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loveelle · 1 year

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Thank you, Jerry~ Part 5

Luke Patterson x Alive!Reader Series

Summary: After getting an afternoon free from the band, Luke decides to see his parents, only to find out something he wasn’t expecting.

A/N: Alright, I’m tired of editing this part and changing how this was going to go, so I’m gonna bite the bullet and post it. Enjoy. Hopefully it won’t have too many more parts to it, so it won’t take me forever, but please, for the love of my sanity, don’t just demand part 6 now. Tell me what you like. Please?

WC: 4.4K

SERIES MASTER

Part 5: Is this an interrogation?

---

Luke was most assuredly not fine.

At first, the rest of his bandmates wanted to ignore him being late to rehearsal, or how he always seems to have somewhere to be that isn’t with the rest of them, or how something has made him bury his nose and scribble in his song book more often than his friends have ever seen, alive or dead. Between Julie, Reggie, and Alex, none of them could figure out what was wrong with their friend.

“Do you think he got himself roped into something like the club again?” Julie asks as the three of them await Luke’s return and sit around the couch in the studio, Alex’s drumming on the coffee table in front of him kept the room from being silent in between the ideas being thrown around.

“He wouldn’t do that.” Reggie tells her and she nods, knowing how absurd the idea was in the first place. “Do you think he’s in another band?”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Alex says and Reggie lets out a deep breath of relief. Getting nowhere with figuring out what was up with his best friend, Alex lets his mind wander. Not so surprisingly, his mind wanders to Willie and he smiles unconsciously for a moment before a thought strikes him and his drumsticks slowly come to a stop. “Do you think he met someone?”

For the first time all afternoon, no one denies that idea could happen.

“What are you all sitting around for?” The three of them scramble off the couch at the sudden voice in the studio and relief floods through them all when they realize it was only Flynn and not Luke.

“We think Luke met someone.” Reggie tells her as Flynn plops next to her best friend on the couch, her mouth immediately falling open in shock.

“Like another ghost?”

Julie, Reggie, and Alex all look between each other and shrug. “We don’t know.” Alex tells her.

“Wow.” Flynn lets out a long breath. “Well, good for him.”

“Yeah.” Julie agrees, throwing her arm around her best friend. “Good for him.” Alex and Reggie nod and yet something deep in Julie’s gut tells her there might be something more to the situation. Something she can’t see just yet, or can’t make sense of, but something was going on more than Luke just causally meeting someone.

And Julie was determined to figure out exactly what was going on with Luke.

---

“Um, 536?” You tap your pen against your lip before sighing and falling back on your bed.

Wrong. You can almost imagine Jerry saying as the index card having been floating in the air in front of you slowly drops to the bed and out of the corner of your eyes, you can barely read the number 579 scribbled down in just barely legible chicken scratch.

“It’s your fault.” You grumble, shoving a pillow in your face until you hear the sound of a whiteboard pen squeaking against a little whiteboard, your newest gift to Jerry. You smile to yourself before taking a glance, only to see the word ‘how’ scribbled on it. “Well, I could barely read it!” You defend yourself but you know the excuse was weak, you were just priding Jerry this morning on how better his writing has been since the two of you had been talking. The whiteboard slaps against your arm gently as you let out a small laugh, rubbing the spot before continuing to lay down. “Let’s take a break for a bit.” You tell Jerry and immediately see the cards you’ve been using to study for the last hour tossed onto your desk and your pillows next to you shift a bit, letting you know Jerry was laying down next to you.

Luke didn’t think hard about offering to help you when he popped into your room earlier and saw you studying for your math test the next day. Your brows were scrunched and your pen had bite marks from how hard you were chewing in concentration. It was one of those moments where Luke wished he had a phone to take a picture. It was also followed by a quick smile when he flicked your lamp on a few times to get your attention. That’s what led him here, laying on his side on your bed and staring at the side of your face as he hugs your pillow tightly. You were looking up at the ceiling instead of him, but in your defense, last time you both laid on your bed like this, you tried looking at him and both of you found it too weird. You would focus on something behind him and Luke would have to scooch down in his position just so his eyes would meet yours. This, staring at the ceiling, was more preferable.

“So, how was your day?” You ask Jerry, knowing you were just with him this morning.

Luke chuckles to himself before grabbing the whiteboard and scribbling down a quick ‘good :) how was yours?’.

You sigh and shrug. “It was fine.” You say but Luke knows you well enough to know there was more to the story.

‘Still not a lot from Kendall?’ He scribbles, having to write your old friend’s name more than once as he sees you struggle to understand what he wrote. When you do understand you let out a dry chuckle before shaking your head. Luke feels awful for you, he’s seen you try and text her over the last few weeks, but you never said anything about her responding more than a text or two every once in a while. Mentally slapping himself, he wants to cheer up a little. ‘How about your new friends?’

Reading Jerry’s new question, you don’t hold back the smile on your face, something Luke loves to see. “They are amazing.” You tell him, hugging a pillow close to your chest. “I loved my old friends, but Flynn, Julie, and her band just make me feel-” you cut yourself off, unsure what you’re going to say but knowing nothing you could say could make Jerry fully understand how much you love them.

Luke can’t help himself as he scribbles a quick, “And your crush?” He knows he shouldn’t ask, especially since he is more than certain you were talking about him, despite you never actually saying his name during the talks.

Your eyes tight and look away for a moment, not wanting Jerry to see the no doubt embarrassed look on your face thinking about Luke. “Yeah, he’s pretty good too.” You finally say before looking back up at the ceiling, unaware of the beaming smile and small blush creeping up Luke’s cheeks. You’re quiet for a moment before laughing to yourself. “And there’s you.” You roll your eyes at yourself and Luke finds himself completely red in just a few moments at the prospect of what you are going to say. “You know you’re my best friend, right?” You’ve said it to Julie and Flynn on your first girls’ day a few weeks ago, but you weren’t sure if you ever told Jerry.

Not seeing Jerry pick up the whiteboard, your heart quickens. “Obviously, you don’t have to say that back, especially since I know you have other best friends, like the ones you died with- I just wanted to say that, you know, b-because you’re like my best fri- best ghost friend-”

You were rambling and Luke wasn’t a genius but he didn’t need to be one to know that you would probably keep going unless he stopped you. You keep talking as he quickly scribbles on the whiteboard, holding it in front of your face in order for you to see it.

“You’re one of my bestest friends.”

Your whole body relaxes into the bed as you read his words and you can’t help yourself as you whisper, “That’s not a really word, but I’ll take it.”

Luke rolls his eyes and uses the pillow he’s leaning on to gently hit your face. He rolls off the bed to the sound of your loud laughs, accidently hitting the desk chair next to him.

“Grab the cards while you’re up.” You point to the pile and groan as you sit up ready to start another round of studying with Jerry.

---

Luke arrives back in the studio later that night. His goofy smile at spending the afternoon with you was barely hidden before he hears his name called, his friends all gathered around the piano without him. He doesn’t think anything about it at first as he jumps on over, tossing his arms around Alex and Reggie once he’s there. “What’s going on?” He asks, unable to stop his smile from making another appearance.

