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#listen I just really love Ray Molina
writerownstory · 21 days
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I’m bad with titles and just wanted to post this finally! Happy Juke Jeudi! 🥳
I really had this just sitting in my Notes app 🤧 There was more to it, but if I kept going I don’t think I’d ever finish…
part two to this.
~
It starts with secret meetings in the castle gardens after dark, with Rose keeping Ray busy while Julie slips out for an “evening walk” on her own as long as she stays within the palace’s boundaries. 
Then it’s meetings in town where Julie dresses like the next plain-clothed young woman with a red baseball cap and dark sunglasses obscuring her features as Luke whisks her into the little coffee shop that he works at with Reggie who also keeps an eye out for the royal security or anyone who might get Julie in trouble.
It can only happen while Rose runs her daily errands and the guards are occupied. Ray thinks Julie is with her mother, and neither Molina woman lets him know any different. Rose knows Luke will keep Julie safe and she trusts Julie not to do anything that would put herself in harm’s way.
And it’s perfect until it’s not. 
Julie and Rose are out one night to attend a music charity gala—naturally they both are excited to go and Luke gets a selfie of the two of them from Julie just before they head out. It’s the last time he talks to her for the night, until he’s awoken out of his sleep by his phone buzzing incessantly. 
The stormy weather made for a turbulent trip and there is a terrible car accident from which the queen doesn’t survive. The Molina family, along with most of the country but specifically the capital city, is absolutely devastated. Queen Rose brought so much life and love into the lives of everyone around her. She ruled the Costa de Estrella with a firm yet caring hand, and her absence is felt throughout the country. 
Julie takes it the worst, walking away from the crash with only a few scratches and a broken wrist, but her heart is shattered into a billion painful pieces. She disappears from the public eye, and though Luke had every intention of coming to see her, he hasn’t been able to sneak inside the palace since it happened. 
Her physical injuries heal with time, but Julie has felt like she’s been underwater ever since that night. Most nights she calls Luke because she can’t sleep, and she falls asleep listening to him talk or sing or play guitar, even though they both wish they could be together. Her father and Parliament are strangely understanding, allowing her time off her usual duties to grieve. 
Until a month later, and the Council has already planned a ball for her to host–her father’s idea–as part of her search for a suitable partner. Julie is immediately against the idea and when she confronts Ray, they have their worst argument yet and she hasn’t spoken to him since. 
Julie hasn’t spoken much to anyone besides Carlos and Luke if the few texts they manage to exchange count. (Ever since they announced the ball, the Council has been keeping Julie extra busy with preparations so she hasn’t had much of a chance to breathe, much less check her phone.) 
The night of the ball, the door to her bedroom slams open, startling her in her seat in front of her vanity. “Geeze, Flynn!” 
Oh, and she talks to Flynn. But Flynn won’t hear of anything differently. 
Flynn Taylor is one of Julie’s ladies in waiting but they both have always made faces at that title because Flynn has always been much more than that to Julie. Though Flynn works as her assistant, Julie knows that Flynn has her back more than anyone. 
“Sorry, you know I’ve got to make a grand entrance,” Flynn apologized as she rushes over to where Julie is sitting. “But I’ve got very important updates.” She brings her arm out from around her back, placing an elegant white lace mask over Julie’s eyes. 
“A mask?” 
“Yes, my dear princess Julienna, because I have convinced Victoria to make tonight’s ball a masquerade.” Flynn’s smile as she meets Julie’s gaze in the mirror tells her Flynn is not only excited but also incredibly pleased with herself, but Julie is still confused. 
“But… why?” Julie removes the mask from her face to turn and look at her best friend. 
“Just trust me on this one, J. I promise it’s worth it. And it matches your absolutely stunning gown.” 
“Except I don’t want to look stunning,” Julie says, turning away from the mirror to face her friend. “This whole ball is to look for a partner, Flynn. But I have Luke.” She knows she sounds whiny and maybe ungrateful, but the idea of looking for a partner that her father and the Council deems suitable feels ridiculous, not to mention wrong. There’s no reason to look for someone else when her heart already belongs to Luke who would do just about anything to protect it and her.
Flynn’s smile turns into a sympathetic look before she gives her a small grin. “I promise, it’s all going to work out.” She squeezes her shoulders before offering to help Julie finish getting ready. 
By the time Flynn leads her to the ballroom doors to make her grand entrance, anger and sadness are warring within Julie, making her incredibly grumpy and on edge.
This shouldn’t be happening.
Her mother should be here and this shouldn’t be happening. Though if Rose was still here, this would’ve never made it past a mere mention among the Council.
And the thought makes her stomach drop just as the doors open. 
Julie plasters on a fake smile as she makes her way over to where her father and Carlos are waiting. Her father says a few words, thanking everyone for coming  and plenty of other things Julie doesn’t really hear. She accepts dances from a few different men, and it isn’t so bad, but all she can think about is how she’d rather be dancing with Luke. 
She has to hand it to Flynn though, the masks do add an air of mystery and elegance to the night, though she’s not entirely sure how she’s supposed to tell who exactly she dances with. 
Julie finally catches a break between dances when a man walks up to her in a deep, navy blue suit and a matching black mask. 
He bows, as is customary when someone below nobility approaches Julie. When he straightens up he takes her hand and brings it to his mouth to press a kiss to her knuckles. 
Her immediate response is to give this man a piece of her mind, until he leans toward her, his whisper clear as day over the noise of the rest of the party, “May I have this dance, Princess?” 
Julie’s eyes widen as she meets the eyes of the masked stranger in front of her. “Luke?”
Despite the mask covering the top half of his face, Julie would recognize the bright, perfect smile on his face anywhere. “It’s me, boss,” he confirms as she reaches up to cradle both sides of his face.
“How are you here?” she whispers with tears gathering in her eyes.
“Flynn convinced Victoria to make the ball a masquerade. Your dad can’t kick me out if he doesn’t know its me.”
Julie takes a moment to take Luke in. Between the tux, the mask, and…his hair was done??? “Your hair,” she giggles, reaching up to brush her fingers over it.
“Flynn said it would help with the nobody recognizing me thing,” Luke says with a sheepish grin. She definitely owes Flynn for this.
A watery smile spreads across her face. “I missed you so much.” She hadn’t realized until he’s standing right in front of her just how much.
“I missed you too, Jules. You have no idea how much.” He reaches up to wipe away a few tears she hadn’t realized were falling, and ends up cradling her face like it’s the most precious thing he’s ever seen.
Like she’s the most precious thing he’s ever seen.
And suddenly none of it matters: the ball, her deteriorating relationship with her father, or looking for a partner. As long as she has Luke by her side, they’ll figure it out somehow.
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onlygenxhere · 7 months
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'I’m sorry, what were you saying? I saw a dog and I stopped listening.' for Reggie, please?
“I’m sorry, what were you saying? I saw a dog and I stopped listening.” Reggie said turning back to face Julie and Luke.
Julie looked up at Luke and laughed, “Well he’s never going to be allowed to babysit.”
“What?” Reggie frowned. “Babysit who?”
Luke grinned at him. “That’s what we were trying to tell you dude.” He grabbed Reggie’s face in his hands so he’d have to pay attention this time. “You’re going to be an uncle, Julie’s pregnant.”
“Oh my God!” Reggie pulled away to stare at Julie. Who looked exactly the same as always although a bit more smiley than usual. “Really?”
She nodded, “Yes Reg really.”
He swooped in and picked her up spinning her around. “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!”
She laughed as he put her down gently.
“Crap I probably shouldn’t be spinning you around, sloshing the baby all around inside.” He dropped to his knees in front of her. “I’m so sorry baby Molina. Please forgive me.”
Reggie looked up at Julie with a cheesy grin knowing he was being more over the top than usual but was just so happy for them and there wasn’t much he loved more than making his friends laugh.
Luke chuckled and pulled him to his feet. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And you’re going to be a dad.” Reggie grinned at his best friend.
Luke nodded looking a little green and the smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes. Reggie just smiled bigger and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. “You’re going to be the best dad ever.” He whispered in his ear.
That got a chuckle out of Luke as they pulled away. “Pretty sure the best dad ever award is safely in Ray’s hands.”
“Well…” Reggie looked at Julie who was shaking her head at both of them. “Ok then, second best dad.”
Luke shook his head and grinned rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll take it.”
He gripped Luke’s shoulder and gave him a hard look. “And you know I’ll be there to help however you need me.”
Luke nodded.
“Owe!”
Julie poked him in the side. “If you can pay a little more attention to the humans in your life than random dogs you see on the street I might believe you."
He could see in her eyes she wasn’t really angry with him and he grinned back at her. “I’ll just have to show baby Molina all the pretty dogs too.”
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legolasghosty · 11 months
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HELLO MY LOVE!!
10. for platonic Alex and Flynn please 👀
Hello my love, I am so so sorry for how long this took!!!! I have no excuse unless you count college. But here it is now!!!! I hope you like it!!!
Alex and Flynn had a funny kind of friendship. They'd first met when they got paired up in a middle school lab class. However, their first impressions of each other were formed months earlier when Flynn and her parents moved in across the street from Alex's house.
Alex's parents had taken one look at the lesbian couple unloading boxes at the old Murphy house and told Alex to stay away. Alex hadn't had the same aversion to their new neighbors as his parents, but he'd been too afraid of crossing them to actually go say hello. But he watched them sometimes.
Not in a creepy way. He promised. They just seemed so happy, the two of them and their kid. It made him feel a little less alone. Maybe it was possible to be happy being the way he was. That little family had managed it after all.
Regardless, he and Flynn didn't actually meet till September. There may have been an argument and some splashed sugar water during that first conversation. But after that, they got along surprisingly well. They didn't really hang out when they weren't at school though. They both had other friends. And Alex's parents were less than thrilled the one time they saw the pair walking home from school together. So they were lab partners and writing buddies and co-sufferers in math. It was simple and it worked.
It wasn't till high school that they really became proper friends though. Julie and Luke met and hit it off, and soon their friend groups were a big tangle of inside jokes and movie nights at Julie's and one big table at lunch. Alex and Flynn got closer, combining their snarky senses of humor against their friends and whining about how pretty their respective crushes were.
And after Alex came out at home, it didn't really matter who his friends were. His parents couldn't exactly resent him more. So he and Flynn started walking home together. No reason not to. Sometimes they walked in near silence. Sometimes one of them would ramble on and on while the other listened. Sometimes they talked about deep stuff like trauma and what happened when people died. Sometimes they joked around about whatever horrible concoction Luke had created for lunch that day. It didn't matter much. They were friends. They walked home together.
But then Alex turned 18. And well... his parents didn't exactly kick him out, per se, but Alex knew he was supposed to leave. Julie's dad, Ray, had already offered him the Molina guest room at least through graduation, so Alex spent his birthday packing up and moving out of his parents' house. At least it was a Saturday, so he didn't have to worry about school. All of his friends chipped in to help him pack and move everything over.
It was for the best. Alex knew that. But it was hard to think that way when he and Flynn were standing at the intersection of Birch and 13th Monday afternoon, where they'd always turned left together to walk home.
"So, I guess I'm going this way?" Alex said after a minute. Julie was already halfway down the block, unaware of the situation.
"Yeah," Flynn agreed quietly, glancing between Alex and her own route home. The route that wasn't Alex's anymore. "And I'm going that way."
They both stood there for a long moment, both unsure as to what to say. This was good, that Alex was out of the Mercer house. But what did they do now that they couldn't walk all the way home together? What did people do to say goodbye this early?
More than anything, Alex wanted her to know that nothing had changed. They were still friends, he would still be there for them at 2 am when they drank too many sodas and started rambling about her girlfriend. She would still smack him upside the head for letting people walk all over him. They would still talk about everything and nothing and anything in between. But how did he say that?
"Text me when you get home?" Flynn said suddenly, grinning.
Alex jumped, startled out of his thoughts, but then returned their smirk. "Definitely, you too," he responded. "No dying on the way home."
Flynn rolled their eyes and laughed. "As if you could get rid of me that easily, Mercer," she snarked, tossing her braids back over their shoulder. They paused for a second, then added, "So is this how we work now?" in a softer tone.
Alex took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I guess so. Doesn't change us though, right?"
"Right," Flynn said, smiling. Years of friendship allowed Alex to pick up the traces of relief in their eyes. "See ya around then," she said, waving as she headed for her house.
"See ya," Alex echoed as he turned to follow Julie. He smiled as he walked away from the corner. He and Flynn would be alright. They'd been friends for ages, they could manage not walking home together. It might just take some work. They could do that.
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to-be-a-dreamer · 2 years
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Julie and the Phantoms AU
What's going on y'all I've been enabled so now y'all get some half-baked angst!
Huge thanks to @we-are-inevitable for helping me finish this AU because it's been sitting on the back burner for literal months and I could never figure out all the details on my own.
CW: death, homophobia, terminal illness, emotional abuse
Okay, so! Here's the characters we're working with (they're not perfect stand-ins, this is just the general role they'll be fulfilling in the story)
Jack Kelly - Julie Molina
Racetrack Higgins - Rose Molina (he's Jack's younger brother tho)
Charlie Morris- Carlos Molina
Medda Larkin - Ray Molina
Spot Conlon - Flynn Taylor
David Jacobs - Luke Patterson
Sarah Jacobs - Alex Mercer
Albert DaSilva - Reggie Peters
Katherine Pulitzer - Willie
Joseph Pulitzer - Caleb Covington
Bryan Denton - Tia Victoria
Don't ask about Nick and Carrie, we don't talk about them, they've caused me so many problems in this AU. There's a version floating around in my brain with Spot and Race as Nick and Carrie. I've been through some things.
ANYWHO I have no idea how to structure this post because there is so much going on so we're just gonna start and hope for the best. I think we'll go by character and talk about where each of them is at the beginning of the story because I don't 100% know how everything fits together yet. Fingers crossed that this is somewhat comprehensible.
(Also, in case you haven't watched the show, Luke, Reggie, and Alex are all members of the band Sunset Curve, who died in 1995 before manifesting as ghosts in 2020. So when I'm talking about David, Sarah, Albert, and Les, their backstories take place in 1995)
Jack Kelly
Jack loves music, it’s basically his entire life. He spends all his free time out in the garage writing and playing songs with his little brother, Race. They would always talk about making it big one day and becoming a famous singing duo. But really what Jack loved was being able to share something special with his brother. He never felt closer to Race than when they were making music together. The two of them would sit side-by-side at the piano with their youngest brother, Charlie, and their adoptive mother, Medda, listening to them play and joining in when they knew the words. Those impromptu little concerts with the three people he loved most in the world were some of the happiest memories of Jack’s life.
Then Race got sick. Then Jack had to watch his fun-loving, goofy, energetic little brother waste away in a hospital bed so quickly it made Jack’s head spin. Then Jack was left with a garage full of instruments he couldn’t bear to play and half-written songs he didn't know how to finish.
He's still close with his mom and Charlie, but there's been a... shift... in the air around the house. He's written some short poems, but nothing substantial, nothing like what he used to write with Race. Jack doesn't play the piano anymore. He doesn't sing in the car or the kitchen like he used to. He hasn't even so much as hummed since Race died. He can't. Every time he even considers making music all he can think about is Race using what little strength he had left to ask Jack to sing for him one last time. All he can see is his little brother taking his last breaths as Jack sang him a soft, desperate plea. ("You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Oh, please don't take my sunshine away")
Jack doesn't want to sing anymore. He can't sing anymore. So he doesn't. He tries to pretend that he doesn't need music anymore and just goes on with his life as best he can. He cheers at Charlie's Buddy Ball games and helps his Ma cook dinner every night and bothers his Uncle Denton at work and laughs with his best friend, Spot, and does everything he can to ignore the gaping hole in his heart.
He doesn't need music. Not really. He doesn't even want to make music without Race there to do it with him.
Jack Kelly does not need music.
He doesn't.
Don't ask why he still signs up to be in the music program the next school year. Don't ask why he can't bear to sell his keyboard like he told Medda he was planning to. Don't ask why he's so so disappointed in himself when he can't bring himself to just play when he's told he has one last chance to participate in music class before he gets kicked out.
It doesn't matter.
David Jacobs
David loves music, it’s basically his entire life. He loves singing, he loves playing guitar, he loves writing songs, he loves everything about it. He lives and breathes music, he doesn't want to do anything with his life other than make music to share with the world. That's the whole problem.
His parents have always told him he has great "potential". That he's smart enough to get into the top universities in the country and to get a full-ride basically anywhere. All he has to do is focus on his studies and fill out his resume with extracurriculars and work experience. Apparently, spending every waking hour of the day writing songs and rehearsing with his band doesn't count as "extracurriculars" to them.
He knows they just want what's best for him, he knows they just want him to get into a good college and get a good job one day. He knows that. But he just wishes they would understand that music is what he's passionate about, it's what he loves, and it's the only thing that makes him feel truly alive. David knows he's smart, he knows he could probably go to some big-shot college and become a lawyer or a doctor or something but he doesn't want to. He wants to write songs and share them with the world. He wants to do something actually meaningful with his life.
It's... tense... at home, to say the least. His parents get mad every time he brings home any grade less than an A, which is becoming increasingly more common as Sunset Curve, the band Davey started with his twin sister, Sarah, and their two best friends, Albert and Bobby, has started gaining some real traction in Hollywood. (I think Bobby is still Bobby, it doesn't really change anything about the story so he might morph into one of the Delanceys at some point, I dunno) His mom keeps signing him up for after-school activities against his wishes and then gets upset when he blows off the meetings to rehearse with the band. His dad keeps trying to get him a job at the company he works for but Davey never sticks around long enough for him to set up an interview. He manages to pacify them a bit by volunteering as an assistant coach for his little brother, Les's, little league team, but it barely helps.
The last straw for David is the day his sister, Little Miss Perfect Sarah, who had always followed every single outrageous rule and expectation his parents gave her, manages to work up the courage to come out to their parents and they act like she just confessed to a murder. There's a lot of yelling and, for the first time in his life, David worries that his mother might hit Sarah, she looks so angry. His sister leaves the house with tears streaming down her face and David moves to follow her before realizing he would be leaving Les alone with his parents looking absolutely murderous. He doesn't think they would actually hurt Les, but he's not taking any chances.
As David sits in bed with his little brother curled up at his side and trying to block out the sound of his parents fighting with each other over whose "fault" this was, David finally accepts what he's always tried to deny.
His parents would never truly accept him. He'd always wondered if he just did what they wanted, if he just worked hard to keep his grade up and joined all the clubs they wanted and got into a good college and got a good job that they would be proud of him. He had convinced himself that they would, that he was choosing their disappointment by pursuing a career in music.
But now he knew better. If they could manage to go from looking at his sister as if she'd hung the stars in the sky to borderline disowning her in a split second, they could never truly love him. Their love was and always had been conditional, and David had no intentions of fulfilling those conditions just to be accepted by the people who had never even tried to understand him.
Sarah came back after spending a couple nights at the studio (aka, Bobby's garage) but it didn't change David's mind. His mother kept insulting Sarah every chance she got and his father wouldn't even look at her. The twins spent a lot of time writing songs together at the studio, avoiding their parents together. Sarah insists that she's okay, that she had expected their parents to react the way they did and she just wanted to wait out the storm until they hopefully came around. David sees straight through her lie but doesn't comment on it.
David isn't sure what does it. But one day he's finally had enough. He comes home with yet another B- on an English paper and endures the lecture from his father and the screaming from his mother with a blank stare and no emotion in his heart other than mild disgust. Then he goes to his room, packs as much as he can into a duffle bag, and heads straight to Sarah's room. She knows exactly what he's doing without a single word exchanged between them.
"So that's it, huh?" "Come with me." "Davey, I can't" "Sarah, they're never going to change! Never. I know you want to fix things with them but there's nothing to fix. They never loved us. Not really. Not in the way you want them to." "Don't you think I know that? I'm not stupid, Davey, I know this isn't the way things are supposed to be but it's the way things are. And I- I know it's pathetic but I want them to love me. I want my parents back. So... so I have to try, Davey, just let me try." "...Fine. You know where to find me once you've had enough of their bullshit." "What should I tell Les?" "I- I'll figure that out later. I'll skip class and catch him at school before he gets on the bus and say goodbye then. I just. I can't stay here another second."
So Davey leaves and hides out at the studio. He never manages to catch Les in time to talk to him but Sarah tells him plenty of stories about what's going on at home. It took his parents three days to realize he was gone. They weren't happy. Davey couldn't care less about their happiness.
His parents don't even try to get him to come home, which just reinforces Davey's certainty that he did the right thing. According to Sarah, they're "waiting him out", expecting him to come running back to them within a week.
Davey never sees his parents again.
He's not particularly bothered.
Davey spends all of his time writing songs about anything and everything. Some of it meaningless, most of it not. He's never been that great at talking to people, so he pours every pent-up emotion he's been feeling for years into his songs. His anger towards his parents, his pleas to his sister, his regrets about his brother, his desperation to make something of himself. He writes about all of it. Some of the songs make it onto Sunset Curve's setlist, but most of them stay in his song journal.
His grades don't get any better or worse, but Sunset Curve gets big. Or, at least, big for a garage band of self-taught high schoolers with about $12 between the four of them. They start booking bigger and bigger gigs and they even manage to pull some favors and scrape together enough cash to self-record an EP.
Then their big break comes. A featured show at the Orpheum! It's everything Davey and his friends have been working towards for years. It's their chance to make it big, for real. Davey thinks about inviting his parents so they can see that he wasn't delusional, that his dreams weren't just stupid fantasies. But he talks himself out of it almost instantly. He doesn't need to prove anything to them. He doesn't want to prove anything to them. They already showed him their true colors and Davey didn't regret his choices.
The only thing he regrets is that he had to leave Les. His little brother didn't do anything wrong and he was one of the only good things about living in that house. He misses Les every single day and considers going back just for him. Sarah tells him that Les didn't handle his running away well and she can only do so much for him. Their parents haven't been taking out their anger on Les, that's the only thing giving David enough strength to stay away.
He knows it's for the best, he genuinely would have lost his mind if he had to stay in that house any longer. That doesn't make him feel any better.
His songs about Les stay private.
Sarah Jacobs
Sarah likes music. She likes her drums, even if her mother would prefer for her to spend more time practicing piano. She likes helping her brother write songs for their band and goofing off with her friends in the studio. But what she really loves is performing. There's just something about being on a stage in front of a crowd of people, buzzing with energy and knowing that she's about to blow them all away. It makes her feel absolutely electric and leaves no doubt in her mind that this is what she wants to do with the rest of her life.
If only she could muster up the courage to tell her parents that.
She admired Davey for how little he managed to care about what their parents thought. Maybe he just had a passion for music that Sarah lacked. Maybe there was more pressure on him to succeed, therefore it was easier for him to disappoint, and therefore it was easier for him to stop caring in the first place. Maybe she was just a coward.
As much as she knew that it shouldn't matter what her parents thought, as much as she knew she would be better off taking a page out of her brother's book and just doing what made her happy, as much as she knew she had what it took to succeed in music, Sarah wanted nothing more than for her parents to be proud of her. And that meant keeping her grades above a B, staying in ballet classes, going to a good college, and getting a "real" job.
Sarah hated herself for how well she played the role of Perfect Daughter. She hated how easily she slipped into the pleasant, kind, soft-spoken little girl her parents had raised her to be. She hated how she kept her head down whenever her parents ripped into David for whatever way he'd managed to disappoint them this time. She hated how no one knew who she really was, not even herself.
