join-the-joywrite

[join-the-joywrite]

But only one of us was standing by the grave (I remember that day)

Alex loses people he loves and blames himself for it.

***major character death 1553 words everyone please direct your complaints to @williexmercer read on ao3 here

All his life, Alex didn't think there was anything worse than losing his best friends. Then he'd died and he figured the worst thing would probably be just one of them crossing over, or only one of them staying behind. 

But then came Willie. 

And god, Alex loved Willie. 

"I could let him go," Caleb said, a taunting edge to his voice. He stopped behind Alex. "Let you take his place." 

Alex stared straight ahead at Willie, who had long since lost the energy to stand. 

"What do you say to that, Alex? A fair deal, no?" 

"No." The weak protest came from Willie and had Alex not been rooted to the spot by Caleb, he would have been by Willie's side already. 

"Alex," Caleb said, drawing out Alex's name, "the clock is ticking. One more jolt could -- oh!" 

Alex watched helplessly as another jolt ripped through Willie. He remembered the feeling not so long ago and he hated that Willie was suffering the same way -- if not worse. 

"What a fighter!" Caleb said, smiling. Alex knew better than to think Caleb was anything but cruelly amused. "You never know which one might be the last. You don't have much more time. Tick tock . . . tick tock." 

Alex had already known when he first figured it all out that he woukd trade places with Willie in the blink of an eye. But Willie had been able to stand, then. Willie had wanted to talk. Willie had sworn to never forgive Alex if he did. 

But how could Alex just stand there and watch? 

As if Willie could read his thoughts, they forced themselves to sit upright. He shook his head, holding Alex's gaze. 

"Tick tock," Caleb reminded Alex. 

Willie shook his head again. If they could, they would beg Alex to stay silent. 

"All it takes is a single word, Alex. Do you want to spend the rest of your afterlife in regret? Or I could make it stop faster. Just a quick little magic trick and poof! No more William, no more pain." 

Alex opened his mouth but no sound escaped. Willie mustered a firm glare. Another slow shake of their head. 

Alex shook his head too. I'm sorry, it said, I'm sorry and I love you. 

"Time is ticking. . . What do you say, Alex?" 

Alex's agreement was on the tip of his tongue when he heard the familiar sounds of his friends poofing in. 

Caleb scowled, knowing he would never get what he wanted with all three ghosts together -- not to mention the fact that they'd brought Julie Molina with them. But Willie was still there, hanging on by a thread. One final jolt ought to do the trick. 

Caleb turned to face Willie. 

Alex, still rooted to the spot, quickly realised what Caleb was about to do and struggled to break free. Luke and Reggie were there to help instantly. Luke tried to pull Alex from his spot. Reggie jumped on Caleb with a banshee screech. 

Alex stopped quite suddenly. He saw, almost in slow motion, as a stream of sparks shot from Caleb's hand as Reggie fell to the floor with a soft thud. Alex heard Julie's muffled voice, almost as though he was underwater, as she screamed and sprinted to protect Willie. 

Everyone stilled, watching the cloud dissipate achingly slow. Even Caleb seemed stunned. 

"What did you do?" Reggie asked softly.  

Luke grabbed hold of Alex's hand. Alex could almost hear Luke's repeated reassurances. They're okay. Julie's okay. Willie's okay. They're okay. 

"What did you do?" Reggie shouted, standing up and shoving Caleb back with both hands. 

"Reg," Alex barely whispered. 

Reggie turned around, hoping to see both Willie and Julie, perfectly all right. But the glimpse he'd caught of Alex's face as he turned already told him he wouldn't like what he saw. 

Julie lay disturbingly still on the floor -- she was just out cold, right? -- and Willie . . . well, Willie was missing. 

Reggie turned back to Caleb again, who had begun to laugh in amazement and disbelief. Reggie shoved him back again. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" 

Alex nudged Luke, letting go of his hand. As Luke slowly and cautiously approached Julie, Alex collapsed on the floor. He'd had a perfectly good shot at saving Willie and he hadn't taken it. So what if Willie never forgave him? At least Willie would've still been around. And Julie. . . 

Alex pulled his knees up and buried his face in his arms. He knew Caleb had lured him into a trap. He'd have been a little daft not to know that. But he'd come here to try to save one person that he loved and now he had lost two. 

As one, all three boys seemed to realise the same thing. Luke turned to Alex, his hand still holding Julie's. Reggie stopped fruitlessly attacking Caleb. Alex lifted his head. 

Someone had to tell the rest of Julie's family.

Alex still wasn't quite sure what had happened. Everything between that single moment and right now was a dazed blur to him. How long had it been? Weeks or months? Days or years? Time felt . . . different, without Willie. Everything felt a little fake without Willie and Julie. 

Luke didn't even touch his journal, let alone his guitar, for a very long time. Reggie spent a lot of time alone in Julie's empty room. Maybe he was waiting and hoping Julie would turn up, if only to scold him about boundaries and kick him out. 

And Alex? Well, Alex spent a lot of time standing on the fresh green grass, reading Julie's name, carved into the headstone, over and over and over again. If he knew how to find Willie's grave, he would spend some time there too. 

Was it bad that he felt worse about Julie than he did about Willie?

Losing Willie was like dying all over again, but he and Willie had already known that only one of them was going to leave that building. Julie was so much younger and smaller. Julie still could've grown older. She'd had her whole life ahead of her. Neither of their time was supposed to end like that but somehow, Julie's death was worse. Because to Alex, Julie was still just a kid.

Alex couldn't remember how the rest of Julie's family had reacted to the news. He couldn't even remember how they'd found out. Sometimes, as he stood by her grave, he wondered, who had cried? Who had been too stunned to even move? Who blamed him for it, the way he did?

Other times, he wondered what his unfinished business was supposed to be, now. Anything he could think of was unattainable. If it really was something to do with either Willie or Julie -- maybe even both of them -- then what happened now? Would he just stay a ghost forever?

Alex didn't remember the time between their deaths and every waking moment, but he could remember every single second of the last time he saw Willie or Julie. Maybe this was what hell was like. Forever having his regrets burned into his memory. Always regretting his choices, always wishing he could have another chance to change things.

For a brief second, Alex wondered if his unfinished business was to forgive himself for the things he hadn't been able to control. It's what Julie would have told him. It's what Willie tried to tell him. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, Julie was standing in front of her headstone. She smiled. Alex stared, wanting to commit every little detail about Julie's smiling face to memory before reality crashed down on him again. She held out her hand to him. Alex frowned. This was new. Usually, his visions of Willie or Julie just consisted of them smiling warmly at him -- or, on particularly bad days, blaming him.

Or was this not a vision of Julie? Was this her ghost? Alex believed that whatever Caleb had wanted to bring down on Willie had hit Julie too, wiping both of their souls from existence completely. But then he looked at Julie and the twinkle in her eye told him exactly what he -- what everyone -- had always known. Julie had a very powerful and pure soul. If anyone could find a way to just dampen the severity of Caleb's curses, it was Julie.

Alex took her hand and followed her away from the grave. She walked in silence through the rows of headstones, along the pathway, and all the way to the gates. Every few steps, she glanced back and smiled at Alex. Even if this wasn't real, even if Julie was just a vision to guide him along, he was grateful for it. He wondered if Willie had somehow escaped being completely erased too, but even he knew that was too much to hope for.

Julie crossed the threshold of the gates and vanished in silence. Alex stopped. Was this a sign from Julie that he needed to move on? The way Julie said her mom sometimes sent signs? Alex glanced back the way he'd come before leaving the graveyard. Almost as soon as he stepped out and onto the sidewalk did something collide with him. Alex saw a skateboard roll on further.

"You took your sweet time."

[join-the-joywrite]

we were lovers in a past life (i can see it in your green eyes)

for the @jatpbigbang

author: @fanfics-she-wrote

cheerleader: @itsthebooks

artist: @kybee1497

word count: 37 684

Read on ao3 or Wattpad

After living through centuries trying to take Caleb Covington down, a deeply entwined pair of ghost hunters find themselves separated by time -- and death. How is a ghost meant to be a ghost hunter? More importantly, is he still one of history’s best Hunters if he can’t remember it all?

Honestly, I owe completing this fic to Rach & Kiwi. Without them, I doubt I would have found the motivation to keep working at it. You guys were amazing and you both made writing this incredibly fun.

Make sure to check out Kiwi's artwork here!

[join-the-joywrite]

So before I say goodbye, would you do one last thing for me?

And take, take her to the moon for me

Reggie thinks about crossing over . . . and then he does

read on ao3 here

you can all thank @thedeathdeelers for it because of this post. and also you should all go listen to the song based off bing bong's take her to the moon line

They were going to cross over. Soon. It wasn't going to be some great big show of sparks or jolts of pain. Reggie could tell it was going to be a quiet affair that took them away unexpectedly.

Reggie sat alone most nights, wondering what his unfinished business had been. The Orpheum, though only half a year ago, felt like several years. Stealing Willie's soul back from right under Caleb's nose was just a few weeks ago but it felt like months. On these lonely nights, Reggie mentally relived his afterlife, trying to pinpoint some milestone moment that could've been it. Other nights, he distracted himself playing softly with Alex and Luke, or tweaking songs with Luke, or pathetically failing to learn skating with Willie. Or sometimes he would wander around the house and just do small things here and there.

Once, he did Carlos' forgotten math homework for him. Julie had scolded him about cheating with Carlos, but that had only been for a second before she relayed how grateful Carlos was and how much he wished he could see Reggie and say it himself.

Part of Reggie wanted to voice his thoughts about crossing over. Another part of him hoped that if he didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be real.

And then, one day, Willie vanished. As expected and understandably so, Alex was inconsolable. Reggie made the mistake of offhandedly commenting that it wasn't so bad. Maybe they'd meet up again after they crossed over. It wasn't much longer, now.

Alex was furious first. How could Reggie say that it wasn't so bad? Alex was confused after that. What did Reggie mean with all that? Alex was concerned in the end. Did Reggie really think they were going to cross over?

It was a nice thought, Alex would later tell Reggie. That they could be together when they crossed over and that he would see Willie again. But that wasn't going to happen for a long time. Luke agreed. They were going to take Julie to stardom before they ever considered leaving.