The rest of the band stays quiet, looking about each other before Alex clears his throat. “Why don’t you tell us?”

Luke’s smile slowly leaves as he furrows his brows. “Is something… wrong?” He looks to Reggie but the boy can’t make eye contact, then he looks to Julie, who’s eyes are wide and also locked onto the piano in front of her. “Julie?”

She finally looks up at him and takes a shaky breath. “We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Okay?” Luke’s arms fall from his best friends as he takes a step back. “Is this an interrogation or something?” He jokes, hoping his friends will stop acting weird.

“What is going on with you?” Reggie speaks, keeping his head low and playing with his fingers. “These last few months, I mean, it’s like you’re not even here, and when you are, it’s like you’re not even yourself.” He finally meets Luke’s eyes. “You’ve missed rehearsals, dude. Rehearsals. You didn’t even miss those when we were still kicking!”

As his stomach twists with worry, he shrugs. “So?”

It was Alex’s turn. “You’ve been keeping secrets from us, bailing when we have plans, a-and writing love songs?” He pulls out Luke’s song book that Luke didn’t even know he left laying about.

“You went through my songbook?”

Alex shakes his head, hoping his best friend would know he’d violate that rule. “I didn’t! You just- you left it open on the table the other day and this song was on top of the pile and it’s a love song.” Alex hands the book back to Luke who takes it quickly, tucking the page back into the book. Alex rocks on his heels, unsure what the three of them should say next to Luke, possibly an apology, but Alex can’t help himself but ask, “Sunflowers?”

Luke closes his eyes tight, wishing he hadn’t left his book on the table so carelessly when he went to visit you the other night before you went to sleep. He was about to defend himself before he sees Julie’s head snap to Alex’s.

“Wait, what did you say?” She asks and for a moment, Luke gets worried. She wouldn’t make the connection between sunflowers and you… would she?

Alex furrows his brows. “Sunflowers? It’s the name of his song.” He looks from the girl to Luke before taking a step forward. “Which by the way rocks, and if it wasn’t totally a secret love song, I’d totally suggest we preform it.”

Luke only nods his head gently at Alex’s words as he focuses on Julie, whose eyes were darting back and forth in front of her before finally settling on Luke.

“Is this about Y/N?”

“What?!” Alex and Reggie gasp at the same time, their jaws practically hitting the floor at the question.

Julie doesn’t acknowledge their shock as she puts together the pieces of Luke’s mystery. “This all started when she moved here, when she moved into your house!” She was starting to get excited, her voice rising as she claps her hands together. “When she moved into your house, with a ghost in it!” At that last realization, her stomach falls and she meets Luke’s eyes, brown, depressed, and boring into her own. “Oh, Luke,” her voice was soft now, “please tell me you didn’t.”

Luke remains silent.

“You’re Jerry?” Luke doesn’t know what else to say as he grips his book tight, seeing the page titled ‘Sunflowers’ sticking out, a small flower scribbled on the top, crumpled corner.

He can barely nod before his friends watch him disappear.

---

The next day after your math test leads to you skipping the rest of the day, opting for a walk along the beach instead. One thing about moving to LA is definitely the ocean air to cheer you up. You’ve been wandering for almost a half an hour, wiping under your eyes and trying your best not to sniffle.

You considered heading back to your house and enjoying the time without your dad home or even heading back to school for the final classes, but before you could make your decision, you see Luke, sitting on the edge of the boardwalk and kicking his legs out in the air with a frown on his face.

Seeing him here made you feel a little better, even if it was just for a moment. Hyping up your courage, you make your way over to him and take a seat next to him. “Hey, you.”

Luke looks up instinctively when he hears someone talk but he almost goes straight back to his previous position before he sees you staring directly at him as you sit down. He didn’t even realize he was visible at the moment; he was too far focused on his thoughts. “Hey,” he says finally, scooching over so you had more room next to him. The two of you are quiet for a moment before Luke turns and looks at you, his already sad expression becomes worse. “Are you crying?”

You let out a huff, forcing a smile to your face and quickly wipe your cheeks. “No, I was just uh,” You don’t know how you were going to finish the sentence as you meet Luke’s eyes. “It’s stupid.” You tell him but he offers you his ear to listen. “I just failed my math test.” You shrug, watching your feet as you kick out in front of you.

Luke feels awful. He knew last night how worried you were about this exam and a large part of him regrets distracting you as much as he had, especially when he convinced you to take music break and sing to all your favorite songs, which accidentally lasted an hour long since you wanted to play some songs and bands that Luke knew as well.

“Sorry that happened.” He says and you can’t help but smile at him, feeling a little better.

“It’s okay.” You whisper. “There’s always another test.” You lean back on your hands and look at Luke, watching his smile grow a little when he meets your gaze. “What about you? You alright? Kinda look like you’ve been crying too.”

Luke has to laugh at that. He hasn’t been crying, or at least that’s what he has told himself, but since he left Julie’s place and all of his friends last night, he’s been bouncing between places to be alone, wondering what on earth he was going to do about this whole situation. “I’m okay.” He lies and your eyes narrow, knowing he’s not saying the truth.

“You know, I’m really good at keeping secrets.” Luke’s shoulders relax as he leans back on his hands too. One corner of his lips quirks up when his shoulder brushes with yours.

No matter how many times Luke and you have talked since that first night you stayed at Julie’s, there was always a moment, that first moment after talking to you so long as Jerry where he touches you and it feels like he has come alive again. Where he’s just him, and you’re just you, and he can touch you, he can feel you, and he loves it. You and him, it’s just feels natural, no matter who he is in your life.

Luke sighs, pleading with himself to look away from you, but he couldn’t do it. “What would you do if you found out someone was lying to you?”

His question causes you to inhale sharply. Your next laugh comes out short. “Um, I guess it depends on who it is, you know?” You weren’t really sure what Luke was asking.

“What if it was your best friend?” Luke plays with fingers, unsure himself where he was going with his questions.

You’re quiet a bit too long for his liking, but in truth, you’ve been worried about the prospect of Jerry lying to you for far too long. You’d like to think at this point you knew Jerry, but of course, since you’re unable to actually see him or talk to him, you’ve never truly known if it was the truth. Before you could answer, Luke shakes his head. “Sorry,” he begins, “You don’t have to answer that. “

Luke wasn’t sure if he wanted the truth or not. He knows what he’s doing as Jerry and yet, stopping those visits with you was so far from what he wanted to do, he just wasn’t sure if he could tell you… everything.

“Happy talk?” You ask Luke and he is quick to nod and the two of you shift in your seats to look at each other, glad to move on from the sad talks. “So, tell me about Sweden.”

Suddenly this happy talk wasn’t as easy as Luke thought it would be. “Sweden? You, uh, you don’t really wanna know about Sweden, right?”

“Come on!” You nudge his leg with yours, keeping your leg pressed against his when you were done. “I wanna know about where you’re from.”

Luke takes a deep breath and tries to figure out how to get out of this situation. “Well, I didn’t live there long.” He lies and immediately his stomach starts to turn. “It’s um, it’s very big.”

