Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The best thing about having a friend like Flynn was that she didn’t question it when Julie burst into her bedroom and flopped face-first onto her bed with a loud groan. Instead, she looked up from where she was scrolling through Twitter and pushed a bag of Cheetos towards her.

“Who do I need to kill?” she asked.

Julie rolled over to face her, taking a chip and contemplating it for a moment before stuffing it into her mouth and following it with a handful more. She chewed slowly, thinking about it, knowing the floodgate she was about to open and wondering if she’d regret it in a moment.

“No one. It’s been a long day – the guys got home a couple of hours ago. I just needed to escape for a little while. “

“Uh oh,” Flynn said, looking at her with a solemn face and making a dramatic show of putting her phone down. “What’s he done now? You’ve got your Luke face on.”

Julie swallowed quickly and fixed Flynn with a stern glare.

“I do not have ‘Luke face’... whatever that is.” 

“Pfft, you so do. It’s like…” 

The following impersonation of a lovesick swoon earned Flynn a hard smack in the face with her pillow. She fell back laughing as Julie scowled. She was definitely regretting it. 

“I don’t look anything like that!”

 “Whatever you say,” Flynn wheezed, patting her knee with a condescending smile. “When are you just going to admit you like him already? It’s been, what, two years now?”

“I don’t know what you're talking about.”

“Uh-huh, sure. So you needed to escape because…?”

There was a moment of silence. Julie wished she didn’t feel so obvious as she picked at the patterns on the quilt. She mumbled something, face turned away, and Flynn leaned closer with a hand cupping her ear.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I said,” Julie huffed, looking at her friend properly. “He brought me back a signed t-shirt.”

“Ha!” Flynn crowed. “I knew it! You totally have a Luke face!”

Two years ago, when her dad had announced for the first time that he was dating someone new, a woman named Alison, Julie had known there might be some problems. Her first concern was that maybe her dad would get his heart broken and she wouldn’t know how to help, but that had never been the case – he and Alison couldn’t have been more obviously head over heels for each other. Next, she’d started to worry that maybe Alison wouldn’t like her or her little brother Carlos, but she had doted on them sincerely the first time they met and had proved herself to be incapable of any ill-will. A year later when everyone had agreed that it was a good idea for Alison and her son, a slightly weird (albeit sweet) boy known as Reggie, to move in with them,  Julie had anticipated a few hiccups along the way while the two families navigated becoming one solid unit, but no such hiccups came. It had all been surprisingly easy, which was why when a real problem did present itself, she felt justified in saying that it was one that she could not have imagined having even in her wildest dreams.

It was a certified nightmare.

This problem was completely unexpected. It wasn’t Alison, who was one of the most kind-hearted women Julie had ever met aside from her own mother, nor was it Reggie, who she had actually grown quite close with. Worst of all, the problem wasn’t even the somewhat sinister collection of garden gnomes that the two of them had brought with them when they moved in. No, the problem came in the form of one of Reggie’s ever-present best friends, Luke.

Luke Patterson was a nightmare wrapped in cute-boy packaging and Julie was pretty sure that he’d been put on earth with the sole focus of torturing her. It wasn’t like he was a bad person or anything, in fact, she felt confident in saying that Luke was the kind of guy who didn’t have a single mean bone in his body, but his presence was insufferable. He’d strolled into her life without a single warning, walking around with his messy hair and his sleeveless shirts and a perfect smile on his perfect face, totally ignorant to the internal turmoil he caused her.  Julie was pretty sure it was an embarrassing cliche to have a crush on her almost-brother’s best friend. Unfortunately, she thought, it could not have been avoided.

She groaned again and let herself fall back into the pillows with a thump. Why were boys like Luke even allowed to exist? They were a safety hazard. She should sue.

“He got me Alex Gaskarth’s autograph. On a shirt. Who does that?”

“What a villain,” Flynn agreed, tutting. “How could he?”

“It fits me perfectly too.”

“Criminal.”

“God. What was he even thinking?!”

The thing about Luke was that he was always there and had been since day one. He was the frontman of Sunset Curve, the band that Reggie played bass in. He and the two other members – Alex and Bobby – had become permanent fixtures in Julie’s life the day Reggie had moved into the house, not only because they were such close friends, but because the Molina family’s house could offer them something nowhere else in LA could… affordable practice space.

It had been Julie who helped her dad dust off the space in her mom’s old garage-studio for the guys to use. At first, she’d assumed they would only be over maybe once or twice a week, often enough to jam together, but not so much that she would see them a lot and thus would be free from looking like a babbling fool in front of Luke at least most of the time. 

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Sunset Curve was no mere hobby. To the guys, the band was their passion. Their greatest dream. They practised together almost every day, and the days that they weren’t playing at the house they were either busking down by the pier or playing smaller shows that they’d talked local venues into putting them on the setlist for. In a matter of weeks, the garage became a revolving door of teenage musicians and Luke cemented his place as eternal-torturer in Julie’s life.

It had been hard at first. For a little while, it had felt kind of like a betrayal to her mom. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, her dad meeting someone new and letting the guys use her space and play her piano, but when she had seen how happy her dad was in his new relationship and how overjoyed it made Reggie getting to play with his friends, she’d realised that it was exactly what her mom would have wanted. It helped that Alison was so likeable, she made an effort to get involved with Julie’s life without getting too pushy about it and she indulged the ghost-hunting whims of Julie’s little brother Carlos without complaint. Reggie, too, was impossible not to love. He played catch with Carlos in the yard (despite having zero athletic coordination – several broken windows had taught them as much) and watching reality TV religiously with her dad. Even their tía loved him; Reggie would eat anything and everything that she cooked. He was one of Julie’s best friends now. They shared a love of music, junk food, and terrible movies. So, even despite her initial hesitancy, Julie had to admit that gaining Reggie as a stepbrother was the best thing to happen to her in a long time. 

Too bad his best friend made her want to scream.

After an evening of eating her feelings and watching Netflix with Flynn (they had argued for nearly an hour as she tried, unsuccessfully, yet again to convince her that she did not have a crush on Luke) Julie arrived home to the familiar sounds of the band messing around in the garage.

She sighed, shaking her head with a smile. Typical.  They never took a break. It had only been a few hours since their van had pulled up, signalling their first return home in three months. If they were reasonable human beings they’d all be taking naps right now. 

“Julie!”

She was ambushed the second she came through the door, enveloped in a tight hug. Luke’s arms were strong and comforting. It annoyed her how easily she fit into them.

“It’s been so long,” he complained.

“You saw me like two hours ago,” she laughed, resisting the urge to bury her face in his shoulder and giving him a gentle shove.

He let go with a dopey grin and began steering her towards the piano with practised ease.

“Yeah but we’ve been gone months,” he said. “Gotta catch up on all those hugs you missed while we were away. Carlos says you’ve been pining for us.”

“Ha,” she snorted. “Revelling in the peace and quiet, more like. Did you know we haven’t had a single noise complaint since you guys left?”

“Pfft, you love us really.”

She decided not to dignify this with a response. The truth was that it had been too quiet without them. When the band had found out they were being asked to go on their first ever full North American tour opening for All Time Low, they’d been understandably ecstatic, and Julie had been excited for them too, but she hadn’t realised just how lonely the house would feel without them. Walking into the kitchen after school just wasn’t the same without finding Luke there raiding the refrigerator.

“Where’re the guys?” she asked as they sat down together. 

Luke was already busy pulling out his songwriting notebook. It had become a habit for them to play together over the years after he’d found out she could both sing and compose. He was her biggest fan, the one who had convinced her to get back into music after she’d avoided it for a year in the wake of her mom’s death. Writing with him felt like second nature by now. There was something inevitable about it, the way lit her soul on fire.

“Getting pizza,” he said. “Reggie was losing focus. He needed cheese.”

“How come you didn’t go?”

“I was waiting for you to get back.”

“Oh.”

It was so casual, the way Luke would say something that made Julie feel like her heart was about to start a one-man riot and then go right back to whatever he was doing. Flynn was right, he was a criminal.

“I wrote a couple of new songs… I was going to text you about them, but I thought it’d be better to show you in person,” he explained, putting his notebook up on the stand for her to see. “I recorded one of them, remind me to send it to you. And I’ve got this new piece here, I thought maybe it’d go with that song you wrote? You know the one about Flynn?”

“Flying Solo?”

“Yeah!”

He began to play and the three months of quiet crashed down on her in a sudden wave. The relief of having Luke next to her, the feeling of their sides pressed against one another, watching his hands skipping over the piano keys as he sang was almost too much. She took a deep breath, refocused, and began to sing along.

Later, when they’d spent an hour swapping new melodies and catching up on the few things they’d missed which they hadn’t texted each other about while the band had been away, the guys came back bearing a stack of massive pizzas and Julie finally stood up.

Her muscles were stiff from sitting at the piano so long and she stretched out with a relieved sigh, laughing when Luke accidentally sent a stack of notes flying in his haste to get to the food. The garage felt alive again with all of them there. She shared an exasperated look with Alex as Reggie stuffed a whole slice into his mouth at once and almost choked, and settled in to listen to Bobby talk about the various girls they’d met on tour.

She wondered if Luke had met any girls while they were away. Or boys, for that matter. But he said nothing on the subject, even when Alex quietly admitted he’d been texting a skateboarder he’d met in San Diego for the better part of two months.

“You should invite him to the wedding!” Reggie suggested through a mouthful of dough. “He could be like your date.”

“Are we supposed to be bringing dates?” Luke frowned, turning to Julie. “Are you bringing a date?”

Julie’s dad had proposed to Alison over Christmas last year, after several months of careful deliberation and being assured by Julie and Carlos that they were one hundred per cent, definitely and truthfully okay with it. She had accepted without hesitation – Julie and Reggie had cried, and Carlos had called them both wimps. The wedding was set for the coming summer and the whole band was invited; in the eyes of Ray and Alison, Sunset Curve was just a small collection of extra sons.

Julie shrugged.

“I don’t know, maybe. Does the Maid Of Honour usually bring a date to the wedding?”

“I mean… why not?” Alex said, glancing at Luke. “It sounds like it’d be pretty fun, you know. And your dad keeps saying there’ll be dancing.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Julie laughed, cringing at the mental image of her dad pulling out the moves on the dancefloor. He was top tier at doing the embarrassing dad shuffle. “I think I’ll probably just hang with Flynn for the night.”

“I’m not bringing a date!” Reggie announced, beaming. “There are already gonna be a ton of cute girls there. Bridesmaids, am I right?”

He and Bobby fist-bumped. Julie and Alex looked at one another.

“Uh… Reggie… I’m pretty sure you’re related to all the bridesmaids, dude.”

“What?! Oh, man…”

“What about you, Luke?” Alex asked, pointedly. Julie frowned, wondering again if it meant Luke had met someone while he was away. “Anyone, you want to bring as a date to the wedding?”

“Nope,” Luke replied, popping the ‘p’ and taking a large bite out of his pizza slice. “I guess you could say I’m flying solo.”

He winked at Julie. She rolled her eyes, biting back a smile and looking away quickly.

“So, uh, when are you guys leaving next?” she asked, desperate to distract herself from the colour flooding her cheeks. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, you know. You’ve been busy lately. I figured you’d have something else lined up. You know, like another tour or something.”

The band had been constantly on the move since they’d all graduated high school, popping out of LA every few months in a whirlwind of new riffs and business meetings. They were exceptionally good at getting things done. Luke’s determination to prove to his parents that chasing music was a worthwhile career was paying off – at first they’d been angry about his choice to turn down going to college in favour of road tripping across the country with the guys in a rusting van, playing dive-bars and basement parties for weeks on end, but then the band had actually started to gain a following. Other bands, older bands, were taking notice and bringing them along on their own tours. Agents and labels had come crawling out of the woodwork trying to sign them. A few songs from their EP, Now Or Never, which they’d released the previous year, had actually played on local radio stations. They were gaining traction, and as a result, Luke’s parents had toned down the worrying. Well... Julie assumed they had. She hadn’t caught him sleeping on the garage couch at all recently, so she figured there had been a ceasefire at the very least. 

“Oh! Dude!” Alex smacked Luke on the arm, ignoring his noise of protest as a large portion of greasy cheese splattered onto his shirt. “You didn’t tell her? I thought you’d have told her.”

“Told me what?”

“I forgot, okay, jeez,” Luke muttered, dabbing at his shirt forlornly. 

“ What? ” Julie demanded again.

Alex’s eyes twinkled with excitement.