Reggie thought about Julie almost every minute of the day. He figured they would be okay with whatever happened after they crossed over. What would happen to Julie? Would it take her long to figure out what happened? Would their absence turn her away from music again?

That thought alone had bothered Reggie so much that even Carlos noticed. Things were messy around the house. His computer was open on Spotify and the music was blasting into his headphones. No one was beating his messy room for him anymore. Luke decided to talk to Reggie. It all came out in a rush, how he was so afraid that when they crossed over, it would tear Julie apart. After he'd sat with Reggie and listened to everything bottled up, Luke promised to talk to Julie seriously -- and that serious talk happened to be today.

Reggie, who had been laying on the floor while all these thoughts bounced around in his head, sat up suddenly.

The studio was silent.

"Alex?"

Denial set in very quickly. Not now. He wasn't ready yet. He'd known it was coming for at least one month but he was far from prepared.

Alex had to be around somewhere, right? Reggie suddenly realised he was just hoping for a sign of where Alex was moments before he accidentally stepped onto Alex's drumsticks and landed on his back.

The drumsticks rolled across the floor, coming to a slow stop at the wheel of Willie's skateboard.

Sometimes my mom sends me signs, Julie had said once, and sometimes I don't get it until much later but sometimes it's just so clear what she's trying to tell me.

Reggie stared at the drumsticks and the skateboard. Couldn't get much clearer than that.

Suddenly, Reggie was struck with the horrifying thought that Luke had vanished mid-conversation with Julie.

Not thinking before he leapt, Reggie poofed into Julie's room.

"You're not allowed to do that," Julie said casually. "You know that."

"Sorry. Uh, do you know where Luke is?"

Julie shook her head. "He just left a few minutes ago. Said something about wanting to get some lyrics out of his head. Isn't he in the studio?"

Reggie lied very easily and believably. "Oh, I was just downstairs. I haven't checked the studio yet 'cause I thought I heard you talking to someone up here."

Reggie didn't know why he was lying to Julie. He didn't know what was worse. Telling her the truth or wishing he had later.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said with a chipper smile.

"Do you want a hug?"

Okay, so maybe he couldn't always lie well about everything. Reggie's nod was hesitant before it was quick.

Julie hopped off her bed and hung her arms loosely around Reggie. She let out a surprised yelp when Reggie wrapped his arms tightly around Julie.

"Someone's competing with Alex for best hug-giver."

Normally, Reggie would've laughed at that. But Alex was gone. Luke probably was too. Reggie would be gone soon too. He had to leave Julie's room. It would break her if she had to see it happen.

"Thanks, Julie."

Julie smiled brightly when Reggie pulled away. "Anytime. My hugs are free for all."

"You should get some sleep. W-we'll see you in the morning."

Why was he lying to her? He knew he'd be gone before she even fell asleep.

Maybe, if she thought they crossed over in the peace and quiet of the still night, she would feel better. Maybe, if she thought they crossed over while she slept, she would blame them for not waking her, not herself for not noticing.

"Fine. But not because you said to." Julie slid under her duvet and grinned at Reggie. She was mid-yawn before she realised. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Tell Alex and Luke I said good night."

"I will," Reggie said. And if he did happen to meet Alex and Luke, he would without a doubt deliver Julie's message. "I love you. We love you."

"Aww. I love you too, Reg."

Reggie left before he did or said something that would make Julie worry.

He meant to land in the studio. Instead, he found himself in the kitchen, his legs numb and a hollow emptiness in his chest.

"Reggie?"

Reggie looked up to see Carlos, backlit by the open fridge. "You should be in bed."

"You should be invisible."

"Uh . . . that's true."

Carlos kicked the fridge closed as he walked over to Reggie, quietly setting his glass on the island counter. "Are you okay? You look a bit sick. Can ghosts get sick? Is that a thing? Are there ghost doctors? Are they, like, special ghost doctors or just doctors that died?"

"That's too many questions at once, little man."

Carlos frowned. Reggie always answered every single question on the odd occasion that he could see and hear Reggie -- or even if Reggie was just chatting to him with Julie's phone. "Are you okay?" Carlos asked again, this time more serious and somehow even quieter than before.

"I will be." Another lie. He didn't know. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Julie and Carlos didn't worry.

"What's wrong?"

Reggie wished he could hug Carlos like he had hugged Julie just a few minutes ago. "I, uh . . . I gotta go."

"Oh. Where are you going? You're gonna be back, though, right?"

"I don't know." The first truth Reggie had spoken all night. "But I won't come back."

"Wh-- . . . oh." Carlos glanced down at the floor.

"Hey," Reggie said, crouching down. Carlos was looking down at him now. "You're gonna be okay."

"But what about you? Are you gonna be okay?"

Reggie shrugged. "I hope so. Maybe I'll see you again when you're all old and wrinkly."

"Ha ha." Carlos' tone was sarcastic, but his smile was genuine. His eyes widened and a gasp caught in his throat when Reggie wiped away the tears he didn't even notice. Without stopping to question it, Carlos threw his arms around Reggie's shoulders and held tight. "Do you have to go?"

The fragility of Carlos' croaked question set alight a small but agonizing flame in Reggie's chest. "I have to," he murmured, holding Carlos gently. "Alex and Luke are probably waiting for me."

"I don't want you to go."

"I know."

Reggie's entire body, save for the burning yet soothing sparks in his chest, felt numb. He had to glance over Carlos' shoulder to make sure he still had his arms. He moved to pull back so he could leave -- Carlos didn't have to see whatever crossing over looked like -- but Carlos wouldn't let go.

Reggie figured he would've been able to break out of Carlos' hold on a normal day. But today wasn't normal, was it?

"I have to go," Reggie said.

Carlos pretended he didn't hear it. "You're the best brother in the world."

Finally, Carlos let Reggie move back, but Reggie didn't stand or poof out. Instead, he gave Carlos a smile and wiped Carlos' wet cheeks. "Nah. You are. You're gonna look after Julie for us, aren't you?"

Carlos nodded. He refused to acknowledge the fact that he could see through Reggie. He was just tired and needed to go to bed, right?

"Julie belongs with the stars," Reggie said. "Take her to the moon for me, okay?"

"I'll try," Carlos told the empty kitchen. "I promise."

And then he wrapped his arms around himself and sat down on the floor as his small shoulders shook silently.

[join-the-joywrite]

For @sunsetphantom. I'm still very much in love with Fight For Me Luke and I'm still very much mad at Fight For Me Emily so I wrote this for you.

Emily turns up one more time in Luke’s life, but he’s long past anything she could say or do to hurt him.

@ everyone else, you should go read Fight For Me

[join-the-joywrite]

It's Juke, it's reincarnation, it's a happy end — what more can I offer?

Hey, Julie You're the heart and soul 'round here, it's plain to see

in which Julie has a second chance with her boys, and then a third

[join-the-joywrite]

what if I was made for you (and you were made for me)

Luke finally shows Julie his baby photos (and a little truth about himself) aka Mara's trans!Luke hc

Read it on AO3 here!

Luke and his mom had an unspoken agreement. The baby photos album never left the shelf when other people were around. It had been that way since Luke was about fifteen. Girlfriends, boyfriends and best friends came and went over the next couple of years, but the baby photos stayed up on the shelf and collected dust. Only three people outside Luke’s house had ever seen the album -- but they’d all seen it well before Luke decided it needed to stay hidden.

So when Luke brought Julie home one afternoon, Emily was baffled by the strange looks her son was giving her. While Mitch asked Julie all the questions he wanted, Emily and Luke had a quiet conversation of their own.

Eventually, fed up, Luke pointed to the shelf and mouthed, ‘Photos’.

Emily’s eyebrows shot right up. “Oh!” Julie and Mitch turned to her. She smiled. “Julie, I hear Luke hasn’t shown you any baby photos.”

Julie gasped. “It’s true! My dad keeps mine out around the house and Luke here has laughed at nearly all of them. I’ve been wondering when it would come back to bite him in the ass.”

Emily stood up and walked over to the shelf, preparing herself for all the dust. With Julie distracted by her anticipation, Mitch glanced over at Luke and raised his eyebrows. Luke shrugged. Though he did his best to appear nonchalant, anyone watching him would notice the way his shoulders tensed up as Julie took the album from Emily.

He leaned further back into the two-seater he shared with Julie as she smiled with Emily, the album falling open to a random page. His arm lay limp on the couch behind Julie, afraid that if he moved it to hold her, it would put all her attention on him.

"Watch me laugh at all your weird themed birthdays," Julie said, half-glancing at Luke.

The Pattersons shared several glances over Julie's head as she finally focused on the album.

"Oh."

Luke leaned forward slightly to see what exactly she was looking at.

A nauseating volume of bright pink filled the page, from the tablecloth to the streamers and balloons, to the toddler's grass-stained dress, to the fondant letters that spelt 'Lucy 5'.

The house was silent, save the general hum of electricity, as Julie turned the page. She smiled first at plump little five-year-old Lucy, holding up a monster truck toy with a gleeful expression before turning to her boyfriend, older by twenty years, and smiling at him. She ruffled his hair in the way she knew he loved. "Someone grew out of his chubby cheeks nicely, hm?"

Luke smiled, a laugh escaping on the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. Luke's parents shared a smile as Julie turned a page and let out a gleeful cackle.

She glanced at Luke before pointing to the toddler. "You don't get to make fun of my six-year-old self dressing up as Twilight Sparkle when you dressed up as Rainbow Dash for Halloween."

"Rainbow Dash is so much cooler. Change my mind, I dare you."

"Ha! You wish!"

Julie spent the next few minutes paging through the album, cooing at the toddler that slowly transitioned from Lucy to Luke as time went by.

"You were nerdy in high school, huh?"

"I was not. I was in a band. I was cool."

"Yeah, right. You wore a snapback."

"Snapbacks were cool then!"

Emily and Mitch shared another smile as Julie and Luke laughed together over the album. Dinner went as smoothly as Luke had hoped and as he walked down to his car, hand in hand with Julie, he couldn't help his broad grin.

"What's that look for, my love?"

