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#pearlcaddy kiss prompt
pearlcaddy · 3 years
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Tags: Alternate Universe - University, Living!Phantoms AU, Mutual Pining, Aged-Up Characters, Drinking, Banter is My Love Language so It's Jukebox's Too
Summary: Julie knows better than to fall in love when she’s studying abroad.
But she’s really not prepared for Luke.
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nottheleastbrave · 3 years
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Spotlight Saturday
It's Spotlight Saturday for JatP Fanworks Appreciation Week! A list of my favorite fics in this fandom would be...too long, but here is a small selection (tried to tag tumblrs but I probably missed some people).
Also, assume that everything written by these people is good. The writers in this fandom are PROLIFIC and I am constantly in awe.
Some Killer Queen You Are by @pearlcaddy - the BTVS AU of my DREAMS I will never stop being obsessed with this entire fic series. I am a SKQYA evangelist first and a human being second.
Later series by @sanssssastark - this series is very good and very hot and also Luke has a motorcycle: what more could you possibly want?
Because of Julie by jellie_bean on ao3 - one of the first fics I ever read for this fandom, and just so incredibly soft. Have reread multiple times.
favorite t-shirt also by jellie_bean - Julie and Luke go to a drive-in and make out a lot and then he leaves lyrics about it in all her school things. It’s the best. 
light a fire in my eyes (i'm going out of my mind) by @lukesjulies - a perfect Juke first kiss fic! Oh my gosh! Have reread at least ten times!
we all got a second act inside of us by @keepswingin and @zombiedadjokes - I am such a sucker for ghost magic related angst that this oneshot really delivers. Also a good time to plug linger, one of my favorite multi-chap ghost power fics!
JATP Prompts by @the-edge-of-great - just an A+ oneshot collection but I am particularly fond of food poisoning (chapter 2) and hollywood heights (chapter 20).
i couldn't write a love song that captures you if i tried by @blush-and-books - Julie and Luke get to cuddle as much as they want and I cry about it this fic is beautiful the end.
Better Wake Those Demons (Just Look Them in the Eye) by 8ucky8arnes on ao3 - Caleb being a dick and Luke (and the boys) freaking out about Julie: extremely my sh*t. Sorry not sorry.
We’ve Got Time by @mamirugbee - when I bookmarked this on ao3 I described it as “angst and then make-out: the dream team of Juke fanfiction” and I stand by that.
keys to the cage (and the devil to pay) by @hearjessroar - PIRATES AU PIRATES AU. If that doesn’t make you want to read it idk what will.
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blush-and-books · 3 years
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11. Back hugs please
From this prompt list, here’s a short and sweet one anon! College and quarantine AU because i am 1) lonely and 2) mourning the conclusion of @pearlcaddy‘s 100 Bad Days series STILL
Their little apartment next to campus was small, and old, and the air conditioning was imperfect on it’s best day. August was creeping in, and it left both Julie and Luke stripped nearly bare to keep their body temperature as low as possible. 
Luckily, it was early, and the sun wasn’t out -- so they had a few moments of tolerability before a day of standing in front of the refrigerator in between online classes because they couldn’t go anywhere. 
Luke wakes up to find Julie with her glasses on, hair tied back, and one of his oversized sleeveless tank tops over the shorts she’s owned since high school. She’s attempting to fry a few eggs before their apartment becomes a personal sauna, but she’s half-asleep while standing over the stove. 
“You’re insane,” he observes, voice low and raspy from having just woken up. She turns her head to him, still drowsy, and gives him a sleepy smile. 
“I was getting tired of stale cereal. Good morning to you too.”
With a cheeky grin, solely from the happiness of waking up to her trying to make them breakfast, he walks over and behind her to watch the egg sizzling in the pan in front of them. His arms snake their way around her waist, tugging her closer to him; as he presses a kiss into her hair. 
“D’you sleep well?” His head comes down to rest on her shoulder. She tilts her head against his, and hums. 
“Mm-hmm. Did you?”
“Next to you? Always.” 
Julie sends him a questioning look, glancing to him at her side; but all he can do is smile and kiss her cheek properly before turning around to dive into the fridge for water to fill their coffee maker. 
“Did I mention to you how happy I am that we decided to quarantine together?” 
She isn’t looking at him, instead taking the eggs out of the pan and putting them on a plate, sprinkling cheese on the top. He tries not to give away how stupidly happy he is. 
“No,” he says, playing dumb as he grabs her waist to bring her towards him. “No, I don’t think you did.”
“Oh.” There’s a pause between them as her hands run up his chest, his neck and onto his cheeks, where she brings him forward to press his forehead against her own. “Well,” she continues, “I am.”
“Me too.” 
They stand there in their little kitchen, holding each other as the room heats up, until the sounds of their grumbling stomachs kill the mood. 
“We should probably eat those eggs, huh?”
“They’re probably cold by now.”
“Oh well,” Luke shrugs, throwing her a smirk. “It’ll keep us cool.”
And as much as Julie hates to admit it, and wants to be disgusted by the idea: He’s right. 
Her answer is served in a glare as the utensil drawer clatters at her opening and slamming it. 
“Fine. But if I see you put any peanut butter near those eggs-”
“You can’t make fun of me for it when you’ve never tried it. And there’s no better time than when you’re stuck with me in a quarantine.”
“I could easily move out and go live with Flynn,” she deadpans. Prying one of the forks from her hands, he sneaks a kiss on her forehead before taking a large bite of the eggs -- without peanut butter, at his girlfriend’s request. 
“You could. But you won’t, because you love me.”
Her side bumps into his when she joins him at the plate of eggs. He can’t help but smile down at her, even if she can’t see it. 
“Unfortunately, you’re right about that.”
“‘Unfortunately’?”
“Yes, unfortunately. Somehow I fell in love with a guy who eats eggs with peanut butter.”
Yes, she did. And he’s thankful for it every day.
