#willex fluff

[legolasghosty]

I did a thing....

Alex glanced nervously at the light blue gift bag sitting on the coffee table as he made breakfast. It looked like a pretty normal birthday present, and was far from the only thing Alex had for his partner today, but he kept second-guessing its contents.

It wasn't that he thought it would be the wrong size. Despite not working in his uncle's dance company anymore, Willie still kept a very good record of his measurements. Seeing the chart of numbers on their laptop always made Alex want to wrap his arms around him and tell him how perfect he was, regardless of Covington's impossible standards, but it had come in handy for once. He'd gone over the sizing chart, and Julie had assured him it would fit after looking at the numbers. And even if it didn't, he had the receipt so they could always go and exchange it.

It wasn't that he thought it was ugly. He'd taken Julie with him to pick it out, though he hadn’t mentioned who it was for, since he was well aware that the only member of their friend group with less style sense than him was Luke, and she had insisted it was gorgeous and would look amazing on anyone. And he knew Willie loved that kind of swishy, black fabric. Plus, Willie could pull off just about anything. He knew it would look stunning on them.

The issue was that the innocent-looking blue gift bag held a skirt. A cute, jet-black skater skirt. And Willie had never worn a skirt, at least as far as Alex knew.

Read the rest on Ao3

#julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #willex #alex mercer #willie jatp #willex fluff #fanfic #legolas tag

[interestinglittlerelationship]

Parachute by John K

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #willex for the soul #fluff and angst #parachute #John K #music #my gifs

[merihn]

kiss prompt for willex: "since you're already invading my space, why not escalate to kissing?" (or something like that) <3

Alex groans as his non corporeal form aches and throbs from the fall. Shouldn't one of the benefits of being a ghost be that you can't get hurt anymore?

Willie shifts on top of him, and looks down at him with a sheepish grin. "Oops."

"Oops." Alex says flatly. "Didn't we already do this? You think you would have learned by now."

Willie raises an eyebrow, attempting to look aggrieved, but the corner of his lips twitch with the beginning of a smile. "So this is my fault? Not yours for wandering blindly into my path? At the skate park?"

"Nope," Alex says, much more practiced at holding a stoic expression in the face of the ridiculous, a benefit of being friends with Luke and Reggie since they were kids.

Willie snorts and Alex almost breaks.

Alex feels the ghost of Luke possessing him, stifling a giggle at the utter absurdity of that thought, and lets the words spill out of his mouth anyway.

"Since you're already invading my space, you may as well kiss me." 

Willie, in the middle of levering himself off Alex's sprawled form, freezes. His thighs are spread over Alex's, the heat of him bleeding through their jeans.

A moment more, and Alex begins to shrink in on himself, wishing he'd just let Willie get up. Wishing he hadn't opened his stupid mouth.

He's never letting Luke's ghost possess him ever again.

Or something. 

He's never letting Luke's stupid, impulsive behavior infect him ever again. That's it.

Willie laughs, and reaches up to flip his hair to fall over one shoulder, revealing the taut line of his throat, the loose neck of his shirt slipping down his shoulder.

"Might as well invade your mouth while I'm here, huh?"

Alex groans and covers his face with his hands. "That was truly terrible. Offer rescinded."

The ends of Willie's hair tickle Alex's hands as the heat of him covers Alex again, until his shirt brushes Alex's chest. Willie pries his hands away from his face and presses them to the concrete on either side of Alex's head.

Alex can't help but look up at him, at his sparkling dark eyes, narrow with amusement. At the curtain of his hair, lit up by the setting sun behind it, turning it into threads of bronze. At the shape of his mouth as he licks his lips, betraying his nerves.

He tilts his chin up, reluctantly letting Luke's stupid, impulsive behavior influence him again. Willie's lips curl into his beautiful smile, and Alex's breath hitches.

It's simply unfair how beautiful Willie is.

Willie closes the distance between their mouths as if he's been switched to slow motion. Alex's whole body is buzzing with anticipation by the time their mouths meet, and he's ready to leap out of his skin. 

Willie's fingers tighten on his wrists, but the pain grounds him, the rough drag of the concrete settling him.

Willie drops soft, dry kisses to his lips, barely drawing back before pressing another to the corner of Alex's mouth, to his cupid's bow, to the dip below his lower lip.

Then he's back, sliding their mouths together properly; real, sweet, pressure. Alex's lips part on a gasp, and Willie teases the tender flesh just inside with his tongue.

"Willie…" Alex breathes, lips tingling now with the tickle of Willie's wicked tongue.

Willie seals their mouths together again, his tongue pressing insistently inside, deeper, winding teasingly around Alex's.

They kiss until they're breathless, Alex's wrists jerking under Willie's hold as he strives to touch.

"Not very good at defending against invading forces, are you, hotdog?" Willie murmurs, his hot breath setting Alex's lips to tingling again.

"You are truly the worst. Shut up." Alex pushes up and captures Willie's mouth again, muffling his giggles.

#julie and the phantoms #had to make up for the rulie ficlet with a bit of ridiculous fluff #hope you like it darling #jatp #my fic #first kiss prompts #willex #alex x willie

[fandomscraziness22]

Julie and the Phantoms fics

dreams are sweet (until they’re not)

There’s a kind of hidden desperation in each of their encounters, like this might be the last time they see each other. The chance of discovery, the reality that every day that passes means Julie’s one day older, the knowledge that this relationship can’t even exist outside of this building—it creeps into the back of their minds, bleeds over into their conversations, spills into their kisses and loving touches.

This can’t last, so we have to make the most of what we have, they tell each other. Because getting a small slice of happiness with each other is worth the inevitable pain.

or, Luke works at the HGC and starts a secret relationship with Julie, with all the danger that entails

share your dreams with me

Band practice is forgotten for a moment as Luke takes in the scene. His friends, all together for a purpose they all believe in. For a sound, for lyrics, for music they all create together. * * just some fluff about how much Luke loves his friends and his dream

one moment is all it takes

Julie smiles again, love for her mom and for this ghost with her overwhelming the grief for a moment. “And she sent me you, the best part of my life. I don’t know where I’d be without you, Luke.”

The couple grins in unison, as they do so often. Julie allows herself a moment to look away from the road to stare at her musical soulmate.

But one moment is all it takes.

time after time

Julie’s mind whirls. “An earlier point in time, you mean?” she says, disbelief evident in her voice.

Agent Taylor clarifies. “What he means is, Mr. Wilson invented a time machine, and chose not to tell the government about it until it was stolen by terrorists.”

or, the timeless au no one asked for but i wanted to write

let go of the world you know

he can feel them slipping his life from before they’re still there but just barely like one strong wind could blow them away into the dust, forever

or, Caleb takes Luke's memories, and it's not pleasant

i’m hold onto pieces of us that i just can’t let go

Reggie hasn’t stopped crying for seven days straight. Or at least, it feels like it. Alex was crying for what felt like an hour and it had been twenty five years, so Reggie's not sure on how time works for ghosts sometimes. All he knows is the bright ball of light that was Julie Molina has been snuffed out and it feels like the world has stopped and is holding its breath. .... And suddenly, a new thought occurs to him. Reggie bolts upright, hope exploding in his chest.

“What if she’s a ghost?”

can’t kill the fire i feel inside

“It's called the Pull.” The words that spell doom for Luke are some of the simplest ones he’s ever heard.

“The Pull?” he questions.

Willie nods. “It’s a weird thing that happens with some ghosts. An all-consuming need to be with someone, a deeper instinct than normal attraction or love. It doesn’t happen often, but always between two ghosts, and it’s part of their unfinished business."

alone together

through him (through them) she finds

music passion hope creativity life once more

friendship quickly blossoms into shared time, shared thoughts, shared

souls

learn to live with the unimaginable

Ray had thought he was done with it all. The tests, the scans, the anxious drives to and from the hospital, the endless waiting, the hopeless horror. But he was wrong. ~~~ Having a brother is all fun and games until

until your mom dies.

then, having a brother is a necessity.

let’s be crazy

Julie chalked up, getting ready to try her new dismount from the uneven bars when she looked over to see Luke jumping on the floor. She smiled slightly at his antics.

“What do they make this springy floor out of?” Luke asked.

“Springs,” Julie deadpanned.

or, i started watching make it or break it and made it Juke

if it’s only a game you lost me

“You’re different,” Willie concludes.

“Different, bad?”

“Bad for me.” Alex’s heart drops at that. “I didn’t want to think about you,” Willie continues. His face is earnest, and his tone isn’t harsh, just sincere. “I wanted to stay focused. And then I saw you…after you got shot. Fighting for your life.” His voice grows softer, drawing Alex’s eyes back to his face. And then it shutters closed again as Willie says, “But you’re right. I’m kevlar, you’re not.”

“You don’t have to be.”

i feel something around me now

Luke Patterson, the bastard of the barrel, limped his way into the chapel.

It was the last place someone like him should be, considering what he had done in the past to earn the nickname "Dirtyhands," but the Inferni chasing him left him with few options. He hoped Julie wouldn't run into any trouble, since the Inferni was only following him. Julie could take care of herself, but he couldn't stop the single thread of anxiety from snaking down his back at the thought of her being in danger.

i miss the days when

The door slams open and Luke shoots to his feet, an admonishment on the tip of his tongue. It dies the second he sees Rose burst through the door, a wild and panicked look in her eyes. “Luke, come with me.” She runs to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the exit.

“Rose, what?” Luke tries to pull away, but damn this woman is strong. “I have a show–”

“They’re hurt,” she throws over her shoulder, still yanking him out of the building. “Mi hermana found your boys, and it’s not good.”

past the curses and cries

She jolts upright, looking around for the others. Alex and Reggie are sprawled a short distance away, and Luke is only two feet to her right.

But Luke’s wheezing in pain, and there’s a huge red stain on the suit jacket he stole for his disguise. Julie’s breath leaves her in a gasp as she hurries to him.

prompt fill set in an HP au because why not!

i’ll watch

the thing about being a wordsmith is you have so many (almost too many) words to express yourself

and yet they aren't enough

the irony is cruel on his tongue.

he watches her get older without him.

running with fire, i live like a liar

The man stops moving and says in a raspy voice, “Hey sweetheart.”

Julie’s so shocked it takes a moment to even realize that he’s talking to her. She blinks at him, but he just shoots her the same smirk he gave her when she first picked him out from the crowd. He keeps his voice low and says, “You shoulda told me our honeymoon was going to be this much fun.”

Julie stares at his blue-green eyes, now perfectly clear and full of mirth. He squeezes her hand once, then lets go and moves his legs under him so he can crouch beside her. “Let’s go slow, while they’re distracted,” he breathes in her ear. A shiver runs down her spine as she nods. Even though she doesn’t know this boy, they’re in this together now.

Full of Love, Full of Light

Julie keeps talking. “Reggie, I’m so glad you’re here with me, and I love you. Thank you for being a part of my family.”

Reggie’s definitely not crying now; those aren't tears welling in his eyes, nope, not at all. He sniffles and whispers, “Thanks Julie. I love you too.”

or, 3 times Reggie feels like a part of the Molina family

i stumble through the wreckage, rusted from the rain (there’s nothing left to salvage, no one left to blame)

It's been a very long time since Alex has kept a secret this big from the people he loves. One that can change everything. One that's so big, so monumental, life will never be the same once he shares it.

And he can say with certainty that he hasn't missed the anxiousness that comes with keeping a secret like this. The way his mind whirls in circles, coming up with every possible scenario of what could happen when he tells them. How his stomach rolls, and his insides turn to jelly at the thought of revealing it. How the fear keeps his fingers locked, and his breath short.

How much danger there is in telling the truth. ... “We’re getting out of here. Tonight. There’s a ghost who can free our souls from Caleb.”

nothing broken (just our minds)

The quiet of the studio is broken by saxophones playing a very familiar tune. The sound comes from everywhere, and yet nowhere, all at once. Luke jolts upright, guitar almost falling off of his lap. He clutches it tightly as the sax continues, a drumbeat adding to the sound now.

This can’t be possible. Caleb’s gone; they got rid of the stamps. Luke checks the inside of his wrist, panicked that somehow the purple seal will stain his skin. But there’s nothing there.

or, Caleb sends a song to torture the boys

in a world i can’t fix (with a hammer in my fist)

“Connection. That’s why you play, why your passion is music. You long for the special connection between performer and watcher, between singer and listener.”

Luke’s not sure how Caleb knew that. Maybe he had been paying attention during all those rant sessions Luke had in his office (before the jolts came, of course).

“I…” Luke can’t find any words, so Caleb fills the space with a wave of his hand. “We need people like that in the Hollywood Ghost Club, Lucas. But to have that connection, you need audience members. And that is exactly what we are here to do today.”

don’t tell me that it wasn’t black and white

“Well, I suppose a name would make things easier, Detective,” August continued, and Julie was glad he seemed to have missed her confusion. “A word -- a signifier to your senses. Something that means a smell, a feeling, a taste…” He trailed off, eyes flicking to her lips once again. Julie’s heart gave a traitorous jump.

In the distant future, Private Investigator Julie Molina finds herself with a case that leads to an annoying yet attractive agent helping her, and maybe....the hint of something more?

i can’t change the past but i can fight to change today

“It’s a song about a girl named Emily?” Julie says, and the woman’s eyes dart between the paper and Mitch. “I’m Emily,” she whispers. Julie nods solemnly and holds out the paper. “Then I think your son may have written this song for you.” Emily takes the song as Mitch puts his hands on her shoulders, leaning to read it as she unfolds it. Julie’s fully prepared to stand here and watch them read it, but then the boy behind her begins to sing.

Julie can hear Luke sing Unsaid Emily. It's... a lot

my mind is a home i’m trapped in

Alex loves being able to use his drums as an extension of himself. Sometimes he pretends his anxieties are laid out on each piece of the set. The thoughts of being dead? Clang, the symbols go. The hidden fear that his friends will turn on him for liking boys? Thump, his foot hits the pedal of the bass drum. He whacks the high and medium toms, pretending he’s beating back the questions of why and how and who and where. Those questions are different depending on the days, but he places them all onto the drums, letting himself get lost in the rhythms he creates. The anxiety backs down, the fear recedes, and he finds the enjoyment in keeping tempo for his friends.

It’s all going great, until they reach the bridge.

hold you in my arms and i won’t let go

Everyone else is broken, so Alex can’t be. Someone needs to step up, and he volunteers himself for the task.

