#someone said they wanted julie to die so she could be with luke

[protege-not-protagonist]

Criminal Minds: The Protégé Chapter 6

Ch 6: My Brother's Keeper Pt. 3

Blurb: The team is closing in on the Unsub, but he has taken hostages. As half the team move to intercept, Grace and Luke are tasked with piecing together the Unsub's past.

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Audience: Recomended mature audience for depictions of violence and sexual references

Author's Note: if you see a trigger warning that concerns you, you can scroll to end and I'll have a brief description what happens.

TW: Ableism, kidnapping, child death, murders, crime scene description, conscientious objection to bear firearms. Threats and unwanted erotic attention (IDK how to tag it). Hinted Dog death.

Gold Stallion Inn, Groton, SD Friday July 8:00AM

After going through her files with Rossi and Prentiss, she actually had a good night’s sleep. Dr Boland didn’t have any complaints. Prentiss said that she would contact Dr Harris and see if she wanted an inquest into Nathan’s death. If she answered yes, Prentiss said she would allow Grace to investigate and see if there was a case. Which was good news because she had already kinda started. Garcia sent her some files over last night along with an emoji heavy text to say Dr Reid had asked her to compile them. But that was a task for later. Right now, the Giles family needed them to find their killer.

She hated this part of the investigation, when all they could do was wait for the unsub to “surface.” That was just a nice way of saying they were waiting for someone else to die. Simmons and JJ would report from Rapid City and minute now. But there wasn’t much else to do other than review evidence. The team was milling about interviewing the local PD to see if they could think of anyone who fitted the profile.

Dr Boland had gone to check on the bodies. She had commandeered a room at the local doctor’s practice to clean the bones. Dr Boland would be gone all day, cleaning and reconstructing. The bones wouldn’t be fully clean, but with the time and resources, it was the best they could do without destroying evidence. God, she was glad they had allowed the doctor to tag along. The local doctor and police were going to just straight boil them if she hadn’t shown up. She understood the logic, but good lord, the destruction of evidence boiling without taking tissue samples would have caused was almost more criminal than the murders. But given that they now had identities, the focus was on reconstruction was more so the remaining family could bury them.

Grace’s eyes roved over the case board as she had breakfast. Which was a loose term, cause it was just a cup of earl grey tea from her small collection of tea bags that she took in her go bag. She’d learnt real fast; if a place had tea, don’t drink it. Only God knows how old police precinct tea bags are.

Alvez came up beside her and stared at the board as well.

‘You sleep well?’ He asked.

She raised an eyebrow. Everyone had been asking about her sleep the last couple of cases. Grace wanted to tell them they shouldn’t be worried; it had always been like this. But then Profilers would do what they do best; pry.

‘Mm yeah,’ she answered and turned to him, not passing up a chance that rarely presented itself. ‘So is it true?’

‘Is what true?’

‘That Rossi doesn’t snore?’ she smirked.

‘You know what, Five-O, he actually doesn’t,’ Alvez chuckled.

‘Hmm, guess I can’t really pick it. Do you snore?’ She asked, trying to continue the conversation. It wasn’t too hard for her to talk with Luke, strangely enough. They had little in common, but when he wasn’t ribbing her about her personal life, or conspiring with Tara to set her up with random twenty-something-year-olds they knew, he was good company. Or maybe he just accommodated her awkwardness more than other people. She could never tell.

‘No, I don’t,’ he told her, but smugly added, ‘But I share a bed with someone who does, but I love them too much to care.’

She laughed. You’re not slick, Alvez.

‘Roxy snores? That’s so cute, you have to send me a video, my dog used to snore too, he would sleep bark while he dreamt as well. They’re so funny when they chase stuff while they sleep.’

‘You had a dog?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, my family had one, Spud. He was a… we don’t know what he was, but he was awesome, my best friend.’

He looked surprised. Had she not talked about Spud before? She could have sworn she had. Maybe she avoided the conversation because of what those memories eventually led to. Alvez, raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

‘What?’

‘Sorry, you didn’t strike me as a dog person,’ he shrugged.

‘Woah.’ She shook her head.

‘What?’

‘That is without a doubt the most offensive thing you have ever said to me.’

‘Usually I can pick it. I got more of a cat vibe from you.’ He held his hands up in mock surrender.

‘A cat vibe?’ She scoffed. ‘I take it back. That’s the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard from you.’

‘You hate cats?’

‘I dislike them. I have a like a whole PowerPoint for explaining why, but in general, they’re unpredictable and aloof, not what I’d look for in a companion. Dogs, on the other hand, are a reliable source of affection…’ she trailed off as she saw his expression. ‘Stop profiling me. Look, I know I am an insecure loner, and I don’t care.’

‘Hey, I’m a dog owner too!’ he chuckled, but he looked at her with that familiar face of poorly hidden pity. ‘If you feel lonely Five-O, why don’t you have one?’ he asked.

‘It wouldn’t be fair on them. I’m not home enough now and I… can’t replace Spud. When he died, it really broke my heart. I don’t know if I could do that again.’ That was the understatement of the century. Her hand flew to her right wrist, instinctively massaging it as it ached from an injury that was no longer there. She was back before she could stop herself.

‘And those other girls…’ he snickered. ‘Well, none of them did it right. But, I waited for you. I tipped the police off. I told them where to find the last one to get you back. And I brought you here one last time before we leave cause I want to see what happens when I kill someone… special. I wonder if there’ll be tears this time, I wonder how they’ll taste.’ He walked over the work bench and pick up a meat cleaver. She struggled against the duct tape that held her to the chair. Spud whimpered from the floor of the cage. 'Touch him and I'll kill you, I swear to God!' she spat. He smirked at her, pointedly looking at her restraints as she struggled, 'Really?' She yanked herself forward and thrashed in the chair. She couldn't break the tape. Her brave façade cracked and she realised nothing was going to stop what was going to happen. He grinned widely as she began to plead. 'No, no. Don't, don't, don't do it please, don't!'

‘I get that. I didn’t until I got Roxy. She’s getting old now. It’s going to be a sad day when she goes. They really do have a spot in your heart, you know?’ Luke spoke, bringing her back to the present.

She doubted that he “got it.” What happened to Spud was devastating.

‘I couldn't handle it, besides, Foley would get upset if he had to share my apartment and affection,’ she added, redirecting his attention to a new mystery.

‘Foley?’ He frowned.

She just raised her eyebrows and grinned.

‘Who’s Foley?’

‘He’s taken another family.’ Prentiss announced. The room fell silent. ‘But this time, a victim escaped, the eldest child. JJ just finished interviewing her.’

Alvez and Grace shared a look and rushed over to the laptop, where Prentiss set up the conference. The screen flickered and Garcia appeared.

‘Hello everyone, a good morning it is not. I have the 411 on our newest victims, the Tilsbry family. ‘Right, we have Joshua and Mary Tilsbry with 14-year-old Bella and 11-year-old Alice, who has Spina Bifida. They are from Omaha, Nebraska. Joshua is an accountant, Mary is an editor for a publishing firm, both dirt free, clean financials, loving parents. The girls’ grades are good, um… according to Mary’s Facebook page, they are on a road trip holiday to Montana. They were going to Yellowstone. Seems Alice is a big fan of nature. The trip was to celebrate her birthday. Oh, these pictures are so cute, she got little binoculars. Please find them. I do not want to see more pictures of the crime-scene-y nature.’

‘Bella Tilsbry’s the one who escaped and alerted police, her aunt is on her way to Rapid City to act as her Guardian, but gave permission for the interview to go ahead,’ Prentiss continued, relaying JJ’s information, ‘The family fueled up this morning close to their hotel. Bella went to the restroom, when she came back, went to open the van door and said a man came from behind, grabbed her and jumped in the back seat with Alice and held a gun to her. Bella managed to get out of his grip and ran into the store to raise the alarm, but her family’s car sped off. She says her younger sister is wheelchair bound and the family car is quite distinctive. Garcia, do we update on the model?’

‘Yes, Simmons told me the make and model. It’s the same car Simmons’ family has. It can do about 400 miles before it needs more gas and a fuel station receipt confirms the car had a full tank when it was hijacked,’ Garcia added.

Grace grabbed a compass and scaled it using the map’s legend. Placing the centre in Rapid City, she drew a wide circle on the map. ‘Okay, so his is our range as the crow flies, but highways tend to go around large natural landmarks like the Missouri river here, and this mountain range over here. So, we can retract it a bit by, uh, give or take, 50 miles.’ She drew another circle. ‘So this outer ring here is the maximum distance before he has to refuel. It’s risky to do that with three hostages. There’s too much opportunity for one to escape. Plus Bella got away, that will shake his confidence. It’s more likely he’ll stop somewhere before this zone. Garcia, do we have a last known heading? This guy can easily get interstate. Rapid City is close enough to the Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana state borders.’

‘Yes, thankfully Rapid City has more CCTV than Groton. Last time the car was seen was 7:30, and they were eastbound on route 90.’

Grace frowned. ‘That’s heading back the way he came. If he is coming back here, he’ll take the 14, the 212 and the 37.’ She looked back at the map. ‘He can get here on a single tank easily. It’s around the 350 mile mark.’

‘How long until he gets here?’ Prentiss asked.

Grace opened and shut her mouth in panic. She didn’t know.

‘Uh…’ she pulled out her phone, ‘According to google maps, and if he drives the speed limit-’ That’s dumb, as if an unsub would drive the speed limit. ‘-Um, if he was in the outer reaches of Rapid City at seven-ish, he’ll be here in like four hours.’

‘Do we have a description of the unsub from Bella?’ Rossi asked. ‘JJ had Bella sit with a Police sketch artist, they just finished. State Troopers have issued it state wide, the press will show it in the next bulletin.’

‘Garcia, send us that sketch. Send it and a description to the surrounding state’s law enforcement, too. We need to hedge our bets. But if he is returning here, there’s a reason, he has to be local.’ Prentiss observed.

A sketch appeared on the screen. A stock built, young white man, with a prominent brow ridge, dark eyes and short light hair.

‘Look like anyone you know?’ Dr. Lewis asked the police present.

‘No,’ Deputy Mitchell shrugged.

‘Hold on, can you print that?’ the sheriff asked. The team pricked up at that.

The printer whirled, and Alvez passed the paper to him. ‘You see something, sheriff?’

‘I’m not sure, you got a pen?’ He asked the team. Rossi passed him a one from his jacket pocket. The sheriff scribbled a beard on the face and held it up to the deputy. ‘That look like Andy Phillips to you?’

‘Well damn, it does. But he’d be, what, 55 now?’ The deputy frowned.

‘Yeah, he and Trish moved away about 12 years ago. But they had a son, Brodey. He’d be around 25 now. I don’t know all the details but, Trish had an unexpected pregnancy with complications. They to moved outta town to get better care.’ The Sheriff said.

‘Garcia-’ Prentiss began. ‘Already on it and… I have a giant red flag. If Brodey isn’t our guy, I’ll eat my mouse pad.’

‘Hang on, I’ll try to patch JJ, Simmons and Avery in.’ Prentiss dialled the conference button. Avery picked up his phone first.

‘They’re with me. You got a suspect?’ he said, reading Prentiss’ mind.

‘Alright Garcia, what do you have?’

‘Brodey Phillips, 26, born to Patricia and Andrew Phillips in Groton. Early school records are relatively okay. Brodey was a bit rough with his classmates, but nothing too out of the ordinary. But then moved with his family to Minneapolis in 2010 when he was 14. Trish gave birth to his baby brother, Jeremy. He was born with cerebral palsy. Around the same time in school, for Brodey, we have many behavioural complaints, his grades plummeting. Then in 2013 there’s a suspension for, uh… pushing a girl in a wheelchair into the school’s pool. He claimed it was a prank gone wrong. I personally would call it attempted murder. But fast forward he graduates, has multiple jobs as a repairman. Short stints all of them. I’ve got drug charges, DUI’s, theft, and then 2 years prison time for assault. But the real red flags are raised in 2018.

‘So on the 20th June, his parents went on a road trip holiday that was supposed to be for two weeks. They leave 9-year-old Jeremy with Andy’s mother in Aberdeen 20 minutes from Groton. And then poor little Jeremy, goes missing from his Grandma’s house at 4pm on the 23 of June 2018. Jeremy was never found. The case is cold. Now, after being released from prison on the 22nd of June, Brodey shows up out of the blue, appearing in Aberdeen PD’s reports, trying to help his parents through the ordeal. Seems like he is a changed man. He was enrolled in rehab, and had a steady job, until Andy committed suicide in 2019. And pretty much instantly, Brodey lands himself back in prison for armed robbery. He got out two months ago.’

‘Do we have a current address?’ Prentiss asked.

‘No.’

‘What about his mother’s address?’

‘Trish lives with her oh… no, sorry, lived with her mother-in-law, in Aberdeen. Trish died last week in a car accident.’ Garcia reported with a wince, ‘Yeah, I just sent the address to your devices.’

‘That’s our stressor. Brodey gets rid of his brother and his parents still don’t give him the attention he wants, and they both die before they can fulfil his desire. His mother dying was his last chance of getting that attention from his biological family,’ Dr Lewis observed.

‘Avery, can you put together a detailed brief and have it issued to all the police counties along Route 14, 121 and 37, along with instructions to create road blocks? Emphasise that this is an amber alert, he has a child hostage.’ Prentiss ordered.

‘I’ll have it done before you can name all those counties,’ He replied.

‘Right, Alvez, Matthews, go to the grandma’s house to see if you can get anything from her. We need to find where Brodey has been living since he got out. JJ, Avery, Simmons, as soon as Bella’s aunt arrives, get back here and bring them with you. The rest of you get organised with locals. We need to stake out every road into this town.’

-----

Rita Phillip’s residence, Aberdeen, SD 8:56 AM

The house was relatively small, old, with blue flaky paint surrounded by a rusted chain-link fence. Grace peered around at the neighbourhood spotting a few nosey neighbours darting behind closed curtains.

‘Mrs Phillips? Are you home?’ Alvez called out, knocking on the door.

‘Mrs Phillips, Rita? We’re with the FBI. We just want to ask some questions!’

There was no answer or movement.

Grace sighed, ‘I’ll go round back-’

‘How about the one of us with the gun goes round the back huh?’ He patted her shoulder. Unintentionally, she cringed away, turning her back to the front door as she watched him jog down the steps of the porch.

‘Oh please, like an 83-year-old is a threat. What is she, a Shaolin monk?’ she rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not defenceless, you know!’ she called after him.

‘Yeah, pass your damn certification and then maybe we’ll believe you!’ He called back smugly and disappeared around the side of the house.

‘You don’t know what I’m capable of, Alvez.’ She muttered to herself and kicked her shoes across the weathered decking.

Grace knew very well what she was capable of. That was why she didn’t carry a gun. She didn’t own one. She didn’t want one. Her standard issue hand gun was unloaded, in a lockbox in her desk draw back at the office, and there it would remain until she needed to fail another certification.

Not carrying a gun hadn’t been a problem with CSI. Back then, she had said she was a Conscientious Objector, and she gave her reason, and it went on her file. That was the end of the matter. It wasn’t a problem until the BAU.

To the Brass, the Advanced Forensic Unit in CASMIRC was the benthic level of the FBI. She didn’t mind that higher ups saw it that way. It meant they often went unsupervised, which was how they did their best work. But the BAU was under a lot more scrutiny. It was higher on the Brass’ radar. And unfortunately, the higher you got in the FBI, the more political it was. Some of the Big Brass didn’t take kindly to ‘Conchies’ in their ranks. She doubted Prentiss cared, but people above her certainly did. Only last November, a counter terrorism squad agent was ‘Indefinitely Suspended’ for not participating in a raid that ordered lethal force without negotiation. Most Conchies had gone quiet about their objections after that.

In the field she found ways around it, carrying a high power probe taser when she knew she was going into a hostile situation. Most times, unsubs couldn’t tell the difference when she pointed it at them. She was more than capable in hand-to-hand, which surprised any unsubs that tried it. But if there was a shootout, she did her best to find cover and count the unsub’s rounds, know when they reloaded, and think of a way out. And she would admit, she was bad at counting and pretty much useless in that situation.

At this stage, she’d never make SSA, but she could live with that. An agent incompetent with firearms was easier to create loopholes and excuses for than a conscientious objector who’s on file reason for objecting was; guns make it too easy to kill people.

The BAU screening process required a recommendation, specialisation, aptitude test, and one of the most thorough psych-evals there was. If that little tid bit had still been in her personnel file and paired with her past when they did her profile; forget not making top candidate. She would have been kicked out of the FBI into a rubber room.

So, before applying, Grace rescinded her Objection to remove it from her file. Then, once she had been accepted onto the team, she threw her first certification. Now all she had to do was keep failing. A bit embarrassing, but it worked. It seemed on brand for poor, clumsy, silly, Grace who can’t tell left from right without looking at her hands making an L shape with her fingers.

‘Five-O! I’ve got a suspicious-looking garden bed here!’ Luke called out.

‘Yesss!’ she fist pumped quietly. Now they had probable cause. And this was her favourite part. She took a step back and turned to the side. ‘FBI! STEP BACK FROM THE DOOR!’ She shouted the instructions to the empty house. She pivoted her hip and let her leg fly, slamming the ball of her foot with precision right above the knob. The doorframe splintered. The door flew open, smacking into the wall. She entered the room with a satisfied grin and then told herself she probably should tone down her excitement as the metallic foul stench hit her.

She followed it to the lounge room. Brown claggy blood was pooled on the rug. She sighed despondently as her eyes tracked blood spatter up the wall and onto the ceiling.

Grace pulled out some gloves from her bag and walked through to the kitchen and the back door, noting the size 11 men’s sneakers by the door. Definitely not Rita’s. ‘I’ve got blood on the rug in here. I think it’s safe to bet it’s Rita’s,’ she opened the door to the backyard and glanced over the garden bed Luke was pacing around. Too right it looked suspicious; there was a literal bloody slipper poking out of it. He didn’t even bury his own grandma properly. Obviously, the familial tie meant nothing to him. How arrogant was this unsub that he didn’t even bury his victims well enough to conceal them?

‘I’ll call in local forensics, but I think Jeremy’s been here since he got out, there’s men’s shoes by the door, and it’s pretty safe to say Rita was killed in the house. There’s pooling on the rug, straight line spatter up the wall and on the ceiling.‘ Grace said.

Alvez gave her a nod as he approached the back door. ‘So she was beaten by a blunt object swinging repeatedly in wide overhead arcs?’

She nodded back, impressed. ‘You’ll put me out of a job yet.’

‘Wouldn’t that be nice?’ He joked and clapped her shoulder as he passed her. She unintentionally jumped at the contact. ‘Right, I’ll go to the basement, you take the attic?’

Grace stiffened. ‘What?’

He turned back to her, ‘Well, if we’re trying to get info from this guy’s childhood, that kind of stuff moms keep packed away. So, if you want to look at the past… you go to the attic or basement.’

‘I meant, why do I get the attic?’ she bristled, suspecting the answer.

He winced. ‘Look, lately you’ve- I didn’t mean- I thought… you know with the dreams you’ve been having after the Robinson case you might prefer searching the-’

She stopped him right there. ‘Oh, that’s right! Sorry, I forgot, I flip out every time I go down a flight of stairs,’ she bit back sarcastically.

It wasn’t basements or stairs that did that. The smell of Irish Spring soap put her back there.

But he didn’t need to know that. She wasn’t weak. She could do this job.

‘Grace…’

‘I am okay, Alvez. Actually, I am more than okay. Nothing happened. We weren’t tortured or made to do awful things to each other. It was basically a holiday. So, I’m fine. It was ages ago. I got over it.’

Alvez gave her a concerned look, and that just made her more agitated.

‘Six months isn’t that long ago. Last week when you had that nightmare, I just want you to know that we-’

‘You take the attic.’ She said sharply as she marched into the kitchen.

The Robinson case shouldn’t have shaken her as much as it did. Everyone in this team had gotten over way worse. So would she, and she had. She’d had it far worse before. The Robinsons case was a cakewalk.

Scared? Afraid? Absolutely not. Ashamed was more accurate. It was an embarrassment that a profiler would fall for a ruse like that, even if they had only been on the job for two months. One thing she knew for certain: It would never happen again. It was embarrassing to have her colleagues think that case was what she had nightmares about. To think that she couldn’t handle the aftermath. She’d show him, she’d show them all; she wasn’t weak.