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wisdomofme · 3 years
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Fic Writer Interview
@pearlcaddy tagged me in this about a millenia ago but I was on holidays. But thank you for tagging me Kat- I did get around to it eventually!!
name: Steph but also known as wisdomofme for ironic reasons
fandoms: Currently JUST Julie and the Phantoms but I’m starting to feel the itch for another...
where you post: Only AO3. I sometimes post stuff here (basically never) but I have left my days of FF.net wayy back in the past
most popular oneshot: Earworm for Julie and the Phantoms. It was my second work for JatP and I can’t stress how flattering it is that this work still gets comments and kudos to this day!
most popular multichap: Completely separate from Julie and the Phantoms is The Gerudo’s Redemption, which is a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild fic. I have been AWOL on this fic for a while now but I’m hoping to get back into the groove of updating it in the first half of this year!
fics you were nervous to post: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sunset Curve for Julie and the Phantoms. Which feels ridiculous in hindsight, knowing how many people loved it, but so much of it was written in script format and I’d never done that before. And I was worried I was way off with Shane and Ryan’s voices and that there wasn’t enough screen time for the JatP cast- let’s just say I really hoped people would like it.
how do you choose your titles: I like using bits of prose or song lyrics in theory but sometimes while I’m writing I just think of the perfect word or phrase that just fits the story. Like Earworm or Let These Petals Fall Where They May- both are just the core concept of the fic really just boiled down. 
do you outline: No. And it causes me so much grief. Generally I have a vague idea of where the plot is going, like certain beats, but so much of my writing motivation relies on me just writing random scenes and- it’s just a mess guys.
favourite story I’ve written so far: Long Live for Julie and the Phantoms (I am going to get shit from @darlingggod for this). There’s a section in chapter 2 that meshes the characters of JatP with the world of Percy Jackson so well but, have I published chapter 2? No. Have I even finished it? No. Therefore my punishment is that only I know of this amazing scene and cannot brag until I’m done. Being a writer sucks.
complete: All of my multichaps are currently incomplete and I need to be held accountable. This is why I usually only write oneshots.
in progress: Long Live, Reasons Not to Kiss Her and The Gerudo’s Redemption. I’m in physical pain thinking about this.
coming soon: A Juke Star Wars AU that I posted a snippit of here and a Anidala Dragonriders of Pern AU that I really shouldn’t be writing (Yes Nicole, I know, just leave me alone).
prompts?: Sadly I only take prompts from the one and only @darlingggod because, as it says in my bio, I am her personal pet author.
tagging: @juulies @smolfangirl @rainfallingfromthesky @zombiedadjokes @keepswingin I’m a million years late to this so y’all have probs done it by now but, if you haven’t, here’s your chance
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
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35? 🥰🥰
35. An awkward kiss given after a first date (All-Human AU, Aged-Up Jukebox because I no longer remember how to write them as teenagers)
Rock Paper Scissors
In seven years of knowing Julie, Luke has never felt awkward around her. Awed and nervous, sure. Ever since she wandered into their high school auditions for Wicked, opened her mouth, and nabbed the role of Elphaba as a freaking ninth grader, she’s had his full, often fumbled, attention and adoration.
But he hadn’t ever meant to ask her out. She’s been one of his best friends for years, and they’ve been each other’s first sounding board for song ideas—her for her solo career, him for Sunset Curve—and he’d never wanted to mess with that. But last week, they’d been working in their shared rental studio until late in the night, and he’d been too sleep-deprived and too overwhelmed by her beauty in the low, golden lighting of the music stand lamps and so he’d asked “You wanna get dinner this week?” without a thought because he is an actual disaster—
“Of course.”
Two greatest words spoken in the English language? Confirmed.
But the actual date is… weird. When he picks her up at her place and tells her that she looks really pretty, she immediately focuses on her feet and mumbles, “Oh, um, thanks.” And she then proceeds to act aggressively normal on their date, making the same jokes, the same banter, the same musical conversations. Which is exactly what he wants out of a relationship with her, but the vibe is off. He thought there would at least be some soft looks and sheepish smiles and discussion of feelings. But it feels the same as every single dinner they’ve ever had. In a last, desperate attempt to capture some date-like vibes, he leaves his left hand stretched toward the middle of the table the whole night, hoping she’ll take it eventually, but his hand remains empty. And when it comes time to pay the bill, they decide who pays the way they always do—rock paper scissors—even though he’s heard her say that she always splits the check on dates.
So he’s feeling entirely wrong-footed, especially when he pulls up in front of her place and turns off the car.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“… walking you to your door?”
She raises an eyebrow and lets out a bemused chuckle. “Okay?”
Fuck. Is this the worst date in the history of dates? She’s that desperate to just flee the car? But she doesn’t just tell him to stay, and she would have if she wanted him to, so it’s not a rejection exactly. Not a rejection of his presence, at least. Just of the concept of dating him.
He wants to drive back to his apartment immediately and sulk under a pile of sad blankets with some mopey Bob Dylan, but he’s already committed to walking her to her door. So he shoves his hands in his pockets and trails after her as she opens the gate of her building, the door almost slamming him in the face when he doesn’t get his hands out in time to catch it. She leads the way across the small courtyard to her apartment door and turns around, bemused expression still filling her face. “Ta-da?”
He chuckles nervously. “Okay, I get it. Don’t walk you to your door.”
She forces a smile. “Just seems a bit excessive.”
The same nervous chuckle slips out of his lips as he rubs the back of his head. She tracks the movement of his arm, eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.
“Uh, thanks for coming out tonight,” he says.
“Well, you paid. So thanks for that.”
“Thanks for being a really predictable rock paper scissors player.”
For the first time since he stopped the car, the confusion and awkward tension drops from her body and she shifts closer to him. “What?”
“You always do paper if your meal was the cheaper one, and scissors if your meal was more expensive. Like you’re trying to get more aggressive to make sure you pay the bill?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yeah, you do.”
Her mouth falls slightly open as she looks off to the side, like she’s replaying every game of rock paper scissors she’s ever played. “I… huh.” She cuts her eyes to him, peering up at him partially through her eyelashes. “Are you saying the game’s been rigged this whole time?”
“Pretty much.” She narrows her eyes, so he bumps her elbow with his. “I keep it even. For now. You’re pulling bigger royalty checks than we are these days.”
She snorts. “Right, cause that’s where we make our money. Royalties.”
“Any day, you’re gonna be filling the Garden, and then I’m definitely letting you win every time.”
She swings in closer, peering up at him from a distance that’s… unfair to the continued function of his brain, honestly. “So my reward for getting rich and famous is that I get to buy you dinner?”
“Or you could get better at rock paper scissors, but that’s probably impossible.”
“And me getting famous isn’t?”
“Nah, that’s inevitable.”
She’s gazing up at him with this unbelievably fond, open expression, eyes resting on his face like he’s her own personal source of joy, and it finally feels like a date. A different kind of tension running between them that’s filled with anticipation and affection. And when her eyes flick to his mouth, he doesn’t let himself second-guess before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers.
The height difference, which he’s never thought of as substantial before, makes it awkward, and his lips land slightly off-center, but the bigger issue is that she leans back almost as soon as his lips find hers.
Fuck.
“What was that?” she exclaims.
He holds up his hands and skips back, giving her space. “I’m so sorry, I completely misread that.”
