Chapter Text
“Look what I found the other day!” Carrie exclaims, waving an old VHS tape triumphantly over her head.
Julie squinted and tilted her head trying to figure out what was written on the side but gave up with a sigh as Carrie kept wiggling the tape around. “I would guess but I can’t see.”
“Sunset Curve performance footage.”
“Ooh,” Flynn said, rushing off the sofa to grab the VHS off her girlfriend.
It was still weird for Julie that they were together. It had been a couple of months now and she was still shocked at the affection between them rather than the snarled barbs that had existed before. Then again, it was weird to be hanging out in Carrie’s house once more. It had been years since they had done that but bridges had slowly been rebuilt after the Orpheum show where Carrie had gone out of her way to congratulate Julie for an amazing performance. Then there had been the breakdown on the way home from Trevor who’d been so shocked at the sight of his old band mates that he’d blurted it all out to Carrie. Her way of dealing with that information had been to burst into Julie’s studio garage mid-practice and exclaim that she’d known there was something about the holograms that didn’t add up. So there was one more person in on the secret but Carrie had proved her worth when she showed up to their next gig carrying a much more state of the art projector, which she’d handed over to Flynn with a roll of her eyes and said, “This is much more believable.”
Rebuilding their friendship had gone from there. Well, for Flynn and Carrie, it had blossomed into a romance which had confused Julie at first but now she could see how all the snark had been hiding an attraction both had been trying to deny.
“I was sorting through the studio the other day when I came across this squirrelled away in the back of a cupboard.”
Julie peeked over Flynn’s shoulder. “Sunset Curve - Harvard & Stone, May 1995”
It was weird thinking that this was filmed just two months before three of them died. She had read the articles on their death and heard the stories they told about trying to make it as an unsigned band in the mid-90s, but it would be another thing to actually see them like that. This footage had been shot a whole decade before she had been born.
“Want to watch it?” Flynn asked quietly, picking up on Julie’s slightly somber mood.
“Yeah. It will be weird to watch the boys rather than perform with them.”
Carrie put the tape in the old VHS player that Trevor had insisted on keeping in the den no matter how much she and Carrie had teased him when they were little. Guess she knew now why and a pang of sadness speared her chest. No matter how wrong he’d been to steal Luke’s songs without crediting him, she had some sympathy with how losing your whole band must have been. After all, she had nearly lost the boys herself.
A blast of poor quality audio blasted out of the tv, pulling Julie out of her thoughts.
“OMG look at your dad!” Flynn said with a laugh. “Those curtains are so nineties.”
The boys were rocking out on the stage under lights that looked hot. The familiar strains of Now or Never rang out and Julie couldn’t pull her eyes away from Luke. He strutted in the centre of the stage looking effortlessly cool, his biceps straining and his hair sweatily sticking to his forehead. His presence was electrifying in a way she couldn’t appreciate when she was up on the stage with him. Yeah, sure she was always drawn to sing towards him or share the mic but that was all about performing well on stage. Nothing was worse than a flat stage presence - her mom had hammered that into her head from a young age. However, now, watching Luke light up as if this was what he was born to do left her speechless. And somehow hot. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she pulled at the collar of her top to allow cool air to circulate as she tried her hardest not to stare at the way his muscles contracted with every chord he played. On screen, Luke shook his visibly damp hair out of his eyes and his skin glistened with sweat. It was a lot for her to take in and she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to look him in the eyes again.
The giggles pulled her out of her trance.
“I think you broke Julie,” Flynn said, elbowing Carrie playfully in the side.
“I think Luke broke Julie.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
“Uh huh, that’s why your face has enough heat to power the entire Los Angeles grid.”
Flushing even more, Julie placed her hands on her cheeks in a futile attempt to cool them down. It wasn’t her fault that Luke was that mesmerising on stage. The sheer passion and enjoyment that he put into his performance was palpable.
“I just...I didn’t expect it to be that much. The lights used today aren’t as hot and you don’t sweat like that.”
“Hmm the lights...sure,” Flynn teased.
“Okay it’s not just the lights. He’s a natural up there and yeah I knew that but I didn’t know that.”
“But you...like you and Luke-” Carrie stopped and gave her a weird look. “Have you not watched your performances back?”
“No.”
And she hadn’t. It was one thing being able to perform once more but it was quite another thing to be able to watch any of the footage back. She wasn’t quite there in her journey yet and yes, she knew it was an important part of improving the band but she knew instinctively that they had chemistry. It had felt right from the moment they had poofed onto the stage during Bright . As if they were meant to perform together.
