#i still can't write drabbles so this is almost 2k of juke fluff

[serendipitee]

28, juke?

thank you so much for the prompt, anon! I hope you’re satisfied ;)

Number 28 from this list - one person tracing the other’s lips with a fingertip until they can’t resist any longer, tilting their chin towards them for a kiss.

Julie didn’t even know how it had happened. Well, she did know but there was just no logical explanation for it.

 Because this, this wasn’t anything like her. She didn’t end up in boys’ garages after only knowing them for a few hours. She just didn’t.

 Flynn and Carrie had finally convinced her to leave the textbooks for the night, instead spending it with them. After a lot of convincing and bribing (with the promise of an unhealthy amount of sour worms in her near future), she had agreed, letting her friends even dress her up as they deemed appropriate.

Ever since they had started college, Julie had spent most of her days inside her dorm room studying or working as a piano teacher for kids in her free time. What she definitely hadn’t done was going out.

 Flynn and Carrie definitely had, because the bouncer greeted them with a toothy grin and a high-five, waving them into the crowded bar.

 Her two best friends had quickly pushed a way through the mass of people until they had reached the counter. It had been an uncomfortable feeling, being pressed against so many strangers, the bass vibrating through her body and Julie hadn’t felt like she belonged.

 She should be studying, working her ass off to get through college as quickly as possible, so she could start making sure that no other girl would lose their mother to cancer. It was an impossible quest, she was very aware of that, but Julie had been set on it ever since leaving her mom in that hospital bed.

 “Cheers!” Carrie had handed her the first shot, something clear that smelled disgusting and Julie had swallowed it, shaking her entire body while her best friends laughed.

 Flynn had ordered them a round of drinks, the fake IDs sitting in their purses, unused. And after they had gotten their fancy cocktails, Carrie pulled them onto the dance floor.

 Moving to the music, letting her body sway to the rhythm, Julie slowly had felt more at ease, more careless. She had laughed, when a guy had tried to dance with Carrie only to be rejected by a raised eyebrow and a simple shake of her friend’s head.

 They had belted out the lyrics to all their favorite songs and then she had needed a water while her friends had stayed.

 Making her way through the dance floor, she had mumbled ‘sorry’ about two dozen times until she finally reached the bar. Leaning on her elbows, she had tried to catch the attention of one of the bar keepers but they always went right over her head.

 “Excuse me!” She had yelled for the millionth time.

 “Don’t be polite,” a voice had laughed right into her ear, a chest pressing against her back, two arms bracketing her, as he was shoved from behind.

 She had turned around, about to give him a lesson in manners and boundaries because personal space, when brown met green.

 He had been sweaty, strands of hair sticking to his forehead and she couldn’t help glancing at his bare arms in his cut-offs which he strangely enough seemed to pull off.

 “Excuse me?” It had slipped out before she could think about it.

 A laugh had rumbled through his chest, transformed his face and damn, it had been gorgeous. He had leant even closer. “You need to toughen up.”

 His lips had been brushing against her ear and Julie had tried to suppress the shiver running down her back. She had obviously failed if his smirk was anything to go by.

 “What do you suggest?” She had asked, getting on her tip toes and close to his ear. The way he had pulled in his bottom lip as she fell back didn’t go unnoticed.

 He had whispered clear instructions into her ear and Julie had done her best not to get distracted by those damn arm muscles. Finally, he had leant back and she had watched him critically.

 “And that works?”

 “Every time,” he had shrugged.

 “If I die of dehydration, it’s your fault.” She had pointed her finger at him, tempted to poke his chest, check if it was as firm as it looked.

 “I’ll make sure you won’t,” he had answered, getting pushed into her from behind again and Julie had found, that she didn’t even mind.

 One last look at him, she had turned around. The dark-haired bartender had been about to pass by her again when she yelled, “Yo, Bobby!”

 His name obviously had gotten his attention, because he stopped to check who had called for him. Julie had leant further onto the bar. “Two screwdrivers and a smile!”

 Bobby’s eyes had gotten big as he had locked in on her. Then. they had wandered over her head. Rolling his eyes, he had stepped up to them. “Fuck off, Patterson. You’re not getting your drinks for free because a pretty girl orders them for you.”

 Julie had blushed a little, especially when the boy had leaned against her, so he wouldn’t have to yell as loud. “Love you, too.”

 Ignoring him, the bartender had turned to her, throwing on a winning smile. “So, do you actually want a screwdriver or did that asshole tell you to say that?”

 “Both,” she had answered truthfully.

 For a moment, his eyes had flitted back to his friend’s – Julie assumed that they were friends, after all he knew the guy’s surname – and then he had sighed. “Coming right up.”

 Grinning triumphantly, she had turned back to the boy. He had laughed, his arms touching her bare shoulders and Julie had joined him, the energy bubbling inside her.