She ripped open the door that led to the basement stairs and yanked the pull cord. The dim light bulb sputtered on.

Behind her, Alvez called after her, ‘I’m not saying-’

‘Can’t hear you.’ Grace called back childishly and descended the stairs.

Well done, Grace. Beautifully handled. A person who was ‘Fine’ would totally behave like that. She ripped her phone out and called local law enforcement to alert them to the scene. Above her, she heard stairs creak as Alvez made his way up to the attic.

She froze. The wooden groaning of stairs. The same sound she heard three times a day back in that basement. Then she would watch the metal locked door waiting. Would it be a meal, another test, or death?

But it meant nothing now. She was okay now. She’d had it worse. Way worse. Fine. She was fine. She counted her breaths as the operator connected her to the right department.

---------

10:40AM

After over an hour of shining a flashlight through cardboard boxes and scrounging through shelves of old tools and unused appliances, she had nothing noteworthy to add to the case. Rita’s late husband seemed really into model planes. There was also a disused wheelchair and two pairs of crutches that must have belonged to Jeremy. That was all she got.

Local CSI had arrived by now. She watched the hazmat suited bodies swarm around the lounge room from the hallway. She hesitated at the bottom of stairs, not quite ready to face Alvez after her meltdown. It was bound to happen one day.

Guess this was the case for it. It was the perfect storm. Brodey having it out for his siblings, Alvez talking about Spud, Rita buried in her backyard so carelessly, the Robinson case, Nathan Hariss, Honolulu for thanksgiving… Everything was raw. She was trying her best, but today, everything just seemed to put her back there. She massaged her wrist for the second time today as she watched the CSI team roll up the bloody rug.

Blood. Blood was a funny thing, it spread a lot more than the movies depicted. It got everywhere.

‘Maybe for once you'll feel what they felt you bastard,' she snarled in his ear. He thrashed under her uselessly. He sucked in shallow laboured breaths. They didn’t have much time. She could hear the sirens now. Blood gushed over her hands as she dug the razor into his throat. His cold eyes went wide with fear and pain. Good she thought. As her hand reached for a roll of duct tape on the floor next to his head she leaned close to his face. 'Do try to keep still,’ she parroted his words at him.

She shuddered. Better to be in the Robinson’s basement than to be back there.

Searching for anything to pull her out of the memory her eyes drifted along the framed photos that lined the hallway. One caught her eye. She lifted it off the wall and climbed the stairs. ‘Alvez!’

‘Yeah, up here!’ he called from a ladder above her. She climbed up and saw him hunched over a stack of photo albums.

‘Is there a photo album for 2010?’

‘Yeah? I think these are Tricia’s.’ He passed her a scrapbook. She flipped through the pages. ‘It’s weird. I’ve seen heaps of photos of Jeremy, but there’s not as many of Brodey, like less than ten baby pictures. Simmons could fill an entire book for each kid with just one month’s worth of baby photos. Without their side of the story, I can’t tell if they really did favour Jeremy.’

Grace shook her head. ‘I don’t think so, Brodey was born pre-affordable-digital camera. Jeremy was born when digital photos were dirt cheap to print. Brodey probably has just as many photos that never got developed. They’re probably in a box somewhere. It’s the same with me. I don’t have a lot of baby photos, but by the time my brother and sister came along, my parents had a digital camera. Trish has scrap-booked merit certificates and school work pre and post 2010. And in the hall, the grandparents have a framed graduation photo of Brodey. Both parents are in the photo, all dressed up for it. I doubt Brodey’s warped perception is actually a reality.’ She stopped on a promising photo and passed the framed one she had to Alvez as she slid the photo from the album out of its plastic sleeve.

‘You have siblings?’ He asked as he studied the photo in his hands.

‘Fraternal twins.’ She answered and read the description on the back of the photo. 'Do you?'

'What?'

'Have siblings?' she asked.

'I have a younger half-sister,' he answered, confirming what she had already deduced. ‘Is this of Andy?’ Alvez asked her, gesturing to the yellowed photo she had handed him of a little boy and his father holding a golf caddy almost as tall as him. He then sighted the same golf caddy in the corner of the attic.

Grace held up a similar photo of an older Andy with an arm around a disinterested teenager and a familiar background.

‘Groton Golf course, Brodey becomes a big brother, July 3rd, 2010,’ Grace read the description out loud. ‘I think the golf course is more significant than we originally thought. It’s not just a secluded place. It’s where he got told his mum was pregnant.’

‘So he kills them there because it’s like he undoes that moment. He can’t go on the road trip with his parents till he kills the surrogates where they first came into existence to him.’ Luke concluded.

She flipped through a few more pages in a later scrapbook. Something else stuck her. Jeremy was in a wheelchair until in the later photographs of him. Then he was on crutches for his 7th birthday.

She stood up suddenly, ‘Basement.’ She said. Alvez got up after her. ‘I saw—I think-I can’t believe I missed it.’ She sped down the stairs and Alvez tried to catchup. ‘I’m an idiot. I knew something was missing. It’s been bugging me since-’

‘Woah Grace, slow down. What?’

‘The crutches!’

‘What crutches?’ ‘Exactly, the hotel manager said the Tyler had crutches, but where are they? Now the police report for Jeremy’s disappearance mentions he went missing and his wheelchair was still at home. But he was walking around on crutches, so he must have had them with him when he went missing.’

‘Okay?’ Luke followed her.

‘If Jeremy went missing with his crutches-’ she rounded the shelving unit and pointed to the two pairs of child sized crutches leaning against the wall, ‘-where did these come from?’

‘Oh God,’ Alvez remarked as he walked up and inspected them, one pair of crutches old and dusty, the others were newer and engraved with the initials T.G. Tyler Giles. ‘These are the sickest trophies I’ve ever seen.’

‘He’s more sadistic than we thought. We got to tell the others. Brodey needs to kill at the golf course before he comes here to dump the trophy and start the road trip he feels he should have been on.’ Luke pulled out his phone and called Prentiss as they thundered up the stairs and rushed out the front door.

‘He’s going to the golf course. It’s part of the ritual.’ Prentiss sucked in a breath, ‘Okay, I’ll try to divert our forces back there…’ Luke and Grace shared a concerned glance at each other.

‘Divert? What happened?’ Alvez asked.

‘I’ve been trying to call but, service has been spotty, and I was just on a call with JJ. Rossi, Tara and I are half way to investigate a hit and run at a checkpoint an hour away. The assailant was in a car with a similar description, had hostages. He tried to run the check point. He ran over an officer, but Local PD apprehended them. He matches Brodey’s description.’ There was a dial tone sound over the speaker. ‘Hang on, Garcia is calling,’ Prentiss told them.

As soon as Garcia joined the call, she blurted a sentence they really didn’t want to hear. ‘Guys, it’s not him. I’m sorry, I was working as fast as I can but the police were taking forever to upload their evidence. It’s not him. But the good news, our check point caught some random sicko who happened to be trafficking a mother and daughter today. So there’s that.’

A dread filled moment of silence passed. Alvez and Grace ripped open their car’s door and jumped in. Alvez fired up the sirens and sped out of the driveway.

‘If it wasn’t him, the checkpoints may have spooked him. He may try a back road.’ Alvez said. She did the maths. Brodey would be in Groton within half an hour or could even be there now. They were closer, they would get there first. Grace reached into the back seat for their kevlar vests.

‘We’ll turn around. I’ll get everyone I can over there.’ Prentiss ordered over the phone.

‘We’re on our way. You’ll meet us there. Hopefully, we’ll get there before him.’ Alvez said.

‘Prentiss, you may also want to get Dr Boland and her team on standby.’ Grace added as she remembered the thought that had occurred to her in the attic.

‘What for?’ Luke and Prentiss asked at the same time.

‘An excavation.’ she said grimly. ‘Alvez, you know that groundsman you talked to who was really into his lawn?’

‘Yeah?’ He frowned at her.

‘Did he mention a patch that was particularly troublesome?’ she asked.

‘He did. He said the Rough around the 7th hole had a mind of its own…’ His face fell as he realised what she was saying.

‘I think I might have an idea where Jeremy disappeared to.’

--------

Next Chapter

Thank you for reading. Also, Sorry to introduce so much stuff about Grace's past but not explaining a lot. I promise it'll makes sense. It may see convoluted but we will see more of these two events (the Robinson case that happened earlier in the year and a big event that happened when she was young) in later chapters. But let me know any theories you have? Also try and Guess what kind of pet Foley is, I'd love to hear what kind of pet you think Grace has. If you love it, or even just like it, please leave a comment and/or like it, it is much appreciated and it really motivates me.

TWs:

Ablesim: this is the big one. Unsub is targeting physically disabled people and uses awful language to describe disabled people. It's never justifiable at all to hate like that. unsub is horrible and delusional. Be warned for ick factor.

kidnapping: The unsub has abducted a whole family in this, but holds a child hostage and the team sas to negotiate out of it. but also Grace has flash back to her own experiences which leads to...

Threats and unwanted erotic attention: in Grace's past the Unsub is really creepy and it is hinted that he has an erotic fixation with Grace. Scene is just icky and uncomfortable but no actual actions of that nature are depicted.

Hinted Dog death: It is implied that the Unsub from Grace's past killed her dog in front of her.

Child death: sadly the victims are kids. also hinted that the unsub has done this before to his own sibling

murder: non graphic, but there is another body found, it's an elderly lady.

Violence and gore: Grace remembers fighting back against the unsub, it is uncertain whether she killed him in the process. but there is blood.

conscientious objection to bear firearms: Grace does not carry a gun, she is a conscientious objector for personal reasons that relates to her past. Conscientious objectors, are people who are in militant or law enforcement roles that refuse to kill or carry weapons for religious, or personal beliefs. This most often means they don't carry guns or are in non-combatant roles. But although she has the right to object, doesn't mean everyone respects that. The case I mention about the agent who was suspended from the FBI, is based on real events. I encourage people to research the history around Conscientious objectors, is very interesting, because it use to be a offence you could be court martialled over.

[arcaneprism]

Nursing the Sick One - Julie & Kayla

Number 9!! What better time to write about sick people than when you’re sick yourself?

Anyways I’ve been thinking about Kayla

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Kayla being ill wasn’t a regular occurrence. Generally, she was one of the last of them to fall sick, if at all. That, coupled with her studying to get into nursing, usually made her the unintentional caretaker in their household for when all of them fell sick. Julie wondered how she coped. Because Julie was in her role right now and she wanted to die.

She loved her housemates, truly she did but good lord they were really making her think that they should be giving Kayla presents every time someone fell sick. She kind of wished that Kayla wasn’t one of the sick ones right now so that she could have some help but hearing Kayla’s croaky ‘come in’ when she knocked on her door had her changing her mind quickly. She more than deserved the break she was getting.

Not that being ill was a break but given how stretched thin she had been with assignments and placement and Dirty Candi practises, it was probably as close as she was going to get.

“How are you feeling?”

All Julie got from the pile of blankets was a pained groan.

“I have soup.”

Another groan. Julie frowned behind her mask, putting the soup aside to poke and prod at the pile of blankets until Kayla finally emerged from her blanket nest.

“Come on, up we go.” Julie urged, fussing around Kayla’s complaints until she managed to force herself to sit up. She looked groggy, eyes drooping as if she was about to fall asleep again, and her usual smile replaced by the angriest scowl Julie had ever seen on her.

“I’m not hungry,” she grumbled, looking somewhat like a disgruntled cat and Julie had to hold back a laugh.

She didn’t take no for an answer though, having learned from Alex who had nearly bitten her head off when she tried to get him to eat and then almost ended up crying because he was hungry a little later on. Unlike Alex who acted like a toddler when Julie tried to feed him, Kayla was compliant, swallowing down the soup whenever Julie spooned it into her mouth.

She managed to make Kayla eat half the bowl before Kayla finally had enough, pushing away the soup when Julie tried to get her to eat another spoonful.

“Are you going back to sleep now?” Julie asked when Kayla had finished up as much water as she could tolerate.

Kayla shook her head, settling back down into her pillows in a still upright position, “Have to wait 30 minutes.”

Oh. 

Right. That was a thing. Maybe Julie shouldn’t have let Luke flop back into bed right after he had eaten. No matter. She’ll check on him later to make sure he didn’t die in his sleep or something.

“Do you want company till then?”

Kayla tilted her head, taking a moment to think through the fuzz in her brain before she finally nodded. Julie smiled and took a perch at the end of her bed.

“How’s playing nurse going?”

Julie wasn’t sure what kind of face she made, but it managed to pull a laugh out of Kayla and she was more than happy to take that as a win.

“That bad?”

Julie thought of Reggie who was so quiet and resigned to his sickness that if he died in his sleep, Julie probably wouldn’t realise till the next meal time, then of Nick who had become so whiny Julie had nearly strangled him, and then to Bobby and Flynn who both of them somehow wanted to be productive and needed to be sat on until they actually took a rest. (God, she was grateful that Carrie was travelling right now, she’d rather die than have to take care of a sick Carrie as well).

“At least we have Willie.” Julie finally said as a response. Willie had been an angel. The best patient in the house. Even if he was so delirious that half of what he was saying didn’t make sense. But hey, he at least listened and didn’t whine too much.

“Remind me to take you out to dinner when you’re well again. You deserve it for having to deal with us being like this so often.” Julie added.

Kayla only laughed.

[alexmercersfannypack0]

kenny better be getting season two ideas from tumblr and not tiktok because that place is scary.

[daintyduck99]

100 compliments prompts: "You have really cute freckles." for the Reggie ship of your choice, because we all die for his freckles.

Julie takes a deep breath and squeezes her stuffed rabbit for good luck. 

She can do this. She has to do this. 

He’s gonna say yes, Flopsy, she thinks as she buries her face in his fur, hoping that it’s true.

If he doesn’t, Carrie might make good on her word. She always wants what Julie wants, and sometimes she just takes, and she really could steal his first kiss. Julie has to talk to him before Show and Tell because that’s as long as Carrie had said she’d wait. 

She’s been twisted up about it all week, like her tummy’s tied in a knot. It tightens at the idea of Carrie swooping in, though, and it feels like she might actually throw up, which is the worst, most embarrassing thing that could happen at school. Especially today! So she has to do it. 

The bell hasn’t rung to call them inside, yet. There’s still time. Flynn gives her a thumbs up, and Carrie raises her eyebrows in that well, get on with it, fraidy-cat way of hers. Julie swallows. 

She clutches Flopsy a little tighter, tosses her braid over her shoulder, and marches over to the tree that Reggie and his friends are chasing each other around. They freeze when they see her, except Luke’s going too fast to stop. He tumbles into Reggie, knocking them both to the ground. 

Giggles erupt from behind her as they scramble to their feet, and she frowns, as do Alex and Bobby. She hadn’t wanted Flynn and Carrie to follow her! Luke gives Julie a wide grin, though, slinging his arm around Reggie’s shoulders, and Reggie gawks at her with round eyes and red cheeks. There’s a leaf in his hair, and her irritation melts away as she lets out a giggle, too.

She can’t help it, okay? He’s super cute. 

Her gaze wanders over to the base of the tree, where the boys have piled their backpacks. Whatever they brought is probably in there. Reggie makes a small sound, though, and her eyes fly back to him. He bites his lip and twists his fingers together. 

“Hi. Did you wanna play with us?” 

Bobby protests, but Julie shakes her head before he can say too much. Reggie’s face falls. 

“Oh—” 

“You have really cute freckles!” 

Everyone’s looking at her now. She squeaks and buries her face in Flopsy’s fur as her ears go hot. That’s not at all what she meant to say. He’d just looked so sad that it made her chest hurt and she wanted it to stop. It’s not right for someone as—as sunny as him to be so sad. Reggie should never be sad. He always shines whenever he’s all smiley. 

“Ooooooh,” Luke drawls, “careful, Reg, I told ya. Now you’re gonna get cooties!”

Flynn grumbles. “Cooties aren’t real, dummy. I don’t even know why girls chase boys like you.”

Julie hesitantly peeks through Flopsy’s ears as Luke and Flynn draw the others into their fight. Reggie’s still staring at her, but he doesn’t look sad, anymore. He looks bright. She creeps closer, hardly daring to look, hugging Flopsy to her chest. Reggie's eyes are so green. They sparkle.

“Do you really—think they’re cute?”

“Yeah,” she admits, slowly emerging from Flopsy, “I think you’re really cute, and funny, and bubbly, and I do wanna kiss you. I don’t know about the cooties thing, but I had to ask before some other girl tried to do it, only I haven’t asked and I’m doing it all backwards—”

“Why didn’t you just do it and run away?” He tilts his head. “Isn’t that what always happens? I never thought it would happen to me but it’s happened to Luke, and Tyler and—I dunno, that’s just always how I see it happen. I’m glad you didn’t run, though.” 

She tries a wobbly smile. “Mami says you should always ask. She doesn’t let anyone hug or kiss me or anything unless I wanna. So—can I kiss you? Do you wanna try?” 

“Yeah.” He gives her a lopsided grin that makes her heart race like a rabbit. “I wanna.”

Maybe she already has cooties from this, and that’s what people mean when they call it that. Either way, she wants to know, and she squeezes Flopsy for courage as she leans in, close enough to count all of his freckles. 

While it’s Flopsy that she brought for class, she swears it’s his smile that she’s showing for the rest of the day, so big and bright that it hurts her cheeks. 

[missmitchieg]

Hey, Don't Die

It started out as a joke.

It was always supposed to be a joke.

The boys weren't supposed to die on him. But he forgot to say it. It wasn't his fault! He got distracted by the pretty girl in front of him and their favorite little inside joke just slipped his mind. So he didn't say it, and now the boys were gone.

Or maybe it was his fault they were gone. Sure, maybe it was a coincidence that every time he did say it, they didn't die on him and the one time he didn't say it, they went and died. Or maybe it was some weird fortune or good luck charm.

Whatever it was, Bobby didn't think he would ever be able to escape that positively heart wrenching, soul crushing guilt of how he should have said it, or how he should have been there to run and call for an ambulance.

The first time he said it was to Luke. It was a joke. It was funny. Luke made a comment at the end of the day that he was going to his parents' house to sleep because his bed didn't give him that neck crick that his couch did.

With a laugh, Bobby patted Luke's shoulder and gave a little squeeze. "Alright. Don't die out there, though."

Luke cackled at that and shook his head, giving him a half hug. "I'll try, buddy. Love you."

"I love you, too."

They kept that joke going for a couple of weeks.

The next one he made the joke to was Alex. It was still a joke. It was still funny. Alex was just going to make a quick pizza run and come back.

"Be quick. Don't die." Bobby told him.

Alex smiled and ruffled Bobby's hair the way he knew he hated, waving as he walked out. "I won't, bro."

"You better not. Love you."

"Love you."

Then came Reggie. It was still a joke. It was still funny. They were on a 'friend date', as Reggie called it, to the aquarium. Bobby, Luke and Alex all wanted to watch the great whites in the shark tunnel, but Reggie wanted to go look at the jellyfish in the opposite direction of the sharks.

"Alright. We'll meet back up by the clown fish, then. Don't die alone in there." Bobby smiled and patted Reggie's cheek.

"I won't, Bobins." Reggie chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, giving his best friend a sweet smile. "Love you."

"I love you, too."

It had sort of become their thing after a while. One or two or all of them would go off somewhere without 'their Bobble' and Bobby would always, always tell them, whether it was with a smile or a faux serious look on his face. "Don't die."

Then came that day. July twenty second, nineteen ninety five. Bobby had been distracted by a very pretty girl with curly hair and sparkly eyes and had just forgotten to tell his boys his usual comment of "Hey. Don't die out there. I love you.", so he hadn't said it. And then he got a call. A call to tell him that his band, his best friends, his boys, were gone forever.

He was horrified when he realized what had happened.

What he didn't say.

What he didn't do.

He had broken down about it to his parents, who promptly suggested that he go to therapy about it. Something about how it wasn't healthy to think this way and he did nothing wrong and he couldn't have known what would happen and he needed to talk to someone about it. So he did. He went and he talked about the boys and how it hurt that they were gone and they were never coming back. But he never told his therapist about their thing, about what he would say to them when they left his sight.

He had also managed to become a rock star by means of some sleazy contract he hadn't been given the chance to read properly giving ownership of Luke's music to some company and Bobby had been forced to record the songs and pass them off as his own and keep the true writer a secret.