Her hand comes up to her lips, tracing the skin like she’s just woken up from a very immersive dream. Her eyes slowly drift to his. “Wait. Was this a date?”
What.
“Uhh, yeah. I asked you to dinner.”
“We have dinner basically every week.”
“But I never ask. It’s always, like, ‘you’re up for food, yeah?,’ not ‘do you wanna go to dinner?’”
Oh god, why is he so bad with his words when he’s not writing lyrics? How did he so totally screw up this amazing, precious, important thing they have?
But she bursts into giggles. “That’s not a clear enough distinction.”
“I thought it was pretty clear,” he mumbles.
She steps in closer, a bright smile sliding over her face, and hope slips into his chest as she tilts her chin up. “No. Here’s how you ask someone out: Luke Patterson, do you want to go out with me?”
Is it possible to overload his heart with happiness? He cups her face, grinning as he thumbs the soft skin of her cheek.
“Yeah. You free tonight?”
She pops up on her tiptoes and presses her lips against his: sweet, gentle, pure, and filled with a fondness than even his insecurities can’t deny. Before he can get lost in the kiss, she pulls back and rolls her eyes at him.
“Of course. All you had to do was ask.”
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
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Kiss Prompt via DM: “40 for the Soulmate AU?”
40: A gentle kiss that quickly descends into passion, with little regard for what’s going on around them (Sparks verse)
Inspired by this utterly gorgeous fanart by @mamirugbee
Now on AO3!
“LUKE.”
From her spot curled up on the rehearsal studio floor, Julie glances up in time to see Alex slap her boyfriend on the arm. Her boyfriend who is unabashedly staring at her instead of playing his guitar. Under the full volume of his adoring gaze, she can’t keep the grin from slipping onto her face, and as soon as she smiles, he bursts into a giant beam, which only makes her smile bigger and then his smile grows and—
“Is this a rehearsal or the middle school cafeteria?” Bobby grumbles.
“Middle school cafeteria?” Julie asks, bemused.
“Bobby did his best flirting in the cafeteria,” Reggie explains. “I say best: it was middle school, so he basically just smiled a lot and threw a bunch of ‘do u want to go out with me’ notes as paper airplanes.”
“Hey, those notes got me at least three dates.”
“Out of, like, two hundred,” Alex points out.
“I stand by my methods.”
Julie chuckles and glances back at Luke. Whose eyes are still very much focused on her. That blissful smile works its way back onto her face and—
Alex groans. “Do I need to pour water on you two?”
“Sure,” Luke replies absently.
“Not near the amps!” Reggie squeals.
“Okay, you know what?” Alex gestures pointedly at the studio door. “I am going on a coffee run. Bobby, Reggie, do you want to join?”
“But you said I’m not allowed to drink coffee anymore because it makes me ‘a bit much,’” Reggie tries to point out. Bobby rolls his eyes and elbows the bassist. Then it clicks. “OH. ‘Coffee run.’ Riiiiight.”
Alex studies the ceiling for a second, like he’s searching for rational people in the studio and coming up empty, and then marches out with Reggie and Bobby at his heels.
As soon as they disappear, Luke all but jumps across the studio towards Julie. She tries to put on her best approximation of a “responsible grown-up voice.” “You have got to stop staring at me and focus.”
He lets out an exasperated groan as he flops onto his back and rests his head in her lap. “How can I? You’re here.”
“It’s literally your job.”
But he continues on like she didn’t speak. “AND you’re wearing my clothes.”
She snuggles her shoulders further into his denim trenchcoat. “It’s cold in here.” Sure. It’s definitely the mild A/C. Definitely not that she loves being able to tuck her nose in the collar and fill her lungs with his familiar scent. Definitely not that every time she breathes in the indefinable Luke smell, she has sappy thoughts like “This is what home smells like.”
Capturing a stray curl, he twists it up around his finger. “Can we go home now?”
“You’ve been here for, like, two hours. Come on, you need to focus. This is cute, but it’s very unprofessional.”
He pouts up at her. “When have I ever claimed to be professional?”
“It’s one of the first things I remember you saying to me.”
He kisses the hair around his finger and releases the curl, gazing up at her with such soft joy that her heart beats a little faster. Or maybe it’s his heart beating into their bond. She can’t tell the difference sometimes. “Should I go home?” she asks gently, trying to ignore the immediately disapproving shriveling sensation in both her heart and the bond.
“Nah, if you leave, I’m gonna be just as distracted. Can’t I just take, like, two months off? C’mon, seven years of pining—I deserve two months of non-stop basking.”
“After you finish the Sunset Curve album.”
He pouts again. “No fair. That’s gonna be ages away.”
She wants to keep lecturing him, but… as much as he’s being absurd and over the top, she feels it too. Their journey happened as it was meant to, and she doesn’t regret a moment of it, but she can’t stop her mind from lingering on all the other periods in their lives when they would have had more time to revel in the new relationship. Running her fingers through his hair, she scratches against his scalp, and a smile purrs its way across his lips. “If you don’t start paying attention in class, your dads won’t let me come over anymore,” she teases.
“Can I at least have a kiss?”
Rolling her eyes, she leans down to place a gentle peck on his lips. But once she’s there, with his already familiar lips eagerly greeting hers, she can’t stop with just one. She tries to deepen the kiss, but her neck is bent awkwardly from this angle. As if reading her discomfort, he immediately flips himself around without separating their mouths, coming to kneeling in front of her. He cups her chin with one hand and teases her lips apart , while he runs the fingers of his free hand along the parts of her neck that he’s already learned are the most sensitive. She sighs into his mouth, and for a moment his lips lose the rhythm of the kiss as they twitch into what she suspects is a smirk. His free hand slides under his trenchcoat and around her waist, tugging her in closer to him, and the bond lets out a sparkling vibration, like a throat warbling out a high note. She pulls her mouth from his and starts to work her way across his cheek, reaching for the spot behind his jaw that she now knows is—
Luke jolts away suddenly, water spots speckling his clothes. “What the fuck?”
Alex stands over them, holding his water bottle up like he’s brandishing a sword. “Don’t test me.”
“The amps!” Reggie cries again, shuddering with the well-earned fear of his own lifetime of bad decision-making.
“If the amps get damaged, Luke will pay for it. Now can we please rehearse?”
Luke looks back at her, not nearly as sheepish as she suspects they probably should be. Holding up his pinky, he asks, “If I finish the album, two months?”
“Two months,” she agrees, and links her pinky with his.
He instantly pops to his feet. “Alright boys, let’s do this thing.”