“Well we have to rectify that immediately,” Carrie said, changing the TV over to YouTube.
“Hang on, babe,” Flynn said, putting her hand over the tv remote before switching her attention to Julie. “Do you want to watch your performances?”
She smiled. And that’s why Flynn was the best. They had never discussed Julie watching her YouTube channel but Flynn automatically knew that she hadn’t and why she hadn’t. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to,” Flynn said earnestly.
“But how will she-” Carrie started to say before Flynn cut her off with a handwave.
“It’s up to her if she’s ready or not.”
Julie bit her lip. Having seen the old Sunset Curve footage, she was now curious about what Julie and the Phantoms looked like on stage. Was Luke as effervescent when performing with her or were they not as good as his old band? What would she do if he wasn’t? What if he looked flat compared to when he led Sunset Curve because this was more about her than him? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know but she knew it would eat her alive if she didn’t.
“Go on,” she said. “Let’s watch them.”
Carrie squealed excitedly and Flynn gave her a smug smirk and said, “Prepare yourself.”
She wasn’t sure what either of those responses meant and her heartrate picked up as the familiar beginning of Edge of Great started. It was weird watching her sing once more. Her mum would always film her recitals but it had been a couple of years since that had happened and those recitals felt very much like part of her childhood in a way that the band didn’t. Then the boys poofed in and it was fun watching the crowd react. The energy bumped up and relief flooded through her as she realised they all had stage presence too. The chemistry between them was vastly different to that of Sunset Curve but not in a bad way. It was just different because they were a different band with a different sound. It took her a minute or so to clock how Luke’s eyes followed her around and how she dodged all interaction with him. He looked like a kicked puppy and this sad version of him kept her gaze just as passionate frontman Luke had. Then his improvised solo kicked in - and she remembered her surprise as he walked towards her, echoing her singing with his riff. In the version they had written it was meant to have either piano or her singing alone. And she watched as she turned towards him and scrunched her nose up as she sang directly to him and the way his face broke into a delighted smile. She was still recovering from that when he joined her at piano for the outro and any excuses she had been mentally preparing for the undeniable chemistry between them was silenced. Her face flushed hot once more as she watched herself sing so intimately to Luke - almost as if she was intruding on a private moment.
“Erm..” she said when the video stopped. She couldn’t even go any further because what did you say when you saw performance footage of yourself flirting through music. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. She had to try and save face. “I can-”
“Nope,” Flynn interrupted. “Before you try and explain any of that away, we’re watching Finally Free and then you can talk.”
So she sat, red cheeked, through her and Luke making eyes at each other. On a more detached level she could definitely appreciate that the band was as electric on stage as she could have wished but the majority of her brain was taken up with the realisation that she was not as subtle as she thought at hiding her crush on Luke and that he appeared to have similar feelings. If the heart-eyes he shot her way couldn’t be denied no matter how hard she tried to rationalise them away. Then the way Alex and Reggie watched them and then smiled knowingly at each other meant that they were well aware of what was happening. They were flirting openly on stage for the world to watch.
“My dad has seen these!” she exclaimed, horrified. No wonder he was dropping more and more hints about wanting to Facetime with the guys.
“And there it is,” Flynn said.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did! I told you not to make eye contact with Luke at your party and then he wooed you with his guitar skills and I knew it was impossible trying to stop whatever this is.”
“Chemistry like that cannot be denied,” Carrie said knowledgeably. “Or feelings.”
“I am never going to be able to look at him again.”
“Then he’ll just improvise a different way to get your attention,” Carrie said perkily.
Julie groaned.
“Or you could just actually address what’s happening. I’ve given up telling you to stay away from the cute air. You might as well lean into how much you are into each other and say it out loud.”
Bugged eyed, she said, “What would I even say? And why does it have to me?”
Flynn sighed. “Because its clear that this idiot is content to just stare at you like a lovesick puppy.”
“To be fair, he’s a ghost,” Carrie pointed out pragmatically. “He’s probably being all noble and trying to suppress his feelings for the ‘greater good’.”
“Ugh, boys,” Flynn said, holding out her fist for Carrie to bump.
“Thanks for saving me from their stupidity, babe,” Carrie said, leaning in to kiss Flynn.
“As cute as this is - none of it helps me! I do have a stupid boy to deal with and how am I going to do it?”
“Never fear, we got you,” Flynn said as she snuggled into Carrie’s embrace.
For the rest of the night, Flynn and Carrie coached Julie in how to get her man.