It was fine. Luke was gone. He wasn't ever going to find out what the contract had roped Bobby into. So he did it. Just not without a few breakdowns in between song recordings and e-mails to his therapist about emergency sessions. But it was fine.

So he went on like that, taking his boys' music and recording it in between breakdowns and therapy sessions and becoming a mega famous rock star, just like he had managed to convince himself his boys would want him to.

He grew up and had a kid. A little girl named Carrie, who was his absolute little pride and joy. A little girl who was never going to live in a garage, or eat out of the back of a beat up car, or get food poisoning, or anything that could harm her. She was going to have only the best health care and knowledge he could buy and teach her and she wasn't going to die.

The first time he had told her the thing, she was a little toddler, going to day care for the first time. She had been excited to go to day care and meet new friends to play with and he had been a wreck thinking of all the things that could happen if he didn't remember to tell her. So he made a mental note to not forget before he walked out the door to go to work.

He had walked inside with a little curly haired toddler on his hip and, with a smile, said to his little girl: "Carrie, love, daddy's gonna go to work now. You're gonna stay here a while and I'll pick you up when I'm done working. I love you. Don't die here."

Carrie had giggled at that and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Love you, daddy!" She said before he let her down and she ran off to bang on a brightly colored toy drum.

Bobby winced as he felt his heart clench in his chest at the sight of his little girl playing a drum, just like his old best friend. He bit his lip as he clenched and unclenched his fists and walked out to the car to go to the studio, where he would try and write a song as good as Luke's old music again.

No matter how hard he tried to channel the guitarist, he just couldn't. He couldn't write like Luke, because he wasn't Luke. And Luke wasn't there to help him. Wasn't there to chuckle and suggest a clever slant rhyme, or a metaphor that would work, or a cool melody that sounded like something Luke would write, but also that Bobby, no, that Trevor could play in his sleep.

He groaned in frustration as he and his team of four other writers just couldn't come to an agreement about which rhyme scheme to use for this song, and kept glancing at the clock until it was the time to go and pick up his baby from day care.

He walked inside and looked around for Carrie, hoping, praying that saying the thing worked, that he hadn't lost his little girl like he lost his boys. "Care-bear? Baby?"

"Daddy!" Carrie giggled and got up from where she was sitting on the floor watching a little curly haired girl slam her fingers against toy piano keys, running up to him. "Hi, daddy!"

Oh, thank God. "Carrie, there you are! My little girl! Oh!" He cooed as he scooped her up into his arms and hugged her tightly to his chest, pressing kisses to the top of her tiny, giggling head.

"Aww!"

"That's so sweet."

"Oh, what a good daddy!"

Trevor looked up and chuckled, shaking his head. "I just love my little girl so much. Come on, baby. Let's go home. We're having that yummy pasta you like for dinner."

"Yay!"

After that, saying the thing became his and Carrie's thing, just like it was his and his boys' thing. He would drop Carrie off somewhere or Carrie would be on her way to the bus stop to go to school, and Trevor would send her off with an "I love you. Don't die.", and his daughter would smile and salute.

"Daddy, I'm going to my friend, Julie's!"

"Ok! Have fun and don't die! Love you!"

"Dad, I'm going to school!"

"Don't die at school! Love you!"

"Dad, can I go to Flynn and Julie's sleepover on Saturday?"

"Sure, just don't die."

And they went on like that for years.

Carrie always thought it was 'just one of dad's funny quirks'. An 'overprotective dad' thing. Sort of like Marlin from that cute kids movie, Finding Nemo. Carrie would go somewhere without him for a period of time, and Trevor would worry endlessly until she came back, completely unharmed. Then came the hugs and kisses and comments of "There's my favorite girl!" from him.

Little did she know just how much her father was suffering. Little did she know just how worried he was when she would leave, how relieved he was when it sank in that she was fine, that it had worked again, just like it always did.

So sure, maybe it wasn't necessarily 'normal' to say that every time his daughter was out of his sight for any amount of time. Maybe he was still a little traumatized. Maybe he should bring it up to his therapist. But he was fine. He was fine, as long as she was fine.

He ended up admitting it to his therapist mid-session. "So I do this thing with my daughter." He started. "Whenever she goes somewhere without me, I always tell her, 'don't die, I love you'. It's-" He coughed and cleared his throat taking a sip of water to will the sudden lump in his throat away. "It's... Something I used to say to my friends before they died."

Dr. Born nodded and wrote something down quickly, gesturing for him to go on.

"I always tell her. I never forget to. Because the one time I did forget... Well." Trevor made a kind of 'you know, I just told you' gesture and shifted, pushing his hair out of his eyes like his Reggie used to.

"I see."

"I guess I think... If I don't tell her, something will happen. Something will hurt her, a-and she'll disappear like my boys did."

"That sounds quite stressful." Dr. Born had said, in his non judgemental, caring therapist voice.

"It is." Trevor admitted, a familiar anxiety bubbling up in his chest. "Because what if I forget one day? What if I forget one day-"

"Trevor." Dr. Born said, sensing an unhelpful anxiety spiral coming on.

"-and Carrie gets hurt? What if I forget to say it to her just one time and-"

"Trevor."

"that's the last time I ever see my little girl, just because I forgot to tell her not to die-"

"Trevor!"

Trevor winced at that and stopped fidgeting with the toy Dr. Born had advised him to buy for his anxiety years ago now, looking up at him. "Sorry."

"Clearly, you were very affected by the death of your dear friends." Dr. Born noted. "But, why didn't you mention saying that to your friends or your daughter before?"

Trevor frowned at the question and looked down, wringing his hands. "I... Don't know. I guess that part hurt too much to talk about, or think about." He said with a tilt of his head.

Dr. Horn hummed at that and nodded his understanding, taking another note.

"My parents told me to go to therapy to talk about losing the boys, and how much that was affecting me." Trevor started. "I didn't have the capacity, I guess, to talk about that, so I stuck to the boys."

Dr. Horn nodded again, still giving him the most understanding, non judgemental look.

"And I-I guess I just convinced myself telling Carrie that was normal. That worrying if I didn't tell her that, I would end up losing her like my boys, was normal." Trevor continued. "That saying it or not saying it was sort of like a telling of what was to come. Because until now, it has been." He explained. "Because every time I said it, the boys lived. The one time I didn't, they ended up in an ambulance. Every time I say it to Carrie, she comes home safe. What if it happens again?"

Dr. Horn nodded again and hummed, looking for the best way to reply to Trevor. "I won't lie and say that's a normal train of thought, or necessarily true."

Trevor sighed but nodded. "Fair enough."

"But I also know it would negatively affect you to just stop saying it cold turkey."

Trevor nodded again.

"I think, whenever you decide you're ready, and you don't have to be ready the exact next time that Carrie goes somewhere, you should try texting it to her when she's already out the door. And eventually stop saying it altogether."

Trevor considered the thought and nodded slowly, wringing the toy in his hands. "I- Should I tell my daughter what I'm doing? It might be weird for her to be so used to hearing that every time she leaves to suddenly not hearing it."

"Oh, good thinking. I think you should tell her. Though, I'll warn you, she might ask about why you're suddenly cutting out a tradition between the two of you."

Trevor nodded, scratching his neck. "What will she think of me when I tell her about it?"

"You'll never know until you tell her."

So he did. Six months after the fact. He sat Carrie down and explained to her that their 'fun dad joke' was going to change a little soon. He explained why he would always say it and about the boys. He explained that it was going to stop.

Carrie sat and listened intently as she processed what her father was telling her, giving him the tightest hug she ever had after he had finished, both of them in tears. She couldn't believe that her father had just been living with that pain for years, and mentally preparing himself for it to stop for months. Knowing all of this, Carrie Wilson was the most confident she had ever been that her father was the strongest man she ever knew.

So she walked out one day, just to get some fro-yo with the girls, and waited for a text from her father when she didn't hear their thing said out loud. It came when she was two steps out the door.

The next time came just the next day, when Carrie was on her way to school. Carrie didn't hear it out loud, so she waited for a text. It came five steps out the door.

The next time came when Carrie had a performance that Trevor couldn't be at. It was in the same direction as the studio, so he drove her to the venue, and Carrie felt a sad smile stretch onto her face as she heard him say, "I love you. Don't die."

Two weeks later, Carrie was going to a sleepover at Julie's for the first time in a long time. She smiled as this time, she made it all the way to the car before she got a text saying their thing.

Almost a month later, Carrie grinned as she walked out to go to school and didn't hear it, and never got a text. She came home that day, no feeling of sickness coming on or bruise in sight. She was fine.

And he was fine, too.

[meganwritesandthings]

Megan's Master List

All of my works are on AO3 @Geeksquad2o, and all of the stories listed below are links to AO3.

JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS

This Band Is Back Series

Be sure to read these ones in order!

Bring Me To Life

Like with most things, the signs started showing up slowly. So slowly, in fact, that at first nobody noticed. Alex would bite his nails when he was anxious, and they started to grow back. Luke started needing to push his hair out of his eyes. Reggie found himself getting cold without his jacket on. Little things that would have meant nothing if they were still human, but meant quite a lot for ghosts

Or: The boys are starting to change, which they're pretty sure isn't supposed to happen to ghosts. And they are still ghosts. Right?

But I Always Thought That I'd See You Again

When the boys died 25 years ago, there were quite a few people that they left behind. After coming back as ghosts, they'd made their peace that there was nothing they could really do about that now. But now that they've come back to life, they have a chance to reconnect with their old families. The question is: Do they all really want to?

The Singers of the Lullabies

Rose Molina had died with no unfinished business, but a lot of secrets. Tragedies lived and experienced that her family had no idea about. She died with no unfinished business, but a lot of people left behind. She died with no unfinished business, but when her daughter came face to face with the most dangerous ghost in the world, Rose realized she wasn't finished.

All My Life I've Been Good But Now

The stories always stop at the miracle. But what happens when the miracle is over, the ones once dead have been brought back, and now everyone has to return to business as usual? For Luke, Reggie, and Alex, this second life brought with it a whole new set of challenges. First and foremost? High school.

You're Just Harder To See Than Most

Everything about Julie and Luke's relationship was pretty perfect, but the same couldn't be said about the love lives of the other Phantoms. Alex was beginning to realize that he was, essentially, in love with cute air. And Reggie? He was going through a crisis. A couple of crises, actually. At least someone is happy though.

Something's Gone Terribly Wrong

Julie, Luke, Reggie, and Alex had finally started to feel secure. They'd found love, they had each other, and the boys had been settling into the land of the living spectacularly. Which, of course, means that it was time for a certain Caleb Covington to pop back into their lives for one last showdown that would bring all the old ghosts out of the woodwork, and reveal to all who Caleb Covington really was.

Other Jatp Works

So If You're Asking Me I Want You To Know

When Julie finally works up the courage to tell Luke she loves him, it doesn't go quite as she expected. When Luke tries to explain to her exactly what it was that caused him to freak out, he finds he can't really figure out the words. So he does it the best way he knows how: in a song.

I Wanna Feel All That Love and Emotion

Luke struggles to find the right thing to do. Everyone can see what he can't, and Julie can't wait forever. Maybe one day, buddy.

Cobra Kai

Don't Look At Me, You've Got A Girl At Home (And Everybody Knows That)

Hawk's just won the All-Valley, and he feels on top of the world. Despite the fact that not everyone had quite as good of a tournament, Demetri insists that they've gotta celebrate. Things get a bit complicated though, as it turns out that Demetri with a little too much alcohol is a Demetri with way too little thought process.

The Critical Chapter

Phone calls and confessions. "I rewatched your favorite Doctor Who episode" really means "I love you." Maybe Yasmine is right about some things...

Harry Potter

Take What I Can and Then Die in the Dirt

Because who doesn't sit around at 17 with their best friends imagining the end of the world? If only that end of the world scenario wasn't quite so close to home for the Marauders...

Stranger Things

I Think You're Seeing Right Through Me

80s movies, confessions, and confusions. Mike Wheeler deserves emotions. Charlie Sheen, anyone?

[yourlocalfictionalenthusiast]

IN LIFE, IN DEATH..

Part Two

Part One

Warnings: swearing

‘Carefully, you reached towards the piano and tried to touch a vase of flowers but they passed right through your fingers. Your entire hand went numb then a tingly feeling spread throughout your body.

Well, two things were for sure.

You were definitely back, but you were definitely dead.’

-

“(Y/n)?”

Alex appeared by your side, pulling your hand away from the vase that you couldn’t seem to stop sticking your hand through.

You had been so distracted, you didn’t realize that the girl had come back until you heard her scream. Alex covered his ears and shouted over the noise.

“Please stop screaming!” He shouted.

She did, but she kept eyeing the four of you suspiciously. 

She was holding a cross out as she slowly stepped into the room. Her eyes were still wide with fear but she stood her ground. “Who are you and what are you doing in my mom’s studio?”

Luke gave her a look of confusion as he stepped forward. “Your mom’s studio? No, this is our studio.”

He yelped as she came at him with the cross. He jumped up on the piano and slid across the surface. “The grand piano is new, and-”

Luke cut himself off suddenly and in a fit of excited giggles, he ran towards the other side of the room. “My couch!”

You watched as he ran his hands over the worn leather, a dreamy look on his face. Despite the situation, you couldn’t help but laugh a little. After your time in the dark room, it was comforting to see some things never change.

Luke’s eyes flickered up to the ceiling, his eyebrows knitting together as he inspected the lights and chairs hanging down and you were reminded that more things had changed than stayed the same.

You decided you couldn’t take it anymore. You had to get to the bottom of this. And to do that, you needed the boys to focus for more than a few seconds.

“Boys, can I see you over here for a minute?” You said, gently leading Alex and Reggie away and gesturing for Luke to follow before turning back to the frightened girl.

“Excuse us for a second.”

You gave her an apologetic smile and shuffled over to the other side of the garage with the boys in tow. Once you got far enough away, Luke frantically whispered. “What is going on? How did she get her stuff in here so fast?”

“Maybe she’s a witch. I mean, chairs are floating on the ceiling.” Reggie exclaimed. You could feel Alex glaring at him as you placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“There’s no such thing as witches, Reg.” You said.

“You sure? Cause I used to think that there was no such thing as ghosts.”

Alex nodded reluctantly. “That’s fair.”

“Okay,” Luke butted in, “So, we’re going with witch?”

“No!” Alex scoffed. “We’re not going with witch. Look, she’s just scared. Let someone with a softer touch handle this.”

He turned towards the girl and approached her slowly before practically yelling in her face. “Why are you in our studio?!”

“Real soft, Al.” You whispered to him before extending your hand out to her, wincing at the awkwardness once you realized that like the vase, you probably couldn’t touch her either.

“I’m really sorry we scared you. I’m-”

Before you could finish, she jabbed her arms forward until the cross went clean through your chest. The tingling sensation came back in full force and you resisted the urge to shiver.

“Oh my gosh! How did you do that?” Her eyes were wide and unblinking as she stared at you.

“Clearly she doesn’t get it.” Alex said, turning back to the boys and then back to her, obviously exasperated. “We’re ghosts, okay? We’re just four ghosts who are really happy to be home.”

“We’re actually in a band called Sunset Curve.” Luke explained, his tone full of pride like it always was when he talked about the band.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie piped up with his signature line and you snorted. It was nice to know that even in death, Reggie was still the best hype-man.

“Last night was supposed to be a big night for us.” Luke said. “It was supposed to change our lives.”

“I’m pretty sure it did.” Alex interjected.

“This is freaking me out!” The girl shouted, keeping one hand held out towards you with the cross and the other pulling something out of her back pocket which she began frantically tapping on.

“What is that?” Luke asked, and the girl rolled her eyes.

“It’s my phone.” She cursed herself and shook her head. “No! Stop talking to them. They aren’t real. There is no such thing as cute ghosts.”

Reggie flashed her a dopey smile. “You think we’re cute?”

You rolled your eyes and Alex leaned forward. “Who are you calling?”

“I’m googling Sunset Swerve.”

You couldn’t help the surprised giggle that escaped your mouth as the boys groaned in unison. “Sunset Curve!”

Over Alex’s shoulder, you could see the bright screen of her phone as she pulled up an article. At the top was your professional band picture you had taken a year before the Orpheum. Luke was goofing around and playing Alex’s leg like a guitar while you stood by his side, sticking a finger in Bobby’s ear.

“Whoa.” She muttered. “There is a Sunset Curve and you did die. But not last night.”

You tried to keep your composure as she turned to look at the four of you, the fear in her eyes replaced with a small trace of sympathy. “25 years ago?”

“What? No, that’s impossible. After we floated out of the ambulance all we did was go to that dark room where these two cried.” Reggie gestured between you and Alex.

“Well, I think we were all pretty upset.” Alex said in his high pitched voice that usually made you laugh, but the mention of the dark room made you remember your moment with Luke. You turned around to look at him only to find him several feet behind you, eyes focused on a spot on the wall just past you. 

The fact that he was still avoiding you didn’t escape you, but you forced yourself to swallow the sad feeling and focus on the issue at hand.

“But that was just for like an hour.” Luke said. Despite the tension between you, the sound of his worried tone made your heart ache. “We just showed up here.”

The girl sighed. “I’m just telling you what my phone says. You died in 1995 when you were 17. It’s now 2020.”

“So, this is the future?” Reggie asked.

Your head was spinning. There was no way it had been that long, right?

“It’s really been 25 years? I’ve been crying for 25 years, how is that possible!?” Alex shouted. You rubbed his back softly.

“You’re an emotional person.” Reggie shrugged.

“I am not!” He said, his high-pitched voice coming back as he pouted.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice chimed in. “I thought you were too afraid to come out here.” 

You turned around to see a kid standing in the doorway, smiling as he came into the room. “You talking to your ghost friend? Is he hideous?”

“He can see you.” Alex snorted, bumping Reggie with his shoulder.

“No, he can’t.” The girl blurted, receiving a weird look from the younger kid.

She asked him what he wanted and he rolled his eyes. “A normal sister for starters, now stop being weird and come eat.”

The girl blinked at the garage doors her brother had just exited from before looking back at Alex. “He couldn’t see you.”

“Well, yeah. That’s kinda how ghosts work.” Alex said.

The girl huffed and marched towards the doors, spinning on her heels to face you again. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn’t your studio anymore. You have to leave.”

“Wait.” Luke took a step towards her. “We didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Julie.”

“Cool.” Luke smiled. “I’m Luke, by the way, and this is…”

“Reggie! Hey.”

“I’m Alex, how’s it going?”

“I’m (Y/n).” You waved to her awkwardly as Luke stretched out his arms and made a little ‘tad-da’ sound.

“Okay...” Julie said before disappearing out the doors.

“Julie seems nice.” Reggie said brightly, making Alex sigh.

“Did you miss the part where she kicked us out?”

As you patted Reggie’s shoulder, your eyes drifted up to the loft where you could see the outline of more instruments. “Alex, aren’t those your drums?”

Alex followed your gaze and poofed up to the loft. “All of our instruments are up here!”

Luke immediately shot up from the couch where he had been sulking and faced you and Reggie with a mischievous grin on his face.

Half an hour later, you had your instruments set up in the middle of the room. Once it all came together, you could almost convince yourself you were back in the old studio having a normal band practice. The boys must have felt the same way because before you know it, you were singing as loud as you could as Luke played the opening of ‘Long Weekend’

You got lost in the music, smiling and dancing around. Even though it felt like it had only been a few hours since you sang at the soundcheck, it had been 25 years. It was as if everything you didn’t get to feel in all that time started pouring out.

You felt like you were floating - and not in the ghost kind of way. 

It wasn’t until you heard Julie’s annoyed rambles that you came back to reality. You stopped singing and the boys followed, though Luke couldn’t resist doing an extra few riffs on his guitar.

“The whole neighborhood can hear you!” Julie yelled. “I thought I told you to leave.”

“Wait, people can hear us play?” Luke asked. Your stomach fluttered with hope as Julie sighed.

“Yes! And so did my dad and my brother.”

Alex stood up from his drums. “So, only you can see us, but everyone can hear us? What kind of ghosts are we?”

Luke gave him a fistbump. “Who cares, man? People can hear us play!”

Suddenly, the door swung open and a man stepped in.

Julie smiled nervously. “Dad!”

