Chapter Text
“That was weird,” Julie muttered, frowning as she tossed the flowers onto the countertop, shaking her head.
“What was?” Luke’s voice made her jump. She spun, facing the ghost with a half-hearted glare.
“What have I told you about doing that?”
“What was weird?” He ignored her question, jumping on the counter, facing her.
“Nick.” She huffed the boy's name, not elaborating as she leaned against the cabinet across from the ghost, staring at the flowers next to him.
Luke took notice of her gaze, picking up the flowers in interest. “That dude from your school with the crush on you? He gave you these?” He raised an eyebrow at the girl.
“Yeah,” Julie rolled her eyes, but nodded, “it was… weird. He was weird.”
“What’d he do?” The girl remained silent, thinking.
What had been so weird about the exchange? She couldn’t place it. He was just- different. How he’d faced her? The greeting, maybe? What did he say? She couldn’t recall.
“I- don’t know,” she exhaled, shaking her head once more. “Whatever. Just been a weird day I guess, don’t worry,” she smiled a tired grimace.
“You’re the boss,” Luke shrugged, hopping off the counter and moving to the fridge, making Julie roll her eyes. “Reggie said he heard you and your brother up late. What was that about?”
Right, Julie had almost forgotten. On top of everything else that happened last night, Carlos knew. “He kinda… sorta… knows about you guys now?”
“I knew it!” Luke slammed the fridge closed. “Before you guys left for the venue, he came into the studio and wished us a good show!” Luke turned around, drumming his fingers on the counter. “Reggie and Alex said he’d found this box with some chef stuff in it and figured someone died here and came back. Guess there must have been more in the box, maybe about us.”
“Wait what? Why am I just hearing about this now?” Julie glared at the ghost.
Luke laughed nervously, backing up to lean against the fridge. “Really? I thought we told you, oops.”
Julie rolled her eyes and shook her head. Leave it to the boys to leave out an important fact like that. Carlos had told her he’d only known for just over a day, and she believed him. He’d even shown her the CD cover he’d found, showing off the boy’s names and faces.
“So, what did he say?” Luke asked, eyeing the girl. “Like, do we have to worry about him telling your dad, or is he cool?”
Julie shrugged, leaning on the counter. “He said that he’d help keep Papi off the trail.”
Luke whistled, “That’s so weird. So, he’s what, like, covering for us now?”
“I guess so?”
“Does he know about last night?” Luke asked, glancing at her hand on the counter behind her, thinking about whether his own would pass right through or not.
“Yeah,” Julie’s soft tone made his gaze dart back to hers, gulping as their eyes met. “Yeah, he knows that you were tangible-” a catch in her voice- “for a bit,” she failed to hide her grimace.
None of them were sure if they were still able to touch or not. Not brave enough to try, only to find out it had been temporary. Julie didn’t know if she’d be able to handle that, after everything.
“Hey. Whatever happens, we’ll be fine,” Luke stood straight and took a step toward her. “Right?”
“Yeah,” she breathed a sigh, stepping to meet him. “Right.”
They both held their breaths as he slowly placed his own hand against hers, tensing when, instead of passing through, they touched, for the second time ever.
She smiled, releasing a shaky breath, threading their fingers together. Luke lifted his other hand, and they did the same.
“I was really worried that wouldn’t work,” Luke admitted, his laugh wobbly.
“Me too,” she looked at their joined hands, unable to bear his intense stare any longer. “Hey, um-”
“Morning, Jules!” The kitchen door burst open, the two springing apart. “Wait, how did you do that?” Flynn gaped, pointing at the pair with wide eyes.
“Do what?” Julie breathed, trying to force her heart to slow down.
“When I walked in, I swear I saw…” Flynn trailed off, blinking rapidly.
Julie and Luke eyed each other again. Either her friend had lost her mind, or she really had seen something…
“Did I interrupt a duet or something?” Flynn finally asked, gesturing to where Luke was standing.
“Wait what? No?” Julie was more confused than ever. “Do you have a fever? Are you okay?” She asked, pressing her hand against the girl’s forehead.
Flynn smacked her hand away, “I’m not sick! I for sure saw Luke when I walked in!”
“Woah, woah, woah, wait what?” Luke rushed forward now. “You can see me?” He waved his hand around in front of Flynn’s face
Flynn didn’t respond, either ignoring him or not hearing his question.
“You can see him?” Julie repeated the question, tilting her head.
Flynn shook her head, “not right now, but when I walked in. He was there, then poof, you turned to face me, and he was gone!” She started waving her arms all around.
“So, you can’t see me right now then?” Luke waved his hand through Flynn’s arm, confirming his theory. Julie was the only one he could touch, just like she was the only one who could see them. Well, that second part may not be so true anymore.