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
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pearlcaddy’s JatP Kiss Prompts Masterlist
aka that time I did Jukebox kiss prompts and it got out of hand because I’m so bad at restraint and brevity.
Standalone All-Human AUs
An awkward kiss given after a first date
Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop the other person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead/Small kisses littered across the other’s face
Deep kisses where they have their hands tangled in each other’s hair to pull them closer/Wet kisses after finding refuge from the rain/A fierce kiss that ends with a bite on the lip, soothing it with a lick
An accidental brush of lips followed by a pause and going back for another, on purpose/Tentative kisses given in the dark/Whispering “I love you” before a chaste, delicate kiss
Julie the Vampire Slayer verse
Kissing tears from the other’s face
Kisses exchanged as they move around, hitting the edges of tables or nearly tripping over things on the floor before making it to the sofa, or bed
A kiss so desperate that the two wind around each other, refusing to let go until they are finished
A breathy demand: “Kiss me” - and what the other person does to respond
[Willex] One person has to bend down in order to kiss their partner, who is standing on their tip-toes to reach their partner’s
The Wizarding World of Food Service verse
Weak, sweaty kisses because it’s unbearably hot
Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference
Sparks verse
A gentle kiss that quickly descends into passion, with little regard for what’s going on around them
A hello/good-bye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it
Sneaking away to a hidden corner to share a secretive kiss
A kiss so passionate, so perfect - that after they part, neither person can open their eyes for a few moments afterwards
Sensual back kiss
100 Bad Days verse [Rated M]
A kiss that is leading to more, but is interrupted by a third party
Morning kisses that are exchanged before either person opens their eyes, kissing blindly until their lips meet in a blissful encounter
One person stopping a kiss to ask “Do you want to do this?”, only to have the other person answer with a deeper, more passionate kiss
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
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For the kiss prompt game. 42 and 1?
42: Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop the other person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead 1: Small kisses littered across the other’s face
Perfect
Julie’s not sure exactly what wakes her up—maybe her innate alarm system when it comes to Luke, or the absence of his usual arms around her. As she blinks awake, she rolls over to find him propped up against the headboard next to her, scribbling frantically in his notebook. His phone rests on his chest in flashlight mode, lighting up the page in the dark room.
“What time is it?” she croaks.
“Ummm…”
“Luke.”
“Just jotting down some notes.”
“That better not be ‘Free.’”
He refuses to look at her, so she curls into his side and presses her cheek into his chest. “Luuuuke, come to bed.”
“I’m in bed,” he tries.
“You’re full of shit, is what you are.” She reaches for his notebook, but he holds it away. Her hand tries halfheartedly to chase it, but… she’s cozy. Why would she get up? So she twists her face around to him. “Luke, come on.”
“I’m almost done. It’s just gotta be perfect.”
“It’s already perfect.”
“Nah, it needs—“
She sits up and drops a quick kiss on his cheek.
“—a tweak to the—“
She kisses his other cheek.
“—chorus because—“
The tip of his nose.
“—it feels—“
His forehead.
“—repetitive.”
His mouth.
His lips smile against hers, but then he whispers, “I swear I’m almost done.”
She peppers kisses across his face, trying to land one on every inch of that beloved, infuriating skin. “Or you could be done now.”
“Jules, I—“ She pulls back and watches as his eyes trace over her face. His shoulders finally relax and his lips curl up in a smile. “Yeah, okay.” He tosses the notebook on the floor and tugs her back in to him, letting their mouths come together in a final, sleepy kiss.
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
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for the kiss prompt: 32 sometime in the future in the sparks verse?
32: A kiss so passionate, so perfect - that after they part, neither person can open their eyes for a few moments afterwards (Sparks verse)
Rated T for... I dunno that it’s steamy, so let’s go with Rated T for Enthusiastic Kissing
Now on AO3!
For the most part, Luke thinks that he and Julie remain professional.
And on stage, they do.
(Okay, the first time they publicly performed “Perfect Harmony” after Julie got her sparks, he may have fallen off his stool, but apparently the Boston crowd loved that. The label says fans find the whole “they’re soulmates and sometimes singing together overwhelms them” thing cute.)
But off stage, it’s sometimes a bit harder.
As the band stumbles off stage, the stadium crowd still cheering their encore of “Finally Free,” Luke can tell this is going to be one of those times. Because Julie immediately tugs his guitar over his head and passes it to Reggie before she grabs Luke’s hand and starts tugging him in the direction of her green room.
“Really? Again?” Alex groans, exasperated.
“Hey, you and Willie get all sparky over going to museums,” Luke calls back over his shoulder.
“Because we’re classy people! You are not being classy!”
Reggie scratches his head. “I still don’t get the museums thing. Like, does your bond get all weird when you look at the same painting, or—”
As Julie tugs Luke through the doorway, the last thing he hears is Alex snap, “—we are not discussing my bond! Boundaries!”
As soon as they get inside the green room, Julie grabs onto Luke’s shoulders and hops in the air, wrapping her legs around his waist. He catches her and spins them around as she pulls her lips to his, the bond between them firing around inside his heart like an electric current. “We have got to stop doing ‘Finally Free’ as an encore,” she breathes into his mouth.
“I like ‘Free’ as an encore,” he counters, tugging at her lips with his. “It always seems to end like this.”
She laughs, the sound coming out shaky around her heavy breaths. “The bond is too revved up from the rest of the set. That bridge of yours is going to do real damage to my heart someday.”
As the bond pulses with their joined heartbeats, his arms fumble, and he sets her down carefully on the edge of the makeup counter. “Are you saying I’m such a good songwriter that I make your heart stop?”
“Are you going to kiss me or gloat?”
He catches her exposed collarbone with his lips, chuckling into her skin. “Who says I have to choose?”
She threads her fingers through his hair, keeping his head close to her neck as he sucks his way up the smooth skin. “Careful,” she gasps out. “We’ve got the Rolling Stone photoshoot tomorrow.”
He immediately lessens the pressure of his lips, but can’t help quipping back, “Obviously that would be the first time anyone’s shown up to a Stone shoot with a hickey. The poor makeup artists would probably pass out from the indecency. What’s next, loud music?”
Slipping his lips behind her ear, he nibbles gently on the skin and grins victoriously at her breathy inhale. Then he slides his nose around the curve of her earlobe and drags it across her jaw as he pulls his lips toward her mouth. Before he can kiss her, she shakes her head. “Why do I put up with you?”
