#also. i am attempting post sechduling for the first time so if this fucks up i may cry who knows

[tangledstarlight]

based on this because i love 90s!boyfriend luke and i keep thinking about him 

She almost doesn’t hear the little tappings at her window over the sound of her music. But when the little pinging sound comes again, Julie finds herself cautiously approaching her window and pushing it open. 

“Luke?” She squints into the darkness, down at her boyfriend who’s got his hand raised up like he’s about to throw another handful of pebbles at her window, only stopping when he sees her head leaning out and haloed by the light in her room, “What are you doing?” 

“I uh—” he starts, lowering his arm and Julie can faintly hear pebbles falling to the ground in the silence of the night before he’s talking again, “I missed you.”

“You only left like, half an hour ago, how can you possibly miss me?” Julie shakes her head at him, as she lets her elbows rest on the edge of the windowsill, leaning her upper body a little further out into the night. 

Luke had come over straight after school under the pretence of wanting to get their homework out of the way before the start of the weekend, but they’d spent the whole afternoon sat side by side on the sofa in the garage, scribbling away in Luke songbook and working their way through a whole bag of chips. And then Luke had stayed for dinner because her Tia had never been able to take no when it came to food, and had gotten even more insistent since her mom died. Not that Luke ever really complained.

Everyone knew that things with his parents could be a little...hard, so if he stayed a little late into the night Ray didn’t often comment until Carlos was going to bed and it was time for Luke to go too. And if he’d show up bright and early the next morning sometimes, well, no one commented on that either. 

“You’re the easiest person to miss,” Luke shrugs and Julie's glad for the darkness and the distance so he can’t see her blushing, “Can I come up?” 

Julie hesitates, looking over her shoulder at her closed bedroom door as if she can see her dad all the way down stairs watching tv or doing some work or whatever it was he did at night. 

There had been one main rule when Julie had first introduced Luke as her boyfriend rather than her bandmate. No being alone in her bedroom with the door shut. 

“Come on Molina, we can finish that song we started,” Luke must sense her hesitation as his voice calls up to her lightly, and Julie looks back to see him with is hands clasping together in front of him, eyes wide as he looks at her, “I’ll go as soon as we finish it.” 

She blows out a breath, shaking her head lightly as she looks at him with his stupidly cute and earnest face. “Only until we finish the song. And you’ve got to be quiet!” 

Julie catches sight of his teeth as he grins before ducking his head to inspect the lattice against the side of the house that leads up the roof outside of her window. Biting her lip, Julie turns back to her room when he’s out of sight to shove dirty clothes into her hamper and turns the volume on her radio up just a little. 

Luke is many things, but quiet isn’t one of them. 

She hurries back to her window just as Luke’s head pops up on the other side of the roof, eyes shining with a smile that she can’t quite see yet. Julie bites her bottom lip a little hard to keep herself from smiling too much as she watches him pull himself up — proving that his biceps aren’t just for show — and then he’s standing up and waving at her with a smile that makes her feel warm all over. 

There’s a split second when Luke wobbles on the edge of her roof, his arms waving in the air at his side and Julie’s eyes go wide, readying to jump to of her window to — do something, when he steadies himself, blowing out a breath that lifts part of his fringe off his forehead, shooting her a thumbs up. 

“Would you get in here before you fall,” she shakes her head at him, holding one hand out of her window for him to grab onto. And sure, he doesn’t exactly need help to get through the window, but he doesn't turn it down either. Or let go once he’s crawled through her window and is standing facing her, breath panting over her face as his eyes dip once to her lips before back up. 

“Should really tell your dad about that loose slat, someone could take a wicked bad fall,” he murmurs, lips ticking up in a smile that makes Julie roll her eyes at him. 

“Mhm, I’ll make sure to mention it over breakfast. Come on,” she tugs at his hand, taking a small step towards her bed and the sheets of paper and blank tapes littering her floor, “Let's finish this song.” 

Luke lets himself be pulled along and pushed to the floor, kicking off his shoes and making himself comfortable as he pulls his notebook from his back pocket and picks one of her pens up. For a moment, Julie just watches him and how easily he fits into her space, her life. 

“What?” Luke raises his eyebrows at her, lips pulling into an almost nervous smile. 

“Nothing,” she shakes her head and uses his shoulder as leverage to lower herself back to the carpet next to him, pulling the pen from his fingers, “We want it to be legible.” 