“So, we’re not going anywhere for a while. One of the sound guys in Houston hooked us up with this, like, insane producer downtown, and he really liked our songs, so now we’re... wait for it...” he said, doing a little drumroll on his knees. “Recording an album!”

“Oh my God, what?!” Julie shrieked.

She turned to Luke, slapping him on the arm. He yelped.

“I can’t believe you didn’t say anything!”

“I’m sorry!” he said, sheepishly. “It slipped my mind, I was too focused on… you.”

But Julie wasn’t listening. She was on her feet, practically vibrating with excitement. An album! An entire album. This was a cause for celebration. This called… for Dairy Queen.

In bed that night, Julie found she couldn’t get to sleep even in spite of the day’s excitement leaving her totally exhausted. There was so much to think about. She couldn’t turn her mind off. For one thing, the sound of Luke’s voice singing along to ‘Flying Solo’ was still on loop in the back of her brain, which made getting to sleep much harder than it needed to be. For another, the idea of the guys actually being around for her final year of high school was pretty awesome. She missed Reggie when he wasn’t at home – she’d grown used to his bad jokes and complete lack of common sense – and it meant that she’d have more time writing with Luke… if he wasn’t too busy with the album, obviously. Then there was the sudden overwhelming anxiety about her dad’s wedding. Was she meant to be bringing a date? Would it be weird if she didn’t have one? Luke said he wasn’t bringing one, but maybe he was planning on spending the night flirting with cute bridesmaids too…

She rolled over, trying to ignore the invasive mental image of Luke surrounded by giggling models in evening gowns. The thought of it made her stomach roll unpleasantly. Fortunately, not a moment too soon, a distraction popped up in the form of two quickfire message alerts. 

New Message From Luke:

Let me know what you think! :D

New Message From Luke:

Attached Files: Unsaid_Emily.mp3

Something she’d always loved about Luke was the earnest note in his voice when he sang. Clicking play on the song, she laid back and closed her eyes to let it wash over her. Within a few seconds of the opening words, she knew she’d guessed right about the ceasefire between Luke and his parents.

“...and the words I most regret are the ones I never meant to leave unsaid, Emily...”

There had been a weekend when Julie was fifteen, a year into her knowing Luke, that stuck out clearly as being one of the worst in her house since her mom had died. There had been an argument between Luke and his mom, a pretty serious one, and he’d packed his bags and run. The police had been called, missing posters went out, and his face flashed up on the evening news as people looked for him. Julie could remember the fear they’d all felt when Reggie told them Luke wasn’t answering his phone. His mom had been inconsolable, out of her mind with fear. Julie couldn’t blame her; the thought of what could’ve happened to him still made her sick.

It had been her that had found him and, funnily enough, she hadn’t had to look far. In all the chaos and concern, nobody had thought to check the garage. They’d all been too busy combing the city for him and he was hiding up in the loft the entire time. That had been the first time they’d had a really serious conversation, she thought. He’d cried, telling her about the fight and, in return, she’d told him about losing her mom.

“At least you still have a mom to worry about you,” she’d said. “Don’t take that for granted.”

Listening to Unsaid Emily, she knew immediately it was about that weekend. 

New Message To Luke:

It’s beautiful, she’ll love it

New Message From Luke:

<3 <3 <3

She stared at the string of hearts dotting the screen, wishing they didn’t make her chest ache the way they did. She couldn’t help it, Luke was just so … Luke. There was no one else like him. He was always talking about music, whipping himself up into impassioned rants about the power it held and how it brought people together in a way nothing else could. Sometimes, it made Julie think he was the only one who really understood the way music was a part of her to the very core.

Not only did he understand her all too well, but he cared. He was always checking in on her at home and asking about school, teasing her until she smiled when she’d had a bad day, making her laugh harder than anybody else could…

Oh, God. Oh no.

She grabbed her phone, dialling frantically.

“Jules?” Flynn answered on the third ring, voice heavy with sleep. “What–”

“S.O.S! I think I’m in love with Luke!”

Chapter Text

Mornings in the Molina household were nothing short of total pandemonium, but Julie had forgotten just how chaotic they could be when Reggie and the boys were home. She woke to the sound of crashing drums, a pounding bass, and Luke’s voice screaming into a microphone. It was only eight am. On a Saturday.

Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen in zombie mode. Early rising was not her style. Anyone who had met Sunset Curve would probably assume that it wasn’t their style either (Julie knew for a fact that on days off Luke could sleep until three in the afternoon if he felt like it) but even after graduating the boys had clung onto the high school habit of rising early, practising when they could, and then gorging on Pop-Tarts from the Molina’s kitchen. Once or twice, Julie had seriously considered hiding their instruments to get them to stop.

“Morning Mija,” her dad greeted cheerfully from where he was making coffee. He hummed along to the music floating through the open windows, dancing his way across the room to press a quick kiss to her forehead. “Nice to have the guys back, huh?” 

She grunted in response, heading for the refrigerator. If they had used the last of the milk again she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions. She needed her Lucky Charms. 

Four cartons of fresh milk were lined up on the bottom shelf. A bright yellow post-it note had been attached to the first one with nothing but a smiley-face drawn on it in sharpie. Hm. Okay. She could let the guys live just this once. 

“Where’s Alison?” she asked, closing the fridge.

“She and your aunt went to get their nails done,” he said. “They were going to ask if you wanted to go but we thought it would be safer to let you sleep.”

“Good choice.” 

When the cacophony from the garage finally ceased, Julie was feeling only marginally less murderous. The boys bounded through the door a few minutes later while she was still munching on cereal.

“Morning, Julie!” Alex smiled. “How come you’re up so early?”

He grinned at her as she shot him a poisonous look.

“Some people actually like having a normal sleep schedule,” she grumbled. 

“Early bird catches the worm,” Luke piped up.

“It’d be cool to be a bird…” said Reggie. 

Luke reached over and stole a marshmallow charm from Julie’s bowl, grinning as she thwacked his hand away. 

“Thief,” she muttered.

He laughed and ruffled her hair, dodging out of the way again to avoid a second slap. Butterflies burst into life in her stomach at the sound. God, he was the worst. Why did he have to look so cute? It was like he was taunting her. She huffed, forcing herself to look away from his mischievous smile, and found her dad watching the pair of them with a soft smile. Scowling, Julie busied herself with cleaning up the table.

“So what are you guys up to today?” he asked.

“We’ve got a meeting with an A&R rep for Splash Records and then we’re heading to the studio,” Alex said.

“Splash Records? That’s pretty big! They’ve been chasing you for a while now, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s just coffee though, nothing major. We’re gonna see how it goes…”

Splash had been trying to convince the guys to sign with them for a few months now, however the band was determined to keep their options open. Julie thought it was a little bit crazy, but she sort of understood. It wasn’t the only offer they’d had in the past. A few years back, when the band had started to get really serious about making it, they had been approached by Caleb Covington. Covington’s label, Hollywood Ghost Club, was notorious for its predatory contracts and abuse of artists’ rights. Being seventeen at the time, with very little experience of legal contracts, the guys had very nearly fallen prey to the label. If it hadn’t been for the very nasty legal battle between Covington and one of the older bands he had signed going public, they would have never known to avoid him. They had been wary of corporate music officials ever since.

As Alex and Bobby sat down to talk shop with her dad, Julie gathered up the dirty plates and dumped them into the sink to wash up. Luke joined her, grabbing a towel and hip-bumping her gently. She bumped him in response and bit back a smile. 

“Hey, you wanna come to the studio with us later?” he asked quietly as he wiped up a plate. “You could hang out, meet some of the guys. It’d be cool.”

Yes. Yes, oh my God yes, she thought. He was right – it would be very cool. Even so, she hesitated with her answer. 

Having mulled it over for a week, talked it through with Flynn approximately one thousand times and consulted the internet almost as often, Julie had decided that being in love with Luke was completely unacceptable for the following four reasons;

1). Luke was not only one of Reggie's coworkers but also his best friend and therefore guaranteed to be in the picture for the rest of time. Having feelings for him made that too awkward.

2). Luke was not only Reggie's but also one of her best friends. Romantic feelings risked ruining that friendship, and it was better to have him in her life as just a friend than not having his at all. 

3). There was no way Luke could return Julie's feelings. He was a rockstar currently on his way to taking over the world and she was still just a senior in high school. People (gorgeous, amazing, talented people) were throwing themselves at him daily. She was no match for that. Deluding herself into thinking otherwise would result in nothing but heartbreak and pain.

4). Luke being Luke made him capable of turning Julie into a flustered mess. This meant he had too much power and must be stopped. It was a matter of dignity, goddammit.

"That is the stupidest list I have ever heard," Flynn had said when Julie texted it to her. 

Whatever. What did Flynn know?

Anyway, having reached her conclusion, Julie figured that she needed to take a step back from Luke and breathe. It was the only way she could think clearly about it all. She needed time to move on.

It was proving easier said than done. 

"I don't know…" Julie said, avoiding Luke's gaze. "I've got a lot of school work at the moment. Senior year, am I right? Don't wanna fall behind."

"You could bring it with you," he suggested. "You know Alex will help you with math."

"It'll be too loud, I'll get distracted."

"It's good to take breaks sometimes, you know. You work too hard."

"Last time you said that I ended up with detention because I went on a late-night Dairy Queen run with you instead of doing an assignment. Besides, I have to stay at the house. I think Nick's coming over to work on our science project.

"Nick?" Reggie chimed in with a sly grin on his face. "As in the guy you spent all of your sophomore year crushing on? That Nick?"

The plate slipped from Luke's grasp. He made a grab for it, but it was too late. White shards went smashing across the floor and he swore loudly.

"It's fine," Julie's dad said, getting up to grab the vacuum. "We need new plates anyway. Carlos is always breaking them."

"So… Nick, huh?" Luke asked.

"I remember him," Alex said. "He was sweet. Didn't he buy you flowers once?"

Julie blushed.

"That was one time. It's been two years! He's just a friend."

"A cute friend."

She glared at him. He put his hands up in surrender. 

“So you’re gonna be hanging out with him, huh?” Luke asked, straightening up.

“Yeah, but just for a couple of hours. I’ll be around for dinner.”

They had a family tradition in the Molina household, which stretched to Luke, Alex and Bobby too since they practically lived in the garage, spending Saturday nights eating dinner in the living room and shouting at game shows together. Alison would pick up a cake from the bakery around the corner, Carlos would claim the comfiest spot on the couch, and the guys would sit with Julie pressed in between them in a bundle on the floor. 

“Studying,” Luke said in disgust. “On a Saturday.”

“Gotta work hard to play hard, my friend.”

He shook his head, grinning at her, and she pretended not to notice the way her heartbeat seemed to double in response.

Nick showed up at three, a few hours after the band had made their way out of the house and left a ringing silence in their wake. Julie watched from the window as he bounded up the driveway, blonde hair flopping all over the place, and raced to let him in. 

They had been study partners all year, pairing up every chance they got. He was the only friend she had in their biology class and it was a blessing that despite the fact Nick got along with everyone he still wanted to work with her. He was a good friend. Sometimes he would sit with Julie and Flynn at lunch regaling them with tales of the stupid things his friends on the lacrosse team had done that weekend. She liked having him around, he was good company, and his terrible jokes never failed to make her laugh. A couple of years ago, she would’ve been beside herself over the fact that Nick of all people was choosing to hang out with her, but she had gotten over that crush pretty quickly when she realised how little they actually had in common.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, shrugging off his backpack. “I took a nap after practice and forgot to set an alarm. I bought you Reese’s to make up for it though.”

“Well,” Julie sighed dramatically, grinning as he pulled the orange bag out from his pocket. “You’ve forced my hand. I guess I can forgive you.”

Their project was on mitosis, a subject that neither of them had any particular passion about, but Nick was good at taking notes and he was happy to let Julie sit and doodle little cartoon cells screaming as they were torn in half to go on their poster. They managed to get about an hour of work done before the call of TikTok became too strong and they succumbed to an afternoon of laughing over stupid videos on their phones. That was one of the great things about Nick, he was so chill. It was easy to spend time with him. The two of them got so distracted that Julie didn’t even realise the time, so when the front door crashed open she jumped in surprise.

“We’re hooome,” Reggie’s voice called, and a few seconds later he appeared in the doorway followed by Alex and Bobby. “Oh! Hey Nick!”

Nick raised a hand in greeting.

“You guys get a lot of studying done?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrows meaningfully at Julie as his eyes flicked between the two of them sprawled comfortably on the couch and the abandoned pile of research on the coffee table. 

