches even thinner and his eyes bug in panic. Right as the pair approach, the boy that Luke had been speaking to says something in his ear and then parts with a quick wave. Julie admits she’s pretty bummed she didn’t get to see his face.
Confused, Reggie and Julie stop in front of a still panicked looking Luke. “Did you get all ‘Luke’ on him before the first date? Buddy, we’ve talked about this, you have to ease new people into your ‘Luke-ness.’” Reggie pats his bare arm comfortingly.
“He was just so… cute. Oh my God, Reg, I fucked that up so hard. I just kept staring at his face and… Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, just kept smashing into my brain, you know!? He didn’t even really know who BTS was! But did that stop me from making puns based on their songs?” Luke pouts at Reggie like he actually can’t believe his own audacity. “It’s no, Reg the answer is no because I’m a music-obsessed weirdo and I can’t talk to normal people anymore.”
“That was actually very self-aware of you, bud, I’m really proud of you!” Luke glares at Reggie and Julie, who was watching the whole scene with a giant grin, takes the opportunity to text Flynn for a favour while the two are distracted.
“Fuck you.” The guitarist spits half-heartedly.
Reggie and Julie both grin at the pouting boy who eventually just rolls his eyes at them both a small smile trying to fight its way onto his lips. Flynn begins a slow transition into the next song and Luke’s eyes instantly shoot up to the DJ booth with a glare.
“Oh, fuck you guys seriously, fuck all the way off.”
The opening to Dynamite by BTS weaves expertly through the last song Flynn had played. Reggie pats the shoulder of his very pouty best friend, a giant grin on his face while he sings the lyrics happily.
Julie feels her phone vibrate and bursts out laughing when she reads the text. She turns her phone around so Luke and Reggie can see, the latter instantly joining her while the former fights another smile, trying to keep his sad puppy pout in place.
Flarrie stan: Alexa play BTS to help Luke get over glitching in front of a Jimin look alike.
One half of Flarrie: BAHAHAHAHA I gotchu, tell Luke I love him and his glitches the most. Also, those ‘flirting with cute boys 101’ lessons are still available free of charge.
All three look up to find Flynn, bopping along to the beat and holding up a finger heart as she mouths the lyrics to Dynamite. Luke sends her a middle finger, rolling his eyes while the other two just chuckle.
“Why do I just know that even though she’s a lesbian those classes would teach me so much?” Luke asks, his finger signal morphing into a heart for his favourite DJ.
“Because they absolutely would teach you more about boys than you’d ever have any right to know,” Julie replies with a grin. “Now, c’mon, I think we all deserve a dance with the cutest boy in the room.” Julie grabs both Luke’s hands pulling him toward the dance floor with a grin.
“You think I’m the cutest in the room?”
“Boy. I said the cutest boy in the room, careful with your words. And also, no, I wasn’t talking about you, I’m gonna track down that Jimin impersonator and shoot my shot.” Julie replies with a wink.
Luke’s head falls back when he laughs, pulling Julie to him and tickling her sides with his calloused fingers. His hands grab hers again and he twirls her onto the floor joining them back with their friends.
Everyone takes a turn dancing with Luke under the coloured lights. He wasn’t the dancing type but could surprisingly hold his own. He had a ball spinning around with his friends, and bouncing to the lyrics and as the song came to an end, he found himself with Julie in his arms. The pair grinning at each other wildly as they sang the final chorus to each other, swaying and laughing happily.
Julie could’ve happily stayed dancing with Luke for the rest of the night. His energy was so bright, and even though he spent most of his time bordering on frenetic; she found him so relaxing to be around. Julie felt like that with all three members of Sunset Curve, she couldn’t deny the feeling was strongest around Luke though. After talking to him non-stop for a week she just knew they got each other in a way only true friends could.
“I’m gonna go get a drink, wanna come?” Julie asks Luke a few songs later, the dryness in her throat getting too much to ignore. She leans close to his ear so he can hear her over the loud music. He nods quickly, sliding his hand from its spot on her back to clasp their clammy hands together. Luke nods toward Alex and Reggie who both get the gist and decide to join, Alex grabbing Luke’s free hand and then reaching back to entwine his fingers with Reggie’s.