He knows, of course, that if he said this in so many words, everyone would be quick to take the burden from him. His anxiety aside, he knows that doing things alone isn’t the Molina style. Or Julie and the Phantoms’ style either. A small part of him knows that if Julie could see him, she would give him a soft smile and remind him that they are a family, and families don’t shoulder these heavy burdens alone.

But Alex shoves imaginary Julie to the back of his mind. He has to do this, because he doesn’t know what will happen if he doesn’t.

wide awake in the middle of your nightmare

It happens so fast.

One minute, Luke’s watching Julie as she sings her heart out on stage. Completely mesmerized by her talent and her beauty.

Looking back later, Luke thinks that’s what the problem was. He’s always been too enamoured by Julie--too amazed by her to realize she wasn’t indestructible. She wasn’t permanent. She was fragile, even; more so than he was, because he was already dead. She never seemed breakable; the wrecking ball of talent was the one doing the destruction, breaking hearts with tragic songs and blowing minds with her incredible voice. He forgot that Julie, no matter how tough she seemed, still needed to be protected.

Accidents could still happen.

everything has got a price

But maybe the little that does is enough. Maybe, maybe, but maybe not--

Luke and Julie vanish into thin air, leaving the Orpheum Theater behind them.

~~~

It’s not enough.

They reappear into the worst place in the club, the room Luke hates the most: Caleb’s office. Nothing good ever happens in this cursed area. Luke shakes off memories of Alex clutching his chest, breath coming in short gasps, and Reggie with tears in his eyes as Luke begs for another chance, just stop hurting them.

trade my joy for her protection

“Julie, we have to have this out.”

“No, Luke, we--”

He cuts her off. “Julie, yes we do. We need to talk about it.”

don’t say goodbye

Bobby has to keep him talking so he knows his friend is still there. If Luke falls unconscious again... “Where did you get the street dogs from?”

Luke whimpers as another spasm hits him, then answers, “Sam’N’Ellas. They were close by and they were cheap.”

If the situation were different, Bobby would laugh at Luke for convincing Alex and Reggie to eat from the sketchy couple selling hot dogs out of their car. The bandmates had walked by them two weeks ago when they got the call they could play their showcase at the Orpheum, and Alex had insisted they go check out the theater.

But there’s nothing funny about watching Luke writhe in pain on the ground. ... or, Bobby finds the boys after the hotdogs and has to watch what happens next

music is the only place i can go to speak to you

If Julie could put a relationship status for herself and music, it would be “it’s complicated.”

Julie’s mom and music were so intertwined in her life. Her mom was music.

But that’s the key word, isn’t it? Was.

or, Julie thinks about music and her mom

you are alive.

Julie’s fingers still as she says, “Your hair’s getting longer. We should trim it.”

Luke doesn’t think ghosts’ hair can grow, but it’s not a big deal, so he doesn’t bother asking Willie about it.

or, the boys come back to life slowly

Watch You Breathe In

The scream rips from Julie’s throat, terror coursing through her. Not Carlos, please don’t let him die. He’s only ten.

She watches as Caleb jerks his knife out of Carlos’ stomach, her brother crumpling up and falling to the ground.

Her feet are moving instantly, rushing towards the small form lying way too still for someone with so much energy.

Please let him be okay.

you were an angel in the shape of my mom

Those plants cannot die.

That wouldn't be fair to Mom, because she loved those plants almost as much as she loved music, or her family, or those little dancing Santas the stores would have at Christmastime (which Carlos also loved, because they always made him laugh, and his mom had the best laugh which made him laugh even harder).

Carlos wrestles with grief, and takes care of some plants

it is for family that he plays

But now, Reggie can tell his friends are split in the worst of ways, and he doesn’t know what he is supposed to do.

Taking Caleb’s offer was off the table when it was simply choosing between playing for him or playing with Julie. Reggie had everything he needed with his new band — with Julie (including a family of lifers that didn’t know about him yet but he enjoyed their company nonetheless).

Rejecting Caleb’s offer had been easy.

The circumstances, however, had changed.

reggie's pov of Nothing to Lose

it is for dreams that he drums

Alex’s arms kept moving as his mind whirled. Luke was fully under Caleb’s spell now, facing the crowd beside the magician. Alex tried to stop playing, but his hands didn’t belong to him anymore. They moved to Caleb’s rhythm, keeping the tempo for the rest of the band, backing Caleb’s vocals as he continued to sing. He had given up looking for Willie, and focused on trying to get out of the club. ... Alex couldn’t let himself focus on the loss of control for too long, because he didn’t have time to spiral now. Escape first, panic later.

alex's pov during Nothing to Lose

it is only for love that he sings

This isn’t how music works. This isn’t how it should work, anyway. But it’s happening, without his permission. .... Luke knows music. And this is a perversion of everything he’s ever desired.

it's basically just luke's pov of the end of Nothing to Lose i saw imène's post and spiraled

right this way

Julie, meanwhile, is once again struck by the similarities between Luke and Donny. “Flying Solo” had turned out amazing, and they had written so many songs together since then. She had opened her dream box and used some of her other lyrics and poems she had written in the year after her mom died to create new songs with Luke, changing them around, combining them, adding his ideas to her words. And Donny had done the exact same thing for Julia; taken her words and put them to music to touch people in a new way.

or, the band watches a movie for Julie's homework and get more than they bargained for.

The Last Night

Reggie comes late to band practice one day and the boys have a revelation

Based on some lines from "The Last Night" by Skillet

dying takes longer (the second time around)

What if the jolts had lasted a little longer before Julie could give her boys the magic hug? Takes place during 1x09, starting right after the Orpheum performance Alex, Luke and Reggie's pov

Written for JATP Appreciation Week Day 7: write something set in canon-verse (mine's a little canon-divergent, sorrynotsorry)

watching is worse (the second time around)

What if the jolts had lasted a little longer before Julie could give her boys the magic hug? Takes place during 1x09 after the Orpheum performance, Julie's pov

Written for JATP Appreciation Week Day 7: write something set in canon-verse (mine's a little canon divergent, sorrynotsorry)

Butterflies and Glitter

Julie takes a second to notice the boy's outfits after their magical hug

Written for JATP Appreciation Week Day 4: found family Also written using prompt 74 from this list by @niamaggie on tumblr: https://niamaggie.tumblr.com/post/633529458786238464/100-julie-and-the-phantoms

Road Work?

Julie enjoys (somewhat) teaching the boys about modern slang. But Flynn is the master, so when she yeets a paper, the boys are confused. Vine references abound.

Written for JATP Week Day 4: write a fic including pop culture/memes

Music is Gone

Julie's thoughts as she runs away from music class and talks with Flynn during ep 1, including the deleted scene

Written for day 1 of JATP week: favorite character

#my fics #my writing #jatp #julie and the phantoms #julie molina #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #willie #willex #juke #bobby shaw #trevor wilson #ray molina #rose molina #carlos molina #angst #fluff #au #flynn taylor #frienship #found family #caleb covington

[wishfulstargazer]

Desperately Sea-King Princess Chapter 29: Leaves

@flufftober

fandom: Julie and the Phantoms

rating: T

pairing: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson; Alex Mercer/Willie

words: 1694

“Julie, Julie, wake UP!” Luke called from the tree outside her window. He still refused to go into her bedroom (and Ray Molina had only reinforced that boundary when the subject of Luke and Julie dating had come up in his earshot) but he felt that walking over and climbing the tree to get her attention was fine. Or, if not fine, excusable in emergencies.

“Julie, there’s magic at work again! Please wake up!” Luke pleaded with her, and pelted her window with tiny seashells.

Julie sat up in bed. “Wha-what?” she rubbed her eyes. “What time is it? Why am I awake? It’s Saturday.” Then she turned toward the window. Her eyes went huge as she processed Luke’s presence in the tree. She quickly glanced down at herself to make sure her pajamas were decent. They were, so she hopped out of bed and headed to the window. Opening it, she realized that it was after sunrise, but only just. It couldn’t be 8 am yet. She yawned pointedly at Luke. 

“What are you doing here so early, Luke?” she grumbled, though she couldn’t help smiling happily. He was so adorable in his rumpled plaid shirt with his hair all mussed and his eyes so–

–so panicky? What could be wrong NOW?

“Julie, are you okay?” Luke asked, frantically scanning her from the top of her head to her feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Julie said. “Is there some reason that I shouldn’t be?”

“Caleb tried to attack me again last night!” Luke blurted. “He must have missed, though, and hit the tree outside my window. Its leaves have gone all yellow–I think they’re dying!” 

“Um, what?” Julie said. “That’s totally normal for a tree in October.”

Luke’s mouth dropped open. “It is? Why are none of your trees doing it?” He gestured around him at the still green Molina garden.

“Well, yeah, because most trees in this area don’t change color or lose their leaves. Los Angeles is mostly evergreen trees, but people sometimes plant other ones for variety. I guess the Pattersons must have done that for the one outside your window.”

“So it’s not an attack?” Luke grinned at her. 

“It’s not an attack,” Julie agreed. “In fact, lots of people look forward to seeing trees change color. There are some really beautiful ones at some of the botanical gardens around here…” she trailed off as Luke’s eyes lit up. “You want to see them, don’t you.” Her tone made it a statement, not a question.

“Absolutely! Can we go right now? You’re already up and everything!”

Julie groaned. “They won’t be open for another hour, but yeah, we can go to the Arboretum. In the meantime, go knock on the front door and see if you can get my dad to make pancakes. I’m going to need carbs and coffee if I’m getting up this early on a Saturday.” 

*****

Maple syrup was even better than s’mores, Luke decided. He asked Julie’s dad if there was any way he could get a bottle to smuggle home. It would be an incredible wedding present for Alex and Willie.

Which reminded him, “Julie, will you be my date to my brother’s wedding? I’ll understand if you don’t want to–he’s going to rule Pacifica now that I’m living here and it’s going to be–well, kind of a huge thing.”

“Are you kidding?” Julie grinned. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything! When will I get another chance to attend a royal wedding?”

Luke blushed. “Well, you might get another chance–some day…”

Ray Molina cleared his throat. “I have some questions about the logistics. Will this be on a school night for Julie? Would she need to be gone overnight? What hospitality can you arrange for her?”

Luke said, “I–um–well she’d have a suite in the palace of course. I don’t really know about the rest of it, but most royal weddings last at least a sixtide–” at Ray’s frown he quickly amended– “but I’m sure we can arrange to come late to accommodate Julie’s schedule! Flynn will be invited too, as a Seahorse Knight…” 

“Which means we have to have THAT conversation now,” Julie bit her lip before spearing another forkful of pancake. “I think I need some more coffee, Dad.”

Her father silently passed her the carafe.

*****

Luke messengered Reggie by seagull before they left for the Arboretum. His answer to Ray’s concerns was just to invite Ray and Carlos to join them at the wedding and he wanted to let his parents know. When his mother sent word back that of course his soulmate’s family was welcome at their celebration and they should be getting their invitations via pelican mail, Luke enthusiastically told Julie.

“Your dad can’t say no now–if he’s there with us!”

“Oh, he could,” Julie asserted. Then she smiled. “But he probably won’t. Oh, this is our stop. Next up, fall leaves at the Arboretum!”

The reds and golds and maroons of the trees struck Luke completely silent for over ten minutes. When he finally did speak it was in a whisper. “It’s as beautiful as a fire but without burning me…” he breathed, a reverent expression on his face.

Julie giggled softly. “It is really beautiful, yeah, but it won’t look like this for very long, unfortunately. We should make the most of it today!”

Luke took her left hand in his right. “Let’s–wait, that gives me a great idea for a song.” He looked around frantically. “Do they have sand here? Or any paper?” 

Julie giggled again, much louder this time. We really are two of a kind, she thought. “I didn’t bring any paper, but the gift shop will have some. They sell the most gorgeous journals with pictures of the peacocks on them.”

Luke said, “But you wanted to see the colors…”

“We can get your idea down on paper first. The gift shop won’t take very long,” she squeezed his hand. “We’ve got time.”

*****

Caleb pulled out a mystical treasure he had located almost a dozen years earlier: the Bottomless Net. He spread it carefully along the stone floor of his cavern.. He quickly emptied his shelves of all the magic items he had, then his herbs and plants, and finally a single precious clamshell that dated from the same excursion that had given him the Net. He was tempted to open the clamshell, but resisted. He knew what was inside.   

His scrying crystals had informed him that the Sea King was distracted by a family wedding. Caleb had procrastinated. He had known that very shortly the insult of bespelling His Majesty’s youngest would be remembered…and dealt with. Trying to find an angle, some solution, some way out, he had waited too long and now would have to leave alone, with only his magical implements and his most priceless possession.

Nowhere was safe for him, not in Pacifica or Atlantica, anyway. The blasted ruler even had treaties with Indianalia and apparently that new Empire–Southernia? Caleb couldn’t recall. No, it was time to return to the depths of Arcticana, where treaties were not honored and the denizens so deep in the sea preferred no government of any kind. Perhaps, Caleb mused, he should have headed there all along. 

Then his eyes fell on the clamshell. He opened it, knowing what he would find, but unable to resist glancing at it. He would forever be away from her now, and he felt the heart that he knew he didn’t have…crack.

He revised his plans. He would not flee to Arcticana. He studied the single lock of gleaming hair, whiter than the common pearl that it had replaced, more luminous than the moonlight on water, more beautiful than a starry sky. He would head deep into the Great Divide and…and find her again. 

*****

“WHERE IS HE?” Triton raged into his scrying mirror. “That UNSPEAKABLE WITCH who ENCHANTED MY SON has disappeared!” 

Queen Iyo sighed. “Please get yourself under control Triton, at the rate you’re boiling, all of our guests are going to overheat.”

“It will NOT be borne. I will NOT bear it! That WITCH is going to get a taste of sea justice that would have made my own GRANDFATHER turn pale! LET THEM OVERHEAT.”

“TRITON!” the queen snapped. “You forget yourself. You forget your hospitality obligations! You forget basic courtesy to your queen! Stop it right now or I’ll be forced to put pufferfish oil in your wine!”

Triton spun toward his wife, ready to yell again. Only to stop short at the sight of her in her full royal regalia, including her version of the crown and scepter. She looked so regal–and so remote. Every inch his wife, but also calmly dispassionate, serenely confident and utterly resolved. Suddenly he wasn’t angry any more. Frustrated, yes, but not angry. Frustrated and curious. “Would you really put pufferfish oil in my wine?”