Fighting the urge to flip him off Julie replied, “We have no more room in our brains for science.”

“I see that,” he nodded sagely. “Well, enjoy your ‘studying’. We’re gonna go to the garage. You coming, Luke?”

Appearing behind Bobby and Alex, Luke elbowed the two of them out of the way and slid into the living room.

“Yeah, just a sec. I'll be right there.”

The boys trooped off, leaving him lingering in the living room with Julie and Nick.

“Catch,” he said, pulling a Milky Way from the pocket of his hoodie and throwing it at Julie. She snatched it out of the air, unable to hold back her smile. Milky Ways were her favourite. 

“Thanks!”

“No problem. Sorry, I didn’t get you anything,” he said to Nick. “Didn’t realise you’d still be here.”

“Uh, it’s cool,” Nick shrugged. “I’m not a big candy guy anyway.”

Wrong thing to say, Julie thought. Luke’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. In his world, candy was a religion and he was its helpless disciple on a crusade to eat every sugary snack known to man. She had been on the receiving end of too many rants regarding the joys of chocolate. Fond exasperation filled her chest. 

It evaporated quickly though when Luke stalked over to the couch and plopped down in between the two of them. 

"So Nick... you play sports, huh? I bet you meet a lot of girls through that."

Nick blinked. He shot a confused look at Julie, who was too busy glaring daggers at Luke to notice.

"We're an all-boys team?" Nick replied. “So… uh, not really.” 

"No, but, like... I bet you've got a lot of fans. Girls watching you play and stuff. Cheerleaders, am I right?"

Oh, she was going to murder Luke.

"Luke, can I talk to you for a second?” She asked sweetly, grabbing his arm and tugging him up with all her might. “Sorry, Nick. Just give us a second."

Nick glanced between the two of them, perhaps sensing this was something to stay out of, busied himself with his phone once more.

"What are you doing?" Julie hissed as she pulled Luke to the side.

Luke's eyes widened innocently, but there was no mistaking the flicker of mischief lurking at the edges of his expression.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said.

So this was how he was going to play it. Alright then – his funeral. 

"You're hovering," she ground out. " Why? "

"I'm just getting to know Nick," he shrugged. "You know… making sure he’s good enough for you. You can’t trust people that don’t like candy, you know that right?”

"Oh my God, you’re insane. I told you guys he's just a friend. And since when do you care about who I date anyway?"

"I– what, I don’t!” he spluttered, folding his arms defensively. “I’m just being a good friend! Date whoever you like, I don’t care.”

Ouch. That stung. Julie took a deep breath in through her nose, closing her eyes for a second to reign in a sudden surge of annoyance, and when she opened them she just managed to catch the flicker of guilt on his face before it was wiped away.

"If you're bored then go find something else to do,” she said. “We're trying to study."

"Ha, yeah right. If you ask me he's got more than studying on his mind."

They both glanced at Nick stretched out on the couch, he was watching a dog video and paying no mind to the two of them at all. Julie turned back. She’d reached her limit in patience.

"Luke, I will kill you. Don't test me."

“Alright, alright, I’ll go.” Luke conceded, hands up and backing out the door. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Julie turned back to Nick, who looked up at her with barely suppressed amusement. She got the impression he’d been listening in on the entire exchange.

“Sorry about him,” she apologised, rolling her eyes. “He can be a little…”

“Protective?”

“I was going to say unhinged, but yeah. Protective. Let’s go with that.”

He laughed, swinging his legs off the couch and grabbing his backpack. 

“I guess I should forget about my plan to ask you on a date next week then, huh?”

Wait, what? 

“I’m sorry,” Julie said, staring at him. “My brain just malfunctioned. I thought you said you were going to ask me on a date.”

He gave her a rueful smile and a small shrug.

“Thought I’d shoot my shot for once.”

“I– oh. Okay, um…”

“I know it’s a little unexpected,” he hurried to say. “But I’ve liked you for a while. I don’t know, it seemed like a good time to ask, you know… before someone else does.”

She bit her lip. It was so out of the blue, the intensity in Nick’s gaze, and she felt as though she’d lost her footing and been knocked sideways. Why were boys so good at that?

“I don’t know what to say,” she replied honestly. 

“That’s cool,” he said. “Just… think about it, yeah? Anyway, I gotta go. I told my mom I’d be home for dinner. See you in class?”

“Sure…”

He left her standing there, more confused than ever, wondering what she did to deserve such a mess of a love life.

Julie called Flynn over for an emergency meeting of the minds (which involved large amounts of candy and putting one of Flynn's favourite K-pop bands on at full volume). The two of them curled up on Julie's bed, hoping and praying a solution would come to them. Why did emotions have to be so complicated? Julie had been doing perfectly fine before she realised how she felt about Luke, now look at her. She was a mess. 

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Flynn," she complained. "Why can’t I just like Nick? He’s so nice. And he likes me. Why does it have to be Luke? I hate feeling like this, it's too much. Just kill me already."

"You're really serious about getting over him, huh?" Flynn sighed.

"I have to. For my own sanity."

"I guess it's my duty as your best friend to help, then. Lucky for you I've got just the thing."

Much to Julie's surprise, Flynn slipped off the bed and headed over to her desk. She rummaged around the drawer for a moment before tugging something out with a triumphant 'ha!'

"Oh no," Julie said, but couldn't help the smile creeping onto her face.

"Oh yes," Flynn smiled slyly, heading back over to flop beside her once more. She was brandishing a faded old teen magazine dated 1990. It had belonged to Julie's mom and the girls had found it buried under a pile of trash in the basement a few years back. It was filled with a variety of fun and bizarre fashion tips, advice columns and quizzes about 'Your Perfect Match'. They had been consulting it religiously ever since.

" 'Five Fail-Safe Ways To Get Over A Crush'," Flynn read aloud.

"If they're fail-safe why do we need more than one?"

"Hush, you. Let the experts talk. 'One:  Name And Shame. When you've fallen victim to lovesickness and pining, the object of your affections might seem like the most perfect person you've ever met. Well, girls, it's time for the rose-tinted glasses to come off. If you want to move on from your man, it's time to name and shame his worst habits. Does he chew with his mouth open? Ever caught him picking his nose? These are the things you need to focus on. Look out for the things about him you don't like about him and soon those pesky little feelings will be whisked away.' "

"Huh," Julie said, surprised. "That's not actually such bad advice."

"Told you," Flynn replied smugly. "Now let's get down to business. What are the things about Luke that you can't stand?"

"Um…"

"Oh, c'mon. There has to be something . What about the fact he thinks pizza counts as a vegetable because of the sauce? Or that hot dogs are acceptable to eat out of the hood of a car? What about his theory that aliens really did make contact with Tom Delonge?"

Julie's lips quirked involuntarily. He was actually pretty insistent about that last one.

"Well I guess he can be kinda immature sometimes," she mused. "Not always in a funny way."

"Go on," Flynn encouraged. 

"He sulks when he doesn't get his way. And he doesn't always take stuff seriously when he should."

"Good, good," Flynn nodded. "Keep going."

Julie huffed, picking at a loose thread on her pants 

"He never thinks about the consequences of his actions. I mean, how hard is it to take a moment to think things through?"

"Exactly. Boys are stupid."

"I just wish he would listen sometimes, instead of jumping right in. He's so… so…"

He made her want to tear her hair out in all honesty.

The truth was that there were a lot of things about Luke that drove Julie nuts. The problem was that she didn't love him in spite of those things, she loved him because of them. Without the bad parts of Luke, the good things meant nothing. It was the mixture of the two that made him who he was. So, yes he could be stubborn, but he was also unflinchingly loyal. And yes, he could be impulsive and argumentative, but he was also both passionate and driven. He got distracted too easily, but he always remembered the important things like the date of her next recital or the anniversary of her mom's death. 

He smelled awful when he got too sweaty, he bit his nails when he was nervous, and he would often leave wet towels on the bathroom floor. He snored so loud it could rattle windows, he never remembered to put the toilet seat down, and he would always leave half-empty cans of energy drinks all over the place.

But the smell of his cologne made her feel safe. On days when the band had a show to play, he spent hours hyping everyone up and distracting Reggie from his nerves. He always did the laundry to save everybody else time when he stayed over. His snores didn't matter so much when he had one arm wound tight around Julie keeping her warm when they napped together. Wet towels were inconsequential when she was reading the messages he left her on the steamed-up bathroom mirror. Where half-empty energy drinks sat, there was always a bar of her favourite chocolate left out for her too.

Goddammit, she thought. The list went on. 

Luke always asked for updates about Flynn when they were on the phone. He bought Carlos a different keyring for every city he visited. He genuinely thought her dad's jokes were funny. He protected Reggie, defended Alex and pulled Bobby back down to earth. He respected women, always voted, and had never failed to text Julie goodnight. He loved his mom with all his heart and he checked in with fans at the barriers during gigs to make sure no one was getting too overheated.  

He was a nightmare. He drove her crazy. And she loved him with everything she had.

Crap.

"Oh, honey," Flynn patted her arm sympathetically. "You've got it bad."

Yeah, Julie thought. Tell me about it.

Chapter Text

Julie’s eighteenth birthday began with the bang-crash of her bedroom door being kicked open followed immediately by a jaunty banjo riff. She woke with a start, groaning and shoving her head under her pillow to block out the noise. This did little to deter her brothers who were both deadset on being the most annoying boys alive.

“Happy birthday!” 

“I hate you both,” she complained.

"Aw, you love us really," said Reggie, putting the banjo to the side and jumping onto the bed. He almost sent Julie flying in the process, and she pulled the pillow off her head to throw it at him. 

“I’ll go tell dad you’re awake!” Carlos said, and he raced from the room.

She fumbled blindly at her bedside table until her hand found her glasses, then shoved them onto her face with all the grace of an elephant. When her eyes refocused she turned to find Reggie had flopped down beside her with a dopey grin. 

“Why are you like this?”

“Someone’s gotta keep your life interesting,” he said brightly. “And I wanted to give you your birthday present.”

She sat up a little straighter. His grin widened.

“Okay. You’ve got my attention.”

He handed her a thick envelope. It was a bright glittering eyesore covered with rhinestones and her name had been painted across the front in massive looping letters. She loved it immediately. 

“So this is why you wanted to borrow my glue-gun last week,” she laughed.

“Every masterpiece has glitter,” he insisted.

Careful not to tear it, she pulled it open.

“Oh, Reggie,” she said, embarrassed to realise she was welling up. 

Inside was a handmade picture book. Flipping open the leatherbound cover revealed four photographs carefully pressed into the pages; Julie and her mom behind the piano, the family picture which had been taken on the day her dad and Alison got engaged, Julie and Flynn in their dance uniforms, and, finally, Julie’s favourite picture of her and the band. They were all clustered into a hammock only seconds away from falling down, laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. She ran a finger down the edge with a fond chuckle. 

“Thank you,” she said, putting it aside to throw her arms around his neck. “I love it.”

He squeezed her back, then pulled away to pick up the discarded envelope.

“There’s something else too, look.”

A little white card was poking out the edge. Slipping it out, she read aloud:

“‘THIS IS A PLANE TICKET.’ Uh… Reggie?”

“It’s a place-holder,” he explained. “So next time we go on tour you can come see us. We’ll fly you out! It’s from the other guys too.”

“Seriously?! That’s amazing. Oh my God, thank you!”

She hugged him again, tight as she could. She hadn’t been able to go and see them when they’d been away last time because of school and money. The idea of being able to watch them shredding it live at a real concert venue was insane. 

“It was Luke’s idea,” he said. “But Bobby and Alex helped put the glitter on the envelope.”

After several more complaints about being woken up early and jamming her feet into her slippers with a begrudged huff, they trooped downstairs to breakfast where the rest of their family was waiting for them. Alison and Victoria pulled Julie into a bone-crushing hug between them.

“Your aunt’s teaching me to make her famous revoltillo, ” Alison said. “Your favourite!”

There was a tottering pile of gifts waiting for her on the table as she sat down. Her dad beamed at her, reaching over to pour her a glass of juice and give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Eighteen,” he sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. “And it feels like just yesterday you were running around this kitchen in diapers, singing with your mom about turning two.” 

“I can sing about turning two now if you want,” she joked, shovelling eggs into her mouth as Victoria slid a plate in front of her. “But I’m not sure it will be as cute as the first time... thank you, tía .”

“I just can’t believe how grown-up you are.”

“If you start crying I’m going to leave,” Carlos threatened.

Their dad chuckled and reached out to ruffle his hair. 