"Nothing. I just . . . Only the guys ever knew that I'm trans. I never told anyone because I don't know how they're gonna react and losing people is scary."

Julie clicked her tongue and stopped walking. She patted Luke's cheek lightly. "The only way you're gonna lose me, mi amor, is if you name our next dog after another eighties rockstar."

"Oh, come on. You know you love Sebastian Bark."

"Maybe."

Julie turned to continue to the car. Luke tugged on her wrist before pulling her into a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere, Luke," Julie murmured, taking her fingers through his hair. "Not in a million years."

"Even if I have more big things to share?"

Julie smiled. "Not a chance."

"Okay good, because Bark Jovi is waiting for us at Alex and Willie's."

Julie stilled for a second before she laughed. "You're lucky I love you," she said, kissing Luke's cheek before turning and heading to the car, pulling Luke behind her.

"What if we get a third dog and we name it--"

"No more dogs! And no kids either if you're gonna behave like this."

Luke's eyes lit up and Julie couldn't help her fond chuckle at the dopey smile Luke wore.

“Get in the car, Luke.”

“You said kids!”

“Maybe. Now get in. We have a dog to pick up, don’t we?”

“Kids!”

“Don’t make me leave you here. If I pick that dog up alone, I’m renaming him.”

Luke got into the car, still looking his happiest yet. Julie shook her head and smiled before getting in herself. Whatever the future held for them, Luke was about to be banned from naming animals and people -- just in case.

[join-the-joywrite]

Her love shines over my horizon, she's a slice of heaven

@thedeathdeelers here u go

The jolts hurt like hell. That was fact. They'd steadily gotten worse and performing the Orpheum seemed to have made it infinitely worse. Alex had told them waiting in the garage was a bad idea. Julie would see them so hurt and broken.

The truth was, Luke wanted to see Julie one last time. He hoped quietly that Julie would come by. It was probably selfish to hope she would come by knowing how it would hurt her to see them but if he was about to blip out of existence -- painfully, at that -- he wanted to be able to see Julie just once.

And when the doors pulled open and she stood there, backlit by the moonlight and the one light on the pathway to the garage, Luke felt as though he couldn't feel pain at all. A few word were exchanged but all Luke could really think about was that the universe had given him Julie. It was cruel to rip them apart so soon but seeing her in the eleventh hour felt like something of a soothing balm.

"No music is worth making, Julie, if we're not making it with you." And as he watched the weight of his words sink in for Julie, he felt a bit lighter. "No regrets."

And then the unthinkable happened. Julie hugged him. As he wrapped his arms around her and held fast, he thought that maybe the universe hadn't brought Julie to him, really, just let him see her. Had he already crossed over?

He could feel Julie's heart beating against his chest and the answer really felt like yes. Heaven was his studio with the boys. Heaven was holding Julie in his arms. Heaven was being held by Julie.

She inched back and he held on. If he let go she would disappear. But then she was standing back, staring at him with an expression that mirrored the questions in his mind. And then he was leaning his face into her hands, closing his eyes.

No. He hadn't crossed over. In fact, he'd never felt more alive.

[join-the-joywrite]

Vera & Hamish soulmate au headcannons

Combination of a prompt from @bakulka and @gingersimasnapsandvermishthings where upon making contact with your soulmate, you relive moments of their past

Who's ready for some angst????

Let's get some background on exactly what past angstiness is all about

Síma is, and I say this with all the love in the world, an actual demon mainly because of the suggestion that Hamish was an unwanted child. GIRL, I-- so yes, we will be running with that :)

So there's going to be some instances where Hamish's mother was an outright bitch to her son and straight up tells him that she never wanted it (gosh why am I always jumping down his mother's throat???? It's because she's a rich bitch, isn't it???)

Don't worry, I'll try to think up some painful memories about his father.

On Vera's side, there is the very obvious death of her daughter, but I'm gonna take it up a notch for this au and call attention to how everyone around her responded to the entire thing. Losing your own child is bad enough, imagine being 16 and having to face a close-minded community after that? I mean,,, does my girl even get any sympathy or is it gonna be all about how she was asking for it and she should have known better??? I mean COME ON you can't look at Vera and tell me she's this hardened on the outside only due to her daughter's death.

In any event, let's move on.

My babies grow up lonely. They leave home as early as they can and say a big fat fuck you goodbye to their families.

I say this with all the seriousness I can: I'm 100% sure both of these idiots have the ability to consciously halt their thought process.

So their moment of first contact occurs outside the den, fighting Kepler & Co. but due to their extreme focus on protecting the den, both of them actively ignore the onslaught of past memories.

And it just never comes up?? They just never bring it up with each other?

Then there's the whole pulveris memoria business and Hamish has no clue about any of it so he's genuinely not suppressing anything at all -- but Vera's got lonely moments where she sits with nothing but her own thoughts.

And there's her old memories that she tried to bury deep down but there's something else? A different kind of pain that she can't identify? Now and then, without warning, she's struck by the sudden fear that she doesn't belong, that she has no right to be where she is, that she was unwanted as a child and she is unwanted now.

Side note, how do you think Hamish felt when Cassie told him that Tundra CHOSE him?? Like,, Tundra WANTED him for his champion?? Do you think he cried? Being wanted for the first time in his life? Do you think he and Cassie sat for hours together, talking about it?

Speaking of Cassie, whenever Vera thinks about her daughter and allows herself to mourn a little, she's got this underlying sense of grief that makes her want to blame herself. But she doesn't know how to deal with it. She's processed her daughter's death by now. She knows better. She doesn't blame herself the way she used to. So why is there this lingering urge to berate and blame herself for a death?

Then Alyssa gives the Knights their memories back. Then Hamish starts to feel it too. One day he sees a little girl running to greet her older sibling on the campus and for some reason, the sight of her with her glitter skirt and bouncy pigtails tugs achingly at his heart. Or during his monthly call from his dear old mother, he manages to overlook the unwanted feelings -- he has a new family now -- but there's this new feeling abandonment? He doesn't get it, because he's long since written his mom off. She's not family to him anymore. If anything, by now, HE'S abandoned HER. He feels cast out despite that never being his childhood.

It goes on like this until Lilith brews the potion for them. While Vera is just confused about these strange new feelings (obviously tied to Hamish's memories) Hamish has just been slapped with an onslaught of memories, breaking through every barrier he'd ever created and every memory he ever buried beneath lies of being okay. It's his horrible childhood, losing Cassie, falling for Vera, all at once. But then the new and confusing feeling click into place as a barrage of new memories hit him. Vera losing her daughter, being treated like an outcast, having to fend for herself, slowly losing trust in the individual person . . . all at once.

And it almost breaks him.

He's softer with Vera, now. Almost apologetic for her deeds. Jack doesn't get it when Hamish says he understands Vera a little bit. Jack's hung up on being betrayed by his soulmate.

But Randall gets it. Lilith gets it. They've both known Hamish long enough to know what he says isn't always what he means. But Lilith isn't that great with soft reassurances. She's who Hamish goes to when he needs tough love. So its Randall who talks to Hamish and figures the whole thing out.

Hamish wants to come clean to Vera, but he knows her now. He can calculate the way her mind works. And he knows that she is cut from the same cloth as him. She's buried her own and his memories behind a wall even she can't break.

He has this ongoing internal debate right until the Prometheans and every painful memory in Vera's life springs forward. But so do all the memories she got from Hamish.

(Am I breaking canon? Possibly, it's been a while)

When they next meet, it's quiet. Hamish can tell Vera has something on her mind.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to break your already fragile walls."

"Hm."

And they don't sit close. And they don't hold each other. Not for a while, anyway.

Which is fine because they're both afraid of new memories resurfacing that neither of them want to deal with.

Until the urge to be close is greater than the fear of facing each other's past.

It's a hesitant touch, but with it comes forth happy memories, which is a pleasant surprise.

The day Vera's daughter was born and she fell in love for the first time. The moment Hamish realised that Tundra had really CHOSEN him and he was worth something. The day Vera was made Temple Magus and she was just so happy to be respected and to have a place where she belonged. The days Hamish met Cassie, Randall, Lilith and Jack and anyone else in between and realised he has a family who loves him with or without any special abilities and just because he was Hamish.

And it's so so so refreshing from the horrible and painful memories that they share that for a moment, they just sit together, explaining the memories and just . . . slowly falling deeper in love with each other without even noticing.

And each time they make contact after, it's a short blur of a few memories. Happy memories, sad memories, joyful memories, angry memories. It all depends on their moods when it happens. Luckily for them, it's mostly memories of being loved and accepted and wanted.

When Alyssa and Vera say that Hamish is leaving and he grabs her hand, Vera's struck with memories of blame and grief at losing Cassie because he wasn't there. She has to squeeze his hand remind him that she's not Cassie and he's not the young kid he was when Cassie died. She'll be okay.

And at the end, when she grabs his hand to tell him to stay, they share the same memory.

The day they fell in love.

No I'm not back on Vermish bullshit haha wdym

[join-the-joywrite]

Hey, mama, don't stress your mind (We coming home tonight)

Luke ran away often. But he always came back home. Always.

Until he didn't.

Big thank you to @sunsetphantom for the lovely idea :)

Emily sank to the ground on the side of the road as Mitch took off in the direction Luke had gone. She knew he'd come back soon, but it didn't lessen the blow every time he ran away. The longest he'd ever stayed away was a good month and a half, but that was attributed to having a place to stay with Bobby, whose parents had called and told her they'd look out for Luke while he was there if she was okay with it. She'd hesitated. She'd wanted to demand to speak to him, beg Bobby's parents to bring him home, or to at least keep him there until she got there. But she knew her son had a temper. He just needed time. So she left him until one morning, she found him on her doorstep, whispering an apology. And she took him inside and reminded him over a big breakfast that she loved him dearly.

So when Luke took off again, she wasn't as worried as she was hurt. She knew he'd be back soon.

Right?

After the first week, she called Bobby's parents. They hadn't seen Luke. Bobby hadn't mentioned anything. After a week and a half, she tried Reggie's. They hadn't even noticed that Reggie hadn't been home for at least five days. After the second week, she risked Alex's. They were furious. They hadn't talked to Alex in months. They didn't want to hear anything about Alex or his 'unnatural' friends.