You wait for him to say more but he just nods his head and you raise your brows. “It’s big?” Luke nods. “Okay, um, is that all?”

Luke was beginning to think that he should’ve learned more about Sweden when Julie told everyone they were from Sweden, especially since you were bound to have asked him about it at some point, he knew you well enough that he should’ve assumed that. Instead, he could only sit there and say, “yep.”

Luke was being weird, he’s been like this before when you’ve mentioned Sweden, so figuring he’s just homesick or something, you drop the question. “Dogs or cats?”

Luke’s brow arch and he stares at you through his lashes, as if your simple question was a trick and he was supposed to figure the right answer. “What?”

You smirk, leaning forward and inadvertently getting closer to him. “Dogs or cats, it’s an easy question.

Luke leans forward as well, his eyes narrowing and he’s quiet for a moment before quickly saying, “Dogs.”

“Really?” you ask him, a little surprised by his response. Luke chuckles softly at your expression.

“Yes, really, why? What’s yours?”

“Both.”

“Both?”

“Yup.”

“I didn’t know we could say both! I thought that was against the rules.”

You click your tongue. “I make the rules, so I say both.”

“Fine, I say both too.”

“Fine with me.” It was clear, after a single conversation were neither felt upset or like you were lying, that your spirits had lifted. Just like the first night you had met Luke, the conversation only flowed from there. You talked about anything and everything you could think of. Luke had to admit that he heard quite a few of the stories for the second time since some were stories you told Jerry, but he didn’t care. He’d listen to the stories a thousand times if it meant he could see you smile and laugh your way through them.

As the sky started to darken, the two of you realized just how long you’ve been captivated by the other. Luke was certain his friends were going to be looking for him eventually as it’s been almost a whole day since he left the studio.

“I should probably get home.” You told him, rubbing your arms as the ocean causes the air to prickle your skin. Luke nods and stands up, stretching his limbs out and reaching down to offer you a hand getting up. You happily take it, slipping your hand into Luke’s and neither of you let go when you were on your feet.

Perfectly timed with your stretching, your phone goes off and you look to see your dad’s contact on the screen along with an angry text about why you skipped school today. “Oooh, someone’s in trouble.” Luke teases you as he bumps his shoulder against yours. You chuckle at his actions before reading.

“He wants me to clean out the attic as punishment.” You sigh, shoving your phone back into your pocket.

Luke’s face scrunches. “The attic? Who does he think you are, Cinderella?”

You laugh again and shrug. “When we were moving, I didn’t feel like going through all of the boxes, so I may have shoved quite a bit of boxes up there so my dad didn’t see them. Unfortunately, that lasted about a week, but I don’t know why he’s making me clean it now, he must need something in there.”

Luke nods, looking down at your entwined hands before smiling softly. “Walk you home?” He offers. The smile on your face was all Luke needed to know you’d say yes.

Your house was barely a half an hour walk from the beach and to be honest, you’ve barely remembered the walk, only keeping Luke’s hand in yours and talking the whole time. You didn’t realize you were in front of your house until Luke stops walking, squeezing your hand tight.

“Good luck with the attic.” He tells you and you roll your eyes. “I’d offer to help but-”

“But you know I wouldn’t let you?” Luke nods at your comment before you both laugh, accidentally coming close together. Your chest was almost pressing against his as your gazes meet one another and you stay in your close bubble for just a moment longer before you clear your throat and take a step back, slowly dropping Luke’s hand at the same time. “Goodnight.” You whisper to him and Luke can’t say anything or do anything except nod. His cheeks were no doubt pink and he hoped the sky was dark enough so you wouldn’t see it. You smile at him, coursing a smile of his own to appear because how could he not smile at you. It was you.

He watches you disappear through your front door before he jumps and spins with excitement. God, it really was one thing to be able to talk to you instead of just writing things down, but when you touched him, it was like electricity. It felt like the stamps from the Hollywood Ghost Club except there was no pain. There was happiness, and warmth, and what Luke was beginning to believe can only be described as love.

---

The attic wasn’t as clean as you had remembered it being. A few of the boxes you had shoved up there had toppled over, sending a few things flying out of the boxes themselves and a layer of dust covered almost the entire room. You sent your dad a text, asking if he needed something up here or if he wants you to pull all the boxes out. Turns out you were right and he just wanted a pair of shoes you threw up here. Luckily for you, you knew exactly where they were and within 10 minutes, you were ready to get out of this dusty place. You were just about to leave before a box topples over from you shifting them around to get through. You sigh heavily, thinking about just leaving until next time someone comes up here, but you knew it would be yourself and you couldn’t do that to yourself.

So, you trudged your way back to the box, finding it easily and shoving the belongings back inside. It only took you a minute to realize none of the things in the box were yours or your dads.

They must be the old owners, you think to yourself. You knew there was probably a box or two that was forgotten was the old owners moved out, but you hadn’t seen them before when you were putting boxes up here, but you weren’t really paying attention. You thought against snooping, letting the older couple have their privacy and see if there was a way you could contact them and send them their boxes, but you couldn’t help yourself. Especially not after you see a pamphlet for an old band laying out on the ground.

The band name sounded familiar but you couldn’t remember listening to anything from a ‘Sunset Curve’. Judging by the band name and song names and the date listing the ablum in the mid-90s, it didn’t seem like the sort band a pair of grown adults would listen to. They must have had a kid or someone who was interested in this sort of music.

You almost tossed it aside. You almost shoved it back into the box without another thought to it and kept the box up here in the attic and never thought about it again. That was, until you remembered something a certain someone said to you the night you first met.

My friends and I, we had a band called Sunset Curve.

It must have been a coincidence that Luke’s band before Julie was named Sunset Curve. Maybe they just copied it right from this band, it’s been done before. But something was telling you that wasn’t the case.

You’ve never pulled out your phone faster, thumbs hitting every wrong spot on the screen until you finally pull up the internet and manage to type ‘Sunset Curve’. There were surprisingly quite a few websites that popped up and you click on the first one.

Sunset Curve: A Hollywood Tragedy

You don’t read the article yet. How could you when the picture of Luke, Alex, and Reggie along with a fourth boy were staring you in the face? You tell yourself again that it’s a coincidence, that this is taking about another Sunset Curve, that they used the wrong picture or something, that this band wasn’t a Hollywood tragedy in the 90s because your friends were barely older than 18, that this is all one big misunderstanding.

And then you read the article.

They died 26 years ago. They died 26 years ago when they were 17 years old. They died 26 years ago, when they were 17 years old, after eating hotdogs and getting food poisoning. They died 26 years ago, when they were 17 years old, after eating hotdogs and getting food poisoning together as friends.

You’ve heard this story before. You’ve cried over this story before. At first, all you thought you had to deal with was Luke, Reggie, and Alex being dead, being ghosts.

Julie and the Phantoms. That’s starting to make sense to you right about now.

Then the other pieces start to slowly slip together. Each passing second only leads you to one almost undeniable fact.

Either Luke, Reggie, or Alex is Jerry.