Reggie offers to order and leans against the bar in front of the soda taps when they work their way through the crowd. His eyes instantly finding the pretty red-headed bartender. It’s the same girl who served Julie from earlier and when she makes eye contact with Reggie, he throws a wink in her direction and what Julie supposes is intended to be a charming smirk.
The girl rolls her eyes with a grin as they chat and it doesn’t take the rest of the group long to realise letting Reggie take this task was a mistake. Free drinks weren’t worth it if you had to wait forever for them.
Alex throws an arm around Julie’s shoulder and groans loudly at his bassist's antics. “He’s unbelievable, honestly,” Alex says with a shake of his head. Luke chuckles, squeezing Julie’s hand and making his way up to the bar to get their drinks.
“He’s such a skirt chaser,” Julie replies, deeply amused by her new friend's flirting technique.
“Oh no, Reggie is just an ass chaser. Period.” Julie laughs as Reggie proves Alex’s point and starts flirting with the male bartender who had walked up to use the soda taps while the redhead serving Reggie was pouring shots for another customer.
“He’s literally incorrigible,” Alex sighs, watching Reggie bounce between the two bartenders that had caught his attention. “Why am I friends with literal human disasters?” Alex pondered with a tap of his chin. Julie tugged on the rip in his dark denim jacket with a chuckle.
“We surround ourselves with people we most relate to,” Julie teased, crinkling her nose at her blond friend. The drummer opened his mouth to argue and then closed it with a tilt of his head.
“Nah, you know what? You can have that actually,” He decided. Wrapping her arms around his waist, Julie chuckled out a half-hearted apology for reading him for filth. Luke bounces over to the pair with their drinks, pulling out of their side hug to accept their bottles from the brunet.
“Why are you guys hugging without me?” Luke’s eyes sparkling while he takes a pull from his beer.
“We were commiserating over what disasters our friends are,” Julie shrugs. “You wouldn’t be able to relate.” Alex nods along seriously. Sighing dramatically, Alex grabs Julie’s hand again and the pair make their way back to the dancefloor leaving a frowning Luke in their wake.
“Oh, you're talking about me. Very funny.” Luke shouted behind them, “You know, I don’t think I love the idea of the two of you being friends. That was mean!”
“Get used to it, Julie and I are destined to be BF4L,” Alex shouted over his shoulder, Julie laughing loudly.
“Yeah, Luke, better get used to me.” Julie sassed.
Luke rolled his eyes at the pair but couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He was more than happy with getting used to Julie being around.
Luke volunteered to watch everyone’s jackets and bags as the night wore on and the heat in the club rose. He had always enjoyed standing back and enjoying the music rather than dancing to it.
He loved going to Flynn’s sets because she had great music, but she also always had a story. Flynn never played random music or a collection of hits and new releases. Every song had a purpose and furthered the narrative of her concept and he enjoyed figuring it out.
Luke thought the theme tonight had to be something to do with freedom or empowerment. Flynn was very clearly (at least to his musical mind.) telling the story of someone who was living every day trying to overcome their demons and live their life out loud and free from shame.
Flynn had chosen mainly songs by queer artists mixed in with her own songs and mixes to help aid her in her story and the crowd had loved every second of it. Flynn’s personal sound was sultry and eclectic, so she never struggled to find artists who fit her flow.
Luke thought it was amazing that even the addition of Dynamite, for him, had fit the theme of the night perfectly. He was also just really touched that she had added a song into her curated setlist just to make him feel better/tease the hell out of him.
From his seat at the back, Luke caught glimpses of his friends bouncing around through the throng of dancing bodies. Alex and Carrie’s blonde hair flying as they jumped up and down happily. Reggie doing some version of the twist with Rachel, while Julie danced alone, her arms in the air and her hips swaying quickly in time to the beat. They all looked carefree and happy and Luke couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
The opening of Chromatica II began and the entire room collectively lost their minds at the opening of the Lady Gaga song. The second the transition into 911 began the whole room was singing and jumping. Luke couldn’t stop himself laughing when he saw Reggie and Alex jumping together screaming the lyrics at Flynn who was also watching the pair and laughing.