Emily began to worry. By now, Bobby's parents should have called to say they had Luke all bundled up in the spare room -- it was really more his room than a spare at this stage. She put up missing posters. She called Bobby's parents every third day. She kept an ear out for anything related to Sunset Curve. Mitch spread word to everyone he knew.

But no Luke.

Emily consoled herself with the fact that this wasn't Luke's longest time off yet. And during the last, he'd only gone to Bobby's parents after a month.

When the one month mark passed by and still no word, Emily jumped into the car herself and drove to every single place she knew of where she could find her son. When she returned home without him the next morning, long past sunrise, she seemed to have shut down.

Emily spent weeks at the table, staring past the oak until long after her coffee had turned cold. Only once did Mitch come home to find her standing at the patio doors, a framed photo of baby Luke in her hands. He gently guided her back into the house, where she turned void again.

By the second month, Emily merely followed a routine. Wake up. Make coffee. Call Bobby's parents. Put up new posters. Attempt a distraction. Sleep.

By the fourth, Emily had run out of ideas. Word about Sunset Curve performances reached her only after they were over. If was as if Luke knew when the news would reach her and planned around it.

By the sixth month, Emily had given up calling Bobby's parents. It was all she could do now to put up posters, put a new announcement in the local newspaper every week and drive aimlessly, hoping to spot her son somewhere.

By the sixth month, she'd started believing again that Luke would eventually come back home. Any moment now, he'd be there and she would take him in and scold him a bit and remind him that she loved him. She woukd apologise for all the hurtful things she had said and they'd sit together under one blanket and share a mug of hot cocoa. Any moment now, he'd ring the doorbell.

And then there was the familiar chime. But it wasn't Luke on the front steps. An officer whose name Emily hadn't heard introduced himself and asked if they were Luke Patterson's parents.

Emily doesn't remember much of the day she found out her son had died. She doesn't remember much of the funeral either. All she can remember is that she let him go. She didn't try hard enough to find him. He'd never forgiven her. She'd never had the chance to tell him she forgave him less than ten minutes after he had stormed off. All she can remember is that she should have tried harder to find him.

Luke ran away often, but he always came back home in the end. It was all Emily could on to now, hoping that one day, he'll be there on the front steps, ringing the doorbell. One day, she'll hear his voice again and it'll be like he never left.

Instead, she got Julie Molina.

And really, it was more than she dared ask for.

[join-the-joywrite]

But suddenly from somewhere out of the blue, I see a different light around you.

For Anon: Julie and Luke, family friends, end up sick together. While cooped up sick at Julie's, a little conversation leads to a lot of secrets.

A/N: skdjje I am so sorry it took me this long to get to it sjjdje and this kind of got away from me once I finally got into writing it oops.

Special thanks to @i-spit-on-fire for the title!! Love you, doll 🥰

Julie Molina had a great friend circle. She loved each of them equally. Well, maybe Flynn got a bit more than everyone else but then again, Flynn had also seen Julie throwing up the last time she had food poisoning so maybe Flynn deserved a little extra love for sticking around past that.

The only person in the circle that could contend for Flynn's level of appreciation in Julie's eyes was Luke Patterson. And it was only because her mom and his dad were childhood friends, which, naturally, led to Julie and Luke growing up childhood friends.

Despite their close friendship, Luke and Julie rarely interacted at school. They had their own, smaller, circles and that was perfectly okay. Their circles merged after Luke and his friends played live music for Julie's theater performance when the radio gave out without warning. Well, to get more specific, it was some time after Alex and Willie started dating and involving both their friends on lunches and hangouts.

So yeah, things were great, school was fun and they all had a bunch of fun together. They even planned to visit an amusement park that Saturday too.

Unfortunately, the trip to the amusement park seemed like it was gonna have to wait.

"I told you not to hug me," Julie grumbled through her stuffy nose.

Luke pulled a face for her. "I didn't. I hugged my mom and then you hugged my mom. I'm not at fault here."

Julie sighed. "You think she's sick, too?"

"Nah, mom's got a great immune system. She probably just has a slight cough."

Just then a coughing bout overtook Julie. Leaning forward in her chair, she took a few deep breaths, relaxing as she felt Luke's hand moving in slow circles on her back. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and the sharp ache in her forehead subsided. When she sat back again, she leaned her head against Luke. "I hate being sick. This is all your fault."

"We've just been over this. I didn't hug you."

"Potato, pot-ah-to."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You know you're heavy, right?"

Julie's response was to stop half-supoorting herself and drop all her weight on Luke's side, nearly sending them both off their chairs.

"If you weren't so sick, I'd . . . I'd pinch you!"

"You mean, if you had the energy to do it."

"Yeah, whatever," Luke managed to say before he coughed too, albeit much less than Julie. "Think your mom will drop me home?"

"You live right next door, idiot. Obviously."

When Rose walked into the nurse's office, she sighed at the two teens. "We told you two to stay at home. Come on, let's go."

As Rose pulled into her driveway, Luke thanked her for the ride.

"Where do you think you're going, mijo?"

"H-home?" Luke asked uncertainly, his hand on the door handle.

"Your parents are out of town for the weekend."

"Yeah," Luke nodded, "I was gonna stay over at Bobby's but I don't wanna make him sick--"

"Well, Julie's already sick anyway. You can stay with us and when you're feeling better, you can go over to Bobby's."

"But--"

"Mijo, I'm not asking," Rose said, staring at Luke in the rearview mirror, daring him to get out of the car.

Julie snickered at the fear in his eyes as he settled back into the seat and waited until Rose had pulled further up towards the house before attempting to get out again.

"Why don't you two go get comfortable on in the living room, hm? I'll put some food up for you and it'll be ready before you even know it."

Julie yawned as she trudged past Rose and into the house. "Can we sleep instead?"

"Absolutely. Go get some rest, okay? Luke, if you're tired, you can sleep in Carlos' room. He's spending the week with Victoria so it's all yours if you need, okay?"

"Thank you," Luke managed before a yawn interrupted him.

Rose ruffled Julie's hair first, then Luke's. Now, what could she feed them that they'd manage to keep down?

"Sorry I made you sick," Luke mumbled.

Julie shrugged. "It's okay. Flynn said she was gonna drag me on the biggest rollercoaster first so in a way, I'm kinda glad we won't be going tomorrow."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You do this everytime we go. Just get on the rollercoaster. It's not that much bigger than the one we went on last time."

Julie stared at Luke over her bowl of soup. "I passed out."

Luke shrugged. "It makes for a good story!"

"For you!"

"Don't yell, Julie, you don't have the lung capacity."

Julie scrunched up her nose and mocked Luke in a high voice. "You don't have the lunch capacity."

"Oh, real mature."

Julie blew a raspberry at Luke. A raspberry that turned into a cough. Luke was out of his blanket in a second.

"Julie?" Rose called from the kitchen. "You good, baby?"

"I got it!" Luke called back. He knelt in front of Julie as she hunched over and rubbed her back in small circles. "Easy, Jules," he murmured.

"I hate being sick," Julie said for the umpteenth time, resting her chin on Luke's shoulder.

Luke froze, one hand on Julie's arm, the other on her back. What was he supposed to do now? Just . . . hold her?

"I know," he said soothingly, "you'll get better quickly, don't worry."

"Ugh, I hope so." Slowly, Julie pulled away and eased back into the couch.

Luke pouted, only because he wanted to stay holding Julie in a gentle and comfortable embrace. He scrunched his nose up and quickly shook his head. What the hell was that all about?

He was back in his corner of the couch, under his blanket, when Rose arrived with a glass of water for each of them.

"I'm going to get dinner running and when I come back to check on you two, those glasses better be empty."

"Yes, mom," they chorused.

It wasn't really a big thing. Luke called her 'mom' often. Julie even called Emily 'mom' if she happened to be over at Luke's. But that didn't take away from Rose's (or Emily's) absolute delight over being called mom by her honorary child.

"Sorry I made fun of you when you first got sick," Julie mumbled.

"It's okay," Luke said with a slight laugh, half paying attention to Julie and half paying attention to the TV. They'd taken a good nap and were already feeling better. "Karma got you, I guess."

"I guess."

"You got it bad, though," Luke said, glancing at Julie. "I never coughed like that."

"Exhibit A of why I utterly detest being sick. The headache is unbearable sometimes." Julie gave Luke a small smile. "But it's okay. I should already be feeling better by tomorrow."

Julie turned her gaze back to the TV. Luke didn't. He kept his gaze on Julie, watching her carefully. He'd always had the natural inclination to want to care for Julie, but until then it had always been small things. Wanting to make sure her cuts and scrapes got a band-aid. Wanting to check in with a simple text when she was sick. Wanting to be sure her work was up to date when she missed out.

But now . . . now it was a little different. It wasn't really strange, but he couldn't quite understand it. Why, when she complained about her headache, did he want to pull her close and try to distract her from it? Why, when she hunched over coughing, did he want to be by her side, holding her close and trying to ease the fit? Why, when she paid him no attention, did he want to just sit there and watch her?

Julie glanced back and Luke froze like a deer in headlights, his already pink cheeks growing redder. Julie grinned. "Is that the fever or are you shy about something?"

"Definitely the fever," Luke said quickly.

"Uh huh," Julie said with a grin, turning back to the TV again. "I think you're pretty cute too."

Luke shrank into his blanket. "I didn't say that."

"Your face said enough, Patterson."

"You really think I'm cute?"

Julie looked at Luke, who had the blanket wrapped over his head as he pouted at her. His flushed cheeks had calmed to the usual pink whenever he was running a fever. She couldn't help but smile. "The cutest."

He beamed. "I think you're pretty cute too. Wait, that's what you said--"

"Cute," Julie mumbled under her breath, shaking her head and turning back to the TV. She was surprised by Luke suddenly dropping his head in her lap. She grinned, amused. "Hi, there."

"Hi. I want attention."

"Well, mom said she was just gonna make sure Carlos' room is clean enough for you to walk without getting impaled by a Lego brick but I'm sure she'd be happy to listen to your gibberish when she's all done."