“So… big plans for today?” Victoria asked, once their bellies were full and Julie had torn her way excitedly through a collection of new t-shirts, bracelets and a polaroid camera from Alison and her dad. 

“I was just gonna wait ‘til Flynn finished work then go hang out with her.”

“Mm, no,” Said Reggie, shaking his head and swallowing the large mouthful of leftover eggs he’d been scooping up from the pan. “You can’t stay in on your birthday, Alex says it’s illegal.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she began to say, but she was cut off by the clattering noise of three rambunctious boys bursting their way through the front door. 

“Happy birthday, Julie!” Luke called, bounding into the kitchen with Alex and Bobby on his heels. 

They nearly knocked her from her seat as they crowded in to shower her in hugs and high-fives. Luke ruffled her hair, dodging her punch with a giggle as he stole a piece of bacon that she’d been too full to eat from her plate. The boys pulled up seats while the adults rolled their eyes fondly and got up to clear the plates.

“So, big plans–” Luke started.

“Big, big plans,” Alex interjected. 

“–we’re taking you to the recording studio–”

“It has the coolest piano.”

“–Paul, you know… the producer guy, he wants to meet you–”

“Because you’re all Luke talks about when we’re there.”

“–so maybe you can- will you shut up!” he thumped Alex, hard.

“Worth it,” Alex muttered to Reggie, rubbing his arm. 

“Anyway,” Luke continued, shooting an annoyed look at his sniggering bandmates. “Paul wants to meet you. We showed him some of your songs and he really wants to hear you sing. You up for it?”

Julie stared at them. 

“You… you told a producer about me?”

“Well, duh,” Alex said. “You’re the most talented one here. Also, Luke has Wake Up as his ringtone.”

Wake Up was a song that Julie’s mom had written for her not long after they’d found out she was sick. It had been Luke that found it, hidden away in the garage that Julie had refused to step into for so long because of the painful memories it held. It was the first song she’d ever recorded. It was tinny and low quality, done on the awful microphone setup Flynn had built on her laptop for her, but Luke continued to insist it was his favourite song in the world. She’d tried to get him to change it a few times, but he was stubborn.

“You guys are ridiculous,” she muttered, hiding her pleased smile with a mouthful of orange juice.

“Ridiculously awesome,” Luke agreed. “Now, c’mon, hurry up and get dressed. I wanna watch you shred already.”

Paul was a kind-eyed man around the same age as Julie’s dad and he welcomed the boys into the studio with the same kind of fond exasperation that Alison always did. Julie liked him at once. 

“The guys have told me a lot about you,” he said as he clasped her hand. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. You know, Luke showed me a few of your songs…”

“Told you,” Alex muttered as he passed, then yelped as Luke aimed a kick at his ankle.

“...it would be nice to hear you play in person if you’re up for it.”

The recording studio was nothing big, but it was new and professional-looking with a sound booth and a switch-filled control room. In the centre of the booth, a beautiful grand piano sat gleaming under the warm glow of the orange lights. A gasp caught in her throat.

“Yeah, she’s a beaut,” Paul said lovingly, while Julie couldn’t help but agree. “You wanna give her a whirl? The guys have booked out the booth for the whole morning.”

She glanced at them, raising her eyebrows, and they looked away whistling innocently. What on earth were they up to?

“Are you sure?”

Paul nodded and gestured to the sound booth.

“Let’s see whatcha got,” he said.

She walked through, nerves dancing as she left the others behind in the control room. When she looked back they were all grinning at her through the glass with big headphones on.

She took a deep breath in as she sat, steadying herself, and lifted the piano’s lid with gentle fingers. The ivory keys gleamed like a treasure in the light. Unlike the piano at home, they had no chips in them. There were no smudges or marks from where she and Carlos’ clumsy childhoods had made themselves known, and when she pressed down on the middle C it rang out clear and precise. She looked up. Luke sent her a thumbs up. Another deep breath and then she began to play.

“ Here in front of me, shining so much brighter than I have ever seen. Life can be so mean, but when he goes I know he doesn’t leave…” 

What possessed her to play this song in particular, she didn’t know. It was only part-finished, her voice shook as though it might break any moment as she belted out the words, but even so, she felt the weight lifting from her chest as she did. It had been Flynn’s idea, more advice pulled from that ridiculous ancient magazine.

“‘Two’,” she had read out. “‘Acknowledge And Accept. Infatuation is a powerful thing. Often when we fall for someone it can seem like the only thing that matters. Having a crush might feel like the end of the world, but don't worry we've got your back. When your emotions get overwhelming the best way to combat them is through acknowledgement and acceptance. Our love expert suggests writing down how you feel. This method allows you to organise your thoughts, acknowledge your emotions and accept how you feel, thus paving the way for you to move on from that pesky thing called love.’”

They had concluded that it was a load of crap, but after laying there in silence for a moment to ponder it Flynn had admitted it might work. After all, Julie had worked through a lot of her grief after her mom died by getting back into music and putting her emotions into song. Maybe it could work for this too. 

Annoyed that it actually made sense put that way, Julie had agreed.

“...the truth is finally breaking through, two worlds collide when I’m with you. Our voices rise and soar so high. We come to life when we’re in perfect harmony…”

Even with five pairs of eyes on her, singing in the booth felt… special. Intimate, like she was alone with her thoughts and the piano and nothing else. Her voice rang out soft and sweet. She could almost imagine the harmonies that would go with it once it was finished. She filled the parts that lacked lyrics with thundering melodies on the keys. It came naturally. Was this how it had felt when her mom had written in a studio?

“...you set me free. You and me together is more than chemistry. Love me as I am, I’ll hold your music… here inside my hands…”

She faded out, finishing the unfinished with one long echoing chord. All of a sudden, she felt wrung out and raw. Exposed. She bit her lip as she glanced up at them. They were all staring at her, mouths slightly agape, but Luke was the only one frowning.

“That’s all I got,” she said, getting up to rejoin the group.

“You guys weren’t kidding,” Paul looked to the guys and then to her. “That was fantastic. You have an incredible voice.”

She smiled in embarrassment as she thanked him.

“Was that a new song?” Luke asked, his brow creased. “I haven’t heard that one before.”

“Uh, yeah. Just something I’ve been working on. It’s not finished.” 

Julie pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and looked away. His gaze was intense. She couldn’t help but notice that he was tapping one finger against his knee, the way he did when he was worried about something. Did he not like the song? Oh God, maybe he’d realised it was about him and was trying to think of a way to let her down easy. 

“That was amazing, Julie,” Alex interrupted her spiral into panicked mayhem by slinging an arm around her and giving her a quick squeeze. 

“Yeah, you crushed it,” Reggie agreed, pounding her fist. “You wanna get pizza now?”

Alex sighed. “Do you never think about anything else?”

“Sometimes I think about garlic bread?”

Grateful for the distraction, Julie sneaked a glance back at Luke. He was shaking Paul’s hand, saying goodbye, and if she didn’t know better she’d have said he was deliberately not looking at her. With a sigh, she trailed out of the room and followed the sounds of Reggie and Alex’s bickering down the hall.

By the time they returned to the house she was ready for a nap. After pizza they had returned to the studio so the guys could get a little more work done, letting Julie throw in a few ideas here and there, then they’d gone out for ice cream down the pier. As Reggie said, it wasn’t a real birthday without ice cream. 

Flynn would be done with work by now, she thought, but maybe they could just curl up on the couch and watch Netflix or something… 

She blamed the guys for wearing her out, at least that was her excuse for not taking in any of the signs that something was off as they walked up the drive, like Reggie’s barely suppressed giggles or the way the front door had been left ajar. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIE!”

Pain burst into bloom where her elbow smacked the door in surprise. Heart hammering, she took in the sea of colourful balloons which filled the room. Her family and what looked like half the grade were crowded into the entry hall wearing pointed paper hats and blowing party horns.

“Oh my God,” she said, beginning to laugh. “Flynn!”

“Do you like it?” Flynn asked, hurrying forward to place a birthday tiara on Julie’s head and snap a photo for Instagram. “I hope you do, it took forever to set up. We didn’t trust Reggie to actually keep you out of the house long enough.”

“I love it,” she assured her. “Oh my God. Thank you.”

It took the better part of an hour to say hello to everyone, in which time her dad and Alison made their excuses to disappear out the door and leave the kids to have fun. Apparently, Flynn had bribed them to get a hotel for the weekend, though Julie had no idea how. She suspected Reggie and Carlos had done a lot of the grunt work. When they were gone a crate of beers and a keg magically appeared in the kitchen.

“Hey, you can legally drink now,” Reggie had shrugged. “You know… in England.”

By nine o’clock the party was in full swing.

“I still can’t believe you managed to keep this quiet,” Julie said to Flynn as they took a break from dancing to grab a drink from the kitchen. 

“Hey you’re lucky you’re so oblivious,” Flynn laughed. “I almost let it slip like three times last week.”

Music thumped uproariously through the house, making the walls shake, and people toasted Julie as she went by. After a bouncing drum and bass tune, the song switched rather suddenly to something with a wailing guitar intro.

“Oh, no,” Flynn groaned in disgust and, without so much as a warning, she stomped out of the room.

Flynn and Luke had been battling it out over the music choice all evening. Alex had tried playing mediator at first but gave up fast when it became obvious they were both having too much fun arguing to stop. Julie shook her head in amusement and pulled the fridge open. 

“Hey, happy birthday, Julie.”

She turned to see Nick waiting beneath the doorframe, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. 

“Thanks,” she beamed, then shook a can at him. “Want one?”

“No thanks,” he said. “Enjoying your party so far?”

The exhaustion she’d been feeling had all but evaporated the second she’d stepped in the door. Julie loved a good party. Who didn't? Dancing with Flynn to music loud enough to upset the neighbours, taking copious amounts of silly polaroids with their friends, cake… it was the best way to spend an evening. They’d even set up a dance floor for her. There were strobe lights. 

She said as much to Nick. He chuckled.

“I’d noticed. It's pretty cool."

"All thanks to Flynn. And my brothers, I guess."

"Yeah..." they both faltered for a moment, hanging there in the door awkwardly. Then Nick seemed to decide something internally. He straightened, stepping a little closer.

"So uh… I actually came in here to give you this.” 

From his pocket, he pulled out a small green box. She’d gone through a mountain of presents earlier, tearing wrapping paper from parcels in a frenzy, thanking everyone as profusely as she could. They were going to have a lot of cleaning up to do tomorrow.

“Oh… you didn’t have to–”

“Just take it,” he insisted jovially. “I know it’s not much, but Flynn said you liked plants, so…”

Cracking open the lid Julie found a small set of pretty silver hair clips twisted into the shapes of potted succulents. They were ridiculous, but they made her lips quirk up in a pleased smile. 

“They’re great,” she said honestly, leaning in to hug him. “I love it. Thank you.”

“So… no pressure or anything,” he said as she stepped back. “But have you thought any more about that date?”

Julie blinked. She opened her mouth to answer but found her gaze caught on Flynn and Luke in the living room. They were all but wrestling over a remote, Alex lingering a few feet away looking a mixture of entertained and unsure whether he should intervene. On the couch beside him, several girls Julie knew from dance class were watching too, but the looks they were giving Luke were less entertained and more… charmed. A fleeting spark of irritation shot through her at the hungry looks in their eyes, but it was followed almost right away by the realisation she had no right to be mad about it. Those girls could look all they wanted. Luke might even want them to. He wasn’t Julie’s to claim.

She looked back at Nick and his hopeful smile, making her decision there and then.

“You know what?” she said. “I think it would be fun.”

She flopped into bed with a heavy sigh of relief. It had been a long day. The morning would be hell, but it had definitely been worth it. As she reached to turn her lamp off, something caught her eye. A small velvet box sat waiting on her nightstand with a folded note attached. Reaching for it, she wondered if her dad had meant to give it to her before the party and forgotten. 

But it wasn’t from her dad.

“Dear Julie,” the note read in Luke’s untidy scrawl. “I saw this and thought of you. Happy birthday.

Love, Luke 

x.”

There was no way to describe how her heart ached as she popped open the box. Oh, she thought to herself. Oh, it’s beautiful. 

Nestled on the shiny fabric inside was a shining golden locket which looked so delicate she almost daren’t touch it. Lifting it by the chain as carefully as possible, she sat there stunned by the way it caught the light. It had to be vintage. It looked like something you’d see in a 1920s film, eye-catching and covered in an intricate floral pattern. As if that wasn’t enough to make her break, the inside of the locket was what really took her apart. Clicking it open she found herself looking down at a small pressed daisy which had been slipped inside and an engraving which, much to her embarrassment, made her gasp out loud.