“Hey, I was just making sure you’re okay.” He smiled.

“I’m fine. I just had to turn off the CD player.”

Julie’s dad nodded before turning around and looking at your instruments. “Is this the junk that was in the loft?”

“Junk?” You and Luke scoffed. His eyes flickered to yours but you looked away as the man started tapping on Alex’s drums with his fingers.

“Hey, man! Tell him to stop touching my drums!” Alex complained. Julie just shrugged as the man pointed to the CD player.

“I liked that song you had on.”

“Sweet! We’re Sunset Curve.” Luke cheered.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie said as if he could hear him.

“It’s just an old CD I found.” Julie explained.

Her dad smiled. “Well, it’s still nice to hear you listening to music again. Out here you can play whatever you want, whenever you want.”

Something in his voice was a little sad even with the smile on his face, and you noticed something seemed a little heavier about Julie too. You got the sense that the conversation wasn’t just about music.

He stretched his arms and they went straight through Reggie and Luke’s chests. They both shivered but smiled brightly.

“That’s nice.” Reggie said, which made Julie sigh in frustration.

“Stay out of this.” She snapped and her dad gave her a confused look and started to apologize. Julie shook her head frantically.

“No, no. Not you. You know what? Just give me a minute.” She grabbed her dad’s arm and started leading him out of the garage.

Before he stepped out, he gave her a squeeze on the shoulder. “We’ll figure out this music program thing.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He gave her one more reassuring smile before he disappeared out the doors. 

Julie paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. You were just about to ask if she was okay when she whirled around and glared at all of you. If you weren’t already dead, you’re pretty sure that her stare would’ve killed you.

“He liked our song!” Luke yelled.

“He doesn’t count. He’s a dad.” Alex said.

Julie stomped her foot. “Why can’t you just be normal ghosts? Go haunt an old mansion or something! I heard Pasadena is nice!”

She stormed out and Alex whistled. “I think she’s warming up to us.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Pasadena.” Reggie said.

“I feel bad.” You admitted. “I mean, if I was her, I’d probably be pissed too.”

“I don’t think-” Alex started, but before he could finish, Luke poofed out of the garage. 

“Rude.”

It was quiet for a few seconds before you heard Luke’s voice just outside the studio. You pointed towards the doors and Alex and Reggie nodded.

You closed your eyes and focused on where you wanted to go. Within seconds, you were standing on the pavement of the driveway, facing Julie as she and Luke talked.

“Look, I’m sorry we came into your life.” Luke said. “But what I just felt in there actually made me feel alive again.”

He looked back to the three of you and you nodded.

“We all felt alive again.” Luke sighed. “So, you can kick us out if you want. But we’re not going to stop playing music. I mean, we can play again! That’s a gift that no musician would give up. You gotta know that. I mean, clearly your mom is into music.”

Julie’s look shifted from understanding to sadness. She took a deep breath. “Was. She passed away.”

Luke exhaled. You could tell he was beating himself up a bit as he chewed on his lip. “I am so sorry.”

“Yeah, we didn’t know.” Alex said. Reggie nodded solemnly behind him.

“It’s okay.” Julie shoved her hands in her pockets and looked at Alex. “You haven’t seen her anywhere, have you? Like from wherever you’re from.”

“Uh, no. I mean you’re kinda the first person we’ve seen.” Alex said.

“Yeah, but she’s not dead so that doesn’t answer her question.” Reggie piped up, making Alex roll his eyes.

“I think she knows what we mean.” Alex turned to Julie. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Julie’s gaze fixed on her shoes and she shrugged. “Thanks. Sorry I got mad. You guys are kinda good.”

“Kinda?” Luke scoffed. “That’s just 25 years of rust getting dusted off.”

“Yeah.” Reggie agreed. “Do you play piano too?”

Julie shook her head, a sad smile on her face as she stared through the studio’s window. “No, that’s just my mom’s stuff in there.”

“No way! She’s an amazing songwriter.” Luke said.

“She was.” Julie tore her eyes away from the garage. “Wait, how do you know that?”

Luke shrugged. “There’s a song on the piano, if that’s hers…Your mom was really talented.”

You nodded and Julie scanned all of you one last time. “I guess, if you need a place to stay…you can stay in there.”

You all cheered and Julie rubbed her temples. “This is just too weird.”

“Thanks, Julie.” You said. The other girl gave you a weak smile before she disappeared behind the gate leading back to the house.

-

An hour later, as you paced around the garage, you got an idea. Your hand flew to the front pocket of your jeans and you turned to Alex. “Hey, Al. I’ll be right back.”

Before he had a chance to ask why, you had poofed away.

It didn’t take long before your feet landed on the doorstep of the house. You wandered inside and it took a full minute of searching before you arrived at Julie’s bedroom door.

You tried to knock, but your hand went straight through the wood. You cleared your throat. “Hey, Julie?”

“Come in.” Julie said.

Carefully, you stepped through the door and into her bedroom. It was decorated a lot like the garage, with bright lights and pretty paintings. Julie sat in the middle of the room on her bed, and even though you probably couldn’t sleep anymore, you wanted nothing more than to lay down and take a nap.

“Hi. I’m sorry to bother you.” You fiddled with the zipper of your jacket. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about your mom.”

The friendly smile she had wavered before she nodded sadly. “Thanks. I’m sorry again for freaking out back there. I guess I just still kinda think of it as her place.”

“Don’t be sorry!” You told her. “Believe me, I wouldn't have handled it as well as you did.

 I know we’re a lot to handle sometimes. And by ‘we’ I mean the boys.” 

You both laughed and Julie shrugged. “They’re not so bad. As far as ghosts go I would’ve expected them to be a lot scarier.”

“It’s really nice of you to let us stay. But I’m sure we can find somewhere else to go. I wouldn't want to intrude on your mom’s space.”

“No!” She said, sitting up slightly against her pillows, “I think it’s what she would’ve wanted.”

“She sounds like an incredible person.” You said. 

“She was.” She nodded. She took a deep breath in, “It’s just kind of hard to talk about her sometimes.” 

You nodded. “I understand. My dad died before I was born. All I really have of him are a few pieces of clothes and this picture.”

You reached into the pocket of your jeans, pulled out a polaroid picture and handed  it to Julie. It was of your mom and dad on the day they got engaged: your mom showing off her ring and your dad unable to stop smiling as he kissed the crown of her head.

It had been on you since the day your mom gave it to you with a box of his old things. The sight of your mom made your heart wince, but you weren’t ready to think about that yet.

Julie smiled as she stared at the picture then pointed to your jacket. “Is that his?”

It was a dark blue hoodie with sleeves that were a little too long for your arms so you had to bunch them up to fit your hands through.

“Oh, uh. No, this is Luke’s.” You explained, trying to fight the blush spreading across your cheeks. “Or at least it was before he waged a war on sleeves.”

Julie laughed again, and you couldn’t help but feel a little lighter.

“Anyway, I know it’s not the same,” You took the photo back and shoved it in your pocket. “But I do know what it’s like to miss someone, and if you ever want to talk about how much it sucks, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.”

She nodded, a grateful smile on her face. “Thanks, (Y/n).”

You nodded and waved goodbye before poofing back into the garage. 

Between working at Cece’s, going to school, and making music, you never had much time to make friends when you were alive. Especially girl friends.

But you were starting to think that maybe you could have one now.

July 1994

“Slow down!”

You yelled over the noise of the crowds, your tone sounding a lot less intimidating than you wanted due to your laughter as Luke dragged you up the boardwalk.

He responded with a smirk over his shoulder while he waved through dozens of excited carnival-goers. The smell of fried food, funnel cake, and fresh ocean air flooded your senses as you tried to stay on your feet. The pace was almost dizzying, and your body was buzzing from the excitement.

You hadn’t realized where he was taking you until you saw an array of flashing neon lights spinning above you. The Ferris wheel.

“Seriously, Luke?”

“It’s tradition.” He beamed, fidgeting excitedly as he got in the line. It was not lost on you that he was still holding your wrist in his left hand. “I mean, can you even remember the last time we did this?”

You didn’t. But you weren’t going to prove Luke’s point for him.

“Next, please.” The ride operator gestured for the line to move up and before you knew it, Luke was shoving you into the cart. It was a faded red one with a ‘7’ painted on the side.

“You know, it’s okay to admit that you only dragged me over here to avoid everyone seeing me kick your ass at Skee ball.” You joked.

The ride started and your cart was lifted into the air while more people got on.

“Excuse you, I dragged you over here because I wanted to spend time with my best friend.” He said sincerely, but you could see the mischief behind his eyes. “Or maybe I wanted to do this!”

Luke suddenly jerked forward, then pulled himself back, making the cart wobble.

“Luke!” You gripped the support bar and glared at him. Once your heartbeat righted itself, you shoved him with your shoulder. “You’re hilarious.”

“About time you admitted it.”

The ride spun around a few times before slowing to a stop just as you reached the top. The sun was gone now, but there were still soft streaks of pink in the sky left behind. The noise of the carnival faded out beneath you and the playful mood shifted into something different as the sky began to darken.

“Are you cold?” He asked, looking back at you for the first time in a few moments. Something in his eyes seemed softer, but you tore your eyes away before you could figure out what it was.

You shook your head and tried to hide the fact that you had goosebumps from the cool night air. Despite Alex’s reminders, you had forgotten your jacket in the car. But you were too stubborn to admit that you needed it, especially knowing how much Luke would tease you for it.

“Dude, you’re shivering.” Luke laughed and rolled his eyes before shrugging his jacket off his shoulders and wrapping it around you.

The material was warm and soft against your skin. It smelled faintly like cinnamon and laundry detergent and suddenly your head felt dizzy all over again. "Thanks, Lu."

You weren't sure what gave you the confidence for your next move, but you ignored the screaming voice in your head as you slid over and tilted your head until it rested on his shoulder. It was something you’d done before out of comfort, but you felt out of your element in this moment.

Some hair on the top of your head ruffled as he took a deep breath and you could hear the soft smile in his voice when he spoke.

“Anytime.”

There was a moment of anticipation, like just before a big drop on a rollercoaster. Neither of you dared break the silence for fear of shattering the moment and the feeling that came with it. Just as it seemed like maybe it would last forever, the Ferris wheel suddenly moved forward and the moment evaporated.

"So." You said, trying to distract yourself from the fluttering in your stomach. "How much do you wanna bet that I actually can kick your ass at Skee Ball?"

-

Taglist:

@ifilwtmfc @instabull

Let me know if you want to be added!

[intoanothermind]

Flying Solo - Reggie

Word Count: 2.1k

- Reggie x reader

Synopsis: ever since you died, all you do is walk around the city and watch people going through their lives in restaurants, pubs and other establishments. That is until you meet another ghost in one of these places.

Masterlist

(This is based on a request I asked a few days ago. I’ve tried putting a gif instead of a picture, but tumblr doesn’t let me do it, but I’ll keep tryind. Don’t forget to check out my other Reggie fic and the one I wrote for Luke!)

Stand Tall - Reggie // Akai Ito - Reggie (soulmate au) // Bright - Luke

—

Since I died, I have enjoyed spending time watching the lifers. I walked the streets of Los Angeles and spent hours and hours sitting in restaurants, coffee shops, pubs and other establishments. Many people spent their time on their cell phones or typing on their laptops, but I liked to watch other people interact. I would like it even more if I could eat, but the smell of coffee and pie always calmed me down. And sometimes I would discover some other ghost in those places.

Especially if he moved a customer's food and the person looked around confusedly. I paid more attention when the woman took her eyes off her cell phone, picked up her plate and changed tables, without noticing the two boys sitting at the table. A third boy, who had previously been in front of the counter, sat in the empty seat. They talked for a while - unfortunately I couldn't hear from where I was several tables behind - before the blonde walked out the door and the third boy shortly after. I got up quickly before the cute boy who was making a prank on the client disappeared too.

"Hi." I said, taking the vacant seat for the blonde. "What's your name?"

His blue eyes widened and looked back before turning back to me and pointing at his chest.

"Me?" he asked, confused, and he just seemed even cuter.

"Yes, you." I laughed. "My name is Y/N, what’s yours?"

“Reggie. I'm Reggie.” he smiled and shifted in his chair, looking excited. "How can you see me?"

I shook my head, still smiling. He clearly didn't understand.

"I'm a ghost too." I replied, extending my hand to the side just as a girl passed and my arm went through her.

His smile widened even further, making his eyes narrow.

"Cool!" he opened his eyes wide. "I mean, it's not cool that you died, or anything..."

But my smile has not diminished.

"It’s okay, I had a year to get used to it."

"What did you die of?"

“Car accident last year. I was with my mom coming back from a performance. She crossed over to the other side, I didn't.” my smile became a little sad. "But what about you? How long have you been a ghost?”

"Well..." he made a funny face. "About 25 years ago we ate some bad hot dogs."

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. "Really?"

"I know." he made a face of suffering. "It was not our best moment."

"Our?"

"Me and my bandmates."

"Those who were here with you."

"Yes! Luke and Alex. We died together.”

"So you must have seen a lot of things together in the past 25 years." I commented excitedly, leaning on the table.

"Not exactly." he made another funny face. "After we left the ambulance, we were in this dark room where Alex was crying and the next thing we remember is falling into a girl's garage a few days ago."

"So that means I have more ghost time than you do!"

“Oh, but we’ve already discovered some really cool things! We managed to play in front of people when we played with Julie!”

My heart sank when I heard that name and I opened my mouth to comment, but I felt a shiver go through my body when someone sat in the chair where I was. I got up quickly, because the worse thing than passing through people was staying in the exact spot where she was. I looked at Reggie and he too had stood up when another girl sat down where he was.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"For sure." said Reggie, holding my hand and whooshing us to a beach where I have never been.

It was not as crowded as the most famous beaches in Los Angeles, but it had some movement.

"Where are we?" I asked when I noticed Reggie kicking some sand and sitting with his back to the sea and facing a bike shack.

"I used to live here." he replied while I sat next to him. “This bike shack used to be my home. Every now and then I come here and wonder what happened to my parents. ”

"I'm sorry." I murmured, lying my head on his shoulder and just watching the movement in the store.

"Okay. I'm sorry I spoiled the mood.”

"It's all right. I think about my family as well.”

"But you've only been a ghost for a year." he said, turning his head slightly towards me. "Didn't you ever see how they're doing?"

"Once, two weeks after we died." I whispered. “My family was destroyed. I couldn't see them like that without being able to do anything, so I only come back once every few months to see if they were okay.”

"I'm sorry." he murmured, resting his head on mine.

We stayed there for a few minutes in that position, not saying anything, just watching people coming and going in front of the store that used to be his home.

"Did they really kill Han Solo?" the question was asked so unexpectedly, I could only lift my head from his shoulder and look at him a little confused.

"What?"

"Do you know Star Wars?" he said quickly. "We went to a club the other day and Luke and I were trying to catch up on what we missed and a couple of the living told us that they made about eight more Star Wars movies and that they killed Han Solo!"

"Whoa, easy!" I laughed. "I do know the movies. And yes, they did. His son killed him.”

"What?!" he looked shocked at me. "I think I would rather never know about the continuation of the series."

"I’m sorry." I said, but I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. “It certainly wasn't the best moments in the saga. This latest trilogy disappointed a little.”

"I was hoping you would tell me it was a lie." he grimaced before letting out a breath and getting up. “Y/N, I need to go. We have a band rehearsal. We are playing tonight at the pub we met, you should go.”

I stood up as well and smiled at him a little, but I denied it.

“Sorry, Reg. I had a really big connection to music and my family when I was alive. It still hurts to think about it, so I always avoid it. But I promise that one day I will see you playing. ”

"Okay." he gave a big smile. "See you around then."

And disappeared.

   ~*~

  As the days went by, Reggie and I got closer and closer. We met several times and went to different places. Especially places where I could update him on the things he lost in the last 25 years. But then he stopped appearing beside me with that wide smile and dork way. For several days I didn’t see him, wondering if anything had happened. I heard stories about ghosts who were trapped by contracts, others who ceased to exist, and I was afraid that he had crossed over or was in trouble - and I couldn't do anything to help.

The next time he showed up I was on the beach again, in front of the bike shack, waiting for him to show up at some point. When he appeared, I barely gave him time to pull himself together before jumping into his arms and hugging him tight.

“Reggie! What happened? You went MIA, are you okay? I got worried!"

He didn't answer, just pulled away from the hug, held my face in his hands and kissed me. I reacted instantly, kissing him back in the same intensity.

"It hurt to think that maybe I didn't have the opportunity to do that." he murmured when we leaned away.

"What do you mean by that?"

He then set out to tell me about the Hollywood Ghost Club, the stamp, the shocks, the threats, the Orpheum show and how they managed to touch Julie afterwards.

"Julie?" I asked, feeling my throat tighten. “The girl who can see you and make you visible? Is her name Julie Molina? ”

"How did you know?" he asked, confused, and I had to take a deep breath to keep from crying.

"She is my little sister."

Reggie's eyes widened in surprise. "You are the Y/N who died with Julie's mother."

I just nodded.

“So did she play again? Is she fine?"

He gave me a knowing smile.

“Why don't we go back to the house and you can see for yourself? I think you've gone too long without seeing her. ”

I agreed, still a little stunned.

"Hey Hey." he caught my eye until I looked him straight in the eye. He stroked one of my cheeks and smiled when I blushed. "It's gonna be okay. I was really going to invite you to meet the band. ”

"So let's go." I smiled at his excitement.

He hugged me around the waist and we teleported directly to mom’s studio. It was different from how I remembered. The piano was uncovered, the lights were on, and instruments were scattered on the other side. I think they were the instruments that the boys used. But they were not there.

"Yeah, I think the boys haven't arrived yet." Reggie commented, scratching the back of his neck.

"It's all right." I mumbled, moving towards the piano and sitting on the stool.

Reggie sat next to me.

"Do you play?"

"I used to play with mom and Julie." I said, concentrating my energy on my fingers and starting to strum one of mom's favourite songs. I looked at Reggie and he was smiling at me. I continued to play, feeling the music flowing through me like when I was alive. It was great to know that I could play even now.

"Boys, I already said that you can't play while I'm not ... here."

I stopped playing abruptly when I looked at the garage door and Julie was there looking at me as if she had seen a ghost. Well, had had. I got up from the stool quickly and went towards my sister.

"Julie..." I sobbed, trying to reach her at the same time as she held her hand out to me. But my hand went through hers and I started to cry.

"Y/N." she was crying too. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Jules." I laughed.

"I thought you crossed over, I never saw you here."

“I came here a few times, but you never saw me. I couldn't stand to stay long. I spent most of my time walking around the city. ”

"What about mom?" she asked hopefully.

I shook my head. “I never saw her. She crossed right away.”

Julie tried to dry the tears, but they just kept coming down.

"Please, don’t go." she pleaded in a voice so low it broke my heart. “You can stay here with the boys. Just please don't go.”

I looked at Reggie in exasperation, but he came over to me and rested a hand on my back and I managed to take a deep breath.

"Okay." I smiled at my younger sister. "I’ll stay here."

"Yes!" I heard Reggie murmuring and Julie and I laughed, slowly composing ourselves.

“Julie? Is everything alright here?" I heard a third voice and turned to see the two boys who were in the pub with Reggie when I met him.

"Alex, Luke, this is Y/N, my sister."

Luke, the one with the brown hair, raised his eyebrows in surprise. "The sister you said that died?"

Julie made a face, but I just laughed and confirmed it.

Alex, the blonde, observed my closeness to Reggie and smirked. "I imagine this is also the same Y/N that Reggie kept talking about."

"Eh... Well... It wasn't like that..." Reggie gasped trying to brush it off, but I just laughed as I grabbed his chin and pulled him in for a quick kiss.

I barely noticed the boys' laughter and Julie's comment on how weird it was to see her sister kissing someone. I was too busy drinking on Reggie's expression, who had his eyes closed and an ecstatic smile on his lips.

[bibbawrites]

And It’s Us, Forever and Evermore - A Ghost Dad!Luke short story

THIS IS PART 3 OF THE GHOST DAD!LUKE SERIES, READ PART ONE AND PART TWO BEFORE READING!

“I just thought of something.” Reggie spoke, breaking the silence that had settled over the garage. Luke lifted his head up from where it was resting in Alex’s lap.

“What?” He questioned..

“We came back as ghosts.” Reggie started, and Luke exchanged a look with Alex.