"I want your attention."

"And I wanna watch the season finale."

Luke turned over to glance at the TV. "You've seen this episode at least six times. I know because five of them were at my house and youd already seen it once before that."

Julie flicked Luke's nose lightly. "It's my favourite, leave me be."

"Fine, but I'm staying here."

"Okay, just be quiet."

Luke felt like he had left the land of the living when he felt Julie's fingers in his hair. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing and somehow, the fact that she was playing with his hair on autopilot made him giddy.

"Can you put this on the table for me, please?" Julie asked absently, resting her empty glass on Luke's shoulder.

He did as she asked, just managing to reach the coffee table.

"Thank you."

Bored but unwilling to move, Luke began to pick at the threads on Julie's bracelets. She rested her hand on his chest, knowing he'd start whining if she took the bracelets away.

"Who made this one for you?"

Julie glanced at her arm to see Luke playing with a blue string, her name strung on in letter beads, a star bead on either side. "You did."

"Really?"

"I think we were about eight or nine. That was when Flynn got her bracelet set and we spent so many lunches making bracelets. You got jealous because I kept wearing Flynn's bracelets so you made one for me yourself."

"Huh," Luke said, "I don't remember, though."

"Not surprising. You were running a fever then, too. A pretty high one. Your mom gave you cough syrup and you got a burst of creative inspiration. Haven't you heard her tell the story? It's one of her favourites."

"I hear the words 'when Luke was little' and I instantly tune it out."

Julie laughed. "Sounds about right."

Luke watched the smile linger on Julie's face as she watched the episode she knew by heart. God, she was so pretty.

Luke scrunched his nose up again. Yeah, Julie was pretty and yeah, he'd always known that. But in the way he knew Flynn was beautiful and Carrie was stunning. In the way he knew Reggie was adorable and Bobby was cute and Alex was a gorgeous. In the way he knew Willie was magnificent. It was just something he'd always known. He and his friends were hot as hell and that was just a fact that they all seemed to know.

But laying with his head in Julie's lap, watching her unconsciously smile at his own antics, it seemed like a brand new thought. How could someone he'd known his whole life suddenly look different?

"Julie."

"Hm?" Julie didn't look away from the TV.

"You're really pretty."

"Thank you," she said, smiling wider. She lightly tugged a lock of his hair. "You're pretty, too."

"No, I mean, like, really pretty. Like . . . ultra pretty."

Julie scowled at Luke. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! I just . . . I just really like your smile. It's so. . ."

"Pretty?"

Luke nodded. He poked her cheek lightly. "I like when you smile."

"Yeah?" Even if she wanted to, she couldn't hold back a smile.

Luke smiled too. "Yeah."

Caught up with Luke's spontaneous declaration, Julie mised her favourite part of the episode -- the one where they finally had their first date. But Luke didn't.

"When we get better," he said slowly, "when we're not sick anymore . . . Do you think we could go out together? Maybe next weekend?"

Julie nodded. "Absolutely. Flynn already texted about rescheduling--"

"No. No, I mean . . . like a date. Just you and me."

"Oh," Julie said softly, eyes wide.

"Oh? Julie, 'oh' is what you say when you get socks for Christmas."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm just . . . surprised. I thought I worked out this crush thing and then here you are, asking me out and all I can think is that I wasted so much energy trying to stifle it all down when I could've just asked you out myself like two years ago."

Luke blinked up at Julie. "So, is that a yes or a no? I'm a little confused."

"Oh, only a little? Yes, you dork."

Luke suddenly yawned.

"Tired?"

"Only a little."

"Go to sleep," Julie said, using the same tone Rose had used on them both earlier.

Luke thought it was going to be pretty difficult to fall asleep when Julie was sitting there, threading her fingers through his hair like she had no idea how fast she made his heart beat. But it barely took him a minute before he was out completely. With a yawn of her own, Julie quickly followed.

Carrie snickered softly. "Quick!" she whispered. "They're waking up!"

"Okay!" Willie whispered back. "Okay, hold it up."

The bunch of them gathered behind the ridiculously large cardboard posted they'd thrown together the moment they arrived after the text from Rose.

Blinking tiredly, Julie and Luke sat up and took a few seconds to focus on the grinning faces in front of them.

"Congratulations!"

Julie and Luke both turned several shades redder (not by any fault of their ebbing fevers) as the group thrust the banner forward. It's about damn time.

"Shut up," Julie mumbled, retreating under her blanket to hide her face.

Luke scowled. "You could've said something!"

"Watching was funnier," Alex admitted.

As he did, the front door opened and in walked Ray. He took one look at the scene before him and groaned. "I can't believe I lost a full ten dollars."

"You bet on us?" Julie shrieked, throwing the blanket off.

"Well . . . yeah," Ray said, "your Tia is very persuasive."

Julie shrank back into the blanket, groaning in embarrassment.

Rose gasped. "Someone get Emily on the phone! She owes me five dollars!"

"Mom!"

But despite the embarrassment that was their family, Julie and Luke were very happy to have finally admitted their feelings -- to themselves and to each other.

Neither of them could wait for next weekend.

[join-the-joywrite]

As promised

But you don't really care for music, do ya?

@i-spit-on-fire and I would like to present:

A jukebox enemies to lovers au

A whole story can become something new with one simple little change. One bad hot dog instead of three and three live instead of one. Now, imagine this slight change in a world where the skater was born later, the dark room never happened, and the manipulation of the lone member of Sunset Curve was slightly...different.

Alone, lost, and dead, unable to interact with those that he loved with his whole soul or do the one thing he believed to do, left the lone member despondent. When offered the chance to play and be heard and be a musician to people again, well, of course he took it. He just didn’t realize that by selling his soul he was losing himself.

Fate plays by its own rules and magic has its own agenda. Will the story stay the same in the end or will it be darker, more twisted and less cheerful? Will those who lived get a happy ending or were they always destined to be ghosts? Was Julie always magic or just a girl who needed a little push? And was this push always kind and good, or is sometimes darker and less pure?

Either way, only time will tell. And time is never as long as we hope it to be.

Link in the reblogs

[join-the-joywrite]

But you don't really care for music, do ya?

@i-spit-on-fire and I would like to present:

A jukebox enemies to lovers au

A whole story can become something new with one simple little change. One bad hot dog instead of three and three live instead of one. Now, imagine this slight change in a world where the skater was born later, the dark room never happened, and the manipulation of the lone member of Sunset Curve was slightly...different.

Alone, lost, and dead, unable to interact with those that he loved with his whole soul or do the one thing he believed to do, left the lone member despondent. When offered the chance to play and be heard and be a musician to people again, well, of course he took it. He just didn’t realize that by selling his soul he was losing himself.

Fate plays by its own rules and magic has its own agenda. Will the story stay the same in the end or will it be darker, more twisted and less cheerful? Will those who lived get a happy ending or were they always destined to be ghosts? Was Julie always magic or just a girl who needed a little push? And was this push always kind and good, or is sometimes darker and less pure?

Either way, only time will tell. And time is never as long as we hope it to be.

Link in the reblogs

[join-the-joywrite]

Can you hear me screaming, please don't leave me?

Response to a prompt from @teammightypen, prompt list here.

T, you're gonna absolutely annihilate everyone with this request alone, let alone whatever the hecc I've done to it, I--

1. "stay alive, please."

37. "Can you brush my hair?"

Julie coughed nearly three times on her way down to the studio. She had to take a pause near the studio doors, taking a few deep, slow breaths to ease the burn in her lungs. She was still bent over, hands on her knees, when Reggie walked out to her.

"Julie? Julie, you're not supposed to be walking this far. C'mon let's get you back to the house."

Julie accepted Reggie's help in righting herself, but she shook her head. "No. I came all the way here."

"Oh . . . Oh. Okay, let's get you inside."

"I can walk," Julie tried to protest, head spinning for a second as Reggie swept her off her feet.

"You've walked enough. Can you even tell if my eyes are open or closed?"

Julie squinted at him. "Stop moving your head so fast."

Reggie shook his head and turned back to the garage. "I thought as much."

When Alex caught sight of her, his reaction was pretty much the same as Reggie's.

"Julie, you know you shouldn't be walking so much. Dr Alonso specifically told you."

"I know," Julie said, half leaning against Reggie once he set her down again. "I know but. . ."

Reggie and Alex followed Julie's gaze up to the loft when she tilted her head in that direction.

"Oh," Alex said softly, in almost the exact same tone Reggie had used. "Okay. Reggie and I are gonna go find your dad and Flynn okay? H-how long do you want us to take?"

Julie thought about it, wondering just how selfish she'd be called for it. "An hour?"

"An hour?!" Reggie whispered. "That's it? No. No no no no no. I'm not going. I -- I'm not."

"Reg, I can't look for them myself. Willie's already looking out for Carlos and he's hiding from Caleb. I can't ask him to parade around with me."

Reggie stared at Julie.

"I'll be fine. I promise. I'll be okay. It's just Luke."

Reluctantly, Reggie stepped out of the studio behind Alex.

"An hour?" he asked softly. "It can't-- we can't leave her alone for an hour. What if he won't look at her?"

"He will," Alex said. "He won't be able to live with himself if he doesn't talk to her."

Back inside, Julie began the slow climb up to the loft. She was breathless when she reached the top.

"Hey."

Luke didn't turn around, but Julie could hear his pencil scratching in the notebook. Julie leaned against the handrail, gripping the wood tight.

"Luke, ignoring me isn't going to fix everything. It's not gonna make you feel better. Trust me."

Luke stood up quickly, the notebook and pencil clattering on the floor as he whirled around and shouted, "It's not fair!"

Julie would have been started if she wasn't expecting it. Instead, she smiled sadly. "I know it isn't."

Luke struggled for something to say. Eventually, his gaze settled on Julie's bushier-than-normal hair. "You look like a mess," he blurted.

A light laugh left Julie's lips. "I appreciate you not commenting on my hideous clothes."

"I think they're cute. Who doesn't love . . . what is that? Dinosaurs? Splotches?"

Julie shrugged and took a few steps towards Luke. Even the slightest bit of exertion left her weak and breathless. "I haven't really found the energy to be maintaining all these glorious curls."