She wanted to be able to listen to the kind of music she liked and not be scolded for it. She wanted to wear clothes that felt like her and not like she was dressing up in a costume as someone else. She wanted to do and love and enjoy the things that she wanted to do and love and enjoy. She so was sick of pretending to be someone she wasn't. She wanted it to stop. Sarah Jacobs wanted to be herself more than anything else in the world.
Maybe that's why she did it.
Maybe that's why she had looked her mother in the eye and managed to gather up enough courage to be honest with herself for once in her life.
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting.
She knew what she had wanted. She had wanted her mother to prove her wrong. To look at her with the same amount of love and adoration she always had and to tell Sarah that she loved her no matter what she did, no matter who she loved.
Sarah isn't surprised to find herself sobbing alone, curled up on the couch in the studio after listening to two people who were supposed to love her unconditionally call her the vilest names in the English language.
And it hurts. It hurts so so much. She had always known, deep down inside, that her parents would never accept her for who she was. That was why she had always hidden her true self so deep down that even Sarah herself didn't know what her true colors were.
She had always known what would happen when she finally revealed those colors.
But knowing you're about to be stabbed doesn't make it hurt less. It doesn't stop the knife from piercing straight through your chest, making it impossible to breathe through the pain. It doesn't stop you from feeling the blade twisting inside your heart, destroying every last shred of hope.
She goes back home. David tells her to stay at the studio, that he'll take care of her there and that it'll be easier, in the long run, to cut their parents off then and there. She knows he's right. But she can't help but want her parents to love her again. If they had ever truly loved her to begin with.
So she goes back, she endures the anger and the hatred, she watches her brother leave her to pick up the broken pieces of their family all alone, she lets her parents blame her for David leaving, she lets Les scream that he hates her for not stopping him, and she lets him come back an hour later to sob through his apology.
She lets it happen.
And her parents stop screaming at her every time she walks by, resorting to ignoring her as if that meant she didn't exist. And Les stops begging her to convince David to come home, deciding he hates his older brother for leaving him and crying into David's pillow when he thinsk she wasn't looking. And Sarah plays her role of the perfect daughter when they're out in public, resisting the urge to flinch every time her mother puts an arm around her waist with a fake smile plastered on her face.
She had revealed one of her true colors and it had ruined everything.
She didn't regret it for a second.
Charlie Morris
Charlie is ten years old. That doesn't make him stupid. He understands what's going on around him, no matter how hard his mama and his older brothers try to hide just how bad things are. He knows why Medda is constantly working overtime, but makes sure it's only at night so she can spend every possible second at home with her boys. He knows why Jack looks so sad and lost all the time and why he can hardly bear to let his little brothers out of his sight for longer than a few minutes. He knows why Race isn't going to school anymore and why he doesn't help out at Charlie's Buddy Ball games like he used to and why he keeps waking up in the middle of the night with coughing fits so loud Charlie can't sleep through them even though their bedrooms are on opposite sides of the house.
He knows why Medda and Jack look so frantic when they can't get Charlie's big brother to stop coughing and just breathe and why Medda makes him and Jack stay in the other room when the ambulance comes and why Jack is holding onto him so tightly while they wait for Uncle Denton to arrive. He knows why the doctors and nurses keep giving him sad smiles while he sits in the hard, uncomfortable chair of the hospital waiting room and why his mama looks so sad when she tells him he has to say goodbye to his big brother and why Race looks so unbelievably tired as he manages to give Charlie a small smile.
He knows why Race doesn't say anything when Charlie lays down next to him and just wraps an arm around his shoulders, letting Charlie ramble about everything and nothing. He knows why Race rarely even opens his eyes over the next few days and why Jack stops driving him to school in the mornings. Instead, Uncle Denton picks him up and brings him to the hospital where Medda and Jack had spent the night. He knows why everyone looks so heartbroken when Race finally manages to stay awake long enough to talk and his only request is for Jack to sing to him.
He knows why his mama is hugging him tight to her chest, her tears soaking into his hair, as the steady beeping that was always running slowed to a stop. He knows why Jack breaks down into heartwrenching sobs as soon he finishes his song. He knows why Uncle Denton doesn't even say anything, he just pulls Jack into his arms and stares at Race. At his body.
Charlie knows why he's never going to see his big brother again. He knows why Jack won't even hum along to the radio anymore and he knows why Medda can't bear to touch anything in Race's room, even though there's dirty laundry on the floor and he knows she hates that. He knows why Uncle Denton keeps bringing homemade dinners over every single night and why he keeps smiling and joking as if nothing's wrong. He knows why his teachers don't seem mad when he doesn't have any of his homework done when he comes back to school two weeks later.
He knows what Medda and Jack mean when they sit him down and gently explain that Race had to "go away" to "be an angel". He knows that Jack can barely drag himself out of bed every morning and that Medda is struggling just to hold herself together as it is. He knows that they don't need him to be having a breakdown every time he feels like it (which is fairly often, if he's being honest). He knows that at least one person in his family needs to be okay.
So he tries his best to go back to normal, to tell Jack all about this day like he always does, even when he just wants his brother to hold him close and let him cry. Jack smiles every time, so Charlie thinks it's worth it. He tells his mama jokes and stories while she cooks dinner, even though he wants to tell her about how much he misses his brother and how angry he is that he had to go. Medda laughs at his jokes every time, and Charlie knows it's worth it.
Uncle Denton gets him a tablet for his eleventh birthday, and Charlie discovered pages upon pages of stories, information, and videos about ghosts and the afterlife. Charlie thinks a part of him knows that none of it is true, but come on, can you blame him for wishing there was a way to know Race was still out there somewhere?
That's all Charlie wants. He just wants his big brother back.
Les Jacobs
Les is ten years old. That doesn't make him stupid. He understands what's going on around him, no matter how hard his older siblings try to hide it from him. He knows that Davey and his parents are always one wrong look away from the next fight. He knows Sarah would do anything in the world to make their parents happy, even though they treat her like garbage. He knows that as soon as he's old enough for his parents to start setting expectations of him, he'll be going through the exact same things.
He knows that it wasn't Sarah's fault that Davey left, and he'll feel sick to his stomach for the rest of his life every time he thinks about the things he said to her when he was too angry and hurt to think straight.
He knows that Davey would have moved mountains for him, that he never would have left Les if he had any choice. But he still can't understand why he never even said goodbye. He can't understand why Davey never came back for him. He can't understand why Davey would leave him and Sarah to fend for themselves.
He can't decide which of his siblings is being braver, David for having the strength to get out while he still could, or Sarah for having the strength to stay and try to fix things. Either way, Les is glad to have her around and, years later, when he knows that those three months were the worst three months of his life, his biggest regret in the world is that he never took a break from his forced anger to tell Sarah how much he loved her.
His parents dismiss Sarah's invitation to the band's show with an air of annoyance and indifference, but Les couldn't be happier. Davey would be there. And as much as Les has been trying to hate his older brother for more-or-less abandoning him, he can't help but feel giddy at the prospect of seeing him again. Sarah arranges for him to ride to the show with Bobby's parents under the guise that Les is spending the night with a friend.
Les is giddy with excitement the whole week leading up to the show and, as Sarah tells him goodbye before she leaves a few hours early to run a soundcheck, Les barely even gives her a second look, too busy digging through his closet to find the matching shirt he and Davey had gotten on vacation the year before.
It's not until days later that he realizes that was the last time he saw his big sister alive.
He's not quite sure why Bobby's parents seem so worried when they arrive at the theatre. It's a bit empty outside but they are kinda early. He doesn't like how Mrs. Shaw squeezes his hand tighter while she speaks softly to the worker at the ticket booth with a mixture of shock and horror on her face. He can’t understand why Bobby is sitting alone backstage or why he bursts into tears the second he sees Les or why he can’t stop crying long enough to answer him when he asks “Where’s Davey?”
His parents don’t show up at the hospital for nearly four hours. No one can get ahold of them, apparently. Les isn’t sure where they could be. He doesn’t know what could possibly be more important.
Albert’s dad and brothers are around somewhere, Les saw them come in but they didn’t exactly exchange small talk.
Bobby and his parents are the ones to tell him what happened. Mrs. Shaw is the one to pull him in close and wrap him tight in her arms while he cries. Mr. Shaw is the one to hold his hand when they finally let him see his siblings after hours and hours of begging. Bobby is the one to hold him close when he runs out of tears and can’t bear to do anything else.
Les is ten years old. That doesn’t make him stupid. He knows that his parents are the reason Davey never came home. He knows his parents are the reason Sarah was so miserable all the time. He knows that maybe they couldn’t have done anything to stop what happened that night, but they sure as hell took away Les’ chance to say goodbye.
So when his parents finally show up having the audacity to look like they’d been crying, Les doesn’t run into his mother’s waiting arms when she calls out to him. He buries his head back in Bobby’s shoulder and ignores her, just like she ignored every desperate plea Sarah ever cried. He pulls away from his father’s uncharacteristically gentle touch and begins to walk away. And when his father tries to follow after him, like he never, ever did for Davey, Les yells at them to leave him alone, in the coldest voice he can muster.
He never quite remembers exactly what he said to them, but he knows it was all true. That they were the ones who drove Davey away, that they never once believed in him, that he was right to leave them, and that Les is surprised he stuck around for as long as he did. That they treated Sarah like she was nothing, less than nothing, that she had done everything for them, that all she had ever wanted was for them to love her. He tells them that his siblings died hating them and that he would die the same way.
He’s pretty sure Bobby’s parents stuttered out something about grief and Les not really meaning it but he did. And his parents knew he did. Because they knew he was right.
They could spend the rest of his childhood honoring his siblings and pretending they were heartbroken. They could keep trying to have a relationship with him and keep trying to “learn from their mistakes”. They could give Les the entire world and it wouldn’t change what they had done.
They had stolen something from Les that he could never get back, and he had no intentions of ever forgiving them for that.
Yeah so those are the only characters I've put a lot of thought into, so we're gonna do a rapid-fire version of the last four that are important to the plot. They'll all probably develop more as the AU goes on, and feel free to send an ask if one of them catches your eye!
Albert DaSilva
Listen, I love Reggie Peters with all my heart, he's probably my favorite character on the show. But I could not for the life of me figure out what to do with him in this AU. Jac suggested Albert be the third member of Sunset Curve and while I'm super excited to explore this version of the character, I have absolutely zero thoughts about his backstory.
Like, I guess I could do what I did with David and Sarah and just. combine his Newsies fanon backstory with his JATP counterpart's backstory, but I'm not 100% sure how to do that. He's definitely got some kind of daddy(?) issues 'cause I'm giving him Reggie's one-sided friendship with Ray/Medda
As of right now, Davey and Sarah are having a shared crisis, and Albert's just having fun hanging out with Medda and messing around with Charlie. He is simply vibing.
I told Jac that he would probably gain some trauma as the AU progressed and they responded, and I quote, "i cannot WAIT for this"
Send me an ask if you want Albert to get trauma and/or daddy issues.
Spot Conlon
Spot as Flynn is probably the best decision I have ever made in my entire life because they're such different characters but also they are exactly the same.
He’s doing all the same things that Flynn does, he tries to help Jack stay the music program, he gets mad when Jack lies to him about the band, he helps Jack get through the ups and downs of life, and he’s Jack’s #1 fan (he’ll accept being tied for first with Medda and Charlie)
It’s just. He’s also Spot. If you know what I mean. I don’t know how else to describe his role in the story, he’s Jack’s ride or die and that’s all there is to it.
Spot’s still a DJ I think, but I feel like he’s got a funny story for how he got into doing that. Or just how he ended up in the music program in general. Also, yes, during the I Got The Music scene, Jack does daydream Spot rapping. He’s very confused afterwards but I think it’s funny so it stays.
Joseph Pulitzer
He's taking on Caleb's role.
He's a creepy magician guy.
He manipulates his daughter.
He sucks.
That is all.
(I mean like I'll give him a backstory if you want but yeah, his main character trait is: sucks)
Katherine Pulitzer
Katherine my beloved!!!!
Okay so her backstory is incredibly involved with Pulitzer's (duh) so I guess this is kind of like a 2-for-1 type thing here.
Anywho, Katherine and her father were a double act together performing magic! I'm thinking around the 1970s or 1980s ish. She enjoyed performing but she wasn't a fan of her dad. He didn't really care about her, he just cared about how he could use her to make his show better.
She's only seventeen, so she doesn't really have a choice, but she's been making plans to get away from him the second she can, and then... well... she's not really sure. She's going to start out performing on her own, just to make enough money to keep a roof over her head, and then she'll figure it out from there. Maybe she'll find something she's actually passionate about. Maybe she'll be a performer for the rest of her life.
Katherine doesn't care. All she cares about is getting away and making something of herself. She doesn't care what she ends up doing with her life as long as it's something she can call hers.
Yeah so then a few months before her 18th birthday, one of her father's magic acts goes horribly, horribly wrong and that's the end of her story.
And then she becomes a ghost.
And now she's stuck under her father's thumb for the rest of eternity.
If only someone would come along and help her learn that she doesn't have to let her father define her and that she does have the power to stand up to him and take him down. And if only that someone was also very smart and funny and pretty and was a drummer in a 1995 rock band and was also struggling with figuring out who she was without her parents around to tell her....
IF ONLY
So yeah! That's more or less everything I have for this AU so far! I do have some ideas in mind for different scenes and overarching plotlines, so please please do drop an ask if you want to hear more! Ideas include but are not limited to:
Unsaid Emily scene but with Les! (I have a song in mind :D)
Wake Up scene but with Jack!
Les growing up and having to watch his siblings' best friend getting famous off the songs he stole from them (see it's even Worse because most of the songs are about his family because Davey wrote all of them)
Jack and Charlie having a nice little heart-to-heart about grief and such (it is criminal that we never got a scene between Julie and Carlos talking about how his obsession with ghosts and the supernatural was his way of coping with his mother's death)
Sarah and Katherine meeting for the first time
Albert telling Jack about Les (That scene from episode 5 where Julie calls Luke selfish and Alex+Reggie tell her about his mom)
Sarah running off to the studio after coming out to her parents (I have an idea for this scene that involves Albert! Mans gets to actually do things!)
Once again, huge thanks to Jac for their help with this AU and I hope y'all like it! I have spent two days writing this post instead of working on a paper that's due in 2.5 hours! Haha send help :D
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innytoes · 1 year
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I posted 7,680 times in 2022
That's 631 more posts than 2021!
382 posts created (5%)
7,298 posts reblogged (95%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@fiddlepickdouglas
@bostonbakeddeans
@invisibleraven
@curvesomesunsets
@bearfeathers
I tagged 7,490 of my posts in 2022
Only 2% of my posts had no tags
#julie and the phantoms - 2,652 posts
#fanfic - 955 posts
#many lols - 940 posts
#art - 758 posts
#alex mercer - 492 posts
#leverage - 490 posts
#reggie peters - 487 posts
#willex - 439 posts
#right in the feels - 426 posts
#willie throckmorton - 377 posts
Longest Tag: 140 characters
#the world pretended to unite for half a week and then it was too much work and we blew up each other before the aliens could blow up the sun
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
Chaotic Writing Prompts
Did you seriously eat all my Oreos?
Can I pet your dog?
We do not need that many tiny pumpkins.
Want to help egg my ex’ house?
Can I get a kid’s menu and a rum and coke, please?
At least your hair still looks good.
I’m a real adult, just last week I bought a vegetable.
What do you mean, ‘whoops’?
Get in the fucking blanket fort.
Please stop talking about how you want to bang my dad.
If it helps, this isn’t actually my cat.
This was supposed to be a date?
I have such soft hair and nobody is playing with it!
I’m sorry, what were you saying? I saw a dog and I stopped listening.
I want to sit on their lap and feed them grapes.
Go step on a lego.
Sorry your crotch is bleeding.
Be gay, do crime.
Why am I in your phone as ‘himbo number two’?
Oh no, she’s hot.
Go take a nap and maybe you’ll feel better.
He’s such a nerd.
That’s not a cat it’s an opossum.
Are you crying about dogs on the internet again?
For the love of all that is holy, please go to sleep.
I’m sorry my cat keeps stealing your underwear.
It’s my emotional support Furby.
Why are we running?
Sorry isn’t going to bring back the last slice of cheesecake.
See the full post
295 notes - Posted July 8, 2022
#4
Between Reggie hanging out and commenting on Ray’s photography and Reggie being delighted with and commenting on that lady at Eats&Beats taking pictures of her food, I have concluded that Reggie would be the one to take all the cute Behind The Scenes footage for the Julie and the Phantoms social media pages Flynn runs. And yes he will go full Instagram Boyfriend and lay down on the floor to get the perfect shot of Julie looking like a rockstar or Alex looking all heart-eyed at Willie.
And yes Flynn starts letting him write captions which is why you’ve got things like ‘the way Alex looks at Willie is the same way Luke looks at a shiny new guitar (sorry Julie)’ and ‘I think Julie Molina should be president maybe’. 
304 notes - Posted April 18, 2022
#3
Leverage OT3, urban fantasy, for the three sentence fic
"So let me get this straight," Hardison said, crossing his arms and staring at the chinchilla on the table. "The emerald Parker stole turned Nate into that?"
The animal on the table was nibbling on a seed, glaring at the four of them, which wasn't very effective because, you know, it was a tiny fluffy chinchilla.
"I'm going to make him so many tiny hats," Parker whispered, eyes big.
312 notes - Posted April 16, 2022
#2
Finland is wearing a raincoat to protect himself from all the body glitter backstage.
325 notes - Posted May 14, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
New Leverage Redemption trailer really went like ‘we don’t have Hardison for all the episodes but when we do he is the sexiest motherfucker alive’, huh.
591 notes - Posted September 29, 2022
Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →
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nottheleastbrave · 3 years
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Ray's pleased little "Yeah!" after Tia says "spaghetti, again" reblog if you agree
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reawritesthings · 3 years
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work this out | luke patterson 
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summary: loving luke was hard, harder than you thought. but, somehow luke felt the same. he just needed an extra push. 
words: 1.5k
a/n: kinda proud of this? i kinda changed the prompt a little but yeah! pls reblog and share what u think :) 
masterlist | taglist 
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You didn’t quite understand the relationship that you and luke were in; it was something that you could never explain unless you were there when it happened. It’s been a month since you and Luke had a moment, something that was waiting to happen but, neither of you wanted to act upon it.
It was a simple new years kiss. It was nothing but, for you, it meant something. It wasn’t just a quick peck or a light touch; it was something that clarified that this was supposed to happen. You tried to ignore the feelings that became stronger each day whilst Luke just brushed it off.
It was Julie’s birthday, and you were glazing around the house, watching people grind against each other. Some would describe as stalking but, you never were the person who would freely dance as Flynn or Julie did.They always offered to take you to the dance floor, but you always managed to come up with an excuse.
When Flynn caught your eyes and motioned her hands for you to come, you just lifted your red cup and shook your head. You weren’t really in the mood to party as you were stupidly waiting for Luke to appear. You knew Luke didn’t feel the same way which hurt but, your heart didn’t want to let go of the ‘if’s’.
You checked your watch, hoping it was near to wrapping up but, the frown that invited itself on your face told you that it just barely began. To pass time you decided to wander around trying to see if you could find Luke. Despite your feelings, he was still good company. Alas, you found him with a girl, a blonde to be specific. Usually, when you see your crush kissing another person, that would finalise the if’s, but it didn’t for you which made this more frustrating.
You suddenly dipped yourself down, hiding behind the island as you accidentally catch Luke’s eye. You closed your eyes shut hoping he didn’t notice but the soft touch that radiated your skin, showed your clownery.
“You good?” Luke said, crouching down to your level. You causally made eye contact with the first thing that came to your mind; Dust.
“Yeah. I just... saw some dust.”
“Dust?” Luke questioned, laughing a little.
You gulped, trying to make the reason more realistic. “Hayfever season...”
Luke hummed, shaking his head as he helped you up. “You want another drink?”
You shook your head, wanting to get far away from him as possible. Luke frowned a little, watching you leave his aroma. He wasn't stupid, and neither were you. In fact, he was just slower. He found himself lurking around the room for Alex, as he knew that Alex has the answers to everything.
“Yo, Al. Can I ask you something?”
Alex groaned, excusing himself from the cute quarterback he was talking too. “This better be worth it.”
“I think Y/N saw me kissing Tayla...”
Alex titled his head back, hissing at himself as to why he thought it would be something important. “And?”
“I think she is upset and I don’t like it when she is upset with me.”
Alex wasn’t drunk, but he felt like he needed to be. He was tired of being the messenger of the two of you. He loved you guys but, it was suffocating hearing it again and again.“Can I be real with you? Like, I’m going to tell you the truth and, it is up to you if you want to take the statement and do something.”
Luke wasn’t sure if he was ready. Alex seemed serious and Luke hated serious. “O-Okay..”
“First. I don’t blame her for being upset. You don’t just kiss her on NYE, take her on a date and show up to her house uninvited whenever you have a hissy fit with your parents. - it’s like you are using her, Luke. That’s not even the worst thing - it’s the way she normalised it. She is so infatuated by you that she doesn’t even care if you string her along, and that’s not healthy for her.”
Luke didn’t say anything he just gripped his cup to allow Alex to know that he was listening.
“It’s not fair for her to wait around for you because you are taking away her confidence and freedom to mingle with others. The number of people who asked her to dance, have a drink and even talk is shocking but she turned them down because she is so in love with you. You know she is and you still choose to not address her feelings and be an adult.”
“I didn’t know she loved me... she never told me.” Luke barked but Alex just chortles at Luke’s stupidity.
“She shouldn’t have to tell you. It’s pretty clear that she does.”
Luke allowed Alex to pour into him some more, a stream of tears trickled down his skin as he was now remembering all the times you were there for him, cared for him to only kiss and flirt with other girls. He was taking you for granted and, he hated himself for that. What was worst than all of this was finding out from his best friend.
He thanked Alex with a hug before running to find you. He wasn’t exactly sure where to find you but, he did have faith that you would be somewhere only the both of you would know. As Luke tried to avoided Tayla, which was impossible as she was the clingy type. He quickly divert her attention and dipped, running up the stairs.
He knew Julie’s house quite well, too well for Ray’s liking but Luke assured him that Julie and Luke were friends. On the other hand, the other reason why he knew this house well was due to your little rendezvous whenever the other’s fell asleep or arguing.
He knew where you were, and that only made him realise that maybe he had some feelings too. You were standing on the balcony, with a blanket wrapped around your figure whilst you looked up at the night sky.
He slowly walked towards you, hands getting clammy as he was a few steps behind you. He took a deep breath and waited for you to acknowledge him.
“Hey... I knew you would be here.” Luke whispered, bumping your shoulder.
You didn’t say anything but you didn't refuse his company.
“I just wanted to ask you something....”
You faked a smile, dreading the question about you catching his gaze when he was kissing Tayla.
“Do you love me?”
Your eyes widened as you heard those words. You certainly wasn’t expecting that. You closed your eyes shut, panic was rummaging around your body and your mind was hoping this was just some dream and that you would wake up in any given moment.
“Y/N....” Luke whispered.
“I do. But, it doesn’t matter.”
Luke frowned, hating himself for making you feel this way. “It does matter.”