‘Always with you.’

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she closed the locket and held it tightly to her chest. It was the most gorgeous present she’d ever been given. Where had Luke even found such a thing? She couldn’t imagine how much it must have cost. What was he thinking? The boy had lived out of a van for fifty per cent of the last three years.

She dithered for a moment, trying to decide what to do. It would be no good telling him to take it back. Once Luke got an idea in his head that was that and there was no arguing with him. And besides… she didn’t want to give it back. She opened her palm again just to admire the sheer splendour. It was unreal.

God, what was he doing to her? 

“Stupid boys,” she muttered to herself, even as she picked up the phone. “Stupid boys and their stupid… everything .”

Her fingers paused over the keyboard. What did you even say to something like this? She couldn’t believe he’d just left it there to find instead of giving it to her in person. Why was he like this?

New Message To Luke:

Thank you. I love it <3

She hesitated before hitting send. It seemed like every time she thought she had a chance to move on from him he did something so insane and so completely Luke that she fell in love with him all over again. It was infuriating.

Her phone beeped. Her pulse jumped.

New Message From Luke:

<3

Heart sign? That was it? Not even an explanation? That was… ugh! Men. Why were they like this? She just wanted her heart to stop feeling as though it might shatter like glass any second. It was maddening.

For the first time, she began to hope desperately that her date with Nick would go well. 

Chapter Text

“Three: Getting Out There.  

A crush can often feel like you’re stuck in a loop of endless questions. Will he call? Is he thinking about me? How can I catch his eye? This can be damaging to our self-confidence and often makes us forget the kind of power we have as women, but we can’t let our hearts lead us astray. Remember ladies, you are a cool and confident goddess. There will always be another fish in the sea just waiting for you to notice him. Take a chance and put yourself out there. You might just find Mr. Right while moving on from Mr. Wrong.”

Nothing looked right. Julie frowned in the mirror as she held up another dress. Behind her, on the bed, a steady mountain of discarded clothing was growing ever taller. This was hopeless.

“Try the white crop-top again,” Flynn suggested.

She was perched at Julie’s makeup table curling her eyelashes with painstaking care. They had spent the better part of the afternoon getting ready together, turning it into a self-care day and digging out all their favourite pamper products. Julie suspected Flynn was just trying to keep her mind off things, but she appreciated it all the same.

“I don’t know… is it datey enough?”

“Sure,” she said. “It’s a club, right? That’s what Nick said? It’s not like we’re going to a fancy restaurant or anything.”

The double date had been a moment of nerve-wracked inspiration on Julie’s part after Nick had mentioned something to her about one of his lacrosse buddies being interested in Flynn at school. Apparently his buddy – Blake – also had an in at one of the smaller clubs downtown and getting ID'd wouldn’t be a problem if they went. While Julie had baulked at the idea at first, after some coaxing from Flynn she was actually starting to feel a little excited by the idea. Rebellious, almost. 

“With your black jeans and some bling? You’ll look amazing .”

Bling. Julie toyed with the locket around her neck. It would look killer with her outfit, then again it went with pretty much everything she wore. She hadn’t seen Luke in the week or so since he’d given it to her – the band had been busy with the album and she had been busy with Flynn choreographing a routine for their next graded dance performance. It felt like it had been longer. The heart emoji text stared accusingly at her every time she opened her phone.

“Do you think I should take it off?” she asked. 

The locket was such a beautiful thing — she'd taken to opening it and peering inside whenever the silence began to bother her — she didn’t want to risk anything happening to it. 

“I mean…” Flynn shrugged. “He meant for you to wear it. You might as well show it off.”

She supposed that was true. Clicking it open she traced a finger over the words inside. 

'Always with you.'

Before the doubt could creep in again her phone bleeped, signalling the arrival of Nick and Blake. She snapped the locket closed.

Luke is just a friend, she reaffirmed in the mirror. Don't start reading into things now. You'll only end up getting hurt.

It wasn't so much 'sneaking out' as it was running out the door as fast as they could before Alison or her dad could appear to interrogate them again. They knew they were going out tonight, the specifics might have been a little misleading, but Julie felt bad all the same.

“Hey Julie,” Nick said, opening the car door for her. “Flynn.”

“What’s up?” 

“My cousin’s one of the bouncers,” Blake explained with a smug look. 

“Party time, whoop whoop!” Flynn crowed, making the boys laugh. 

A sense of unease began to twist at Julie’s chest. According to the stories she’d heard from Reggie and Alex, The Cellar had a reputation for attracting a rougher crowd. The allure of rebellion from early was ebbing away. 

“You okay?” Nick asked, touching her hand gently.

She smiled at him, pulling it away to fix her hair as she nodded, shaking the doubt away. No time for anxiety. They were going to go on this date and they were going to have fun, God help her. She deserved to have some fun.

Nick smiled in return, and she tried not to notice the way it didn’t quite meet his eyes. 

A line to The Cellar’s entry ran down the building, made up mostly of college kids and people who looked like they would fit in at a punk show. Blake led them straight past it and up to a door flanked by two burly bouncers. A part of Julie hadn’t really believed he could get them in, had thought maybe he was just bragging, but all it took was him uttering a few words to the men and they were being ushered into the club. 

Julie and Flynn clasped their hands together, glancing around with uncertain giggles as they were led through the door by the boys. The club was packed from all sides. It was the kind of dark and slightly sticky basement-esque type place that she knew Sunset Curve had played a hundred times before. A thrill ran through her.

"You guys want drinks?" Nick asked as they snagged a tall table off to the side of the dancefloor.

“Sure!”

He returned five minutes later with two lurid orange cocktails in large glasses and a couple of beers teetering worryingly on a tray. Flynn took her drink, sipping through the straw in delight and gesturing at Julie to do the same. The mixture of tequila and grenadine was disgusting. 

“Beer?” Nick offered with a sympathetic laugh as she traded their drinks gratefully. 

It was early, but the dance floor was chaotic. Vibrant lights flashed in a storm of technicolour, giving the effect that everybody was moving in very fast stop motion. Even so, Julie's unease faded as they joined the throng. It felt like one giant party, which... well, she supposed it was. Flynn's back pressed against hers as they let the pounding bass move through them.

Alex would like this, she thought. Sometimes when their schedules matched up he would go to Zumba with her and Flynn on the weekends. Luke and Reggie thought it was hilarious, but they didn’t have anyone fooled. They both loved to dance too. Luke particularly, when he was in a really good mood, could whip out some truly impressive moves. She wondered if he’d twirl her around the way Nick was doing if he was here.

Nick’s dad dancing made her throw her head back in laughter, earning her a pleased smile in response. He was so sweet. If you had told her three years ago that she’d be dancing at a club with Nick right now, she would have laughed in your face. He had always seemed so unattainable then. Flawless, an incorruptible fantasy living in her head when she’d daydream in class.

Real Nick was much better than fantasy Nick, though. And much less intimidating. But… real Nick was her friend. She didn’t feel the urge to gush to Flynn about every interaction she had with him anymore. He didn’t make her blush or dream about holding his hand or want to scream in frustration over just how much she liked him. He didn’t inspire lyrics in her head. 

“I’m just gonna sit down for a bit,” she said, feeling the light dim a little as she trooped off the dancefloor. 

They had been moving for a while now, song after song as they got lost in it, but her head had filled with a cacophony of thoughts unable to be drowned out by the music. She sat heavily at the table, wiping the sweat away from her forehead. Over by the bar, Flynn and Blake were laughing together with a couple of older guys. Jeez, how many people did Blake know here?

“So… you’re not really into this, huh?” Nick asked.

She looked up in surprise.

“What?”

“The whole date thing, you just don’t seem… y’know.” 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just a little distracted.”

“Anything to do with that necklace?” he nodded to the locket.

She hadn’t realised she’d been fiddling with it, twisting it back and forth between her fingers while deep in thought. Grimacing, she let it go. 

“Luke got it for me,” she confessed quietly. “For my birthday.”

“Ah.”

He sat back with a look of dawning understanding and disappointment on his face. Guilt flooded in. What had she been thinking? Nick was such a sweet boy.

“So you like him, huh?”

She looked down at the table, picking at a sticky water-ring with the edge of her nail.

“I just thought… you’re a great guy, and I love being your friend, but…” she groaned, burying her face in her hand. “This wasn’t fair to you. I shouldn’t have said yes, I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool,” he sighed, shrugging. “I probably should’ve figured it out sooner, I mean I’ve seen the two of you together.”

She frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Y’know,” he said. “There’s all this like… chemistry between you two. It’s obvious you’re into each other. I guess I was just hoping I was wrong. That’s my bad.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t,” he gave her a rueful smile. “Look, it’s fine. I just missed my window, is all. We can still be study partners, right? Because I love being your friend too.”

“So cheesy,” she joked, rolling her eyes.

It came as a sweet relief to know that she hadn’t done irreparable damage to their friendship. They fist-bumped one another, giggling. However, the humour didn’t last long.

There was a loud crashing sound and they whipped around to see several bar stools had been knocked to the ground, Blake backed up against the bar by a guy twice his size bearing his teeth in rage.

“We’ve gotta get out of here,” Flynn appeared at the side of the table, wild-eyed and panicked.

“What happened?!”

“I don’t know!” she cried. “Something about Blake owing that guy money? One second we were all joking around and the next–”

She waved helplessly at the escalating violence.

“Oh man,” Nick groaned. “I gotta get him outta there.”

“Nick! Nick!” Blake was calling, and the group of men turned to look at them. Nick baulked, but hurried forward with a reluctant moan.

“Let’s go,” Flynn said, grabbing Julie’s arm and tugging.

She didn’t have to tell her twice. Grabbing their purses, the two girls slipped away from the table and headed for the exit. Behind them, the commotion escalated with the sounds of broken glass. They began to run.

They didn’t stop until there were a fair few blocks between them and the club, coming to a wheezing halt by a grimy wall to catch their breath. Nick and Blake hadn’t followed, evidently still caught up in the chaos. Julie whipped out her phone to let him know they were alright, hesitating before adding an apology for bailing on the end. There had been no way they were sticking around for a fight.

It was cold out. She wished she'd brought a jacket. Wrapping her arms tight around her, she took in their surroundings.

“What do we do now?” Flynn asked.

“I don’t know… where even are we?” 

In their haste to distance themself from the commotion, they must have taken a wrong turn down an unfamiliar street. Overhead a street light gave an ominous flicker. Two guys wolf-whistled across the road as they passed and the girls edged closer together.

“Shit.”

"Yeah."

"You got any money left?" Julie asked, thinking maybe they could call a cab or something. 

Flynn shook her head. Julie bit her lip. She'd spent most of her cash on drinks at the bar. They couldn’t call their parents – they all thought they’d gone bowling. Julie couldn’t even handle the thought of her dad’s disappointment if he found out that not only had she lied but she’d lied and gone to a club. Victoria would kill her if she found out. Alison would worry. Both she and Flynn would be grounded for the rest of eternity, only able to communicate through smoke signals and carrier pigeons because there was no way they’d ever get their phones back, and besides… they didn’t even know where they were now. Reggie couldn't keep a secret to save his life. Carlos couldn't drive yet. There was only one thing for it.

“Shit,” Julie agreed, reaching for her phone.

Sunset Curve’s van was loud enough to be heard from down the street. It crunched and rumbled as it trundled down the street, its breaks making an alarming scraping sound as it pulled to stop in front of the girls. Luke liked to call it ‘Old Trusty’, but even Alex could agree that ‘Old Rusty’ was more apt. They were forever having to take it to the shop.

"Somebody call for an Uber?" Luke grinned, peering out from the driver's side window.

She could kiss him. That stupid, perfect, wonderful face — she could totally kiss him. They hurried over to the van, yanking the doors open with grateful mutterings of thanks.

“So I take it the date went well?” he asked, smirking.

Oh, Reggie, she groaned to herself. Why did he have to tell the rest of the guys everything? Julie glared at Luke. 

“We will not speak of this ever again,” she warned. 

“Whatever you say, boss.”

Luke dropped Flynn off first, after a joking bickering match over what to listen to in the car. Julie sat back and listened to them, relaxing into the seat and letting the sounds of their voices soothe her. Next time she told her dad she was going bowling she really would stick to that.

“Thanks for the ride, guys,” Flynn said as she hopped out. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jules."

In the least impressive example of subtlety ever performed by man, Flynn glanced at Luke meaningfully before wiggling her eyebrows quickly at Julie and shutting the door. An awkward silence descended upon them like a thick fog.