"I can tell," Luke teased.

Julie knew he was still trying to avoid the very large elephant in the room but she couldn't blame him. She wanted to do the same. She held out the hairbrush to Luke. "Can you brush my hair?"

"Of course. Come on."

Like Reggie, Luke didn't pay heed to Julie's protests and carried her the very short distance between the handrails and the massive pile of clothes and cushions that he'd been resting on. He knelt behind Julie and gently brushed over her hair, careful not to pull too hard.

"There's a song in my dream box," Julie said softly, closing her eyes. "For you."

"Julie, don't--"

"I wrote it a while back but I've just been so scared to show it to anyone. Will you at least read it?"

"Okay," Luke said eventually.

"You've never brushed my hair before, have you?"

Luke shook his head, despite being behind Julie. "Usually Reggie helps you with it."

"Mm. You're softer. Will you do it again tomorrow?"

It was harder to ignore the truth with her sitting in front of him, pretending as though tomorrow would still be there. "Mhm," was all he could manage.

For a while, there was silence in the studio. Luke parted and detangles Julie's curls slowly. Mostly to prolong the moment she would turn back around and he would have to look her in the eyes and accept what fate had in store for them, but also to maintain the gentle touch. Julie was already hurting so much. He didn't see the need to pull at her hair. He memorised the feel of her hair between his fingers. He committed to memory every single smile he had ever seen Julie give. With each new section of hair he detangled, Luke thought of one more thing about Julie that he loved.

When he was nearly done, Julie spoke again.

"You'll play again, won't you? After? You'll pick up your guitar again, right? For me?"

If Luke's heart still beat, he would have felt it stop completely. If he still breathed, he would have felt the air leave his lungs in a rush. Instead, his entire body froze over and his brain seemed to stop processing the world around him.

"I can't -- I can't do this."

Julie grabbed his hand before he could stand fully. "You'll hate yourself if you leave now."

As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew she was right. He sat down heavily beside Julie and leaned against the wood behind him. Julie, with no hesitation, crawled into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to be here," Luke confessed quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

Julie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. For the first time in weeks, her lungs didn't burn with the effort. Being this close to Luke after three days of not even seeing him was a relief unlike anything else, though.

Luke listened to Julie breathe deeply. It was a sound he'd almost forgotten.

"Stay alive," he begged, "please."

"I wish I could. You know I do."

Luke wrapped both arms around her, holding her close to his chest. It was just the two of them and Luke knew Julie had planned for it to be like this. Just the two of them in the eleventh hour.

"Please," Luke whispered again, one hand pushing back the hair he had just brushed. "Stay."

Julie shifted slightly, sighing as she settled comfortably. "I wrote a song for you," she mumbled.

Luke didn't remind her that she'd already mentioned it. "Yeah?"

"Mhm. It's in my dream box. When you . . . when you get it, will you look after everything else in there?"

Luke nodded even though Julie's eyes were closed. He sniffed and swallowed the tears. "Yeah. I promise."

"Thank you."

"Julie?"

Her eyebrows lifted the tiniest bit. "Hm?"

"I love you."

She smiled. "I know." Another deep breath. Luke stilled in frozen fear that it had been her last. "I love you too."

He kissed her forehead. He sighed, a heavy sound that sagged his shoulders. "I love you," he said again, pulling her even closer if possible. "It's okay."

"What is?"

"I'm okay. We'll be okay. You -- you can go."

Julie's final breath left her with a soft hum and a smile on her lips. Luke held her close, tears soaking up in her hair.

Months later, when he was certain he would manage it, Luke opened Julie's dream box. And he cried again.

This has been an alternate, cut scene from the Hold On au ........ how else was I supposed to handle an angst and a fluff prompt???

[join-the-joywrite]

I remember every moment (of those endless summer nights)

Response to a prompt from @teammightypen, prompt list here.

Have a little taste of an old idea I've been toying with -- soulmates? reincarnation? Jukebox!

17. "I remember kissing you, why do I remember kissing you?"

Luke tasted like a summer's evening at the beach. Kissing Luke was dipping her toes in the shallow waves. Kissing Luke was the warmth in the air her skin soaked up. Kissing Luke was -- familiar?

"What's wrong?" Luke murmured against her lips, oblivious to the thoughts crashing into each other in her head.

"I remember kissing you," Julie said, frowning now. "Why do I remember kissing you?"

Luke laughed before he registered the crease between her eyebrows that told him she was completely serious. "Julie . . . this is the first time you've kissed me."

But Julie wasn't focusing on the familiarity of Luke's kiss. Her gaze was distant over his shoulders. She stood in his arms in the studio but her mind was elsewhere -- else-when.

"1994," she murmured, seemingly in another world. Her eyes fluttered closed again. "It was a Sunday in July, wasn't it? The hottest night that whole month."

Luke remembered that night crystal clear. It was quite possibly one of the happiest moments in his life -- topped only by today, hearing Julie say the words "I love you" aloud for the first time and every moment after.

There had been a girl in the years before he died, a girl whose heart beat the melodies in his head. A girl whose lips spoke the lyrics in his mind. A girl he loved just as fiercely as he loved his band, but perhaps a little different.

When he was sixteen years old, on a Sunday in July, she had kissed him.

"Jules?"

"I remember kissing you," Julie said again, this time with silent laughter sparkling in her eyes. Her hands moved of their own accord from Luke's shoulders to either side if his face. She smiled so wide that if she weren't so distracted, she'd have found it hurt. "I remember us."

Relief and elation flooded Luke's entire body. He'd always been in love with her and no one else. Always and forever. That's what he'd said to her on a Sunday in July ages ago. And what was it she had said? She'd choose him over and over again, in all her lifetimes. Death wouldn't stop her from loving him -- his or hers.

maybe I should long-fic this...

[join-the-joywrite]

I love you but sometimes I really wonder what the fuck goes on in your head

Are you a spicy muslim though

nah im a sunni

[join-the-joywrite]

Take my hand (take my whole life too)

"We played the Oprheum!"

The bouncing hug only lasted a second or two. While the boys regained a significant amount of lost strength, Julie's was slowly dwindling. She was, after all, only human and was out of home way later than usual. Her own internal clock seemed to be screaming at her to at least sit down.

Instead, she went down with the boys as her foot caught on a cable and she stumbled to the floor.

Alex made for a soft landing, one for which her apology was littered with giggles. Alex didn't mind. The slight pain was welcome in comparison to Caleb's jolts. Not to mention, he'd wanted to hug Julie ever since she cried during her not-so-private performance of her mother's song weeks ago. So he lay on the floor and squished Julie tight, only bringing forth more giggles.

"Hey, my turn!" Reggie yelled, rolling over and dropping himself half on Julie, fully on Alex.

"Oof," Luke commented, "that looks like it hurt."

"It did," Alex wheezed, adjusting himself to get used to the additional weight.

As one, all three of them held out an arm to Luke, who didn't hesitate to scoot closer and join the cuddle pile. Head on Alex's shoulder, he was right in front of Julie. He gave her a smile that, had she been standing, would've probably made her lose her balance. She gave him one back.

"I like this," Reggie murmured contentedly, closing his eyes.

"Yeah," Julie agreed, relishing in the fact that she could finally hug her boys, "me too."

They stayed like that for a moment before Alex sat up with great difficulty, sending them all tumbling. "You're all very heavy," he stated by way of explaining.

Julie chuckled and moved to stand up. Luke and Reggie grabbed one of her arms each.

"Stay," both whined. Reggie continued with a grin. "I promise I can be a soft pillow for you."

"I'd love to, honestly, but Carlos is waiting for me. He wanted to talk to me and. . ."

"Fine," Reggie huffed, "but just know that I'm feeling incredibly hurt right now."

Julie ruffled his hair, grinning when he closed his eyes and smiled under her touch. "There's always tomorrow."

Still, all three of them pouted when Julie stood up and righted her clothes.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," she said before walking to the doors. She paused just before closing it. "Thank you, guys."

Alex gave her a wave. Luke smiled at her with a dopey expression. Reggie continued to pout.

Julie bounded up the pathway, gait as giddy as her smile. Carlos was waiting for her in the living room.

"Hey," she said, joining him on the couch.

"Hey."

"Whatcha got there?" she asked, nodding to the paper Carlos' hands were clamped around. "Another French dip recipe?"

Carlos shook his head. "You know what this is."

"I . . . really don't."

"Your band! They're--!" Carlos stopped and glanced around looking for their father. He leaned across the vouch and whispered to Julie with wide eyes, "ghosts."

Julie forced a laugh. "What? No, don't be silly, there's no such thing as ghosts."

Carlos lifted his eyebrows. "Okay, then explain this."

Julie picked up the little black and blue page Carlos tossed to the middle of the couch, recognising it as a CD insert. For Sunset Curve. Julie's own eyebrows lifted slightly, but she continued to pretend like she hadn't a clue what was happening. Then she turned it over and knew the jig was up. Staring up at her was all four members of Sunset Curve. Trevor, or Bobby, sure looked different when he was younger.

"They're just lookalikes--"

"I'd believe you if they were here and we could touch them."

The idea of being able to hold and hug her bandmates brought a warm smile back to Julie's face. She quickly wiped it off and shook her head. "Where'd you even find this?"

"In the box with the French dip recipe."

"Ah."

Carlos suddenly looked around wildly. Julie looked around too.

"What? What happened? What are we looking for?"

"Are they here?"

"What? No, they're in the garage--"

"Aha!" Carlos grinned and folded his arms. "You're a terrible liar, Jules."

"Wh-- I am not!"

"You are, though."

Julie jumped slightly and moved away from Reggie. Carlos noticed and immediately turned his gaze where Julie looked. "Are they here now? Tell them I say hello!"

Julie rolled her eyes. "They can hear you, dork -- and it's just Reggie."

"Tell him that I say hello."

"Reggie says hello," Julie said, heaving a resigned sigh. "What are you doing here? I told you I'd see you in the morning."

"I knew it," Carlos whispered to himself as he watched his sister talk to thin air. She looked, in all honesty, a bit insane, but at least he knew he was right about the ghosts. "So how does the ghost thing even work? How come I can't see him now, but we can all see them when you play?"