“You just figured that out? Okay...” Alex shook his head. Reggie rolled his eyes. 

“No I knew that. But I was thinking about that, and then I thought hey maybe Y/N came back as a ghost too.” He explained. 

Luke shot up, his eyes wide.

“Reggie you’re a fucking genius!” He exclaimed, grabbing Reggie’s face and placing a wet kiss to the side of his head. Reggie grinned. 

“Thank you.” He said. Luke turned back to Alex quickly. 

“Alex, do you think Willie could help us?” He asked, and Alex nodded. 

“Sure. Want me to go find him?” He questioned, already shifting to stand. 

“We’ll all go.” Luke said, standing up and picking up baby Lucas, LJ as Alex had suggested they call him, short for Luke Junior, out of the little basket where he had placed him earlier.

When he turned back to the other two boys, they were already staring at him. 

“Bro it’s so weird seeing you with a baby.” Reggie shook his head. 

“It feels weird. Like I’ve stolen someone’s kid and they don’t want it back.” Luke agreed, shifting the baby in his arms. “Anyways, let’s go find Willie.” 

“I think I know where to go.” Alex said, and together they poofed out in search of the skateboarding ghost. 

-

They found Willie straight away, right where Alex had assumed he would be, and when the other ghost spotted them he came right over. 

“Hey guys, what you got there?” Willie asked, peering at the bundle of blankets in Luke’s arms. 

“A baby.” Luke said casually. Willie raised an eyebrow. 

“Luke’s baby.” Alex elaborated. “We found him and when Julie did some research we found out his mum died a few years after us. We were wondering if you’d know a way to find her if she came back as a ghost.”

“If she hung around the area I might know of her, or if she joined the club. I do know a few ghosts outside of the club though. What’s her name?” Willie told them, and Luke’s heart skipped a beat. Hopefully if Willie knew her it wasn’t through the Hollywood Ghost Club. 

“Y/N Y/L/N.” Luke answered and Willie’s face lit up with a grin.

“Boys, it’s your lucky day. I just happen to know Y/N very well, and I know exactly where she’ll be.” He said, and Luke couldn’t hold back his smile. 

“Really? Will you take us to her?” He asked. Willie shook his head, a smile on his face. 

“Duh, of course I will.”

-

Luke spotted her the second they poofed into the garden, sitting silently in front of a small monument, twisting flowers into a crown. Beside her, a small pile of flower crowns already made.

“Y/N!” Willie called. “I have a surprise for you.”

The girl looked up, her jaw dropping when she spotted Luke, and a look of disbelief appearing on her face when she saw the small baby cradled in his arms.

“Luke?” She questioned shakily, standing up.

“Hey Bub.” Luke grinned, as the girl slowly made her way over to the other ghosts.

“Is that...” She trailed off, staring down at the baby.

“Our little boy.” Luke finished. 

“We’re gonna go, come back to the garage when you’re ready.” Alex whispered, and Luke gave him a slight nod of acknowledgment, his full attention on the girl in front of him, who was in a trance, stroking the cheek of the baby in his arms.

“You wanna hold him?” He asked. Y/N nodded quickly, taking the baby into her hold, visibly relaxing at the weight. 

“I never had a chance to, when he was born. They just took him away and told me he was gone. I had to beg them to even let me name him.” She said quietly, as Luke guided her to the ground. “How is this even possible?”

“Well, me and the boys only came back a few months ago, and we found him on like, our second day? We were just outside of where Reggie’s house used to be and he was on the path in a basket and I just felt drawn to him? And then we took him back to the garage and noticed he had a hospital bracelet that had your name on it and Julie, that’s the girl who brought us back, she’s a lifer. Anyways she searched you up on the internet and found out you died. Then we kinda went through some shit and didn’t really have time to think but then today Reggie had the great idea that you might be a ghost so we asked Willie and he said he knew you and yeah.” Luke rambled.

“You came and found me.” She smiled, and Luke returned the gesture. 

“Of course.” He said softly. She shifted slightly, her free hand coming up to stroke his cheek as if she couldn’t believe he was really there. 

“I never thought I’d see you again.” She admitted. Luke sighed, taking her hand. 

“Me neither.” He replied. Her gaze shifted back down to the sleeping baby in her arms. 

“He’s so beautiful.” She breathed out. Luke looked down at the little boy. 

“He is. He has your eyes.” He told her. 

“Do you think he’ll ever grow up?” She asked. Luke shook his head. 

“I don’t think so. He hasn’t aged at all in like, two months.” He said. She smiled slightly. 

“Our angel baby, forever this tiny.” She whispered. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments before Luke spoke up, asking the question that had been bothering him since the day he had found LJ.

“Hey Y/N... can I ask you something?” He asked. 

“Hmm?” She replied, still focused on the baby.

“How did you die?” He questioned, and Y/N froze. 

“You don’t want to know.” She said after a moment. 

“Did you get sick?” Luke tried. That’s what he had assumed had happened to her. 

“No, I-“ She stopped. “Not physically.”

Luke frowned and she sighed, realising she would have to continue.

“After Lucas died I was diagnosed with depression, mostly post natal depression but...” She trailed off. “It was the one year anniversary of his birth, I just couldn’t handle it so I...”

Luke’s heart sank and he nodded in understanding, wrapping an arm around her.

“I can’t even imagine how hard that would have been, losing me first and then LJ.” He said softly. She shot him a confused look. 

“LJ?” She questioned. 

“That’s what we’ve been calling him. Like Luke Junior. Alex suggested it and it stuck.” Luke explained. 

“LJ... I like it.” She grinned. 

“How do you know Willie?” Luke asked after a moment. 

“I met him one day while wandering around and we became good friends. How do you know him?” She questioned. 

“Alex.” Luke said simply. She rolled her eyes, that was the Luke she knew, never helpful. 

“What about Alex?” She prompted. 

“He loves him.” Luke sang, and Y/N’s eyes widened.

“Wait, really?” She gasped. 

“Did you not know Alex is gay?” Luke questioned. She sighed. 

“No, you dumbass, I knew that. I just didn’t realise that Willie was seeing anyone.” She elaborated. 

“It’s only newish. But they’re really cute together.” Luke explained. A grin overtook Y/N’s features. 

“So are we.” She said, nudging Luke with her shoulder. 

“That we are.” Luke agreed, glancing around the garden. “Where are we, by the way?”

“This is where Lucas,” She paused, clearly deciding to correct herself. “LJ, I mean, and I are buried. I spend all of my time here.”

“Not any more.” He grinned. She raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh really?” She questioned. Luke nodded. 

“Yep. Cause you’re coming with us.” He told her, and the girl couldn’t help but smile. Finally she had the life she had always dreamed of, even if she wasn’t technically living. She squeezed his hand tightly. 

“I’ve never wanted anything more.”

[sunjaesol]

serendipitous encounters

juke | human au | fluff

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"I think I met my soulmate!" Luke shouted as he barrelled through the front door, announcing his presence.

Alex, cuddled up with Willie, groaned from his place on the couch. "Not this again. Luke, soulmates do not exist!"

"Well, I'm curious," Willie joked. "What happened?"

Bouncing through the small living space, he propped himself on the coffee table. His eager lips spouted everything he knew so far. "Her name's Julie and she's beautiful and she drinks lattes with caramel syrup."

The two boys blinked at each other, an amused smile growing on Willie as the scowl deepened for Alex. Yeesh. How did these two work?

The blonde tried keeping composure. "You think... you met... the person you want to spend the rest of your life with... in a coffee shop?"

Luke nodded. What was his point?

Luckily, Willie was on his side. "Did you talk to her?"

Sighing, he slumped to the floor. "No. But I'm telling you, it's her."

"This oddly feels like that Zooey Deschanel movie," Alex mused.

"No! She's not some fantasy! She-I can't explain it." Dreamily looking up at the ceiling, he added. "She's it. I'm calling it."

"I think you're horny," Alex deadpanned. Willie snickered.

He rolled his eyes and swatted their legs. "Very cool, you guys.”

The doorbell rang. Jumping up and saving himself from further embarrassment, Luke went to open it.

And it was her. Holy shit.

She smiled up at him, holding up his trusty songbook.

"Hello. You left this journal on your table at Starbucks? It has your address inside."

Gobsmacked, Luke stared at her. Holy fucking shit. Because of his whole daydream about her in Starbucks, he forgot his book and then she took it upon herself to find the rightful owner. That was fate, right? Take that, Alex!

Stammering vowels, he plucked it from her grasp and let out a breathy laugh.

"Y-Yeah, thanks, that's- yup."

An amused smile pulled on her lips, nodding. "No problem. Have a nice day!"

Her goodbye snapped him out of his stupor, calling out for her with a raised hand.

"Wait! I didn't catch your name!"

She turned around, the girl looking so foreign in the grimy hallway of the apartment complex.

"Why do you need my name?"

Cause he knew it already and didn't want to seem like a creep.

He shrugged. "I want to thank you."

"It's Julie," she said after a beat.

"Thank you, Julie." His grin must've been comically wide, heart beating a mile a minute as he was still convinced she was his freaking soulmate.

And then she left. He was certain he'd see her again. In a non creepy way, that was.

— — — — — —

It was wholly coincidental once more. 

It was an early Sunday morning, Luke donned in sweatpants and a ratty cut-off and bedhead, as he meandered in the the shop of a tailor. Reggie owed him for this. 

The bassist loved buying vintage clothing, but never stuff that quite fit him. Hence, a tailor. His name was Peter and basically Reg’s best friend at this point, based on the disappointed look the man gave Luke as he handed him the the slip. He could hear the question on his tongue - “Where’s Reggie?” - and was happy when he didn’t ask. 

One, cause that was fucking rude. 

Two, cause Reg was currently fighting for an exclusive comic book on the other side of Los Angeles with a hurdle of other nerds. 

As Peter was sifting through the clothing racks, searching the order, the bell jingled behind him. 

“Oh, Journal Boy?”

He stilled. Holy shit. 

Whirling around, he came face to face with Julie. Just as beautiful as a week ago; maybe even more disarming in sandals and her curly hair up in a messy bun.

“Hi,” he breathed, unsure if he wasn’t just imagining her. It was a pretty hot day. It could easily be a sun stroke. 

Her smile widened. She was probably amused by his goofy behaviour, but he couldn’t help it. What were the odds he’d see her again, in a different location, this early after the first encounter? What was the statistical probability of meeting his soulmate twice? 

Before he could say anything else, Peter appeared from his rack and placed a leather jacket on the counter. Their attention diverted, Luke couldn’t help but feel heat travel up his back from having her so near. 

— — — — — —

No, he didn't want to go to silent disco.

Alas, Willie and Alex were that quirky type of couple that always liked to do the weirdest shit, including the most impersonal activity ever: a silent fucking disco.

They told him to bring a date, as Reggie was bringing his Tinder match Kayla, but he wasn't feeling it. One, because he still couldn't believe he saw Julie again at the tailor-

("It's Luke, by the way," he added.

She smiled and tasted the name. "Luke. Haven't lost your journal again?"

His name sounded heavenly on her tongue. Keeping the blush at bay, he nodded with a grin. "Yup. Uh-"

And then the man came back with her stuff, and that was that.)

-two, cause he wanted to win from Alex. Soulmates did exist and he hadn't lost hope it was her.

So there he was, in some old factory turned disco, with hundreds of idiots wearing headphones as they danced in a frenzy to whatever song was playing. The whole point of art - connection - was lost. Luke wanted to die.

Until he saw Julie from across the space. Again. And she saw him.

They smiled and waved and suddenly, this whole thing wasn't so bad anymore.

— — — — — —

There were about a 130,000 people living in East LA. It had sprawling neighbourhoods and hundreds of communities and subways that connected it to the other parts of LA. She could’ve been anywhere. 

And yet, he found her again. 

Even though he was still sticking to his guns that Julie was someone special, he also had his own needs. Which was how he found himself slipping out of a redhead’s bed at seven in the morning, dazed from being in an unknown place, and pulling his clothes back on. He was pretty sure her name was Meredith, though that could also just be entirely false. It was a weird, albeit good night. 

She mumbled in her pillow he could let himself out, waving half-heartedly and rolling on her side. 

Softly closing the door behind him and cracking the knots in his neck, he didn’t notice how he bumped into a person. 

Into Julie. 

His eyes widened in shock, the two letting out a surprised yelp. Her hand clutched her chest and took a step back. 

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Sorry!”

Her mouth opened and closed in confusion, about to say something, when her gaze trailed past him to the apartment he just left. She cleared up. 

“Meredith? Good choice, she’s nice.”

Luke flushed red. What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? 

Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, he drawled, “Uh, yeah... what’re you doing here?”

It was then that he noticed she had athletic wear on, duffle bag around her shoulder and keys dangling between her fingers. She confirmed his suspicions when she replied. 

“I, uh, live here.” She laughed. “So... have a nice rest of the day?”  

He wanted to say a lot. He wanted to ask if she wanted to grab breakfast, that Meredith wasn’t his girlfriend, that he had this crazy feeling they were always meant to meet - again and again and again ‘til they got it right. 

But he couldn’t. He’d sound insane. Hell, it was insane. Instead, he wished her a nice day as well and scurried out the hallway. He didn’t look back, but he did wonder if he was imagining he felt her eyes on his back. 

— — — — — —

Luke was typing on his laptop, the hustle and bustle of Starbucks at three in the afternoon and the methodical tap tap tap of the keys lulling him into a fast-paced trance. As always, he procrastinated some work for Pitchfork and had to get it done in two hours or else his boss would be yelling in his emails.

The bell jingled, Luke looking up automatically and almost rolling his eyes at the sight of her. This was getting insane.

Julie saw him too, changing her course from the register to his round table with a confused grimace twisting her features. As always, she looked pretty; the girl never looked bad and it was kind of messing with his head.

"Alright, fess up," she exclaimed, slipping into the seat opposite of him. "Are you stalking me?"

He snorted and leaned forward with a wry grin. "I can ask the same about you."

Her lips pursed, assessing him for a beat. With a sigh, she mellowed down. "I guess... we live in the same neighbourhood..."

"Still kinda crazy though," he mused. "East L.A. is big."

She nodded, pensive, and then looked over her shoulder to the menu board. "Is it okay if... I sit with you? I was going to grab a latte to go, but since you're here..."

But since you're here - rang in his ears, a careful smile blooming on his lips. Fuck, he really needed to work, but Julie wanted to sit with him, hang with him, be friends with him, outside of all the coincidental meetings they've had.

He wouldn't call it a date yet. He wanted to properly ask her when that day came.

"Sure," he mumbled, biting down the smile from becoming bigger.

His reply satisfied her, the tendrils dancing around her bright eyes as she matched his smile and stood up to make an order.

— — — — — —

Weeks passed with quick meetings here and there, Julie slowly bleeding into his life with laughs and smiles and whirlwind stories about her life. She was always on the go, always bright-eyed and easily matching his energy. He knew his enthusiasm could put people off, but she was never taken aback.

Wit against wit. Snark against snark. A dumb joke met with an amused roll of the eye. It worked. For a while, he even settled on the fact that hey, they might be platonic soulmates. Julie was a great friends and sometimes he felt his emotions fleeting. If they remained friends, he'd be perfectly content.

But then she closed gaps and barriers that had pointedly been kept before. After they got boba, her hand wrapped around his bicep, stretched on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. Before he could register it, she was back on her feet waving him goodbye. Luke had a dopey look on his face for the rest of the day.

She kept up cheek kisses, he let his warm embraces linger, their short hangouts turned into hours.

Then one night, she kissed his cheek after they got ramen and he shifted his face 'til their noses brushed. Julie held her breath. Tentatively, their fingers curled together - the simple touch sparking lightning up his arm.

"Is it weird that I've dreamed about you?" he asked, cautious, looking at their joined hands.

Luke wanted to tell her about his initial gut feeling; that he saw her and he knew. But it was too insane and he didn't want to scare her off. But he knew. He's always known.

"No..." Her mouth ghosted his. "I've dreamed about you too."

Luke closed the little space between them, lips slanting together and instantly deepening as one hand came up to cradle her cheek. His heart was bursting with euphoria. It felt as if his body sighed in relief, like it had finally come home. And then he did: he sighed and grinned and giggled when her arms wrapped around his neck.

Oh, man... he might already love her.

— — — — — —

Nothing definite happened afterwards. Though this is what he wanted, he felt weird confirming their relationship when he had always somehow ‘known.’ It had to come from her side, the more level-headed person in this situation. 

So, it was casual, even though he was anything but casual. 

It was pretty great though, walking past Meredith’s door towards Julie’s, having her yank him inside and kiss him like she’d been waiting for years. Kissing Julie was fucking heaven. 

Besides that, they were the same Luke and Julie as before. They got boba or ramen or any new spot that opened up like weeds. She listened to new music with him, sharing earbuds, for his Pitchfork articles. He watched her sing and play the piano at music clubs, becoming more and more enamoured each time simply by the sound of her angelic voice. He built a shelf for her. She taught him how to make friendship bracelets. He met her best friend Flynn. She stayed over for dinner with the guys and got drunk on white wine, giggling along to the jokes.

They fit. But they weren’t exclusive. He had no clue if she was also seeing someone else. He presumed she didn’t, the two constantly revolving around each other, but he couldn’t be certain.

Alex was gobsmacked the first time he properly met her. Stunned that Luke had been right, that it worked out, that East Los Angeles was apparently nothing more than a small town. Luke reckoned he was just jealous he didn’t have to meet his person by getting maimed on the street - ha! 

His finger trailed along her sleeping silhouette, gently and drowsy, observing in awe how a smile subconsciously quirked on her lips and shifted closer to his touch. He closed his eyes and pressed his nose in the back of her neck. There were worse ways to wake up. 

— — — — — —

Eventually, Julie simply decided for him.

She was moving apartments and he was helping her pack, move furniture, throw shit out, the whole nine yards. For one person, she had a lot of stuff, her cabinets an endless supply of decor, souvenirs and memories.

They were whirling around each other like clock-work, never bumping and smoothly handing things over. Rap music was playing from the stereo, its sound drifting from her opened front door into the hallway.

One of her neighbours popped their head in.

"Oh!" The old man perked up, surprised. "You're moving, Julie?"

She looked up from rummaging through her CD collection to shoot him a tired smile. "Yeah," she puffed, "my lease is up, so..."

"Change of pace, I get it. That's wonderful," he nodded, gaze shifting to Luke walking out of the bathroom. "Hello!"

Luke smiled at him, waving with the box of oddly shaped soaps Julie had for some reason. "Hi."

"This is Luke, my boyfriend," Julie introduced, Luke freezing in his tracks all at once as the words utter from her lips. Boyfriend. Holy shit. It didn't faze her, smoothly babbling more than he wasn't processing.

Boyfriend. Which meant that she was his girlfriend. Which meant that now, he had to threaten the guys to not say a fucking word about how mentally deranged he was the first week after meeting her. This wasn’t planned. This was fully her. This was past fate and serendipity - this was by choice. It felt better than he thought. 

The man bid goodbye and left. Luke dropped the box on the coffee table, sliding towards her with a shit-eating grin.

"Boyfriend," he drawled exaggeratedly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. ‘Cause you are. I know you well enough to know you can only do exclusive."

"Can you?"

"I said you were my boyfriend, didn't I?"

His smile widened, leaning in to kiss her. She met him halfway, loose curls tucked behind ears before her arms were slung around his waist. I love, I love you, I've loved you forever.

And then the truth tumbled out. Part of it, at least.

"I, uh," he gulped, looking at her through his lashes. "I saw you, that first day, and I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Her face turned tender, a pout jutting from her lip as she gauged his reaction, like she was waiting for him to make a joke. He wasn't.

"Really?" she whispered, voice so small it took him aback for a beat.

His thumbs gently caressed her cheeks, withholding himself from saying anything more. This was enough. It was the truth without the crazy - being with her was crazy enough. Luke settled on a simple nod.

Her head tilted, shy amusement lilting her tone. "Good thing I'm moving closer to your neighbourhood then."

