#( it's got its own verse tag now julie we goTTA. WE GOTTA MAKE IT HAPPEN )

[blind-their-eyes]

Edge of Great

Pairing: Julie Molina & Luke Patterson (Julie and the Phantoms)

Words: 2,843

(I wrote this in 3 hours, reread it 3 times to edit it, there might be mistakes as it is currently 2 am for me :P)

Read on ao3!

Don’t ask me how many times I’ve rewatched this scene, because I will not be able to tell you. This is my favorite performance in the show, Stand Tall coming up really close behind it, but I think it’s my favorite due to Luke fighting for Julie’s attention. (It’s a real shame they didn’t add in the guitar riff/solo for this song in the soundtrack :c) Also! This is the first time I’m writing something JatP related, I hope you enjoy it! ! Also tagging @dance-dreamer​ cause they asked to be tagged when I posted it! (here you go friend, its finished!) 

     Julie was nervously pacing behind the closed garage doors, waiting for Flynn to announce the band. Ray had “booked” the band a gig (and by booked, he called Flynn and had her invite a bunch of people over to their house to perform) to repay for what happened with the manager at the café a few days back. Flynn’s voice echoed around the front of the Molina’s garage from her place in the crowd, and everyone cheered in excitement.

     “What’s up everybody! Time to put your hands up, do a little dance yup! Here’s the new anthem, from Julie and the Phantoms.”

    The garage doors open (thanks to Carlos and a friend of his) and Julie comes out smiling, her hands moving from her hips to in front of her chest as she clasps them together. She felt amazing in her outfit, Flynn had helped glue the butterflies to her white crop-top and shoes a few hours before the show, which she had paired nicely with some black and white cargo pants. She looks over the crowd for a second before taking a seat on the piano bench.

     “Thanks for coming, everyone!” she says into the mic, the applause having yet to stop. Her eyes are on Flynn for a few seconds before she takes a deep breath and readies her hands on the piano. Watching her hands, she begins to play. 

“Runnin’ from the past,

Trippin’ on the now,

What is lost can be found, it’s obvious.”

     She looks up at the crowd momentarily, a smile on her face from the reaction she’s gotten so far. She knows that soon enough, everyone will be dancing, and she will be too, but she has to keep her eyes off of Luke. Even after her talk with Flynn about her feelings for the guitarist, she still had feelings for Nick as well. He was here, and she didn’t want him to get the impression that something was going on between the two bandmates. Yes, there was some chemistry between her and Luke, but Julie tried to convince herself that it was only the music that was driving her to be that intimate during their performances. Especially during “Finally Free”. (also, had she mistaken the way Luke had looked at her that night while he was singing the chorus back to her?)

“And like a rubber ball,

We come bouncing back,

We all got a second act inside of us…”

     The band kicks in, Julie is smiling bigger than before as they appear. She stands from the piano and takes her mic off it’s stand and pushes it away from her on the beat. She makes her way in between both Luke and Reggie, right in front of Alex’s drums. She’s dancing and feeling the music, the weight of the lyrics, with a bright smile on her face. Luke looks over at her with a lovesick smile on his face, all of the boys are slightly bouncing to the beat of the music.

“I believe,

I believe that we’re just one dream,

Away from who we’re meant to be,

That we’re standing on the edge of,”

     She turns to Reggie and starts to dance with him as she sings, Flynn’s word’s in the back of her head. “... The key is avoiding those big, beautiful, dead eyes.” If she just followed her best friend's words, she could convince (herself) Flynn that her feelings for Luke were just from the music and the heat of the moment. She could get through this performance without looking at the cute boy.

“Something big, something crazy,

Our best is yet unknown,

That this moment is ours to own,

‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great!

(on the edge of great)

Great!

(on the edge of great!)

Great!

(on the edge of great!)

‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of….

Great!”

     Reggie and Julie look back at Alex, who is smiling at them both. Luke leans in towards Julie as she makes her way back to the middle of him and Reggie, but Julie pays him no mind as they echo the last line back to her. A look of confusion crosses over his face before he flashes a smile at the crowd while singing along. Why didn’t she want to sing with me? Maybe she didn’t see me… A few thoughts run through his head at why she didn’t come over to him, and Julie finishes the first chorus. As she sings the last line, she turns to Reggie once again, and Luke starts the second verse, the crowd cheering as he comes in.

“We all make mistakes,

But they’re just stepping stones,

To take us where we wanna go,

It's never straight, no.”

     Luke’s smile fades a bit when he looks from the crowd over to Julie. She’s dancing with Reggie and Alex once again. Did I do something wrong again? Why doesn’t she want to come over to me… His thoughts are answered when he gestures with his head for her to come over to him as she steps away from the other two and she blatantly ignores him, facing the crowd again instead.

“Sometimes we gotta lean,

Lean on someone else,

To get a little help,

Until we find a way!”

