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Julie loved her tía Victoria.
She really did.
Not everyone's aunt would step up in the way Victoria had after her mother passed. But, her aunt had been doting over her from the second she heard that Julie was sick. Popping in and out of the room every fifteen minutes to adjust the pillows around her, take her temperature, offer her food, then more food, and finally, more food.
As grateful as she was for her, she had a dull headache, was more congested than she had ever been in her life, and her fever was enough to send a chill throughout her body every now and then. None of it was doing her any favors.
She just needed a little break.
So, when the next knock at her door came, she squeezed her eyes shut, tossing her laptop aside. Victoria would peek in, see she was sleeping, and be on her way.
Simple but effective.
A muffled voice came through the door soon after, "Julie? It's me."
He didn't have to identify himself. She was sure she'd recognize that voice at any point in time, in any universe.
Maybe she didn't need a break after all.
"Come in."
She pulled her blanket up to cover most of her face. If she looked as bad as her voice sounded, she didn't need to be seen, certainly not by him.
Luke stepped through the door in his black jeans and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt she had never seen before. He loomed by the doorway, picking his hand up to give her a shy wave, "Hey."
"Hi," she smiled from behind her blanket.
Luke shoved his hands in his pockets, "I, uh, heard you were sick. I mean, I figured something was up when you didn't come to the studio today, and then Reggie heard your dad talking about it this morning. Anyways, Reg is with him right now, Alex needed some time alone, and I'm so bored. I thought you might be, too, and that maybe you might wanna hang out?"
She laughed softly at his rambling, "Totally, but only if you want to. I don't want to get you sick."
Luke's smile brightened as he stepped further into her room, "Is that fever melting your brain or something? Pretty sure getting sick isn't in my cards anymore, Jules."
Realizing her mistake, she squeezed her eyes shut for a second, "Right, sorry."
It was easy to forget that they were so entirely different, even if they existed in the same world. Especially when he stood there before her, his smile bringing out his dimples and crinkling the corners of his eyes, looking so real.
Not that he wasn't real, he was, but she knew there would come a day where he would have to leave her.
Where he would disappear to who knows where.
A tiny part of her, the inherently selfish part, hoped it never would.
She knew that wasn't fair to him. It wasn't fair to any of them.
The more significant, naive part was always looking for ways to make her boys more permanent. Their bond had broken their curse; it even made them corporeal from time to time.
(Those moments came at different times for different durations; something none of them had yet to figure out.)
There had to be something they could do.
Except there was no way of knowing. She had to take as much time with Luke as she could, just in case.
She motioned her head to the spot beside her.
"Cool, cool," Luke smiled, leaping over her, and landing with a violent thud on the opposite side of her bed.
"I told you to stop doing that," she chided, flipping on her side to face him, "Anyone downstairs could hear you."
"And I told you there's no way they would know it's me. Invisible, remember?" He suddenly narrowed his eyes at her, "Why are you covering your face like that?"
"Because I look terrible, obviously."
Luke clicked his tongue, "Nah. Sick? Maybe, but terrible isn't even in your range."
As if her fever wasn't making her face hot enough.
She rolled her eyes, "Shut up."
Laughing, he reached to grab the blanket, tugging it downwards to pull it from her ironclad grip, "Oh, come on, let me see."
She begrudgingly released her hold, letting the comforter fall down.
In the time she had come to know him, she realized he had a few different smiles, seemingly one for every occasion. Her favorite one, though, was the one where one side of his mouth would inch up slightly higher than the other, a goofy, heartfelt grin that made the pit of her stomach burn in the best way.
"See? Just like I told you," he deployed that same smile, "Sick, but beautiful."
"Thanks, Romeo," she smirked back at him, "but you shouldn't lie."
"Lie? To you? Julie Molina?" Luke arched an eyebrow, "Can’t. You’re way too scary."
"Says the ghost."
Luke broke into a huge grin, throwing his head back in a fit of laughter. She knew the joke wasn't that funny, but seeing him there in front of her having fun, so happy, she couldn't contain the giggles that escaped her chest.
The humor faded away as they lapsed into silence, heads resting on their pillows, their faces painstakingly close to one another. She wasn't sure how long they were staring before Luke cleared his throat and gestured towards her laptop he only narrowly avoided in his descent onto her bed.
"Whatcha watching?"
She forgot she had even been watching anything.
"Oh, um, it's an animated movie," she worked to regain her composure, "Coco."
"Never heard of it."
"That's because it's kind of new and you’re kind of old. It's one of my favorites, used to be one of my mom's, too. We watched it a lot after she got sick." She shifted her gaze away from him and let out a small sigh, "I think it made her a little more comfortable with, you know, not being here anymore."
"Really?" Luke furrowed his eyebrows, "How?"
She should have guessed the subject would pique his interest.