“It’s honestly fine, Lu. I don’t mind if you don’t feel the same. You can go back to kissing Tayla.”
Luke shook his head. He didn’t want to kiss Tayla, he wanted to fix this. “I don’t want to kiss Tayla. I don’t want to keep kissing strangers and pretending they are you. Fuck, I don’t even know what I was thinking. I just, know that I’ve been a jerk and haven’t treated you fairly.”
You were stunned by his confession, you weren’t sure if Luke was drunk or not. You didn’t want to get your hopes up but you couldn’t deny the small smile that rang across your lips. “I don’t understand, Lu. You can’t just say that. You can’t just confess these feelings to me.”
“I know and I’m sorry. It took me so long to realise that maybe I should be kissing you and not her.”
You frowned, still trying to process the confession. “Did Alex say something? Whatever he said, he was lying...”
“Stop that. Stop trying to find an excuse for me. Don’t make me the good guy. Stop trying to tell yourself that this is normal, okay? You don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it.”
“What can I say Luke? I’m not going to be that girl who tells you who you can’t or can kiss. I’m not going to stop you from flirting with other girls. It’s okay to not feel the same or want this. I’ll get over it.”
“What if I don’t want you to get over me? What if I want to flirt with you and maybe kiss you?”
“You aren’t makin-” He cut you off with a kiss. It started off small, just an ordinary kiss but, when his hand found your neck, slowly caressing, the kiss was something you only dreamed about having. You closed your eyes and placed your hands over around his neck, pushing yourself closer to him. You allowed him to take charge, as you both knew you weren’t that experienced. As he parted his lips, he met your gaze and kissed your nose.
“Does that answer your question?”, he smirked as he rubbed his thumb across your lower lip. You nodded, as you grinned stupidly at the kiss. He could tell you were shy and allowed you to bury your head in his neck.
“I don’t know what this means but I want to work it out together... only if you want too?”
You looked up at him, brushing the curls out of his face before agreeing with him. “Together.”
@thatphannie @dpaccione @kiss-themoongoodbye @sageellsworth05 @killingbxys @sunsetcurve-h @poguestyleskye @lolychu @emotionalbruv @andycanbeemotional @talksoprettyjjx @kinda-really-lost @echocharm17618 @thesweetestsinner @edgeofgr8 @lukewearingbeanies @cordeliascrown @jeremygilbertss @jatpfan99 @ontheouterbanksofthemcu @caitsymichelle13 @jazzyhalestorm @makebank @indiecline @lukes-orange-beanie @joyjoyner @merceret @bright-molina @calamitykaty @lazydaisy19 @wonderful-writer @rosylinn @rafehogwarts @crybabyddl @sargent-barnes @weasley011 @yourprincess-maybe @motheroffae @mysterygurlrandom @sovereignparker @katie-navarro @g7aesthetic @spooky-season-bitch @tenaciousperfectionunknown @notasoftie @averyharrypotterandjatplife @brithedemonspawn​ @thesweetestsinner​ @lukeys-giggle​ @kelieah​
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fanficimagery · 3 years
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They’re So Not Holograms.
Imagine being expelled from school so your uncle Ray offers to take you in and offers you a chance to start over. You accept and you're in for one heck of a story when you realize you're not the only occupant of the Molina garage.
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Words: 10K Warnings: This is my first work for JatP, so I apologize in advance for the OOCness of them all. I had no idea what was going to make the final edit, so yeah.. this is not my best work. Be warned that there's mention of an incident that involves a straight guy not taking no for an answer from a lesbian girl. I won't go into detail of that particular scene since it happened before Y/N shows up on the Molina's front doorstep, but it is mentioned which is why I'm warning you now.
Staring up at the large two story home you usually visit every summer and every spring break, you can't help but sigh and wish you were visiting rather than moving in. You love your uncle and your cousins, but you were forced to leave a lot behind in order for your parents to keep their jobs and their mostly in-tact reputations after your little incident.
The front door opens, the shortest and youngest of the bunch jogging straight for you. You drop your duffel bag and prep yourself for Carlos throwing his weight at you, and you catch him with a laugh as you spin from the momentum. "Carlos! Dang, little man, you're growing fast." Julie walks up soon after, shaking her head in amusement at the two of you as you settle her little brother back on the ground and then ruffle his hair. He swats at your hand before you give Julie your attention then. "Hey, superstar. How's it hanging?"
"Hey, Y/N," she muses, "was the drive okay?"
"Eh. I angry karaoke'd all the way here." You shrug. "So where's uncle Ray?"
"Upstairs trying to figure out how to divide Julie's room for the two of you," Carlos says.
Your smile falls and you look at Julie. "What? He's making us share?"
"Yeah. It's totally fine though," she says when she notices your expression.
"No way, Jules! I can't put you out like that. That's not fair."
"It's fine, Y/N. Really."
"Julie, we're both teenage girls. I love you, but you know our hormones will eventually make us clash."
"And on that note, I'm going back inside."
You grin at Carlos' hasty escape, but then quickly refocus on the situation at hand. "God Jules, I'm so sorry. I thought uncle Ray would put me in the spare room or on the living room couch or something."
"Well the spare room was originally the plan," she says, "but then we remembered all of mom's stuff was in there." You cringe, but she assures you it's okay. "And you're going to be here for a while. You are not sleeping on the couch."
You sigh and offer her a faint smile. "I'm sorry to be an even bigger pain in the butt, but I'm not staying in your room either."
"It's either my room or Carlos' room. I suggest you choose wisely, cousin."
"I-"
"Y/N!" Your uncle Ray suddenly appears in the doorway, walking down the sidewalk towards you. "Carlos told me you had gotten in. How are you doing, mija?" He wraps you in a brief hug, kissing your forehead in greeting.
"Hey, uncle Ray. I'm doing good. How are you?"
"I'd be better if I knew where you were gonna sleep." He sighs. "Carlos also told me we have a bedroom dilemma as you refuse to share with Julie."
"I'm really sorry." You frown. "If I were only staying here for a few weeks, I'd be stoked to share with Julie. But it's not a couple of weeks, uncle Ray."
"I know and I'm sorry for trying to shove two teenage girls into one space." You smile sheepishly at him as he seems to understand your reasoning as well. "But the only other space I can think of is the studio garage out back." You seem to perk up a bit, attention solely focused on your uncle that you don't notice Julie's eyes widening. "Julie uses it to practice with her band, but there's a loft that we've recently cleaned out. There's a bathroom in there already, so all I'd need to do is drag a mattress up there. That is if you don't mind all the musical racket."
"Y-yeah. Of course! I don't mind at all." You say, feeling just an ounce of excitement of having your own space.
"What? No," Julie laughs nervously. "I'm sure Y/N doesn't want to live in our garage all on her own. Right?"
"What? Are you kidding me?" You huff. "It'd be like having my own mini apartment, only my favorite cousin in the entire world gets to visit everyday!"
Julie looks like she wants to object some more, which is surprising, but she eventually slumps and shakes her head. "Okay. Just as long as you're sure."
"Of course I'm sure."
"Then I'll go move stuff around. Give me your duffel bag," she holds her hand out for you to pick up your bag and hand it over, "and I'll take it out back. You go inside and help dad bring the mattress out."
"Sounds like a plan." Feeling better about your situation now, you quickly hand your cousin your duffel bag and then follow after your uncle Ray inside their home.
Julie sighs, shaking her head in amusement as she catches the pep in Y/N's step. As soon as the front door is shut, she quickly runs around the house, down the stone steps, and into the studio garage where the boys are chilling. They, however, jump up to their feet upon seeing Julie's hasty entrance.
"Okay so we have a problem."
"What? What is it? Did your not dad not take the ghost secret well?" Reggie asks, whining. "Aw man. I knew we should have waited. Does he hate us now? He hates me. Right?"
Julie's eyes, having widened at Reggie's rapid fire questions, blink owlishly at him. "One, slow down. And two, no I haven't told my dad. I can't seem to find the right time."
"Okay then," Luke drawls. "So what's the problem?"
"My cousin got expelled from her school so my dad offered to let her move in and she's going to be living in the loft. In here. With you guys."
Alex slowly leans atop the piano, clearly intrigued. "Whoa. What'd she do?"
Julie opens her mouth to answer, but then closes it and settles for a shrug. "I'm not sure. Dad wouldn't tell us when we asked. He just said there was an incident and if Y/N didn't move in with us, then her parents would have to relocate and she already had a rocky relationship with them so.." she says, smiling fondly. "She's better suited for our family anyway. She's more like a sister to me than a cousin."
Reggie raises his hand as if he needs to, to ask a simple question. "Is this cousin of yours hot?" Alex is immediate to reach over and smack his friend. "Ow! What?" He wonders as he rubs his arm. "I'm just asking what me and Luke are thinking."
"Hey, bro, do not bring me into this!" Luke quickly defends himself. He then glances at Julie, lips stretching into a small smile. "You gonna tell her about us?"
"I'm going to have to, aren't I? I can't exactly leave her in the dark while you three are lurking about. I don't want her to do something she doesn't want anyone else to see."
Reggie nods, smiling. "Like getting naked."
Alex moves to hit his friend again, but then realizes Reggie is right. If he were in Julie's cousin's shoes, he wouldn't want to strip while three ghosts watched on unknowingly. Instead he sighs and Julie nods in agreement. "Exactly. I'm going to tell her. I just- I'm not sure when. So until I do, you three need to be on your best behavior."
"Jules," Luke feigns being hurt as he clutches at his chest, "it's us you're talking about. When have we ever misbehaved?" Julie huffs, crosses her arms over her chest, and raises an eyebrow at Luke. His façade cracks as he laughs. "Fine. We'll be on our best behavior until you tell her about her roommates."
"Thank you." She rolls her eyes, but before she can say any more Carlos is jogging into the room.
"Okay so Y/N and dad are almost here. Tell your ghostly dude-bros to chillax and not scare her like Reggie did tía Victoria."
Reggie squawks. "You scare an adult one time and he never lets you forget it."
Julie chuckles at her ghostly friend while her brother glances around in hopes of seeing them. Ever since Julie freed them from Caleb Covington's curse and was able to finally touch them, they had the choice of turning visible whenever they felt like it. But for some reason, they were more comfortable as ghosts and only turned solid when they got the desire to eat food.
The garage door suddenly opens wide and Ray walks in, one end of the mattress settled on the back of his neck. Y/N is on the other end, struggling slightly with the mattress in her hands.
"I am not meant for physical activity."
Carlos giggles at his cousin's words, jogging over to help her. But when they get to the steep stairs, both Y/N and Carlos leave it up to Ray to figure out how he's going to get the mattress up into the loft. He does, eventually, and then Ray drags Carlos back towards the house with him to retrieve sheets, pillows, and a blanket.
"Oh my god. She is cute!" Reggie muses.
Alex chuckles, but Luke is caught staring at Y/N with awe etched into his features. Alex nudges Reggie and gestures to their friend, and Julie tries her best to fight off a grin. Oh to be able to tease him right about now on having a crush on Y/N as he did to her with Nick that one time while she was in school.
"Listen," Y/N says as she nears Julie. "I know this was tía Rose's place and I know how much it means to you." Julie smiles sadly as Y/N starts to walk around, eyeing the piano, drums, bass, and guitar appreciatively. The boys make sure to stay out of her way as they watch her every move. "I promise to keep my place nice and tidy, and to not mess with anything down here." She goes to touch the drum set, but thinks better of it and pulls her hand back as she smiles sheepishly.
Alex is quick to point it out. "I like her! She knows boundaries."
"Just say the word and I'll be out of your way when you're here with the band."
"It's no problem. Really," Julie assures you. "I, uh, I already called the boys to let them know. They're excited to meet you."
You pause and meet your cousin's eyes. "Really? I-I mean cool."
Julie's eyes narrow at your reaction and the way you can't seem to meet her eyes. "You think they're cute, don't you?"
You cave with a relieved sigh of her automatically knowing. "So cute." Alex rolls his eyes with an amused smile as Reggie and Luke high five, chuckling at their good fortune. "But boundaries! They are your bandmates and I won't interfere other than offering my friendship. Heck I won't even let it be known that I find them cute."
Julie chuckles, angling her head down as she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It's a little too late for that."
"Hmm? What did you say?"
Her head snaps up. "Nothing! Nothing," her chuckles now sound a little nervous. "So, uh, is there anything else we need to get from your car?"
"Oh yeah! I have some stuff that needs to come in." As Julie joins her cousin's side, Y/N asks, "Is there any place I can set up my laptop and printer?"
"Of course. Come on. Let's get you set up. I'm sure you're ready to get some sleep."
"So ready," you groan. "I don't have much to unpack, but I want to settle in before I start school on Monday."
As the two girl cousins walk out of the studio, the three ghostly boys watch them leave.
"Oh yeah. She's definitely hot."
"Hey. Come on, dude." Luke softly swats at Reggie. "That's Julie's cousin you're talking about."
"What? I'm just stating facts," Reggie says. "And besides it's you we should be worried about." He steps towards Luke, reaching for his face. "I think I still see a bit of drool. You might wanna wipe that off."
Alex laughs as Luke rolls his eyes. "Whatever. We're ghosts anyway. It's not like anything can happen between us."
"Can't it?" Alex muses, shoving his hands deep into his front pockets. "I mean we can turn solid now. If you want something to happen, it can definitely happen." Reggie smirks as Luke takes a moment to process his friend's words. "And while you think on that, I'm gonna go see what Willie's up to. See you later!"
Alex poofs out of the room, leaving Reggie and Luke. Reggie laughs at his friend's sudden ghostly crisis, stepping closer to him and clasping his shoulder in hand. "Dude, we're ghosts. If something happens, it happens. Just don't get attached." And with that, Reggie poofs out too.
Luke hears Julie and her cousin's laughter ring out, the two girls already coming back. His eyes widen and he poofs out as well. The girl was cute, he will admit that, but he needed to get his head on straight before he became a pining ghost.
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You spend the weekend with Julie, surprising her best friend Flynn with your new living situation and then driving them around since neither of them had their driving permit. The girls had kept you busy at the beach and showing you their favorite food places. Sometimes you would catch your cousin mumbling to thin air, but Flynn was quick to distract you and you ended up forgetting Julie's weird behavior minutes later.
Monday morning rolls around and, after taking your time to get ready, you grab your backpack and exit the studio to head inside the house. Uncle Ray has cooked up a breakfast feast, and Julie and Carlos are just coming down the stairs as you're taking a seat at the table.
You smile through a yawn as a plate is placed in front of you. "Whoa. That was a big one," uncle Ray says. "Did you sleep well?"
"Sorry. And yeah," you say. "I love it out there, although it is a bit colder than I expected."
Julie freezes as Carlos snorts. "Sorry about that. It's just our resident ghosts. Ow!"
You frown as he glares at his sister, said sister laughing nervously as she glances between you and Carlos. "Don't listen to him. Ghosts? Pft. What ghosts?"
Ray chuckles as Carlos rolls his eyes, the young boy digging into his eggs and sausage as Julie quickly casts him a brief glare.
You glance between the siblings suspiciously, but don't give it much thought and start in on your own breakfast. "Well if you need a portable heater, we can get you one."
Carlos opens his mouth to retort, but upon seeing his sister's stare he thinks better about it. You fight off a smile, shaking your head at your uncle. "It's fine. I usually kick my blanket off in the middle of the night which is why I get cold when a gust of cool air hits me. I just need to learn not to kick off the blankets. I'll be fine."
"Alright. Well eat up, guys. I need to head into the office as soon as I drop you off."
Carlos nods, but you and Julie frown at him. She looks at you and you look at her, and then you look at your uncle. "Um, uncle Ray, did you forget I drive? I can take Carlos with Julie and I. We were going to pick up Flynn as well."
"Huh. I forgot you drove." You grin up at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. From what I saw, Carlos' school campus is on our way to the high school. It'll be fine."
Uncle Ray seems to sag with relief. "Thanks so much, mija. I can actually head in early today then." Carlos cheers about riding with his cousin instead of being dropped off by his dad. "Well if you're all set, I'll see you guys after school. We'll go out for burgers tonight."
This time it's your turn to cheer. "Yes!"
          - - - - - - - - - - 
The first day of school went about as expected. Everyone was drawn to you as the new girl and Flynn thrived under the attention, but you mostly kept to yourself unless Julie introduced you to someone. You met Nick and thought he was okay, and then hid your amusement when Flynn would tease Julie about him breaking up with his girlfriend Carrie for her.
Of course not everyone was a fan of your cousin and you met the one person who seemed to dislike her the most. You knew Carrie from previous summers, but she and Julie had a falling out and no one would mention why. Not even Flynn. So figuring it was none of your business, you let it go but ended up staring Carrie down when she tried to intimidate you. Needless to say, the junior had nothing on you and didn't seem keen to start anything with a senior after your feathers didn't ruffle as easily as she thought.
Julie had more homework than you, so while she focused inside the house at the kitchen table, you went to the studio and up into your loft. The second you plop down onto the bed, a cold gust of wind sweeps up your back. You shiver, frowning, but then move on with a shake of your head.
From your backpack you pull out your Algebra II and History textbooks. You immediately start working on history, reading the assigned passages and answering the questions that follow. It takes you half an hour to complete it and before you move on to Math you reach over and grab your laptop from the bedside table. However when you open it up, your laptop automatically comes to life and you're left frowning at the YouTube page it's been left on.
"What the.. this is weird," you mumble. You briefly glance at the top Rock songs from the last decade before exiting out of YouTube and bringing up iTunes, choosing your Math Blows playlist and closing your eyes in brief bliss as Queen starts to play.
But the moment Bohemian Rhapsody ends and Aerosmith's Dude (Looks Like a Lady) begins, you get started on Math. It takes you a little bit longer to complete the assignment than History took you, but by the time you're done Julie has yet to find you. So after putting everything back into your backpack and setting it aside, you roll across your bed and reach into a hard plastic tote that holds some of your belongings. You pull out your drawing tablet and a stack of stickers, and then head on downstairs to the couch.
Drawing caricatures was a hobby of yours and you just so happened to have a friend who would take your edits and turn them into stickers. For now you have about five stickers of each member of your cousin's band- caricature style- and the name of whatever instrument they played curved underneath their faces. Lately you've been working on a sticker that said 'Julie and the Phantoms', but you couldn't get the font or coloring quite right.
You've just settled on coloring Julie's name in a purple that transitions into blue from one end to the other when said girl walks in, sodas in hand. "Finally," she sighs. "I didn't think I'd ever finish that homework. What are you doing?" She then asks as she hands over a Coke.
"I'm just messing around," you tell her as you show her what's on the tablet. "There's a small stack of stickers for you and the boys right there."
Julie glances at the table where you've gestured to and she walks over to pick up the stickers. She sets her soda down and skims through each sticker, a smile blossoming. "Did you- did you make these?"
You shrug. "I drew them, but my friend printed them. As soon as I finish this one I'm working on right now, I'm gonna email it to him so he'll make them into stickers as well."
Your cousin is so in awe that she's not paying you any attention, but you catch her murmuring beneath her breath and nodding along as if she were agreeing with something being said. She eventually looks up, chuckling. "These are sick. The boys are going to love them."
You smile. "I hope so. If you want more, just let me know. They're pretty cheap to make so I don't mind getting them for you guys."
"Can I- can I make a suggestion to the one you're working on now?"
"Oh. Yeah! Of course. What'd you have in mind?"
"Under the band name or wherever you think is good, can you add the words 'tell your friends!'?" She asks. "It's just something silly Reggie says every time the band is introduced."
"Yeah." You glance down at the tablet, trying to figure out the best placement. But then you look up, brow furrowed in thought. "Is this something only Reggie says?"
"Uh yeah. I guess so," she says, shaking her head at something off to her side.
You grin. "I have an idea. Let me try something out and see if you like it. Give me like ten minutes."
Julie sets the stickers back down, picking up her soda and cracking it open. You crack open yours as well, taking a sip before getting down to work. You make the sticker you originally had a little bit smaller, adding in a caricature of a waving Reggie from the waist up peeking out from behind the font. You add a speech bubble, filling it in with the requested 'Tell your friends!'.
When Julie sees it she can't help but laugh. "That's perfect. I'm sure he's gonna be stoked."
"Speaking of, when do I get to meet these hot friends of yours?"
Julie groans and you laugh as you finish coloring and resizing the sticker before sending it off to your friend to print. Closing your tablet, you give her your full attention as she's now sitting next to you on the couch. "Soon," she promises.
"Alright. So what are we doing until your dad gets home? You gonna sing for me, Jules? Give me my own private concert?"
She laughs. "No way. Just watch the Youtube videos. I'm sure Carlos posted every performance."
"Oh he did. And believe me when I say I've watched them. Repeatedly. That guitarist of yours has got some arms that are just- mmm." Julie groans some more, hiding her face in a pillow, and you laugh. "What? I need to get it out of my system before I meet them."
Julie lets the pillow fall into her lap, a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. "All I'm gonna say is don't be surprised if they know what you've said. They kind of have a sixth sense about these things."
"It's all good." You laugh some more.
You go to ask her if she wants to torment her little brother with you, but you see her amusement slowly die and you keep yourself from saying anything. "Hey Y/N, can I ask you something? You totally don't have to answer, but I'm really curious about it."
"Oh. Uh, sure."
"What happened at your old school that ended with you being expelled?"
Your smile falls. "Uncle Ray didn't tell you?"
"Not really. He just said there was a disagreement and a.. protest?"
You snort. It takes you a moment to collect your thoughts, but when you do you end up telling her exactly what happened. "I had this friend back at my old school. She's gay, but only those close to her knew. What it boiled down to was that some asshole found out and outed her to our entire school. Then this boy took things too far by, in his words, giving her what she was missing out on and trying to turn her straight." You roll your eyes, not noticing Julie smiling sympathetically off to the side. "He shoved his tongue down her throat, she tried to push him off of her, but he wouldn't budge. So I beat the shit out of him."
Julie chokes on her own saliva. "W-what?" And then she laughs.
"Well I hit him across the back of the head with one of those hard plastic lunch trays. And then when that broke I used the heaviest textbook I could get my hands on and hit him a few more times."
"Oh my god," she grins. "You're such a badass."
You laugh at your cousin's look of awe. "There was like a week of back and forth between the school and that douchebag's parents, and it made everyone at school show their true colors. I was disgusted that the guy practically got off with a slap on the wrist for assaulting my friend, so I contacted a few friends to make some signs for a mini-protest in front of the school and it kind of got out of control. A few friends turned into thirty and I think there were even a few drag queens in there. They had signs and Pride flags and it- it got pretty scary for a second when a fight almost broke out."
"I repeat," Julie smirks, "you're a badass."
"I was expelled because my protest drew in adult strangers to where many minor children attend school, but the expulsion wouldn't have mattered anyway because I had a restraining order slapped against me by that douchebag's parents and would have had to leave anyway."
"Screw them," Julie says. "That's so messed up."
"It is, but it worked out in my favor. I got out of my parents house and now get to spend the rest of my last year of high school with you."
"And your 18th birthday. You can't forget that," she muses. "It's only a few months away."
Your nose wrinkles. "No parties."
"But it's New Year's! Of course we're having a party," she gushes. "Your birthday is a rare one. Instead of blowing out a candle at midnight, you get to make out with someone."
Laughing, you reach over to nudge her. "You're something else, Jules. I don't know how you have your dad fooled about being so sweet and innocent." She giggles, batting her eyelashes at you. "Now come on. Lets go torment Carlos. It's been about a year since I've sat on him and made him listen to Barbie Girl on a loop."