Julie whipped her head from Reggie to Carlos. "It -- I'll explain it all tomorrow, okay? It's been a long day. Reggie, go back to the studio. Carlos, to bed. It's late."

"All right," Carlos grumbled, sliding off the couch. He paused at the stairs and glanced back to see Julie scolding nothing. He hoped he'd get to officially met the guys. Julie made them seem fun.

"All right, little man, what do you wanna hear?"

Julie repeated the question to Carlos, letting him know that it was Reggie who asked.

Carlos thought for a moment. "I like the song you were singing before you got back into the music program."

"Oh, that's not our song, that -- that--"

"No, it's okay," Luke said, "I'm sure we can work something out."

"I -- okay."

Carlos sat down on the couch, almost bouncing with excitement as Julie took a seat behind the piano. The melody she played wasn't loud and energetic like their usual songs. It was quiet and gentle. Even when the band kicked in, they were much softer than usual. Julie hummed along where the words should be so that Carlos could easily speak to the boys.

"I'm--"

"Wait!" Carlos said, jumping off the couch, cutting Luke off. "I'm gonna guess based on what Julie says about you."

"You talk about us?" Luke asked with a teasing grin.

Julie hit a particularly furious note. "Shut up."

"Luke, Reggie and Alex," Carlos said, pointing to the correct band member as he went.

"Nice, little man!"

"This is so cool," Carlos whispered, eyes widening when Reggie paused playing and knelt down for Carlos to stick his hand through Reggie's arm. "Woah."

The band noticed that they were very intangible to Carlos.

Luke was only slightly disappointed when Carlos chose to focus his attention on Alex next.

"I like your hoodie."

"Thanks," Alex said, beaming. "Here, you wanna try?"

"Nah, I don't play music . . . okay, maybe a little."

Julie laughed softly as she watched Alex stand and then point where Carlos should hit. To keep them from disappearing, she continued the piano. Luke kept up with his guitar, grinning at her all the while. Their little musical conversation didn't go unnoticed by Reggie and Alex, who shared a knowing glance before Carlos grabbed Alex's attention.

"Have you ever accidentally stabbed your drums through with the sticks?"

"No, and please do not do that. We have no idea what it costs to repair dead instruments."

Carlos handed the drumsticks back to Alex and hopped off the chair. He stood in front of Luke, who knelt down as Reggie had done.

"So. You're the one my sister has a crush on."

"Carlos!" Jullie yelled, standing up and slamming down about five wrong keys.

"It was nice meeting you," Carlos yelled as he fled the garage.

With her face burning, Julie chased him down.

Alex and Reggie did their best not to laugh. They really did. But the shell-shocked look on Luke's face was hilarious. Even the withering glare Luke sent them didn't help quieten their laughter.

Up in the house, Ray Molina thought he was about to witness a wrestling match. "Julie! What are you doing?"

Julie, who suddenly realised there was no way to explain why she was attacking Carlos without either sounding like a lunatic or exposing the phantoms to her father, slowly slid down to the ground.

Carlos sat up on the couch. "Julie has a crush on Luke! Julie has a crush on Luke! Julie has a--"

"Oh, that is it!"

Perplexed, Ray watched Julie spring back on the couch with a war cry, followed by a pained, "How could you say that in front of him?!"

"Who's Luke?"

Carlos, seemingly determined to ruin Julie's life, broke out from her seeking arms and grinned at Ray. "The beanie boy in her little boyband--"

"CARLOS!"

"Julie," Ray said, a playful warning edge creeping into his voice as he folded his arms, "is there something you want to talk about?"

"No! Not at all! Excuse me, I have to go, um, rehearse!"

"Rehearse?" Ray exchanged an amused grin with Carlos. "What for?"

"Uh, future gigs? You know, since we played the Orpheum, we might get like a ton of calls and -- oh, like this, see?" As Julie held up her phone, both Ray and Carlos saw Flynn's name, but both decided to give Julie a small reprieve. In the meantime, Carlos could fill Ray in about this little crush business.

"You are not going to believe what just happened," Julie said, taking the stairs two at a time. "I took Carlos down to the garage to meet the guys, you know, 'cause he figured them out and he wanted to meet them, but then he told Luke I have a crush on him and I ended up chasing Carlos back to the house 'cause I didn't want to stay in the garage with Luke -- and Alex and Reggie -- and then my dad caught us fighting on the couch and then Carlos told my dad that I have a crush on Luke and my life is over!"

Flynn took a moment to respond. "Well . . . it's not like he's wrong, is he?"

"Flynn!" The wail that Julie threw into her pillow as she face planted her bed was equal parts betrayed and mortified. "How am I supposed to show my face at practice now? Can I come and bury my head in the sand at your place?"

Flynn laughed over the phone. "Grow up, Jules. You turned Nick down for this air cutie. Nick. You made your choice, now live with it."

"Flynn," Julie growled.

"Okay, okay. Look, you have to talk about it at some point. There's no way you can have that kind of fire on stage without some mutual attraction, and that's just Luke and Reggie. Then there's Luke and you. Jules, that's not even a fire anymore. There is something serious between you two and even though I still think it's a bad idea because he's, you know, air, I still think you need to talk about it before the wrong thing blows up."

"I know," Julie sighed. "I can handle Luke -- I think. It's my dad I'm worried about. How do I explain it all without him wanting to take me to a shrink?"

"Don't tell him anything. Show him. Maybe with a little less flair than you did with me. Play him something soft. Like . . . wasn't your mom in a couple of bands when she was our age? Maybe he'd know one of her songs. Maybe if you guys played something of hers, he'll have enough of his head around him to know it's all real, but enough of it will be in the clouds that it'll be easy to explain."

Julie stared at her phone, at the contact photo she had of Flynn. "You are a genius."

"I know. So, I was just calling to ask how you're holding up, but I'm going to assume everything is fine and the guys didn't cross over?"

"Yeah, no, it was really weird. Caleb's curse just sort of . . . broke, I guess, after I hugged them."

"Wait, hold up. You hugged them? What was that like, arms hanging in the air and hoping you were touching?"

Julie sighed a happy sigh. "We have a lot to talk about."

"I'll be there for dinner, no excuses -- and I expect your dad to know what's going on by then."

Julie rolled over and muffled a groan of despair into her pillow.

"Rough day?"

"It's only ten," Julie whined, lifting her head to give Alex her sad eyes.

Alex smiled. "You'll be fine -- I mean with your dad thing. With Luke on the other hand. . ."

Julie faux sobbed into her pillow, eliciting a soft chuckle from Alex, who sat down on her bed. He reached out for her shoulder then quickly drew back. Ever since Julie left the garage last night, it had been on his mind -- on all their minds -- that the hug was a one-time thing. He didn't want to confirm their fears if they were right.

"Hey, it's okay, Jules."

Julie let out a strangled wail that took Alex a few seconds of clamping his mouth shut to avoid laughing at the poor girl.

"I'm serious. You know, Luke, he . . . he's not great with feelings. He talks with music, with songs, with lyrics. He says the most important things when he looks at you on stage or at a rehearsal or when you're writing music together. He's just scared. I mean, we all are, but him most."

Julie sat up, hugging her wail-pillow to her chest. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

Alex shrugged. "All I'm saying is, give him a chance -- and give Carlos a break. Honestly, he might have just done you a favour."

"I cannot believe you're taking Carlos' side."

"I'm not! I'm not, I'm just -- things are already complicated. How much worse can they get?"

Julie sighed. "I don't know. . ."

"Well, it's not like Luke does either. He's locked himself in the bathroom and Reg and I think he's been crying in the bathtub this whole time. We'd phase through the door but Luke can actually hit us if he wants to so. . ."

"Oh, and you think I can't?" Julie teased.

The two shared an amused grin, but beneath it, both were thinking the same thing. What if she couldn't?

"All right, I'll tall to him. But you and Reggie have to leave."

Julie ventured into the empty garage. She looked around for Reggie and Alex, unsure if she was relieved or not when she didn't find them. Up in the loft, they watched Julie disappear as she headed further in towards the bathroom door.

She knocked gently. "Luke?"

Silence.

"Come on, I know you're in there. Alex says you've locked yourself in and won't come out."

"I'm not Luke."

"Okay, but I need to talk to Luke so can you pass on the message for me?"

"I'll let him know."

Julie smiled, finding Luke's behaviour somewhat amusing. She leaned against the door. "I'm sorry about Carlos, he . . . he just really enjoys embarrassing me in front of people. I guess he figured since you guys can't really speak to other people, you'll have to talk to me and we'll all have to confront whatever he said so that's why he picked you to tease and --" Julie broke off with a sigh.

The bathroom stayed silent.

"And I'm sorry for running out after him. I was just . . . I was afraid of what you'd say."

When Luke spoke again, though his voice was much softer, it was also much clearer. As if he were closer to the door. "Why? Was he . . . telling the truth? Did you say something?"

Julie fidgeted with the sleeves on her yellow jersey. "No, but I'm not exactly the most subtle person and if you haven't noticed, I suck at lying."

Luke laughed softly. "Oh, we noticed. Everyone knows you're a horrible liar."

"Thanks," Julie said with a grin, "I mean, I really just came here to affirm what a bad liar I am."

"Ooh, sarcastic too."

"Shut up."

"Well?" Luke said after a moment of silence. "Was he?"

Julie leaned against the door and sighed. "What does it matter? It's not like anything would come of it."

"It does matter, Jules. It -- it matters because -- well, I mean, you matter. To me."

"I know," Julie said softly, turning so that her back was against the door. "It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Not all of it sucks," Luke murmured from the other side of the door. "We could find a way. You've already done so much that no other lifer ever has, as far as anyone knows. Why stop there?"

Julie laughed. "Your ambition is very inspiring, Luke, but everything has a limit."

"So find that limit, then. You'll never know how high it is if you stop now."

Julie felt something brush her hand and glanced down to see Luke's arm phasing through the door. She wanted to reach for his hand but she was afraid she'd just pass through him. So she made a joke instead.

"You do realise that a floating arm is way more unsettling than anything else ghosts have ever done, right?"