"It's about music and Día de los Muertos. They could probably show you better than I can tell you, though. Do you want to watch it?"
"You don't mind starting it over?"
"Nope, and I think you'll like Miguel. He reminds me of someone I know," she reached out to give his shoulder a light shove.
Luke's smile took up his entire face when her hand didn't phase clear through him.
She was sure hers did much the same.
He grinned back at her, "Roll the tape, boss."
They shifted together, Luke grabbing the laptop and resting it on his legs as she tucked herself tightly into his side. She picked her head up, letting it fall lightly onto his chest.
As Luke put his arm around her, she looked up at him through her eyelashes, feeling an overwhelming need to memorize every little thing about the moment.
He gave her a wink.
A total dork.
She must have wished they could stay like that forever a couple of hundred thousand times over.
To Julie's surprise, they managed to make it through most of the movie before Victoria knocked on the door, causing Julie to yank her laptop from Luke just in time for him to toss himself off the side of her bed, hitting the floor with a loud bang.
"Ow."
She shushed him as her aunt opened the door.
Victoria, thankfully, stayed in the doorway but unleashed a full round of questioning about the sound Luke’s fall had made, her schoolwork, and how she felt before explaining she was off to run errands and wouldn't return until morning.
Luke spent a good five minutes on the floor before Victoria left the room. After the knob clicked shut, he peeked his head over the mattress, "Is it safe?"
"You know she can't see you, drama queen," Julie chuckled, rolling her eyes, "but the coast is clear."
"Sweet," Luke picked himself up from the ground, settling back onto the bed. "You know, I can't believe that bastard Ernesto, not even just stealing Héctor's songs, but his guitar, too? If Bobby had even thought about looking at my guitar, I would have had to..."
"Had to what?" She pressed with a smile after he trailed off.
"I don't know. I'd have to figure it out, but it would have been epic." He stuck his pointer finger up at her, "You don't toy with a man's guitar."
"Right, of course," she laughed, bringing her arm to rest on his chest. "How about you plan your completely hypothetical revenge plot after the movie?"
Luke heaved a melodramatic sigh, "Fine."
As the film came to its end, they both wiped tears from their eyes. Julie looked up at Luke, "I never would have guessed you were a movie crier."
"I'm not," he huffed, running both of his hands down his face, "but it hit a little close to home, alright? Sue me."
"You don't have any money."
"Oh, sure, make fun of the dead guy's financial situation," Luke teased.
“Very funny,” she rolled her eyes. “So, what did you think?”
“It was awesome, and Ernesto got what he deserved. I mean, it doesn’t get better than that.” Luke smiled before pressing his lips in a tight line, a sign he was deep in his thoughts, “I really hope that it’s like that, you know?”
She met his eyes, “The...other side?”
He gave her a small nod.
“Me too.”
Stillness washed over them as Julie sat up to close her laptop and set it aside. The storyline's weight started to settle, except for the first time, she wasn't just thinking about her mother, but Reggie, Alex, and Luke, too.
"Hey, Julie?"
"Yeah?"
Luke's expression grew more serious than she had seen it in a long time, "You know we're gonna figure this out, right? You know I'm going to fight like hell to stay here with you?"
It shouldn't have shocked her; he always had a way of knowing what she was thinking.
She shot him a sad smile. It wasn’t a promise either of them could make, no matter how much they may have wanted to. "Luke…"
"No, Jules. Don't 'Luke' me. I'm serious," he leaned forward, taking her hands in his, "It's easy. I just have to be like Héctor. The man didn't give up, and he got to the Land of the Living."
"Except you forget, it's a movie, and even then, Héctor was still totally not alive when he made it," Julie shook her head.
"Alright, so, I have to be a little bit better than Héctor."
She laughed, "So, we're just gonna ignore the part where it's a movie?"
Luke let go of her hands, folding his arms across his chest, "Movie, sch-movie. I'm staying."
Julie chuckled at his insistence, "If anyone is going to find a way, it'll be you."
"Exactly. Me and the guys, we're meant to be here with you, but me, especially. I know it, and you know it, too." Luke locked his eyes onto hers, "I'm never gonna leave you, Julie."
That, she believed with her entire heart.
She didn't know what their future held, whether any of their hopes and dreams would come true, or whether he would be able to stay or not. The uncertainty terrified her.
The one thing she was sure of, though, was that Luke Patterson would always be with her.
No matter what the implications of that were.
He would hold a piece of her heart forever.
"I know," she whispered, laying back down to rest her head on his shoulder, "Thank you for being here with me. Right now, and always."
Luke scoffed lightly, wrapping her in both of his arms, "Like there's any place else I'd wanna be."
She let her eyes close and drifted to sleep slowly, finding solace in knowing he'd be right there when she woke up.
That was all that mattered.
For now, it had to be.