“Yes, and I wouldn’t be the first queen in my line to have to resort to it when a king wouldn’t behave himself,” was the wry response. She tamed it a bit with one of her slow smiles. “I wouldn’t use enough to kill you, just to knock you unconscious until you weren’t causing any more problems.”

Triton guffawed so loudly he startled himself. “Will you never cease surprising me, Iyo?” he asked, smiling broadly at her.

Her own expression widened into what could only be termed a grin, and then the remote, serene queen was suddenly his beloved wife again. “I certainly hope not, your Majesty.”

“I hope not too, your Majesty,” he returned before sobering slightly. “It seems that Witch Caleb has escaped us for now, but as I can not do anything about that, let us go welcome Alexander and William’s guests, I suppose.”

Iyo fussed with the coronet containing her mass of dark curls. “Is this thing on straight?” she asked.

“You’ve never looked more regal,” he confirmed. “When I turned around, for a moment, I was afraid of you myself.”

“Then let’s go intimidate everyone into loving Alex and Willie as much as we do, my love,” Iyo said, and joining arms, they swam out the door of their quarters.

Read from the beginning at AO3:

#jatp fanfic #julie molina #luke patterson #fluff and feels #fluff and humor #alternate universe #little mermaid au #willex #juke fic #flufftober2022

[floating-in-the-blue]

My internal debate about posting my prompt ficlets to AO3:

Me: is anyone really interested in reading 5 sentence prompt fills and other mini ficlets on AO3?

Me: Maybe not but it is my writing and AO3 is an archive so it'd be nice to have them there anyway

Me: okay but I don't like those massive prompt collections with ALL the ships in one collections so I'll try to sort my prompt ficlets into ship categories and make a lil collection for each so the people liking that ship can check it out

Me: Okay, sounds like a good plan *sorts prompt ficlets*

Me: ... I now need to come up with five titles for these collections ... that are kind of non-specific but also won't confuse me in the future

Me: Ah shit!

#yeo writes #if anyone has any suggestions for these: #platonic sunset curve - polyphantoms - platonic JatP - Ralex - Lalexie #I also might have to start a more angsty willex collection because the existing one is just fluff but I will probably just change the tags #😅

[jmrothwell]

Fluff prompt 17 with willex? 💙

“What the hell were you thinking?” Alex grunted as he moved the last of the men he had just taken out to the closet. 

“I was doing my job.” Willie quietly barked from his position acting as lookout while Alex finished cleaning. “My job is to tail the mark. If anyone wasn’t thinking here it was you.”

“Not think-there were five of them. What was I supposed to just let them beat you to a pulp?”

Willie groaned, checked everything was clear, then grabbed Alex’s bicep and steered him towards one of the few corners free of surveillance. Alex for his part ignored the sharp stabbing sensation that shot up his leg with every step. 

“You are supposed to trust me to do my job, Alex.” WIllie hissed through his grit teeth, clearly trying to move his lips as little as possible, still cautious of a potential missed camera.

Alex grit his own teeth in return, only he wasn’t thinking of cameras. “Your job does not include being beat up.”

“It does if it means getting close to the mark. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Willie stated flatly, leveling Alex with a look. 

The two glared at each other for a moment, haunches raised. Willie broke first, his face melting as he stepped closer and pressed his forehead to Alex’s shoulder. “This thing between us isn’t going to work if you can’t learn to trust me to handle myself.”

“I just want to make sure you’re safe.” Alex tried to sound as calm as Willie but residual adrenaline from the fight and the current argument still pumped through his veins.

“I’m not just some damsel in distress. We were both in that fight.” Willie pulled back and held Alex’s gaze with the stern but fond look in his eyes. A small cheeky smirk broke across his face, “but only one of us managed to get badly injured.”

An unexpected tap to Alex’s leg had him sharply inhale through his teeth. A stupid injury to get, from a stupid situation he put them in. All because he let his heart get in the way of what his head had been trying to tell him. 

Alex averted his eyes, his mouth a thin line. Not yet ready to admit Willie was right in this instance. Worried it would turn into another argument as his mind ran through all the scenarios of how he could’ve just lost this new bright star in his life.

“You planning on limping all the way back to the van on that leg?” Willie cut through his thoughts, “or do you want me to carry you?”

“You carry me?” Alex barely kept himself from sputtering, a faint warmth spread across his face.

Willie laughed as he crouched, offering to give Alex a piggyback ride “I told you, you need to stop underestimating me.”

Alex hooked his chin around Willie’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around Willie’s lean frame. Alex bit his lip as Willie adjusted his hold. After a quick glance around their surroundings, Alex left a quick peck to Willie’s cheek as they passed through some darker shadows. 

“I’ll work on getting my heart control on the job.” 

“That’s all I ask, for now. Let’s get you home so I can take care of you, shall we.”

____

50 Fluff and Angst Prompts

#willex #julie and the phantoms #prompt fill #alex x willie #fluff and angst

[sol-emers]

Just a cute one-shot, if you guys would like more pls request them <3

Then Don't Go?

Summary: Carrie gets invited to go hang out with some of Dirty Candy at a club and she's searching for a reason not to go. Aka Carrie confusing tf out of Reggie for fifteen min.

Warnings: slight language, kissing?, maybe small argument, otherwise mostly fluff

Based off a tiktok I saw with this very situation- only I added my own ending:)

Reggie Peters x Carrie Wilson

||

"Well, I want to go but- I just don't wanna put air in my tires." Carrie sighed disappointedly; adjusting herself on the carpet floor she had draped herself just prior to talking.

Reggie looked up from his bass that he'd been fiddling around with, eyebrows furrowed and a confused expression on his face. Carrie never put air in her own tires? She always got him or her dad to do it for her.

"Doll- I can put air in your tires for you?" he offered sounding confused on why she didn't just ask, but he also knew Carrie spoke girl and would only ask him to do things in code.

Carrie just huffed again, putting her manicured hand on her eyes before going, "No, no i- I just really actually don't want to go."

Reggie's response was immediate this time, not wanting his girlfriend to get stuck doing something she didn't want to do just for the sake of her friends.

"Then stay here? You don't gotta go-"

Carrie just groaned annoyed rolling over on the carpet and looked at the wall frustrated that he wasn't catching on.

"No I- but I need to go because everyone else is going and if I don't go I'll feel left out."

"Then go?" Reggie said putting down his bass and putting his attention on the rolling girl on the ground who was two minutes away from exploding from frustration over this.

"No! I don't want to!" Carrie was aware she was acting childish but her boyfriend just wasn't catching on.

She just wanted him to listen.

"Then don't go!?"

Reggie was now starting at her confused with his arms out- he couldn't get why she couldn't just make a decision when he kept giving her viable solutions to her problems.

"Ah!" Carrie groaned/yelled in frustration while Reggie continued trying to think of ways to solve this for her.

Which is something he knew he'd always do if she asked, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was he wasn't picking up that she didn't want solutions at all she just wanted him.

Reggie got up from his spot perched on the bed and walked towards the girl in pink slowly.

Sitting close to where her head lay on the ground. Adjusting her askew hair from her face and looking down at her face and her closed scrunched up eyes and just straight up asked her this time.

"What do you need me to do for you to feel okay with not going?" after every word he found himself leaning down to the ground and pecking her cheek, her head, nose, chin, till finally her lips.

Carrie sighed one last time, opening her eyes finally and looking to the boy she loves- "give me a good reason to stay?"

Reggie smiled, now that he had a straight up answer from her. Then moved to her shorts pocket where he knows her phone is and grabbed it.

Unlocking it without a problem, he went into her messages and into her Dirty Candy groupchat where he sent

(Hey everyone! This is Reggie letting u all know Carrie won't be able to make it tonight, I have a suprise stay in night set up for her so- maybe next time.

Once he was done he threw the phone behind him where it landed softly on the carpet.

He looked back down at the brown-eyed girl looking at him waiting for something.

"Sorry Care- you are officially busy tonight." he said standing up pulling Carrie up with him till they were both on their feet and he was leading them to the living room so he could start a movie.

"you have a hot date."

Once they reached the living room he ordered food, and some strawberry ice cream for dessert cause he knows Carrie is a sucker for anything strawberry.

Carrie put on her favorite TV show, 'Once Upon A Time' and snuggled into her baby pink couch blankets.

Once every thing was ready and on it's way (and Reggie had made popcorn with extra butter and cheese) he'd joined her on the couch and they had a impromptu date night.

Which was all she had wanted when she had originally walked into their bedroom and dramatically planted herself on their carpeted floor.

Much like the plants he keeps in the kitchen.

||

Hope you all enjoyed this short one-shot. MERRY CHRISTMAS YA'LL JVVFGII

Lemme know what you all thought and if you'd like more pls request <3

- wren

#reggie x carrie #julie and the phantoms #reggie peters #carrie wilson #juke fluff #luke patterson #luke patterson x oc #julie molina #alex mercer #willex fic #willie and alex #sunset curve #sunset swerve

[invisibleraven]

For the Fluff + Angst prompts:

8. "Wake up dammit!" (for Willex pls, if that's okay)

Alex blinked open his bleary eyes and smiled to himself as he noticed Willie slumbering beside him. Not that he thought he would up and leave Alex in the middle of the night, but it was still a relief.

They had snuck out the night before, after another fight with his parents about all the young ladies he should be spending time with instead of playing with the band or watching Willie skate. How maybe the Christian camp that healed people like him might be a good idea for his summer.

Never mind that he was legally an adult and they couldn't force him. Nor that Sunset Curve had a tour booked throughout California come July, ending with their Orpheum showcase.

Either way, he had texted WIllie, slipped out his window and the two of them took off. Finding a club that took their shitty fakes to dance the night away. They didn't even drink, but it was worth it to sneak in so they could dance together without getting the stink eye for being two men.

After that Willie took them to a little outcropping looking over downtown-his secret spot that he went to when his foster dad was getting on his case about giving up the skating to work at his club. Or applying his art skills to more than graffiti and designing boards.

They might have fooled around a little-a thrill even though they were alone for miles, they were still outside. But Alex had loved it, letting himself give himself over to a bit of wild and crazy.

Afterwards they had mapped the stars, and apparently, fell asleep.

Which would be fine if Alex's parents didn't do bed checks at five in the goddamn morning-an hour soon approaching if the lightening of the sky was anything to go by. Also confirmed by his watch as the hands turned closer and closer to the hour. Meaning Alex had to get home and get home now!

He shook WIllie frantically. "Wake up dammit!"

Willie shot up, eyes flitting from side to side, finally settling on Alex and gave him an easy going smile that melted away to concern when he could see the anxiety painting Alex's features. He then took in the oncoming sunrise and swore. "Fuck, we fell asleep."

"Yup, and if I am not in my bed by the time five hits my parents may murder me!" Alex exclaimed, looking about to make sure they had everything. Secure they did, they raced down the hill, jumping on their bikes and pedalling like crazy.

The wind whipped through their hair as they biked through the relatively empty streets, heading towards the Mercer house as the time clicked closer and closer to five.

Alex could barely breathe as his legs pumped overtime. But he wasn't sure how much of that was his anxiety ramping up and how much of it was how hard he was working to make his bike go as fast as humanly possible. He glanced at his watch, hissing as it ticked over to 4:58 as his house came into sight.

He tossed his bike into the shed, climbing his trellis, and looked down to where Willie was watching. "See you later?"

Willie nodded, then waved him onwards, tapping his watch. Alex blew him a kiss-fuck the time.

He rolled into his window, and under his covers just as the door opened. He hoped he wasn't breathing too hard to make his mother suspicious. Though he heard her little harrumph as she stalked over, shutting and locking his window. She never approved of him sleeping with it open, even though he ran hot and she refused to let the AC run.

With that she stalked out again, not bothering to close the door behind her-she never did. She expected Alex up at six, regardless of the day so they could attend the early church service before he got on with his day. He took micro naps during the sermons-having perfected not looking like he was sleeping long ago.

It wasn't until he heard her go down to the kitchen that Alex let himself relax. They had cut it too close this time. Which meant no more midnight sneak outs any time soon. He reached over and popped his Ativan, letting himself bask in the memories of this time, since they would have to last him.

It was just until graduation anyways-they he and Reggie were going to leave their awful families behind and join Luke in living in Bobby's garage. Then they were off on tour, and after that he and Willie would have enough to get some place of their own.

A place they could be themselves, no sneaking out or secrecy involved. A place where they could be finally free.

#filled prompts #ficlet #willex #julie and the phantoms

[illbeyourreasonwhy]

when the time comes, baby don't run

It's over! It only took three years and months of absence, but I finally completed my post-S1 Willex fic!

Thanks to everyone who stuck around for this, and hey, if you're just now discovering it, feel free to check out this fic for Willex fluff (and a tiiiny bit of angst), friendship feels, and a Caleb takedown!

(Part 1 Part 2 Part 3)

*

Alex is starting to seriously resent this plan.

Not because he is in any danger. No, it’s actually the opposite.

He is starting to resent this plan because he was tasked with staying behind at the studio, and not knowing what is going on is killing him.

“Alex, stop pacing,” Julie says, doing a terrible job at soothing his worries since she is also wringing her hands with a vengeance.

“He pacing again?” Flynn asks. She’s the only one of them who seems a minimum composed, but Alex caught her biting her nails when she thought neither of them was looking. “Alex, you need to chill. It’s not like we can do anything right now.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m freaking out,” Alex mutters, even though she can’t hear him. “We have no idea what’s going on, Caleb could have already caught them for all we know…”

“Alex,” Julie says tightly. She is still attempting to sound reassuring and failing miserably. “Not helping.”

He looks at her, taking in the tension and worry in her expression, and realises it looks familiar. This isn’t the first time she had to stay behind while her friends went off on a side mission, after all. He suddenly feels a lot more understanding of her frantic barrage of questions after they returned from getting their names on the Orpheum setlist, all those weeks ago.