"How's a floating head?" Luke asked, pulling his hand back and leaning forward. He gave Julie a grin. "That's always scary, right?"

"Stop it, that's weird."

Neither noticed that Julie had managed to make physical contact with Luke until after she'd shoved him back into the bathroom.

"If I come out there, are you going to poke me in the eyes again?"

"First of all, I didn't," Julie said, appreciating that Luke wasn't reacting with the panicked excitement she felt. "Second of all, I'll try not to."

"Okay, but if you do, I'm really going back into the bathtub."

Julie twisted her fingers and wrung her wrists and bounced nervously as she waited for Luke to step through the door.

"Can we try that again?" Luke asked, holding out both hands to her.

The scene felt vaguely familiar to Julie, and everything came crashing down when her hands passed through Luke's once and then twice.

"You're nervous," Luke said softly, "there's no need to be. You didn't think last time. You weren't nervous."

"I can't. I don't know what it is--"

"Yes, you do. You know it's not us doing anything. You're the one with all the magic, Jules."

Nervous but now confident, Julie tried once again. She thought she'd be able to walk on water whe she felt Luke's hands close around her own. The smile he gave her was the usual dopey look she always noticed him wearing around her.

"See? It's all you."

Julie squeezed his hands, almost like she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. "I like this," she murmured.

"Hey, Jules?"

"Yeah?"

Luke watched her eyes widen the tiniest bit as she gave him a questioning look. "Uh, do you -- about what Carlos said . . . We will talk about that, right?"

"Yes. I promise. Just . . . later?"

"Okay." Just the promise was enough for Luke. Besides, he could hold her, now. He could hold her hand, brush her hair out of her face, hug her. He could even flick her nose or tug her curls to annoy her, nudge her around when she didn't laugh at his jokes. And if -- he hoped she did -- but if she didn't feel the same way he did, then being able to be her best friend and just high five her now and then would still be enough. She wasn't just out of reach anymore.

Ayeeeee this just be sitting in my notes??? I found it like this??? All it needed was a title??? Speaking of, I might change that title and steal it for a sad fic oop

[join-the-joywrite]

You are the music in me (part 1)

(mostly) juke soulmate AUs no. 1

Special thanks & shoutout to @endless-navigator and @i-spit-on-fire for helping me with my first juke soulmates au post, you guys are amazing!!

Suggested by the lovely Endless: AU where soulmates are musically connected, so whenever the one is playing music, the other hears it in their head (Everyone Is Alive AU, Trevor and Bobby are not the same person I know it doesn't make sense shh)

First of all, I love this au and my co-writers

Second of all, let's just pause for a moment to imagine Alex suffering out hours of Justin Bieber's pop music because that was Willie's playlist at one point. Alex retaliated by starting a rock band and that's the real story behind Sunset Curve, shhh

They all go to the same school & the entire grade is very aware of Julie & Carrie's rivalry for top spot in music, dance and drama. So far, Julie has music, Carrie has dance and somehow, Flynn accidentally got into drama due to an admin error in eighth grade and she's been rocking it ever since. But Julie and Carrie are best friends, don't doubt that. It may seem a little suspicious, but they do love each other.

Luke thinks Julie is a hotshot and finds Carrie super arrogant. He tolerates Flynn. He expects his best friends to do the same but Reggie adopted Flynn as his little sister and partner in crime, and Alex regularly sleeps over at Carrie's for spa night and boy gossip. Luke is very betrayed when he discovers this.

Once, Alex was over for a Dirty Candy recital and spent the next day singing the song they were performing and when Dirty Candy performed it, Luke and Reggie were Very Confused -- but half an hour later, Alex was singing Justin Bieber under his breath again.

Anyway back to the juke I initially started this for

Perfect Harmony

Luke doesn't really like Julie but he's the first to admit she's actually really talented. Julie has no idea who Luke is.

When Sunset Curve started up and found their sound, Julie decided that she couldn't wait to meet her soulmate because she was going to strangle them on sight. How was she supposed to get her homework done when all she had every afternoon was rock music???

They once independently went to the same concert and after realizing that the music wasn't bad, they were just hearing double, both got excited that their soulmate liked the music they did.

Julie wrote music with Rose a lot and often, she'd be the one singing. Luke often thought about penning down the unfamiliar lyrics to search it up later but he always forgot, getting lost in the beautiful music his soulmate listened to.

Eventually, Julie grew accustomed to the constant rock and decided to Google the lyrics in her head. After coming up blank everywhere, she concluded that her soulmate was making original music. So she had a talented soulmate. Didn't mean they weren't annoying.

Perfect Harmony

Julie still can't wait to meet her soulmate. Maybe she won't kill them on sight but she sure as hell will beat them with a cushion for the one calculus test she flunked after spending all the study time with loud music in her head.

Luke and Julie write music together

I love Luke but he's dumb and he doesn't even notice that he's writing music with his soulmate. Julie does, but only because her soulmate has a very distinct voice and any music that comes from her soulmate shares that voice and even though it's so very different to her own, there is an undeniable complimentary aspect.

Julie has like 8 duets locked away from her family that she co-wrote with her unaware soulmate.

Perfect Harmony

Sunset Curve has ballads now and then. Bobby, Reggie and Alex know why but they're not gonna tell Luke. They're just gonna share knowing glances and pretend like nothing is different. They have a bet going with how long it'll take Luke to realise.

Luke is falling in love with his soulmate because music is life and his soulmate has GREAT music taste. Unlike Julie, he hasn't yet figured out that the music in his head is original music.

P E R F E C T H A R M O N Y

Endless, Sun & I thought about killing Rose but we threw that out the window pretty quickly. Instead, we decided upon a year-long coma. In which Julie loses music.

Luke is absolutely distraught. He thinks his soulmate died. Reggie, Alex & Bobby don't think so for sure but the longer the silence goes on, the more convinced they get. It affects Luke's music too. Sunset Curve doesn't shut down like Julie did, but they do get softer.

Luke spends more time writing, singing to himself. If by some miracle, his soulmate isn't dead, then he's singing to them. Hopefully.

One day, Sunset Curve performs for Julie. Well, they don't specifically perform for her. They'd have to know her for that. Sunset Curve throws a small gig and "this song goes out to all of you who feel hopeless, like you'll never be able to wake all the passions you used to have up again."

Flynn decides Julie needs to start living again and drags her to the small mini concert because it's small and why not.

Julie goes through the entire evening in a daze, but after Flynn leaves her house later that night, Julie feels a little fuzzy, like something's wrapping her in a big warm hug. And the next day, Julie absolutely obliterates Wake Up.

A week or so after, Rose is concious again.

Now that the serious moments are done, let's get to some funnies.

Luke, distracted and bored: you with the sad eyes

Julie, trying to do her homework: W H Y

Luke, oblivious: don't be discouraged

Julie, squishing her scrap paper: >:(

Flynn finds this amusing and asks what's up. Julie growls, "he's singing Trolls."

"So sing back. Duh."

And then she does. Luke's singing gets less lazy and more energetic. Julie actually really likes Trolls music and she has to admit singing Poppy's lines are fun. Flynn is super tempted to record Julie and call it blackmail stock. Alex, Reggie and Bobby actually act on the temptation.

They do this often. Julie will be doing something mundane and then all of a sudden, there's a duet playing in her head and it's her idiot soulmate covering the song akd hoping she joins in. Thankfully, Julie is mostly alone but she wonders if her soulmate is acting a fool in front of other people just for the sake of hearing her voice. Endearing.

P E R F E C T H A R M O N Y

Julie needs some practice on her dance recitals okay, so randomly, she has the track playing on her headphones and bops her head along. Sometimes she's cleaning the kitchen and dancing with the broom pretending it's her dance partner. No I don't do that haha

It has been WEEKS of this.

Luke has developed brain cells. He now knows his soulmate is helping him write music. So he starts penning down a new song. Both of them know it's a duet. They've even had some joke practices together with no music and things like that. Julie doesn't know the music that goes with it because Luke is careful not to play it. Ever.

And so one night, Julie's down in the studio -- it's dusty and needs a little cleaning -- and pops her earbuds in and she's doin her lil dancy-dance as she listens to her the music for her dance class recital.

Luke: GUYS GUYS GUYS ITS TIME ITS TIME SHE'S PRACTICING GUYS GUYS

Alex: IT'S FINALLY HAPPENINNNGGGGGGG

Reggie and Bobby: so should we leave you two alone for a minute or--

Luke: NO YOU WILL STAY HERE AND YOU WILL PLAY THE NOTES I GAVE YOU LAST WEEK I HOPE YOU NERDS PRACTICED

Bobby: you know we're gonna silently make fun of you the whole time

Luke: I am aware but you guys love me and you'll do this for me now shut up I have to time this perfectly

Julie is hearing double. At first she thinks maybe she never plugged her headphones in or maybe Flynn or Carrie are nearby listening to it too or -- no wait hang on a minute that doesn't sound like the track she's supposed to dance to.

Taking out her earbuds confirms that the music is in her head.

Off topic, speaking of music in her head, Luke definitely thinks I Got The Music is a Bop™

Its soft, its sweet, it's just guitar. There is no way in hell her soulmate is listening to guitar instead of playing it. She knows that much.

So now Julie has forgotten about cleaning the studio up and is pretty much standing in the same spot, just holdin on to the broom that did just two short sweeps

"Step into my world"

"THE BASTARD WROTE A SONG"

"Bittersweet love story bout a girl"

big gasp "THAT BASTARD IS PLAYING OUR DUET"

"Shook me the core"

Julie's brain: singggg,,,,, Julie: I'm afraid, ,,, Julie's brain, in Flynn's voice: S I N G

"Voice like an angel, never heard before"

Julie, before she can back down, "here in front of me"

Luke's eyes get so wide and so happy. Bobby takes a pause to snap a photo. When they finally find Luke's soulmate, they're gonna have so many dorky pics to show

Y'all it is the most beautiful separated duet of all time. I mean, not for the guys, the pauses are really weird but hey, at least Luke seems to be enjoying himself.

Post duet: "Mija are you singing to yourself"

Julie: (screams and throws broom) no?

You know what maybe this needs to be split for a part two...