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@blush-and-books​ @bluefirewrites​ @willexx​ @pink-flame​ @constantly-singing​ @unsaid-emily​ @ourstarscollided​

[carnationcreation]

Hi can you do a Reggie x reader where she’s Luke’s younger sister and her and Reggie were dating in the 90s and then in the present when Luke goes sees his parents the reader is there and Reggie isn’t expecting that and the reader is telling her parents that she’s been trying to expose Bobby about his hit songs are her brothers and Reggie and Luke are both happy about that and also the reader knows julies mom and she asks to come hear her play and see Luke and Reggie. I hope this isn’t to weird

TITLE: Number One Fan (JATP Reggie x reader)

Masterlist

Request an imagine here!

Request: Yes!

Pairing:  Reggie x reader, Luke x sister! reader

Prompt/summary:   The reader is Luke’s younger sister. Her and Reggie were dating in the 90s and she finally gets closure after 20 years

Word Count: 2,136

Warnings:  some angst I guess

Authors note: I already had a similar idea to this so I’m gonna take some ideas from what I already had written. I had to simplify this a little bit, but I hope you enjoy!

The beating of my heart drowned out the sound of the doorbell as I stood outside of my parents house. Though this event happens every year it still doesn’t quell the amount of anxiety and pain I feel, even after 20 years. In 1995 I didn’t only lose my brother Luke, I lost my boyfriend Reggie. Oh even the thought of their names makes my eyes water and my throat close up.

The door finally swung open after what felt like a century. Seeing dad standing there brought up feelings I had tried to run away from, feelings I tried to fix and shut out but never truly could. He pulled me into a tight hug and wiped some of my tears away. This is how it went every single year on his birthday, no one truly spoke but everyone knew there was nothing to say.

I still remember the night Luke ran away. My parents tried their best to pry where he was staying out of me but I never let them, I just couldn’t betray my brother like that. Besides they treated him terribly after they found out about the band. I guess I still blame them for him never coming home. 

After the candle was blown out and the cake was cut I took mine into Luke’s room to eat. I knew he’d be proud since our parents used to be super strict about no food in the bedroom and I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity. His room was still the same, even after 20 years. Posters of his favorite bands hung on the walls, his guitar sat on its stand in the corner. I only knew one song that he taught me, but it’s become the only thing that feels close to him. The strings hadn’t been replaced in years and I could see the exact spot where his fingers had worn away the metal leaving it smooth and thin. It still sounded beautiful after all this time.

I felt something in the room shift. Goosebumps formed on my arms as I felt something soft wrap around me. It was barely there. If I wasn’t paying attention I would’ve missed it entirely with how the air seemed to wrap around me. Tears fell down my face as I put the guitar up and grabbed the empty plate, trying to make sense of what happened.

_______________________________________________

It wasn’t even a few days later when there was another ring from the doorbell. Dad answered it and let the girl inside.

“Julie lives in the house the band used to rehearse in,” Dad said as I walked into the living room, “She was just telling me she found a song that Luke wrote.”

“It’s a song about a girl named Emily?” Julie questioned.

Mom gasped, “I’m Emily…”

“Then I think your son may have written this song for you,” Julie said.

I took the paper out of her hands slowly, looking over my brother's handwriting and scribbles that covered the paper. I turned to my mom and nodded while handing it to her.

“I need some air,” I said. I walked out the front door and leaned against the hood of my car trying to catch my breath.

It wasn’t too long after that Julie finally walked outside. She saw me and put her hands in her back pockets before walking over slowly.

“Your Luke’s sister?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, I wiped the tears off of my face, “and Reggie’s girlfriend back in the day.”

“Oh,” she said, I could tell she was shocked and I giggled at her wide eyes.

I took a deep breath, “Did you find his songwriting notebook? I’ve tried searching for it for years, it wasn’t in his stuff when he…”

“He must’ve left it in the garage before he left that night, and it’s there now. It’s one that I found. Do you want it back?”

“No,” I said, “I don’t think I have the strength to look through them all, and honestly I don’t want to know how many sappy love songs he wrote about the girls he chased when he was younger.” 

Julie laughed and I joined her, it felt good to finally be able to talk to someone about my brother.

“Julie?” I asked, “Did you find any of Reggie’s stuff?”

Julie took a pause before responding, “Yes I found some of his jackets in the garage.”

“Would you mind to bring some of them?” I asked.

She nodded before pausing again, “Did you ever move on? After that night?”

I sighed and looked down at the ground, “I lost both my brother, my best friend, and my boyfriend in the same night. It’s hard to move on after that. Losing not one but three of the people you love can change you.”

Julie nodded before pulling another piece of paper out of her back pocket, “I asked your parents if I could perform some of their songs, I think you should come.”

“Thank you Julie, I’d love to. You know I was their number one fan right? I always got to sit in at practice and got their shirts before they were for sale. I guess I didn’t want to listen to their music at all after everything that happened.”

“They wouldn’t want you to lock music out of your life, just know they died while going after their dreams. Not many people get to do that.”

I nodded before pulling her into a hug. She waved as she walked off leaving just me and the paper she gave me. I opened it up and a smaller white piece of paper fell on the ground. The first paper, bright pink and vibrant, read Julie and the Phantoms Live!

The white piece of paper was obviously from my brother's songwriting book, scribbled at the top of the page in Reggie’s handwriting was (Y/n)’s song.

_______________________________________________

The Opheum. The same place my brothers passed away over 20 years ago now. I found Julie’s dad near the front row and took my place next to them at the wall separating the fans from the stage. Julie appeared on stage finally and delivered a short speech dedicating the song to her mom and her friends. I was confused as the notes to Stand Tall started playing, I wrote this with Luke a month before he died. Where did she get this? My answer came as slowly each member of Sunset Drive appeared on stage in front of me. Tears formed in my eyes as I saw the people I loved the most show up after 20 years of thinking they were gone. After a big finale and a standing ovation Julie finally walked backstage and she had asked me to meet her back there after the show.

“Julie I- what was that? Are they really here?” I said as I rushed up to her.

“Hold on,” she said as she pulled me into the dressing room, she closed the door and turned back to me, “I’m going to tell you but I don’t want you to freak out or think I’m crazy.”

“Julie I just saw the three people I thought were dead for 20 years play an opening act on stage, if anyones crazy it’s obviously me.”

Julie took a big breath and went into the entire story of how she formed a band with my three ghost best friends and managed to convince everyone that it was a hologram. And then how a creepy demon dude branded them and is trying to force them to join his club and they have to avoid it by finding their unfinished business to be able to cross over. By the end of it I was leaning back in the chair I sat down in and rubbing my face.

“So they’re here?” I asked.

“Yes, well, kinda.”

“And people can only see them when they’re playing?” I said as I pushed my hair back.

“Yes,” she said, “and I know I know it doesn’t seem real but I can prove it to you.”

“How?”

“Follow me to my house.”

_______________________________________________

I drove behind them on the way home and waited for Julie to give me the signal to come inside.

“You know Luke wrote Stand Tall as a duet for me?”

Julie turned to me with wide eyes, “Oh- uh, no I didn’t. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be Julie, I’m so glad he finally got to perform it with someone,” I said with tears brimming my eyes

“Don’t you still want to be with him?” Julie asked.

I raised my eyes, “With Reggie?” 

She nodded.

“I’ve aged 20 years Julie, and spent most of that time believing he was gone. I moved on. Maybe if I could see him again I would, but I don’t really know if people would find it weird a 36 year old is dating someone who hasn’t aged.”

Julie laughed before I could continue, “I’m just happy he finally got to live his dream, and I’ll always be your biggest fan.”

 She led me out in the garage that my brothers had practiced in when they were in high school. I looked around and saw how much had changed over the years, a grand piano sat in the back that I had never seen before. The lights were still off but I could see the outline of the couch and furniture and instruments scattered around. 

“I never got to say goodbye before they crossed over,” Julie sighed and I rubbed her shoulder, “Or tell them thank you.”

I heard a whisper come from inside the studio and Julie whipped around to turn on the lights. I couldn’t see who she was talking to but I knew it was them.

“I thought you crossed over?”

My face furrowed in confusion, “What’s going on?”

“They pretended to cross over but the Orpheum wasn’t their unfinished business,” Julie said as her voice shook.

“So they came here to die again?!” I yelled.

Julie smiled and said, “Reggie said you’re still the same firecracker he asked out in freshman year.”

“Reggie?”

She pointed to the ground beside the recliner, the air seemed cloudy, surrounding a vague outline of a person. I sat down on the ground near the blob and cried wishing I could see them.

Julie pleaded with them to go join Caleb but I knew it was no use. Their stubbornness transcended the mortal world. I saw Julie lean up and hug a figure, then I saw Luke. I gasped as he started to glow a golden light.

“Why can I feel you?” Julie said. 

“I don’t know but, I feel stronger.”

“Luke?” I gasped out.

He turned and gave me his signature smile, “See? I told you you’d never get rid of me for too long.” 

I rushed forward and tackled him in a hug.

“Reggie, Alex come here!” Julie yelled.

I felt three more sets of arms around me. More glowing light filled the room and I looked up to see my three best friends standing in front of me once more.

“Whoa,” Reggie said, I looked up and looked deep into his eyes, “I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

The boys winced as the marks on their wrists began to float into the air and disappeared. 

“What does this mean?” Julie said.

“I think the band’s back,” Luke smiled.

“And with our number one fan,” Reggie said and threw his arm around me. I buried my face in his neck and finally smelled the scent I’d forgotten long ago. 

“You guys think we can try the hug thing one more time?” Alex said, causing us to laugh. We all pulled into another group hug.

After we pulled back again Reggie said, “I like this.” Before pulling us into another hug. 

“We played the Orpheum!” Julie shouted and we all jumped around, never letting go until Julie’s dad called her inside.

I stayed outside with the boys for just a little bit longer. My arms never left Reggie’s neck unless it was to hug the other too, trying to catch up on 20 years worth of affection that was missed.

“You look hot,” Reggie said causing me to chuckle.

“Dude!” Luke yelled, “I don’t care how old she is, that's still my little sister.”

“Sorry bro, but she’d be a hot mom,” Reggie smirked.

I smiled and pulled Reggie in for another hug.

He pulled back and looked into my eyes, “So what does this mean for us?” 

“I don’t know honestly,” I sighed, “But I guess we’ll figure it out.”

“I’m never letting you go,” Reggie said as he buried his face in my hair.

“I’m counting on it besides you still have to play that song for you number one fan."

[creativeashproductions]

Shattered Hearts // Luke Patterson

Summary: The teenage years are supposed to the best time of life but not when fate has other plans for Sunset Curve. Not feeling well reader stays home while Luke prepares for the performance of his life at The Orpheum. Shit hits the fan hard and the fallout ensues.

Warnings: Swearing, death, hospital, cancer (type is not detailed) angst, and fluff.

Words: 2.3k

Requested: @lolychu​

A/N: I didn’t go into detail about the kind of cancer because I didn’t want to, I want it to be as general as it could. I’ve never gone through it or had someone close go through it so it could be wrong and I apologize for that. Broken heart syndrome is REAL by the way.

Masterlist

Los Angeles, 1995

There are articles of some medical mysteries that can’t fully be scientifically explained, such as when someone dies in excellent health following the death of a loved one. The scientific term is takotsubo cardiomyopathy, but the world knows it merely by Broken Heart Syndrome. It was a day that was supposed to be the greatest of your teenage years, but the day couldn’t have gone any worse.

First, you woke up with an incredibly high fever and newfound bruises. Pain in a wrist out of nowhere but you wrote it off. You had plans, and illness wasn’t scheduled for the day. Your boyfriend and his band had gotten their big break, well their almost big break. Today was the day Sunset Curve would perform at The Orpheum, and you were gonna be backstage cheering them on.

Luke made his appearance at your house in the morning before early rehearsal, and you managed to convince him you were feeling okay. He went on to their studio, and your mother drove you to the hospital in fear.

Life was an asshole. While you waited for test results pale against the hospital sheets, an ambulance rolled in. Carrying three bodies that would go to the morgue for positive confirmation of death. You wouldn’t know for a full day, Luke’s parents too grief-stricken to call you and that’s okay. 

“Mom?” You asked as her form caved in on the floor near your hospital bed, “Mom!”

Her eyes filled with so much pain brought you fear and concern. With a struggle, she came closer to hold your hand tightly and spoke brokenly the fate that would snatch you.

“Baby, you don’t have the flu.”

“That’s good? So just meds and we can go home?” You asked heart clenching as her eyes closed tight and you knew whatever the doctor had told her after pulling her out of the room wasn’t good.

Couldn’t be good with the slump in her shoulders, the pain in her eyes and the guilt coating her every word. Mom wasn’t a housewife; she wasn’t a flower in need of protection, but she never kept something from you. Always said it straight and as it is.

“Sweetheart, they’re gonna move you to another ward.” You knew deep in your heart the news had to be the worst because Mom wasn’t telling you the whole story. Finally, she broke down, “The doctors got the results back as soon as they could. The fever, the bruises, and the broken wrist have a reason. You have cancer.”

Cancer. A word that sealed your fate. It left you reeling in shock. It shattered your dream with just one single name. Couldn’t be seen but made its presence known. The coming hour was spent with the specialist detailing the type and a tentative treatment plan he wanted to initiate immediately.

A nurse escorted your mother out as the orderlies and nurses prepped you to be moved to a new room. Knowing you were in good hands, your mom walked to the main doors for fresh air only to be astounded at the sight of Mitch and Emily Patterson. Equally shocked, they came together.

“Emily?” Your mom spoke, looking carefully at the parents of your boyfriend. She wondered how the Patterson’s had found out, “Did someone call you?”

“No.” Emily spoke with a numb voice. Your mom took a step back, understanding that one could only react that way for one thing. Something had happened to the Patterson teenager.

 “Luke isn’t here, is he?” Your mom asked, turning to look up at the tall building of the hospital, “Y/N, hasn’t had a phone. She only found out, but Luke hasn’t been with you-“

“The cops came,” Mitch spoke tucking his upset wife into his arms. He was equally as grief-stricken and bitter, but he had to be calm for his wife. They wouldn’t get anywhere if one of them couldn’t get answers.

Your mom gasped, “No.”

“I always knew that band-“Emily’s own sob cut her words off as her knees threatened to buckle. Your mom helped lead Emily into the emergency room before she jogged off to join you but not before turning to the Patterson parents.

“We’ll meet up. Discuss why we’re all here.” 

Being told you had cancer and then informed your boyfriend died all in one night was the most painful thing you had to live through. It was weeks of screaming, invasive procedures and therapy sessions. Your father came from his business trip to Dubai as soon as he could and didn’t leave your side.

A painful six months rolled with cancer stealing your hopes and a fucking bad hotdog taking your dreams away. Nothing made you curious. Nothing felt worth living for.

Not the realistic watercolour tattoo your parents let you get of Luke’s blue guitar you loved so much. It seemed to have a terminally sick child made it practically impossible to say no to, so you got a tattoo of your favourite lyrics of Sunset Curve.

In pretty font, it said ‘When all the days felt black and white. Those were the best shades of my life’ just like it said in Now or Never. One of your favourite songs, you got the privilege of watching Luke create.

“Mom, can I have a popsicle?” You asked from your bed. Eyes barely open as she nodded off her chair, “My mouth is dry.”

“Of course.” She nodded, leaving the room with a kiss on your forehead. Both of you mumbling I love you just in case. You felt like your clock was close to the end, so every word had meaning.

It was a good day so far; you hadn’t had to press for more pain medication like the last couple of weeks. You had managed to turn to stare out the window at the pretty sky. Your eyes fluttered shut completely content that this was it.

Your mom returned to a room with doctors and nurses trying to resuscitate you with your father screaming. No one could figure out if it was the cancer or the broken heart syndrome that killed you first. Your death was a double blow to Luke’s parents the most, along with Reggie and Alex’s own parents. 

Los Angeles, 2020

So much had changed since you died in 1995. Phones had changed, and buildings were torn down. You changed as well too. In relief physically, you had changed from the gaunt, skinny, pale patient to the girl you had been before the diagnosis.

Your hair now looked as healthy as it had been before you had cancer and you weren’t gaunt looking. You were looked just like you did a few months before you got diagnosed and you hoped so since you were dead. It would have sucked to be dead and beyond ugly.

“Do you think she went on to have a family?”

You kept your attention on the waves crashing the beach content to watch the waves doing the same movement they had since the beginning. You paid no attention to the group walking by. Not until one tripped over you landing in an awkward heap.

“Ouch!” The voice hissed. Your eyes flicked down to Reginald fucking Hastings’s blue eyes in pure shock. You scrambled away from the teenager with a sharp scream that pierced the ghoul group.

“Jesus.” You grumbled pushing the little sand that had stuck somehow to your body made of air.

“Oh my god. I think I just summoned Luke’s girlfriend.” Reggie hissed towards the equally astounded members of former Sunset Curve and current Julie and the Phantoms bandmates.

“No, you idiot we’re dead.” You spoke, taking a deep breath in, “After not seeing you for five years I thought you passed on. I’ve been travelling around America and Canada. Something felt like I needed to come home.”

“When did you die?” Alex questioned sadly when you were quiet. His sad blue eyes unable to leave your expressive face, he hoped somehow you had lived to your 90s and died to come back youthful.

“It’s wasn’t harm-“

“No, Luke. I don’t think I’ll ever positively know what happened, but the night you guys died my life ended as well.” You revealed sitting back, letting the three boys join you for an intriguing story to them. Luke wasn’t hesitant in grasping your hand in his, “Funny enough your bodies were being unloaded in the morgue while I was being told by my Mom, I had cancer. The battle was hard but short.”

“Cancer?”

“Our love story was destined to be tragic, whether it be cancer or a hotdog.” You told the teenage guitarist to experience in the afterlife to be gentle about it. The three boys flinched from the indifference, “Have you visited your parents yet? My parents are home for a few weeks.”

“My neighbourhood was torn down. Alex doesn’t know about his and-“ 

“-I’ve seen my folks once so far.” Luke finished playing with your fingers, “You say our love story was tragic, I say it would be tragic if we hadn’t had the chance in life that we did.”

You nodded your head, “Where have you guys been?”

All three boys took their chaotic turn in describing their last meal to Reggie tripping over you with the belief of walking through you. They were in a band with a lifer who made them visible to the public when playing music together. You told them that your parents would choose a destination from your dream travel journal; you would follow them on the adventures.

Slowly you met Julie who put up a distance as she acclimated to having the girlfriend of her crush around always. Julie couldn’t help the feeling of jealously when Luke focused on the teen ghost girl. She couldn’t even hate you! You were so lovely and welcoming to the girl with respect for boundaries, in fact, you were exactly the girl she would have been friends with. Julie loved Flynn, but she could be over the top and dramatic sometimes.

“Good rehearsal. I’ll meet you outside.” Luke spoke, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. You nodded before walking through the white, painted barn doors.

Everything put away properly; Luke was quick to meet up with his girlfriend for their date. Alex noticed the stare by Julie. He had seen it for the past few weeks since you were introduced to the passionate musician with a beautiful voice.

“I’m really sorry, Julie.” Alex softly told the sad Puerto Rican girl yearning to hug the teenager but alas his ghostly body couldn’t allow it.

“Did I have an honest chance before she came back?” Julie asked. Her doe brown eyes bringing Reggie’s attention to the conversation at hand. 

“No.” Reggie answered this time solemn with his blue eyes holding no mirth or childlike glee, “Luke’s been in love with her for years. She’s his all or nothing.”

“I didn’t have a chance between them, and I don’t want you between them either. It’s not a nice place to be even if I was mutually breaking up with his as well.” Alex soothed the live girl yearning to physically comfort her but alas that damn hotdog ruined everything.

“Luke also said when the first big payment came, he would marry her. He wanted to give her the wedding of her dreams.” Reggie unintentionally rubbed the salt in Julie’s wound on the topic of her tragic love story.

Julie learnt to deal with the pain of seeing Luke, so in love and happier than before you had reconnected. In her fashion, she had hidden a new box for her thoughts that was so well hidden the boys would never find it. It was filled with papers that progressively got less romance angst.

“I’m just saying,” Alex spoke, raising his hands in the air after another one of Luke’s emotional rants on the loss of things in death. Such as marrying you.

“Dude, we’re dead, and our ghost connections happen to either be our band, Willie or a very questionable sketchy vintage magician.” Luke snapped slouching on his couch sulking as you were spending time with your family no matter how oblivious they were to your presence.

“I’m ordained.” Willie supplied sitting next to the blonde drummer who had easily swayed from Caleb to the good side again. At the group’s looks of disbelief, he continued, “I was bored! Took some art classes too. It won’t be the average wedding, but you could still call each other spouse.”