And you had a pretty good guess which one it was.

If you want to be added or removed, please send an ask!

Jatp: @bekkimahonxx95 // @tattoo-of-a-bird // @luna670 // @sagittarianwolf // @magicalxdaydream //

TYJ: @quillsandtypos // @bxtchboy69 // @oldnatgwenaccount // @quackitysdrugdealer // @nightfurya //

#Luke Patterson x reader #Luke Patterson imagine #Luke Patterson fanfiction #Luke Patterson #jatp x reader #jatp imagine #jatp fanfiction #jatp #Luke Patterson series #jatp series #Julie and the Phantoms x reader #Julie and the Phantoms imagine #Julie and the Phantoms series #Julie and the Phantoms fanfiction #Julie and the Phantoms #Thank You Jerry #TYJ

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willexxmercer · 2 years

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Fic Rec: Maybe the Real Seance Was the Friends We Made Along the Way by @wr0temyway0ut

I had the good pleasure of working with Rio for @julieandthephantomsbb this year!

JatP Series (34/?)

#willie jatp #bobby wilson #bobby shaw #jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatpedit #fic rec #mine**g #jatp series

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loveable-sea-lemon · 1 year

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anyways

#kinnporsche #not me the series #bad buddy #enchante the series #jatp #julie and the phantoms #music #blorbos #hyperfixation #neurodivergent #jupe's edits #og posting #the hits

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officialrapunzelfitzherbert · 9 months

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rip luke patterson you would have loved boygenius 😔🙏🕊

#luke is a julien stan btw he told me #however do NOT think abt him hearing emily im sorry for the first time do NOT THINK ABT IT #i think of julie introducing the boys to modern music often.....#she sits them down one day and plays the brooklyn steel video #and they have to keep pausing it bc someone needs to go lie face down on the ground outside #alex @ do you hate what you see like i do reggie @ phoebe belting luke @ juliens guitar solo #(alex and julie are both lucy stans reggies a phoebe stan luke is a julien stan)#(u KNOW alex is crying to night shift like. daily)#anyways. thats just what ive been thinking abt #julie and the phantoms #art #luke patterson #jatp #luke jatp #sunset curve #this is gonna be a series btw alex is next i think!!!!!

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rukeiiii · 10 months

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still hating on the fact that netflix cancelled jatp. a show that had multiple awards, top 1 show multiple times, AND was most liked tv show on netflix from 2020-2021. another thing i hate abt netflix is the fact they're still continuing badass shows like 'cocomelon' or 'gabby's dollhouse'. STOP. and please don't tell me otherwise.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #ruke #ruke jatp #peterpatter #willex #willex jatp #julynn #julynn jatp #sunset curve #netflix #netflix series

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ewwarrior · 9 months

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List eight shows for your followers to get to know you better:

• Sense 8

• The Magicians

• My Mad Fat Diary

• Veronica Mars

• Julie and the Phantoms

• Fleabag

• Good Trouble

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer

#fleabag #the magicians #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #gif #tv shows #watch this #tv series #recommended #Good trouble #the fosters #phoebe waller bridge #julie and the phantoms #jatp #sense 8 #my mad fat diary #mmfd #veronica mars #favourite shows

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thereigning-lorelai · 11 months

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I don't know. I feel stronger.

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andi-mec · 12 days

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Debating making a tiktok specifically for my guilty pleasure kids shows, I can't let the irl know I fw JATP, HSMTMTS, TNS, Andi Mack etc.

Liking isn't enough I need to comment and repost sometimes.

#andi mack #the next step #hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #tns #julie and the phantoms #jatp

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legolasghosty · 2 months

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I Belong in Your Arms

Happy JATP Feb Fan Fest day!!!! This is my gift for @interestinglittlerelationship! Hope you enjoy! (Also sorry I'm a bit late!)

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Relationship - Willex Rating - Teen Additional Tags - Foster Care AU, Friends to lovers (mainly friends at this point), hurt/comfort, heavy on the comfort!

Summary -

Alex takes a right at the prompting of his phone and spots the hanging sign for Bohemia Roast. A grin spreads across his face when he spots a familiar figure lounging on a table just outside the cafe. He debates trying to sneak up on them for a second, but decides against it. The accidental elbow he got to the ribs last time he tried makes a solid case against it. “Willie!” he calls out instead, tucking his phone into his pocket. Willie looks up and Alex can see the exact moment he spots him, because his whole face lights up. Alex is still a good ten feet away when Willie rushes him, nearly bowling them both over onto the sidewalk with the force of his hug. Alex squeezes them back just as tightly. It’s been way too long since they’ve actually seen each other in person.

Read Here on AO3, or read the whole fic below the cut!

-------

Alex hurries to the front of the bus, shooting a quick smile and a “Thank you” to the driver before stepping off onto the sidewalk. He’s 99% sure this is the right stop. Well. Okay, more like 64% sure, but that’s just the anxiety talking. His phone buzzes in his hand, telling him to go left. If Google can be trusted, his destination is only a five-minute walk away.

He turns and starts down the sidewalk. The sun is bright above him, even though it’s the middle of October. He ducks around a young couple taking pictures with some celebrity impersonator with a flashy white wig. Seriously? He hadn’t realized that was still a thing that happened outside of theme parks. Though maybe Hollywood is a bit like a theme park. It would explain a thing or two.

“Willie!” he calls out instead, tucking his phone into his pocket.

Willie looks up and Alex can see the exact moment he spots him, because his whole face lights up. Alex is still a good ten feet away when Willie rushes him, nearly bowling them both over onto the sidewalk with the force of his hug. Alex squeezes them back just as tightly. It’s been way too long since they’ve actually seen each other in person.

“Your hair’s longer,” Alex mumbles without letting go, those same strands tickling his nose.

“You still have this hoodie,” Willie responds, his fingers tugging on the pink fabric.

“Someone told me pink was my color,” Alex snarks.

“That person must be a genius,” Willie says, chuckling. “I missed you,” he adds a moment later.

“I missed you too.”

Alex doesn’t bother saying more than that, not yet. Right now, he can just soak up Willie’s warmth and familiar presence. Sure, Willie’s hair is a bit longer, and Alex is taller than him now, but they’re still the same people they were a few years ago when they met. And even though they haven’t seen each other all that often since Alex got moved out of the group home after a couple of weeks, they’ve still been in each others’ corners ever since that first night.

Eventually, Willie relaxes a bit and Alex pulls back. “So,” Willie starts with a smirk, “what brings you to Hollywood?”

“Oh, all the famous people,” Alex jokes. “I think I even saw Marilyn Monroe back there.”

“Wow, de-aging technology has gotten so fancy,” Willie retorts with a laugh. “Hasn’t she been dead for like… a while?”

Alex shrugs, faining innocence. “I’m just telling you what I saw.”

Willie stares at him for a second before they both burst into giggles. It feels good, laughing with Willie again. In person, not over the phone.

“Come on, you have got to try this place’s iced teas,” Willie declares.