It’s for her sake that he forces himself to sit, resting his arm next to hers on the table. He isn’t tangible right now, but he hopes the closeness will help comfort her – and him.

She offers him a strained smile, like she can tell what he’s thinking, and he thinks maybe it works.

“It’s going to be okay,” Flynn says, quieter than usual.

“Then what’s taking so long?” Julie asks to no one in particular.

It had been decided that one of the ghosts would stay behind as a precautionary measure.  Willie, currently speaking with Caleb – a thought that does nothing to soothe Alex’s already anxious mind – has been given Julie’s phone, so that he can send a text to Flynn the moment Caleb is done talking to him. Which is why Flynn and Julie are currently sitting in the studio, fully charged phone laying flat on the coffee table in front of them, ready to send Alex to retrieve Luke and Reggie from the club should they not be back by the time the text comes through.

It's a precautionary measure, he reminds himself. Luke and Reggie know they are on a tight schedule and have promised to be as quick as possible, while Willie is doing his best to keep Caleb occupied as long as he can. If all goes well, Caleb will never even know they were there.

But, still. Knowing that doesn’t make the wait any less anxiety inducing.

“It’s going to be okay,” Flynn repeats, like she can read his thoughts. She is probably just looking at Julie’s face.

As if summoned, Luke and Reggie appear in front of them with a brief white flash. Alex sags in relief, not getting the time to gauge their expressions before Julie jumps to her feet to engulf them in a hug with a squeal. Or, well, she tries; neither Luke or Reggie are tangible, either, and Julie slips through them, stumbling a little as Luke uselessly throws out a hand to steady her. She looks too relieved to see them to be bothered, eyes darting furiously between the two of them.

“How did it go?”

Reggie shrugs. “We didn’t really see anything we could use, but we did find this.”

He reaches inside his coat and pulls out something that he precariously sets on the coffee table.

The five of them crowd around it.

“What is that?” Flynn asks slowly, her eyes not leaving the strange object the boys brought back.

“No idea,” Luke answers, his voice hushed.

The object on the table – no, not on the table, Alex realizes, hovering over it – looks like a tiny purple ball, a glowing hue emanating from it and dusting the air with a faint light. Alex has never seen anything quite like it before, but he knows, just looking at it, that it is bursting with magic.

“It seemed important,” Reggie says, and Alex believes it.

Julie’s eyes flicker between the two of them, teeth gnawing at her lower lip.

“None of you actually knows what it is?” she reassesses. When she only gets shakes of heads as an answer, she nods and says, “Okay, then no one touch it.” She narrows her eyes at Reggie especially. “I’m serious. We don’t know what this is or what we’re dealing with, so we’re staying put and waiting for Willie to come back and explain.”

No one argues. They don’t have to wait long; twenty minutes later Willie sends a warning text that he is done with Caleb, and he walks through the doors of the studio another ten minutes later. The sight of him helps Alex breathe a little easier; he lifts himself off the couch and crosses the space between them to pull Willie into a tight hug. Willie’s arms loop around him easily, looking as relieved to see Alex as Alex is to see him.

“Hey, hot dog,” he whispers.

“You okay?” Alex asks as they move apart. He knows Willie is, or he wouldn’t be here, but he thinks he needs to hear him say it.

“I’m okay,” Willie answers. “I think Caleb bought it. It’s always hard to tell with him, but I’m pretty sure he believed me. You’re all okay too?”

“A-okay,” Reggie answers. “We were in and out, no one even saw us.”

Alex desperately hopes that’s true. He leads Willie back to the group; Willie follows easily, only to stop dead when he catches sight of the purple ball.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asks slowly.

“Ah. Well, see, we don’t actually know what it is, so…”

Willie stares at the ball, looking shaken.

“That’s the source of Caleb’s power,” he says. “When ghosts harness other ghosts’ powers like Caleb does, and they start having more power than one ghost should, they have to physically store the excess somewhere so that it doesn’t overwhelm them, and keep it close so that they can still access it. I think Caleb used this ball in his very first trick back when he was alive, so it has sentimental value to him or something. You guys found it?”

“It wasn’t that well hidden!” Reggie says, sounding like he feels he should defend himself. “It was just sitting there in a box inside of another box under a curtain in Caleb’s dressing room! We didn’t know what it was, we just assumed it was important!”

“Well clearly you were right!” Alex exclaims. He realizes he sounds panicky, but sue him, he is panicking. “What if Caleb can trace it back to here? Can he tell where it is?”

A soft touch to his shoulder; it’s Willie, and Alex feels his nerves simmer down. They’re not gone, though.

“I don’t think he can trace it,” Willie says. “If he did, he would be here already.”

That’s not exactly a reassuring thought. Alex doesn’t have time to say that, though, because then Julie steps forward.

“Time-out,” she says. “What’s going on?”

Right. She can’t see Willie or hear his explanations. Flynn is probably even more lost.

When they are done recapping, Flynn’s eyebrows are furrowed and Julie has a determined look in her eyes.

“So this thing is pretty important to Caleb, then?”

“It’s the most important thing in the world to him,” Willie confirms. Reggie repeats it. “Without it under his control, he could lose all his power, all his influence.”

An idea starts to prickle the back of Alex’s mind, but before it can fully form, Julie speaks up.

“Call Caleb here. Tell him we’re willing to trade this thing back to him for the release of Nick and Willie, and the promise that he will leave us alone from now on.”

They all turn to stare at her, stunned.

“Jules, you were the one who was afraid of blackmailing him in the first place,” Flynn reminds her.

“I know,” Julie says, and she does look a little shaken, but the determined look in her eyes doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere. “But things are different now. This –” she gestures to the purple ball, still hovering innocently over the coffee table, “- is one more thing that will draw Caleb’s attention to us. We need to act before he figures out that we have it.” She crosses her arms. “Right now, Caleb doesn’t know it’s missing yet. We need to use that to our advantage. If we confront him with it, catch him off-guard, it might be the first time we have the upper hand since this mess started.”

She looks at them all, as if waiting for an answer, but none of them have one at first. In truth, Alex suspects they all might be a little impressed.

“She’s got a point,” Luke says eventually. Unsurprisingly, too. He’ll always back Julie up.

Willie glances around the group and, upon seeing no argument, steels himself and nods. “Okay,” he says. “I’ll go get him.”

He prepares to leave, and it’s then, when Alex sees the back of his silhouette framed in the doorway, that the fear suddenly jumps to his throat.

“Wait!”

They all look at him, looking surprised at his outburst, but Alex barely sees them. What he does see is Willie about to walk away from him again, away from him and right back into the palm of Caleb’s hand, and Alex can’t handle it. It has always been hard, letting Willie go back to Caleb and wondering if this is the time he won’t come back, but with the added knowledge of what has been going on it has gone from hard to unbearable. How is Alex supposed to watch Willie throw himself back into the deathtrap that is setting up a meeting between Caleb and them and therefore revealing he has been in contact with them and working with them, less than an hour after feeding him what Caleb will inevitably realize are lies? How can they ask Willie to walk into what could very well be the moment Caleb decides he has grown tired of letting Willie get in his way and wipes him out of existence?

Alex is suddenly truly, utterly terrified of letting Willie out of his sight and at Caleb’s mercy, and maybe that’s why the seeds of an idea that were forming a few moments ago jump to the front of his mind, crystal-clear and complete now.

“What if there was another way?”

“Another way?” Reggie repeats.

“You said that without this, Caleb would lose all his power, all his influence,” Alex says haltingly, rushing to get his thoughts out.

Willie nods, looking confused as to where Alex is going with this. Alex goes on, his voice going breathless in his haste to get the words out.

“What if we don’t give it back? What if we keep it for ourselves?”

Reggie is the first to answer, voice hesitant and unsure. “But wouldn’t that just put a target on our backs? If it’s that important, Caleb won’t stop at anything to get it back.”

“But if we use it,” Alex insists, “if we figure out how to control it, we can take him down, for good.”

“I’m with Alex,” Luke says, and Alex feels a thrum of relief go through him amidst the frantic rush of his thoughts. If someone is backing him up, this can’t be that crazy an idea, right?

Julie doesn’t seem to agree. “Let me get this straight. You want to play with magic you don’t understand and try to control something we know is incredibly powerful with no prior knowledge on how do that?”

“I’m sorry, who wants to do what now?” Flynn pipes up, looking alarmed.

Julie glances at her and raises a hand as if to let her know she will translate everything to her in a moment, and Alex opens his mouth to defend himself, but then Willie speaks up.

“That’s way too dangerous, hot dog,” he says, eyes serious and almost scared. “That kind of power in the wrong hands, things could end really, really badly.”

“It’s already in the wrong hands with Caleb!” Alex points out.

“I’m not saying I disagree,” Willie says. “But the reason it’s working for Caleb is that he actually knows what he is doing with it. I mean, say we keep it with us, what’s your plan? We just hold onto it and hope for the best?”

“I – well, I figured I would leave that part to you,” Alex admits, trying to push down the embarrassment he can feel start to well up within him.

“I don’t know the first thing about wielding this kind of power!” Willie says. “It would be a disaster, I can’t even imagine how wrong things could go –”

“Julie,” Alex hears Flynn whisper urgently. “Julie, what’s happening? I can’t hear them, are they being dumb?”

“I just think we should think about it before handing back something this valuable, that’s all. I’m just thinking of an alternative,” Alex says, feeling like he needs to defend himself. He doesn’t like the way he feels like he has been backed into a corner. “Stop acting like I’m being stupid for that.”

“No one said you were being stupid,” Julie says immediately, placating, “but look, we had a plan –”

“We had the beginning of a plan,” Alex corrects, “you said that. The next step was figuring out how to use whatever we found – I’m just offering one option.”

“But we don’t know the first thing about using this thing, and in the time it takes for us to figure it out, Caleb could come looking for us, and –”

“But if we do figure it out, we could defend ourselves –”

“Alex, again, I don’t know how to use this,” Willie starts, and it’s looking like he is going to tell him to give up on this idea, and Alex’s heart seizes with fear –

“If you go back right now, Caleb will know you lied!”

There is a short silence following his outburst, and Alex wants to retreat back into himself. His heart is beating wildly as he eyes his friends’ reactions, feeling exposed as he watches their expressions soften with understanding.

“Hot dog,” Willie says, gently, “I’m going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know what I signed up for. Fact is, if we want Caleb to release me and Nick, we’re going to have to face him at some point.”

“I know, but…” Alex closes his eyes, tries to explain the way his thoughts are rattling inside his brain. “You just went to lie to his face. If you tell him we want to talk to him right now, he’ll know you’ve been in contact with us and that none of what you said was true. And then what will happen to you?”

Willie presses his lips together, looking worried – Alex is willing to bet Willie is more worried about Alex’s reaction than his actual words, though, and he knows it should settle his anxiety to know that Willie, who has more knowledge on all things related to Caleb, seems less afraid of what might happen than he does, but it’s hard to relax when he also knows that Willie has fully decided to commit to their safety over his own.

“He doesn’t have to know.”

Alex tears his eyes away from Willie to Luke, across the table, who looks back at him with half-raised eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

“Caleb. He doesn’t have to know that Willie was working with us. Willie can just say that we contacted him on our own just now to set a meeting because he’s our closest link to him. That way he’s in the clear, and if the deal works then by the time he realizes Willie is lying it’ll be too late, we’ll be in the process of bargaining for his soul back.”

Alex feels his forehead crease as he takes it in. “You think he’ll buy that?”

“I think he wants us bad enough to be willing to take the meeting even if he suspects something,” Luke answers. “Whether or not he believes Willie, he’ll want to deal with him afterwards, so we just have to make sure he can’t.”

That… is a good point. But Alex isn’t sure he is willing to gamble Willie’s safety on that chance alone.

“Look, this is dangerous,” Julie says slowly. “Caleb already almost took you guys away once, and I’m just worried that if we’re not careful, he might – he might –”

She breaks off, and Alex’s heart breaks, because she’s scared, she’s really scared, and he’s scared too, and if even Willie can’t be sure of what they’re dealing with then what chance do they have, and –

“Okay, timeout, please.”

They all whirl around to look at Flynn, who in turn is switching between looking at Julie and glancing around the room, trying to figure out where they all are, worry in her eyes. She smiles when she sees Julie looking back at her, but it looks strained.

“Hi. Lifer friend here,” she says, raising a hand. “Uh, what’s going on?”

Oh. Alex sees Julie’s face fall guiltily, feels that same guilt curl in his stomach. They’re usually better at keeping her in the loop when the ghosts aren’t visible, but Alex got so caught up in worry for Willie and desperation to get the others to consider his alternative that it slipped his mind this time.

“Sorry,” he says. “Julie, can you tell her I’m sorry?”

She does, and in the time it takes for her to fill Flynn in, Alex can feel his nerves start to settle – and sees it reflected in his friends’ stances. By the time Flynn is caught up, he thinks they’re all thinking about this with a little clearer state of mind.

“Huh,” Flynn says, nodding pensively. “That’s actually not as stupid as I was expecting.”

“Hey!” Alex protests.

“And before your ghost gets offended, keep in mind that I could only hear part of that conversation.”

Alex can’t help but smile at that. He loves Flynn, loves that she knows them well enough to be able to anticipate what they will say even when she can’t hear them.

“So you agree with him then?” Julie asks. “You think we should keep that thing for ourselves?”

Flynn presses her lips together. “I think,” she says eventually, “it should be up to Willie.”

Willie blinks, looking at her in surprise. Alex feels a sharp shard of emotion go through his chest – a little bit of that same surprise, because that hadn’t been what he expected Flynn to say; guilt, feeling inadequate as Willie’s… something, that he wasn’t the one to put Willie’s feelings on this whole thing first; and more significantly, something almost like heartbreak at how stunned Willie looks at the simple prospect of being the one to make the final call on this decision. He wonders how long it has been since Willie has heard someone say the choice should be up to him.

Alex tries to swallow around all these feelings and the way they’re catching in his throat. “Yeah,” he manages, his voice rough. “She’s right. It should be your call.”