It felt wrong. Julie had never experienced real awkwardness around Luke unless you counted that one time she’d walked in while he was changing his shirt and then promptly knocked into the piano. That had been embarrassing. Reggie and Alex had teased her for it all afternoon.

Luke broke the silence first.

"You cold? Here."

She hadn't even realised she was shivering until after he had shrugged out of his overshirt and handed it over. Goosebumps rose up on her arms. The plaid cotton was soft with age beneath her fingers and she resisted the urge to take a deep breath in. It smelled like his deodorant. Slipping it on, she revelled in the way the warmth of it enveloped her like a blanket.

“So I know we’re never talking about it again, but…” 

“Can you at least wait until tomorrow to make fun of me?” she complained.

“I wasn’t gonna make fun of you!”

She levelled him with the most unimpressed look she could muster. 

“Okay, maybe I was, but just a little,” he admitted with a sheepish grin. “Seriously though, what happened? How’d you end up all the way downtown? I thought you guys were going bowling.”

To tell him or not to tell him? It’s not like he would say anything to her dad. He’d probably even find it funny – he was always encouraging her to break the rules – but something about admitting she’d agreed to sneak into a club for the first time with Nick felt wrong. It was usually Luke and the guys that she did grounding-worthy things with. 

“Things just got out of hand…” she said.

Luke frowned, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

“What did he do?”

“Nothing! He didn’t do anything! We just… we went to The Cellar, alright? And his friend got in a fight. Me and Flynn left before we could get caught up in it. We just got lost.”

There was a moment of silence. She glanced at him, worried he might think she was lying, only to find his shoulders shaking from barely concealed laughter. 

“It’s not funny!” she smacked him on the arm with a noise of indignance. 

“I’m sorry!” he giggled. “Just… aw man, Julie. You really know how to pick ‘em.”

“Shut up,” she huffed. “Nick is a nice guy, things just didn’t go as planned.”

“Well, duh. Going to The Cellar, that was your first mistake,” he said as they finally pulled up to her house. “That place is like where romance goes to die or whatever. Reggie took a girl there once and he puked all over her. It’s seriously cursed.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.”

“Next time?”

His frown was back. Julie bit her lip.

“Yeah, like… next time I’m on a date or whatever,” she said, ticking off an imaginary checklist. “Step one: avoid  The Cellar, check.”

“So you’re going on more dates?”

“Well, I mean I wasn’t planning on joining a convent or anything…”

He huffed, smiling. “No, I meant… you know. Dates with Nick. Like are you going to bring him to the wedding?”

Ah, the wedding. It was only a couple of weeks away now. Preparations for it had turned their house into a disaster zone. Half the living room was taken up by elegant candle-based centrepieces. 

“Uh, no,” she laughed awkwardly. “After tonight I think it’s safe to say that ship has sailed.” 

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

Julie glanced at the house. Carlos’ light was on, but the rest of the windows were dark. She hoped that meant her dad had gone to sleep already. She wasn’t keen on the idea of explaining Luke’s presence instead of Nick’s. 

“I should…” she gestured to the house. 

Luke nodded, and for one foolhardy second her treacherous heart leapt. She thought maybe she had seen a flicker of disappointment in his eyes. 

“Hey, I’m glad you called me.”

“Me too.”

Their gazes caught. During their conversation, they had both leaned towards one another so much that there was little more than a few inches between them. Wrapped in the darkness of the night with the radio on low it felt as though they were enclosed in their own little bubble of the universe. His eyes moved to her neck, expression softening, and he reached out.

“You’re wearing it,” he murmured, one finger grazing the locket. 

I wear it every day, she wanted to say. His face was so close to hers. It would only take moving her head in just a little closer and their lips would be touching. Electricity danced between them. Why exactly did she want to move on again? He was here, right now, in front of her after a disaster of a night, keeping her warm having come to her rescue no questions asked. His finger moved from the necklace and up to her face, brushing a stray hair away from her cheek.

The kitchen light flicked on. They both froze.

“My dad’s awake,” she sighed. 

There was nothing she wanted less than to get out of the car right then. 

“Right,” he said, pulling back and clearing his throat. “Yeah. You gotta go. It’s uh… I’ll see you at the wedding, I guess. Maybe sooner.”

“Who knows,” she smiled, feeling anything but cheerful, and slipped out the door. “Thanks, Luke.”

He waited for her to get inside before he started the car, and the further the van got from the house the more she wished he’d stayed. 

Chapter Text

The world had tilted on its axis. Julie contemplated this as she stared at the ceiling, wide awake at six am, filled with an unending cycle of questions and confusion. She had thought, before, that Luke saw her as nothing more than a kind of little sister figure. Sure they were friends too, but he was older and wilder — there was no way in hell it made sense for him to see her as anything else. But… after last night….

She had seen the same desire she felt reflected in his eyes. He had looked at her like there was nobody else on the planet, just the two of them, and she'd wanted for him to keep looking that way for as long as their gazes would hold. The skin of her cheek still tingled where he'd touched it. They could have filled all the spaces between them with the words they left unsaid, and if that kitchen light hadn't come on then maybe… just maybe…

Then there was the locket to consider. It had been bothering her since she first opened it, though she'd been all too eager to push the straying thoughts to the back of her mind out of fear of them, now they were let loose, running rampant through her brain as they chased all possibility of sleep away. 

"Always with you."

Did that mean what she thought it meant? Or was it just one of Luke's rare moments of crushing sentimentality for one of his best friends?

The sun had long since risen by the time she pulled herself out of bed and stomped downstairs. A heaviness had set in beneath her eyes, they were gritty with missed sleep, though she felt anything but tired.  Her dad was in the kitchen when she walked in. He hummed along to the radio as he cooked and did a ridiculous little dance as he went. Julie bit back a laugh. It was this kind of thing, she had once been told, that made her mom fall in love with him.

"It's the little things, Mija, that make all the difference ."

The little things. Like the way Luke twisted the rings on his fingers when he was deep in thought, or how he stuck his tongue out at Reggie on stage, or the way in which his hand gestures got more frantic the more excited he got.

Was there a list of little things he loved about her too? Quirks and habits that should, by all means, be inconsequential but overall make up the person he thought about when everything else got too much? Or was she just reading into it?

"Always with you."

"Morning, honey," her dad said, offering her a plate of bacon and eggs. 

She took it, mustering up the most cheerful smile she could, but when he saw her face he frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, putting the spatula down and turning off the stove. He joined her at the table with deep concern lining his face.

"Nothing," she tried to assure him.

Her dad had always had kind eyes. That was another thing her mother had loved about him. She wondered what that was like, to look at another person and know that you wanted them by your side forever. Luke’s face flashed to mind once again. The idea of a world without him seemed dreary and grey.

“Dad… how did you know mom was the one?” she asked.

Understanding replaced the concern.

“Ah… is this about Luke?”

How did he know?!

“What?! No!" she spluttered. "Why would it be about Luke?”

He gave her a knowing look, trying and failing to battle a smile.

“You’ve got your Luke face on.”

Oh for the love of—

“I do not have a Luke face!”

"You kinda do though," came Carlos' voice. He wandered sleepily into the kitchen, grabbing his own plate and loading it with breakfast. "It's sort of like…"

He screwed up his own face in a weird imitation that made him look a little bit like a cathedral gargoyle.

"I don’t look like that!"

"You totally do! You’re so obvious. And you're always on the phone to Flynn all like 'waaa, Luke, oh my god he's so cute, he's so good at writing, I just want to—"

"Shut up!"

Fuming, she launched a piece of bacon at him with an indignant huff. A second later, Carlos retaliated.

"Guys, stop— Carlos put that tomato down— stop it!"

Their dad yanked Julie's plate away from her before she could scoop out the handful of eggs she'd been planning to hurl. She lowered her hand sheepishly. He rolled his eyes, but couldn't quite keep the creeping amusement out of his expression.

"Carlos, go see if Reggie's awake, he'll probably want some bacon," he said pointedly.

"But—"

"Now," their dad said firmly. "Take your food with you."

Carlos grumbled under his breath as he trudged out of the room, but did as he was told and scooped up an extra helping for Reggie too.

There was a moment of quiet as they listened to him stomp upstairs. Julie pushed her food around with a fork, staring down at it. The brief distraction of fury had done nothing to quell her unquiet mind. Her dad looked at her, resting his arms on the table and putting that serious face on that he had when he was trying to show he was listening and understood them.

“Look… I know I'm not as good at the boy talk as your mom was," he started. "But I am here when you want to talk about it. So is Alison."

Julie loved Alison with all her being, but the thought of talking to her about Luke made her insides cringe. She would coo and get excited and probably start talking about weddings. That's not what Julie was after. She didn’t even know if Luke really felt the same for sure.

"It's fine dad, you don't have to—"

"I do have to," he said. "'Cause I'm your dad and I'm here to listen, okay? I know your brothers tease you sometimes, but it's okay if you're feeling…"

He cleared his throat.

"I knew your mom was the one because she was always there for me, even when times got hard. She was smart and she was independent and she made me laugh. Plus, she liked my jokes.”

“Huh.”

He gave her an appraising look, which she ignored, and perhaps he sensed that she was done talking because he sighed and moved on.

“You gonna finish that?” he pointed to the plate.

She shook her head.

“No,” she exhaled, pushing it away. “I’m not very hungry right now. I think I’m gonna go find the guys. Thanks though.”

Nobody had warned her being eighteen would be so difficult. There were too many things to consider; college, driving, careers. She had enough on her plate without boys being thrown into the mix. Her mom would laugh if she heard her say so. 

“Hey dad,” Julie said, pausing in the doorway.

“Yeah?”

“I like your jokes too.”

He smiled.

“Thank you, Mija. ”

The garage was unusually quiet when she headed outside. Only Alex was inside, leaning on an amp with his phone in hand, a look of delight on his face. Julie smiled – he’d been looking at his phone like that a lot lately.

“Hey,” she said, hooking her chin over his shoulder. “Whatcha doing?”

“Just texting Willie.”

He didn’t do a very good job of hiding his smile. It had been strange at first – none of them had ever seen Alex make that face over a guy before. He’d had crushes and flings, the odd boyfriend or two for the guys to tease him about, but none of them had ever made them gush the way Willie did. It was sweet. 

“Oh, right. Skater-boy,” she cooed slyly. “How’s that going?”

“Pretty good,” he said, sliding his phone into his pocket and turning around to pull her into a quick hug. “He’s coming to the wedding.”

Julie raised her eyebrows.

“Oh, so it’s serious. ”

“Maybe,” he said, the corners of his lips twitching again. “Sort of. I’m gonna go see him when the album’s finished. He’s gonna try and teach me how to skate…”

The worried expression on his face was just so Alex that Julie had trouble not giggling.

“You’ll be fine. Just wear a helmet.”

“Helmets can break, you know.”

“I’m sure Willie won’t let anything happen to you,” she teased. 

He ducked his head looking pleased. 

“So what brings you out here?” he asked. “The others are still asleep.”

“Oh… you know, boredom.”

This earned her two raised eyebrows and an incredulous look. She grimaced, settling down onto the couch, and wished it hadn’t been her automatic reaction to seek out Luke. Alex sat down beside her, knocking their shoulders together, silent and waiting. Julie let another beat pass and then gave in. 

“Actually, can I ask you something?” 

“Sure.”

“How did you know Willie liked you back?”

All the knowing looks were starting to get on her nerves. Could her family just stop being so understanding for one second?

“Uh… he called me adorable and asked for my number.”

“Oh,” said Julie. “Yeah, that makes it pretty clear.”

“Why d’you ask?”

She debated lying for a moment, playing it off like she was just curious, but Alex had the annoying habit of being much more observant than the other guys. He would call her on it immediately.

“I like this guy…” she started. 

“Let me guess, he’s about five-seven, plays the guitar... wears a lot of sleeveless shirts?”

“Does everyone know?” she scowled in exasperation.

“Everyone except for Luke, I’m pretty sure. You’re not subtle.”

“Crap.”

“Maybe you should tell him.”

“I can’t tell him!”

“Why not? 

“Because… because I don’t know how he feels. And he’s important, too important, I don’t want to mess up the friendship we have.”

Alex gave a long-suffering sigh, muttering something under his breath, and turned around to face her fully. 

“Julie, have you seen the way he looks at you?”

She frowned. Did Luke look at her in a certain way? She didn’t think so. He was a pretty friendly dude in general and he always had that puppy-dog look on his face around his friends. She shrugged.