“Okay. Okay, okay,” Julie started pacing back and forth, spiralling. “What were we doing? We gotta do whatever it was again.” She spun back to face Luke.
Trying to ignore the flush crawling towards his ears, Luke took a slow step forward, grabbing Julie’s hand in his own again.
“There!” Flynn burst, pointing at the two. “I can see him again! And um, girl, since when can you two touch?” She half shouted.
“She can see you when we touch,” Julie half-whispered, mind reeling. How was that possible?
“I can! This is so cool!” Flynn burst, bouncing on her toes. She looked around the room, “are Alex and Reggie here?”
“Nope, just me,” Luke responded, finally tearing his eyes away from his and Julie’s hands.
“Isn’t this awesome, Jules?” The two noticed the girl’s silence for the first time. “Woah, girl, you look like you’re about to pass out!”
Luke gently touched her arm with his other hand, snapping her out of the haze.
“Sorry,” she smiled weakly at him, then her friend, “I’m good.” Neither of them believed her.
“Hey, chill, we’ll figure this out,” Luke nudged her gently with the hand still on her arm, squeezing her other hand.
“I just- I have so many questions,” Julie turned to Flynn, trying to ignore the flurries that erupted inside her at Luke’s gentle reassurance, sending goosebumps up her skin. “What does this mean? Can everyone else see him too?” She shook Luke off, starting to pace again, “Will it work with Reggie and Alex? Is the sight exclusive to whoever I’m touching? Am I the only one who can touch them? Why can I touch them?” Julie’s words got faster as she spiralled further and further.
“Jules, chill! We’ll sort this out!” Flynn jumped in, pulling the girl into a tight hug. Julie melted into her friend’s arms, leaving Luke standing awkwardly off to the side. “Why don’t we go experiment? Where are the others?” Flynn asked as the two pulled apart, glancing all around the kitchen, unable to find the ghost.
“They should be in the studio,” Luke shrugged, not completely sure. A few moments of no response reminded him. He stepped towards Julie, holding his hand out to her, letting her make the move again. He still wasn’t completely comfortable just waltzing up and grabbing her hand.
Julie smiled gently, joining their hands. So that Flynn could see him. That was the only reason. Luke repeated his answer once Flynn’s gaze focused on him.
Her eyes shot down to their connected hands, but she didn’t comment, for which Julie was grateful. “Well, let’s hustle,” she led the charge.
The three entered the studio, and sure enough, found the other half of the band.
Reggie sat on the chair next to the couch, strumming something that sounded vaguely country-like, while Alex sat in the middle of the couch, back stiff and hands drumming against the table relentlessly.
“Hi boys,” Flynn greeted, looking directly at them both, confirming to Julie and Luke her vision. The other two, however, failed to notice, mumbling greetings without glancing up, no doubt thinking their words wouldn’t be to any effect. Flynn huffed, the conjoined pair watching her in amusement.
“What’s she gonna do?” Luke whispered, watching the other girl with wide eyes.
“We’ve been friends for eight years, I’ve never known what she’s gonna do next,” Julie couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice.
Flynn marched forward, not one to be ignored, and sat heavily next to Alex, as close as she could without passing through him. This time he glanced at her, taking a second look when he realised, she was looking directly at him. He yelped, falling off the couch and scrambling away from her.
This caught Reggie’s attention, making the boy look up from his strumming, also meeting Flynn’s gaze. “Hi, Flynn!” He waved brightly, grinning at the girl, even though he knew she couldn’t see or hear him.
“Hi, Reggie!” Flynn waved back, smirking when the bassist startled at her response.
“Can she see us?!” Alex asked, shooting up from the ground and spinning to face first Luke and Julie, then Flynn, then the pair once more.
“You boys sure have some catching up to do,” Luke laughed, walking over to the group, and pulling Julie along with him. Alex sent a pointed look at their joined hands, and raised an eyebrow. Luke rolled his eyes, “Now she sees us-” he dropped Julie’s hand- “now she doesn’t.” Was his only explanation, moving away to pick up his six-string.
“That’s so cool!” Reggie burst, practically bouncing in his seat. “Does it work with us too?” He shot forward, wrapping his arm around Julie’s shoulders, making the girl stumble and laugh. “Can you see me now?”
“Yepp,” Flynn was giddy. With this new development, she could finally be included in more of their shenanigans! No more being left out of her best friend’s life!
“This is all so weird,” Alex began pacing, running his hands through his hair stressfully. “Am I the only one freaking out right now?”
“No way,” Julie scoffed, “you should have seen the freak out I had in the kitchen,” Julie grinned, sympathising with the blonde, still very much stressing, herself.