“I ask myself that every day,” he rasps back. It’s a sign of the difference the past year has made that there’s no bitterness in his tone or his heart. Obviously there are still days when he doubts himself, but twelve months of Julie Molina unabashedly gazing at him like he’s the fucking sun makes it hard to doubt the depth or sincerity of her love. Especially at times like these, when the bond curls between them like the flames of a bonfire, reminding him that destiny has linked them together. Whether for music or love, he doesn’t know that it matters.
Julie seizes the front of his shirt and yanks his mouth to hers.
By now, Luke has mostly gotten used to the feeling of the double-sided bond. The days of almost passing out whenever they kiss are mostly behind them, and he’s able to focus on the actual physical sensations of kissing her.
… and then there are kisses after gigs or intense rehearsals, when the bond feels like a firecracker or a wildfire or a bomb going off in his chest. Something so intense that it almost scalds his soul. He’s dimly aware of her mouth moving around his, open and hot and wet. Of the pleasant scrape of her fingernails against his scalp. Of her body, still warm from the stage and snug against his. But the bond overwhelms it all until he can’t breathe and it feels like every single one of his skin cells is dancing to a different beat.
He pulls back with a gasp and rests his forehead against hers, eyes closed as he tries to ground himself back in reality.
When his breath finally comes out of his lungs at a more normal pace, he opens his eyes to find that hers are still closed, chest still heaving. Something about the simple reminder of how mutual their bond is further soothes the ache of the six years he spent convinced that it wouldn’t be.
“You can change anything on the set list you like. Just please not ‘Free,’” he begs.
A blissful smile spreads over her lips as she finally blinks her eyes open, and she nods. “Okay,” she whispers faintly.
He nudges her nose with his. “I love you.”
“And I love you.”
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
Note
22 in the 100 Bad Days verse? :)
22: A kiss that is leading to more, but is interrupted by a third party (100 Bad Days verse)
Rated M (I guess? to be safe) for Suggestive Themes and Language
Partially inspired by a @nottheleastbrave ask about whether Luke would ever find out what Julie told Flynn about him in chapter two of Casual
Now on AO3!
The whole drive back from LAX, Luke’s legs bounce in place, so excited that he nearly stalls the car at every light by going too far off the clutch. After five months abroad, Julie’s home. Julie’s home.
When he parks in the driveway, his final bounce releases the clutch too early and the car shudders to a stop. She bursts into giggles. “Is the bad driving new, or are you just happy to see me?”
He leans over and pecks her mouth quickly, his grin so big that it’s more teeth than lips. “I can’t even sass you right now.”
“Can’t drive, can’t sass. You’re not the man I fell in love with.”
“Nope, I’m the brilliance-savvy person you fell in love with.”
“That you are.” Her smile is soft and gentle, like a spear right through his heart.
If a spear through the heart were a good thing.
Look, he’s not dishing out his best metaphors right now. He’s too fucking happy.
He pops out of the car and opens the trunk. As he pulls out her suitcase, he looks over at her, hoping his voice comes out casual as he asks, “You tired?”
She spins around, skipping backwards towards the front door of his house. Their house. Fuck, this was the best decision of his life. “No, I think flying west is less brutal than flying east. Or maybe I’m just excited.”
He drags the hefty suitcase behind him, trying to keep up. “Excited about what?”
“You got us a new bed.”
He can already feel the smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. “That I did.”
She flicks her eyes up and down his body, and dashes her eyebrows. “Unused and innocent.”
“Used by me for the past six weeks and exposed to some pretty indecent stuff already, but I take your point.”
She slides her key into the lock of the front door and twists it. At the sound of the door unlocking, she smiles, and he realizes that he’s smiling too. She’s had a key for ages, but there’s a difference between her unlocking his door and her unlocking theirs.
Turning back to him, she drapes her arms around his neck and draws him to her, bumping their hips together. “You have some ideas?” he asks, voice coming out hushed at her proximity.
“There’s always your specialty.”
He presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth, then works his way across her jaw. “What’s my specialty?” he mumbles between kisses.
“You know what your specialty is. Flynn betrayed me during Truth or Dare.”
He smirks at the reminder of a game of truth or dare that Reggie had insisted they play over Skype last month. Because Luke is still mildly terrified of disappointing Flynn, and had assumed that he’d get a fun, innocuous answer, he’d asked her what the first nice thing Julie had said about him was.
His ego may never return to a normal size.
He digs a trail of bruising kisses down to her pulse point and sucks at the sensitive spot before rasping into her soft skin, “I want to hear you say it.”
She fumbles for the door, twisting the handle as his lips travel frantically back up toward her mouth. “Your ego is big enough,” she tries to insist, her high-pitched, breathy voice undercutting her pretense at control.
“C’mooon, just say it.”
Slipping her fingers into his hair as they stumble through the door, she gasps out between desperate kisses, “Your tongue is better than my vibrator!”
A throat clears loudly in the living room. Their mouths spring apart and their eyes swivel around the room, taking in the sight of a welcome home party that Alex and Reggie had promised they weren’t throwing. Julie freezes in his arms as her eyes land on the third guest.
“Um. Hi, Dad.”
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
Note
For the kiss prompt, 10 or 25 (does is ever rain in LA? I genuinely have no idea) in the Soulmate AU verse? (ps I absolutely love the first chapter of Too Real)
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
@thatsmyverb also requested 10, and 25 is coming up in another prompt down the line.
10: A hello/good-bye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it (Sparks verse)
Now on AO3!
Luke’s alarm wakes him up to an empty bed, which he can’t say he’s a fan of. It’s been two weeks since Julie got her sparks, and while they’ve traded back and forth between their respective bedrooms, he’s woken up with her tangled in his arms every morning, and he’s now firmly of the belief that any morning spent differently is a mistake. Crawling out of her bed, he wanders into the hallway, scrubbing sleep from his eyes.
“Jules?”
“In the living room,” she calls back.
He staggers in the direction of her voice, still scratching away at his eyes when she appears at the end of the hallway.
“I told you staying in the studio until five am was a mistake,” she sings.
“Sleep is for the weak?”
She holds out a cup of coffee. “You don’t need this, then?
He stumbles toward her. “You’re an angel,” he groans. As he slips the mug out of her hands, he pecks her on the lips. “Morning.”
Her face lights up in a soft, giddy smile. “Morning.”
Then he turns his head and—
Oh.
His parents sit on the couch, eyes flitting rapidly between the two of them with shock.
Huh. He knew he forgot to tell someone.
“Your parents are here,” Julie points out needlessly.
His parents continue to blink at him, stunned.
He chuckles. “Uh, guessing I also didn’t tell you that we’re soulmates?”
His mother rubs an exasperated hand over her face. “A text, Luke. A single text when something life changing happens to you is all that we ask.”