They finish the song much quicker than either of them expect or wanted, the lyrics coming to them quicker then they had earlier in the garage. Almost like it’s taunting them. The only sound in her room is an ad playing on the radio and Luke’s chains on his jeans clinking as he bounces one bent knee. 

“Guess I should be going,” he starts, lowering his knees and closing his notebook.

“Stay,” Julie blurts out before she can stop herself, pushing up to her knees and gently pulling the book from his hands to hide behind her back, “Please.”

“But your dad—“ Luke bites his lip as he glances at her bedroom door much like she had earlier, “We’re breaking the main rule.”

“He’ll only put his head around the door to say goodnight, never even know you’re here,” she shrugs and Julie doesn’t know why she wants him to stay so much. Doesn’t realise until the next words out of her mouth are, “I miss you when you’re not here too.”  

Luke’s eyes soften slightly as he looks at her, giving up on gathering his things and instead reaches out to pull her over to him, her knees rubbing on the carpet until they hit his thigh and she awkwardly moves one leg up and over until she’s half straddling him. But their faces are level and Julie rests her hands on his shoulders to keep herself steady as he rests his on her waist and then  Luke presses a light kiss to the corner of her lips. 

“Okay,” he says, like it’s just that simple. Like he’ll always stay if she asks. Julie thinks he probably would, as she angles her head a little better to kiss him properly. By the time she pulls away, a little breathless, one of his hands is in her hair and one of hers and found its way to one of his biceps. 

“Wanna help me figure out what songs to put on this mixtape for Flynn’s party next week?” she eventually asks, because if her dad was to walk in and find them like this there might suddenly be more rules to follow. 

“Mix tapes are the way to my heart,” he grins and Julie tries not to look at her bedside table where the first ever mixtape he had given her is. They’d been 14 and barely friends and he’d gotten her music rates perfectly. 

Julie pecks his lips one last time before turning around where she is and sitting between his legs, Luke arms automatically coming around her middle to pull her body back against his, using his chin to brush stray curls away from her shoulder so he can peer down at the sheet of paper she’s picked up. 

It’s 2 hours and too many songs later when Julie hears her dad's steps on the stairs and Luke’s looking at her in silent panic. 

“Under the bed!” she whispers, pushing herself away from him to give Luke a little more room to wiggling himself under her bed frame, and Julie barely has time to half throw her blanket over his feet that just stick out when her dad knocks lightly on her door. 

“I’m heading to bed, don’t stay up too late,” Ray smiles at her as he leans head and shoulders around her door frame and Julie smiles back, about to wish him good night, when he looks down at her bed and the space below it with a light laugh, “Goodnight to you too Luke, I’ve made the sofa up down stairs for you.”

She can hear a thud and Luke letting out a grunt of pain at her dad's words, and even her eyes are wide. 

“I heard you throwing the rocks at her window hours ago mijo. Plus, you mom called to check if you were here,” Ray says to the bed, even though Luke still hasn't crawled back out and then he looks back at her, and he’s still smiling but there’s a tiny frown between his brows, “We’ll talk boundaries in the morning. Goodnight you two.” 

It’s not until her bedroom door clicks shut again that Luke pops up on the other side of her bed, hair a mess and a dark blush on his cheeks. 

“Shit,” is all he says, rubbing one hand at the back of his neck as he looks at her and Julie can’t help but agree. 

“I guess I should be glad that sneaking into girls' rooms isn't something you’re good at, huh?” She teases and her smile only grows as she watches Luke’s lips twitch into one as well. 

“I’m sure with a little practice I’ll get in here one day without him knowing,” he shrugs once before jumping up onto her bed and off to the other side so they’re standing together again, his hand automatically finding hers. “Hey, since Ray knows I’m here now, think there’s any of that apple pie left?” 

“Come on,” Julie laughs, tugging a little at their joint hands to lead him downstairs. She’s not sure what her dad will say tomorrow and she doesn’t know if things will ever get easier with Luke's parents, but all of that seems like problems for another time. Tonight she’s going to eat leftover pie with her boyfriend and deal with everything else later.

#julie and the phantoms #have i reread or editing this? absolutely not #also. i am attempting post sechduling for the first time so if this fucks up i may cry who knows #jatp fics #julie molina #luke patterson #*fics #*