“I can check local clubs for wedding dresses. Flynn can easily put together music and Alex can find a venue.” Julie piped up, avoiding the sympathetic look from Reggie, who still thought the teenager had feelings for his bandmate. She no longer did. 

“You can use one of your rings on a chain as well. Maybe hold off on getting a ring until we get money from the band.” Reggie gave his input, earning himself a proud expression from Alex; an expression the drummer rarely was able to give his friend.

“I guess I’m proposing.” Luke beamed already thinking of ways to make his proposal special, not like being ghosts wasn’t already impressive enough. 

It wasn’t the ideal wedding, but it honestly didn’t matter as long as the two of you were able to vow yourself to each other. It no longer mattered on the details other than you two.

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED! I CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ON THE LIST VIA POST COMMENTS!)

@safehavenmuse @siennanoelle01 @whiterose291 @mell-bell @blackhood5sos @ficrecsideblog @ifilwtmfc @deadpoolgirl23 @crappy-unicorn @sunsetcurve-h @elioelioeli0 @lovesanimals @popcrone818 @lolychu @deepsleepnat @tenaciousperfectionunknown @aunicornmademedoit @just-a-writer-here @simp4reggie @parkeret @faithiebrock01 @overlyhypedup @differentsoulrascalsalad @aesthetic-lyss @versaceapa @carleywhittaker @lostgirl219 @itsalexx21 @elllaoo4 @merxxleighann @mediocremunge @fantomlovesjuke4ever @dpaccione @oswin05 @kaylinfayezink @aberette13 @faithie-brock-gillespie01 @eharvey0218 @overlyhypedup @benstormy @auriandthepussicats @sarcasticsagittarius1998 @whothefuckstolemykeds @kcd15​ @siriuswvrld​ @princessvader15​ @xoxbloodreinaxox @heimdoodle​ @joshy-obx​ @lovesanimals​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @am3l1a-24 @flying-solo-without-you​ @jaskiers-sweetkiss​ @lostrandomfangirl​n @must-be-a-weasley-92​ @jatp-holland​ @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch @dxlanhxlland​ @dasexydevitt13​ @ifilwtmfc @arianagrandes-things @kinda-really-lost​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​ @ssprayberrythings​​ @morgandamrose @thedarkqueenofavalon​ @zukoshonourr​ @crybabyddl @spooky-season-bitch​ @kcd15​ @morganayennefertyrell @magnet-girl​ @all-in-fangirl​ @kinda-really-lost @tenaciousperfectionunknown​

[parkerslatte]

Nothing To Be Jealous Of

MASTERLIST

Luke Patterson x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1.8k+

Summary: In 1995, (Y/N) is friends with Sunset Curve and is pining for Luke. They pass away with three out of the four members. In 2020, their crush of Luke is still there, however (Y/N) begins to distance from Luke when they notice the chemistry between Luke and Julie.

*****

Dying at seventeen wasn’t exactly my plan. I had my whole life ahead of me - get married, maybe have a couple of kids, and then die peacefully of old age. But of course the universe was against those plans. Here I was in the year 2020, twenty five years since I died. The only good thing about it was I was with my three best friends in the world. 

After we died - of eating street dogs of all things - we went to a dark room. It was here that I realised that I was dead, that I would never grow up and I would stay seventeen forever. To say that I had a slight mental breakdown would be an understatement. We weren’t in that dark room for too long - at least that’s what we thought - before I felt myself falling and landing back in our studio. 

Of course, it wasn’t exactly our studio anymore. It belonged to a girl named Julie - a girl that Luke had become suddenly smitten with. I mean, I could see why he began to feel the way he did. Julie was extremely talented, she was kind, and she was pretty - not that I was jealous or anything. 

“(Y/N), are you listening to me?” Alex snapped me out of my thoughts.

The two of us decided to go on a walk, Alex was tired after the band’s rehearsal and I offered to come on the walk with him so he wasn’t lonely. We had ended up at the beach.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. What did you say?” I ask. 

“I was just asking if you were coming to our gig tomorrow, you didn’t come to the last one.” 

“Um, I might. I’ve just been tired for the last couple of days and all I want to do is rest up. It’s funny isn’t it, we’re ghosts yet we still get tired.” I say. Everything I said was technically a lie. I wasn’t that tired, maybe a little, but not enough to keep me from going to watch my best friends perform. I just couldn’t stand and watch Luke and Julie on stage together. Their chemistry was unmatched and you would have to be blind to miss it. 

“Are you sure it’s just about that?” Alex questioned.

I began to chuckle nervously, “Why wouldn’t it be about that?”

Alex looked at me with obvious eyes before answering, “Luke?”

“Um, what about Luke? What does he have to do with me being tired?”

“Come on, (Y/N). You know I know you better than that. You have a crush on Luke!” Alex said.

“What, no I don’t-” I stopped when I noticed the look on Alex’s face, “Fine, I do.”

“I know, you don’t hide it well.” Alex responded.

“Well I hide it better than your crush on Willie. You get flustered everytime he speaks to you.” I say trying to divert the conversation away from me.

“Hey, don’t try to spin this conversation on me. We’re talking about you and Luke.” Alex said, folding his arms across his chest.

I sigh, “There’s nothing to talk about. Luke likes Julie, end of discussion.” 

“How do you know that, have you ever actually spoken to him about it?” Alex questioned.

“Well, no but-”

“Then how do you know he likes Julie?” 

“Have you seen their chemistry? The way Luke looks at her, he would never look at me that way,” I sighed once more before standing up and held my hand out to Alex, “Can we go now? I’m getting cold.”

Alex took my hand and pulled himself up before wrapping his arm around my shoulders pulling me in for a side hug.

“Tell Luke how you feel. The worst he can do is reject you, and there are plenty of other ghosts out there for you.” 

“Yeah, okay…” I trail off, “Let’s just get back home.”

***

It had  been a few since my conversation with Alex. As much as I wanted to take his advice in telling Luke how I felt, after I saw their gig, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. His chemistry with Julie was unmatched - he was definitely harboring feelings for her. 

I hadn’t spoken to Luke since the gig, and even then I only said good luck. I wasn’t originally my plan to distance myself from him, it just happened naturally the more time he spent with Julie. It was weird not talking to Luke, before we met Julie, the two of us were practically inseparable. Where one of us was, the other wasn’t too far behind. I missed that. I know it was technically my fault - but I couldn’t help myself. Seeing the boy you’ve had a crush of since you met him have feelings for someone else hurt.

Currently, I was sitting in the garage reading a book. I didn’t know where Luke, Alex and Reggie were, but I knew that Julie was at school, so I had the whole garage to myself. Or so I thought.

The garage doors opened and Julie walked in. I put the book down confused.

“I thought you were at school?” 

“I was, before Luke showed up and practically begged me to come and talk to you.” Julie responded, placing her bag on a chair.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, “Why?”

Julie sighed, “Why have you been ignoring him for the past few days? He says that every time he tries to talk to you, you make up some excuse.”

“I’ve been busy…”

Julie folded her arms across her chest, “Yeah? Doing what?”

I obviously didn’t want to admit that the reason I had been avoiding Luke was because I had a silly crush on him and I was jealous of him and Julie. And I especially didn’t want to admit that to Julie.

“It doesn’t matter…” I deflect.

“(Y/N), it does matter. He’s been moping around asking everyone why you won’t speak to him and asking if he did anything wrong,” Julie stated, “Alex obviously knows something because he just says to give you time every time Luke brings it up.”

I sighed, “Listen Julie, it’s just something stupid. It’ll probably go away in a few days. So just tell Luke that nothing is going on.” I say and try to leave the garage.

“(Y/N),” Julie says, but I continue to walk away, “(Y/N)!”

“What?” I stop and turn around, “Julie,I’ve already told you nothing is going on.”

“(Y/N), I know that isn’t true. Why don’t you just tell me?” Julie asked softly. 

As much as I was jealous of Luke and Julie’s relationship, Julie was still one of my friends. 

I sighed, “Fine,” I turn around to face Julie, “The reason I’ve avoided Luke was because I was jealous.”

Julie looked confused, “Of…?” 

I paused for a moment, debating on whether to tell Julie or just poof out. 

“I was jealous of you.” I say before diverting my eye contact.

“Me?”

“Of you and Luke. I mean the way he looks at you. He obviously likes you.” I say, my voice going quiet.

Julie was silent for a moment before she burst out laughing, “Wait, you think that Luke and I like each other?”

“Well, yeah…” I say, folding my arms across my chest.

Julie stops laughing but she still had a smile on her face, “(Y/N), there’s literally nothing going on between Luke and I. In all honesty, I thought the two of you were together by the way he talks about you when you’re not around,” Julie cleared her throat before putting on a terrible impression of Luke, “ ‘I wish (Y/N) was here, I miss her.’, ‘What do you think (Y/N) will think of this?’, ‘(Y/N) looked beautiful today.’,” Julie finished, “Do you want me to go on?”

I sighed, “Yeah, well we’re not together.”

“(Y/N), you obviously like him and he obviously likes you, so go for it!” Julie said.

“Julie, he doesn’t like me that way. All those things he said about me were him just being friendly.” I deny. No matter how much I wanted them to be true, they probably weren’t.

“Who said I didn’t like you that way?” A voice said behind me.

My eyes widened as Julie smirked.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Julie said before walking out the garage and closing the door behind her.

I turn around to face Luke, my heart racing. How much of that did he hear?

“Luke, I-” I cut myself off because I didn’t know what to say.

“(Y/N),” Luke took a step forward, he looked down at me as I tried to avoid eye contact, “I wasn’t just being friendly when I said those things.”

“Are you sure? You say things like that all the time.” I mumble.

Luke chuckled before taking another step closer. Now he was within reaching distance.

“(Y/N), I said those things to you all the time because I like you.”

When I didn’t respond, he took another step forward and placed his hand under my chin, making me look up at him. As much as I tried to avoid eye contact, I couldn’t.

“I don’t like Julie. I like you, I always have.” Luke confessed.

My mouth opened and closed, I was unsure of what to say. 

Luke smirked before he took a hold of my waist and pulled my body against his, “Well, aren’t you going to say something?”

“I-” I cut myself off and looked at him. The boy I liked - no loved - was holding me in his arms. Not only that, but he liked me back. I could only think of one appropriate response.

“Well-” Luke started but he was cut off.

I pressed my lips to his as my hands were pressed against his chest. Luke quickly kissed me back, pulling me closer - if that were possible - by the waist, while his hand held the back of my head. I smiled into the kiss. 

All of those years I head spent having a crush on Luke, he had felt the same way all this time. I felt stupid for not realising it and wished I had done this sooner because the feeling rushing through my body now was one I hadn’t experienced before. 

“Finally!” A voice came from the doorway. 

Luke and I broke apart once we heard the voice. Luke groaned and turned around to face Alex. 

“Get lost, Alex.” Luke said while I chuckled.

Alex held his hands up in surrender but a smile was toying at his lips, “Okay, okay, I’ll go.”

Alex left with a smirk on his face before Luke turned back to face me.

“Where were we?” Luke mumbled.

“Well, it involved me, you and this…” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his once more.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Took You Long Enough | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by @faithiebrock01​: Can you make one where Charlie and I are best friends (who secretly like each other, but are super oblivious and everyone around us can see it) on set of JATP and we end up having to do my car crash scene where get in the car accident (because in the show I die a few weeks after they do in the show, but I did in the accident also make that my character knew them before). When the scene ends with me in the hospital bed slowly dying, Charlie runs off looking sad. He then won't come out of his trailer for anyone until I get there saying "I'll handle it" to the crew member who was previously trying. I go in lay with him on his bed and ask him what's wrong then he says "it seemed so real" while crying and I calm him down then we end up confessing love for each other and then falling asleep cuddling. My name: y/n My nicknames: sweetheart, sweetie, love, Princess, queen, angel, nugget (Or whatever you can think of.)

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x female!reader

Warnings: Hospital scene, mention of a car crash, fluff 

Words: 2043

A/N: This was cute to write! I worked on it during an online class so I’m sorry if there’s any mistakes in there! Hope you like it!! :) 

Four years. Four years I’ve known Charlie Gillespie. Four years of us being best friends and only now we’re colleagues too. The both of us had booked Julie and the Phantoms a couple of months ago, and we’re now spending time together every day on set. It’s also been four years of me having the biggest crush on Charlie, but I will not tell him that. It’s just going to ruin our friendship and the dynamic in our friend group on set. The cast and crew have gotten close during the process of the bootcamp and filming. They constantly tease Charlie and me for having such a close relationship and that we should just date already. Charlie had laughed it off, and so I started to do it too. “Ready to go?” Charlie asks when he picks me up from my trailer before filming. I’d just gotten back from hair and makeup, and I was rehearsing my lines in the trailer to make sure I’ve gotten it down perfectly. “Yes! Let’s go.” He links his arm in mine as we walk off, letting the silence wrap around us in comfort. “What other scenes do you have today?” I ask, wanting to occupy my mind with something other than his skin touching mine. “I got some with the boys and Madi, and tonight, we’re doing the hot dog scene.” I pout, remembering that’s the scene where he’s going to die. Fake die. But still. It’s kind of sad. “Cool,” I respond with a smile, “Was going to ask you if you wanted to go grab dinner tonight, but I guess your hotdogs are dinner.” He snickers, and I can’t help but laugh too, hiding the fact my heart is racing. To me, his laugh is the most beautiful sound in the world. “Yeah, I doubt that’s a great idea,” he replies, “But I’d love to grab lunch? What time are you on break?” I bring my schedule in front of me in my mind, trying to remember it. “I think around two? Depending on how long the hospital scene will take.” Charlie nods his head, clearly thinking about how to make it work for us to eat lunch together. “I think we’re going to do the hospital scene too, so when we wrap that, we might be able to go?” “Yeah, sounds good!” I reply and let go off his arm as we reach the other boys and Kenny, ready for the first couple scenes of the day. “We’re going to do the Now or Never scene first,” Kenny tells the boys, to which they nod. “Y/N, you can watch from the side where their best-friend-slash-manager would be.” I nod my head curtly, telling him I understand his orders. “Give it your all, Rockstar,” I say to Charlie and bump my fist against his shoulder. He simply smiles at me, that perfect, award-winning smile that makes me go weak in the knees before I head off to my spot at the side of the stage. The four boys on stage are drenched in fake sweat at the start, and then rock out so hard on the first take, real sweat starts dripping down their faces. Charlie’s hair’s sticking to his forehead and his muscles gleam and glisten with sweat. I hope the camera won’t catch me drooling over my best friend’s hotness. Charlie himself catches my eye every now and then, his mouth curling up into a smirk. “Charlie,” Kenny starts after the third take, “Can you stop looking at Y/N, please?” My cheeks heat up when Owen, Jeremy and Taylor chuckle. “I know she’s your best friend, but Luke is focused on the soundcheck, yeah?” Charlie nods his head, and I swear I saw him blushing too. “Yes, Kenny. Sorry, Kenny.” Jeremy and Owen glance at each other, exchanging a knowing look. They’ve asked me multiple times if something’s going on between Charlie and me, but I told them there wasn’t until one night, I was crying about how much I loved him, and Owen and Jeremy were there to comfort me without judgement. Now, they don’t stop teasing me relentlessly. I know I’m going to get even more teasing comments about it later. I’m not ready for that.

Once the scene’s done, the boys and I get to catering to get a snack before heading back to set for the next scenes. The ones where I die. How fun. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. I know it’s all fake and I’m not actually going to be in a car accident, but it’s still scary. The ladies from costume and makeup get me ready for the hospital scene, taping fake wires on my arms and putting one in my nose as well while I’m covered in fake bruises and band-aids. “Ready, Y/N?” Kenny asks, and I nod my head. “If the tubes ever get annoying, just tell us and we’ll take a break, okay?” I nod again and Kenny steps away and behind the camera. Charlie’s there too, watching and being the greatest moral support puppy I could ever ask for. “Season one, episode one, scene three, take one,” Jaime says, working the clapperboard, and then Kenny yells “Action!” I lie entirely still on the uncomfortable hospital bed, breathing ever so subtly, and then holding my breath a second before the loud monotone beep sounds and doctors come rushing in. “And cut!” I open my eyes to find Charlie, and when I do, I catch him walking away with his head down. My eyebrows furrow, and I want to ask someone to go and check up on him, but the makeup team has already swarmed me to touch up the makeup a little. After a few more takes, Kenny tells us we’re all good and lets us go. Once the tubes are taken out of my nose and stripped away from my arms, I hop off the bed and go to find Charlie. Michel and Soyon An are in front of his trailer, knocking on the door and yelling his name. “What’s going on?” I ask Soyon An. “I’m not sure. He just ran off set with tears in his eyes and hasn’t come out of his trailer, but we need him for a fitting for tomorrow.” Worry sets in the pit of my stomach. Why would he run off crying after watching the scene I just taped? “I’ll handle it,” I tell them with a smile. The two people from the crew I’d grown closest to, offer me a smile in return and walk off. I take a deep breath before knocking on the door softly. “Char?” Ever so carefully, I open the door to his trailer and step inside the darkened room. I almost think he’s not even in here when a sob comes from the left-hand side of the trailer. “Hey,” I coo and sit down on the edge of the bed beside his curled up body. “What’s wrong?” “It just all seemed so real…” he whispers, and sniffles. “Why, thank you,” I joke, but Charlie’s sob makes me realize this is serious. “Hey, Char… Pumpkin…” My hand reaches out for his shoulder and start circling my thumb across his bare skin. “Sit up for a second, please?” He obeys my whispers and sits upwards, so I can scoot in next to him. He rests his head on my lap, sniffles taking over. “Why did you get so upset over a scene, Pumpkin? You know that’s my job?” “I know that, Angel,” my stomach flutters at the nickname, “I just…” He sits up and turns to face me, crossing his legs, “I couldn’t help thinking ‘what if something really happens to her?’, I couldn’t stop imagining losing you and it felt terrible. I don’t ever want to live without you, Angel…” He reaches for my hand and presses a kiss to my knuckles. I can feel the tears dropping down to my skin. It breaks my heart in a thousand pieces seeing him this broken. “You’re my best friend.” Right, the friendzone. We’re still here. “I know, Pumpkin… I can’t even imagine my life without you,” I tell him honestly. “But nothing’s ever going to happen to me. Or you. You’re going to have to do a lot more to get rid of me, Char.” He chuckles lightly. I reach up to wipe his tears away with my thumbs, cupping his cheeks, and then resting my hands there as we stare at each other. The tiny beam of sunlight from the small window lights up his face enough for me to see the sparkles in his eyes. “I don’t know if this is going to change anything, Angel, but I have to tell you,” he whispers, bringing his hands up to take my wrists and removing my hands from his face. “I trust us enough for not ruining anything between us.” I furrow my eyebrows, worried about his sudden serious behavior. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’ve been in love with you since the first day I met you.” My breath hitches in my throat, and I wish I could say something, but my brain is not functioning correctly right now. “I never dared to say anything because I was scared something would change between us and you wouldn’t feel the same and it would make things awkward. I was scared to lose what we already have. You’re my best friend, but I am so desperately in love with you that it’s kind of embarrassing and kind of distracting me from my work, like you saw during that first scene today. I am so desperately in love with you, Y/N Y/L/N and I don’t ever want to lose you.” He looks at me with hope in his eyes. I still can’t say anything. Too much in shock over his confession. “I understand if you don’t feel the same, Angel. I just… We can forget I said anything tomorrow and just go back to—” I finally manage to move and grab his face in my hands, bringing him closer to meet me halfway for a kiss. He’s a little startled at first, but then melts into the kiss and kisses me back. “I’ve been so embarrassingly in love with you for years and I never dared to say anything either,” I tell him, his face lighting up even more. “I cried one night blabbing about how much I love you and Jere and Oh had to comfort me for hours. It’s been so painful but I’m so happy you—” he cuts me off by pressing his lips on mine again in another kiss. “Were you asking me out on a date earlier when you wanted to grab dinner together?” he asks as though the memory from this morning just flooded into his mind. “What?! No!” I reply but can’t help blushing either. Charlie raises his eyebrow at me. “Yeah, fine. It was a pathetic attempt,” I roll my eyes with an amused smile on my face. Charlie laughs whole-heartedly before leaning in to peck my lips once, twice, three times. The fourth time he captures my lips with his, it’s a deeper, more passionate kiss than the ones before. The both of us are too wrapped up into the kiss, we don’t even notice Charlie’s trailer door opening until loud cheers startle us to break apart. Jeremy and Owen are stood in the trailer, cheering and exchanging high-fives in elation. “Finally!” Owen shouts, throwing his fist up in the air. “Bro, this took you long enough.” “Yeah, I know,” Charlie replies with a smile tugging at his lips. “At least now this girl won’t come crying to us again about how much she loves you,” Jeremy exclaims, patting my head as if I’m a child. The four of us laugh, and I look at Charlie, who gives me the most tender smile. “So… When’s the wedding?” The two of us scoff, and then order the two to get out of the trailer to give us some time alone, which they give us gladly. I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, and now that it’s here, it’s more than I ever imagined.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals 

[hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis]

Songwriting

Julie and the Phantoms

Pairing: Luke Patterson x Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Masterlist

A/N: Here’s my first JATP fic. This is loosely based on the “Edge of Great” ep. This ended up being much longer than I expected, but who’s complaining I guess. Please let me know what you think and if I should write more. I hope you all enjoy!