He glances back at Julie, who grins so fondly at him that he feels a gentle simmer in the bond between them. A smirk pulls over his mouth as he looks back at his parents. And with all the confidence of someone who is trying to teach something they’ve only just learned, he says, “You needed to be told that we’re soulmates and we’re in love? Come on, Mom. Everyone knew that.”
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
Note
11 for the kiss prompt in the 100 days verse after Julie moves in?? :D
11: Morning kisses that are exchanged before either person opens their eyes, kissing blindly until their lips meet in a blissful encounter (100 Bad Days verse)
Now on AO3!
Julie wakes to the sound of an incredibly unwelcome alarm blaring near her head. “Why this?” she groans, screwing her eyes shut. “What time is it?”
“I’m not opening my eyes to check. I’m asleep,” Luke groans into her ear as he tugs her closer.
“Luke.”
“It feels like 7. 7am air’s got a feel to it, you know?”
“Luuuke.”
His warm, dry lips press against her temple, just off-center enough that she knows he’s still got his eyes shut.
“Don’t look at me. It’s your alarm,” he murmurs.
“I’m not opening my eyes. I’m asleep.”
His chuckle runs through his arms and into her body, but then his torso shifts over hers, skin sliding across hers as he reaches over her head. There’s a soft scrape and a thud of what sounds like her contact case hitting the floor, before frantic tapping across the smooth glass of a phone screen.
“Are your eyes still closed??” she asks.
“Yeah, cause I’m still asleep.”
The tapping continues until finally the alarm shuts off, and finally the room is still.
Then soft lips bang against the middle of her forehead. “Ow!” she cries without thinking, before realizing that it’s his pain and not hers.
“Pretty sure that’s my ‘ow.’ You got a firm head there, Your Majesty.”
“Then maybe you should have your eyes open when you kiss me.”
His lips land on her forehead again, this time the perfect amount of pressure. “But then I’d be awake.”
She reaches her head up for where she thinks his lips are, but the skin she finds is too rough and firm under her lips.
“Careful, you could have broken my nose.” But his voice rumbles low, vibrating through her whole body as he adds, “But worth it for that sweet, sweet taste of…”
And his lips press to the crease below her mouth.
“… my chin?”
He slips his mouth up to hover over hers. “I happen to love that chin.”
She dabs a kiss to his lower lip. “Is that where I hit you?”
A “mhm” hums out of him as he catches her lip between his, sucking at it gently as his hand traces her jaw. The combination of the soft pillow under her head and the soft mouth on hers makes her feel giddy and light, and a smile spreads over her face that knocks his lips from hers.
“You know how you can make it up to me?” he rumbles.
“How?”
“Open your eyes.”
She blinks her eyes open only to find him gazing down at her from a close distance, his hair mussed up from sleep in a way that makes him look younger and more puppy-ish. His face immediately crumples up in a joyful smile, and his fingertips dance over her lips.
“That’s my favorite way to start the day,” he murmurs.
“Kissing?”
“The sight of you waking up in our bed.”
She combs her fingers through his hair, heart overflowing with that lazy bliss of domesticity that she treasures so much even after several months of living together.
Then his smile turns to a smirk. “Shame you won’t be here when I actually wake up.”
And he flops onto the bed next to her, tugging a pillow over his head.
“You’re the worst.”
“Get thee to class, Trojan,” he mumbles sleepily, voice muffled by his pillow. And with a fond glow in her heart, she slips out of bed.
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
Note
20 for the kiss prompt, if you vibe with it. For whichever jukebox you prefer
Also requested by @thatsmyverb
20: Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference. (Wizarding World of Food Service verse)
I decided that the Wizarding World!Jukebox deserved a slightly less gross kiss.
Now on AO3!
“Ooh, taking time off?”
Appearing seemingly out of nowhere, Julie rests her chin on Luke’s shoulder as he uses one of the employee computer stations.
“Yeah, I’m feeling fancy.” He absently presses a kiss to her temple without taking his eyes off the screen.
As he selects a list of dates on the TO request form, she stills on his shoulder. “Oh wow, that’s a lot of time off. A whole week without pouring Butterbeer? You’ll get a big head.”
She’s clearly trying for it to come out as a quip, but her delivery is slightly stilted. And when he glances over at her, he finds tension in her jaw and confusion in her eyes.
“Did I not tell about this?” he asks.
“You don’t have to tell me every time you take a week off of work. I’ll be okay.” Again, trying for a sass that doesn’t feel authentic. He grabs her hand and spins her in place, bringing her to rest tucked under his arm.
“Big Sur. My parents and I go camping every year.” He nudges her hip with his. “And I’m going to miss you.”
“You don’t need to reassure me. I’m fine. I just didn’t know,” she replies, not sounded convinced by her own words.
They fall silent as he fills in the final lines of the form. Desperately aiming for casual, he hums out, “You could come if you want.” He doesn’t look at her face, so he fills her silent pause with the worst case scenario. “I mean, not…” He giggles nervously. Ugh. So much for casual. “Doesn’t have to be this year. I know it’s last minute and three months is maybe a bit early for… spending a week with my parents, but next year. Just if you want. No pressure.”
He hits the submit button and quickly logs out. Since she still hasn’t said anything, he tries to quickly bounce over to the escalator that leads to the employee exit, because nothing says casual like bouncing.
It’s fine. He doesn’t even care. This isn’t important to him at all…
He’s barely boarded the escalator before he hears her rushing after him. “Luke!”
He turns around to find her two steps above him, towering over him in a way she normally never does. Her grin is shy and fond.
“You really want me to?”
“Sorry, have I been playing it cool?”
She chuckles. “Never. I just… I know abstractly that you’re…”
“Hella serious about this,” he supplies.
“… but family vacations are very concrete.”
“Well, I’m concrete.” That means nothing. Why the fuck did he say that?
She beams and slides her hands down the handrails, leaning over at what feels like a dangerous angle to get her face closer his. “I don’t have enough vacation days yet, but next year?”
He’s not sure what’s a reasonable amount of smiling to be doing over this, but he’s definitely exceeding it. “Next year.”
She scrunches her nose up at him and bends her mouth down to his, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. One of her hands comes off the handrail to cup his face, and he opens his mouth to—
—fall backwards when the escalator reaches the bottom and kicks him off of his step. Julie, too bent over to stop herself in time, falls squarely on top of him, forcing all the air out of his lungs.
“Crap, did I hurt you!?” she asks.
Yes. So very much. But once he’s got enough of his breath back, he huffs out an embarrassed laugh. “Do you want to know what I thought as soon as I started to fall?”
“What?”
“It’s embarrassing. I’m warning you.”