You stand up, Julie laughing as you offer her a hand and pull her up off the couch.
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By the end of your first week with the Molinas, you've settled into a routine that you're comfortable with. You had noticed Julie got a little squirrely whenever you mentioned the boys, so you dropped the subject of meeting them and figured it'd happen when the timing was right. Julie's tía Victoria was happy to have you around the family, she noticing a lightness around the house that she hadn't seen since her sister had passed.
Life with your cousins was going spectacularly well, so of course there had to be a bump in the road. And a major one at that.
You're sleeping when cold air suddenly seeps into your back, making you shiver and wake up briefly. You find your blanket and pull up over your shoulders, turning around in the process and.. rolling into something- er, someone solid. You're fully awake now.
"Ahh!" You scream.
The figure in bed with you jolts, screaming as well. "Ahh!"
"Who the hell are you?!" You move to punch at them, only for them to disappear right before your very eyes. You freeze as your heart drops into your stomach, your eyes blowing wide when he reappears at the foot of your bed. "What the- how did-"
Another figure pops in, grabbing the first by his ear. "Dude, not cool!"
Your sudden fear has you frozen and only capable of glancing between the two figures. Semi-slicked hair, leather jacket, flannel wrapped around his waist.. "R-Reggie?" You wonder aloud in confusion.
Both boys glance at you, the shaggy hair and killer arms in a cut off tee letting you know exactly who he was. You hold your blanket tighter to you, heart thumping wildly. Reggie grimaces in pain as he finally pulls free from Luke's hold. "Hiya. Sorry about waking you and all that. I totally should have asked before taking up the other side of your bed."
Luke shakes his head. "When Jules finds out she's going to kick your butt, man. We were supposed to ease her into the whole ghost business."
"G-ghost?"
Another figure pops in, the blonde sighing and shaking his head in disappointment at his friends. Alex. "I woke Julie. She'll be down here soon." Then he glances at you, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry about all this. Reggie and Luke are idiots."
"Can you blame me?" Reggie whines. "Y/N's bed is really comfortable. And I actually thought she'd just roll through me. I didn't know I'd gone solid. It was unintentional."
"Um," you gulp. "H-how would you know my bed was comfortable?" Reggie freezes and then suddenly looks very interested in the ceiling, and your eyes narrow at him. You sit up a little straighter, staring at Luke, but he too averts his gaze when he notices you're staring at him.
Alex is the only one amused and he meets your gaze with a smile. "These two idiots like to nap in your bed when you're in school."
"WHAT!?" The two guilty ghosts poof out, making you flinch as you suddenly remember they're not exactly normal boys.
"I told them it was going to bite them in the butts. I guess they hadn't counted on it being so soon." You blink owlishly at him, unsure of what to say now. After all, HE'S A GHOST! Alex notices your stare and sighs. "Well if you'd like to get dressed or whatever, Julie should be here any second now. We'll explain things then."
Alex poofs out and you're left staring at nothing but air. Your heart is still wildly thumping and there are only three words running through your mind: what.. the.. fuck.
After what seems like several long minutes, but really it was only about a minute after the boys had left you alone, the studio door opens and a frantic Julie rushes in. At the sound of her panicked voice, you throw off your blanket and scramble down the stairs.
Julie stares at you in shock, still in her own pajamas, before her gaze falls towards your legs and then back up to your own gaze. "Uh, Y/N? You forgetting something?" You glance down, frowning and wondering what she's talking about. "Pants, loser. You forgot pants."
"Yeah? And you forgot to tell me that ghosts are real!" She sighs as you stare her down, but then you subtly glance around for a pair of pants or shorts or something. Black sweats hit your shoulder and you meet Alex's sheepish gaze. Hesitantly smiling at him, you quickly step into them and drag them up your legs. "If they've been in here this whole time it's nothing they haven't seen before."
Reggie giggles and Alex shakes his head at friend. Luke, however, can't seem to look in your direction and there's a telltale flush on his cheeks. Huh, that's odd.
"I'm really sorry," Julie says. "I was going to tell you, but it was never the right time."
"Jules, the right time would have been when uncle Ray gave me permission to sleep out here."
She frowns guiltily at you and you know you're not really upset with her. The adrenaline of bumping into someone in your bed was still rushing through your veins which is why you seem a bit cranky. "If it'll help we can explain everything now?"
"Might as well," you sigh. "I don't think I'll be able to fall back asleep." You shuffle over towards the couch, eyeing each boy on the way. Sitting down, you drag a pillow into your lap and hug it. "So.. what the hell is going on?"
Your cousin and the boys glance at one another, Reggie and Luke subtly shaking their heads. Alex rolls his eyes and steps forward to stand with Julie. It looked like they were going to be the ones to explain.
"Okay, so," Alex says. "Luke, Reggie, and I died twenty five years ago."
Immediately your hand raises and Alex falls silent. "Quick question. If you guys are supposedly ghosts, then why was I able to actually feel Reggie?"
"That part comes in later. Just please listen," Julie pleads.
You nod, gesturing for them to continue then. Alex flashes you a small smile. "So we died-"
"Death by hotdog," Reggie sadly muses.
Luke nods along. "I'll never look at another hotdog the same way again."
You can't help but snort, especially when Alex and Julie roll their eyes at the interruption. "Anyway, as I was saying," Alex says, raising his voice a little higher, "we died. We ended up in this dark room for what felt like an hour and then got spit out here in Julie's garage when she played one of our demo CD's."
"Only it wasn't an hour later," Julie says next. "It was twenty five years later." You shake your head in utter amazement. "At first I was the only one able to see them. Then when I had a performance at school and the boys performed behind me in solidarity, they could- they could be seen! The entire school could see them, but then as soon as the performance was over they poofed out."
"Hence the phantom part of the band name," you mumble.
"We let everyone believe we're holograms," Alex says. "Anyway, we used to be a band of four before we died. Sunset Curve. The only one to survive went on and skyrocketed to fame with songs that Luke wrote."
"He didn't!?" Your eyes widen. You glance at Luke to see him frowning. "What a dick thing to do."
The boys all snort, but a moment later Alex continues to tell their story. "We were pissed and ended up being introduced to this ghost who was supposed to help us get revenge on our ex-band mate. Only this ghost was old and powerful and wanted us to join his ghostly club house band."
"And when he noticed we weren't going to join him, he stamped us with a curse," Luke finally speaks up. "The longer we were away from his club, we got hit with these painful jolts. They started to become more frequent and would have eventually destroyed our souls."
"But our girl Julie," Reggie muses, "cried her big heart out and, we're not sure exactly how, was able to touch us. Her touch made us feel stronger, warmer, and it disappeared the stamps off our wrists."
"And now I have three ghostly brothers who can go corporeal whenever they feel like it," Julie says as she hooks her arm through Alex's. You grin at her. "I really am sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
You wave her off. "At least the truth came out before I was in a rush to go somewhere and whipped off my shirt. I'd have hated to traumatize the boys."
"Oh please traumatize me." The words are mumbled, but still heard by everyone. Every gaze darts to, surprisingly, Luke and his eyes widen as cheeks redden. "Did I- did I say that out loud?"
Reggie snorts. "You did."
"Well I- I didn't mean-" Luke rubs at the back of his neck, falling silent and then poofing out.
The second Luke is gone, everyone bursts into laughter. You laugh so much that tears gather in the corner of your eyes and Julie is hanging off of Alex's arm. Reggie is the first to recover and mentions going to check on his boy, and then it was just Alex with you and Julie.
You eventually stand up, intent on doing something now that you've had this big secret dropped into your lap, when Alex takes a step in your direction. He pauses and you quirk an eyebrow at him. "Can I just say thanks for being so cool about this? I mean you could have ran inside the house and alerted everyone like Julie first did-"
"Hey! Not cool." Said girl pouts, swatting Alex with the back of her hand.
"-but you didn't. Sure you freaked, but I would too if I woke up next to Reggie."
You chuckle softly. "You guys are just lucky I hate physical activity and loathe running." Alex grins at you. "Plus I guess your secret is pretty cool. I'm okay living with ghosts so long as no ghosts occupy my bed while I'm still in it."
"Noted. I'll be sure to let the boys know."
"Thanks." As soon as Alex poofs out, your chill façade drops. "Oh my god, Julie!" You hiss. "They're ghosts!"
Her smile falters. "Uh, yeah."
"They're ghosts who heard me talking about how cute they were and about Luke's arms!"
"Oh yeah." She chuckles. "Well if it's any consolation, Luke is clearly into you. He totally wants you to traumatize him with your boobs."
"It's not funny!"
She fights to contain her amusement. "It kind of is."
"Ugh. Julie," you groan. "This is so embarrassing."
"Relax. They'll probably poke fun for a few days before letting it slide. Just give them a chance, Y/N. They're really cool guys."
"God I hope you're right."
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Now that the secret is out, the boys are corporeal more often than not inside the studio. Reggie and Luke take pleasure in teasing you, the two of them bringing up stuff you said about them when they were invisible or drawing attention to Luke's arms or Luke somehow suddenly needing to change to his shirt while in your presence. You made promises to get him back- to which Alex couldn't wait for to see what you came up with- but you've yet to fulfill that promise because there were more pressing matters at hand.
You're more than okay with keeping their secret, but it's only a matter of time before uncle Ray catches them. They like interacting with you, Flynn, and Carlos so they're visible quite a lot, but anytime uncle Ray nears it's a race to clean up any evidence of their presence and then poof out. You manage to convince Julie to tell her dad with promises that you'd be by her side the entire time, so she does. It had seemed uncle Ray was moments away from asking if she needed to see her therapist again when Reggie poofed in, followed by the other two boys who slapped him upside the head for doing so. Needless to say, Ray was shocked to his core but accepted the boys after seeing them interact with his two children and yourself. However, it was agreed by all that tía Victoria could not know the secret.
One day you had gone shopping for a couple new outfits with the girls and figured it was now or never to get Luke back. Sure they had seen you in an overly large shirt and boy short underwear, but they'd never seen you in proper lingerie. And when Flynn and Julie had caught on, they helped you choose the most daring piece of underwear to stun the ghost boy from the 90's.
When you get back to the studio, Julie pokes her head in first since she was the only one capable of seeing them when they were invisible. "Alex, where's Luke and Reggie?"
"They mentioned going down to the beach. Why?"
You and Flynn stumble in then, giggling. "It's payback time, my favorite ghostie. Your boy is not gonna know what hit him."
Alex's eyes light up. "Yes. What did you have in mind?"
"Two words," Flynn says. "Victoria's Secret."
"Oh no. You're gonna kill him all over again."
You mockingly glare at him. "He caught me ogling his v-line, Alex! He deserves to see exactly what I'm working with and not be able to touch."
He grins. "Can I see what you chose?"
"Duh. I need you to choose which set is going to make him lose his mind."
Walking over towards Alex, you set the bags down and sit on the couch beside him. Julie and Flynn sit on the armrests, eagerly waiting for you to dig out your purchases. And when you do, Alex's eyes widen before he bursts into laughter.
There are three identical sets of bras, panties, and garter belts in the colors of black, navy blue, and emerald green. You giggle as Alex takes choosing seriously, he picking up an article in each color and holding it to your arm. He hums in thought.
"In my opinion the blue suits your skin tone best, but I'd still go with the green."
You take it, carefully cutting tags off. "And this is why I love you. You're the best."
"Mhm. So how do you plan to have him see you in this?"
"I actually have an interview with the people uncle Ray works with in two days. I might not be able to take pictures, but I am good with all the technology stuff," you say. "I can pretend the straps to the belt are aggravating me and walk out to ask for your help."
Alex giggles. "You're evil."
"He started it." You shrug. "And besides, lingerie is such a confidence booster. You guys have no idea," you chuckle.
And then two days later you finally put your plan into motion. Flynn was bummed she couldn't be there, but Julie managed to be in the studio for your surprise after having pulled Luke into an impromptu writing session. Reggie, after having been given permission to use your laptop whenever he wanted, was watching Youtube videos, and Alex was flipping through a magazine not too far from his friend where he constantly glanced at the bathroom door rather anxiously.
Not too long after you enter the bathroom in a rush, you having screeched about being behind schedule for your meeting on the way in there, you start making a racket and cursing just loud enough to be heard outside the door. Outside, Alex does his best to fight off a grin.
Inside the bathroom, you've slipped into the emerald green lingerie, black garter belt, and black stockings. Both bra and panties are lace, giving the illusion of being sheer, but your important bits are still covered which is why you're more than okay walking out in this particular set. You spritz some body spray over your cleavage and abdomen, grinning when you see yourself sparkling as you move, and then quickly clip your garter belt to the tops of your stockings. However, for the clips in the back, you purposely twist the straps when you clip them on.
You curse some more to make everyone outside believe you're having some sort of problem, groaning for good measure, and then crack open the bathroom door to stick your head out. "Hey Jules, can you give me a hand?" You ask, already knowing what she's going to say.
"Mmm," she mumbles distractedly, writing in her notebook.
Luke glances between you and Julie, Reggie has clearly paused his video to see what's going on, and Alex takes his cue. "I can help," he calls out as he tosses his magazine aside. "What do you need?"
You frown at your cousin when she purposely doesn't look at you before looking at Alex, inhaling deeply before you straighten up and open the door wider. Given his position, Reggie is the first to take notice of your outfit and whimpers. Audibly. Julie and Luke look up then, Julie hiding her smile and Luke's eyes widening as his jaw drops open in shock.
"I'll do it! I can help you," Reggie blurts, cheeks red. He gulps. "What exactly is it you need help with?"
Walking towards Alex, you mockingly glare at Reggie and then ruffle his hair on your way to his blonde friend. You stop in front of him, turning around and then glancing over your shoulder at him. "The garter belt," you say. "I keep getting the straps twisted."
"On it." You see a smile threatening to break free as he immediately takes hold of the clasps and rights the wrong, and you turn around so you don't lose it yourself.
Only when you face forward, you can't help but snort at Reggie's awestruck expression and the fact that Luke is faring no better. But Luke is the one who seems to know almost immediately what you're playing at and his eyes narrow when his gaze finally meets your own. However, before he can call you out on your act, there's a distinct snap!, a brief stinging pain on the back of your thigh, and you whirl around on Alex.
"Hey!"
"I'm sorry," he laughs, immediately sitting back and out of range of your swatting swing. "I couldn't help myself."
You shake your head in amusement before making sure the strap isn't twisted anymore and then make your way back towards the bathroom. It's oddly quiet as you finish getting dressed behind the bathroom door, and then exit in a cream-colored blouse tucked inside a black pencil skirt. Julie wolf whistles when you exit and you wrinkle your nose at her as you head towards your heels to slip your feet into.
Once your heels are on and you run your fingers through your hair to give it a very stylish, mussed look, you can't help but meet Luke's gaze. When you notice his slackened expression, you wink and finally allow yourself to laugh.
Red rushes to his cheeks as he narrows his eyes at you. "You're the devil."
"And don't you forget it," you immediately retort. "Keep it up, Patterson. I won't play fair and I promise my next look will drive you to take a cold shower." Alex finally loses the battle with his laughter, as does Julie, and Luke frowns at you. "Now that I've pranced around half naked, it's time I get to my interview. Wish me luck?"
"Luck!" Julie immediately shouts. As soon as Y/N disappears, there's a telltale beep and Julie lowers her phone. She glances between Luke and Reggie, shaking her head and chuckling. "God you straight boys are so easily distracted. Flynn's going to be so mad she missed this."
Luke points to where Y/N disappeared, stammering over his words before he finally gets proper hold of his thoughts. "She doesn't play fair!"
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After what you would have called a successful interview, you went back to the studio where you found Luke all alone. You ended up calling a truce with him, but that ended up being a terrible decision on your part. Because interacting with a Luke who was as genuine as can be without the flirtatious behavior or teasing, well it turned out you found yourself liking the boy a little more than you should.
When Halloween came you found yourself dressing up alongside Flynn and Julie. Normally you'd have gone for something sexy, but after parading around half naked and knowing uncle Ray would not appreciate his underage daughter showing off too much skin, you settled for something that would make everyone laugh. You, Julie, and Flynn agreed to dress up as the boys, but you couldn't take their clothes until the day of. So when Halloween morning rolled around, Carlos and uncle Ray kept the boys busy while you and the girls raided their stash of clothes in the studio.
Julie took Alex's pink Champion hoodie and a snapback to shove down backwards atop her curls, Flynn wore Reggie's leather jacket atop a plain tee and wrapped a red flannel around her waist, and you took Luke's white Rush shirt with its cut off sleeves and a blue hoodie that also had it's sleeves cut off. You had giggled with each other when you all saw the final outcome and even took a few pictures to post to your personal Instagrams.
Then when the boys finally came in, it took them a moment to realize what they were seeing and it only clicked when you stepped forward and said, "Hey! We're Sunset Curve."
And then Flynn stepped forward, shooting finger guns at the boys. "Tell your friends."
Julie snorted and the boys burst into laughter, and then you took even more pictures with the boys- only when they were posted online you captioned them that you were the Phantoms from Julie and the Phantoms. Then when all was said and done, the six of you took Carlos trick-or-treating around the neighborhood while uncle Ray and tía Victoria cooked up a Halloween feast.
Thanksgiving and Christmas were emotional holidays for quite a few of you. The boys for obvious reasons- they being dead and not able to spend time with their loved ones- and you because while your parents could be more decent, you loved them all the same and wished the circumstances between you were different. But uncle Ray was understanding and made sure everyone had more than enough food and presents, and the night ended with everyone under the age of twenty falling asleep in the living room after admiring all their new belongings.
New Year's Eve rolls around and you're excited for two reasons- one being because of the fireworks that will no doubt go off at midnight and because at that exact same moment you'll be turning 18. Everyone expected you wanted a big party, but you surprised them all when you said all you wanted invited was everyone in the Molina household + studio, Flynn, and tía Victoria. You just wanted to have karaoke and a jam session, and some fireworks. You didn't want to make a big deal out of it.
The morning of New Year's Eve, you're woken up by Reggie bouncing on your mattress. But instead of being grouchy about it, you laugh and then yelp when Luke and Alex poof in to pop confetti poppers above you. You sit up, keeping the blanket across your lap as you shake your hair free of the shimmering mess.
"Happy birthday," Alex says, sitting down beside you and hugging you. "Ray said to be inside in twenty minutes. He's got a whole breakfast spread planned."
"Technically it's not my birthday yet, but thank you very much. I'll be inside as soon as possible."
Alex beams before Reggie takes his place, he leaning in and kissing your cheek with a loud smack. You giggle and accept his hug. "Happy birthday, my beautiful living friend. You don't look a day over 30."
You snort and then shove at his shoulder. "Shut up and get out. You don't get to be mean to the birthday girl."
"I thought it technically wasn't your birthday?" He winks at you. "Now hurry up. We can't eat until you do." And then with one last grin, Reggie poofs out.
Sighing happily, you stare up at Luke then. He grins as he readily lowers himself onto your mattress, laying on his stomach and keeping his expression directed at you. "Are you ready for tonight?"
"Am I ready to be a year older? Not really," you say. "But I am ready for some sparklers."
He chuckles. "Age is just a number, Y/N."
"Says the ghost who's forever 17," you mumble.
"Do you want me to find you a rancid hotdog? Because I will. Then the two of us will forever be 17."
"You're such an idiot." You can't stop grinning, especially when he mentions the way he died. It was terrible they died, but absolutely hilarious that it was death by hotdog for them. "I still don't understand how you didn't notice the weenie was bad. Rancid meat smells disgusting and you ate it!"
"In our defense we thought the smell was coming from the trash in the alley." You can only shake your head at him. "And we were still riding the rush of sound check inside the Orpheum."
"Your idiocy amazes me," you deadpan. "Now go on. I need to put on pants and brush my teeth. I'll meet you inside."
"Oh now you want to be all shy about walking around in your underwear." Luke playfully rolls his eyes. "Okay."
"You know what? I was being considerate so my near nudity didn't turn you into a stammering fool, but now I think I'll just do it." You grab your blanket to throw it off of you, but Luke quickly scrambles up and off your bed.
"Okay. Okay! I'll see you inside."
As soon as Luke poofs out, you grin to yourself like an idiot. The tension between the two of you was obvious from the beginning and it's still there even after you called a truce. You giddily get up and head on downstairs, making your way towards the bathroom to freshen up before heading inside. But as you're brushing your teeth, you realize you can't stop thinking about Luke. Which is kind of a bad thing. For you.
Everyone who has eyes can see the way Luke looks at you and the way you look at him, but given he's a ghost and you're very much alive you've agreed that nothing can happen between the two of you. Not just because of his ghostly status, but because of his status as Julie's bandmate- which is another problem they need a solution for but they won't worry about it until they have a record deal in their clutches. After then, they'll worry about revisiting the boys' family they had left behind when they died.
Quickly fixing your hair, you pull on a pair of leggings afterward and start making your way out of the studio. You sigh and come to the conclusion that for now you'd just enjoy the company of a cute ghost. You can totally get over the silly crush in no time.
          - - - - - - - - - -
As you're getting ready for the night, you're surprised there's a knock on the floor of the loft right before Luke's head pops up by the stairs. "Is it okay if I come on up?"
"Yeah. Of course," you say. You grab your boots before sitting on the edge of your mattress, slipping your feet inside of them and start lacing up. Luke stands off to the side, a little sheepishly, and you grin at him. "Something up? You're too quiet."
"Yeah. No, I'm good." He chuckles a little nervously and then finally moves to take a seat next to you. When he's seated, you nudge him with your shoulder to get him to lighten up. "I just- we got you a present and I've been nominated to hand it over."
"A present? From who?"
"Well it was originally from Ray, Jules, and Carlos," he says, "but when us ghosties wanted to get you something too, it kind of turned into a joint gift from all of us." Luke reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. You quirk an eyebrow at him as he hands the it over and immediately lift the lid. You coo at the silver charm bracelet inside and then lift it to examine the charms. "Ray, Julie, and Carlos had the laptop, dahlia, and lightning bolt charms already on there, but then we went back to the mall and had a microphone, a guitar, a bass, and drum sticks added to it."
"This is perfect. Help me put it on?"
You manage to unclasp the bracelet to slip it onto your right wrist and then Luke is scooting even closer to you so he can clasp it correctly. When he does, you twist your wrist back and forth so the charms jingle and fall correctly in place. Then you glance up at the same time Luke does, noses inches apart, and it's like both your breathing ceases.
Both your gazes seem to dart down to each other's lips and then you're jerking back while shakily inhaling. "You're trouble, Luke Patterson."
He smirks. "Fun trouble. You should try me sometime."
You can't believe the nerve of this ghost, so you roll your eyes, grin, and then climb to your feet. "Whatever you say, ghost boy. Now let's go. Tía Victoria was making me menudo for my birthday dinner."
Everyone at the Molina household is exactly who you wanted there and you get a kick out of watching the ghost boys attempt the menudo, watching the way they freeze when it's explained what exactly is in the menudo. Alex and Luke had slowly swallowed what was in their mouth before proclaiming they were full, but Reggie shrugged it off and kept on eating.
Outside uncle Ray grilled up some burgers and hotdogs for those who weren't fans of the menudo, and Julie had brought out bags of sparklers. You, Flynn, and Alex wasted no time in sparking some sparklers up while Reggie, Luke, and Carlos grabbed ahold of some small cannons to shoot off into the quickly darkening sky.