@im-a-writer-right​ YOUR TURN!!!

Ever since Julie’s mom had passed away you had been hanging around a lot since you knew what it was like to lose a parent. But ever since you found out that Julie had 3 ghost boys in her garage you found yourself hanging out at her house much more often. It was interesting and you really had nothing else better to do. And considering you’re the only other person that can see them without music playing Julie felt more comfortable having you watch over them if she thought they’d get into any trouble.

You had been hanging out in the garage waiting for Julie so you could watch her and the boys practice. You were writing lyrics in your journal when all of a sudden Luke popped in onto the couch next to you. 

“Whatcha writing?” He asks peeking over your shoulder.

“Nothing!” You say slamming your notebook shut.

“Shutting your notebook isn’t nothing. Come on, what is it?” Luke asks turning himself to you.

“Ok, how about. None of your business,” You respond. 

“Y/N when are you gonna tell me what’s in your notebook? You hug that thing like it’ll be the death of you if someone reads it,” Luke chuckles.

“It’s my personal journal when are you gonna get that?” You say and get up to put it in your bag. 

“When you let me see what’s inside?”Luke asks.

“You’re so damn nosy, Luke,” You chuckle as Julie walks in.

“What’s going on here?” Julie asks, clearly thinking something is going on between you and Luke.

“Luke is trying to get me to show him my notebook,” You say showing Julie. 

“Ah, your mu--” Julie starts before you run to cover her mouth.

“Wait she knows?” Luke asks.

“Well yeah. She’s my best friend,” You say with your hand still covering Julie’s mouth. Julie muffles something through your hand but it was incoherent, so you remove your hand.

“Where’s Reggie and Alex? We need to practice,” Julie says. 

“Oh! They were just out doing their own thing. They’ll be here,” Luke says. Just like on queue the two popped in. 

“Hey, guys, ready to rock?” Reggie says.

“Yeh, so we’re playing Edge of Great first. Let’s start on that,” Julie says. You sat and watched as the band practiced for the show Julie’s dad put on. 

“So what do you think?” Julie asked you.

“It was great. You all are gonna do amazing!” You say. After the boys were gone for a break before the show, you wanted to show Julie what you were working on.

“Hey, I was wondering if I could show you a song I was working on,” You say.

“Of course,” She says.

You go over to pick up one of the acoustic guitars and make sure it’s in tune. As soon as you were ready you started playing some chords. “One moment you’re here and the next you’re not. But I know you’re watching over me and you’re still with me,” You sing. You continue until you finish the chords you have set out. 

“I have all the lyrics but I’m still working on the tune. What do you think?” You ask Julie as you finish. 

“It’s great. Is it about your dad?” She asks.

“Yeah, it’s been in the works for months and I just finished the lyrics before Luke so rudely interrupted,” You respond.

“You know...” Julie starts with a look on her face.

“No. No. I know that look on your face. You’re gonna suggest something that I won’t like,” You say.

“Come on. Just hear me out?” She begs.

“Fine,” You say, and cross your arms.

“You should ask Luke to help you finish the tune and open for us at the show,” She suggests.

“Nope. Nope. No,” You quickly say.

“Come on. You write amazing music and have barely shared it in the last few years,” She says.

“You know that’s because a lot of my songs are super personal, especially this one,” You say.

“Ok, well do you have a song you’d be okay singing?” Julie.

“I have one, but I don’t have any tune for it,” You respond. 

“Ok, ask Luke to help. He’s amazing at creating tunes for lyrics,” Julie says.

“No,” You sternly say.

“Why are you so scared to let the boys know you sing and write music?” She asks.

“I don’t know. It’s not something I really like to publicly announce,” You respond.

“You don’t publicly announce it, but you’re one of the best artists in the school music program? Come on what’s the real reason?” Julie questions.

“I guess it’s just because it’s been a long time since I’ve performed solo and my songs have seriously been lacking. Plus there are only a few hours until your show, I’m not sure if I can pull a full song out before then,” You respond.

“Your songs have not been lacking. And if I can bounce back. Then you definitely can. Just ask Luke, I know he’d be more than happy to help and to find out what’s in your notebook. You have the rest of the afternoon. Plus,  I’ve seen you pull songs out 1 hour before you went on stage, you got this,” Julie says. 

“You really think I can pull this?” You ask.

“I know it. And you can find out if there really is anything going on between you two,” Julie smiles and pokes at your stomach.

“Stop. There’s nothing between Luke and me, he’s just a good friend,” You say.

“A friend that my best friend likes. The way you two look at each other and talk to eachother that can’t be nothing,” Julie says.

“So this is why you want Luke to help me?” You ask.

“Ehhhh. Also if you don’t play, I’ll hunt you down and make you,” She says as you two walk out of the garage. 

“Fine. Fine. I’d rather not die at your hand. But there is NOTHING between me and Luke,” You chuckle.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Julie says as you glare at her.

~An hour Later~

You walk into the garage hoping to find Luke or even one of the guys hanging out, but it was completely empty. After looking around for a bit you decided to leave and come back later. But just as you were about to leave you, hear two feet hit the ground.

“Hey, looking for Julie?” Luke says as your turn around.

“Uh, no, actually I was looking for you,” You say looking at your feet. 

“Oh uh, what’s up?” Luke asks.

“I don’t know if this is too much to ask but ummm, Julie was thinking that I could open up for your guys’ show in a few hours and I kinda need help finding a tune to some lyrics I wrote. Julie thought you could help,” You say.

“Wait you sing? Why didn’t you tell us?” Luke asks excitedly.

“Yeh, I don’t usually play outside of school or my room anymore,” You say.

“Well, it’s not much to ask and I’d be glad to help,” He says and sits down next to you on the couch.

“Thanks,” You say and pull out your notebook.

“So that’s your lyric book,” Luke says.

“Yes, and you promise not to peek at any other songs after showing you?” You ask and Luke nods. You flip to the page of the lyrics for the song you’re gonna play. “Here’s the song. I uh wrote this a while back when uhh, I was finally feeling like myself again after my dad passed. It’s called Sunflower,” You say hesitantly.

“I’m sorry,” Luke says as you can feel his eyes trained on you. He clears his throat, “So let’s see what you have,” Luke says and you pass your notebook to him. “This is great,” He says after finishing.

“Thanks, I play the guitar, mostly acoustic,” You say and pick up your guitar. 

Luke reads the first few lines of lyrics trying to figure out a good tune, “From dusk til dawn,” Luke mumbles reading through the first verse. He grabs the guitar from your hands and starts to strum some chords. “So here’s what I think,” Luke says and starts to play chords while singing your lyrics. 

“That’s great and what do you think if I stung this note out a bit,” You say taking back the guitar and playing the chords back while singing. 

“You have an amazing voice,” Luke says as you finish singing.

“Thanks,” You chuckle. The two of you sit for the next few hours creating a tune for your song.

“Ok, so this is what we have. Not like we can change it, the show is in 2 hours,” You say. You start to play the chords and sing. You expected to Luke join in like he normally would but he just sat there watching you sing. “So I guess that’s it,” You say after finishing the song. 

“It’s great! You’ll do amazing, I know it!” Luke smiles at you. You couldn’t help but think about what Julie said earlier, and Luke’s cute smile wasn’t helping. 

“What’s going on here?” Reggie asks. The two of you scoot away from eachother.

“I was just helping Y/N with a song, “ Luke says.

“Y/N sings?” Alex questions.

“Yeh I do, Julie wants me to open for you guys tonight. Luke was j-just helping me put a tune to my lyrics,” You say.

“Can we hear it?!” Alex asks excitedly. 

“I’m gonna leave that for the show,” You say.

“But guys, I promise it’s amazing! Y/N’s amazing,” Luke says as you chuckle. You feel chills move throughout your body at the comment Luke made. 

“Hey, guys! Ready to set up?” Julie asks walking in. She smiles seeing that you had actually asked Luke for help.

“Yeah,” The guys respond. You help Julie set up the equipment before heading inside to get ready for the show. 

“So, how was it with Luke,” Julie asks looking in her closet.

“It was good,” You respond.

“Just good? Come on, I need details girl,” Julie stops her task.

“Ok...fine. Luke is as good as you say in finding tunes. And he was very helpful,” You say.

“Really? I mean like did you feel something? Like a connection?” Julie asks.

“Julie,”

“I’m serious. You didn’t hear from me but I know Luke likes you. He just doesn’t know how to say it,” 

“Wait really?”

“Ah Ha! So you do like him,” 

“Me questioning if he likes me does not prove that I like him,”

“If I know Y/N and I do. I know when she likes someone. And you like Luke. I promise I won’t say anything,”

“Fine will you get off my back if I tell you how I really feel about Luke?”

“Promise,”

“Okay. He’s a great guy. And I can tell he’s really passionate about his music and that he loves playing. He’s also really sweet, cute...and stupidly annoying,” You chuckle.

“If I didn’t know better a certain someone likes Luke,” Julie smiles.

“Yes, your hunches were right,” You smile.

“Hey, you guys ready?” Luke says popping his head through Julie’s door.

“Uhh… yeah. We’ll be down in a bit,” You say.

“Cool. Y/N you’re gonna do amazing. And Julie we’re gonna kill it,” Luke says and leaves.

“I really hope he didn’t hear any of that,” You bury your face in your hands a few seconds after Luke leaves and Julie chuckles. You and Julie finish getting ready and head downstairs where Flynn was waiting. 

“You ready, Julie?” Flynn asks.

“Yes. But there’s a slight change of plans. Y/N is gonna open up for us so you’ll just have to introduce her first,” Julie explains.

“Yesss….I’ve been dying to hear you sing again,” Flynn squeals. The three of you make your way to the garage. You, Julie, and the boys prepare for the show. You find yourself shaking as soon as you hear Flynn speaking over the speakers. 

“Hey. Hey. You got this. Your song is amazing and you’re gonna kill it. If I could give you a big ‘good luck’ hug right now I would, but--” Luke says as his hand passes through yours. 

“It’s ok. Just...some jitters,” You say right before Flynn says your name. You make your way to the front of the garage. 

“Hi, I’m Y/N and I’ll be opening for Julie and the Phantoms,” You say and get ready to sing. You look up to find Luke standing in the front of the crowd and he gives a big smile, “You got this,” He says. 

You start off with the chords Luke played. As you continued to play and sing you felt like you were home again. Like you were meant to play in front of people and share your music. Once you finished, you headed out and let Flynn introduce Julie and the boys. You watched as they played “Edge of Great” and couldn’t be happier to watch them all do what they love most. After the party ended you found yourself staying the night at Julie’s. 

“Hey, can I talk with Y/N alone?” Luke asks as Julie is putting away a few things and the boys are hanging out.  They all nod and start to head out. As Julie leaves, you see her giving you a smirk like she knew what was gonna happen.

“What’s up?” You ask Luke as soon as everyone cleared out. 

“I just wanted to say you did amazing and that you should perform more,” Luke says giving a nervous chuckle after.

“Thanks, you guys did great too. I mean it was your show,” You say. A few moments of awkwardness passed. “Was that all?” You ask.

“N--No. I--I--” He hesitates.

“I know you like me,” You blurt out. After the fact, you realize what you had said. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, Uh,” You say nervously.

“Y/N, you’re an amazing songwriter and an even more amazing person. And yeh, you--you’re right I do like you. And I know we can’t exactly touch each other and I’ve been dead for 25 years, but that doesn’t change how I feel about you,” He says.

“Luke. I don’t really care that you’re a ghost. I feel the exact same way. And yeh it’s a little weird to say I like a ghost, but one day I feel like you’ll really be in front of me and I’ll really get to touch you,” You say.

“I umm wrote this song. It’s actually about you, “ Luke says and picks up his guitar. He starts to play the chords and sing. 

“I love it,” You say after he finishes. You hear a clap from outside the garage doors and you quickly shoot a look and see three heads quickly move down. 

You get off the couch and open the doors, “We’re you guys really eavesdropping?” You ask.

“How did it go?” Julie asks hesitantly.

“Does ‘alone’ really mean nothing to you guys?” You ask.

“If you guys really want you to know...it went great,” Luke says and smiles at you.

“Hey, you guys can’t blame us for wanting two of our friends to get together,” Reggie says putting his hands up in defense.

“You guys are seriously ridiculous,” You say and walk out of the garage.

[trevor-wilson-covington]

What could have been...

//Saw that the site I use to make mood boards has a CD Cover option and thought it would be fun to do Sunset Curve’s Demo and Unreleased Songs (+Home Is Where My Horse Is) as they would look as singles!!! I may make CD Covers for the other 13 songs in the show...if people end up really liking these ones and if inspiration strikes!

**Gave an idea of what I think the other 7 songs would be about/why they were written (said what we know Unsaid Emily, Now or Never, and Home Is Where My Horse Is are about already of course too)!!

1. Unsaid Emily: Is of course about Luke’s rough relationship with his mom, which was never resolved before his death. It touches on how he knew he should have turned around and come back home but his pride stopped him. All the conversations he had created in his head about what they would say to each other when he finally saw her again stayed that way, thoughts in his head. Wondering if he had been able to say the right things to his mom or made up with her before dying, would time not have erased the memory of him?  

2. Get Lost: I believe it is about the feeling of restlessness and wanting to just take off on an adventure somewhere new or unique. Similar to how Luke finds sleeves (zleeves) restricting, this song is about how life can feel suffocating sometimes and all you want to do is grab a bag of essentials and walk in the mist/ride off into the night to a freer life. 

3. Long Weekend: Is about the band’s friendship/brotherhood/sense of found family and how over many weekends they find themselves going through a lot of struggles and heartache together. These are the weekends that feel the longest because there is so much the four boys help each other through and many times they find they don’t want the weekend to end so they can spend more non-band time together to just be four stupid teen boys navigating all the twists and turns of life. 

4. Crooked Teeth: My thoughts are that it could have been written when he had braces/a retainer in the 90s & was self-conscious of it, so it was written to cheer Reggie up about his braces/retainer & pretty much say "hey, Reggie...people's smiles vary & they're all unique & beautiful"...instead of mocking him, like the show seems to tell us it was written to do.

5. My Name Is Luke: Is a darker, more introspective song about Luke’s struggle with an identity crisis where he feels he’s being pulled in different directions. One side is the Luke who loves his parents and wants to make them happy and have them be proud of him. The other side is the Luke. who is passionate about writing and playing music, who thrives off the feelings and energies of the crowd as they connect with him and his lyrics. Luke finds he can’t be one version of Luke without ultimately giving up the other and trying to do both is exhausting and soul crushing at times. The title is his way of saying ‘Hey, this is my name, it’s who I am, and I can be a loving son my parents can be proud of while also doing what I love and making a difference in the lives of people who listen to my music’. He just wishes his parents could come to understand that he loves music and he’s really good at it, so why can’t he continue doing it and make them proud at the same time.  

6. Now or Never: Is, as we know, about Sunset Curve’s rise to fame and how they can dream as though they’ll never die but they’re going to live their life as though today could be their last day alive. They aren’t looking to the future, because all they need are each other and the energy that is coursing through their bodies in the present. They hear a voice in their heads saying you only have this one life, so make the most of it so when you die you’ll have had no regrets about the things you did or didn’t do. This is their time to shine and even when their lives were bleak or lacking, their days were still the best of their lives because they were making music and gradually making a name for themselves doing so. 

Weaved in are of course lyrics that seem to foreshadow their 3 deaths with the mention of shock to their hearts (the defibrillators used to try to keep them alive in the alley or ambulance), clocks moving forward but they don’t get older (how for 25 yrs they were in limbo and didn’t age and are now 17-year-old ghosts in 2020), how they kept on climbing 'til their stars collided (floated up out of the ambulance to the dark place until crashing into Julie’s life (she’s a star as Luke says)), and how all that they left in the past was just the just the key to paradise (all the things they left behind once they died were just ‘stepping stones’ to the ‘paradise’ of heaven for most people or in the boy’s case the path to Julie and playing music again).

7. Late Last Night: Is about the late nights the four boys spent out at clubs/venues leading up to the Orpheum, gigs that helped them gain a decent following, and all the crazy things they saw and did. 17-year-olds out late partying, possibly drinking, on school nights. A higher energy song, similar to Now or Never to match the antics of a bunch of teens practically let loose on the music/club scene during the band’s rise in the Hollywood/LA music scene in ‘93/’94/’95. It evokes the feelings of being wild and reckless as a teen, while also somehow capturing the energy of the nighttime as you move from the crowded main strip into residential areas and how quick and jarring the change can be.     

8. Lakeside Reflection: This is a tough one, but I think it would be about the individual experiences most or all of the boys have from going to lakes during summer with their families. There’s of course all the fun time spent with family, but in the reflection on the lake of those moments the boys only see the truth of their family dynamics, what was hidden behind a pleasant façade. 

For Luke, it was the strained relationship and fights with his mom over the band and his dreams. 

For Alex, it was the looks and offhanded comments made by his parents and the looks of sympathy from his sister, ever since he told them he was gay. 

For Reggie, it was the nights spent keeping his brother and sister distracted as the walls practically shook from the volume and intensity of his parents’ almost daily fights. 

And for Bobby, it was the truth that he kept up a façade even with the boys so they wouldn’t know that his family, that the others always believed to be perfect, wasn’t perfect at all. When rarely he saw his parents and they weren’t off on business trips or working late into the night, Bobby found them to be disinterested in his life and any affection or love was relegated to a pat on the back or a quick hand held before they rushed out the door once more. 

The happy summer vibes at the lake could never truly make any of the boys forget their truths, but at least they could let loose for the extent of their trips and finally feel like a carefree teen again.               

9. In Your Starlight: This would seem to be a certain kind of love song at first glance and for some people that’s what it may be, but to me it is a very specific kind of love song. This love song is about relationships each of the boys had, the very few of them, that didn’t turn out well for some reason or another. A passion for music overshadowing the passion to keep a relationship going. The fear of long-term commitment and a short-lived bliss, before the fighting starts, ending the relationship before it ever grew deeper. The smothering of a fire in the soul so outsiders can’t see one trace of its flicker, hidden behind a lie, in case they find out the truth and react with disgust or hatred. Or the overly flirtatious and, at times, clingy antics used to get a person interested in starting a relationship. To keep them invested in the relationship, in an effort to make sure they won’t leave out of boredom or for someone better. This song is from the perspective of those other people, how they saw the relationship, no matter the length, and what they see as the thing that ended it or kept it from growing stronger. How they all in some way felt like they were pulled in by light of each of the boys (the stars) and things were good at first, before the cracks started to appear and reality truly set in.    

10. Home Is Where My Horse Is: It’s an expression of where and whom Reggie calls home. The horse had never really stood for an actual horse, but rather it represented Luke, Alex, and Bobby. The people Reggie considered his family, his home, more than he ever would the house he had grown up in. Horses symbolize freedom without restraint, because riding a horse makes people feel they can free themselves from their own bindings. There is no constraining a horse when it runs with the wind, but they also enjoy the company of family and friends. Reggie wants freedom from the stuff with his parents and his own personal demons that keep him held back. He finds with the band, his real family, he can run free and be himself...enjoying being around the boys and not having to worry about fighting and drama. His home is where he (the horse) is... able to be its true self and go where the wind takes it.