“Tell me!”
“Arresto Momentum.”
She buries her head into his chest in a fit of giggles. “I love you, you massive dork.”
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
Note
For kiss prompt: 8 or 21 or 30 for your Wizarding World Au (wish by the way is stellar!)
Aww, thank you!
30: Weak, sweaty kisses because it’s unbearably hot (Wizarding World of Food Service verse)
I feel like the point of the kissing prompts was supposed to be “the kisses are sweet,” not “the kisses are sweaty.” Sorry if you weren’t looking for fluff + gross realistic workplace kisses.
Now on AO3!
The fact that Julie feels like she somehow took a shower under her clothes should be a sign to the Powers That Be that the park needs to be closed today. If your employees can run a dry slip n slide with the sweat on their bodies alone, they shouldn’t be working. But here she is.
As she staggers into the break area, she lets out a loud groan. Every single patch of shade has already been claimed by all the other employees working outside today, and there’s nowhere cool left to stand.
“Jules!” Luke waves her over to his section of the wall. As she approaches, she realizes that his Butterbeer shirt, which is meant to be a light gray, is dark gray and clinging to him and—
Okay, she’s not complaining about the clinging, per se, but he’s incredibly gross right now. He nods her into the slim patch of shade in front of him, pressing back against the wall to make room for her.
On the one hand, the shade is a very welcome break from the aggressive midday sun. On the other hand, being squeezed into a tiny space next to her overheating boyfriend, who is currently transferring extra, unwanted sweat onto her, is… unpleasant.
“You doing okay out there?” he asks.
She nods at his shirt. “Are you?”
He chuckles. “Been out there so long I forgot this wasn’t the original color.”
Drawing her sleeve over her forehead, she transfers a slick of sweat to the fabric and… oh god. He eyes the damp stain sympathetically, and she makes a face. “Is this killing the magic?”
With a soft smile, he waves his pointer finger at her face. “Aguamenti.” He pauses, as if waiting for water to shoot out of his finger, then he bugs his eyes. “Crap, maybe the magic really is gone.”
She smacks him gently on the arm, but she’s honestly too weak for it to be anything more than a gentle brush of her hand. “How hot is it right now? I want to be accurate when I complain about this later.”
He tugs his phone out of his apron pocket and pulls up the weather app. “Uh… it’s 44 degrees.”
“There’s no way.” She is basically a human candle, melting away on the cobblestones of Hogsmeade.
The corner of his mouth slips up into a sly grin. “44 Celsius.”
She tries to smack him again. “That’s, like 110 degrees.”
He turns the phone to her. “111, actually.”
She’s not sure if she actually starts crying, or if it’s just more sweat leaking out of her scalp and trickling down her face. She’s only on her first ten. How is she supposed to survive five more hours of this?
Then a notification pops up on his screen. A very confusing notification. “‘Six-month Anniversary?’”
In an instant, his phone is dropped back into his apron pocket. “Oh, that’s just…”
“Our six-month isn’t until January. You got something to tell me?”
He chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his head, before yanking away his damp palm with a wrinkled up nose. “Uh, it’s the six-month anniversary of the day we met.”
“You know when that is?”
“I did the math one day cause I thought we could celebrate and it would be cute, and then Alex said it was weird and unnecessary, so I—”
“Set an alarm so you’d remember it?”
“That was just for me. I wanted to…” He studies his feet. Either he’s blushing or it’s the heat flush on his pale skin—she suspects both. “I dunno, I wanted to remember to think about half a year ago. Appreciate how amazing these six months have been, and—”
Dante and Fuego, who are standing on either side of Luke, clear their throats loudly. Oh crap, they’re crammed in so close that they’re unable to do anything but listen to this conversation.
Six months ago, Julie would have ducked her head and stood awkwardly in silence for the remainder of her ten. But now? She’s an expo god. Without pause, she grabs Luke’s hand and starts pulling him away. Groaning weakly, he tries to keep his back against the wall. “Please don’t make me go in the sun. I’ve got seven more minutes here.”
“We’re going inside.”
She tugs him in after her, dragging him past the prep cook stations and the dishwashing stations, all the way to…
“The walk-in?”
Julie yanks open the door to the walk-in fridge. Nick, currently swallowed in an oversized coat, hovers over two bins of strawberries, sorting the ripe ones. He jumps when they stumble in.
“Nick, can we sort the strawberries for seven minutes?” Julie asks.
“Uh, aren’t you on carts today?” He gestures at their uniforms.
“Yeah. Can we sort the strawberries for seven minutes?” she repeats, adding more meaning to her voice. When Nick continues to look blank, she waggles her eyebrow.
“OH. Yeah, okay.” Nick lets out a nervous giggle and practically sprints out of the walk-in.
Luke spins around, clearly taking advantage of the cold air rushing over his skin, but then he groans. “I don’t want to sort strawberries. I’m on my break.”
She pushes him gently but firmly against one of the metal shelves, and raises an eyebrow.
“Oh. Nice.” He grins down at her, smirking like this was his idea all along.
She shakes her head and brings her hands up to his cheeks. In her head, it’s tender and romantic, but in reality, his slick skin almost slides her fingers right back off his face. On instinct, he wraps his arms around her, drawing her close. His body still radiates heat and sweat, but the fridge at least makes the proximity bearable.
“You were saying?” she asks.
He grins. “This is gonna be sappy, so prepare yourself.”
“I’m prepared.”
“Like, sweeter than Butterbeer.”
“Careful, you’re going to overhype it.”
His confident grin turns soft and he bumps his warm nose against hers. “I wanted to make sure I spent some of today thinking about the day we met cause six months ago, happiness got redefined for me. That’s worth celebrating, I think.”
And there’s really only one reaction she can have to that. Julie pops onto her toes and tugs his face to hers, bringing their lips together. Her body trembles—less from the kiss and more from the sheer exhaustion running through her dehydrated body—and she almost recoils when sweat transfers from his mouth to hers. His hands press the damp fabric of her shirt closer into her back and, under the fridge air, it’s cool and unpleasant. When his cheeks finally succeed in shaking off her hands, she moves them to his shoulders, feeling the unnatural heat of his skin and the slickness of his sweat through the fabric of his work shirt.
Overall, it is an extremely gross kiss. And if it were with anyone else, she would be absolutely disgusted. But when they’re chased out of the walk-in four minutes later by an indignant Harrison (“haven’t you people heard of health code violations??”), teeth chattering as the sweat freezes on their bodies, she can’t keep the grin off her face.
Apparently the magic’s not gone just yet.