“She was halfway to a panic attack,” Flynn whispered loudly to the boy, smiling widely when he chuckled.
“Glad I’m not the only one,” he rubbed the back of his neck, stopping pacing to sink back onto the couch.
“Totally not alone there,” Flynn tried to pat his shoulder, only for her hand to go through him. “Oh, right,” she laughed sheepishly.
Before any further conversation could be had, the studio doors creaked open.
“Julie? Flynn?” The doors swung open fully, and Ray Molina stepped in.
Reggie and Julie shot apart instantly, but they weren’t quick enough,
“What was that?” Ray blinked rapidly, looking at Julie, then around the room slowly. “I swear I just saw…”
Julie’s brain short-circuited, thankfully Flynn jumped to the rescue, “Sorry, Mr Molina,” she sprung up. “We were messing around with the holograms,” the lie was so smooth, Julie would have believed it, had she not been in the know. “What did you need?”
“Just wanted to tell you girls dinner is ready,” Ray said, still looking around the room in confusion. “You’ve got to tell me how you do those holograms someday soon.”
“It’s pretty complicated,” Julie sweated, knowing that if it came down to it, she wouldn’t be able to bluff any hologram know-how. Note to self, learn something about holograms.
“WELL! We don’t want dinner to get cold!” Flynn started to push Ray out the door. “Come on, Jules. We can come back after dinner,” Julie nodded along.
The three left the ghosts alone in the studio.
“I need to clear my head,” Alex muttered, poofing out without another word, leaving his bandmates to stare at each other.
“Should we go after him?”
“You know how he gets,” Luke shrugged non-committedly, fingering his guitar again. “He’ll walk around for an hour and then be back to ask more questions and model some more.”
Reggie was unconvinced but shrugged nonetheless and sunk back into the couch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Where’s Alex?” Julie questioned upon re-entering the studio an hour later, Flynn following.
“He left after you did,” Reggie supplied helpfully, waving at the two as they entered.
Luke patted the seat beside him, making Julie grin as she sat next to him, immediately joining their hands, ignoring the heat rising on her neck. Just so Flynn can see them, she told herself. That was the only reason he was so insistent about holding her hand.
“Is he okay?” She asked Reggie, the more emotionally in touch of the two.
“Can’t say for sure,” he shook his head, “he probably just went to cool off. He was pretty freaked earlier.”
“He’ll be fine, Jules,” Luke squeezed her hand, “he does this sometimes. He just needs to cool off. Promise.” Julie sighed a little, sinking back into the couch.
She wanted to believe him, but she knew Luke wasn’t great with processing other people’s (or his own, for that matter) emotions. As she started to pick through all the possibilities about where their MIA friend could be, he appeared in a flash of light.
“Oh, hey. Sorry,” Alex greeted, settling in on Julie’s other side, and glancing around. “Were you waiting long?” He’d feel bad if he’d kept them, especially since he was the one pressing for answers.
“Not at all,” Julie assured him, “we just got here too. Now, let’s try to get some answers!”
“Okay.” He had to admit that having Julie around was a godsend. Reggie meant well, but he was pretty clueless, and Luke had no grasp of emotions at all, so having someone whose brain ran so similarly to his own was awesome.
“We know from when Ray came in earlier, that he can see us!” Reggie started the conversation.
“And we can assume that Julie’s the only one that can touch you,” Flynn waved her hand through his shoulder for emphasis.
“And I assume you can still be seen when we play?” Julie would hate to find all these new powers, only for them to have to quit the band anyway.
“I would love to ask Willie about all of this, but-” Alex trailed off, not needing or wanting to finish that thought. He looked up when Julie rested a gentle hand on his arm, smiling sadly, which he returned.
“That’s another thing we’ll fix, Alex.” The girl leant forward, dropping Luke’s hand and embracing the blonde. He wrapped his own arms around her, ignoring the sting in his eyes.
“I hope so.”
“I promise. We will find him,” she whispered into his hoodie. Weirdly, he believed her. Alex eventually pulled away, blinking the tears he knew threatened to fall, out of his eyes. Julie grabbed his hand this time.
“What else is there?” Alex eventually asked, blushing as he realised everyone witnessed their little moment. Julie’s hand tightened on his, grounding him. He took a deep breath and slowly released it, squeezing back.
“I can’t think of anything we’ve missed,” Julie muttered, drumming the fingers of her free hand against her jeans. “I should tell Carlos and introduce him to you guys officially but-” she glanced at the clock on the wall- “it’s getting late and we should be in bed.”