He hates this, hates this, because he knows that Willie isn’t going to take into account how badly this could go for him if he thinks it will benefit the group. But he also knows that despite that, this should be Willie’s decision; he is the one more at risk, he is the one who has been living in this world the longest and knows its rules the most, and he is the one who knows Caleb best.

Willie wraps his arms around himself, his thumb circling the inside of his wrist soothingly. Alex resists the urge to grab his hand and do it himself.

“The plan was always to find leverage to free me and Nick,” he says finally. “Not to take on Caleb ourselves.” He glances down at the purple ball. “And this is more than enough leverage.”

He turns his gaze to Alex, apologetic, and Alex forces himself not to look away; he doesn’t want Willie to interpret it the wrong way, to think Alex is angry with him for not going with his plan when really he feels like his heart is shattering at the thought of the danger Willie is about to walk into. So he keeps looking, tries to smile, hopes that the utter devastation he is feeling isn’t reflected in his eyes.

“If we had more time,” Willie continues, “if we could learn how to use this against him, it would be different, but – he’s going to notice it’s missing really quickly, and when he does he’ll come straight here. We need to use the element of surprise while we still can. It’s the best chance we’ve got.”

Alex lets out a slow breath.

“He might not figure out we have it right away,” he tries, a last-ditch effort. “I don’t know, I’m willing to believe he’s pissed off more people than just us.”

Luke makes a considering noise, but Alex doesn’t dwell on it. He knows he’s lost. Willie smiles at him sadly, shaking his head.

“It’s not worth the risk. The plan was always to use what we found as a bargaining chip. I think that’s the plan we should stick with. It’s the safer play for all of us.”

“Including you?” Alex checks.

“Including me. It’s like Luke said. I think there is a pretty big chance that even if Caleb suspects something, he’ll want to see how this plays out before he does anything about it.”

“What if he does find out that you lied to him?”

“If this goes well, by the end of the day he won’t be able to do anything about it.”

Willie’s confidence seems to be enough for the others, but Alex doesn’t trust it – Willie can be very self-sacrificial when it comes to this group.

Willie notices.

“Alex,” he says, “I’ll be fine.”

“You keep saying that,” Alex says, hating the way his voice breaks.

Willie smiles, heartbreakingly sincere. “And I keep coming back, don’t I?”

He does. And every time, Alex is left wondering if this was the last. If Willie’s luck is finally about to run out, if this is when Caleb runs out of patience. But if he is right, if this goes well, after today, he won’t have to worry ever again.

(He will probably worry anyway.)

Alex lets out a breath. It’s the most difficult thing in the world, but he manages to force himself to nod, the movement jerky.

“Okay.” He meets Willie’s gaze, sees the surprise reflected in his eyes at his relenting, and huffs out something that sounds almost like a laugh. “You better go. Before I change my mind.”

Willie smiles, small and nervous but bright as ever, and Alex loves him. The feeling sits in his chest, familiar and warm and just a little heartbreaking. Willie smiles, and Alex loves him.

Alex follows him out of the garage, trying to keep him in his sights as long as possible, and Willie smiles at him again when they make it outside. It’s softer now, less uncertain, and it makes Alex’s heart twinge inside his chest.

“I’ll be right back,” he promises.

He starts to turn, starts to leave, and Alex’s hand shoots out, snagging Willie’s.

“Wait,” he breathes.

He pulls Willie closer with a tug of the hand, then reaches out, cradling his face in both hands. Willie looks at him, his eyes staring into Alex’s, and Alex rests his forehead against his.

His thumb caresses Willie’s cheek, softly. Willie leans into it, and Alex breathes.

“You’re coming back,” he says.

It’s a fact, not a request, but Willie nods anyway, his forehead brushing against Alex’s, and brings his hands to cup the back of Alex’s neck. For a moment, it’s like they are the only two people in the world, holding each other, a breath from each other.

Alex kisses him.

He’s never actually kissed anyone before, so he’s not entirely sure what to expect, but Willie gasps softly into it, and kisses him back, slowly, and Alex’s eyes slip closed of their own accord. He feels one of Willie’s hands move to his hair, the other still resting on the back of his neck, thumb gently smoothing a spot behind his ear, and it’s kind of the best thing Alex has ever felt.

Alex frames Willie’s face in his hands and kisses him, kisses him, kisses him.

They remain close after they pull away, foreheads rested together. Alex breathes out, cupping Willie’s cheek, and opens his eyes. Willie’s open a moment later, and for a moment they just look at each other. Willie smiles. Alex smiles back.

He lets go after a moment, moves back, because he thinks if he keeps holding Willie for much longer he might never be able to let him go.

“Catch you later, skater boy.”

Willie smiles, vulnerable and so, so bright, and Alex loves him.

He brings one of Alex’s hands to his lips, drops a quick kiss there, and lets go.

“Catch you later,” he echoes.

And then he’s gone.

Alex lets out a slow breath, the full weight of what just happened making him stumble as he moves to go back inside the studio. He sits on the couch and Julie joins him a moment later, her hand hovering over his in an attempt to give him some comfort when they can’t touch.

“You okay?”

“I kissed Willie.”

Three heads whip around to look at him. “What?”

“I kissed Willie,” Alex repeats, and then it’s like it hits him for the first time. “Oh my god. I kissed Willie.”

He kissed Willie. And Willie kissed him back. Willie told him he was coming back. To him. Willie kissed his hand –

Alex feels his cheeks heat up, and even after all this time he can still be annoyed by the fact that this shouldn’t be possible, especially when Reggie notices and grins.

“Oh my god, you’re blushing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush.”

“Shut up,” Alex mutters.

“Hey, I’m just happy for you, man,” Reggie says, clapping him on the back. “It’s about time.”

“What he said,” Luke grins. “Congrats on finally making it happen.”

Julie just smiles, shaking her head lightly. “Only you, Alex. Only you could manage to convince yourself that the guy you’ve been practically dating for weeks actually isn’t into you, only to make a move and kiss him just as we’re about to face off with a super-powerful ghost who wants to end us all.”

Alex huffs out a laugh. “Thanks.”

“Alex and Willie kissed?” Flynn yelps. “Finally!”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Reggie exclaims, grinning at her.

Alex ignores them, glancing back at the entrance where he last saw Willie and resisting the urge to touch his lips. He does not want to deal with his friends’ reactions if they were to see him do that.

Julie meets his gaze and smiles, small and soft. “I’m really happy for you, Alex,” she says. “You and Willie, you deserve everything you want.”

Alex lets out a slow breath. Because that’s just it, isn’t it? He wants so much with Willie. He wants to kiss him again. He wants to take him out on dates. He wants to hug him in front of all their friends and listen to them tease them relentlessly. He wants to tell him he loves him. He wants Willie, with him, by his side, safe and sound.

All of that is so close, almost within reach. If they are able to deal with Caleb and all goes well, after today Willie won’t have to worry about him ever again. Alex wants that so desperately he is terrified. Being hopeful – being allowed to be hopeful, being given hope – he realizes, might be the scariest thing of all.

He is so scared. He has so much to lose.

They are so close to being rid of Caleb for good. He doesn’t think he will be able to take it if this goes wrong.

He knows the others feel it too. Flynn and Reggie have reconvened to a corner to talk in hushed voices, too quiet for him to hear, but Luke isn’t moving, only twisting the rings on his fingers with an intensity he probably isn’t aware of, jaw set and gaze stuck to the floor. And Julie – Julie is next to him still, her small smile still in place despite the worry clouding her eyes.

“Yeah,” he says, voice rough and a beat too late. “Thanks.”

She nods, lips pressing together, and bumps their shoulders together softly. Actually bumps them, not slipping through him, and Alex feels some of his nerves relax just a fraction. Facing Caleb seems just the little bit more surmountable with the knowledge that Julie truly is by his side.

“Alright,” Julie says after a minute, her voice ringing clearly in the heavy silence. “Band circle.”

Her words seem to rouse them from the tense atmosphere and they all get to their feet, meeting next to the coffee table where Caleb’s sphere is still hovering. Flynn hangs back, hesitating, but Reggie gestures for her to follow and she does.

“Okay,” Julie says, looking between all of them. “We got this.”

She extends her hands; Alex, standing to her left, takes one immediately, seeing Flynn do the same on her other side. They all follow through, the five of them joining hands – Flynn rests her right hand palm down over Luke’s left, palm up – and for a moment they just breathe.

“We got this,” Luke repeats.

There isn’t much else to say. They all know the plan, risky and hastily made as it may be, and Willie left a few minutes ago already so Caleb should be here any moment. Alex feels nervous; he wants to ask if they are nervous too, but he thinks that probably won’t help.

“We’re going to be okay,” Luke adds, so maybe Alex didn’t need to say it after all. “We’re all going to be okay.”

“Including Willie,” Julie says, catching Alex’s eye.

“Yeah,” Reggie says. “We’re not giving up until we’re all safe.”

Alex nods, takes a deep breath. There still isn’t much to say. There isn’t anything left to say, really, except: “I love you guys.”

Reggie’s hand tightens around his. Julie offers him a taut smile. The anticipation hangs heavily in the air around them, like a weight over Alex’s chest, and he takes a deep breath. There is nothing else to do but wait, and he thinks to himself, as he releases his breath, that he is glad these are the people he’s facing this with.

With a final squeeze, Julie lets go of their hands, and everyone follows suit again.

“Flynn,” Luke says then, “if you want to go, you should go now. Caleb won’t be long.”

Flynn’s eyes shoot over to him. She looks stunned.

“Why would I go?”

“You’re the only one Caleb doesn’t know about,” Luke explains, which, shit, he’s right, Alex hadn’t even thought of that. “If you want to keep it that way, if you want to stay safe –”

“I’m staying here,” Flynn interrupts. “With you guys. We’re a team, right?”

Luke smiles, almost despite himself. “We’re a team.”

And then there is a whooshing sound behind them, and when Alex turns around Nick is standing there, in their studio, his gaze cold as he takes in the scene before him.

Alex’s eyes seek out Willie immediately, and to his relief he finds him there, standing behind Nick looking berated; he still manages a strained smile when their eyes meet, though, and Alex feels something like courage thrum through his veins.

The relief doesn’t last long, however, when he turns his gaze back to the primary threat in the room.

Nick stands in the middle of the room, smiling pleasantly at them, but the expression marring his face doesn’t look like his own – because it’s not, obviously. Now that Alex knows the truth, it’s easy to recognize Caleb’s coldness in his eyes as they rove over the group, and the edge of his mouth curls unpleasantly when they land on Julie.

On instinct, Alex moves to stand in front of her, feeling more than seeing Luke and Reggie do the same. Julie lays a placating hand on his arm, though, and raises her head to meet Nick’s gaze head on.

“Hi, Caleb,” she says, her voice only wavering a little.

Caleb’s smile deepens, splitting Nick’s face even more unnaturally than before.

“Hello, Julie. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Alex sees Luke’s grip on Julie’s hand tighten.

“So,” Caleb continues after a moment, and Alex has to stop himself from flinching at that single word, “William here tells me you have something for me.”

With a start Alex’s eyes dart to the coffee table, where the purple orb would be in plain sight, only to find it missing. He has time to panic for a split-second that Caleb somehow found a way to get his hands on it already and that they’re doomed, before Flynn catches his eye and subtly taps her jacket pocket. Alex exhales shakily, the wave of relief he feels almost knocking him a step back.

Once again, though, it’s short-lived.

“Well?” Caleb asks.

Alex watches as Julie swallows, visibly steeling herself before she takes a step forward.

“We’d like to make a deal.”

One of Caleb-Nick’s eyebrows arches up slightly, and he takes a step forward of his own. Watching him get closer to Julie makes Alex want to run for the hills will all his friends in tow, and based on the look on her face Julie feels the same way, but she stands her ground.

“Is that so?”

Julie shoots a glance at Flynn, who nods and puts a hand in her pocket, drawing it back slowly with her fingers curled around the purple little ball. Reggie takes a minute step closer to her, while Caleb-Nick’s expression goes slack, his eyes widening. He starts towards Flynn, but Alex, Luke and Julie move as if one, stepping in front of her and blocking his way, Julie throwing her arms out protectively.

All of this takes place in the space of a second, and Caleb recovers quickly, smoothing Nick’s expression into a blank canvas at odds with the cold fury in his eyes. But that second was enough – it was enough for Caleb’s countenance to falter, for him to give away that this innocuous little purple ball meant something to him, and that with it they just might have enough bargaining power to make it through this unscathed.

“So,” Luke says haltingly, sounding for all accounts and purposes like he is completely sure of himself if not for the flicker of a tremor in his voice, “this is important to you, then.”

“How did you kids get your hands on this?”

Caleb starts to turn to Willie, but Luke speaks up again before he gets around to fully looking at him.

“You know, if you want to keep your things hidden you might want to not leave them out in the open for a couple of ghosts to stumble upon when they’re snooping through your dressing room,” he says, still all bravado, and Julie shoots him a look as if to tell him to thread more carefully.

“Do you kids have any idea what you are holding onto there?”

“We know it’s the source of your power,” Alex says, surprising even himself when he hears the sound of his own voice speaking up. Willie materializes next to Alex, and his hand finds his, latching onto it and holding on for dear life. Caleb’s eyes linger on their hands and his lip curls menacingly, but Willie doesn’t let go. Alex doesn’t either. “We know that all your magic is concentrated in it, and that the longer we hold on to it the weaker you will become. We know that if we were to destroy it, you would lose everything.” They don’t actually know how to destroy it, but Caleb doesn’t need to know that.

Caleb’s expression is unwavering, and he looks almost bored. But he has also gone very, very still, and it occurs to Alex suddenly that a Caleb with something to lose might be a deadlier Caleb than they’ve ever known.

“Listen, now –” he starts.

“We’re not actually planning on doing that,” Alex interrupts.

“We don’t want to fight you,” Julie continues. “We’re not interested in using it in a power play against you. We’re willing to hand it over to you right here, right now.”

Alex knows she is scared – they are all scared – but there is no trace of it right now as she speaks. She sounds certain, grounded. And Caleb is listening. She was right, then, Alex realizes – for the first time since this mess started, they have the upper hand. They have something Caleb wants, and he is willing to hear them out if there is a chance he can get it without a fight.

“All we ask for in return is that you release Nick and that you leave us alone, forever. That includes the five of us here, and Willie.”

Caleb’s eyes settle onto Willie, cold and utterly furious, and Alex tightens his hold on Willie’s hand.