Alex just grins as Willie grabs his hand and pulls him into the little cafe. The interior is warm and cozy, lit largely by the sunlight that streams in through the front windows. Shelves along one wall hold a mix of plants and in-house coffee blends. The rest of the space is taken up by stools and tables, along with a couple of couches. The place is just the right level of loud, enough that Alex can feel the life flowing around him but not enough that he feels the need to shout.

“Okay I know I said tea,” Willie says as they approach the counter, “but no pressure there. What do you want?”

Alex inhales the scent of fresh coffee. It smells great… for another time. “No I think I’m with you in the tea club today,” he responds. “Dan and Judy are nice and all, but I swear coffee is the only thing they drink. Period. I haven’t had a decent iced tea in like six months.”

Willie nods. “Makes sense, they sound like coffee people.” They glance up at the menu board. “I was going to try the passion fruit one this time, but the strawberry citrus I had last time was sick.”

“I’ll trust your judgment,” Alex agrees, swinging their still joined hands back and forth a bit. “Hasn’t steered me wrong yet.” He pauses, thinking. “Well, okay, except for that sushi thing. And Thor whatever number the last one was. And that dog that-”

“Hey, that last one is Google’s doing,” Willie protests, cutting him off. “I just gave you what the top search result was.”

“Yeah and then I got bit by a freaking lapdog,” Alex retorts, a laugh bubbling up behind his words.

“Wow, ‘freaking’?” Willie teases back. “Someone’s working on their language.”

Alex groans and drops his forehead down on their shoulder. “Dan and Judy blow a gasket whenever I say anything even remotely connected to a swear word,” he explains. “Like, come on, if you’re gonna be foster parents, you’ve got to be able to manage kids that come from homes where swearing is a thing.”

Willie winces sympathetically. “That’s rough, dude. You should leave them a nasty review on Rate My Foster Parent.”

“That’s not a real site,” Alex mumbles, but a smile is starting to pull at his lips again.

“But it could be,” Willie counters.

Alex rolls his eyes, then smirks. “Oh but how would lovely individuals like Ms. Hannigan ever stay in business then?” he retorts.

Willie shudders. “All the more reason for it to be a thing,” they decide. “I had to watch the 2014 Annie way too many times with Lydia while I was with the Bennets.”

“You have a point,” Alex concedes as the person in front of them finishes ordering and steps away.

“What can I get for y’all?” the woman behind the counter asks with a friendly smile.

“I think we’re in the market for iced tea,” Willie responds.

He mirrors the barista’s grin, but it’s not the same as the easy one he’d been wearing a moment ago. It’s a bit tighter around the edges, lips closer together and fewer crinkles around his eyes. Alex is familiar with having different smiles for different situations of course, he probably has half a dozen himself. And Willie’s “I’m being polite” smile isn’t nearly as distinctive as it was three years ago when they met, which is a good sign. But still, Alex wishes he could lift some of the weight that pulls at their face when they’re pretending to be happy, but not sure if they’re allowed to exist.

“And you said the strawberry citrus, right?”

Alex starts, realizing he zoned out for a second. “Yeah, that one,” he tells Willie. He gets a glimpse of the real smile again at that. It makes him feel all light inside, just like it always has.

Willie finishes ordering and reaches for his wallet.

“No it’s cool, I got it,” Alex says, hand slipping into his own pocket.

“Nah, Caleb gave me an allowance for this kind of stuff,” Willie responds, pulling out a $10 bill. “I think he’s trying to teach me financial responsibility or something.”

Alex shoots him a questioning glance. Willie’s eyes say, talk about it later. So Alex lets it go and just drops a $1 in the tip jar. The woman tells them it will be right out, so they head over to the other end of the counter. Alex leans back against one of the tall tables to wait.

He’s a bit startled a moment later by a warm arm pressing against his own. He glances over to see Willie almost leaning on him, arms folded protectively and eyes fixed on the people behind the counter. Alex can’t help but remember all the times Willie grabbed his hand or pressed their feet together under the table or wrapped him in a hug back when they were in the same foster home. It had been nice back then, but 13-year-old Alex hadn’t considered why that was Willie’s first instinct for helping him. Heck, he hadn’t even heard of love languages till around a year ago.

Alex hesitates, then wraps his arm loosely around Willie’s shoulders. They don’t pull away, to Alex’s relief. Instead, Willie edges a bit closer, shoulders relaxing a little. Alex fights the urge to brush his lips against their cheek, just to see if that would make the real smile come back faster.

Neither of them stirs for a few minutes. The cafe continues to move around them but it doesn’t touch them. They just stay in their little bubble as they wait for their teas. They could be talking, but it’s nice to be quiet every once in a while with someone you love.

Eventually someone calls Willie’s name and slides their drinks across the counter. Willie darts forward, grabs the cups, and is back in front of Alex within moments. “Inside or outside?” he asks, grinning.

Alex glances out the window. “It’s still warm enough for outside,” he decides, taking his cup and grabbing Willie’s now-free hand.

“I don’t know, you might catch a chill, white boy,” Willie teases, following him out to the table where he’d been waiting earlier.

“Eh maybe I won’t get yelled at for not going to church on Sunday then,” Alex jokes.

Willie frowns and Alex regrets his words. “They shouldn’t be yelling at you,” Willie points out softly. “Especially not for that.”

Alex shrugs. “Yeah, they shouldn’t,” he agrees. “But there’s not much I can do about it.”

Willie nods and squeezes his hand. They have to let go of each other as they sit down on either side of a small, wooden table, but Alex brushes his toes against Willie’s, just to keep the contact he knows is nice for them both.

“So, tell me all about-” Alex sets down his cup to throw up some jazz hands, “-Caleb Covington?”

Willie giggles. “Yep I guess that is how I text about him, isn’t it,” they remark.

“There are sparkles around his name like every other time,” Alex confirms, laughing.

“And I stand by it,” Willie states. “This guy is very extra. But… not in a bad way? I don’t think?”

Alex leans forward, resting his elbows on the table to listen. “I mean he did give you coffee money,” he points out. “Isn’t that stuff supposed to stunt your growth or something?”

“If I didn’t already know that was a myth, I’d believe it now,” Willie responds. “I swear Caleb drinks like half a pot of the stuff with breakfast and he’s like six-three or something.”

Alex laughs. “So what you’re saying is that you need something else to blame for being shorter than me now?”

“Guess so,” Willie says, nodding. They don’t say anything else for a moment and Alex waits, knowing by now that sometimes they just need a minute to collect their thoughts. “He’s cool so far,” Willie says finally, a bit softer than before. “And he’s gay, which is nice. I haven’t met his boyfriend yet, but he sounds chill from what Caleb says.”

“That’s great, Wills,” Alex remarks, offering an encouraging smile.

“Yeah, he’s like the chillest foster parent I’ve ever had with all that,” Willie agrees. “He even… um… he mentioned we might even be able to get the legal stuff squared away so I can start HRT if everything goes okay with the GP next month.”

Alex can’t help the surprised laugh that escapes him. “Willie, that’s awesome!” he declares, grabbing Willie’s hand again. “You’ve been wanting that for like… ever.”