Many laughs are had, running amok in the streets with sparklers, and many pictures are taken. Your favorite, by far, had to have been when Carlos accidentally caught Reggie's flannel on fire and he stopped, dropped, and rolled in the street. You, Flynn, and Julie were never going to let him forget that terrified expression of his.
But then there's only five minutes to midnight, uncle Ray and Carlos are carrying several large firework boxes into the middle of the street and hurriedly untangling some wires, and a birthday sash is being draped over your head by Julie.
Seeing your uncle Ray and Carlos space out large boxes have drawn some of the neighbors to see what no doubt is going to a firework display, and you excitedly wait several feet away from the impending commotion.
Suddenly tía Victoria starts a countdown from twenty, Flynn hands out party horns, and everyone excitedly joins in.
"FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE. HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
You blow your party horn, laughing when you spot Reggie jumping on Alex and Luke's backs in excitement. Uncle Ray hits a button in hand and the first box shoots off it's first firework. The explosions of white, gold, pink, blue, purple, and green has everyone making happy remarks, and you watch on, not noticing everyone pairing off to watch the show (Alex and Reggie, tía Victoria and Carlos, and Julie and Flynn).
You're smiling up at an explosion of white crackles that chase each other across the sky when two arms wrap around your neck from behind and a body presses up close behind yours. You chuckle as your hands come up to grab onto a forearm and you briefly glance over your shoulder. It's Luke.
As you go back to watching your uncle put on a spectacular firework display, you feel warm breath fan across your ear. "Happy birthday, Y/N," Luke murmurs.
"Thank you." You smile brightly even though he can't see it and then glance over your shoulder once more, holding his gaze as your faces are literally an inch apart. "Happy New Year, Luke."
He beams at you and against your will your gaze darts to his lips. Your mind is whirling and you know everything about you and Luke is a bad idea, but you just can't help yourself. And apparently neither can he.
Luke is the one to close the distance, softly pressing his lips to yours. You smile against his lips, giggling some before adding a little bit more pressure so he doesn't think you're laughing at him. The entire situation is just a little bit hilarious to you.
After a few seconds you pull apart and the two of you end up laughing before you go back to watching the fireworks. Fortunately no one had been paying you any attention, so you and Luke can keep the kiss between the two of you.
You know for sure nothing can actually come out of whatever is going on between the two of you, but for now you're willing to take it one day at a time and come up with official rules later on the down the line.
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Hey people of tumblr! I noticed that my last post I made about Encanto really blew up! Thank you so much for all of your support I can’t thank you enough!
In the spirit of the season and in rewatching Encanto, I realized that I go to tumblr a lot for support and help with getting through life as a way to pass the time or as a way to get past something difficult.
I’ve seen a lot of posts about stating who your emotional support character is for a lot of reasons. I have many that are very random. But this time I wanna see what people think are the most supportive (not characters that you use as emotional supports personally but the characters that their personalities are very supportive) and your top 7 characters you would want in your personal cheer squad! This is a character and fandom appreciation!
Here are mine! I personally don’t have a specific order but these are my 7 top supportive characters from my fandoms! I’d love to hear what other peoples are!
Onto my personal list:
Ray Molina from Julie And The Phantoms
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Cassie Nightingale from Good Witch
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Mirabel Madrigal from Encanto
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Glamrock Freddy/Freddy Fazbear from Five Nights At Freddy’s Security Breach
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Kyojuro Rengoku from Demon Slayer
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Mr. Keating from Dead Poets Society
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Master Makarov and/or Mirajane Strauss from Fairy Tail
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Now it’s your turn! Reblog with your top 7 ish most supportive characters you would want in your personal cheer squad from your fandoms! It doesn’t have to be in any particular order just 7 from any fandom! I love to see what people have to say!
Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk (I’m not sure if this post particularly counts as one) and I hope you have a great day!
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mrsbrookegillespie · 3 years
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+Perfect Harmony+ (Part One) Luke x Reader
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Description: For Y/N Molina, it never came easy for her. The hardest part not being able to do the one thing she loved, creating music. With her cousin Julie joining a ghost band that she’s been secretly admiring for years, her all time crush not returning the same feelings, and having many untold secrets, something is bound to go wrong.
Warnings: ANGST, swearing, mention of suicidal thoughts, Ray not being that nice (I’m sorry Ray, we love you), mention of slight sexual harassment, mentions of death (duh), terrible writing, typos, and probably more that my brain can’t think of at the moment. 
After Writing All Of That I’m Questioning This Story, But I Do Love It So... Many Songs Will Be Featured, Feel Free To Listen To Them When They Come Up.
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+Perfect Harmony+
For Y/N Molina life wasn’t easy. Her parents, one being the sister of Ray Molina, dropped her off in front of the Molina household at the age of fourteen before going off to explore the world. At the time she was upset about the situation, but it wasn’t surprising. Her parents never wanted a kid, she practically raised herself while they were in Greece eating seafood, and sipping at the finest wine, no doubt. “How are you doing?” Rose, her cousin Julie’s mom, asks. 
Y/N shrugs. “They’re never coming back, so I guess I’m going to be stuck on this couch for a while.” She actually grew quite fond of the sofa that pulled out into a bed.
“We’ll make you a room up in the loft,” Rose assures.
“So, we agree, my parents are…” Her voice fades off, inhaling through her nose.
“You know, this used to be the studio of a band.” Y/N tilts her head, looking at the older woman. “A rock band, I met them when they were going to play at The Orpheum--”
“The Orpheum?!” Y/N exclaims. “That’s amazing!” 
“They were, but they died that night.” Rose stands up, walking to a box. “This is some of their stuff.” She picks it up. “I’ve heard the music you listen to, and I think you would like them.” Setting down the box in front of Y/N, she wastes no time searching through it.
“Sunset Curve?” she questions, staring down at the logo printed on the shirt. “Cool name,” she compliments with a wide smile, setting the article of clothing in her lap. She picks up a picture showing four boys. “Were these them?” 
“Yes, that one was Bobby, he’s a flirt, Reggie, sweetie, Alex, very sassy--” Y/N giggles, “And Luke, he was the lead singer.” 
“He’s… Quite decent looking,” Y/N observes sheepishly.
“I knew you’d think so.” Rose ruffles her hair. “Listen to the CD, you never know…” 
“I will.” Y/N clutches the photo to her chest as Rose leaves. Hastily she picks up the CD that had the band's logo plastered on the plastic case. She gently places it in the player, waiting for the music to come through the speakers. And then, there it was. “They’re amazing.” She grabs the box again, pulling out an orange beanie, placing it on her head. 
By the end of the night she had searched the entire studio for more stuff, gathering it, trying things on, she stayed up ‘til sunrise listening, and trying to learn each and every one of their songs, painting each of the members on canvases, writing songs about the guitarist that even though died years ago, she couldn’t help but feel connected to. A crush on a dead guy, what’s better than that?
“Boo!” Luke poofs in next to Y/N who’s currently getting her textbooks out of her locker.
“God!” she shrieks. “You need to stop doing that to me, gonna give me a heart attack,” she mutters as her fellow classmates, and random people she had never met give her weird glances. “Make people think I’m crazy.” Luke opens his mouth to reply, but Y/N beats him to it. “Yes, Luke, I know ‘we’re all a little crazy’.”
He pouts. “Someone’s grumpy today.” He crosses his arms, leaning against the locker next to hers. “But, anyways! Do you know where Julie is?” 
And there Y/N’s heart was punched. “I mean, she has to be around here somewhere,” she answers, slamming the locker door. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I have to go to class.” She takes her time to turn around on her heels.
“You’re gonna be at band rehearsal before our performance, right?” he asks, making her stop.
Turning only the upper half of her body to look at him. “I think you forget I live in the studio.”
He lets out an airy chuckle. “Right.” He playfully rolls his eyes.
Unlike Julie she didn’t care if people thought she was crazy, for the number one reason being that people already thought that. Wacky, coocoo, freak, those were just some of the words people called her before her favorite band suddenly popped out of nowhere because Julie played their CD.
That always confused Y/N, why is that when she played the CD all that time ago they didn’t show up, but when Julie did, they did? She never mentioned her already known infatuation with the band, even though it most likely answers the question of why Julie and her can see the ghosts. “But, I’m grounded so…” She carelessly shrugs. “I’m stuck on party duty for the time being, so probably won’t be there for that, but I’ll be there for the actual performance.” Even though she would’ve done it anyway, Ray wanted Y/N to be more ‘supportive’.
“Oh.” His smile falters a little. “Cool, I’ll catch you later then.”
An awkward tension fills the air. “Yep.” She salutes towards him, walking off. 
Grounded. No phone, only can drive her car to school, and home. Y/N wasn’t even allowed to listen to her records which she’s collected over the course of three years. And it was for the reason that she's failing multiple classes, but Ray didn’t understand the struggle she’s going through.
Let’s rewind… When Rose died it left the whole Molina family broken. But, it also left another part of Y/N broken when music became Julie’s thing at that moment, Ray not allowing Y/N to even have a guitar in her room. She loved music, all she wanted to do was sing, play every instrument, write every song with any word that popped into her mind. Julie couldn’t even touch a piano until recently, and yet, it had to only be Julie’s thing. So, now Y/N has to just secretly write songs in her red notebook knowing they’ll never be used, and secretly play in the school’s band room before any student takes a foot into the building, while she watches her cousin and the guys become ‘Julie and the Phantoms’.
What does hurt her everyday, is not being able to do something she loves because they’re afraid of how it might affect someone else. But, if Julie really cared for her family member then she’d be happy for her, right? Not to mention the way Luke looks at Julie hurts a little too, the chemistry. No one can deny it. It’s not like she’s had a crush on him before they even met him as a ghost. No, the biggest crush that she’s ever had is totally not a dead guy, and no, she’s never in the past thought about killing herself in hope to meet him if there were an afterlife, which she guesses there is now. She’s sure he loves Julie not being an absolute mess for him, and he probably knows that Y/N’s in love with him and is trying to show her he doesn’t like her in the worst way possible. “Y/N!” she internally screams, hearing the familiar voice.
“Josh…” she drags out his name. Maybe she should just give him a chance? He gives her plenty of attention. She giggles to herself when the thought crosses her mind. That wasn’t funny. An inner voice replies. 
“Hey, I just… Wanted to see how you were doing, you know--just friend to friend.” 
“I actually have to go to class, so we’ll talk later, ‘kay?” She tries to turn around to leave, but Josh grabs her arm to pull her back.
“Class doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes,” he counters.
“Y/N!” Luke exclaims, poofing right next to Josh. “I still haven’t found Julie, are you sure you don’t know where she is?” He almost didn’t even notice the other boy that had also been fighting for Y/N’s attention.
“I like to get to class early,” Y/N replies to Josh. “And you haven’t seen Julie around here, have you?”
“I think I saw her in the dance room.” She gives Luke a pointed look. “You know, practicing for that dance thing.”
“Yeah!” Y/N responds, not even an ounce interested in this conversation. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she noticed Luke not leaving.
“Who’s this?” he asks.
“So, Josh, I really have to go,” she claims. “I’ll see ya around!” 
“Wait,” he starts. “Is this about when I tried to kiss you the other day?” Y/N tenses up, 
Luke’s jaw dropping slightly.
Followed by a wide smile. “Does Y/N have a boyfriend?!” he mocks. 
“No, well, yes, it is. We aren’t dating, Josh, it’s uncomfortable.” Josh huffs out. “That’s not a weird reason for why.” Y/N’s blood starts to boil.
“You should feel honored that someone would even want to kiss you, I mean your reputation here isn’t all too great, Y/N,” he states. 
“Goodbye, Josh.” She turns on her heels. 
Luke watches as she angrily walks away, glaring at Josh who obviously couldn’t see him. He turns slightly, glancing over his shoulder to see Julie by her locker. Giving Y/N one more glimpse he goes to do what he came here to do. 
Y/N sits at her desk, rereading over the words that she colorfully wrote in her journal. “You pretty thing, with pretty things inside,” she sings quietly. She slams the book closed when she finds herself getting annoyed by just how untalented she was. 
“I think that Nick guy has a crush on Julie,” Luke reports, once again magically appearing in front of her. He was taken aback when she didn’t react.
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sunsetcurvecuddles · 3 years
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“Let me bandage you up,” Tía or Ray and Reggie, just to be different. 😁
hi i loved this so much omg. huge thanks to Ángela @angela-feelstoomuch for the spanish help as well, any remaining mistakes are totally my own fault haha. warning for some swearing and mentions of bl00d/minor injury.
ao3 link in reblogs!
--
Honestly, being an honorary Molina is pretty great most of the time. Reggie loves having a little brother, would have done anything to convince his parents to have another kid when he was younger (and alive), though he knew they never would, since one kid was already such a pain in the ass. So Carlos is amazing.
And obviously Julie is his favourite girl ever, and his favourite still-alive person in the world, and she sings like an angel and thinks his country songs are cool and he would do anything for her and et cetera. It’s nice to see Luke and Alex settle in, get more relaxed - Luke doesn’t shy away from Julie every time Ray enters a room, and Alex doesn’t make excuses to miss dinner so that he doesn’t have to say grace, because he’s realised Ray doesn’t make him say grace.
“Niños!” Ray is calling from the kitchen, oven mitts on his hands, grin on his face, “Help setting the table?”
Even from here, dinner smells amazing. “Coming!” Reggie calls, manages not to say ‘dad’ at the end but it’s close, as he and Carlos bounce up off the couch and run to the kitchen.
Ray is the best. Reggie’s own dad was - look, it’s not that he was awful, it’s not that Reggie hates him, it’s just - he saw these dads, in movies, and on TV, and in other peoples homes, and he wanted one even more than he wanted a puppy, or a little brother, and Ray is that dad. He’s understanding, and encouraging, and funny, and a great cook, and he never raises his voice even when he should be mad about something. Reggie feels so lucky that Julie and Carlos let Reggie share their dad, even unofficially.
“Carlos!” Tía snaps, as he runs past her and ducks under her elbow, narrowly avoiding the tray in her hands, “Cuidado! La bandeja está caliente!”
It’s Tía Victoria who kinda scares Reggie.
It’s not that she’s not nice. Tía is nice. She brings over food and drives Carlos to ball games and pesters Ray about dentists’ appointments he almost forgets to go to. It’s just that she’s a little more like the other adults Reggie knew. She barks her words, sometimes, and she doesn’t get Julie’s music thing quite like Ray does, even if she’s supportive for the most part. And she doesn’t always believe Carlos about things, which Reggie understands more now that he’s been conned by Carlos about several random things (for example, Eggos are not in the house-sized waffle business in 2020 as Carlos told him, and they did not manage to breed dragons into existence with new DNA cloning technology) but still. It makes him nervous.
“Sorry, Tía!” Carlos chirps as he slides on his socks into a crouched position in front of the cupboard where they keep all the plates and bowls. Since Carlos has them handled, Reggie goes for glasses instead, reaching overhead for the cupboard on the opposite side of the room.
“Carlos!” sighs Tía again, more irritated than before, and Reggie feels his shoulders tense even though he wills them not to. “Let me help carry some of those, you’ll drop them, sobrino.”
“Fine,” Carlos huffs, and there’s the clink of plates as he passes half his pile off to her and they head for the dining table.
Reggie counts in his head as he stacks the glasses in the crook of his arm. There’s him and the boys, so four - wait, no, three - plus Julie, so four - then Ray and Carlos and Tía so five six seven -
He’s too caught up counting, is the problem, and doesn’t focus enough on how he has the glasses balanced. It probably would have been fine, except there’s a loud thud! Which Reggie registers a moment too late as being Luke, jumping from the top of the stairs to the bottom, enjoying his alive body. The sound scares Reggie about a foot in the air, and he fumbles the stack of glasses, and almost manages to save it.
The glass from the very top of the pile smashes on the floor, a harsh shatter that makes every head in the room turn in his direction. Reggie feels the panic surge up in him like a forgotten pot on the stove suddenly bubbling over. With trembling hands, he puts the rest of the glasses on the counter and scrambles down to the floor, tries to gather the glass shards together into a pile from where they’ve scattered, desperate to tidy the mess, to give some sense of responsibility, instead of just standing there like a stupid kid. “I’m sorry,” he starts, and his voice shakes more than he’d like, almost more than his hands had, “I’m sorry, I can clean it-”
“Reggie!” interrupts Tía, and her voice seems sharper than the glass.
“Victoria-” Ray begins, but Tía doesn’t let him finish, either. She’s already practically at Reggie’s side, crouching down next to him on the floor.
Her closeness makes Reggie’s hairs stand on end, and he’s not sure what he expects, but it’s not for her to gently lay her fingertips on his wrist and say, in a much softer tone, “Mijo, you’re bleeding.”
“Oh.” Reggie blinks. Looks at his arm, next to where her perfectly manicured nails have landed. She’s right, he sees. There’s a few little gashes, nothing huge, trickling blood in tiny streams down his forearm. In a few more moments, the blood would have reached his hand, and he would have noticed, probably. Except when he turns his palms up to look at them, he realises they’re cut up, too. Probably from grabbing glass shards with no protection.
His lip wobbles before he can stop it. He can still feel everyone looking at him. Knows what they must be thinking.
Stupid fucking kid.
“What are you staring at?” Tía says, back to business as usual. He flinches at her voice, before he realises she’s not talking to him. She’s talking to the others. “Come on! Ray, grab the dustpan and some shoes, clean up this glass before anyone else gets hurt. Carlos, finish setting the table, and Luke, go fetch the others para la comida.” In his peripheral vision, Reggie sees everyone bounce back into action, like her words broke a spell on them, and it’s a relief to know they’re not all looking at him any more. Tía continues, as she tucks an arm around Reggie’s shoulders, “Reggie and I will be back.”
“We will?” Reggie asks automatically, as she helps him balance on his wobbly, baby-giraffe legs.
“En un minuto,” she tells him confidently. “But first, let me bandage you up.”
He’s not exactly going to argue with her. Honestly, any excuse to get out of the public space is appreciated when his eyes still feel so close to swimming with tears. Firm yet warm, she leads him to the bathroom and has him sit on the closed toilet lid while she pulls Ray’s first aid kid from the cabinet, pulling from it some disinfectant, bandages and a pair of tweezers.
“Just in case any glass is left,” she explains briskly, settling on the edge of the bathtub and turning his arm over, palm up, so she can see the scratches. She tuts softly. “Your poor hands!”
Reggie ducks his head, whispers, “I really am sorry.”
“¿Por qué?” she asks. “It was an accident, right?”
“Huh?”
She sits back again and looks him in the eyes for a moment. If it was Ray, or one of the boys, Reggie would shy away from the look, but she has the same skill Julie has, to pin you in place with her gaze, so Reggie assumes it’s from Rose’s side of the family. “I know you didn’t throw that glass on the ground on purpose. It was just an accident. These things happen.”
“You’re not angry?” The question slips out before Reggie can think about how silly it sounds, but instead of rolling her eyes, or her jaw clenching in annoyance, Tía’s expression softens somehow.
“No, mijo. Not at all. Estaba un poco preocupada, maybe, but that’s only because I care about you.”
Reggie doesn’t know what to say to that. Bites his lip as she gently applies disinfectant along the wounds, once she’s declared them sufficiently glass-free, and wills himself not to cry as she wraps the bandages around his arm and a little around the palm of his hand. At least if he cries she’ll just think it’s because of the sting, and not because he braced himself so hard to be yelled at and called names and then it never came.
Not because he keeps remembering that he feels like glass himself. Always a moment away from falling onto the ground and shattering, so teeter-y that the kindness of adults he barely knows can almost knock him over the edge.
“Terminado!” she declares, tying off the last of the bandage, and gives him a big smile. It looks genuine enough. Not like she’s bottling anything up to let out at him later. Not like she’s fronting, or lying, not that Reggie’s ever been particularly good at telling the difference with anyone. She must see the puzzlement in his face, because she adds, “Just an accident.”
It really seems that simple. Like everything’s just fixed and okay. Like she doesn’t think Reggie is stupid. The feeling is sort of overwhelming; Reggie’s stomach feels all warm, and - empty, actually. It grumbles loudly in that moment, and Tía laughs, and Reggie laughs with her.
“Vamos a como?” he tries, because he’s been listening, and trying to pick things up.
“Vamos a comer,” she corrects him, but he can’t mistake her tone this time for anything other than delighted, her expression for anything other than fond and relieved as she helps him up. They go back down the stairs, her loosely holding his hand the whole way, not enough to hurt his wounds, but enough to remind him she’s there.
She presents him to the table with a goofy little ta-da! gesture, much to the joy of those already at the table. “Our Reggie, back in one piece!” she says. Laughter and relief radiates from all the others, and Tía grins, pleased, puts her hands on her waist. In that moment, despite all his preconceptions, she reminds him more of Julie than anyone else.
Maybe she isn’t so scary after all.
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IN LIFE, IN DEATH...
PART FOUR
Pt1, Pt2, Pt3
Warnings: fighting with parents and some swearing
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---
The bright sunlight hit your eyes and you squinted a little as your feet hit the driveway.
Julie’s song was still playing through your head, and so was your conversation with her last night. The passion in her voice when she sang was the same as when she talked about her mom.
You wanted to run in and comfort her somehow, but Luke seemed insistent on staying outside, making Alex grumble next to you.
“Dude, why did you stop me? Julie needs a hug.”
“A ghost hug is not the feel-good moment you think it is. Trust me.” Luke said. What Julie needs is some privacy.”
“I think you poofed us out because you can’t handle when other people cry.” Alex waved his finger in Luke’s face, making you frown at his words.
It wasn’t a secret that Luke wasn’t the best with feelings, but he had always been there for you. Last night in the darkroom, and again at the diner, and countless other times.
“I should know,” Alex continued, gesturing between Luke and Reggie. “I cried in a room for 25 years, and I didn’t get a single hug from either of you.”
Reggie sighed, opening his arms. “Bring it in.”
“Don’t touch me!”
“This is why no one but (Y/n) hugs you.” Reggie mumbled as you rubbed Alex’s arm.
“Okay.” Luke interrupted. “So, once we get the courage to go in there, we should ask Julie why she lied about playing the piano.”
Alex shrugged. “And maybe tell her how amazing she is?”
You nodded and Reggie exclaimed. “She’s legit! I got ghost-bumps.”
Just then, the gate leading to the house swung open and a girl made her way down the pavement. As she got closer, you could hear her sobbing quietly.
“Oh no, was she crying too?” You asked as the girl entered the garage.
“Yes!” Luke shivered. “We definitely can’t go in there.”
“No, but we can listen.” Reggie ran towards the door, standing on his tip-toes to peek through the window.
“Guys! We can’t eavesdrop, that’s creepy!” You whispered, but the boys ignored you and crowded the door.
Seconds later, they all ducked to avoid being seen and you couldn’t help but be curious. So you ran over and squeezed yourself between Luke and Alex.
“I’m not okay!” The other girl shouted. “You got kicked out of music! I’ve been up all night thinking about what I was gonna say, and I might’ve had seven sodas but I need to get this out.”
“Flynn-” Julie started but Flynn shook her head and started ranting.
“Jules, if you leave the music program, we’ll be apart forever. Sure, we’ll see each other in the hallway sometimes but we’ll make new friends.”
“That’s not true.” Julie said.