Alex raised his eyes to the ceiling, giving the distinct impression that he was praying for strength. She didn’t appreciate it.

“Please just… consider telling him.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, standing up and heading towards the door. “Tell Willie I said hi and I’m excited to meet him, okay?” 

“Hey Julie,” Alex called, stopping her in her tracks. 

She looked at him, her eyebrow cocked. 

“It’s from that store by the pier,” he said, nodding to her chest. “He must’ve stopped outside it about a hundred times. Just thought you’d want to know.”

She looked down at where the locket hung over her shirt, reaching up to touch it without realising. She knew the store he was talking about – an antique jewellery shop that had survived there for God knows how many years. Every time she walked past it she stopped to admire the shining accessories on display. Her mom had used to take her down there just to window shop. 

Oh, Luke.

“You look seriously fire,” Flynn stated, eyeing Julie’s outfit. 

The bridal suite was a flurry activity as everybody got ready. While not actually a part of the wedding party, Alison had insisted she join them for a sneaky glass of champagne before the ceremony. A makeup counter had been set up for the bridesmaids and there was a chain of women doing one another’s hair in front of the mirrors. At the heart of it all, Alison stood on a small podium as several of her friends helped her into her gown. She was having the time of her life by the looks of it.

In her stunning Maid Of Honour dress, Victoria looked like a supermodel. She carried herself like one too. Julie, however, was busy tugging at her skirt nervously. The red silk gown flowed all the way down to her feet. It had a set of off-the-shoulder straps that she had to keep readjusting for fear that they would slip too far down. Everywhere itched. It wasn’t even her wedding day and she felt on edge. Alison seemed to be having no such trouble. Her laughter carried right down the hall as she joked with her friends.

“I don’t know…” Julie murmured. “Do I need to fix my hair?”

Flynn rolled her eyes, getting up off her seat and coming over to place firm hands on her shoulders. 

“Jules. Listen to me. You. Look. Hot. Stop worrying already?”

“I’m not worried.”

“Mhm. Look, I know this is the first time you’ve seen Luke since the whole ‘soulmate epiphany’ situation…”

“This isn’t about Luke,” she insisted. “And we’re not soulmates. I just want this wedding to go well. My dad and Alison deserve it.”

Flynn smirked.

After her sleepless night of revelations, Julie had called Flynn the second she had a chance. There was so much going on and she had just had to tell someone. She’d been regretting that decision ever since.

“Okay, so number four of the Fail-Safe Ways To Get Over A Crush says you should try keeping yourself busy–” Flynn had started. 

But Julie had been way ahead of her.

“I don’t think it matters how busy I am, Flynn,” she’d sighed in defeat. “No matter where I am or what I’m doing I’ve always got Luke on my mind. I miss him when he’s not there, every time I see something that reminds me of him I want to text him, and when I’m writing all I think about is how he makes me a better writer. I don’t think this thing is going to go away anytime soon, I think it’s always been there ever since he came into my life. You were right.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Julie was forced to wrench the phone away from her ear due to the sheer volume of the squeal Flynn let out.

“So you finally admit it! He’s your soulmate!”

“He’s not– Flynn, soulmates don’t exist.”

“Uh, yes they do! You’ve got one and his name is Luke.” 

Julie hung up. It took two seconds for Flynn to call back.

“Okay, sorry, sorry. No soulmate talk. Got it. So what are you going to do?”

“I think I’m going to tell him,” Julie had decided after a beat, sounding more confident than she felt. “If I don’t then I’m just going to be stuck feeling like this forever and I really won’t be able to move on. It’s best that he just knows.”

If only it were that easy. With the wedding so close, the activity in the house had grown hectic. This was the excuse Julie used to justify to herself that she hadn’t done anything about her feelings. There was still a lot to consider in the way of them, and she just wasn’t sure she could face it yet, so she busied herself by diving into seating charts and last-minute calls to florists. 

By the time the actual day rolled around, she and Luke had once again lapsed into strange and distant silence. Though she supposed it was only fair because he was busy too. Between the album and helping ferry decorations around the bands’ schedule was pretty packed. 

“Okay, so you’re not worried about Luke,” Flynn said, rolling her eyes as Julie’s thoughts jerked back to the present. “I’m serious though, you’re gonna knock him dead in that dress.”

“I’m mostly hoping I don’t trip on the way down the aisle.” 

She didn't trip. The wedding was beautiful. Alison glowed like a queen in her ivory gown, beaming as she walked down the aisle arm in arm with Reggie, and Julie had never seen her dad look quite so overjoyed. She shed a tear or two during the vows, elbowing Reggie just slightly in amusement when she noticed he was crying too. He bumped her back with a smile. They had been a family since the moment Alison walked into the Molina family’s lives, but now it was official. In the audience, Julie caught Luke’s eye. His cheeks were a little wet too. He held her gaze, a moment of understanding moving between them, then her focus was pulled away by the exchange of rings.

They moved out to the hotel garden for the reception. Strings of tiny candle-lit lanterns had been hung up over the patio to form a wide dance floor area. Each of the white tables dotted around had been carefully laden with bright flowers and centrepieces. Off to the side a small stage was set up with a brilliant black grand piano and the band’s instruments. Both Julie and Sunset Curve had agreed to play the party – Alison and her dad had thought it would be the ideal way to celebrate.

The guys headed right for it. They had been charged with the music for the first dance. The song was supposed to be a surprise. Reggie had been bouncing in excitement about it all week now. 

Julie and Flynn went to sit, sneaking glasses of champagne from a waiter’s tray as they waited for them to set up. Guests milled around talking. The jolly atmosphere was contagious. After a few minutes, a tinkling sound came from the stage and they looked up to find Victoria standing there with a glass and spoon in hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she said, smiling serenely into the microphone. “Please vacate the dance floor and welcome Sunset Curve–” there was a smattering of applause. “–as our bride and groom join us for their first dance of the evening.”

She had helped Alison plan the whole event and it was going swimmingly. Julie could tell she would be bragging about it for the next few months at the very least. The floor cleared and she stepped down, heading back to her table.

“We actually need Julie for this one,” Luke jumped in,  gesturing at her with a grin.

Her drink caught in her throat and she spluttered. Flynn thumped on her back as she coughed. 

“Did he say he needs me?” she choked out. “I don’t have anything prepared.”

“Don’t worry, he’s got you,” Reggie chimed in, appearing at her side to herd her over to the piano with Alex. 

“Guys, what–”

She looked over at Luke in confusion, trying to catch his eye, but he was too busy fussing with his guitar. On the stand, a set of song sheets had been laid out for her. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Perfect Harmony.”

It was the unfinished song she had played for the guys when they’d taken her to the studio on her birthday, only… it wasn’t unfinished anymore. It was a duet. 

“He finished it,” she murmured, to herself, then turned towards the guys. “You finished it.”

Luke finally looked up, expression a little sheepish.

“We don’t have to play it if you don’t want to. I know it’s your song, I just thought–”

“I want to.”

They stared at one another for a moment, then he nodded and stepped back into place, lifting his guitar strap over his head. There were a few seconds of shuffling as the guests settled down, then Luke began to play.

“Step into my world. Bittersweet love story ‘bout a girl, shook me to the core, voice like an angel I’ve never heard before…”

The hotel’s garden doors opened and through came her dad and Alison, beaming. They swept over to the dance floor together, hand in hand, and Julie felt her heart swell. She hardly had time to process the realisation that Luke hadn’t taken his eyes off her before it was her turn.

“Here in front of me,” she sang, fingers dancing across the piano with practised ease. “ They’re shining so much brighter than I have ever seen. Life can be so mean, but when he goes I know he doesn’t leave...”

Their voices melded together as one and everything fell into place.

“The truth is finally breaking through…”

The song flowed through her like wildfire. It yearned to be sung, taking on a life of its own as the band played, moving between her voice and Luke’s in a perfect connection. 

More guests joined the couple on the floor, a sea of blissfully happy faces. There was love everywhere she looked. Friends and relatives gathered in one space to celebrate that livewire connection between two people. Was it something they all felt? The sparks in the atmosphere? Did they see the way the music lit up the air like fireflies or was it just her? Music was her first great love, she had her mother’s songs set into her very bones, and she’d never felt anything even come close to it. The love she felt for her family, for her brothers and Flynn, and for the boys that had walked in the door behind Reggie on that first day they moved into the house, it was all-encompassing but… what she felt for Luke was the closest thing she’d felt to the movement of a song in her entire life.

When Perfect Harmony ended, she stared at the sheets for a few seconds. Luke had very carefully printed the notes on the pages, his usually messy scrawl neat and blocky for once. He’d finished it. He’d finished it for her.

That had to mean something.

The guests applauded cheerfully. Julie’s dad beamed up at her, giving two thumbs up, and Alison laughed. To her surprise, the band removed their instruments and began to vacate the stage. Victoria hurried up to Reggie, pulling him over to help her fiddle with a laptop that had been set up on a speaker. 

“Aren’t you guys playing more?” she asked, catching Bobby by the elbow as he was climbing off the stage.

“Later,” he said. “Alison says we have to eat first.”

Oh, Alison. She was always fussing over them. It was a miracle the boys had ever survived without her. 

Luke appeared at Julie’s side.

“That was amazing!” he beamed, helping her step down from the stage. Their hands stayed clasped together even when she reached the ground. 

“You look…” he started, eyes sweeping up and down her form appreciatively, then swallowed. “I like the dress.”

“Thanks,” Julie’s heart fluttered. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

It was an understatement. It wasn’t often that anyone managed to wrangle Luke into wearing sleeves, but Alison and Victoria had succeeded with style. His suit fit him perfectly, a deep blue which brought out the colour of his eyes. 

Julie ached.

“Hey…” he said.  “Will you dance with me?”

“You think you can keep up?”

He laughed, loud and delighted as she pulled him onto the floor. Reggie had set up a playlist with the help of Flynn a few weeks ago. The first song to come on was fast and upbeat. A cheer went up across the garden as the rest of the guests flooded the floor. Pure joy filled her chest, her feet light as air beneath her as she and Luke spun around one another. Once or twice she spotted Bobby dancing with a pretty bridesmaid, and Carlos and Flynn went twisting by them in a hilarious tornado-like dance-off. In the middle of the floor, Alison and her dad held one another tight as they sang along. It was perfect.

“Hey,” Alex nabbed her by the arm as he went past at one point. “This is Willie.”

A tall boy with long enviable hair twisted up into a neat bun beamed at her, leaning forward to bump their fists together.

“The famous Julie! Rad. Alex talks about you all the time. Hey Luke!”

Luke grinned back at him, reaching over for his own fist bump. Pink tinged Alex’s cheeks.

“He talks about you a lot too,” Julie replied honestly.

“You do?” Willie looked at Alex in delight, slinging an arm around his shoulder. “Aw, babe…”

“See you guys later,” Alex sighed, steering the still-babbling Willie away as they snickered.

After a few hours, the party began to wind down. There were several breaks from dancing when Luke and the boys, or Julie, would get up on stage for another live song, but after each time Luke would seek her out again and pull her back to the dance floor. Alison and her dad slipped out a little after sundown, a line of people kissing their cheeks and hugging them in congratulations before sending them off in their honeymoon car, but the celebration went on. 

Luke and Julie were still dancing when it slowed way down. Several people took the change in tone as an opportunity to escape back to their tables to rehydrate and collect their kids. Others paired off, drifting into couples and beginning to sway together for one last song.

“We could go sit down,” Luke said. “If you want.”

It was tempting to say yes. Her feet ached and the storm of feelings raging beneath her skin gave an overwhelming cry, but that lightness from earlier had yet to fade and she swallowed down her fear with a shake of her head.

“Can we keep dancing?” she asked. “Just for a little bit.”

Luke’s answering smile took her breath away. 

They were in another world together. The buzz of chatter from the guests, the hum of the crickets in the distance, her nerves about the dress... it all fell away as he held her. Around them, the music swelled and they swayed in a gentle circle beneath the warm glow of the lanterns. There was little she could focus on other than his strong hand in hers and the electrified sparks which tingled across her skin where they touched. She rested her head on his shoulder, allowing him to pull her closer. It felt as though she had loved him all her life. The years before they’d met had simply been a waiting game. 

Now was the moment.

“I have to tell you something,” she said. 

One of his thumbs was rubbing absent-minded circles around the edge of her hand. 

“You can tell me anything.”

She looked up. Those damn earnest eyes – he was killing her.

Now or never, she thought. He’s worth the risk.

“Luke,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Luke… I love you.”