Willie nods and offers a hopeful smile. “Well cross your fingers for me,” they answer. “I mean… I don’t know if I’ll last long enough for that to actually happen.”

Alex immediately reaches across the table and latches onto their other hand as well, making Willie look up at him. “Hey, no,” Alex says quietly. “No blaming yourself for any of that. It’s not on you to make yourself this perfect kid that fits with all the random expectations of stupid white people. They knew they weren’t going to get perfect kids when they registered to be foster parents. Heck, they signed up for not-perfect kids when they decided they wanted to have any kids at all. Other peoples’ bad choices and reactions aren’t your fault.”

Willie bites his lip but nods again. “Yeah. I know that,” he says. Alex isn’t fully convinced, but he doesn’t push it. “It just sucks that I’m the one who gets screwed up after.”

“Yeah, it does.” Alex squeezes Willie’s hands, then lets go of one to take a sip of his tea. “Oh dang, this is awesome,” he remarks.

Willie grins, not all the way but close enough to make Alex feel fluttery. “Right? I don’t know what kind of crack they put in these, but it’s seriously addictive.”

“Yes,” Alex responds, pointing at him before taking another swallow. “How’s yours?”

“Sick,” Willie says. He sips at his drink again, then adds, “Caleb apparently comes here a lot. It’s not that far from where he works so he’ll come here on lunch breaks or something sometimes?”

“I probably would too if I was close enough,” Alex admits.

“Same. But he brought me here like the day after I moved in, something about serious conversations requiring caffeine. But said ‘serious conversations’ were all like… what kind of breakfast food do I like? And favorite movies? And allergies, even though I’m pretty sure that’s already in my file or whatever?”

“Sounds like my level of serious conversation,” Alex says, chuckling. “But I think I’m starting to see what you meant before about him being extra…”

Willie laughs. “Yeah, he’s just like that I guess. I mean he runs this fancy club place on Sunset Boulevard, so I guess it checks out. The place kinda sounds like an old speak-easy sometimes from how he talks about it.”

“Good think alcohol isn’t illegal anymore then,” Alex jokes.

“Man, I don’t think he’d get caught even if it was,” Willie responds. “He’s like scarily good at talking people into things. These couple of missionary dudes showed up at our door last week and I’m pretty sure Caleb had them questioning their own fancy book by the time they left.”

Alex smirks. “Serves them right.” He falls silent for a moment, sipping his drink. “So you like it there?” he asks.

Willie bites his lip again and nods. “Yeah, I do. And I’m scared I’m gonna mess it up. That I’ll drive him away.”

Alex laces their fingers together a little more securely. “Well whatever happens, I’ll still follow you,” he promises, just like he has dozens of times over the last few years.

Willie smiles, a bit shaky but so real and honest that it makes Alex’s face warm in its glow. “You too,” they reply easily. “We’ll figure it out.”

“One day at a time,” Alex finishes.

13 notes · View notes

loveelle · 2 years

Text

Thank You, Jerry~ Part 4

Luke Patterson x Alive!Reader Series

Summary: After getting an afternoon free from the band, Luke decides to see his parents, only to find out something he wasn’t expecting.

A/N: To the very few of you still reading… this is for you <3

WC: 4.1K

SERIES MASTER

Part 4: You’ve got yourself a deal

---

Saturdays. Your favorite day of the week. You used to look forward to it because it was the one day a week you’d have to yourself but lately that’s been changing and your dad hasn’t been around much any of the other days in the week. Alone once again, you pull the blanket tighter under your chin, ready to for a few more hours of peace and quiet while you sleep-

Oh. Julie just texted you.

Girls day! You in?

You sigh, feeling the urge to sleep longer too powerful to resist, and yet a girls day with Julie and Flynn sounds perfect. Tossing the blanket away from your body, you send Julie another message saying you’ll be at her house in 30 minutes.

---

It’s been almost a month since you’ve moved to Los Angeles and you’ve been to Julie’s house quite a few times since you’ve first met so you didn’t bother knocking on the front door when you got there. Instead, you opted for heading right to the garage in the back and to your surprise, you could hear music from inside. You try knocking on the door, but after a minute of doing so and causing your knuckles to ache quite a bit, you sigh, chew your lip for a moment before slowly pushing the door open. You didn’t see Julie anywhere, but you do see three boys at three different instruments. It only took you a second more of watching before you realize that they were the boys from Julie’s hologram band.

The realization causes you to pause. Julie’s holograms were even more amazing up close. The way they looked at each other and took up the exact right amount of space, it was almost like they were in the room with you.

You lean against the door, listening happily to the sound pouring through the speakers before you accidentally slip, sending a few things falling off the shelf next to you.

The commotion causes the band to stop playing as they all look your direction. “Girl!” The bassist shouts, pointing directly at you.

You freeze, feeling three set of eyes on you. “Hi.” You wave meekly before clearing your throat, letting your eyes drift across the three boys. “Oh, um, sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was just looking for-“

“Y/N!” Your head snaps behind you, relieved when you see Julie and Flynn

“Julie! Flynn!"

Julie's eyes go right past you when she finally steps into the room, realizing pretty quickly that all of the boys were still here. It's silent between the six of you as you wait for anyone to say... well, anything. Julie finally comes to your aid as she clears her throat and throws an arm around your shoulder to point you in the direction of her band. "Um, Y/N, you remember my band, right?"

You look at her, wondering what the hell she was getting at. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I do." you say before leaning in close to her, hoping the guys can't hear you. "I thought they were holograms. Swedish holograms?"

Julie sucks in a breath and nods with a smile, obviously trying to think of something to say before she turns to Flynn behind you for help.

"They're just visiting!" Flynn blurts out and the moment the rest of the room understands what she had said, nods and hums of agreement went around everyone.

It was weird. You weren't sure you believed them, considering how odd everyone was acting in this very moment, but as you thought hard for any other excuse, nothing else seemed as feasible as the three of them visiting. When your shoulders relax, so does everyone elses in the room.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you guys." You say to the boys, smiling at them and recieving two smiles back while the third boy, whose guitar slacked out of his hands, just stared at you in what felt like disbelief.

Julie points to the bassist who pointed at you earlier. "That's Reggie," then she moves to the blond drummer, "Alex," when she moves to the third boy, Julie pauses and narrows her eyes, seeming to catch onto his weird expression, "and that's Lu-"

Before she can finish her sentence, the boy is leaping over the table between you two with the biggest, and in your opinion, cutest smile you have ever seen. "Luke!" He shouts before he's finally in front of you, looking you directly in your eyes as he sticks his hand out. "I-I'm Luke."

You stare at him for only a few seconds before you slip your hand into his.

The last few minutes have taken Luke by surprise. He knew that Julie wanted to have a girls day today, which was why she 'banished' the boys to the garage. He has been waiting for the chance to finally meet you in face to face since you showed up to your first Julie and the Phantoms gig and Luke learned you were friends with Julie. Now, Luke was going through way to many emotions in this very second because you were here. You were right here in front of him and you were looking at him, not off to the side just enough to constantly remind him that you couldn't see him. And even better, he could finally touch you. You actually held his hand.