“You’re right, I won’t make any new friends. The only time we’ll contact each other is by liking each other’s posts on Instagram. Every time I hit that little heart, mine will be breaking because my best friend left me.”
“What’s Instagram?“ Alex whispered to you. You shrugged, making a mental note to ask Julie later.
Julie sighed. “I just played piano and sang again.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was trying but then your seven sodas kicked in.” Julie laughed.
Flynn squealed. “I’m so happy for you! Look at you, looking all alive again. What made you play again?”
Julie slid her mom’s song across the piano to show Flynn and you couldn’t help but smile. You obviously hadn’t known Julie for long, but you were so happy that she reconnected with her mom and music.
“I was so scared to play it, cause everything having to do with music reminds me of her. But I woke up this morning, realizing that’s exactly why I should play it. To keep her memory alive.”
“We need to tell Mrs. Harrison that you can play so you can stay in the music program. My girl’s back! Double Trouble lives again.”
“Not our band name.” Julie laughed as the girls started walking out of the garage.
“Shit, she’s coming!” You whispered. “Act natural.”
You and Reggie sank to the floor, Luke leaned on his arm and Alex pretended to inspect the light hanging above you. Julie made eye contact with you and smiled.
“Oh, hey!”
Flynn turned around and watched Julie expectantly. Julie laughed awkwardly and started skipping down the driveway.
“Let’s hustle!” She grabbed Flynn’s arm and started walking up the stairs, waving goodbye.
“We weren’t listening!” Reggie said, earning a pinch on the arm from you and a kick to the ankle from Luke. Julie started swatting the air, trying to play it off like there was a bug, and pushed Flynn up the stairs.
As soon as she was gone, you made your way back into the garage. You sat at the piano bench, mindlessly playing the few chords you knew.
“I wonder why Julie didn’t tell us she could shred on the piano.” Reggie said.
“It probably has something to do with her mom.” You guessed, your fingers gliding across the keys.
“Yeah, that must’ve been hard.” Alex added before climbing up to the loft. “I really feel for her.”
“Yeah, but now she’s got music back in her life. Just like us.” Luke said, reaching over and hitting the note next to your finger.
“Yeah, I’m not sure you can call what we have a life.” Alex said and you snorted. “Hey, I think some of our old clothes are up here.”
He threw down a black trash bag filled with clothes and you sighed in relief. The night you died, you wore a plain pair of jeans, and your favorite old t-shirt of your dad’s. You usually wore one when you played a gig, so that a part of him could be with you in some way and of course; Luke’s jacket.
And as much as you loved your outfit, being in the same clothes for 25 years was not exactly sanitary, even by ghost standards.
“Sweet!” Luke exclaimed, taking off his shirt.
Shit!
You tried as subtly as possible to look away before anyone saw the blush on your cheeks, and you thought you had gotten away with it until Reggie laughed from across the room.
You sent him a glare, but that only made him laugh harder.
Suddenly, the studio doors opened again and Julie’s dad came in. He had a sad look on his face and a camera in his hands. It had ‘Ray Molina’ engraved on the handle so you figured that was his name.
The man walked right through Reggie, making him shudder. “That was weird. But somehow I can tell this man has a kind heart.”
“So, how have you been?” Ray asked, his voice heavy.
“Honestly, not that good.” Reggie said and you rolled your eyes. “See, we ate these hotdogs and-”
“Julie sang for the first time again this morning.” Ray took a picture of the room. “She hasn’t done that in almost a year. You would’ve loved it.”
“Yeah, we heard cause we-.” Reggie wiggled his fingers in front of Ray’s face. “Oh, I get it. He's not talking to us."
"Dude, you are so lucky you play bass." Luke said.
"I think he's talking to Julie's mom." Alex sighed.
Ray started walking towards the piano. "She's such an amazing young woman."
He started running his hands on the keys so you slid off the bench. You knew you definitely shouldn't be listening, this was definitely not something you weren't meant to hear but you couldn't help your curiosity. "Everyday she reminds me more and more of you."
"Called it!" Alex cheered.
Ray shifted the camera between his hands. "I'm taking pictures for the real estate website. I don't really wanna move, but...it's what's best for Julie."
Alex came down from the loft and you all crowded around the piano. Luke stared at Ray with wide eyes. "Move?"
Ray gently played a few notes of a ballad before he spoke again. "There's so many memories out here. Like, Julie sitting next to you and Carlos trying to sing with his missing front teeth."
Luke let out a shaky breath and you realized he was crying. It wasn’t until a tear rolled down your cheek that you realized that you were too. You frantically wiped your eyes, doing your best not to break down.
Ray was exactly what you always pictured your dad used to be like, and his love for Julie was exactly the same kind you knew he would've had for you. Thinking about your dad made you think about your mom, and that made trying to stop crying a whole lot harder.
"Come on guys, not you too." Reggie said.
"It's just...he's talking about moving but the poor guy doesn't wanna move." Luke sniffled.
Ray stood up and took a picture of right where you were all standing. "It's like they grew up out here."
Reggie fanned his face. "Now he's got me too."
Alex scoffed. "Okay, how am I the emotional one?"
"Can we go see my family? See how they're doing?" Reggie asked, his voice shaking a little.
You nodded. “Yeah, listening to this doesn’t feel right.”
Just as you go to leave, Ray laughs. "Remember when the kids were at your sisters and we came out here on our anniversary..."
"Yeah, no! " Luke cringed. "Definitely wrong.”
-
The beach was where you spent a lot of your free time when you were alive.
Usually after a long day when you just needed a place to work on new lyrics in peace. But sometimes after playing all day at the pier, the boys would drag you down to the water and you would all stay there as long as possible. Away from parents and responsibilities.
But just like everything else, it had changed so much.
"A bike shack," Reggie sighed. "Right where my house used to be."
"I'm sorry, Reg." You rested your head on Reggie’s shoulder.
"Why couldn't they at least have turned it into something cool like a pizzeria or something?"
"They tore down the whole neighborhood." Alex said.
"I guess my folks are gone."
Alex kicked his foot into the sand. "Everyone's gone. Twenty-five years, gone. Friends, family, Bobby, everyone."
That was another person you hadn't wanted to let yourself think about. Even though you and Bobby weren't super close, he was still a part of Sunset Curve. He could be a little bit of an asshole sometimes but he was still your friend.
"Bobby, that's right." Reggie said. "Guess that vegetarian lucked out. Wonder what happened to him?"
"He probably just got old like everyone else and moved on." Luke grumbled.
"Dude, how are you so chill about all of this?”
“Yeah, don’t you want to figure out what happened?” You asked.
“Let’s be real for a second.” Luke exhaled, clearly getting worked up. “It’s not like any of us were close to our families. My parents always regretted buying me that guitar. Reggie, your parents were literally a fight away from divorce.” 
Luke ran a hand through his hair as he ranted, talking with his hands the way he always did when he was upset. “Alex, I- Your parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay.”
His eyes landed on you and he seemed to ease up a little. “(Y/n), you practically raised yourself since your mom was gone all the time.”
“Yeah, okay.” You said. “None of us had it great.”
“But at least we had something! What do we have now?” Alex shouted. “And before you say cool teleportation, I’m not cool with that either. It tingles. In weird places.”
Luke sprang to his feet. “I’ll tell you what he had. It’s what we’ve had since the day we came together. Guys, we have us. We’re the only family we’re ever gonna need. You wanna know what else we got?”
“I’m gonna guess death breath?” Reggie said.
“Our music, you dork.” Luke laughed. “People can hear us play again! They can’t see us, whatever, but they can feel us. I wish I had my guitar.”
Suddenly, the air around you made a sharp ‘whoosh’ sound and Luke’s six-string appeared in his hands.
“Whoa.” You said.
“How did you do that?” Reggie asked.
“I-I don’t know. I mean I wished for it and then...” Luke played a few chords and beamed.
Reggie jumped in place with his arms open, trying to wish for random things before he eventually gave up and slumped into the sand.
“I think I know what will cheer you up.” Luke said. He played the opening of ‘This Band Is Back’ and you couldn’t help but smile. Out of all the Sunset Curve songs, this was one of your favorites.
“Come on, Reginald.” Alex said as he started hitting his legs and chest to make a beat.
You offered Reggie your hand and pulled him up as Luke started the countdown. Reggie took it and twirled you around, effectively getting sand in your shoes. You laughed and spun him around before dragging him up to the tables in front of the restaurants as he sang.
The people around you seemed confused by the sudden music, but they danced around anyway. You forgot how much you loved seeing people react to your music. Watching them dance and smile made all your worries float away, even if it was just for now.
And for the first time since the Orpheum,
It really did feel like the band was back.
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August 1994
It was just after sunset when you called the Patterson house.
The sound of your mom slamming the front door was still fresh in your mind and before you could stop yourself, your fingers were flying across the buttons. Luke was the only person who knew about your relationship with your mom. 
You didn’t want to worry Cece, or Alex, or anyone else. But hiding things from Luke wasn’t easy, especially with how stubborn he was. So you told him everything, and he told you,
‘Call me next time, okay?’
The line only rang twice before someone picked up. “Hello?” 
It was Emily, Luke’s mom.
You took a deep breath, trying to keep from crying. “Hi, Mrs. Patterson.”
Emily laughed and you could practically hear her roll her eyes fondly. “(Y/n), sweetie, what did I tell you about calling me that?”
Even though you and Luke had been friends most of your lives, you had only met Emily a handful of times. Luke didn’t really like hanging out at his house, especially when he started fighting with them regularly. Still, Emily always treated you like her own kid whenever you were around.
“Sorry, Emily.” You said. “Is Luke around?”
You heard some shuffling as she called out for him and after a few minutes, Luke picked up the phone. “Hey.”
“Hi, are you busy?” 
“No, why?” He asked.
“Well, I made enough cookies to feed a small country and my mom’s gonna be gone for the night so I thought we could hang out.” You rambled. “Maybe finish ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark?”
Luke laughed excitedly. “Yeah, sure! Give me like 20 minutes.”
Luke’s laugh was so infectious that you had to fight through a giggle. “Okay, see you soon.”
As you went to hang up, you hear Emily’s voice again. She was teasing Luke about something but all you caught was the word ‘Girlfriend’, making you turn bright red.
You put the phone back on the hook just as the oven beeped to signal that it was ready to bake the cookies. You put them in the oven and turned your attention to the huge bowl of cake batter in front of you. At this point, there wasn’t anything left in the kitchen you hadn’t baked.
There was no way you would be able to eat all of it, even with Luke’s help. But you needed something to distract yourself to keep your mind from overloading.
True to his word, Luke arrived twenty minutes later, bursting through your front door and screaming the Indiana Jones theme song at the top of his lungs. He skipped his way into the kitchen, immediately sensing something was wrong when you didn’t join him or even acknowledge his presence. 
“(Y/n)?” Luke approached you slowly.
“Hey.” You tried to sound as casual as possible, not looking up from the bowl. “So, you ready to finally finish this movie?”
Luke didn’t say anything as he scanned the kitchen. There were piles of cookies and cooking utensils all over the counter, and you had flour in your hair. You could see the realization flash across his face through your eyelashes.
“Okay, you’re baking everything in the house, which can only mean one of two things,” Luke said, his voice becoming more serious as he jumped up on the counter. “You either watched Sixteen Candles unsupervised again or…”
You stayed quiet as you slowly stirred the batter. It was ready to put in the pan ten minutes ago but you needed something to do to distract yourself.
Luke’s hand gently gripped yours before taking the spoon from you and letting it fall into the bowl. You looked up at him to find him already staring at you with a furrowed brow.
Damn it.
You should’ve known he would see through your thinly veiled excuses and promise of cookies. Luke was more observant than people gave him credit for.
“C’mere,” Luke said, opening his arms. You moved between his legs and buried your head in his chest, covering his shirt in tears, flour, and batter. But he didn’t seem to mind as he rubbed circles into your arm with one hand while the other cradled your head.
“She hates me.” You said through a deep, shuddering breath.
“She doesn’t hate you,” Luke reasoned. “It’s impossible for anyone to hate you.”
One of the things you loved about Luke was his protective streak when it came to his friends, and the way that no matter what, he could only see the best in them.
And as his best friend, you were pretty much perfect in his eyes. Which meant that when you didn't immediately agree, Luke launched into a rant.
"First of all, you're like the smartest person in the world. You manage to get good grades while also working at the diner three days a week which is nuts.
Secondly, your voice is insane! And your lyrics, (Y/n), we wouldn't even have half the Sunset Curve songs without your killer songwriting skills!"
"You done, Lu?" You joked as you pulled away just enough to look up at him, trying not to blush. No matter how hard you tried to play it cool when he complimented you, it always made you melt inside.
"I'm just saying," Luke laughed softly. “You are literally the best person I know, Squeaks.”
You let out a watery laugh at the mention of your childhood nickname. It was one that Luke had given to you in 4th grade after he put a bug on your arm and you had squeaked in fear.
“And just think,” Luke whispered, his voice sounding a little wistful. “One day, we’ll get signed to a label and end up somewhere far away from here.”
“We barely started making our demo.” You said, making Luke scrunch his nose in the way that always made you giggle. "Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?"
“Nope.” He smirked. “Okay, I gotta ask, were you planning on baking this or is this a new look you’re going for? ‘Cause I gotta be honest, it’s not your best.” Luke said teasingly as he swiped some batter from your cheek.
“Oh, really?” You asked, dipping your finger in the bowl and smearing the batter across Luke’s face, making him gasp. Then you took a slight step back and hummed thoughtfully. “Definitely looks better on me.”
“You know what?” Luke scoffed, trying to hold back a smile and before you could blink, he reached into the bowl and flung the spoon at you, splattering your shirt. “I think you’re right.”
“Jerk!” You laughed, wiping off your shirt as Luke tried to lick the batter off his chin but he only managed to make an ever bigger mess.
“Did I get it?” He asked, making you giggle.
“Not quite.” You reached forward and carefully wiped it off, desperately trying to focus on anything other than how close your faces were. But it was impossible when you could feel Luke’s breath on the tip of your nose. “There.”
Luke’s face was unreadable as he looked down at you. The playfulness had evaporated in the air and was replaced with something else that you couldn’t really read either. Just when you thought the moment would last forever, the timer for the second batch of cookies rang through the kitchen, and you practically bolted to the oven.
You pulled them out and put them on a plate. “So, you know that we have to watch Sixteen Candles now, right?”
Luke groaned, pretending to be annoyed. Even though he would never admit it, you knew he secretly loved romance movies. “Fine, but Raiders of the Lost Ark after?”
“Deal.”
As Luke went into the living room to start the movie, you sighed to yourself. Maybe you would never have a normal relationship with your mom.
But you had your band, your friends, and even if it wasn’t exactly in the way you wanted; 
You had Luke.
-
In Life, In Death Taglist:
@ifilwtmfc @instabull @wanniiieeee @tenaciousperfectionunknown @nxacomposts @merceret @itismeasmolpotato @lilostif16
JATP Taglist:
@caitsymichelle13
Let me know if you wanted to be added!
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legolasghosty · 5 months
Note
Toy Store AU!
I AM SO SORRY ABOUT HOW LONG THIS TOOK! I blame college.
ANYWAYS...
This is more of a toy factory(but like the fun kind) than a store, but that's the vibes I'm feeling. The Molina family runs a toy business, making super cool stuff from scratch rather than all that cheap plastic stuff that gets mass produced. It's a Molina family tradition that Ray married into(Yes Molina is Rose's last name, you can pry that headcanon out of my cold, dead hands).
Rose was the master of all things woodwork, and passed on many of these skills to her daughter. Their house has always been filled with little carved animals, handmade dishes, and lovely woodburned signs on the bedroom doors. Ray was slightly terrified when Rose started teaching Julie to carve pretty young, but it was mostly without serious injury.
Ray is better at the stuffed side of the toy world. He and Rose met when he was an apprentice in the stuffy workshop and she was learning the ropes from her dad. They fell slow and steady (Rose's parents shipped it from the beginning), even when Ray took some time away to act as the tour photographer for his friend, Trevor. Rose and Trevor ended up being good friends as well when they finally met!
Back to the present, Julie has just come back from a year away at boarding school. It wasn't anyone's first choice, but after Rose died, trying to be around the toy store was just too much for her. Boarding school was Tia's idea, as a way to give her some space to find herself. It helped some, but Julie comes home for the summer sick of being the girl with the dead mom. It's still hard to enter the workshop space though, so she starts working at the shop part of the business instead.
Enter Flynn, who got the cashier job back in January. The two of them become fast friends, bonding over stupid Karens, after hours restocks, and helping kids find just the right new friend. Julie discovers a surprising link between them, that being that Flynn is dating Carrie, Trevor's daughter. Trevor and Carrie hadn't been around much since Rose passed, so Julie hadn't seen Carrie in ages, but they start to get to know each other again through Flynn. It's sweet!
Alex grew up near the factory and he and Julie were super good friends as kids. They still are. Ray and Rose took a liking to him as well. So when he showed up one night when he was 16, explaining that his parents had found out he was gay and made it clear that they wouldn't be paying for anything for him outside of the roof he was 'allowed' to share with them, they quickly got him a job. He floated through positions for a while, doing well in most areas but just trying to find something that he really loved. He's settled at the moment as a delivery driver for the store. He likes the freedom of it, and how concrete it is. He's the best driver they have.
Reggie and Luke are partway into their first year as workshop apprentices. Luke mostly applied to satisfy his mom, who was angry about him not going to college, but he has discovered the fun of music boxes and maybeeee is slightly obsessed. Reggie has ended up in Ray's old position as the stuffy apprentice with his knack for tidy stitches and adding a bit of love to every single one.
Luke ends up poking around a bit in a closet of older models and stuff and finds some of Rose's music boxes(one of which has Julie's voice on it). He loves it and immediately goes to ask his boss/mentor, John, about it. John explains about Rose and how they all thought that Julie would follow in her footsteps as a woodworker, as she was one of the most talented he'd ever seen at such a young age, but how she hadn't been able to keep creating after losing her mom.
Not realizing that Julie is back now, at least for the summer, Luke gets sad but lets it go. And then she walks in on him listening to the music box in the break room a few days later. She kinda flips cause where the heck did he get that, and he goes on his whole thing about talent and art being something you have to let out. Julie ends up bolting into the workshop to get away. Luke is like, "Frick I came on too strong again didn't I..."
But who should Julie run into other than Reggie and Alex, who were packing up an order near the back of the space. And Alex immediately realizes she's having an anxiety attack and sits her down. Reggie grabs a big teddy bear for her to hug, and then ends up pulling Luke away when he comes in after her. After Julie calms down with help from Alex, Luke apologizes and they all just kinda... keep talking after that. And eventually Julie starts doing woodwork stuff again. The first thing she actually finishes is decal for Alex's bass drum with the logo of the boys' band on it. They all cry.
Andddd why must these always get so long when I do them? /nm
Anyways, hope you like it!!!!
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The Games We Play
1. Good News, Ruined.
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Word Count: 7.8K+
Author’s Note: I had a flood of inbox requests surrounding Luke Patterson x Reader, enemies to lovers/fake dating/all the good stuff, and decided it was too good not to make something bigger. this chapter was sooo fun to write, and obviously with the whole thing being in an AU universe, I get to change a bunch of shit without consequence... So thank you for reading, I hope you love it, this is my nonsense.
Warning: none.
masterlist | taglist
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Parents tend to assume things of their children, the practise usually implemented by those who believe ignorance is bliss, especially when it’s easier to assume your kid is studying, or asleep in bed, or catching up on their reading list. Why worry about what your kids are up to after hours when you could share a bottle of wine and fall asleep on the living room sofa watching some shitty Hallmark movie? Enjoying the perfect ideal, even if it isn’t, in fact, real.
It was this sort of behaviour from the likes of Luke Patterson’s parents that led to him sneaking out pretty much every night of summer.
This was, of course, on top of lies about study groups and volunteering work and classical guitar lessons with his school teacher during the day, and it had been going on a lot longer than just the summer. But could anyone really blame the boy when he once again climbed out his bedroom window that last night of the summer, armed with his guitar on his back as he grabbed his bike and started off in the warm August air?
The soft breeze rushed through Luke’s hair and sent his flannel overshirt billowing behind him as he rode down his street, destined for the other side of town, to the other reality he had created without his parents’ knowledge, the world glowing under the last traces of another beautiful sunset. The reds and oranges gave way to tinges of green and the endless expanse of midnight blue the later hours welcomed, street lamps slowly flickering to life as shadows grew and Luke took a hard turn left onto an underpass, pedalling as fast as he could.
He was already late, he was usually late, but that night his mom and dad had demanded a family meal before he began his senior year, something about tradition or memory-making he had been too preoccupied to listen to. His year wasn’t going to be great because of family albums over his dad’s famous chili, though it was very good chili: no, his year was going to be great because of the people waiting for him at the end of his bike ride, and the news that waited with them.
Luke’s summer hadn’t been spent studying like he told his parents, and it hadn’t been spent the way many of his classmates enjoyed their time off school. Luke’s summer, and the majority of his Junior year before, had been spent in a garage in the LA suburbs, one that belonged to the Molinas. He had spent every spare moment there writing, practising, rehearsing, because Luke’s end goal in life was nothing like his parents had planned for him:
Luke was going to be a Rockstar, and the way to that wasn’t school. It was Julie and the Phantoms.
As he pulled up to the familiar residence about fifteen minutes later, legs aching from the high-speed ride over, Luke couldn’t help but smile. Ray and Carlos were out on the porch playing a game of cards under string lights, and it looked like Mr Molina was losing quite spectacularly to his ten-year old son.
“Hi Mr Molina!” Luke called with a wave, distracting Ray for long enough that Carlos managed to sneak a peak at his dad’s hand and plan accordingly.
“Luke, it’s Ray. Please.” Ray corrected, for the one hundredth time, but Luke was a polite kid, and while he wasn’t one for following his own parents’ rules, he was too respectful to ever start his friend’s dad by his first name. “Everyone’s in the garage, they’re waiting for you before they check the website.” Ray called over, and Luke nodded with a bright smile, waving a hurried hello and goodbye to Carlos before rushing towards the garage at the far side of the house, pulling off the straps of his guitar case and bringing it to his front.
The front pocket was stuffed full of scraps of paper, possible lyrics for new band music, which was required since they had managed to get on the YouTube trending page a few months before, and had begun playing the LA music circuit with high levels of success. The band had only been formed, properly at least, for the last year, and their sudden success was calling for them to be scooped up by a record label any day now.
That’s what the team were congregating for that night, Luke entering the converted garage, their studio, to find his bandmates huddled on the couch with their closest friends. In the couch’s centre was Reggie, Julie and Alex: to the blonde’s right was his boyfriend Willie, to Reggie’s right was his girlfriend Kayla, and Flynn paced on the other side of the coffee table, only coming to a halt as six pairs of eyes came up to find Luke fixing his hair from its windswept state after biking across the city.
“Where the Hell have you been?!” Flynn exclaimed, wide eyed and all gestures. She was a Junior like Julie, and perhaps the band’s number one fan: it made sense, she was kind of their manager. “The site is going live any minute now, and we’ve been waiting almost an hour for you to show up!” She hollered, Luke coming forward and placing a hand on her shoulder, the younger girl scowling at him as he did, but she stopped talking, allowing the boy a word in.