Luke’s eyes found Julie who was swaying around in her pretty red top, her hair growing as the club got warmer and warmer. She looked gorgeous and happy and unrestrained, and Luke thought that it suited her better than the sadness and doubt he’d seen her hide in when she thought no one was watching.
He couldn’t stop himself from being utterly intrigued by her and her talent. And he knew that sounded like she was a science experiment or that he was only interested in her voice but he didn’t really know how else to describe their budding friendship.
He had spent the last week messaging her. Constantly. Reggie was sure Luke was annoying Julie and demanded he go live on Instagram or something instead and leave her alone. Luke had done that and proceeded to annoy Reggie until his phone had been confiscated.
The second he figured out where Reggie had hidden his phone, (behind his mouthwash in the caddy by the sink. The asshole.) he’d gotten right back to his never-ending bombardment of messages because he had zero chill and also because Luke could confidently say he had never met anyone like Julie. He also hadn’t met anyone since Alex and Reggie that he vibed with so hard and so quickly.
Julie was so talented and dazzling despite all the pain she carried. She inspired him that night on the beach so much that he’d gone home and written a song called Bright. It was a complete one-eighty on anything he’d ever written and after working on it all week, he was still tweaking but he thought it might be one of the best songs he’d ever written. He wanted to share it with the boys soon, but he felt that he should share it with his muse first, it only felt right.
While Luke was enjoying the music and deep in his own thoughts up the back, Julie was throwing her hips around to the beat of the song. The warm buzz of the alcohol winding through her body while her arms twirled above her head. If she was sober, she would probably find some level of irony in the lyrics to the chorus vis-a-vis her crippling performance issues, but all she could do in her drunken state was scream them as loud as she could over and over. My biggest enemy is me – pop a 911.
Flynn was about to finish her set for the night. She had been interacting with the crowd all night and they had eaten it up. Her transitions and themes were even better than Julie remembered and her little additions and song mash-ups were stellar; Flynn was a star and it was obvious to her that any day everyone was going to know it.
“This is my last song,” Flynn, whose wide smile that hadn’t left her face was still firmly in place while murmuring into the microphone. “This is for the other half of Double Trouble.” Reggie whistles loudly while Alex and Rachel cheer loudly, throwing themselves over Julie who is grinning at her best friend with pride. “Julie this one's for you, babe.”
The ‘oo's start and Julie throw her arms up in excitement. Flynn and Julie had spent the last few months beyond obsessed with Chloe x Halle. The pair dreamed of being like them with Double Trouble one day so it was only fitting that Flynn would pick Do It as a dedication to her best friend. Carrie and Rachel both crowd Julie and the three dance together, hips swaying and hair bouncing.
I'm just with the crew
We ain't out here looking for boo
'Cause some nights be better with you
It's a "homies only" kind of mood
By chance, Julie’s eyes catch Luke’s through a small gap in the dancing throng. In the low coloured strobe of lights, she can feel his gaze, it’s intense and magnetic. A flush crawls over her skin. For just a moment, it feels as if the rest of the world falls away to make room for the unexplainable tension that surrounds the pair. Their friends, the other sweaty bodies, and ever-changing lights disappear, All that matters is Luke watching her, his eyes wide with a look she doesn’t really understand and his mouth slightly open.
His gaze falls from hers to her lips and his wide, hazy eyes narrow with desire, she’s sure she’s not imagining that she can see his Adam’s apple bob when he scans down further, his teeth biting into his lip and making her stomach swoop like she had swung too high on the swing-set in her backyard.
Her vision is obscured and the spell is broken. The world comes crashing back with a ringing in her ears.
Julie’s heart drops, it felt like she’d just stepped out from a trance. Did she ever stop dancing? The hands gripping the front of her jeans while her hips swayed provocatively to the beat told her no. Wait, was it only a few seconds she’d lost just then? Did she just dance to, lyrics aside, in her opinion one of the sexiest songs ever created, while staring down a new friend who she’d known for a week? She was mouthing the lyrics. Oh, God. Was she mouthing them to him?
Julie was suddenly so glad she was drunk because sure she was pretty confused and embarrassed but she knows if she was sober, she’d be making the brave decision to evaporate on the very spot she currently stood.
