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He stayed away all day in an attempt to be thoughtful — Julie has exams this week, and she has repeatedly told him that he is more distraction than company (and so what if he’s smug about it?). But now that it’s been nearly an entire day and he hasn’t seen her even once, he’s starting to get restless.
It wouldn’t hurt just to poke his head in and wish her a goodnight right? Good luck on her algebra exam tomorrow?
Totally okay. He’s just gotta ignore Alex and his judgemental eyes.
And more importantly, ignore Reggie and his wiggling eyebrows.
He poofs up straight onto the Molina first floor landing, leaving both unsupportive soon to be ex-best friends behind, and hovers just outside Julie’s bedroom.
Attempting to calm the excitable energy coursing through, Luke takes one deep breath before lifting his hand and knocking once.
He waits, his patience wearing thin after about 5 seconds, and yet…nothing.
He tries again, this time a little louder — but still nothing. He leans in a little closer, ear nearly pressed against the wood in case he missed her reply. But instead of hearing Julie’s voice, the sound of loud bass pumping through the door reaches his ears.
He listens for a few more seconds — more music reaches him, sounding like the outro of a Pop or R’n’B song.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Luke pokes his head in through the door, only to find an entirely different atmosphere to what he had expected.
With music loudly blaring through her speakers, Julie is jumping around by the side of her bed to the beat of the music, arms moving in the air above her with her head thrown back, eyes closed.
As the music comes to an end, switching to the next song, she barely breaks, just starts moving slower to match the new beat.
High-pitched synthesised beats erupt through the speakers, soon followed by a smooth rich voice vocalising along with the beat.
Lowering her arms to her sides, Julie bends over to grab a discarded hairbrush from her bed. With brush in hand, she straightens up, eyes sliding closed once more as she starts swaying to the new song.
Suddenly the beat drops, Julie’s dancing matching the new rhythm. As the first verse kicks in, she lifts the hairbrush to her lips, singing along right on cue.
Luke isn’t entirely sure know when he stepped through the door and into her room, but he now finds himself standing inside Julie’s bedroom, completely captivated by the performance in front of him.
Telling himself he’ll alert Julie to his presence in a second, he leans against her closet wall, arms crossed, as a grin quickly spreads across his face.
He’s so sure she’s too engrossed in her performance to notice her, that he nearly jumps out of his skin when Julie turns to face him, eyes wide open. At his startled reaction, she winks at him, eyes sparkling with delight as she approaches him, body still moving to the music.
Oh when you walk by every night, talking sweet and looking fine, I get kind of hectic inside
She holds his gaze as she transitions to the chorus, the twinkle never leaving her eyes. Reaching out towards him with her free hand, she wiggles her fingers in his direction.
Still somewhat recovering from the surprise spectacle and the added bonus of Julie serenading him with 90s love songs, all Luke can do is shake his head — at her, at the song, at the words she’s singing to him — even as the grin on his face only grows wider. Who knew Julie was so into 90s divas? (But really, it made sense — she was as much of a powerhouse as any of those artists).
Oh baby I’m so into you, darling if you only knew
She sashays closer, singing and throwing another quick wink his way — all the while Luke knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that if he still had blood pumping through his veins, his face would be as red as Reggie’s guitar.
And yet he can’t look away.
Lifting her free arm up over her head, Julie closes her eyes for a moment, leaning forward and bending at the knees as she absolutely nails the harmonising.
All the things that flow through my miiind
Snapping out of her pose, she jumps right back into her performance, eyes still in him as each step brings her closer to him.
But it’s just a-
She reaches out, fingers brushing against the back of his hand before grabbing hold of it to tug his arm loose. At her request, Luke uncrosses his arms, letting them drop to his sides as she pulls the hand she’s holding towards her, swinging their arms from side to side
Sweet, sweet fantasy baby
She throws her head back, her entire body moving backwards as she uses him as her anchor, eyes sliding shut.
When I close my eyes, you come and take me
On and on and on
She swings their interlinked hands from side to side again while slowly pulling him back into the room with her.
It’s so deep in my daydreams, but it’s just a sweet, sweet fantasy, baby
As Julie continues to sing into the second verse, her dancing never relenting, all Luke can do is follow her around the room, his hand still attached to hers (not that he’s complaining). He thinks he might get an explanation or a comment or even a laugh at the end of the song, but all Julie does is take a deep breath and launch straight into the next song.
He’s happy enough just to be in her orbit, watching her genuinely have fun with a smile on her face and a breathless joy emanating out of her every pore.
And to be part of this? To have her hold his hand and pull him along?
He really can’t complain.
He surprises her a few times, jumping along with her to a particularly energetic song, and lifting her up in the air as he twirls her around her room until she’s laughing so much she can barely sing anymore.
It’s only when the playlist ends, when it loops back to the song he walked in on her singing, does she stop, letting go of his hand to collapse onto her bed in a heap of breathless giggles.
He watches her for a moment as she struggles to control her giggles, breathing hard with her hands covering her cheeks, eyes closed and legs dangling off the side of her bed. With her dark curls splayed haphazardly above her head contrasting with the pale yellow sheets of her bed; with her darkened cheeks and light sheen of sweat giving her a soft glow under the warm lights of her room — Julie looks almost ethereal. She reminds him of those muses artists of old used to always want to draw — the ones that had artists tripping over themselves to reach, to recreate in art form.
And yet here she was, within his reach.
Standing there, his heart only growing warmer at the sight, he slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans and waits for her to regain control of her breathing.
When she finally opens her eyes, her gaze flicking up to meet his, he tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow in question.
She doesn’t say anything, just extends her arm towards him in answer. Letting out a dramatic sigh, Luke slips his hand over hers, ready to pull her up — only to be completely caught off guard as she pulls him down towards her.
With the element of surprise on her side, Luke topples forward with a loud yelp, nearly falling right on top of Julie. He braces his landing, letting go of her hand to fully support his weight on both his arms and knees. For a moment all he can do is stare down at Julie lying beneath him, giggling away at her antics.
Seeing her up close, like this, with her bright eyes trained on his, it’s hard to believe any of this is real.
But he doesn’t dwell on the possibility that it might not be real — that this might just be another sweet fantasy — because somehow, miraculously, it is real.
He carefully lowers himself closer to her, only stopping when he can feel her breaths brush against his skin. He watches her eyes widen for a moment, the proximity taking her by surprise.
“Hi.”
The shock visible on her face wears off, quickly being replaced by a radiant smile.
“Hi.”
He grins at her shy reply, then leans even closer to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. He lingers there for a moment, his lips against her skin. When he pulls away, he finds her eyes are closed.
Pushing himself off her, Luke readjusts his position, shifting so he can lie down beside her.
A moment later, he feels her hand nudging his open, seeking to interlock their fingers together again.
He gives her access without a second thought.
They stay that way for a while, quietly enjoying each other’s company.
It really is a sweet, sweet fantasy.