 Bobby had waved her off when she wanted to pay. “It’s on the house. But only for you, not for him.”

 Huffing, the guy had called out, “Try to be on time for rehearsal tomorrow!”

 Flipping him off, Bobby had turned to the next customer and Julie’s curiosity had sparked.

 “Rehearsal?” She had asked.

 “We’re in a band. Sunset Curve.” He had suddenly seemed a little bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck, biting his lip.

 Julie hadn’t been able to squash down her excitement and had asked him question after question. It had been too long since she had talked about music with somebody who loved it just as much as she did.

 Shortly after, they had left the bar, sat down at the curb outside, talking about their favorite song-writers and the stuff they were working on respectively.

 Their shoulders had bumped against each other constantly, a spark traveling down her spine every time, settling in her stomach. It had kept her warm against the cool October night.

 And then somehow, they had ended up at the garage they called their studio. Had ended up sitting on the couch, his guitar across his lap, notebook open in front of them and Julie didn’t even know his name but she didn’t care because there were so many other things she knew about him, that he knew about her. Everything had just, clicked. It hadn’t felt like they had only known each other for a few hours.

 And now, here they were. In a situation Julie never would have imagined herself in when the night started.

 “That’s amazing,” she breathed out after he had shown her one of his songs, the last chord ringing through the room.

 His smile was blinding, drawing her eyes to his lips.

 “You, um, you wanna sing the next one with me? You do sing, right?” He asked.

 Julie chuckled sadly. “I used to. With my mom, but I haven’t sung in a really long time.”

 He leaned towards her, shoulders brushing and Julie realized suddenly that they were completely alone. Well, they had been for a while but somehow it felt very different now. Had her heart always beat that hard against her ribcage?

 “I won’t tell anyone,” he promised, throwing in a wink.

 She laughed quietly, noting the way his eyes wandered to her lips and she filed that information away, pleased.

 “Can you play me another one?” She asked to distract him.

 He seemed to know what she was doing, but he still turned to another page in his notebook. Checking in with her, he started strumming, his fingers finding their way confidently.

 Julie would be lying if she said, it didn’t turn her on. She had always had a thing for musicians, guitarists in particular. Her everlasting crush on Nick all through high school was only further proof of that.

 When he started singing, she couldn’t help staring because he was good, really good and so were the lyrics. She took the notebook, knowing that the song was probably engrained on his mind already and read along. By the second verse she found herself humming and when he reached the chorus, she was surprised to find that she was singing.

 He missed a chord, fingers slipping for a moment but then his smile grew, especially when she added harmonies at the end.

 It was quiet when they finished, a silence charged with electricity. Their eyes locked, brown meeting green and Julie didn’t dare move.

 “You do sing,” he finally whispered, his breath hitting her lips, voice rough.

 She smiled slowly, trying to dismiss it. “It’s a good song.”

 “You made it better.” He sounded so sincere that Julie couldn’t help but break the eye-contact.

 She was blushing furiously under his gaze, shaking her head. “I haven’t done anything. I haven’t actually sung in—”

 Her voice trailed off, as he touched her chin, turning it towards her. His thumb carefully touched her bottom lip. “Your voice is” – he made a sound at the back of his throat – “like a wrecking ball.”

 Julie tried to shake her head but he wouldn’t let her. His thumb traced along her lower lip instead and the touch made her body freeze, while her heart raced in her chest.

 She didn’t even know his name, was the one thought running through her mind on repeat, as he slowly leaned closer.

 “I don’t even know your name,” she blurted out, his thumb stopping its way.

 He chuckled. “I don’t know yours, either.”

 “It’s Julie.”

 “Julie.” He said it like it was something precious and she liked the way his lips formed it. “Julie…”

 She found herself nodding. The air around them seemed to be filled with sparks and butterflies. She felt them inside her and on her skin, fluttering every time he moved his thumb or his breath hit her face. Every heart beat between them intensified the feeling, a feeling she had never experienced before and yet felt so achingly familiar, it should scare her.

 It didn’t.

 “Luke.” She spoke his name for the first time, breathing it out like it could break on the tip of her tongue.

 He stilled, his thumb slipping from her lip, resting on her chin. A heartbeat, two, three passed, then he tilted her chin up. The sparks thrummed with electricity, the butterflies danced excitedly on her skin and inside her chest.

 Closing the space between them, Julie kissed him, surprising him if the little gasp was any indication.

 No kiss had ever felt like this, all consuming, like an electric hammer to the heart, the butterflies swarming around them, following their hands, their lips, their eyes as they fell into each other.

 Years down the road, Flynn and Carrie would still take credit for their relationship. After all, they never would have met without them.

 Julie liked to think, they would’ve. Someday, somehow, they would’ve found each other.