Julie falls back into the rhythm of the moment, even if she still feels the thick and unexpected tension. The next time her gaze sweeps over to the brunet again and she finds his heady gaze already on her and she immediately offers a small smile, tossing her hair and turning to the stage, so she isn’t tempted to look his way again.
And tonight, we on a hundred
One hundred
No drama, no baby mamas, keepin' it cute
In the few seconds that their eyes meet, Luke’s mind short circuits and his breath halts. He feels his lips part in disbelief when Julie’s hooded eyes hold his. She’s completely at one with the music, her hips swaying in perfect harmony while her hands crawl over her curves and fist onto her hair. He called her a Muse before but in this moment he realised she truly was one; She was Terpsichore, dancing in delight.
The moment feels private, even though they were surrounded by swathes of people, their friends included, for a few seconds, they were the only two people in the room. Unconsciously, his eye falls to her lips and dear god, she’s singing to him!
His heart is threatening to burst from his chest, his leg jittering so hard if he was in the right frame of mind he might be concerned it was about to fall off. Reflexively his gaze falls further, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip when he catches a proper glimpse of her hands now grasping tightly onto the front of her jeans.
When someone moves, effectively blocking Julie from his line of vision, he flickers out of his trance with a shake of his head. Blinking up to the stage, Luke finds Flynn already grinning at him with a knowing look, he doesn’t have the mental capacity to unpack. Regardless, he feels his cheeks warming when he looks away. He might not be able to unpack the look, but he knows he was just caught drooling over her best friend. He discreetly wipes his thumb over his mouth just to make sure that wasn’t an actual reality.
…
“You were amazing!” Julie squeals the second Flynn appears at the side door of the stage. The pair hug tightly before Flynn is passed around to all her friends and then finally her girlfriend so they can congratulate her. Julie notices that Luke blushes when Flynn approaches him, and his cheeks darken at whatever Flynn speaks into his ear. She laughs and pats his chest before moving to Reggie who engulfs her in a big hug.
Julie raises a questioning eyebrow at the brunet who only shakes his head and sends her a small grin. She assumes Flynn was teasing him about the Jimin boy from earlier.
The group have a few more drinks and dance until about three am. Reggie successfully ends the night with both bartender's numbers and everyone else leaves with a buzz and future hangover at the free drinks said bartenders were giving to the group every time they came up for another round.
Flynn and Luke end up being the soberest of the group and worked to wrangle everyone outside to get Rachel in an uber back to a waiting Nick. Flynn looked over the rest of the group with amusement for her spot cradled in Carrie’s arms, her girlfriend's blonde curls sticking to her lip-gloss while she tries to speak.
“Maybe you boys should spend the night at our place? It's only a ten-minute walk rather than a thirty-minute uber trip during peak. There are kebabs on the way, and a walk might sober them all up a bit.” She suggests to Luke who was pulling his plaid jacket on to fight against the early morning chill.
Julie and Alex both let out a little squeak of excitement at the idea, the pair giggling hysterically while trying to help Reggie pull his leather jacket on. “Oo, yes! OMG Reggie, Alex! You have to sleep over; we can slumber party in the lounge!”
“Luke, can we? Can we please!?” Reggie begs, with big eyes. Alex looks up at the guitarist as well nodding his head in a pleading gesture. Luke laughs at his two best friends unsure when he became the Mom of the group but nods his consent anyway.
The pair whoop, already following a giggling Flynn and Carrie who have started toward home evidently not bothered with whether anyone agreed with the sleepover suggestion. Julie is looking at her purple toenails wiggling out of her heels with a pout.
“What’s wrong Ghost Girl?” Luke asked with a small smile having a feeling he already knew where this was going. Julie looked up at him with big brown eyes, grabbing her arms close to her body.
“If I’d known we were gonna be walking forever I woulda just worn my sneakers. My feet hurt and I’m cold.” She pouts at the boy, and he chuckles with a small nod, his chest filling with warmth for the drunk girl in front of him. Pulling off his oversized plaid jacket, he steps toward her, helping her slide her arms into the sleeves. He rubs her arms to help her warm-up and she gravitates toward him naturally.
“Get on.” He says still amused, offering her his back for a piggyback. Julie doesn’t hesitate to jump on with his help, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning forward so she can rest her head in the side of his neck. She swore she could feel his steady heartbeat against her forehead.