Chapter Text

“Luke… I love you.”

The words seemed to ring out in the air around them. Their feet stopped. They stared at one another, stock still. 

Say something, she willed him silently. Say something, anything.

Luke opened his mouth once, twice, but no words came out. Julie felt her throat tighten as the panic began to rise. She took a step back, dropping her eyes to the ground, and pulled her hand from his. Oh, God. What had she been thinking? 

“Luke?” she asked.

“I–” he started, but words failed him.

She took another step back. And another.

“Right, okay then… I’ll just...”

“Wait, Julie–” 

But she was already turning away. With every step she took her heart seemed to pound twice as hard. Tears pricked at her eyes. 

“Julie!”

She broke into a run, gathering up her skirt and dodging through the lingering party-goers as she flew through the hotel on autopilot. Humiliation burned her cheeks – she couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been. Had she gone insane? Of course Luke didn’t know what to say, you don’t just drop a bomb like that without warning, he probably thought she’d lost her mind. Vision blurred, it was a miracle she made it outside to the line of cabs waiting down the side of the building without tripping. Luke was coming after her, she was sure of it, his voice still calling her name. She couldn’t – wouldn’t – stop. 

He would be nice about it, that was for sure, Luke was nice about everything, but there was no way she could handle him looking at her with those big hazel eyes of his all pitying while he tried to let her down easy, no sir. She would rather die. 

Getting back to the house was a blur. As soon as she was inside she locked and bolted the door behind her. Resting her back against it she let herself slide down until she was sat in an exhausted slump, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand and willing the earth to open up and swallow her. 

Why was she like this? Had she just ruined one of the best relationships she had in her life? It wasn’t as if she could play it off like she’d meant she loved him in a platonic way, not after the dramatic exit she’d just made. God, the way he had just looked at her. That had been the most painful few moments of silence she’d ever experienced. She was never going to be able to look him in the eye again!

Her wallowing was interrupted by a loud hammering on the door and she jerked upright in alarm.

“Julie!” Luke’s voice called through the wood. “Julie, open up!”

Dread rolled through her gut and she pulled herself up to her feet. 

“I don’t wanna talk right now, Luke!” she yelled.

“Julie, c’mon–”

No. She couldn’t do this. Not right now. She needed time. Time to prepare herself for the awkward conversation and inevitable disintegration of their friendship. Her heart ached at the thought of it. What would she do without Luke?

Up the stairs, she fled. She could just hide in her room until he got bored and left. He’d have to go at some point, right? 

On her bed lay the discarded magazine which she and Flynn had been consulting for the past few weeks. It was still laying open, almost flat on the pages from use, at the article. 'Five Fail-Safe Ways To Get Over A Crush', what complete crap that was. The last point on the list mocked her in bold lettering.

“Five: Tell Him How You Feel.”

A wave of frustration crashed down on her and she crumpled the magazine up, hurling it at the wastepaper basket in the corner. Stupid love gurus. What did they know? 

“Stupid boys,” she muttered to herself. “Stupid Luke and his stupid– oh my god! ”

Luke’s face frowned back at her as he teetered on the edge of the tree-branch outside her window.

“What are you doing?!”

“Let me in!” 

Julie was embarrassed, nauseous and even a little furious with Luke, but the way the branch shook beneath his weight was stressful enough for her to hurry over and unlatch the window. She pushed it open and he grabbed onto the ledge with a grateful sigh, pulling himself inside.

“Have you gone insane? Ever heard of a thing called boundaries. ”

“Look, I know! I’m really sorry,” he said, standing up and brushing himself off. “But we need to talk about this–”

“I told you I didn’t want to talk!”

“Well, what am I meant to do? Just leave and pretend nothing ever happened!”

“Yes!” she said, groaning into her hands.

It wasn’t that she didn’t realise she was being unreasonable, she was fully aware, but the panic inside of her was quickly evolving into full-on fear and she really just wanted him to get out of her room before she started crying again. Luke couldn’t handle crying. It would just make things worse.

There was a pause. Luke took a step towards her.

“C’mon, Julie,” he begged. “Please?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say .”

He took another step forward, reaching out for her, and gently pulled her hands away from her face. There they were – those big hazel eyes. She was going to be sick. 

“Why’d you run away?” he asked, quietly. 

“I– I don’t know,” she admitted, trying hard to avoid his gaze. “What else was I meant to do? I just… I got scared I guess. I mean I told you and you just stared at me. What else was I meant to do, Luke?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. You took me by surprise, I just… did you mean it?”

“What?”

“Did you mean what you said? When you told me you loved me did you mean it? Like… not as a friend, or like a brother, but like… that you love me.”

She swallowed, folding her arms and willing back more tears.

“Of course I did,” she confessed quietly. "I love you, Luke. I'm in love with you."

Luke let out a deep breath, running a hand through his hair in that same way he always did when he was nervous.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he asked. 

“Because…” she started, scrambling for the truth. “Because you’re one of my best friends, Luke. I didn’t want to ruin that. I… I know you don’t feel the same way and I just–”

She broke off, staring at him. He was laughing. Was he serious right now? She had just admitted that she was in love with him and the idiot was laughing. Embarrassment turned to rage and she opened her mouth to cuss him out but he cut in before the words could make it out.

“Julie, I love you.”

Once again, the words rang out in the spaces between them. Had she heard that right? A strange elation took hold. Hope began to bloom in her chest, desperate and wild and terrifying. Had he really just said…?

“If you’re just saying that–”

“Just saying that? Are you kidding me?!” he threw his arms up in exasperation. “Listen, you don’t even know what you mean to me. There are literally like no words for the way I feel about you. All I can tell you is that… I love it when you play with your hair.”

Okay, he’d lost her. What did her hair have to do with anything?

“What does that–”

“I love it when you play with your hair,” he repeated, louder this time. It did nothing to quell her confusion. He went on. “And the face you make when you’re mad. I love it when you wear big sweaters and you tie them up into crop tops. It looks really cute, alright? And I don't care if the guys make fun of me for it. I love your reading glasses, and the little gap between your teeth, and the way you match all your hair clips with your outfits.”

“Luke–”

He stepped towards her, taking both her hands in his as she looked helplessly back at him. 

“I love the way you work harder than anybody I know, and that your voice is like a freakin’ wrecking ball, seriously I’ve never heard anyone that sounds that much like an angel when they sing.”

“Luke,” she tried to stop him, feeling the tears spilling over her cheeks. 

“You keep me grounded,” he continued, lifting his hands to caress her face. “You put me in place when I’m getting carried away, and I can tell you anything. Nobody else knows me like you do, Julie. I have entire nights sometimes where I can’t even sleep ‘cause I’m busy thinking about you, wondering if you’re awake or what you’re dreaming about. It drives me insane. I thought for so long that it was just me, alright? I thought you liked that Nick guy and I was just that idiot in the background waiting around for nothing, but now... I mean, if you don't want this, if you truly want me to just be your friend then I will be, I will always be here, but if the only reasons you don’t think we should be together are because you’re scared or you don’t think I feel the same way then you need to know that you’re wrong. I do feel the same way. I love you, Julie. I am so in love with you it hurts.”

"Luke, I–"

But words weren't enough. There was a storm of emotion raging through Julie's whole body and she was half out of her mind from it. Here stood Luke, after weeks of her trying to tell herself what she felt was something fleeting, unreciprocated, and she could just move on, telling her that she'd been wrong this entire time. That he loved her, that he wanted to be with her, that he'd been going just as crazy as she...

Who kissed who first, they would never be sure. All Julie knew was one moment she was busy being taken apart from the inside by his words and the next her lips were on his. His strong arms wrapped around her waist, holding her steady as ever as they melted into it. Her whole body was alive with sparks. Luke kissed her like it was the only chance he'd get. It felt so right, so unquestionable, an inevitability that had just been waiting for the both of them to catch up. It was everything Julie had ever dreamed of and more. 

When they finally pulled apart, breathless and beaming, it took every inch of self-control not to just reel him straight back in. He was right though, they needed to talk about this. There would be plenty of time for kissing later (she hoped).

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” she asked, stroking a thumb tenderly across his cheek, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“‘Cause I thought you already knew. Everybody else did.”

The knowing looks. The teasing jokes. The neverending hints from their family and friends. All this time she’d thought they were all directed solely at her. How could she not have seen it? Oh, she was going to kill Flynn and Reggie. 

“Oh my God,” she laughed. “We are both so stupid.”

“Tell me about it,” he grinned. “Do you know how long they've been bugging me to say something? Oh man, the guys are gonna be so smug about this.” 

Her dad was going to be smug too, she knew it, and Alison and Victoria would probably both cry. Flynn would never stop laughing. Carlos would just tell them to stop being gross every time he saw them in a room together. Oh, they were all going to be so insufferable about it, but somehow that made the whole reality of it even better. 

“We don’t have to tell them if you don't want to.”

“Of course we do," Luke chuckled. "You think I'd be able to keep it a secret? No way. I can’t wait to tell everybody I know that Julie Molina is my girlfriend.”

At this rate, she was going to have to see a doctor. If not, it would be impossible to handle the joyful way her heart skipped a beat every time Luke looked at her like she was the only person in the world.

“Girlfriend?”

“Yeah… if that’s what you want?”

She smirked, reaching up to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“You’re all I want.”

And his smile was everything.

One Year Later

“...if I could take us back, if I could just do that, and write in every empty space the words I love you in replace…”

The sound of the radio floated through the air as Julie tried with all her might to get her last suitcase to close. It just wasn’t budging. She stepped back, sweaty and stumped as she frowned at it. Maybe she should lose the eighth pair of sneakers… but what if she needed them? Three months was a long time to go with just seven sets of shoes.

Julie had been accepted into every college she’d applied to, all good options with great music programmes, but in a fit of spontaneity, she had elected to take a year out. Well… it wasn’t all down to spontaneity. 

“Hey, have you seen my plaid shirt around?” Luke asked, searching through the mountain of clothes on Julie’s bed.

“Oh, it’s with my things,” she said, turning around with her hands on her hips. “Have you seriously not finished packing yet? If we don’t leave soon we’ll miss our flight.”

“Chill,” he grinned, pressing a soft kiss to her head as he passed. “It’s not like the tour bus can leave without us.”

Along with many school acceptances, towards the end of the year, Julie had been made two other offers she couldn’t refuse. The first, egged on by her family and friends, was the chance to record her own EP at the same studio as Sunset Curve. It turned out that Paul the producer had become one of her biggest fans, and was more than willing to help her out with industry contacts after hearing her sing. Flynn had been so excited about it that she'd started hyping the album up online before Julie had even begun to record it – Carlos was helping her run a promotional Instagram account too. 

Julie wasn’t the only one who’d had a whirlwind year in terms of music careers. Sunset Curve had ended up signing with Splash Records after all. It turned out the label had been more than determined to have them. After they’d finished the record, Splash had thrown a surprising amount of money into marketing and distribution for their music. To the surprise of no one, except perhaps a little to the band themselves, their following had exploded in numbers. People had started to recognise the guys on the street – Reggie had once been mobbed while trying to buy a hotdog downtown – and they were already beginning work on their next record. When they’d found out just what Splash had planned for them as a result of their newfound success, Luke had all but lost his mind.

This had led to the second offer which Julie couldn’t refuse. With the upcoming release of her EP – Perfect Harmony – it seemed that the boys were just as determined to make sure people knew her name as they were to have their own music heard. Thus, it had been decided. Julie would be taking a gap year and, on that very gap year, she would be opening for Sunset Curve as they travelled the world for their first international tour. 

Okay, so maybe Julie had lost her mind a little bit too. Who could blame her? They had their own bus.

“Hey,” Luke murmured, bringing her back to earth as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. “I’m glad you’re coming with us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she grinned. “You just want me for my voice.”

He laughed, beaming as she twisted in his arms to kiss him properly. 

"You joke, but more people will be coming to see you than us eventually," he said. "You're going to be a legend, Jules."

“No amount of flattery is going to convince me to help you sabotage Reggie's banjo."

"Worth a shot. If I have to hear him play 'Home Is Where My Horse Is' one more time..."

They both giggled, pressing closer together and basking in their last few moments of peace before the adventure began.

"I’m glad I’m coming too,” she whispered, into his shoulder. “I love you.”

She would say those words a million times throughout their lives and they would never be untrue. Her love for Luke was all-encompassing and wild, and sometimes the intensity of it would still scare her but, as he had never failed to remind her, the two of them were always worth the risk. Standing there, wrapped up in one another, a familiar picture they did make.