Chapter Text
“I can see you standing honey
With his arms around your body
Laughing but the joke’s not funny at all”
It had been a year, two months, and thirteen days since Julie Molina and Luke Patterson parted ways. It hadn’t been nice, it hadn’t been pretty, and the wound felt as fresh as ever when Nicholas Evans-Danforth came into the picture - quite literally.
The setting of the tabloid pictures that were currently mocking him was fairly unsurprising - an amusement park, one of Julie’s favorite places to be at any given time of the year. Nick himself wasn’t a surprising figure either, they had been good friends for as long as Luke could remember-
“Nick’s like my older brother,” She told him when they were first introduced back in their early high school days, “he’s probably the only reason I didn’t quit the music program right at the beginning… everything felt so scary!”
At that, Luke laughed wholeheartedly. The idea of Julie Molina feeling intimidated by anything music-related could only elicit such a response from him - music was her everything, all she breathed, all she felt, all she saw, all she heard. They understood each other when it came to that.
-but the way he was holding her was certainly new. One hand resting on her hip, while the other tries to fill the space in the small of her back. It doesn’t. Not like Luke’s once did.
The bright, colorful lights wash over her and it’s a true sight to behold - her signature look of a printed tee tied at the waist and washed out jeans with painted doodles of her own creation sprinkled throughout. He can recognize most of them, recalling being there to help wash off the paint from the brushes after she was done with each piece, even.
She’s laughing, too, a good, genuine laugh, and that alone is almost enough to bring a small smile to his own face. Almost. Seeing her happy was always the fastest way to make him happy - everyone knew that.
The sight felt foreign to him now, though he knew it wasn’t really.
They were spinning around the sparsely decorated living room, minds just fuzzy enough from wine that they could pretend the mountain of boxes sitting in the corner had already been dealt with as they celebrated (if one could call Dollar Tree wine and discount pizza as a celebration) their first evening in their place. Just theirs. No parents, no bandmates, just Julie and Luke in their own little bubble.
“You can hear it in the silence,” he sang next to her ear, softly and earnestly as he swayed with her from side to side.
“You can feel it on the way home,” The words had been stuck in his head all day, the song already having a life of its own in his mind.
“You can see it with the lights out,”
There was only one thing missing, the thing that made every song Sunset Curve put out unlike anything else, even in a city so full of musicians with big dreams such as LA: Julie Molina’s input.
“You are in love, true love” He concluded, final words almost getting cut-off by the soft press of his girlfriend’s lips to his own.
“You’re a sap, Luke Patterson.” she told him, her smile betraying any bite she intended the remark to have.
“And you’ll have to deal with it every single day now,” he played along.
“Oh, the struggle!” she pulled away, feigning distress.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll make it up to you.”
He pulled her closer once again, capturing her response in his mouth, and didn’t let go until hours later, both tired to the bone and only minutes away from giving into sleep.
He mindlessly played with her hands, a soft smile refusing to leave his features, when he caught her staring at him sporting an odd expression.
“What?” he asked softly, followed by a soft kiss pressed to her palm he was still holding.
“You’re my best friend, you know?” she replied just as softly, eyes sparkling with warmth even as she could barely keep them open from sleepiness.
“Well, don’t let Flynn know that. She might kill me, you know.” he replied cheekily. She laughed heartily at that, blindly reaching out to smack him on the chest but hitting his shoulder lightly instead.
A moment of silence, then:
“You’re really not gonna say it back?” she asked, and Luke could tell she was trying to sound humorous, but he could also detect the trace of insecurity behind the question.
He smiled despite himself, scooting closer to her side of the bed to hold her face between his hands and caress her rosy cheeks. He allowed himself a moment to soak in the beauty that laid in front of him, her hair slightly disheveled from their previous activities, the smudge of eyeliner she didn’t quite catch in the shower that accompanied the almond pearls he swore could see down to his very soul at times and her swollen lips that still glistened against the moonlight that peeked through their curtains.
“You are the love of my life, Julie Molina.” he confessed, finally.
The smile she gave in return told him everything he needed to know.
He put the picture down with a shuddered breath. It’s been over a year , a voice that sounded very similar to Alex echoed in his mind, just because you haven’t moved on, doesn’t mean she can’t .
Knowing that didn’t make his heart ache any less, though.