“Yes! Luke, your such a bad bitch.” Julie coos, swinging her legs happily. “Oh, that’s a good thing.” She adds quickly. Luke chuckles, adjusting his hands on the backs of her thighs.
“I know, sis, I watch Drag Race with Alex and Reggie every week.” He replies following their friends who were already a full street ahead of them. “It’s the only show the three of us agree is the bomb, even if we all like it for different reasons.”
Julie tightens her arms around Luke’s shoulders, gasping in excitement. “We should totally all get together and watch it!” Luke nods, agreeing to make plans when they are sober but still happily discuss their favourite queens from the latest season as they stroll.
Julie’s face is safely resting in Luke’s neck when she talks, breathing warm air onto his bare skin and her legs swinging softly as they steadily walk down the street slowly making ground on their friends.
They both fall silent for just a moment and a feeling of relief sweeps through Julie when she realises that whatever little moment they had in the club, didn’t seem to have changed anything about their relationship. Maybe she had read into the moment and gotten herself worked up for nothing. Regardless, she was glad she could store it away for something to analyse later when she was sober and less likely to spew out a collection of embarrassing words.
Luke randomly chuckles, pulling Julie from her thoughts. The sound vibrates in his throat and pleasantly reverberates against Julie’s temple.
Grinning when he laughs to himself again, Julie moving her head slightly so she can see the side of his grinning face. “What’s so funny?” She asks from her new spot, happily watching the crinkling in the corner of her friend's eye.
“I was just thinking about Reggie dancing tonight and realising that one day we're gonna make it big and he’s definitely going to try and get on dancing with the stars and embarrass the absolute fuck out of us immediately.” Julie giggles, thinking of Reggie’s broken sprinkler move that devolved into something akin to a bird that had never been taught to use its wings.
“It’s bold of you to assume that he won’t be trying those sweet moves on your world tours,” Julie replies with a slight slur in her husky voice. The scream-singing had really done a number on her vocal cords. “I can totally imagine the three of you being booed out of Italy because Reggie tried to do the ‘weed whacker’ on stage and it was so horrifying the hoards had no choice but to un-stan forever.”
Luke groaned out a laugh at the thought. It really would be something Reggie would do. “So you think we’re gonna go on world tours, huh? Didn’t know you were such a big believer in Sunset Curve”
“I said you were gonna be booed out of Italy so, I don’t know if I’d call me a ‘big believer in Sunset Curve.’ Maybe a big believer in Reggie’s sweet moves definitely getting you banned from a country.” Julie grins.
“Ah, we’d still get to play in Italy, so I’m taking it as a win.”
“I do believe in you, you know that right?” Julie asks a few moments later. “I haven’t even heard you guys properly perform yet and I already know you and Alex and Reggie are going to be stars and so do all one million of your followers' bro.” Julie pokes his chest lightly, “Many of which, just an FYI, have messaged me an alarming number of times in the last week because of that photo you posted.”
Luke winced slightly, “It’s 1.4 mil now actually and sorry about that. Even though we’ve been so inactive with all the Bobby stuff, more people just keep finding us.” Luke chuckles quietly glancing down at the pavement. “And yeah, we know you do as long as you know we support you too, Jules.”
“Right now, literally.” Julie jokes, wiggling in his grip. Luke laughs again quietly, leaping unexpectedly and forcing Julie to hold on as tight as she can.
“And don’t you forget it, Ghost Girl.”
She squeals in surprise when he jumps again, drawing their friends' attention to them. The pair are both laughing and Flynn snorts loudly from her place wrapped in Carrie only a few shops ahead now. “You two are unbelievable.” Reggie nods in agreement before tripping over a raised part of the footpath and tumbling into Alex who catches his friend with a roll of his blue eyes.
“There are a few people here one could class as unbelievable,” Alex deadpans, wobbling as he rights himself and Reggie. Julie giggles.
“Oh my God, look! Food!” Reggie shouts, pointing ahead to the glowing sign of the kebab shop. A look of childlike wonder in his eyes, his red cheeks, darker than usual because of the alcohol, makes him look like a little cherub in Julie’s very drunk opinion.