“Oh jeez! It’s already ten?” Flynn shot up from her seat. “I should head home. It was great to be able to chill with you guys properly though!” She grinned at the ghosts.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Julie spoke, dropping Alex’s hand and standing to follow her friend. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she bid the boys goodnight as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“So, any new boyband drama?” Carlos asked, watching his sister bounce around the kitchen preparing breakfast.
“Oh, you have no idea, Little Man,” Reggie laughed. “Are you gonna tell him?”
“I dunno, does he really deserve to know?” Julie teased, turning to face the ghost, making it clear to her brother that she was talking to one of them.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Carlos leapt from his seat, racing around the counter to where the two- or one, to him- stood. “Who’s there?”
Julie didn’t like the wicked grin that formed on Reggie’s face, but it happened too quick for her to stop. Before she could react, Reggie’s arm came around her shoulder, with a shout of “Hey, Little Dude!”
Carlos leapt half a foot in the air, startling so hard that Julie was almost worried. Almost.
“Woah!” Her brother cried, gaping at the now visible ghost in wonder. “How did you do that?”
“Not much of a story,” Julie shrugged, “Flynn saw them yesterday when-” she cut herself off, not exactly eager to subject herself to the teasing- “when we were hanging out.”
Carlos didn’t suspect anything, but Reggie sure did. He wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her snort, as she shoved him playfully. He laughed, stumbling slightly before going back to having his arm around her, only half for Carlos’ benefit. He’d missed this… Missed having a sister.
“Oh, so you’re still solid too?” Carlos’ hand waved through Reggie’s middle, to which the boy let out a groan. “Danggit!” Julie and Reggie laughed.
“Guess I’m just special like that,” she stuck her tongue out at her brother, letting out a yelp and ducking when he threw his spoon at her. None of them noticed that the spoon that should have grazed her hair, passed right through it instead. “Why you!” She charged, grabbing the boy in a loose headlock to ruffle his hair with her fist.
“Hey, hey, what are we fighting about at seven in the morning!” Ray cut in, entering the kitchen for the first time.
“Morning, Ray!” Reggie greeted, despite knowing he wouldn’t get a response.
“Sorry Papi,” the siblings muttered, the older one letting her brother go, and going to collect her toast.
“Do you need a ride to school today, Mija? I don’t want you to be late,” the dig about school’s importance didn’t fly over Julie’s head.
“That’s okay, Flynn’s driving,” she opened the fridge, retrieving the butter. “How a She said she wants to use her dad’s car as much as she can before they make her buy her-”
She turned around and crashed into Reggie, forgetting about his new state of solidness, tumbling to the ground.
“Sorry, Julie!” Reggie reached out a hand, grabbing the girl’s arm and hauling her to her feet. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled, rubbing her head a little. She froze, dropping his hand as if it burned her, shooting her eyes in Ray’s direction, ready to have a panic attack. Only to find his head buried in his laptop at the kitchen table. The three of them let out a sigh of relief.
“Woah, that was close,” Carlos whispered, only to be shushed by Julie- and Reggie, not that he would know that.
“We should probably be more careful,” Reggie sweated, laughing sheepishly while Julie shot him a discreet glare.
Her phone buzzed on the counter, distracting any further scolding. “Flynn’s here, come on Carlos. Bye, Papi!”
“Seeya, Papi!”
The pair left the kitchen to meet Julie’s friend at the front door, Julie waving subtly to the ghost as she did.
“Morning Jules!”
“Good morning, Julie, Carlos,” Flynn’s father greeted the siblings from the passenger seat.
“Good morning, Mr Taylor,” they chorused as they climbed into the hatch.
“Julie, Flynn showed me a video of your performance last night, I’m very impressed. You looked so much like your mother,” he turned slightly to face the girl, a warm smile on his face, making Julie beam with pride.
“Thank you! It still kind of feels like a dream,” Julie laughed. She wanted to tell Flynn all about the close call in the kitchen, but couldn’t with Mr Taylor around, so she resigned to waiting until they were safely invisible in the crowded school halls.
“Jules! You have got to be more careful!” Flynn whisper-shouted at the girl, slamming her locker shut.
“I know, I know,” Julie groaned, accepting the lecture.
“It could have been really bad if your dad had seen that!”
“I completely forgot that I can’t just walk right through them anymore!” Julie fell back against her own locker. “I’m just lucky he didn’t see when Reggie helped me up, now THAT would have been bad.”
“No kidding, Julie,” Flynn dropped her voice, attempting to mimic Ray, “Who is this random boy in our kitchen? Isn’t he a member of your band? Didn’t you say they lived in Sweden,” Julie laughed at the girl’s poor impression.
The bell interrupted any further discussion, and the two headed to their first class.