Caleb’s voice is all but pleasant, though, when he speaks, factual and almost unconcerned.

“Well, unfortunately there might be an issue with William’s case. With our current arrangement, ‘leaving him alone’ is quite literally impossible. He signed his soul off to me. Simply put, I own him.”

“So release him,” Flynn says fiercely. It’s the first time she has spoken in Caleb’s presence, and his eyes flash dangerously as they whip to her, his mask of calm slipping when they land on the girl holding the source of his power. Her stares icily at her, and she shudders, but she doesn’t back down. “Give him his soul back. Set him free.”

Caleb shakes his head, a condescending smile on his lips. “It is not that simple. The soul business is tricky. His is currently bound to me, and unbinding it will take effort.”

“Figure it out,” Alex snaps. Willie’s hand tightens around his briefly, like a spasm, and Alex strokes his thumb across the back of his knuckles soothingly.

“No Willie, no strange purple ball for you,” Reggie chimes in.

For a beat, no one says anything, and Alex waits with bated breath for someone to break. The moment feels suspended in time; he doesn’t think anyone is even moving. All he can do is keep a hold on Willie’s hand, eyes on Caleb as he waits for his next move.

“You release Nick,” Julie reiterates after a long pause. “You release Willie. And you stop going after everyone standing in this room, for good.”

“That includes possessing people to get close to us,” Luke adds, and oh, Alex hadn’t even thought of that. “We’re talking friends, families, classmates. They’re all off-limits.”

“You swear to leave all of us alone,” Julie says. “And we hand your strange purple ball back to you right now.”

Alex has his eyes on Caleb’s face, terrified that if he looks away Caleb will choose that moment to strike. But Caleb doesn’t move, his face impassive as he keeps looking at Julie. Alex feels Willie’s fingers tighten around his.

Then Caleb’s stance relaxes, and he smiles.

“You drive a hard bargain, miss Molina.”

“Not that hard,” Julie says haltingly. “You get your power, and in exchange you leave seven people out of your reign of terror.”

A beat, then:

“We have a deal.”

Julie stumbles. “We – we do?”

Caleb’s eyes glint dangerously, and Alex holds no illusions that he is happy with this outcome. But he tips his head forward, a gesture that looks far too formal on Nick’s teenage body, and takes a step back.

“We do.”

Alex feels himself exhale a shaky breath, hit with a wave of relief so strong he feels lightheaded.

It worked. It actually worked.

“Wait,” Willie starts, letting go of Alex’s hand, “aren’t you supposed to –”

Whatever he was going to say, it is lost in the sudden commotion that follows; Caleb-Nick takes a step back, arms ahead of him as if to brace himself, opens his mouth, and with a shudder, seems to exhale some kind of purple smoke. Alex feels himself take a step back. The smoke thickens, obscuring Nick from view, and when it clears, Nick is on the ground, his eyes closed, and Caleb – real-Caleb, the Caleb Alex met at the Hollywood Ghost Club – stands above him, looking so menacing Alex flinches back.

“Nick!” Julie yelps.

She moves as if to go to him, only to be held back by Luke bracing a hand on her shoulder. He jerks his head in Caleb’s direction, and she follows his gaze, her eyes widening and her posture stiffening as she meets the ghost’s gaze head on. Right, Julie and Flynn can see Caleb, then. That’s good. That’ll make things easier, considering Alex’s nerves are already so fried he doesn’t think he would be able to handle helping them navigate this situation blindly on top of everything else.

“What happened to him?” Julie asks, her voice wavering.

“He was possessed,” Caleb says with a dismissive wave of the hand. “It takes a toll on the body. He will be fine.” Julie looks like she wants to argue, but Caleb’s gaze shifts away from her and onto Flynn. “Now, about our exchange.”

“Wait,” Julie says, “how do we know Nick is going to be okay?”

Caleb’s face twists in annoyance, and Alex wants to tell her to be careful, but before he can get a word out Caleb lunges.

He makes a grab for Flynn, who shrieks and backs away, her grip loosening on the ball in her fright. Reggie makes to push her behind him, but his arm goes right through her, and all he does is put himself in Caleb’s path. Alex feels his heart jump to his throat as he jerks towards Reggie, and then it’s chaos.

It all happens fast; one second the room was standing in stilted shock as Caleb made his move, the next everyone is yelling and scrambling for each other. Alex’s mind goes blank with white-hot terror as he tumbles toward Reggie and Flynn, unable to focus on anything beyond getting to them before Caleb does. Someone is yelling his name – he thinks it might be Willie – and he trips over his own feet and everyone is running and his eyes land on Julie, Julie who – his heart drops.

In the midst of the commotion, Julie somehow finds herself right in front of Caleb. She’s all alone, backed into the piano, and Alex distantly feels himself freeze, his body catching up to his terror-addled mind and unable to do anything but process the scene in front of him. Julie stumbles backwards; Flynn is screaming and Luke is running to her and Julie’s face is twisted in fear as her back hits the piano. Caleb looms closer and Luke isn’t going to get to her in time and Alex is just remembering how to unlock his limbs and jerk forwards when Caleb draws an arm out, reaching for her -

-and then, suddenly, falters.

Caleb takes a step back, an uncomfortable look on his face. Luke appears at Julie’s side, looking ready to strike Caleb himself, and Alex barely has time to feel extra terrified for what will happen to both his friends on top of the general terror he already feels for all of them when he feels something grip his arm. It’s Willie, one hand clenching his arm urgently as he bursts out:

“The flowers! Julie, you – the flowers, use the flowers!”

“What are you – what are you talking about?” Alex says, his words jumbled.

“The flowers!” Julie is still staring at Caleb in terror and confusion, and Willie seems to realize she isn’t reacting to his words when his grip on Alex turns painful in its desperation. “Tell her to use the flowers!”

“Julie, use the flowers!” Alex yells, too spurred on by the urgency in Willie’s voice to properly think through his words. “Use the flowers!”

“What?”

“The flowers behind you!” Reggie yelps, pointing to the piano she is crowded against.

Looking bewildered, Julie turns and grabs the bouquet of dahlias sitting innocuously atop the piano. “Now what?” she asks, staring warily at Caleb over Luke’s shoulder, Luke having stepped in front of her when she had her back turned.

Caleb advances on her then, too fast for Luke to react, and Alex can only watch with Flynn’s scream ringing in his ears as he shoves the boy to the side. Julie shrieks as Caleb gets closer to her and she flings the dahlias in his direction. It’s more of a knee-jerk reaction than a thought-out plan, Alex can tell, and predictably the bouquet flies straight through Caleb – but then Caleb falters again, stepping back, and Alex watches in dazed awe as he almost seems to flicker.

Everyone stands frozen, unsure what just happened or how to react, except for Willie who springs into action. One moment he is holding onto Alex, the next he has poofed to pick up the flowers, flashing over to Julie and shoving them back in her hands before anyone has a chance to recover. She takes them, looking dumbfounded.

“Willie?” she calls. “What is this?”

Caleb regains his composure then, standing up straighter and looking thunderous, although he doesn’t attempt to get closer. Julie straightens up herself, brandishing the bouquet of dahlias in his direction in a way Alex might find absurd if not for the wariness in Caleb’s face as he eyes her.

“What is this?” Julie repeats, addressing Caleb this time. “Why is this affecting you?”

Caleb regards her, and for a beat the moment stretches out, all the previous agitation gone into a tension that hangs heavily in the air.

Then Caleb’s entire stance relaxes. Alex and everyone else in the room is very much aware that it’s all for show, but outwardly at least, Caleb leans back, eyeing Julie and her dahlias appraisingly, and nods.

“Very well,” he says. “What were the terms of the deal? I release the Danforth-Evans boy and William here, and in exchange you hand me my power back?”

Julie shifts uncertainly, thrown by the sudden turn of events; Alex moves to stand at her side, and adds: “And you leave us alone from here on out. Those are the terms.”

Caleb glowers at him, but his smile stays in place. “Fine. You have yourselves a deal.”

Luke scoffs, and Julie raises a skeptical eyebrow, not looking impressed. “Do we?” she asks. “Because you just tried to attack us not a minute ago.”

Caleb waves her away impatiently. “The deal hasn’t been set. You can’t blame me for attempting to take back what is mine when I saw a chance.”

Alex thinks that they actually very much can blame him for that, but he doesn’t get the chance to say so. Firstly because he is still very much terrified of Caleb and what would happen if he did, and secondly because Julie gets stuck on another part of what Caleb said.

“What do you mean, the deal hasn’t been set? We agreed on the terms, what else do you need?”

“You’re supposed to shake on it,” Willie calls out, his voice ragged. “That’s what seals the deal.”

Caleb sends him a withering look, and Alex really, really hope Willie will be out of the ghost’s reach by the end of this.

“William is right,” is all Caleb says. “We need to shake hands for the deal to be set.”

Set in what? Alex wonders. But it doesn’t seem to matter, because Caleb approaches Julie – differently than he did before, with a sort of wariness to him; maybe even a hint of respect.

Whatever it is, it seems to be pushing him to take this deal – to take them – seriously, so Alex decides not to question it just yet. He’ll wait for them to be in the clear for it.

Julie seems to be of the same mind, because she steps forward as well, albeit slower. She still doesn’t trust that Caleb isn’t about to pull one over them, which, fair. Alex isn’t convinced of it either.

But she extends a hand nonetheless, and Alex watches, holding his breath, as Caleb reaches out, his hand very much solid as it clasps Julie’s and shakes it slowly.

“It’s a deal,” Caleb says. “You and your friends in this room are free from my reach.”

Julie swallows. “Good.”

She pulls her hand away and steps back, briefly looking around the room as if to check that all of them are still there, still safe. Alex is struck by the weight of this moment. After everything, after all the pain and the terror, the nightmare is over. They’re free.

“Now,” Caleb says, and Julie refocuses on him. “Our exchange?”

Julie glances back at Flynn, who has moved to stand behind her; a nod, and Flynn reaches inside her pocket and retrieves the purple ball, placing it carefully in Julie’s hand. Julie’s fingers claps it tightly and she turns back to Caleb, who extends a hand expectantly.

Julie hesitates.

Caleb clicks his tongue. “We have a deal, miss Molina.”

“How are we supposed to trust that you’re not going to try and break the terms of our deal again the first chance you get?” she points out, her voice wavering.

Alex expects a furious response, but all Caleb does is wave a hand – the hand that isn’t still extended towards Julie – impatiently.

Nothing happens for a beat, then –

Willie gasps.

“Willie?” Alex is by his side in an instant, hands gripping his shoulders anxiously. “Willie, what is it?”

But Willie isn’t looking at him. Instead his hand clutches at his chest, an expression of wonder across his face.

“My – my soul,” he whispers. “It’s mine. It’s mine.”

Alex’s heart skips a beat when his words register. Willie meets his gaze, tears in his eyes, and something settles in Alex’s chest, something heavy and solid that has him clutching onto Willie more tightly than he thinks he ever has. Right now, nothing matters expect for the look on Willie’s face.

“Alex?” It’s Flynn, sounding fearful. “Alex, what’s wrong with Willie?”

“He’s… he’s…” The words get caught in his throat, and Alex can’t speak. He can barely breathe, staring at Willie in wonder. His hand comes to stroke his face, awed. He’s free. Willie is free. After all this time, he is out of Caleb’s grip.

He whips back towards Caleb. “Is this for good? Or is it temporary?”

“It’s for good,” Caleb answers, not looking entirely pleased about it. “William’s soul is no longer tied to the Hollywood Ghost Club.”

All they have is his word, but right now, seeing the look of pure joy in Willie’s eyes, Alex is inclined to believe it. He grips Willie’s hand, and Willie squeezes back just as hard, smiling tearfully at him.

“Willie’s free?” Flynn asks, her voice trembling a little.

“He is,” Caleb confirms. Alex feels so overwhelmed he could collapse, but Caleb’s presence still has him too keyed up to truly give in to the feeling. “Now, miss Molina,” Caleb adds, a sharp edge to his voice.

Julie nods, still a little shaky, but she makes herself stand tall, meeting Caleb’s gaze, and slowly lowers the purple ball in his open palm.

“You leave us alone from now on,” she reiterates.

“Those are the terms,” Caleb agrees.

Julie nods, and lets go.

Immediately Caleb stashes it into an inner pocket of his coat, out of their reach. Alex feels the tension in the room hike up more than a few notches – either the deal will hold now, or, with nothing to lose, Caleb will strike.

Caleb slowly draws his hand out of his jacket.

“I may have underestimated you, miss Molina,” he says levelly.

Julie looks away from him for a moment, taking in the other people in the room. Luke at her side, Flynn and Reggie just a step behind her, Alex and Willie to her left still holding onto each other.

“It was a team effort,” she says.

Caleb nods, looking deep in thought. Then, with a parting tip of his hat, he disappears in a bright flash of light, and he’s gone.

*

It’s like Caleb’s departure took all the stress and tension with it. At once the six of them collapse, the wave of relief hitting them so hard it doesn’t seem real. Alex feels light-headed with it; he never let go of Willie, and he takes the opportunity to pull him in a bone-crushing hug.

“It’s over,” he whispers. “It’s over, you’re free –”

“Alex,” Willie chokes out. He is crying, hands coming up to frame his face. He is the most beautiful person Alex has ever seen.

Alex presses a bruising kiss to his temple. Willie just hugs him tighter.

It takes him a second to be able to look beyond the bubble of him and Willie, and when he does, it’s to find his friends in a similar state.

“Willie,” Flynn says. “Is Willie okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“He’s okay,” Reggie repeats, and Flynn sags in relief, her hold on Julie tightening to the point Alex sees the other girl wince. She doesn’t tell her to let go though, just brings her free hand to clutch at her best friend’s arm and holds on. Her other she keeps in Luke’s, her thumb smoothing the back of his knuckles like she needs to feel him to ground herself.

Alex is much of the same; he holds onto Willie with all that he’s got, his gaze roaming over the room, over his friends.

I love you all, he thinks feverishly. I love you, I love you, I’m so glad you’re all okay, we’re okay, I love you.

None of them moves for a long time, long enough for Julie’s grip to slip through Luke’s hand and for Flynn’s gaze to become unfocused when she searches for them. It’s a low moan that eventually gets them to rise, one coming from outside their little group.

“Julie? Flynn?” Nick groans from across the room, painfully pulling himself up into a sitting position. “… Julie’s band?”

There is a short, stunned silence as they all look at each other, taking in what this means.

“Oh, shit,” Luke finally says, and yeah, that about covers it.

*

“So, I have some questions about what happened earlier,” Julie says that evening.

Flynn snorts. “Just some?”

It’s been an exhausting day. Just the showdown with Caleb would have been enough to knock Alex out for a week – several weeks – but they’ve spent the last couple of hours bringing Nick up to speed, and dredging up their history with Caleb has been draining. And now there is the whole of the possession’s side-effects to wade through. Nick has been a surprisingly good sport about it all, but even Willie isn’t sure whether his seeing of ghosts is permanent or not, and Nick is very visibly shaken about the whole thing.