The group order, Julie happily staying on Luke’s back much to the cook's amusement while he orders a Lamb HSP for them to share. They all get their food and continue the walk back to Flynn and Carries apartment, considerably slower than before.
“Hey, Luke?” Julie asks suddenly, spearing a piece of Lamb and a chip in the Styrofoam container she’s holding close to Luke’s chest.
“Yeah?” Luke replies, accepting the garlic sauce covered bite Julie hovers near his mouth.
Julie grabs his chin suddenly with what she was currently referring to as her ‘fork hand,’ “I really like your face.” Luke chuckles at the unexpected outburst. “I was just thinking before how Reggie’s face was like a cherub. And then I thought about how I think Alex’s looks like an old Hollywood movie star.”
“And what do you think my face looks like?” Luke asks his voice filled with mirth.
“Umm... Luke. I mean obviously.” Julie replies her tone implying that he was the one that didn’t make any sense in this conversation. She shoves three thick chips into her mouth and thinks, so much for not spewing out a collection of embarrassing words then. The boys will never let her live this down when Luke tells them.
“Well, thanks Jules, I really like your face too,” Luke chuckles again, slowing down a little so they can talk out of earshot.
“My Mom used to call me Jules,” Julie says with a soft voice. “No one else ever really did. Flynn sometimes but she knows it hurts.” Julie sighs, her chin falling to rest on Luke’s shoulder. “It was Mom’s nickname for me.” She breathes.
Luke doesn’t think she sounds sad, more contemplative but he still feels awful for potentially hurting her by using her mom’s nickname without her permission. “I’m so sorry, Julie, I won’t call you that again, if you want me to stop. I should’ve asked first.” Luke replied quietly, his thumbs unconsciously rubbing the skin of her thighs gently, the only way he could physically comfort her in their current position.
Julie shakes her head, chin digging into Luke’s shoulder with the movement “No, I like that you call me that. You and the boys can call me Jules. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t feel weird that you do, it feels right.” She’s quiet again before she huffs a little laugh.
“What?” Luke asks, turning his head slightly, he can just see her eyes gazing at his chin.
“My Mom would’ve really liked you. All three of you, but you especially. You have the same passion for music that she had.” Julie chuckled, “She was so music-obsessed it was crippling to every other facet of her personality; just like you.” She joked, poking his jaw with the end of the plastic fork.
Luke chuckles, accepting the assessment of his personality with a nod, “Glad to know I wasn’t the only one and that you find it charming.”
“I never said I thought it was charming,” Julie grinned, poking his dimple before sticking the fork back into the mess of hot chips, meat, and sauce.
“It’s fine. You didn’t have to; I can just sense these things.” Luke replies accepting another forkful
“I’m sure you can, you absolute loser.” Julie laughs affectionately.
They eat and chat for the rest of the walk, just a little removed from their four friends. They talk freely about their favourite songs Flynn had played that night and what they thought of her new song, which Julie learned Luke had helped her write and Alex and Reggie had helped her mix. Luke was explaining the process of them working together for the first time when Julie suddenly starts humming in Luke’s ear.
“Are you humming Taylor Swift?” Luke asks the girl on his back amused, forgetting about his story. Julie takes his acknowledgment as permission to launch into a breakdown of her favourite songs. Luke enthusiastically joining in for the rest of the trip.
Carrie and Flynn had crawled to bed and left Julie and the boys to have hushed arguments about music and tease each other. Julie found herself leaning against Alex’s chest with his chin resting on her head and one of her hands clasped in Reggie’s while they all talked.
Luke had told her about a song he was writing called Bright and he used her acoustic to play a small part of it for her. When he admitted that the idea for the song had come from meeting her last week, she’d felt her eyes well with tears. No one besides her mom had ever written a song because of her.
He’d promised to send her what he had tomorrow so she could help him with it. “I just feel like something’s missing, and I can’t figure out what it is.” He sighed, placing the guitar against the side of the couch.
Luke eventually settled across from the three of them, bundled in Julie’s blankets that he had pulled from the couch and watching her fight the drunken exhaustion with amusement as they tossed around song recommendations.
Eventually, despite trying her best to fight, Julie couldn’t avoid sleep anymore and Luke huffed a laugh when he turned to her for her opinion on The Pretty Reckless only to find her passed out on Alex’s shoulder. Reggie’s head resting on her outstretched looking close to sleep himself.