“My parents wanted a family meal, I got here as soon as I could.” He explained to the anxious faces, his eyes travelling down to the laptop sat on the coffee table that they all seemed rather focused on. “Is this it?” He asked, and Julie quickly nodded, turning the laptop, displaying a countdown on a website, to face Luke.
48 seconds… He had arrived in the nick of time.
“Will you read it first?” Julie asked in a quiet voice, Flynn taking the girl’s space on the couch behind her, squishing herself between Reggie and Alex. “You take bad news best…” It wasn’t actually true, but it seemed like Luke had been nominated for the task of finding out whether they had hit the jackpot, and looking at his friends’ all tucked onto the three-seater couch, Luke couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
“Alright.” He said with a curt nod, taking a seat at the opposite side of the coffee table as Julie sat herself back down, now on Flynn’s lap as the two girls hugged onto one another in fear.
23 seconds…
“This could be it…” Reggie muttered; his hand interlocked with Kayla’s. She and Willie had come along as emotional support for their boyfriends, and it was a good call: Alex was as pale as a sheet, and Reggie looked like he might vomit. “Imagine… If we’re in this competition, if we qualify… Guys, we could be signing with Fall Down.” He continued, the seconds ticking away as a silence filled the air after the bassist’s words. He was right, sure, but it was too hopeful.
The competition was country-wide, and thousands of bands had sent in their entries. It was quite literally a one in a 100,000 chance they would make it, that they would be one of the twenty bands picked for the competition.
After all, the tagline was quick to remind that ‘only the best’ would get into the Fall Down Records’ Battle of the Bands.
“3… 2…” Luke counted down, and as countdown finally hit zero, Luke refreshed the page.
Instead of the list Luke and his friends had expected to appear, instead he was greeted by a video, and the boy quickly pressed play, turning up the volume to let it play around the room.
“A very big hello from Fall Down HQ in Los Angeles!” The laptop spoke, and Luke looked up at six confused faces, quickly adjusting the laptop and sitting himself on the table so he could watch along with his friends. “I’m Trevor Wilson, and I’ve been given the honour of sharing the Fall Down Records’ Battle of the Bands line-up with all of you, across the world. But first, a quick reminder of the rules.
“This competition looks for the very best young artists in the US, the twenty top finalists getting a chance to join in our televised six-week competition. Each week our contestants are given a new theme to perform for, and each week three bands are eliminated by judges’ and audience vote, until the Final Four Battle it out for glory.” The video explained, but this wasn’t new information to the seen friends watching with desperate hope. “And the grand prize? The victorious band will be leaving with not only a multi-album record deal with Fall Down Records, but their very own World Tour and $1 million for each band member! I cannot make this up, and I can’t stress more when I say that the band winning this competition are going to be changing the history of music, with Fall Down Records and me, Trevor Wilson, by their side.
“Now, enough of me talking. Let’s get to what you’re all here for, the big announcement. Thanks to everyone who submitted their auditions, don’t give up hope on just yet… But viewers, I give you your top 20.” The video disappeared, the website suddenly coming to life with the full list of finalists, and Luke jumped into action to begin scrolling down as everyone leaned forward, instinctively, Luke’s finger moving as fast as it could past other acts.
Finalists came from all across the country, from all music genres: they scrolled past Idols, a country trio from Nashville; Rallico, an R&B group from New York; Everest, the folk-pop band from Montana. Luke’s finger continued to scroll, through videos and bios on each of the bands, and he counted as he went through to himself. 11, 12, 13…
“STOP!” Kayla shrieked suddenly, Luke moving his hand from the mousepad in surprise, his eyes finally focusing on the screen, the haze of scrolling quickly subsiding. He had to blink once, then twice, just to be sure, glancing back at the shocked faces of his friends beside him, making sure they were all seeing the same thing.
NUMBER 15: JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS. FROM LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.
“Oh my God…” Alex breathed out, the first to speak as he clutched onto Willie’s hand, and one by one, the faces on the couch went from looks of worry to ones of ecstatic joy.
“Oh my God!” Julie yelped, jumping off of Flynn’s lap and flapping her hands, unsure what to do for a moment, but Reggie quickly stood up as well, and the pair embraced in a tight hug. It took a few moments for the rest of the room to process, but the moment everyone had…
Carlos and Ray heard the screaming from their cosy spot at the front of the house, whooping and yells of triumph echoing across the cul-de-sac as the kids celebrated their achievement.
The hugs and bouncing and complete inability to stay still probably lasted a solid seven minutes, and by the time Luke was coming down from the high of the news, Julie was disappearing round the corner to tell her dad and brother, Reggie was spinning Kayla in his arms, and Alex had found himself in a rather heated kiss with Willie. His eyes went back to the laptop, and he removed himself from a hug with Flynn to sit back on the couch, scrolling back up to the top of the finalist website page.
“What are you doing man?” Reggie asked, Kayla jumping off his back and taking the bassist’s hand as they walked over to Luke, the boy pressing play on the first of 19 videos, the audition tapes of the other competitors.
“We’re up against all these other groups, the competition starts in a few days… I want to see what we’re up against.” Luke explained, the words pulling Alex and Willie over to the laptop too. The five pressed play on the first video, Luke leaning over and turning the volume up as high as it would go as the first band’s music began to play. “Willie, can you go get Julie?” The raven-haired boy nodded, squeezing Alex’s hand one last time in celebration before rushing towards the Molina residence to collect Julie and Flynn.
“I can’t believe we actually managed this…” Alex scoffed in disbelief, running a hand through his hair and glancing over at his friends with the brightest of smiles. To think, the three had met at the age of 10, that all those days of mindless rehearsal led them to Julie, which led them to this?
“You guys deserve it.” Kayla commented with a smile, glancing down at her watch with a frown. “Shit, I forgot about curfew…” She muttered, pressing a kiss to Reggie’s cheek. “I need to get home; I’ll give Willie a lift too. See you tomorrow babe?” She asked Reggie, who nodded fast as Willie came back with Julie and Flynn. “Curfew, Skater Boy.” She reminded Willie; whose eyes widened before muttering a soft curse to himself.
“Right.” He sighed, waving a quick goodbye to his boyfriend and friends before slipping out the door with Kayla. Flynn watched them go, giving Julie and quick hug.
“This seems to be a band member meeting now, and I need a ride. See you tomorrow, alright?” Flynn asked, and Julie nodded, the pair sharing another hug before Flynn too disappeared through the garage doors, leaving the band to themselves.
There was a comfortable silence, as they all looked at one another, as they all came to terms with the sheer insanity of what was happening. Out of thousands upon thousands… Out of millions of applicants, Julie and her Phantoms had managed to snag a spot in the country’s biggest competition, managed to get themselves a chance at a record deal, at a world tour, at millions of dollars…
“So,” Julie said with a grin at her three best friends on the couch, the boys looking to her for their next move. “These other contestants…” She made her way over to the couch, sitting herself between Luke and Alex quite comfortably and taking charge of the laptop from Luke, who was happy to hand over control. “Why don’t we break this down?”
“Well,” Alex spoke up as he peered over Julie’s shoulder, the girl clicking on the second contestants’ audition tape, the sound of soft banjo filling the air. “If we want to win… We need to be looking for the biggest threat across the board, not just in one category.” He said, his friends looking over in slight surprise. It was undoubtable that of the guys, Alex was the smart one, but his smarts weren’t something he used very often to begin with. He coughed and ran a hand through his hair, sitting up a little straighter. “I just mean, the competition is a new theme every week, right? Well, we’re a band with a pretty wide range. I mean, Reggie with his banjo is just a start.” The blonde gestured across the couch, the compliment causing his friend to grin and wave. “If we’re optimistic here, planning the hypothetical that we make it past week one-”
“The band that’s going to be the hardest to beat is the one with range, like us.” Luke finished for his friend, clicking onto contestant number 3, the audition tapes only 90 seconds long, and gesturing to Reggie. “Get a pen and paper, we need to start writing notes.” He decided, and Reggie pouted.
“Why do I have to do it?” He asked, and Julie let out a laugh.
“Luke taking notes would be a waste of time, his handwriting is worse than a doctor’s, and Alex and I have thinking to do.” She explained simply, but it was enough for Reggie to grumble his way over to a dresser on the far side of the room they kept stocked with stationery in case inspiration struck, coming back over and sitting on the ground, getting into position to write.
“Back to contestant 1.” Julie instructed, the four beginning their first bout of research.
--
It was well after midnight when the band were only just reaching the end of their list. Alex was pacing as he listened to the audition tapes of their competitors over and over again, Luke and Julie both huddled over the laptop as Reggie jotted down notes.
They all should have gone to bed over an hour ago, what with their first day of school that morning, the last first day of school for the guys, but there was too much excitement, too much energy buzzing through them, and this research was the best way to channel it.
Where other subjects were not their strongest suit, everyone of the kids in that room excelled at music: not just playing it, but understanding it. This was a competition, and from what extensive knowledge they shared on Fall Down Records, this was not about looking for one-hit wonders or kids with untapped potential. It was about finding stars already in the making and pushing them forward.
This was good news for the four kids, and bad news for some of their opposition. It became clear in the first half of the tapes who was and who was not going to last long in the competition, a clear divide that didn’t seem like it would change any time soon. Alex was walking around the room that night trying to figure out just who would be going home in the weeks to come, and where Julie and the Phantoms would fall into the grand scheme of things.
“Final video.” Julie announced, the blonde looking over and deciding it would be best to sit himself down, at least for the watch through. Reggie too seemed intrigued as to who their last challenger would be. As Julie clicked her way onto the video, she was confused for a moment when presented with a black screen, wondering if she had accidentally turned her computer off.
Suddenly, a noise, unlike any Luke or Julie or the guys had heard in the last few hours of investigation. Accompanied by bongo drums and maracas, they were all expecting some sort of island breeze music, quite honestly, and Luke was about to pause and check the band’s name once more when the odd noise was suddenly replaced by a much more familiar one: an electric guitar coming in with the drums. An image finally flickered to screen, unlike the other videos of live performances across the country or awkward homemade recording sessions, this band had opted for an old, grainy video quality, a sepia coloured moving picture of hands beginning to play along on the guitar.
“All that I want is to wake up fine. Tell me that I’m alright, that I ain’t gonna die. And all that I want is a hole in the ground, you can tell me when it’s alright for me to come out.” The first few seconds were enough to leave jaws hanging, and though he would later deny it, Luke’s was on the floor.
The sound was so different, such a bizarre mix of percussion and pop and rock, with such a happy sound despite the bleak lyrics. It was impressive, to say the least, and suddenly the picture before them flashed away to reveal the band on a white stage, all dressed in block colours, and Luke scanned over the set up: they had a guy on drums who was dressed from head to toe in blue; a girl in all green on a beatmaker surrounded by the odd percussion they had heard at the song’s beginning, the funny noise revealed to be a marimba; the second guy was on guitar, though it wasn’t quite clear if he was lead or rhythm, and adorned in orange; and then finally…
“Hard Times.” The three other bands members sang, introducing the chorus for their front woman.
“Gonna make you wonder why you even try. Hard times, gonna take you down and laugh when you cry. These lives, and I still don’t know how I even survive. Hard Times, hard times.” She sang in a vision of block colour red, in a short tennis skirt and crop top beneath an oversized blazer, a pair of opaque red cat-eye sunglasses perched on the edge of her nose. The hands from the opening shots of the guitar playing had been her, the instrument a bright red that matched the outfit she wore, and Luke quickly realised that everybody’s instruments matched their clothing colour.
“Marimba…” Luke heard Reggie mutter under the music, only for them to be silenced by the chorus’ final line.
“And I gotta get to rock bottom!” The distortion on her voice as she half sang, half yelled the line was jarring and enchanting and Luke had to let out a bated breath as she continued, lifting the mic off its stand and walking to the boy in orange, passing the guitar duties over to him as she began to sing again, the camera focusing in on the girl in green’s ability on the beatmaker, her fingers dancing over the buttons as they brought in the bridge.
“Tell my friends I’m coming down. We’ll kick it when I hit the ground.” Another drastic change to this soft head voice, paired with the instrumental making it feel like, for a moment, they had all been sucked into a dream. “Tell my friends I’m coming down. We’ll kick it when I hit the ground… When I hit the ground. When I hit the ground. When I hit the ground.” The final note hung for a moment in the air, everything else going silent to let it resonate as the singer hung onto the boy in orange by the shoulder, her hand rising up to pinch his cheek before the final chorus hit.
“Hard Times.”
“Gonna make you wonder why you even try. Hard times, gonna take you down and laugh when you cry. These lives, and I still don’t know how I even survive hard times. Hard times.” The whole band sang the final chorus, their front woman spinning across the stage and singing in harmony with the girl in green, red’s voice riffing on the last notes as the beatmaker brought the snippet of music brought to a close, the screen going black as the music continued to came to a halt. “And I gotta get to rock bottom!”
And there it was… Their main competition.
Luke couldn’t drag his eyes away from the black screen, still trying to get over what he had just heard: while he was more partial to the music he made with his own band, there was undeniable star power in just that song, and four talented musicians to accompany it… Not to mention their lead singer.
He didn’t think he’d go into the contest attracted to a rival band member.
“They used… A marimba?! A marimba…” Reggie exclaimed finally, the first to talk, or rather yell, the leather jacket-clad boy jumping from his seat with his arms stretched in front of him in exasperation. The majority of their night had provided information on bands that gave them a challenge for first place, but confidence they might just grab it. And now? Now they had more than competition, but a threat to the biggest break of their lives.
“Electra Heart…” Alex read the band name out loud, frowning a little as he said it, something about the words seeming familiar. “I feel like I’ve heard of these guys before.”
“Maybe because they’re from California as well?” Julie suggested, pointing to the end of their title card as Contestant 20, stating the band were from San Diego, just two hours away from where they all sat.
“Watch out.” Reggie muttered, turning to face his friends once more and waving a hand at Luke. “Patterson’s smitten.” He muttered, the words knocking a frown on Luke’s face as he straightened up and closed over the laptop, putting the voice of the mystery girl to the back of his mind.
“First off, I’m not. And second? This is a good thing!” Luke exclaimed, though it was clear to everyone he was changing the subject. “The contest starts in two weeks, and we have the upper hand. We submitted Bright as our audition song, and it’s great, but that wasn’t even our best performance of it! We literally ran out of time to submit something better!” He reminded them all, drawing their minds back to the start of the summer. They had done their very best to piece together the audition tape, but Julie had suddenly gotten sick and they lost a week or so of their schedule. They ended up submitting a draft version, and still got in. “That is probably their top tier, and we know we can match and beat that! Right now, they’ll think they have this in the bag, when they don’t.” He got to his feet, walking over and hooking an arm around Reggie’s neck. “We’re going into this prepared, and ready to blow the show’s socks off, yeah?”
“Yeah!” His bandmates chorused, Julie standing up and prompting Alex to do the same, the four congregating in the centre of the studio. She was the first to hold out her hand.
“Legends on three.” She called; smiles shared amongst the band.
“One.” Reggie went first.
“Two.” Alex next.
“Three.” Luke finished, four hands stacked atop each other, four teammates ready to try and take on the impossible.
--
Sleep didn’t come to Luke that night.
He opted to cycle home despite the late hour, and clambered into bed at around 3 am while Reggie opted to stay overnight in the studio, too lazy to take himself home, not that it was an uncommon occurrence. Since Alex has started living with the Molinas, Luke and Reggie found themselves crashing more and more often.
But Luke cycled home anyway, mainly because he wanted the chance to think in private, to be alone as he planned their success now the competition slot was confirmed. It was the opportunity of their lifetime: he wasn’t going to give it up without a fight. No matter how beautiful the lead singer of Electra Heart was.
She weighed on his mind from the moment he saw her well past sunrise, and as the light flooded in through Luke’s curtains with the boy getting no sleep, he opted for a shower before his parents got up for work, and hopefully getting to avoid talking with them as much as possible until Kayla came by to pick him up, always with Julie, Alex and Reggie in tow.
That was another thing: how would he be suddenly breaking the news of his rock band on global television to his parents, who have yet to find out how he really spends his free time?
As he stood under the hot water that morning, washing away the adrenaline and sweat from the night before, he couldn’t help but hum the girl’s song: why was it so catchy? He tried to rinse it away with his fatigue and the aches in his legs from the biking to and from Julie’s, but it wasn’t budging, and neither was her face. In an act of defeat, Luke clambered out the showered, and shoved his earbuds in as he dried himself off and got dressed for the day, drowning out her voice in his head with the loudest music his phone had available.
As Luke continued about his morning, shuffling around the house as he sorted his laundry for the week and got his bag ready for classes, it was only once his dad yanked on of the earphones out of his ear that Luke figured he might have had the music too loud.
“Lucas, you play that music any louder you’ll be deaf by year’s end.” His father muttered, gesturing for his son to take a seat at the table. Luke glanced at the clock: it would be another twenty minutes before Kayla showed up in the car, and he decided it wasn’t the morning to start an argument.
“What’s up?” He asked, reaching over and grabbing an apple as his father sighed across the table, cradling a cup of coffee in his hands. Luke took a bite, the flavour and scent filling his senses, only for that damned ear-worm to return.
“Luke, your mother and I are worried…” His dad began, and Luke frowned. It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, it wouldn’t be the last. His parents had been set on sending him to college, or some sort of naval academy by Christmas, and Luke had continued to adamantly refuse. His grades were still doing well, perhaps thanks to the amount he copied off of Alex, and with his plan being the band anyway, it’s not like he needed school that badly anyway. “We want you to explore your options, to at least give some thought to your future.” His dad continued, and Luke took another bite of his apple, the song rattling in his head.
“I’m just fine.” Luke assured with an insincere smile, getting up from the table and heading back towards his room to grab his school bag. Perhaps he would just walk further down the road, get picked up on the Main Street.
“Son, come on now.” His father was a quiet, stern man, so while the words alone would have been a plea, the tone twisted them to an order, and Luke stopped just before his bedroom. “There’s an open day in a few weeks, all we ask is you go to it. No commitment, just attendance.” He continued, and Luke glanced back, shrugging.
“If you’ll get off my back about it then yeah.” He conceded with a roll of his eyes, quickly opening his room door and slamming it shut behind him, ending the conversation before his father ventured into small talk.
He waited in there, picking at his apple as he hummed the song from the night before, until a horn sounded outside, Luke then scooping up his school bag and rushing out the house as fast as he could, shouting a quick ‘goodbye’ as he slipped round the front door and closed it firmly, letting out a heavy breath.
He took a moment to compose himself before starting a light jog down his front lawn’s pathway to the car waiting at the bottom of the drive, chock full of his friends. Reggie was driving, Kayla and Julie sat tucked together on the front bench of the old vintage, while the back seat of the convertible was occupied by Alex, Flynn and Nick, who waved Luke over to the space free beside him.
“You know Kayla, the more people we pack in this car, the more likely it is your dad takes his car back.” Luke commented as he jumped into his tight spot in the back, sharing a fist bump with Nick as Reggie sped off in the direction of school.
“My dad gave up rights to this car the moment I started filling the tank, Patterson.” Kayla called back, Luke smiling and letting his head loll back as they raced along the back streets towards school. He could say he never felt more at home than with his friends, in moments like this.
“Like, shit, I forgot to congratulate you.” Nick called over the chatter in the car, garnering his friend’s attention with a dimples smile and tousled hair from the wind. Despite only the year separating them, Luke thought of Nick as a little brother, and the comment made him grin and pat Nick’s shoulder.
“Congratulate me when we win Battle of the Bands.” Luke corrected, leaning closer to make sure the front seat didn’t hear his next words. “And I’ll congratulate you once you finally ask out Julie, alright?” He posed the offer, Nick’s cheeks turning bright red. Luke chuckled it away, sharing a glance with Apex from across the backseat.
When they all got thrown into the same music class three years ago, it was pretty clear to Alex and Luke that Nick likes Julie, and vice versa. They had been trying to set the pair up ever since, with minimal levels of success. But with the impossible seeming to occur everyday now, who knew what might happen?
Reggie sped through a stop sign and near drifted round the corner into the parking lot, sending everyone in the car but Kayla grabbing for stability, whether it were the dashboard of the door or the back of seats, but they didn’t hit anything, and Reggie pulled into the assigned parking space the car had kept for the last year or so, right in front of the school quad.
“I can’t believe it’s the first day of our last year…” Alex remarked as everyone gathered their things and clambered out the car. They had become a collective over the past few years, a friendship group not easily frayed or broken, and as they walked in almost a clump across the school lawn, with Julie in the lead, it was quite difficult to not notice the rest of the school’s eyes resting on them.
Word must have gotten out about their good luck.
“What are you guys going to do without us when we’re gone?” Reggie asked with a grin, his arm sling over his girlfriend’s shoulder as the pair sauntered in the group’s centre, and Flynn turned back from her place beside Julie.
“Maybe get some school work done for once.” She clapped back, earning a chorus of chuckles and tones of agreement from amongst the group.
Luke was hanging back in the rear, taking a moment just to observe his friends, a habit he had gotten into over the summer: this was the last year they would, theoretically, all be together, and Luke had no intention of wasting any of his time with them.
“Hey, uh, Luke!” A voice interrupted his thoughts, the brown-haired boy spinning on the spot to come face to face with one of his classmates. She wasn’t someone he knew very well, granted, but he still smiled and took a step towards her, laying down the infamous charm.
“What can I do you for?” He asked with a dopey grin, which later turned to a smirk when she blushed profusely at his words.
“I was just… uh… Congratulations! On the contest, everyone’s talking about it.” She paused, rummaging in her bag and pulling out a slip of paper, Luke pulling a hand out of his pocket to accept the offering. “If you ever, I don’t know, if you’re ever free and wanna go out for a coffee or something…” She trailed off, and Luke examines the name and phone number.
“Well, Sara,” He read her name out, looking up at her as he spoke. “I’ll send you a text, maybe?” He suggested, taking a few steps back when he heard the sound of Julie shouting his name.
“Uh, yeah! Cool! See you around!” Sara beamed, waving him off as Luke turned to catch up with his friends, the interaction boosting his ego a little more as he went into day.
In fact, by the time lunch had come around, Luke’s day had been rather jammed packed with words of praise and offers of phone numbers, and it seems like his band mates had been experiencing the same thing. When Luke arrived at lunch after a gruelling lesson with Mr Norbert, glad that the rest of his day would consist solely of music, he found his friends at their preferred lunch table, each with a collection of notes falling from their pockets.
“Am… Do I need to act more gay? I thought people knew I was gay.” As Luke sat down, Alex asked the question to the table, Willie’s hand rubbing his boyfriend’s shoulders.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked as he set down his tray and took a bite of his sandwich.
“Four girls… Four girls have tried to ask me out today! And I mean, how am I supposed to respond to that? Did they not know I was gay in the first place?” He questioned again, head frantically searching for an answer as the boy’s anxiety began to build, only to be wheeled by Willie’s lip pressing to Alex’s cheek.
“Join the club, guys.” Carrie spoke up from the end of the table, a vision in pink as she and Julie shared notes from a previous class. “I’ve literally been receiving Instagram DMs for years, all the Dirty Candi girls have. The amount of guys that think they can ‘make you straight’.” The girl involuntarily shivered and let out a sigh. “This is just the beginning for you four. The amount of fan mail thanks to the competition will be huge.”