     As Julie joins in the second half of the verse, Luke’s face falls from a happy one to a more upset one. He clearly did something to upset Julie, but he couldn’t think of what he did. Julie, however, was trying her best to stay away from the boy and was extremely proud of herself for how well she was doing. Julie looks over to Reggie again before starting pre-chorus.

“I believe!

I believe that we’re just one dream,

Away from who we’re meant to be,

That we’re standing on the edge of,”

     Julie makes her way to the front of the piano, closer to the crowd as she moves with the music, dancing with every step. Reggie makes his way over to Luke, giving him a glance before looking over at Julie. He knows something is up between the two, he’s seen them ooze chemistry while on stage together. He raises an eyebrow towards Julie’s back as she sings. He’s honestly really glad to have jammed out with Julie, but she was clearly avoiding Luke tonight, and he might know the reason why. Luke’s eyes flash with a bit of jealousy when Reggie approaches, but he quickly hides it with confusion as he looks back over to Julie. 

“Something big, something crazy,

Our best is yet unknown,

That this moment is ours to own,

‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great!

(on the edge of great)

Great!

(on the edge of great!)

Great!

(on the edge of great!)

‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of-”

     Julie reaches her hand out towards Flynn, who is happily jamming along with the rest of the crowd. The boys all join in during the chorus, and Luke looks at her again with a loving longing expression. Julie starts making her way back around the other side of the piano, stepping up on the bench, getting ready to climb on top of it for the bridge of the song.

“Shout, Shout!

Come on and let it out, out!

Don’t gotta hide it,

Let your colors blind their eyes,

Be who you are, don’t compromise!”

     Julie slides across the piano and sits on the edge closest to the crowd, belting out the words, tossing her head back as she feels the music run through her. The crowd echoes the “Out’s” as she and the band sing them and she’s feeling good. The song’s almost over, and she hasn’t had a single moment with Luke. That last thought hurt a bit more than it probably should have, but again, she was sticking to the plan!

“Shout, Shout!

Come on and let it out, out!

What doesn’t kill you makes you feel alive…”

     Again, the crowd echoes the lyrics, but this time they include the “Shout’s” as well. Julie is crouching on the piano now, on one knee, ready to stand at any moment, ready for her solo. What she wasn’t expecting was for Luke to come in with his guitar, and for him to walk over to the piano beside her. She goes with it, of course, her eyes drawn to him immediately. Her voice is as soft as can be as she sings, and Luke feels as if she’s finally singing to him. 

“Ooh-oh, I believe

I believe that we’re just one dream,

Away from what we’re meant to be,

That we’re standing on the edge of great!”

     As Luke plays along with her, he is smiling softly, hoping to finally grab her attention. She looks into his eyes as he approaches, his confusion fading as she leans in a bit towards him, smiling a bit bigger, scrunching up her nose at him, and Luke can feel his heart-melting as he gives her a lovesick smile of his own. After avoiding him so much, she finally had her moment with Luke, and it might’ve blown the plan over completely. And to be honest, she didn’t really care. The way she felt when he had looked at her was as if she was looking straight into his heart, and it was as if his heart was beating just for her. She didn’t know if he had a heartbeat anymore, being a ghost and all, but what she did know is that it felt real. That one little moment, whatever they had together, it seemed real, and the way it made her feel was almost indescribable. And with all those feelings, she belts out the rest of the chorus.

“(something big, something crazy,

Our best is yet unknown!)

That this moment is ours to own!

‘Cause we’re standing on the edge of great!

(great, on the edge of great!)

On the edge of great!

(great, on the edge of great!)

On the edge!

(great on the edge of great!)

Woah-oh-oh!

(Standing) on the edge of!”

     Julie slides off the piano and walks back around to the bench, putting her mic back on its stand before taking a seat. Reggie and Alex give each other a knowing look as Luke walks over to Julie, and the two poof out, causing the audience to gasp at the sudden loss of the bassist and drummer. Luke is face to face with Julie, and he slides onto the bench next to her. Their shoulders would’ve been touching if he was human. A small gasp leaves Julie’s lips as she notices him, and she backs up a bit from the mic to give him room.

“Runnin’ from the past,

Trippin’ on the now,

What is lost can be found, it’s obvious.”

     Julie watches as Luke’s eyes drift from her own to her lips, and she can feel the heat rising on her cheeks. The way he had been looking at her before, during the solo, suddenly had been amplified by 10,000% (maybe it was because he was closer now?). She can’t fight off the smile on her face as she sings to him, and he doesn’t try to hide his lovesick smile anymore. He knows he’s got it bad for her, and he doesn’t care if anyone else is watching. He doesn’t care if anyone else is watching anymore because he knows that he’s stolen her heart as well. 

     As Luke poofs out, Julie is still looking into his eyes, and the crowd cheering is the only thing that snaps her out of the moment. She looks around with a smile on her face and chuckles a bit embarrassed about her (what felt like a private) moment being shared with so many people. She stands and clasps her hands in front of her again, nodding towards the crowd in thanks. 