Alex and Luke rouse Reggie, much to his annoyance and the trio work together to try and lift their friend off Alex.
Luke ends up with an armful of Julie when Alex all but launches the sleeping girl at him. He panics, patting her hair to try and keep her asleep but she just wraps her arms around him and settles her head into his chest with a sigh. Luke melts that warmth in his chest returning again as he smiles at the girl wrapped around him.
With Reggie’s help, they carefully lay Julie in her makeshift bed on the couch. Her hands coming up to rest under her cheek and crinkling something under her pillow. Frowning, Luke gently lifts the pillow, finding a carefully folded page squashed underneath.
I got a spark in me,
And you’re a part of me,
Been so long and now I’m finally free.
Luke glances from the neat blue scrawl to the sleeping girl they belonged to, and his smile widens even further. When had she written this? If it was recent, it was a big deal, he knew she didn’t write anymore. Carefully he folded the words and placed them under her pillow. He could be patient and wait for her to come to him. He thinks he can anyway.
Luke settles into his pile of blankets on the floor, minus the one he had thrown over Julie and closes his eyes with a sigh, muttering a tired good night to Alex and Reggie. Before Alex had even hit the lights, Reggie was snoring, and Luke groaned quietly hoping his quiet snores wouldn’t get any louder.
Thankfully, he was too drunk to care about the obnoxiously loud snores of Reggie throughout the night.
They eventually woke him up in the late morning when they suddenly seemed to be right in his ear. His eye’s opened to the sight of his best friend’s open mouth centimetres from his eyes, one of which he couldn’t open correctly because of a weird weight. Strange, he didn’t remember getting into a fight so it couldn’t be a black eye.
Groaning loudly when Reggie snorted out a loud snore directly into his eyeball, Luke pushed Reggie away immediately receiving a half-hearted smack on his face. “Ah, what the hell!?” Luke mumbles.
“Shh,” Julie moans from above his head, her voice soft with sleep. “It’s so early, please stop doing things, Luke.” Her hand falls back onto his face with a slap suddenly explaining the weird weight on his face.
Luke rolled his eyes and shifted to his side when Reggie wriggled back to his previous position, Julie’s hand still resting on his head. What a perfect morning wake-up, Luke thought with a silent laugh, sliding back into sleep.
@LukePattersonSC tagged you in a post!
Julie didn’t even remember him taking a photo of the pair of them when he carried her back to the apartment the night before, but he’d just posted the cutest picture of the two of them. Their faces pressed into each other's, Luke with his top teeth biting into his stuck-out tongue his eyes and nose crinkled, Julie scrunching her face up adorably. She saved the photo with a smile really loving how cute they looked during their drunken walk home, planning to post it herself later.
LukePattersonSC: @wheresmyjuuls I really like ur face. 😇
wheresmyjuuls: u drunk tell a guy u like his face ONE time and he teases u 4 the rest of ur life…
LukePattersonSC: Sometimes a guy needs to hear these things from pretty girls
wheresmyjuuls: Or Jimin impersonators… 😏
LukePattersonSC: I really hate you.
reggiepizzas: no he doesn’t he luvs u, we luv u too! Last night was the best @wheresmyjuuls
SunsetAlex: again, can confirm all three of us are currently experiencing all-consuming love for @wheresmyjuuls in the loungeroom rn along with sick hangovers
wheresmyjuuls: ❤️❤️❤️ I luv u guys sm! @SunsetAlex @reggiepizzas
LukePattersonSC: Hey! I’m a part of the love fest in the lounge right now, I also carried you home AND I said u were pretty and I liked ur face those losers didn’t say anything 😪😪😪
reggiepizzas: @wheresmyjuuls I really like ur face
SunsetAlex: @wheresmyjuuls I think ur the prettiest
wheresmyjuuls: aww, tysm I luv u, I luv u, I luv u, so much you cuties ❤️❤️❤️
wheresmyjuuls: ur still the cutest boy until I catch up to that Jimin impersonator ❤️ @LukePattersonSC … or the actual Jimin lol… ily! thank u for carrying me home! 😇
LukePattersonSC: lmao anytime, lets do it again soon. 😝