“And it took you five whole minutes
To pack us up and leave me with it
Holdin' all this love out here in the hall”
He pushed down the image that seemed to persist through every nightmare he’s had over the past year.
She stood at the very end of the entrance hallway, hand tightly gripping the doorknob. Her flushed, tear-stained face made for great contrast to the party balloons they had yet to take down from Carlos’ birthday extravaganza that had taken place only a few weeks prior.
He stood on the other extreme, the few feet that laid between them feeling as far as New York was to California. He was paralyzed, any words that might’ve turned the tide rapidly dying on his throat.
He could only watch as she adjusted her backpack and gave him one last look. Gone was the warm feeling those eyes would bring him - they were devoid of any emotion besides hurt, now.
She opened her mouth but closed it just as quickly. Any last words she thought he might’ve deserved stayed with her as she closed the door on them for good, not sparing a single glance back at him.
The silence that followed rang louder than any of her harsh words from earlier could have. There was no life to the apartment, not without Julie in it. He didn’t know if there was much life to him without her, either.
He’d have to find out now - the realization hit him as thunder roared right above him.
The sky cried alongside him, his sobs muffled by the heavy rain. He wished, for a moment, that said rain would fill up his lungs until it would overflow - anything to make it feel less hollow.
He fell asleep on his side of the hallway, foolishly waiting in hopes she’d come back.
She didn’t.
He moved in with Reggie the next day. She stayed with Flynn, or so he’s heard. Maybe that’s changed as well, who knows? Maybe Nick has a spare room.
“I think I've seen this film before
And I didn't like the ending
You're not my homeland anymore
So what am I defendin' now?
You were my town
Now I'm in exile seein' you out
I think I've seen this film before”
“That’s very good!” he heard Reggie exclaim as he finished playing, “Very sad, but I suppose that’s standard Luke Patterson writing now.” His best friend’s tone was light, but the “Do you want to talk about it?” that laid underneath it was crystal clear.
“What can I say? Andi did say we should take some inspiration from Lewis Capaldi. Plus, everyone knows break-up songs sell the most.” he replied with an attempt at humor, but he knew the tightness in his voice wouldn’t go unnoticed by the bassist.
“That is a lie and we both know it - we have yet to have any single that tops You Are In Love.”
Right. The song he wrote for her. The song she helped him finish, too, alongside every single other track from the album that launched them into public consciousness. Before she was Julie Molina, star of HGC Records, she was Rose the Petal Pusher, the infamous secret co-writer of Sunset Curve.
He couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering back to the pictures that laid right next to his writing journal, Reggie’s gaze following his own. He watched as realization washed over his roommate’s face. He tried ignoring the look of pity that followed.
“Want to show me how it goes from the beginning?”
Luke never felt more grateful to have a friend like Reggie.
He started off the melody in his guitar, ignoring the (very female, very lovely) voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him the song would work better on a piano. It was a rough version, anyway - the boys could always pitch in on how they think the track should sound.
He allowed himself to get lost in the melody, mind filled to the brink with bittersweet memories mixed in with potential lyrics. His trance was only broken by the addition of a much higher-pitched voice to the room.
“-it will sound so good!” the voice, which Luke now clocked to belonging to Andi, their manager, exclaimed, now looking at him expectantly.
“Huh?”
“The song, silly! I think it has the potential to be a great duet!” Andi repeated, staring at Luke like he was crazy to not be on the same page as her.
“Uh, I suppose? We’d have to ask the boys if they’re interested, though. You know they don’t like to have extensive verses-”
“Luke, sweetie, I don’t think you understand. You have to duet this with a lady. We can get her side of the story too - imagine the contrast of your voices!”
A duet with another artist? With a song this personal? No way.
“Andi, I don’t think that’s a very good idea-” but she wasn’t listening.
“Oh, I know just the person! Julie Molina’s had a lot of eyes on her now that she’s released her debut album. I’m pretty sure I saw The Moment I Knew on iTunes’ first page, so we know her sad shit sells… plus! She’s from a sister label, which makes everything much easier for us. And didn’t you guys write together for Sunset Curve’s last album too? Oh, this is perfect!”
Luke just stared at Reggie, panic clear on both of their faces. They knew once Andi was set on an idea, it was hard to get her to back down, which meant the duet was definitely happening.
A duet with his ex-girlfriend. On a break-up song, nonetheless. A break-up song about her, one might add.
Yeah, that won’t blow up in his face at all.