Luke knew that it didn't matter whatever happened after this because this moment, this moment was his and yours.

You only let go of Luke's hand when Julie clears her throat again, glaring at Luke, but he was too preoccupied in staring at you to notice.

"Right." Julie says, steering you away from the boys, "Well, we have plans. So, we should go?" She turns to Flynn as if it's a question and Flynn nods, saying 'we should go'.

"Nice to meet you, Y/N!" Alex calls, peaking out from behind Luke's head in your vision as you send a smile his way.

"Nice to meet you guys too!" You say before letting your eyes fall on a grinning Luke before you're led away by Julie. Luke watches you leave, seeing you outside of your house was weird, but he's never really seen you as happy as you were here, with your friends.

He's still staring out the door when he hears Alex and Reggie join his side.

"Whatcha staring at?" Alex's voice right next to his ear causes Luke's smile to fall quickly as he jumps high in the air.

He narrows his eyes at his friend. "Nothing." He grumbles.

Alex and Reggie shares two knowing looks but say nothing as Luke moves back to the rehearsal space, strumming a few different chords on his guitar, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't really focus on playing music when he knows what it feels like to finally really look into your eyes.

---

Julie, Flynn, and you end up at an ice cream shop on the beach. The three of you had sat there together long enough for your ice creams to be completely eaten, yet not long enough for the conversation to be gone.

"So Y/N, you've been here for a month now," Flynn begins raising her brows at you repeatedly as you thrum your fingers against the table, waiting for her to continue, "anyone tickle your fancy?"

You hold back a chuckle, not missing the weird look Julie is throwing her way. "Tickle my fancy?"

"Oh shut up," She rolls her eyes as Julie and you both laugh at her, "You know what I'm getting at!"

"No, Flynn," you manage to say between chuckles, "No one has tickled my fancy."

You can tell neither Julie or Flynn believe you as they share knowing looks, but you don't know what else to say. Instead, you change the conversation to something you've been wondering non-stop for the last month. "Do you guys believe in ghosts?"

It almost scares you how quiet Julie and Flynn get as they look quickly to each other and then to you before leaning in at the exact same time. "Why do you ask?" Julie says.

You shrug, looking down to the table in front of you. "It's just-" You pause, unsure what to say before shaking your head. "Nothing. No reason."

The three of you are quiet for the first time in over an hour before Flynn chooses to break the silence, turning your own back on you. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

You hesitate before letting out a quick huff and scrunching your face together momentarily. "If I answer that, you guys are going to think I'm crazy."

"Well, we already think you're nutso, so crazy is an upgrade, right?"

Julie smacks Flynn's arm for her comment and Flynn frowns, rubbing the spot and silently shrugging to Julie, as if to say 'what was I supposed to say'.

For a moment, you consider dropping the conversation completely, but the thought is out of your head the moment you open your mouth. "The day I moved in, I went down to dinner with my dad and I came back to my phone plugged in." You can tell your comment has the girls confused as you sigh. "I just threw it on my bed before I left."

"Well, that doesn't mean-"

"I asked." I rub the back of your neck as you interrupt Julie, thinking the girls don't believe you at all. If only you knew it was the opposite.

"You..." Flynn trails off for a moment before taking a deep breath, "You asked?"

Nodding nervously, you tap your fingers harder against the table, wishing you knew what your friends were thinking about you. “I kind of called out and asked if anyone was there, thinking I went, you know-“

“Crazy?” Julie adds with a smirk.

You meet her eyes with a sigh and whisper, “I believe I used the word insane.”

It was at that moment, you realize how close around the table you were to each other, as you if you telling the world's most special secret. Recognizing this, the three of you can't help but laugh together and lean back in your seats, relaxing a bit from the prior conversation.

Flynn looks back up to you and then to Julie next to her, then back to you. "Well?" She says to you and you furrow your brows, trying to figure out what she's asking. "Did you get an answer?"

You stare at her and Julie before a small smile breaks out on your face and you have to look away, choosing to look out the window to your right. "His name is Jerry." Having been looking away from the girls in front of you, you don't see them exchange looks of disbelief in the fact you might not actually be insane. You turn back to look at them the moment they turn to look at you, putting on their best fake smiles. “It’s not his real name, but I can’t see him or hear him and I just picked out random names for him until he liked one.”

You wait for them to say anything, but they remain silent, and so thinking they don't fully believe you yet, you go on. “I was having a hard day the other day. I failed two tests that morning and then fought with my dad when I got home." You suck in a breath and both Julie's and Flynn's smiles drop already having know about your troubles with your parents. "I left that night to go to another one of your shows and when I came back, there were sunflowers sitting in a vase that I keep on my desk."

"Sunflowers?" Julie asks and you can't help but smile to yourself.

"They're uh," you let out a breathy chuckle, "They're my favorite type of flower. There used to be this sunflower field where I used to live and I would spend all day just running through it." Besides your friends, who for the past month have has still had very little conversation with you, the sunflower field was something you've missed the most. "Jerry was the only person in LA that I've told about the field. Not even my dad really knows about that." You know your dad doesn't know your favorite flower, hell, he barely knows anything about you.

"Jerry got you flowers?" Julie can't help the smile on her face as you nod, knowing those very same flowers are still sitting on your desk.

"So, I guess you could say that Jerry tickles your fancy?" Your smile drops as you glare at Flynn, very unimpressed with her at the moment.

"Shut up." You grumble, but your smile finds a way to return, tugging your lips up despite you working hard to keep it hidden. "And stop saying that, it’s weird. Besides, Jerry doe not tickle my fancy. He's just my friend. My ghost best friend."

"Best friend?!" Julie exclaims, dropping her mouth open in fake offense as she slings an arm around Flynn who was wearing a matching expression. "What about us!"

You laugh at them, shaking your head. "I said ghost best friend! You guys are my living best friends."

Julie and Flynn high five before Flynn points at you. "And it better stay that way." She fake threatens and you roll your eyes, knowing it would definitely stay that way.

---

By the time girls day is over, you were too exhausted to head back home and Julie suggests you and Flynn stay the night. Knowing that your dad wouldn't really care if you spent the night at Julie's, you shoot him a text to let him know where you were.

It was half past 2 in the morning when you wake up, finding yourself way too thirsty to go back to sleep. Creeping as quietly as you could, you head out of Julie's room and into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

You were in the middle of pouring your glass when you hear a voice calling out hello from the door of the kitchen. The suddenness of the voice, of which you still had no idea who it belonged to, causes you to jump and the glass of water you were holding spills heavily on the counter in front of you.

"Shit!" You hiss, trying to keep more from spilling out. Before you can reach out for a towel, someone is standing next to you with one in their hand already soaking up the water. You look up, only to see the dark brown eyes you met briefly this afternoon. "Um, Thanks... Luke." you say, helping him clean up the water as best you can. You don't miss the way his eyes flash over to you or the way his lips upturn slightly.

"It's no problem." He tells you, shaking his head as his hair falls in front of his face. "It was my fault mostly. Should've given you more warning when I enter a room."