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pearlcaddy · 3 years
Link
Rating: Mature [Suggestive Themes, Language] Tags: Alternate Universe - University, Living!Phantoms AU, Aged-Up Characters, Kisses, Established Relationship, Suggestive Themes, Drabble Collection Series: Part 4 of 100 Bad Days
Summary: Once Julie gets back from Ireland, she and Luke finally carve out some time for long overdue romance.
Drabbles based on tumblr kiss prompts
51 notes · View notes
pearlcaddy · 3 years
Note
#3 from kiss prompts 😘 maybe the julie the vampire slayer ‘verse? (I reread the other shoe to procrastinate studying but now it’s back to work) I love your writing thank you for sharing your talent with us 💜🧡
Aww, thank you so much! I’m flattered you’re enjoying my writing.
3: A breathy demand: “Kiss me” - and what the other person does to respond. (Julie the Vampire Slayer verse)
Warning: Drinking, Angst (whoops)
Now on AO3!
“Everything’s spinning!”
Luke hangs back, watching his Slayer spin in place in the middle of her bedroom as she clutches a near-empty bottle of tequila. “Jules, you’re the one who’s spinning.”
She stops short, peering back at him with an unfairly cute, crinkled up face. “It’s still spinning.”
“Can you give me the bottle?” He holds out a hand.
She yanks it back to her chest, hugging it protectively. “But it’s my friend.”
“Jules.”
She pouts, but tosses it to him, overly aggressive. “Spoil sport. Are all Watchers as unfun as you?”
He shoots her an exasperated look, but she’s too drunk to read it. “Will you lie down please?”
With an indignant huff, she crawls across her bed, beelining for the row of pillows by the headboard. She plucks a stuffed pig from behind the pillows, shooting him a glare like she thinks he’s going to judge her. He holds up his hands, hoping he’s the picture of innocence. Humming suspiciously at him, she flops onto her back and hugs the pig to her chest, fixing her eyes on the ceiling with a heavy sigh.
He hovers by the door, not sure if he should leave. But with her dad and stepmother out of town, there’s no one else to take care of her if she needs anything. And he’s worried.
“Was there a reason you were drinking so much tonight?” She had too many drinks at Alex’s birthday party, and then had snagged the bottle of tequila on her way out, leaving him scrambling after her to drive her home. He’s never seen her like that before.
“I’m a bad friend,” she tells the ceiling, as if it’s an answer.
“How’s that?”
She rolls her head to the side to look at him. Something about the soft directness of her gaze and the gentle yellow light of the bedside lamp glowing in her hair makes his heart catch in his chest. Her face twists up and she pats the bed next to her.
He almost refuses but it doesn’t matter how close he is to her. How many times does he have to remind himself of that when he’s around her? He sits gingerly at the edge of her bed, keeping his body mostly turned away from her.
She slowly wiggles the pig’s ears back and forth. “I’m glad Alex is happy and I’m really glad he found Willie. But sometimes being around them makes—“ Her throat catches, and he realizes what she’s about to say with a lick of dread in his stomach. Yanking her gaze away from him, she directs her next words at the pig. “Makes me feel lonely.”
The knowledge punches him in the heart. A lot of the time, it’s easy to pretend that the way they feel about each other, and the sheer impossibility of it, doesn’t matter. That it’s inevitable, that there’s nothing to be done about it, that there’s no point trying to deny it, that it doesn’t harm either of them to be almost-but-not-quite.
Then there are times like these, when she feels lonely and he can’t hold her hand.
“I’m sorry,” he offers.
She slides her gaze over to him and shakes her head. “Not your fault.” But her eyes sparkle with tears, and it’s a vivid reminder that he should be more responsible. He should cut off… whatever this is.
Then she waggles her hand out for the tequila again, and he’s reminded that she’s definitely too drunk for this conversation. “I’m gonna get you some water, and I’m gonna need you to drink it.”
He starts to get up so he can poof to the kitchen, but she sits bolt upright. “Wait!”
“What?”
“Don’t go,” she begs.
“I’ll be right back. I’m just getting water.”
She shakes her head, tears starting to run down her face. “I hate when you go.”
Fuck. Sad drunk Julie is too honest.
“Jules—“
“Do you miss me when I’m gone?”
Her voice is small and desperate in a way he almost never hears it. In a way that hurts acutely. “You’re too drunk for this conversation.”
She shakes her head again, this time like she’s trying to shake away the alcohol. “It’s not a combertation.”
Oh god. “Yeah, it’s definitely not a combertation.”
“I just want to know. Please, Luke?” She pouts up at him and he melts.
But only enough to offer her an, “I do. Can I go get you some water now?”
“No! You need to fix the loneliness!” She starts to cry again, hugging the pig to her chest like a lifeline.
“How do you want me to do that?” he asks.
Her eyes pull back up to his, and her voice comes out breathy but insistent. “Kiss me.”
For fuck’s sake. He’s the sober one, and now he’s going to cry.
He wants to bounce the thought away. Like it won’t hurt him if he can just refuse to absorb the words. But her eyes are glistening, her lips trembling, her whole body shaking, and that urge to take care of her, to protect this superhero from the world and anything that tries to hurt her, overwhelms him.
So he wraps a finger around the pig’s tail and tugs it gently from her hands. Keeping his eyes on hers, he places a kiss to the pig’s snout, and then he passes it back to her. She clutches the pig like it’s become precious, and brushes its snout against her mouth. But only for a split second, because then she breaks down in tears and buries her head in the pig’s side. On instinct, Luke reaches out for her shoulder, but his hand passes through her.
Intellectually, Luke knows he doesn’t have a heart anymore. But then why can he still feel it breaking?
He poofs to the kitchen. Grabbing a glass and filling it with water, he tries to take the moment away to steady himself and reel back his own tears. It doesn’t really work, but at least he can pull on the mask.
When he poofs back up to her room, he stays clear of the bed, setting the glass on her nightstand. “Julie, can you please drink that?” he whispers.
Without pulling her eyes far from the pig, she fumbles around the nightstand to grab the glass. She wraps both hands around it, like a small child holding a sippy cup, and sloppily pours the water into her mouth. It’s not until the glass is empty that she finally looks up at him, tears still soaked on her cheeks and eyes still glittering. But steadier at least. Breathing more normally.
If she were sober, he would say what he should say. That after this next apocalypse, whatever Caleb’s planning with the magical battery, Luke’s going to contact the Council and request a new Watcher for her. But she isn’t, so he doesn’t.
And the next morning, when she grumbles her way into the training room with sunglasses over her eyes, but a cheerful, ignorant smile on her face, he convinces himself that it can wait.
Just a little while longer.
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