Nick has just left, though, eager to go back to the familiarity of his home and to see his dads – although Alex will be very surprised if he makes it through the night without taking Julie or Flynn up on their promise to only be one call away should he ever need to talk through this more, whether that be more explanations on ghosts or demons from his ordeal. It’s probably going to take him a long time to recover from this. Alex feels for him.

Now that he is gone, though, they can focus on everything else that happened today.

“What happened, exactly?” Julie asks. “With the flowers? How did you know that would work?”

Willie shifts, only minutely, but he’s so close Alex still feels it. That’s another thing that is taking a toll: what with, well, everything, Alex and Willie haven’t gotten a minute alone to talk yet, and it is slowly but surely chipping away at Alex’s sanity. Willie’s arm tightly pressed against his on the couch right now is helping, though.

“I didn’t know for sure,” Willie says. “I just hoped it would.” He pauses, leans against Alex a little more. Alex does his best to focus on his words and not just the timbre of his voice. “There have been some cases where, in the right hands, specific flowers can act as protection against vengeful spirits.”

“The right hands?”

“You know. People who can wield magic.”

Julie stares, dumbfounded, when she hears. “But I don’t have magic.”

Flynn laughs outright at that. “Uh, hello? Ghost band that becomes visible when you play with them? That you summoned back to you from Caleb’s club?”

Julie shakes her head, still looking floored. “But that wasn’t me. That was the music.”

“The music we were playing with you,” Reggie points out.

“We weren’t playing music when you saved us from the jolts,” Luke adds, meaningfully.

Julie looks between all of them, and it’s then, when he sees the disbelief in her eyes, that it dawns on Alex that she doesn’t know what has become clear to all of them.

“You’re the reason Caleb wasn’t able to hold onto us that night, Julie,” he says softly. “Flynn is right. It was you who pulled us out of the club. You’re the one who saved us.”

Alex watches as the realization sinks in, as Julie’s eyes go misty and she brings a hand to rest heavily against her heart.

“And dahlias – dahlias are some of these flowers that can offer protection?” she asks, her voice rough.

She’s looking at Alex, and it’s with a start that Alex realizes she is asking Willie.

Willie just nods, like he can feel the weight of what this moment means for Julie – Julie, whose lower lip trembles when Alex nods in answer to her question.

“Dahlias were my mom’s favorite.”

Her voice is quiet, hushed, when she says it, and it almost sounds like a question. Alex wishes he had the answer for her, wishes that he knew what the connection is between them and her and her mom, wishes that he were solid right now so that he could give her a hug.

Flynn, thankfully, covers that part, and Julie’s eyes close as she holds onto her tightly.

“Maybe this was meant to be,” she says, still rubbing circles into Julie’s back. “Remember when we found that Sunset Curve t-shirt with your mother’s things? Maybe she’s the one who’s been saving you all along. First by sending you these guys –” she swings her head vaguely around the room then, looking fond, “– then by giving you the tools to fight evil ghosts. You know, should the need ever arise.”

“She must have been quite the visionary, to see this coming,” Julie says, her voice only shaking a little, and Alex sees Flynn hold onto her just that little bit tighter.

There is a lot to unpack there, but Luke seems to have caught another part of Flynn’s statement.

“Wait,” he says, grinning like this is the best news he has heard all week, “your mom had a Sunset Curve t-shirt?”

“Your mom was a fan?” Reggie adds excitedly. “Do you think she came to our shows? Do you think we met her?

Julie pulls away from the hug, her eyes still a little red even as she rolls them playfully at the both of them.

“Ugh, what now?” Flynn says, smiling. “Did they say something dumb again?”

“I resent that,” Reggie grins, and Alex watches them, his chest swelling with affection.

It took dying for them to get here, for him to find this family, and the thing is, overall he would say it was worth it. It still feels unfair in moments like these though, when Flynn can’t hear them and therefore doesn’t get the chance to shoot a comeback he’s sure she would find up her sleeve, and he’s forcibly reminded of how different their situations are. Namely, that she is alive and he is not.

But it really is worth it, though. Because as he looks around the room and sees them, the five people he loves the most in the world, he knows down to the core of himself that this was meant to be. He was meant to know these people, to love them, just like they were meant to know and love him. They were separated by decades, and still not time, distance or even death could stop them from meeting.

So, yeah. Flynn might be onto something.

They do try to get back on track sometime after that and figure out the ins and outs of what happened today, but the thing is, they’ve known from the start that they are dealing with a lot of unknowns.

“I don’t completely know what to make of it,” Willie admits, when they get back to dahlias and flowers and Julie’s potential powers. “I haven’t heard much about it, and Caleb was my go-to person for magic before all this, but…”

“That’s okay,” Alex hastens to say. “There’s no rush to figure this out. We’ve got time, now. That’s what matters.”

He watches as his words blanket the room, all of them reacting as it hits them. Willie reaches over and takes his hand, smiling delicately. They’ve got time.

*

Later, Alex finds Willie sitting atop the studio’s roof.

“Hey,” he says, appearing next to him.

Willie smiles brightly. “Hey,” he answers.

Alex shuffles to make himself comfortable, folding a leg under himself and letting the other dangle loosely over the edge of the roof. Next to him, Willie is swinging his legs absently, eyes lost in the distance. Alex nudges him softly, and he turns his head to look at him, face immediately breaking into a smile again.

“What are you thinking about?”

Willie covers his hand with his, lacing their fingers together, and doesn’t answer right away.

“Everything that happened today, I guess,” he says eventually. He looks at Alex, eyes crinkling slightly. “Hell of a day, hot dog.”

“Hell of a day,” Alex agrees. He squeezes Willie’s hand. “But we’re okay.”

Willie’s smile turns smaller, softer. “We’re okay.”

He looks like he is working himself up to say something, and Alex lets him, running his thumb over the back of Willie’s knuckles as he does. It’s kind of thrilling, being able to touch him like this, to hold his hand and know it means as much to Willie as it does to him, but it’s also just kind of nice. It’s nice to be able to have this after everything they went through to get there.

Finally Willie squeezes his hand back, and, eyes trained on the horizon again, says: “I know I’ve said it already, but I’m really sorry. For everything.”

“And I’ve said, you have nothing to apologize for.”

“I’ve caused you so much trouble.”

“Willie, look at me.” He does, and Alex meets his gaze, does his best to impart just how much he means his next words. “None of that was your fault, okay? None of it. Besides, it’s all in the past. It’s over now, and we’re okay. We’re all okay.”

Willie nods, and his smile is lopsided when he says, “I’m still sorry.”

“And there is still no need to be. We’re okay. You’re okay.” He smiles, bringing his free hand up to brush Willie’s cheek. “That’s all that matters.”

Willie smiles back and he says, softer, “I’m really glad we’re okay.”

Alex grins. “Me too.”

He lets his hand fall away from Willie’s face and leans back, basking in the setting sun and Willie’s presence at his side and the feeling of surviving another day. Willie does the same, and Alex sneaks a look at him. He looks happy, content in a way Alex hasn’t seen on him before. Free. It’s a good look on him.

“So,” Alex says after a few moments, his voice light. “Any great plans for what’s to come now that you have your soul back?”

Willie laughs, loud and inhibited. Alex loves it. He loves him.

“Honestly?” Willie says. “I’m just happy to be here with you.”

Alex’s cheeks flame up, and he groans. “That was so cheesy.” He can’t quite stop himself from smiling, though.

“It’s the truth,” Willie grins. “I feel… I feel like I could do anything. And I can. I don’t remember the last time I felt like this.”

And, well, how is Alex supposed to not grin back at that?

“And yet you’re happy to just sit here with me?” he teases.

“Well, yeah,” Willie says as if it is obvious, and damn it, Alex is blushing even harder now.

“Oh,” he says, quieter than he means to. Willie squeezes his hand.

“I’m not really used to having options,” he says after a moment. “But I think I want to stick around here for a bit.” He tilts his head to look at Alex, smiles. “You want to help me figure the next part out?”

And Alex can only smile back, fond. “Of course I do.”

And with that he leans in, cups Willie’s cheek, and kisses him. They’re both smiling into it, so much so that he isn’t sure it’s that much of a kiss at all, but it’s good nonetheless, because Willie brings a hand to hold his waist, and Willie holds onto their joined hands like they’re anchoring him to this moment, and Willie kisses him slow and soft and steady like they have all the time in the world, and they do, and Alex loves him.

“I love you,” he says – breathes, really – when they break apart.

Willie grins. “And I thought I was the cheesy one.”

“You are,” Alex says. “But I still love you.”

Willie leans in, drops another kiss onto his lips, beams brighter than Alex has ever seen when he pulls away. “I love you too.”

Alex nods, his heart beating wildly inside his chest. “That’s good,” he says, his voice jumping half an octave; he is pretty sure his face is beet red right now.

Willie laughs, fond and so, so in love, and wraps an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his side. Alex sinks into him easily. “Yeah,” he agrees, his voice light. “It really is.”

#jatp fic #jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #willex fic #when the time comes baby don't run #my writing #* #lou completed a fic everyone cheered!

[legolasghosty]

For willex? Smooching them all over the face, because that’s the only thing that gets them to wake up 💕

Willie rolls over in an attempt to avoid the sunlight that is beginning to filter through Alex's bedroom window. Usually Alex closed his blinds at night to avoid this situation, but with the distinct lack of sunshine in the winter, he'd started leaving them open. Which means that now Willie is awake, whether he likes it or not.

The clock on Alex's dresser reads 7:43, so it's not too early at least. And neither of them have to be anywhere today, so they'd talked about a lazy day in.

Willie glances over at their boyfriend, still sound asleep beside them. He's had a long week, they should let him sleep in. Alex's face is relaxed in that way it only ever really is when he's sleeping. Like the anxiety that haunts him every day is but a distant memory, the cares of the world and the trauma of the past merely fairy tales he read in a book. He's so beautiful.

It takes a tremendous amount of self-control for Willie to stop himself from running his fingers through the tangled, golden strands of Alex's hair or brushing his lips against his smooth brow. But they don't. He deserves the rest.

Instead, Willie clambers out of bed, closes the blinds, and heads for the bathroom. Alex is not a morning person, but Willie has learned a trick or two in the years they've been together. First trick: food.

He changes into a pair of sweats and one of Alex's hoodies(not the pink one, that's in the wash still from the...ketchup incident a few days ago), before pulling on his shoes and heading out the door. They don't bother doing anything with their hair. With luck, it will only be 20 minutes or so till they're back home anyways.

Willie breaks into a light jog as soon as he exits their apartment building. It's only a few blocks from home to Moon Pies, their favorite bakery. And he likes to think that the staff there like him and Alex as well. They do pop by for treats on a fairly regular basis.

"G'morning, Willie," the person behind the counter greets when they enter.

"Hey Aspen," Willie responds, grinning. "How's the shift going?"

"Same old, same old," Aspen chuckles, already heading for the bakery case. "The boss is trying out some new cookie recipes later though, so that should be tasty!"

"Oooo, any chance I can get a sneak preview?" Willie inquires, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well he hasn't made them yet, so probably not," Aspen retorts, chuckling.

Willie shakes his head in mock disappointment. "Well then I guess the usual cinnamon rolls and lemon tarts will have to do."

"Treating your man I see," Aspen says as they pull the pastries from the case and slip them into little wax paper bags.

"First time we've both had the day off at the same time in like two months," Willie admits. "A decent breakfast is the least I can do."

Aspen nodded in understanding. "You guys enjoy it," they told him, accepting his card to pay for the treats. "And tell Alex I say hi."

"Will do," Willie answers, taking the bags and their card.

The little bell above the door chimes as he leaves, the December wind pulling at his hair as he steps outside. They shiver and hurry toward home. While it's not really that cold, it's a bit nippy in just his sweats and hoodie.

It takes a bit of fumbling to get the apartment door open without dropping anything, but Willie manages. He spreads out the fresh treats on the kitchen island and flips on the hot water kettle before heading for Alex's bedroom. Their boyfriend is still asleep when they poke their head through the doorway.

"Alex?" Willie calls softly.

The man in question doesn't stir. Willie laughs and heads for the bed. He tries tugging gently on the blankets tucked in around Alex's (very pretty and bare) torso, but that just makes Alex grip them tighter.

"Lexi, I got breakfast," Willie says, even as he climbs onto the bed, on top of his boyfriend.

Alex groans a bit at the weight of Willie's hips on top of his thighs but his eyes don't open. Willie smirks and leans forward, bracing himself up with one arm on the pillow beside Alex's head as he pecks him on the nose.

"Earlyyyy," Alex moans, the word wrapped up in sleepiness.

"I have cinnamon rolls," Willie retorts. They press another little kiss right between Alex's eyebrows. Then another on his temple, and another up by his hairline.

"'y can wait," Alex mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut tighter.

"But they'll get cold," Willie points out.

He brushes his lips against Alex's eyelids, enjoying the little warm feeling in his chest when they relax against his mouth. They continue their mapping of Alex's face, kissing along his cheekbone, then down to his chin and over to the other side of his face.

They finally give in to the urge to bury their fingers in his hair, all smooth and soft from being washed the night before. Alex hums and turns his head a bit to let Willie trail kisses along his jaw. Willie giggles and takes the chance to brush his lips against the sensitive spot just behind Alex's ear. Alex's breath hitches at the contact and he slowly opens his eyes a crack.

"You're pretty," he mumbles. One hand lets go of the blankets to slide under Willie's hoodie, up his bare back.

"Look who's talking," Willie teases, brushing his nose against his lover's.

"Sunshine," Alex grumbles, the nickname not coming out nearly as annoyed as he probably intended as he cups the back of Willie's neck with his free hand and pulls him into a kiss.

Willie smiles against Alex's mouth and lets Alex tug them all the way down on top of him. Screw every person who ever told them that moving in together would ruin their relationship. How could that possibly happen in a world where he got to kiss Alex good morning every single day?

After a minute though, they pull back slightly. "The food is gonna get cold," they point out regretfully.

Alex groans but nods. Willie rolls off of him and offers him a hand up. Alex seems to consider using it to pull Willie back down onto the bed, but gets up.