"Yeah, next time, I expect fan fare." you say and Luke chuckles, moving to lean against the counter next to you. You find yourself smiling at bit at his laughs as you finish cleaning up.

"So, couldn't sleep?" Luke asks and you shrug.

"Got thirsty so I came down for a drink." You hold up the glass. "Didn't expect to spill half of it though."

"Hey," Luke defends himself, "at least it was just water."

You tip your glass to agree with him before taking a sip. Luke watches you but when you finally put the glass down to see him again, he turns away. "What about you? Couldn't sleep?" Luke shakes his head. To be honest, sleep isn't really a thing ghosts need. Even when he could finally be seen and heard by other people and feel as alive as he feels lately, sleep has just never really become a need for him. "Is it the timezones?" You ask him, breaking him out of his thinking as he furrows his brows.

"Timezones?" He questions, having no clue what you're talking about.

You furrow your brows. "From Sweden to LA."

Luke's eyes widen. He completely forgot about the swedish hologram band lie. "Yeah!" He shouts a little louder than he meant to and the both of your eyes widen and look to the stairs to see if anyone is going to come down. When the coast is clear, you both relax. "Sorry, I just meant, uh... yeah, the timezones."

You nod, chuckling under your breath before jumping up to sit on the counter behind you, Luke does the same, sitting on the counter just across from you. "So..." you say, unsure of what to say exactly. "You're in Julie's band."

"Well, she actually joined our band." Luke corrected you and you raise your brow, telling him to explain. "My friends and I, we had a band called Sunset Curve and then Julie joined and we became 'Julie and the Phantoms'." You can tell by the smile on his face that the band meant a lot to him.

"How long have you been playing?"

He takes a big breath, letting it out slowly before answering. "Since I was kid. My parents bought me a guitar and since then, I knew music was what I wanted to do."

"It's nice your parents supported you." You smile at him but he doesn't return the gesture, only looking down as he plays with his hands. That's when you realize you've made a mistake. "I'm sorry." You whisper, kicking your foot out gently to nudge against his.

He shrugs, nudging your foot back. "Don't be. I wasn't going to let it stop me."

You hum. "Let me guess, secret band rehearsals and telling your parents it was a club at school?"

Luke laughs lightly at your joke. "Actually, I moved out- well, I ran away."

There was silence between you two as you simply looked at each other, knocking your feet together every few seconds.

"Do you ever regret it?" You didn't know how much you needed to know the answer to this question. It was a thought that came to you all too many times in the last few years, especially as your parents fighting and troubles seemed to escalate.

Luke doesn't look away from you, even as your gaze drops momentarily as you collect yourself. He doesn't need to think hard on this question, it's something he's thought about dead and alive. "Everyday." He tells you and for the first time since your little foot game started, your foot doesn't bump his.

You had an answer, and yet, you weren't sure if it was the answer you wanted or the answer you dreaded.

Luke takes a deep breath and lets it out with a hum. "Wow, did it get sad in here?" You chuckle and nod a bit, quickly wiping your face to cover the tears that were about to fall.

"Oh god, I should probably get back upstairs before Julie and Flynn wake up for water or the restroom and see I'm not there." You grumble, throwing a glance behind you, but before you could stop yourself, you smirk and look back to Luke. You shouldn't have been surprised to see him smirking as well. "Or..."

"You can stay down here and we can talk?" Luke knows what he would prefer. Talking to you like this, without the guise of Jerry where he can only talk through his chicken scratch, is much more preferred. Besides, just like earlier, you were looking at him and hitting your foot against his.

"Alright, you've got yourself a deal." Luke smiles happily. "I'll stay down here and talk with you, but you have to get me more water." You've barely got the sentence out of your lips before Luke jumps off the counter and takes your glass, already on his way to fill it up. "I guess that's a yes." You giggle and look at him, still seeing that smile on his face, despite facing away from you.

The flutter of butterflies in your stomach when Luke's fingers brush against yours when he gives you the water was not surprising.

---

"That's all I'm going to say about it!" Luke holds up his hands in defense. You cover your mouth with your hand, bumping your shoulder against his as you laugh.

"No!" you manage to say. "Please! You can't just say that and then tell me you're not going to say more!" You beg him but Luke has his hands folded over his chest and his smile points away from you as you put your hand on his arm. "Please? I need to hear more about how you thought you were going the book club advisors number only to get turned down." You can't help it if some of your words weren't quite understandable through your laughs. In your defense, Luke and you have been swapping funny stories for what seemed like hours now and as Luke's blush had rose to his cheeks before he told this latest story, you knew it was going to be a good one.

"I thought she was into me!"

"She said you reminded her of her son!"

"She wasn't old enough to have a son!"

"You said she was in her 40's!"

"Well, she looked like she was in her 20's!"

"Early 20s or late?" You raise a brow at him and Luke already knows he's not doing so well in these arguments.

Luke shakes his head, avoiding looking at you in case you both start laughing again. "Yeah, well, at least I didn't trip and fall in front of my crush in gym class."

"No, you just called the teacher 'mom' in front of yours." Luke turns to look at you, his smile wide as he prepares to say whats next on his mind, but he goes blank when he sees how close you were to him. Not that it was either of your faults, it was just natural for you both to have gotten closer together over the course of the night.

You stay in this position, once again just simply looking at each other, before you clear your throat and look away, making Luke wish more than anything you'd look back at him. "I should uh, I should really get back upstairs. Julie and Flynn should be awake soon." You glance out the kitchen window, seeing the sun make its way over the horizon before you look back at Luke. He hadn't moved from his last position, but you weren't sure what to do. So, you jump off the counter, taking his hand gently and giving it a little squeeze as he finally moves.

"I liked talking to you." He says as your hand slips out of his, just barely before he's grabbing it again.

"I liked talking to you too." You tell him. The two of you give each other one last smile before you let go of his hand and head for the stairs.

Luke watches you every step of the way until you disappear.

---

As your back hits your own bed later that day, you cover your face with a pillow and let out the loudest groan you can muster. Julie and Flynn didn't suspect you having been gone for most of the night, or if they did, then they didn't say anything which you doubted from the two of them. Now, not only were you exhausted from having being up all night, you couldn't get a certain someone's laugh out of your head, or the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles, or how when you're talking you know he's really listening to you. Honestly, you weren't sure if you were exhausted from yesterday and being up all night, or it was from trying to figure out what all these feeling towards Luke meant exactly. It wasn't like you could do anything about them. He's from Sweden and he'll have to go back there eventually since Flynn said they were just visiting. And you don't really do long distance. Long distance sounds… lonely. And you were already lonely enough.

You stay in that position, with your pillow pressing against your face for a few more minutes. When you finally pull it off, the first thing you see is your bedroom light flickering between on and off.

When it stops, you sigh heavily. “Jerry?” You call out, looking towards the light switch and the light turns back off then back on. “I think I messed up.” The light changes slower as you lay back again the headboard of your bed, staring off into space. “I think… I think I have a crush.”

Luke’s heart stops.

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