     “Thank you! That was “Edge of Great”. We’re Julie and the Phantoms, tell your friends!” Julie waves to the crowd, her smile unshaken as she gives a small bow. The crowd's cheers don’t stop for a few minutes, and Flynn runs up to Julie and throws her arms around Julie’s shoulders, giving her a big hug.

     “Jules, that was AMAZING!! Even better than all the rehearsals!” Flynn gushed to her best friend, who was still blushing. 

     “Thanks, Flynn. And thank you for getting the word out so fast! I didn’t expect so many people to show up for a house party.” Julie lets Flynn out of their embrace, tucking a piece of loose hair behind her ear. 

     “Nick is here! Do you want to go chat with him?” Flynn raises her eyebrows at her bestie, giving her a knowing look, and Julie sighs and shakes her head.

     “I should probably talk with some of the other people that came, not just Nick,” She scans the crowd, looking for the redhead boy. “Plus, he might’ve already left, I don’t see him anywhere.” Julie points out to her friend.

    “Alright, alright, fine. But if you see him, you need to talk to him.” She says, pointing her index finger towards her friend as if to scold her. Julie just laughs and wraps her own index finger around Flynn’s as she lets her best friend lead her through the crowd.

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     The boys' poof to the beach, seeing as the garage doors are wide open still, they didn’t exactly have a safe place to ghost around with no one watching. They had agreed to meet here once the show was over so they could all be together and talk about the performance. Reggie and Alex are the first to arrive, of course, seeing as Luke stayed behind with his crush to finish the song. 

     “Did you see that Julie was literally avoiding Luke during the whole song? What was up with that?” Reggie questions, a semi-confused look on his face. “Did she not want to have her signature Juke moment on stage? That doesn’t make any sense.” Reggie continues, kicking up some sand.

     “Juke?” Alex questions back.

     “Oh, Julie and Luke - their names mashed together.” He holds up both of his hands, motioning to either one when he says the two names, then bringing his hands together as if to put something together. “It was either Juke or Lulie and I think Juke sounds better.” Reggie explains, dropping his hands. 

     “Oh. Alright. And yeah, Julie did seem to be avoiding Luke all night, but boy, did he chase after her alright.” Alex nudges Reggie's side with his elbow, a grin on his face. “He’s got it for her, BAD.”

    As if on cue, Luke poofs in next to the boys, his lovesick smile not faltering. Alex gives him a clap on the back as Reggie gives him a smug look, folding his arms over his chest.

     “I got more stage time with Julie, how does that make you feel, Lukey?” He says, rubbing in the fact that he got to jam out with Julie twice during their performance tonight. 

     “Hey, Reg, I got to jam with Julie too-” Alex is cut off as Luke frowns and through a flash of jealousy, he fires back a response towards Reggie.

     “Oh yeah, well what about that riff, huh?” He dares Reggie to say anything else about sharing a moment with Julie. He knows he shouldn’t be jealous of his best friend, but the high of singing with Julie hasn’t gone down yet, he’s amped up. 

     “That was just you being a simp, Luke.” Alex calmly responds, removing his hand from the back of Luke’s shoulder. The boys go from looking at each other (Reggie smugly, Luke annoyed,) to looking at Alex with the utmost bewildered looks on their faces.

     “A what?” Luke asks as calmly as he can, his eyes squinting as he folds his arms over his chest defensively. Reggie is struggling to back laughter at this new funny word.

     “You heard me, a simp.” Alex said, a small blush on his cheeks.

     “You have no idea what that word means, do you?” Reggie says, giggling a bit.

     “Well, sorta, but I’m not gonna tell you what it means. Figure it out for yourself.” Alex says, slightly embarrassed. He poofs back to the studio to see Ray, Flynn, Carlos and Julie pushing the piano back to its original place. He steps out of the way politely as Julie looks up, catching his eye.

     “I’m gonna ask Julie what that means!” Reggie says quickly, poofing back before Luke can tell him otherwise. 

Suddenly, Luke is left alone at the beach, and his heart is full and a smile is on his face. He’s happier than he has been in a long time. Just as Luke is about to poof back home, he’s hit with another painful jolt. He clutches his chest in hopes to ease the pain, and he can only hope that the guys weren’t in Julie’s view when it happened. His only thought on his mind when he gets back into the studio is “time to write another song.”

[timepaved-blog]

The bigger wolf sits down gracefully beside the pup, his ears flicked back, curious. After a short pause, he snuffles the other's head, tries to nudge him back up, gives a short whine. Get up, pup! Up, up, up!

               the little one makes no such move. if anything, he sinks                            further into the gelid bite of densely packed snow,                            burrowing and burrowing and burrowing until only                            the very tip of his tuft-like tail remains exposed. ❛ no! ❜                             comes the firm response, a muffled bark that fades                            into a low, long whine. ❛ i‘m tired, let me rest.❜