"You owe me kisses later for waking me up," he warns as he heads for the bathroom.

"Oh no, whatever shall I do?" Willie jokes. "I have to kiss my beautiful boyfriend some more. What a punishment."

"Troublemaker," Alex teases, turning to steal another quick peck.

"Love you," is all Willie can say when he pulls back.

"Love you too," Alex responds immediately. "Now please tell me you have tea going?"

#legolas tag #julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp fanfic #willex #alex mercer #willie jatp #look they're in love okay? #I'm just the stenographer #domestic fluff my beloved

[interestinglittlerelationship]

inside Willie's phone

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #willie #inside phone au #smau #juke #willex #found family #fluff

[bbreaddog]

20 questions writer meme!

Thanks for tagging me @jmrothwell! 😊💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

A humble 9 😌

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

24,651

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Julie and The Phantoms, and currently working on my first contribution to Red, White & Royal Blue… 👀 I’ve previously written for Rent The Musical, and (no longer attached to any of my accounts) rpf for Steel Train and fun.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

King of Your Heart (JATP) → Willex ft. Die-hard Willie & Bobby

Rated M, 17.4k words, 10/? Tags: Pirate/Mage AU, Enemies-to-lovers, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort Summary:  Willie’s life is constantly in motion, and he’s never wanted it any other way. He doesn’t know how he could function any other way. But right now he sees nothing but blue sea as he sits on his perch, and the endless nothingness is making him incredibly nauseated. - That is, until an enemy ship shows up and Willie finds himself stranded with the most annoyingly handsome guy he's ever met. OR Romantic Willie/Alex with a side of platonic die-hard Willie/Bobby

I’m Thirsty (Rent) → Mark/Roger ft. Maureen

Rated M, 1.4k words, 1/1 Tags: Jealousy, Fluff, Implied sexual content Summary: Maureen's got a new girlfriend. She and Mark have been broken up for at least a month now. So why, to Roger's frustration, does Mark keep inviting Maureen over?

Lonely Blue (Rent) → Mark/Roger

Rated T, 682 words, 1/1 Tags: Modern AU, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Homophobia Summary: When Mark comes out to his parents, it’s a fucking mess

Sunday Morning (Rent) -> Mark/Roger

Rated G, 358 words, 1/1 Tags: Fluff Summary: Mark and Roger being soft and stupid when they wake up in the morning

It’s Not Fair (Rent) -> Mark/Roger

Rated M, 1.2k words, 2/? Tags: Unresolved Sexual Tension, Mild Sexual Cotent, Abandoned Fic Summary:  Mark takes in a shaky breath. How is Roger so effortlessly sexy? He’s not even doing anything.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I generally try to, if I have the spoons. There’s something so fun about keysmashing with someone who’s equally excited about what you’ve done with the characters. I’ve also made some meaningful connections through comments, and the likelihood of making new friends that way looks pretty damn good to me!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It’s still technically a wip, and it has no title yet… just know my boy Reggie is fucking going through it. But if we’re talking about published fics, I’d say Lonely Blue is definitely upsetting

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

For a cheeky happiest ending: Played It To The Beat (JATP) → Best Friends Julie & Alex

Rated G, 1.4k words, 1/1 Tags: Making a playlist together!, Kind of crack? Summary:  Julie has been desperately searching for songs to add to a playlist for what she’s been calling an anniversary party for Flynn, which isn’t for what Alex thought it was going to be.

For the fluffiest happiest ending: I’m The King of the Ocean (JATP) → Willex

Rated T, 503 words, 1/1 Tags: King Of Your Heart AU, Falling In Love, Holding Hands Summary: “I can handle anything.” Alex smirks. “Anything?” “Anyth—” Willie yelps and splutters as he cops a huge splash in his face. Alex explodes with laughter.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don’t write nearly enough for this to happen

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I used to write explicit smut, but not anymore. I might occasionally allude to an act in my current writing. I have some trauma around specifically writing explicit smut 👍 I still fucking read it tho 😎 I’m doing my part 🫡 And who knows! Maybe I’ll return to writing it one day. You’ll just have to find out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No crossovers from me

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sure hope not 😬

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah… King Of Your Heart was co-written with someone I no longer speak to. They were a very important person in my life and I cared about them a lot. It also means KOYH is on indefinite hiatus because I have mixed feelings about updating it without them That’s not to say I haven’t written the following chapters though… 👀 (They exist, and if you ask nicely, I might share a private link with you)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I don’t think I have one 🤔

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Honestly, so many. But the one that I CONSTANTLY think about is the New Year’s prompt that jmrothwell actually sent me in JANUARY. AND IT’S NOVEMBER NOW. I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO END IT. WHAT I HAVE SO FAR IS REALLY FUCKING GOOD TOO WHICH MAKES ME SO UPSET 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery, descriptive stuff. Poetic things. Similes and metaphors. I’m giving an awesome example of that rn 🫡

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Over-explaining, making sentences longer than they need to be

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I like to avoid it. The only other language I know how to write in is Simplified Chinese, and even then my vocab is so limited. Plus, I feel like writing with Asian languages that use characters instead of the Latin alphabet would look really clunky amongst otherwise English prose. Pinyin would be equally as unnatural to read too, imo

19. First fandom you wrote for?

You mean bandom? 😔 our name is fun. 😔 nachel forever (og mutuals know) 😔

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Big fan of Played It To The Beat. BEST FRIENDS JULIE MOLINA & ALEX MERCER SUPREMACY 🛐

Tagging: @floating-in-the-blue, @noworneverphantom, @fiddlepickdouglas, @thesevenumbrellas

#possibly one of the most comprehensive tag games I’ve done #@ppl i tagged: no expectation to do this if you don’t want to :-) #i write things #tag game #about me #mine

[fandomscraziness22]

JATP Prompt Fills

“Anyone ever tell you you’ve got the prettiest eyes in the world?” (willex)

“Don’t do that. Don’t push me away.” “I can’t help it.” (juke)

“We’re gonna be fine.” “How do you know?” (willex)

“Take a break. You’ve been working all day.” “I can’t just–” and “Have you eaten today?” “Am I gonna get in trouble if I say no?” (juke)

“Let me love you.” and “Kiss me like you mean it.” (juke)

“Just… hold my hand?” and “Relax. I’ve got you.” and “Can I play with your hair?” (juke)

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #julie molina #luke patterson #willie #alex mercer #juke #willex #angst #fluff #fic list #au #prompt fills

[onlygenxhere]

writing pattern game

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able and see if there are any patterns! (from most recent to least recent, starting from the top). Tagged by @1mnobodywhoareyou

I’m counting published as Ao3 not Tumblr (skipping the askes cause I’m not sure the order of all that anyway)

Julie and Luke’s Book of Dares (Dash and Lilly AU) Rated T

It’s the most detestable time of year.

Love the Way You Love Me (1st Peterpatterlina smut fic) Rated E

She was dancing.

The Truth is Finally Breaking Through (Stand alone band fic I wrote for this years big bang) Rated T

“Julie this suitcase is way too big and what’s this other bag even for?”

Bad Boys Get Spankings (Think the title gives the basic plot what plot Juke) Rated E

Luke was just finishing up working on a new song in the home studio when his beautiful wife came in looking stunning.

Fireworks (4th of July inspired features my favorite ships, Rarrie, Willex and Juke) Rated T

“Hey guys, here’s the blanket you asked for.”

To Date or Not to Date, That is the Question (my lone Teen Wolf fic) Rated T

Melissa checked her hair and makeup in the mirror by the door one more time before opening it to see her date for the night.

An Unlikely Duo (Last one-shot currently in the Falling Toward the Future series) Rated T

Willie was just pulling the lasagna out of the oven when he finally heard Carrie pulling into the garage.

Like Real People Do (Last fic in the Found Family Fluff series) Rated T

Julie was snuggled down in her bed so warm and comfy trying hard to resist waking up.

Maybe I Could be Yours (Royality AU) Rated E

“Your Majesty?” 

You’re More to Me (last part of the prequel in the jukebox baby series) Rated T

Ray put his van in park and leaned his head back against the headrest closing his eyes. 

This is really interesting. It would seem I almost always start with a character’s name and movement, especially if I’m not starting with dialog. I said in the last ask I feel like I almost have a problem with that. Like I can’t just let people talk. Someone always has to be doing something too. Book of Dares almost shouldn’t count because the beginning is taken right from the show and the book.

Tagging @bananakarenina, @sovvannight, and @thedeathdeelers and of course anyone else that wants to do this.

#writer ask game #this was really interesting #i'm sure it won't change anything #but still cool #i rarely think about how i write #or patterns

[michelangelinden]

Can I interest you in some soft Them in these trying times?

Hello hello! I wrote this for @legolasghosty's birthday (ilyyyy) and thought I'd share it here too hehe.

Willex. Rated G. 1123 words. No warnings, just fluff.

Alex woke because his head slipped from where it was resting against the wall and his torso fell to the side. When he was upright again, disoriented and a little dizzy, he noticed that he was the only one left outside on the porch. He hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep. He’d been sitting next to Willie on the bench, leaned his head back against the cabin’s wall and womp, he’d fallen asleep, apparently.

Turning his head to look around, he registered faint laughter from inside the cabin. But it sounded less like it was coming from his friends and more like from the TV.

What time was it? Couldn’t be too late if people were still awake. And they also wouldn’t have left him sleeping outside, someone would’ve come get him when they were all going to bed.

A yawn pushed its way out of his throat and he let it escape. Only when he smacked his lips and moved a hand to scratch his chin, did he notice that his upper body was covered. He’d left his hoodie inside, it had still been pretty warm when they had all sat down outside on the porch after coming back from the restaurant, but he must’ve looked like he was cold when he was sleeping. Willie’s sweater was draped over his chest, the sleeves laid over his shoulders so that it wouldn’t slip right off. The fabric felt almost delicate when Alex shifted underneath it, despite being thick cotton, but maybe that was just because it was Willie’s.

He smiled to himself. He could imagine that small internal struggle Willie must’ve felt upon seeing his boyfriend asleep next to him. Should he wake Alex? He looks cold. Would he want to come inside with us? But he’s sleeping. Alex allowed himself to press his nose into the fabric and take a breath. The scent was a strange mixture of campfire and pine and coconut shampoo that shouldn’t work but just did, because it was Willie’s. Alex loved this smell.

A gust of wind flew over the porch and blew his hair into his eyes. It was fresher than the standing air, predicting the temperatures to drop in the next few days, and told Alex that he should probably go inside. The pressure behind his eyes, his tell-tale sign that he was really tired, increased at the brush of cold, and he shivered.

With a groan, he got up from the bench and walked around the porch table. The trees of the forest swayed in the wind, the moon painted glowing white circles in the soft waves of the lake, and he heard the call of an owl somewhere far away. They’d really picked a great spot for their post-tour vacation. He couldn’t remember ever being somewhere this peaceful, apart from maybe his own home, or back at his grandparents place in Germany. It was a shame, they only had a few days left.

Yawning again, he slipped the sweater over his head. It warmed him immediately and he felt yet another wave of sleepiness wash over him.

Stepping inside the cabin, his suspicions about the TV were confirmed, when he saw the flickering lights around the corner and heard muted, dramatic music. He spotted Luke asleep with his head in Julie’s lap on one of the couches, Reggie leaning against her on her other side, eyes on the TV screen. Bobby was sitting in the armchair, arms crossed in front of his chest, head tilted back, dead-asleep like a dad on a Saturday night. Flynn must be in bed already, because Willie was sitting alone on the other couch, cross-legged, comfortable. But their eyes caught sight of Alex as soon as he stepped into the room.

“Hey, you’re awake,” he called quietly when Alex moved into his direction. His legs unfolded and he lifted an arm so Alex could sit down next to him.

Alex took the hand offered to him as soon as he reached it, then sat on the couch and smoothly slipped into Willie’s side. They let out a surprised laugh when Alex draped an arm across their waist and pushed his face into Willie’s shoulder.

“Hi,” he whispered back.

“We wanted to watch a movie, but I didn’t wanna wake you. You looked so cute, when you were asleep,” Willie explained what Alex had been thinking.

“Thank you,” Alex responded. He lifted his head and nudged his chin forward, glancing at Willie’s lips. Willie got the message and smiled before leaning down and giving Alex a gentle kiss. Alex hummed comfortably, then placed his head back on Willie’s shoulder, closing his eyes.

“Tired?” Willie asked.

Alex nodded.

“You wanna go to bed?”

He shook his head. “Wanna be with you.”

He felt Willie’s breath hitch a little, like it always did when Alex randomly said cute things like that. They brushed their hand over Alex’s arm across their body.

“I wanna stay here a bit longer, is that alright?”

Alex nodded again. “This is perfect.”

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to Willie’s collarbone through the fabric of their shirt. Willie’s hand not on Alex’s arm brushed over the back of his head, lightly scratching his scalp. Alex felt himself melt into Willie at the sensation, slowly breathing out. Now being warm and fully enveloped by Willie, he started feeling drowsy with tiredness.

Willie halted momentarily. “Is everything alright? What’s going on?”

Alex didn’t lift his head, just turned it a little so they’d be better able to hear him. “I’m baby,” he said simply.

Willie breathed out with a laugh that sounded almost delighted. They shifted so they were able to press a lingering kiss to Alex’s forehead. Alex relished it with a smile.

“So baby,” Willie responded. Another kiss, even longer now. “And I love you so much.”

Alex felt soft and warm and glowy all over. He was on vacation, wearing his lover’s sweater, while they held him comfortably and kissed his forehead so gently. He couldn’t imagine anything better than this.

He finally lifted his head again so he was on eye level with Willie. “I love you too.”

Willie lifted the hand off Alex’s arm and curled it around his jaw. He kissed Alex again, so sweetly it made Alex’s head spin in the best way.

“I was hoping you’d put on the sweater,” he whispered against Alex’s lips and it made them both chuckle. “You look amazing in it.”

“It’s very comfortable.”

“I know.” Willie kissed his cheek. “Go to sleep.”

And almost as soon as Alex had placed his head on Willie’s shoulder again, he did.

#willex beloved #i missed them #felt like coming home writing them again <33 #love you Legolas #thanks for inspiring Willex every time #julie and the phantoms #willex #alex mercer #willie jatp #linden writes stuff #legolas tag #jatp fanfic