The Dirty Candi girls had been a group as long as Julie and the Phantoms has, but their music was so different there was no need for competition. They all just sort of became friends instead, and when it became clear the girls wouldn’t be allowed to audition for the Battle of the Bands because of Carrie’s dad’s position at Fall Down Records, there was a mixture of sadness and relief. No hard feelings were had, and no hard feelings would happen, because the last thing the friends wanted was to be compared with one another. They were all talented.
Plus, Dirty Candi performed on Ellen, so if anything they were currently the more well-known.
“In other news.” Flynn spoke up, pulling her eyes away from her phone to address the group. “There’s a new transfer student.” She announced, and glanced over at the clock on the far side of the cafeteria. “We should all be meeting them in about half an hour.” She said decidedly.
“How do you know?” Reggie asked with a mouth full of pasta. He had a semi-circle of clutter around him as he tried to eat and copy homework all at the same time, the boy quite aware of how lucky he was to have better-prepared friends than him.
“Mrs Harrison was our free period supervisor this morning. She got a call, disappeared from class and didn’t come back for twenty minutes.” Nick spoke up on Flynn’s behalf, the girl turned back to her phone to feverishly type away at the screen. “Mrs H has to welcome all the new music students.” He added quickly, glancing across the table as Julie nodded in agreement.
“They’re a senior, or we would have seen them in classes this morning.” The band’s lead singer stacked on top of the Juniors’ theory, and Carrie quickly got her attention back to point out a mistake she had made on the maths coursework.
“New students come in every year.” Luke remarked, brushing off the fascination with a wave of his hand. “Maybe we should talk a bit more about, oh you know, the fact that we’re going to be playing to millions of people on a televised game show in a fortnight!” Luke exclaimed, earning grins from around the table as they all got that hit of realisation again. It had felt like a dream the night before.
“Well, I don’t wanna spill secrets…” Carrie started, all eyes quickly on her. “But with dad hosting the show, there are some responsibilities the Wilson family are taking on… Like an acoustic jam session for the competing bands to meet each other.” She revealed with a squeak, taking a hold of Julie’s arm with excitement. “And don’t even get me started on the Halloween bash the Record Label will be holding…” She added, and Kayla hit Carrie’s arm playfully.
“You keep this up and you’ll rig the competition, C.” Kayla reminded with a meaningful smile, and the pink-themed girl rolled her eyes, but fell quiet nonetheless.
The conversation steered away from the competition for the rest of the lunch period, the friends slowly beginning the walk to music as eyes watched them pass. It wasn’t something any of them acknowledged, well, apart from Carrie on occasion, but they were the popular kids.
It was a mixture of charm, friendliness and musical success, but they had become the ‘it’ kids of Los Feliz High. None of them particularly disliked the role they had been prescribed either: the more people they knew, the more people would hear their music, the more people they could share their passion with. And it was nice, too, sitting at the top of the food chain. They had all been at the bottom at some point in time, and knowing their influence on their peers was a positive gave them all a little bit of pride.
“Quickly, quickly!” Mrs H called from the doorway down the hall, ushering the group to hurry toward the classroom, Julie and Luke in the lead as the nine kids shuffled through the door of the band room, Mrs H closing the door behind them. Their teacher quickly checked through the window to make sure no-one was on approach.
“Mrs H, is everything ok?” Julie asked, taking a step forward, and their teacher nodded quickly.
“I have a favour to ask. We’ve got a new student joining. I didn’t want to ask with other kids listening in but.” Mrs H paused, and relief flossed the faces of her students. There wasn’t any danger, just a request they usually got. “Could you make her feel at home? I. She’s been admitted to the program without an audition, I have no clue of her ability. I just don’t want her being overwhelmed, turned away again.”
“Anything for you, Mrs Harrison.” Luke chipped in, their teacher smiling and letting out a breath.
“Thank you… Right, get yourselves seated, we can have a chat more about this competition during second period, I’ll go fetch her from the office.” Mrs H explained, rushing out the door as their classmates filed in, the room becoming a hub of activity rather quickly as kids picked up their instruments and began tuning.
“How does someone get into the music program without auditioning?” Reggie asked, though there was no malice, just naïve curiosity. Unfortunately, his friends didn’t know how to answer him. It was a question they all had on their minds as they got themselves comfy in the room’s far corner, Luke collecting his guitar and Reggie’s bass from one of the storage cupboards, the pair nodding Julie over to the piano to help them tune the guitars.
It was Julie sat herself down at the grand piano that the door suddenly swung open, Principal Brown coming into the room in a dazzling magenta pantsuit.
“Good afternoon students.” She greeted, receiving a chorus of ‘good afternoon Principal’ back. “As some of you already know, we have a new transfer student joining us for her senior year, and she will be studying alongside you all part-time at the school’s music program.” The principal prefaced, quickly gesturing outside the door for Mrs Harrison to enter along side their new classmate.
“Is that…” Julie whispered, receiving a nod from Reggie and Luke.
The girl from the video last night, the front woman for Electra Heart, stood in their music classroom’s doorway, dressed like a model off a runway, a cigarette perched behind one ear. She was wearing a pair of red plaid trousers, paired with black heels and a corset style crop top, an oversized jean jacket thrown on top, all matched to a pair of sunglasses perched on the end of her nose. Her hair was in a bun, showing off the cigarette behind her ear and a collection of piercing along the earlobe. Her nails were all painted the same colour of red as her trousers, which matched the colour on her lips, which matched the outer corners of her eyeshadow.
“Perhaps you can introduce yourself?” Principal Brown asked, she too noticing the cigarette and plucking it from the girl’s ear, throwing it in the nearby trash can. The girl seemed unfazed by her actions, eyes scanning over the room until they landed on the piano, and the band members stood around it.
Luke couldn’t help but stare back, trying his best to keep his jaw from going slack. How was she here? How did she look better in person? And why in the name of God was Luke overcome with a sense of nostalgia as they looked each other over. There was something other worldly about her, something that made Luke feel like he was younger again. It was the eyes, that raked over his body as she smirked, eyes Luke had known to be timid and frantic when they were kids…
It suddenly click in his head.
“Class.” Mrs Harrison decided to speak for the student. “The is Y/N Y/L/N.”
“No fucking way…” Alex muttered standing up from the back of the class, causing confusion amongst his and Luke’s friends. The rest of them seemed to be missing something important, but were yet to figure out what.
“Y/N, why don’t you find yourself a seat?” Mrs H suggested, Principal Brown taking her leave as Y/N sauntered towards the far corner of the classroom, not pausing for even a second as she sat herself on Luke’s chair, arms folding over her chest as Luke’s gaze on her turned from one of surprise to one of raw, unfiltered annoyance, something Julie would later describe as ‘the angriest she’s ever seen’ her friend.
The pair stared each other down for a moment, Y/N the first to move and reach out an arm, taking Alex’s nearby hand in hers as he stayed standing, shocked by the revelation.
“Seven years is a long time, isn’t it?” Her voice was smooth, trained, like molasses dripping down. It stuck in Luke’s head, the words taking hold over his brain just like her song had earlier that day. Alex pulled the girl to her feet suddenly, the pair embracing in a tight hug, staying like that for a moment as the class watched on, as their friends watched on.
When they finally pulled apart, the girl turned her attention to the frowning Luke, whose knuckles were clenched so firmly that the skin was as white as bone.
It couldn’t be. How was she here? It had to be some kind of joke.
But her eyes were the same, her smirk so familiar, and the deal was sealed when she sat herself back down and crossed one leg over another, in his chair, sending a wink his way that was anything but playful.
“Well, hello there, Skywalker.”
He had always hated that nickname...
--
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innytoes · 2 years
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So @hawkguyhasstarbucks had this amazing idea of an AU where Reggie ends up as a Big Brother for Carlos and I love it so much.
Like, Reggie probably fled his parents house as soon as possible, and he’s not welcome back after he stood up to them about not fighting in front of Steve, so he misses Steve like crazy. So he signs up for the Big Brother program.
Insert Alex being like: Really, Reg? I had to butter your head when you got it stuck between the bars of the fence at the animal shelter because you wanted to say hi to the dogs. How are you going to be a good example for The Youths.
And Reggie is like: that was like six months ago, dude, I’m 18 now, I’m a mature and responsible adult.
(Alex: okay)
Carlos was probably signed up for the program by Tía Victoria, because she knows Ray has been taking extra jobs wherever he can (to pay off the crippling medical debt from Rose’s cancer because America is horrible), and Julie’s in her senior year and needs to study, and she worries about Carlos. And Carlos was kind of meh about it, until he meets Reggie, who is Cool and has a leather jacket and plays in a band and likes ghost hunting shows and is just super enthusiastic about whatever Carlos wants to talk about.
So they hang out, and talk about if Bigfoot is real, and Reggie lets Carlos come to a band rehearsal, and he starts showing up at Carlos’ baseball games, even the out of town ones. Sometimes he drags along some of the other guys as well, even if they don’t care about sports at all, and Bobby spends most of his time trying to explain what the hell is going on to Alex, who refuses to remember for next time. (Alex does like to heckle both the refs and the over-invested angry sports parents under his breath, though.)
Reggie makes sure to stay away from Ray and Victoria, because he’s kind of scared of them. But of course they notice the boy at the other side of the stands whooping whenever Carlos does something, and of course Victoria knows who he is anyway because she would never ever let Carlos hang out with some boy she hasn’t thoroughly vetted.
And slowly, Carlos starts opening up to Reggie about stuff other than video games and cryptids. He talks about his mom’s death, and how his sister lost music, which is why he likes coming to band practice so much, and how he’s worried about his dad taking on way too much, and how there’s these guys at his school who keep bullying him.
And Reggie is like: I can fix none of those things but I am here to listen to you and also we’re going to go to Luke so he can teach you how to throw a proper punch. And he and Luke spend an afternoon teaching Carlos how to defend himself and Reggie gives him this big lecture about how this is ONLY for self defense and if he hears Carlos used this for any other reason he is never buying him ice cream again and he will be Very Disappointed and at the end of it even Luke looks vaguely guilty, A+ Big Brothering Reggie.
So of course it ends badly when Carlos sends him a desperate text that he’s in the principal’s office for punching another student and to please come get him before his dad shows up. And Reggie of course drops everything (probably in the middle of rehearsal, and Luke is about to be pissy until Reggie shows him the text and then instead he gets Alex to drive them to the school because Alex drives like a maniac).
Reggie gets there before Ray and everyone is like: um excuse me sir you are not on the emergency list for Carlos Molina of course you can’t take him with you no he doesn’t have a big brother oh you mean like with Capitals. And Reggie is just trying to find out if Carlos is okay and what happened and if he has to revoke Ice Cream Privileges Forever.
So after he shows them his official Big Brother card or whatever, they let him sit with Carlos until Ray shows up. And Carlos explains that yes, he did kind of break Reggie’s rule, but only technically, because he got in between a bully and a boy in his class who was about to get beat up for wearing nail polish, so after the first punch it was totally self-defense, so honestly he deserves extra ice cream because he was basically being a hero. (And Reggie is like: okay I kind of agree that was awesome, little dude, but also you’re about to be suspended and I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to encourage that.)
And Ray shows up and he looks really mad and goes into the principal’s office while the boys wait outside and Reggie is like: oh shit oh no this is the end, I’m going to lose Carlos just like I lost Steve, I fucked everything up.
And he’s trying to figure out how to say goodbye to Carlos without starting to cry, because he is for sure getting kicked out of the program now. And Ray comes out and still looks mad, until Carlos explains why he punched the other student, and Ray just like... turns right back around and goes back into the principals office, this time with extra Dad Shouting.
And when he comes out again, he still looks angry but not at Carlos (or Reggie) and he invites Reggie over for dinner because it’s about time they meet, and Reggie is so overwhelmed that he’s not losing another little brother that he says yes.
And then Reggie is basically adopted into the Molina family and so are the other boys and Julie meets them and joins their band and everything is great forever the end.
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Drowning in the Past // Luke Patterson
Summary: Julie’s estranged older sister returns home after a shameful night from New York City. Band on hiatus reader is forced to come home to face the consequences her actions had, including her hurt younger sister. In finding herself she happens to discover friends on her journey.
Warning: Swearing, talk of alcohol and drugs, underage drinking, grief, sex, angst and some fluff.
Words: 2.4k
A/N What if Julie had a sister in a successful signed band named Graveyard Petals. Part Two - Healed by the Music (Coming soon!)
Masterlist
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Blowing a raspberry with pursed lips, you prepared yourself for the lecture that would happen the minute your foot crossed the front door. The last year had been one of the hardest dealing with the sudden death of your mother and dealing it with as best as you could. Everything was going moderately okay with the band, but you fucked up three days ago. Typically you knew the limits with alcohol but with the anniversary of losing your mom and attending an after-party was a massive mistake.
Especially when the tabloid released unflattering photos of you needed help from your bandmates getting to the car. Unaware until the next morning when the phone rang.
The shrill round of a ringtone blasted into your sleep pulling you into a blistering hangover and groans. The night before was a blur. Hand tapping the table you grasped the phone blinding pressing the screen until you lucked out on the green circle.
“What the hell were you thinking?” The shout flung you upright, “You got drunk? You’re eighteen! We had a deal.”
“Dad.” You groaned rubbing your head. Going entirely still when you felt the covers shift, terrified, you glanced over to see a body in the bed.
Oh my god. Your eyes widened clueing into the stranger in the bed just as naked, and you were on the phone with Dad. You scrambled into the adjoining bathroom to the hotel room.
“Y/N, you said you stopped. Why did you lie?” Ray Molina asked his daughter clenching the bridge of his nose, “Your Tía called me this morning and send a link to a lovely article. My eldest daughter, my responsible daughter, intoxicated, being held up by her friends.”
“I know. It’s just it was Mom-“
“I know what yesterday was. You should have known it was a bad idea to drink. I called Lucy. You’re coming home. That’s final.”
Ray’s voice was solemn as he spoke utterly disappointed in you before it went to shit further. The safety of the bathroom shattering when the door opened and the acoustics of the room amplifying the voice.
“Hey, last night was amazing. If you’re ever in town again, just call me.”
“Y/N Molina.” The words were tense, “You better be home immediately. We will be talking about this.”
The phone hung up, and your head fell to your knees, sinking into the shame brought by your actions. You had naively overlooked the negatives of the lifestyle 
The SUV came to a stop outside the home who hadn’t been in for the past year. You typically avoided it by living in the house with your band.
“I want you to take the break to find yourself again. Heal.” Lucy spoke, turning to stare at you, “I took a chance on your band, I went against Andi Parker. Please don’t make me regret doing it. You’ll be staying here and reconnecting with your family.”
You wordlessly nodded to her words before climbing out of the SUV where the driver had put the suitcase. Most of your things were still in your childhood bedroom. You wandered up to the front door at a glacial pace, hoping to avoid what would happen in the house.
“Y/N.” The door was open with your dad standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and an expression he didn’t often have. A look of pure disappointment, “Go to the kitchen.”
A sigh fell from your lips as you nodded your head as you wandered into the homey place your mother had adored cooking in. She loved music and cooking almost as much as she loved her family. In the kitchen, your sister was doing homework. Julie avoided music because of the death of your mother and you fleeing.
“Julie,” Ray spoke, getting the sixteen-year old’s attention, her eyes shuttering as you met her gaze. Julie’s eyebrows came together with a look of heartbreak and left her homework to flee up to her room.
“I’m sorry.” You spoke, looking at the table as Ray sat across from you. You stared at the chip on the edge from when you cut your scalp running after Julie as a kid.
“Lucy agreed that you need to be home. You kept it hidden very well, but until you can get yourself together, you will not be touring. Until I deem it okay, you will fix your relationship with Carlos and Julie. You will volunteer for Julie’s school program, and you will not be allowed at any party.” Ray spoke, “I could make your punishment worse. I also want you to get yourself checked.”
You winced remembering he was well aware of your one night stand after hearing the person’s voice.
“I don’t have any-“
“I don’t care. I don’t know if you’ve been with one person or more, but you need to be checked out.”
Ray left the girl, “Remember why you love music so much. Your mom wouldn’t like who her daughter turned out to be.”
That broke your heart more because he was right. You were exactly how your mother raised you not to be.
Your eyes stayed locked on the black nail polish that matched the nose ring you had gotten a few months back. Hair dyed with streaks was another rebellious choice. You had changed so much from the girl that had gotten a record deal with her band.
Without even realizing your feet left the house to stand in front of the studio, you avoided. What was once a place of love and happiness was tarnished by the loss of the woman who introduced you to music. A place where you learned how to play the piano when your feet couldn’t touch the pedal. Where you had caused callously painstakingly learning guitar.
“Why are you here?” Your back stiffened at Julie’s hostile tone, “Don’t you have some country to be in.”
“No. I messed up.” You spoke roughly playing with the ring on your finger. The necklace in your pocket felt like it was burning.
“Whatever.” Julie scoffed brushing passed to open the doors to the studio. Her hands slammed the doors closed in your own hurt face.
Julie stomped to the piano, ignoring the other people in the room as she slammed the piano open. Her fingers shaking as they came to rest on the white keys, but the tears flowed down her cheeks. It was bittersweet to see you back in the house after months of dodging her calls, and finally, when you come home, it’s because you got into trouble.
“Are you okay?” Reggie asked the Molina girl. Her red eyes meeting the three ghosts in the room, “You were kinda yelling out there.”
Luke was uncomfortable at the tears he saw running down Julie’s cheeks glancing at the closed garage doors. It terrified him when girls cried. He never knew exactly how to comfort them.
“Yeah. Someone I thought I knew is out there.” Julie scoffed, “I don’t think I’m the best to be rehearsing with.”
“Come on, Julie! I’m sorry! You deserve an explanation. I’m a terrible sister.” You called from outside. The band shared a look of surprise as they had absolutely no clue Julie had another sibling.
Julie grunted stomping to the doors with a furious expression, the aggressiveness of opening them startling you. Standing across from Julie was a girl that the three didn’t know and so unlike Julie. You had a ripped band shirt tied in the back to make a form-fitting crop top, high waisted jeans. Hair dyed and a piercing set you so far from Julie.
“You’re playing again?” You smiled, looking at the piano ready to be played, but Julie didn’t react, “Mom would be proud of you.”
 “One of us shouldn’t be a disappointment.” Julie snapped.
“Oh, damn!” Reggie exclaimed to the guys, “Julie really went for the throat.”
His words took your full attention to see three guys in very ’90s like clothing intently watching your interaction with your sister. Julie was surprised you could see them but her anger and hurt overpowered that part.
“Look I’m really sorry for how I’ve been acting.” You sighed stepping closer only to stop when Julie stepped back, “I never wanted to hurt you but Jules you shouldn’t have to see how I was acting. I haven’t been a good role model.”
“You still hurt me. I needed you.” Julie’s voice cracked as she wrapped her arms around her, “If they hadn’t come into my life, I wouldn’t have played again.”
“You needed someone who wasn’t doing what I was doing.”
“What were you doing?” Julie softly asked. You hesitated on telling her the truth, but she needed to know why it was best she hadn’t been exposed to your behaviour.
“Will you listen?” You asked the younger girl. She nodded, so you led her to the couch that had come with the place. Julie sat on one end of the sofa while curled your legs under you.
The guys followed right after and honestly, you didn’t care if they heard.
“Last year, when Mom was sick, I wasn’t there. I was there the day she passed, but I was selfish. It was stupid, but I honestly thought she would be okay.” You softly began reopening a wound that hadn’t healed, “I know she was proud and pushed me to continue, but I shouldn’t have. The more time passed, the harder it was to see me.”
“You guys were getting more popular.” Julie shrugged, “I’ve always been proud that you chased your dream.”
“I know. That dream came with negative parts though Jules. To cope, I started drinking, I changed my hair, got a piercing, experimented with some illicit things and I…uh…slept with a few people. I was never meant to sleep around, I commend people that do and love that but it’s not for me.  I tried to change myself because I thought I could change how I felt.”
Julie was silent, scanning your features and the changes she had been blinded from with rage and pain. It felt like part of you was missing, there was an emptiness in your eyes and your shoulders were drooped, and you didn’t have that smile.
“Things really went to shit, pardon my language. It’s another change.” You winced at the word choice, “Mom’s anniversary was on the same night we went to an awards show. I had gotten drunk, but I performed at the show still good.”
“GP won two awards.” Julie grinned, “You were wearing the ring.”
You raised your index finger where a simple ring had sat for years, one that matched the one on Julie’s finger. You may have taken the Virgin Mary necklace off, but you could never take the ring you had with Julie off.
“My faith took a nosedive.” You admitted reaching into your pocket for the Virgin Mary necklace, “I didn’t feel like it was right to wear this and live how I was. Anyway at the after party I got extremely drunk, James and Iris had to help me to the car. Tabloids came out the next morning, and Dad called.”
You winced remembering the nasty hangover and the rather shameful lapse of memory. You still have no clue the exact details with the one nightstand.
“Ooh. Tía sent him a link? She was looking after Carlos. It was a lot of Spanish.” Julie winced remembering the shocking words leaving the older woman’s mouth.
“Oh, it gets worse. Just as the call was about to end…my hookup made their appearance.”
Julie choked, “You slept with someone?!”
“Hollywood life.” You weakly replied, making jazz hands, “So for the next few months I’ll be here.”
Julie was quiet, “Well if it makes you feel better. These guys are Luke, Reggie, and Alex. They’re ghosts.”
 You were silent, staring at the younger Molina taking in the news better than she had expected, “I can’t judge after the past year.”
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Helping Julie with her band and spending time with your family was more healing than finding the bottom of a bottle was. You attended a few sessions with Dr Turner and finally rediscovered the love of music. You often fielded questions from the guys too.
“What’s your band’s name?” Luke asked, placing his chin in his hands, listening intently to hearing your stories.
“Graveyard Petals.” You chuckled with a wide grin, “My mom had a band with petals in the title, so I wanted to honour her. Our band was driving to a gig still trying to figure out a name when we went past a cemetery and the name kinda just clicked.”
“That’s so cool!” Reggie spoke with a wide grin, “God, I wish we got the chance.”
“It has its moments.” You shrugged, “I’m actually meeting up with them in a few hours if you wanted to come?”
The guys nodded their heads each sporting a broad grin at the suggestion.
“We’ve all been finding ourselves again. My mom was our mentor, so it hit all of us hard, but I acted out worse.”
Luke’s eyes couldn’t help but notice that your necklace was resting on the hollow your neck just like Julie. A lightness came over him seeing that you had been finding yourselves once more.
“You seem happier,” Alex noted, leaning his elbows on his knees because he was right. In the time you had been home, you had changed your hair back to its natural colour, and your skin wasn’t as sickly pale as before.
“I am.” You smiled glancing at Luke, “I’m thrilled I got to meet you guys. I feel like if that tabloid hasn’t come out, I would have overdosed or drank myself to death.”
You hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol in months now. Music poured out of yourself with such a healing aspect you couldn’t believe it. You dad was ecstatic his little girl had found her way back to her true self.
Reggie and Alex glanced at each other before poofing out to leave Luke there with you. There was something between Luke and you that made the two boys happy. You each deserved happiness.
“So can I see some of your songs?” Luke asked with a soft smile that tugged at your heartstrings. You grabbed the notebook from your guitar case covered in doodles before opening it to a half-written song.
“So this is very raw and special to me.” You spoke glancing up at the teenage boy with a sparkle that hasn’t been seen in over a year, “It’s called Sober.”
Part Two - Healed by the Music
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