Work Text:
SEPTEMBER
She swore at herself for staying at the cafe so late, forgetting that fall weather made the night air chilly and she didn't bring a sweater.
Naturally, she would be defensive since it was so late at night and she lost track of time with working on a new song that had been stuck in the back of her head for days while cleaning, but whoever was talking had been in their own world.
Julie was merely a concerned citizen innocently overhearing a conversation that night. It was a group of three guys walking with a hunch, visibly defeated as if someone had kicked their dog and they were close enough for her to hear without being bothersome.
She hears the words come out of the mouth of the tallest one, a blonde with hazel eyes and a black snapback that covers his forehead. Julie notices a set of drumsticks poking out of his front jean pockets as she ducks her head under the red awning of her store to look between the three of them.
Her hand lingers on the knob, debating if she should be rude and step into their conversation about where to eat. It would be a useless conversation to anyone else, but for a girl who takes in the scent of blueberry muffins and French vanilla creamer every morning, Julie couldn’t ignore the urge to tell them to come inside for some edible food.
"I wish the old man would listen to us, you know? He doesn’t understand the vision"
The boys were a few feet away from her now, and Julie turns her back to them out of sudden shyness.
Another one speaks, voice deeper and a little more annoyed of the topic of conversation, if she was honest. What? She was naturally observant.
"He just doesn’t want to see the vision. He has the power, Alex. He could make us into whatever he wants."
Alex. The boy with the snapback.
The last of the three gets their two cents in, and Julie could almost hear their frown if she tried hard enough.
‘What about what we want? That doesn’t seem to matter to him or the label.’
Julie stiffens as she hears their footsteps against the pavement, they were the only people on the street in the hours past sundown and she really thinks that these boys need some cheering up. From the corner of her eye, she could sense them passing her as the key stopped turning the door. They were angry about something, but it now begun to feel weird listening in on a personal conversation so she shook her head and tried to forget about it.
‘We can’t do anything about Bobby. The only thing we could control right now is how much mustard you want on your hot dog, Reggie.’
Reggie. The boy that frowned.
She doesn’t hesitate, swiveling around in a fast motion to make sure she doesn’t miss them and calls out with a hand cupping her mouth. “Hey, would you like to come in for some snacks?’ Julie asks in a raised voice, hoping she sounded cheerful enough to get them to stop.
Luckily, the boys come to a halt and turn around slowly. Oh, no. Did she scare them? Was she being weird? Too forward. She had no clue. The blonde tilted his head at her in confusion, and for a moment, her fear of rejection had been replaced with actual fear and—
"Is this a trick question?" He asked.
She would never joke about food.
The boy she guesses is Reggie grins at the idea of snacks, and she instantly knew they would be harmless.
All of his friends looked at her like she had a third eye. Her gaze switched between each boy, knowing it was now different since they were staring right back at her widened eyes. Julie thought they were cute, and after noticing the drumsticks, she could tell they were interested in music like she was.
That would be a good conversation starter.
She forced herself to look away from the boy next to the blonde, who had shaggy brown hair, big eyes and a tight white t-shirt that made her almost blush under the moonlight. If her mom was here, she would say that his eyes were big enough to tell stories with a single glance. She didn’t even know his name.
Deciding to finally answer his question, Julie ran her hands down the front of her brown skirt apron and stood her ground. ‘If I know the place you’re talking about then you’re thinking of going to that street cart around the corner, right? They violated the health code last month and people have gotten sick off of their food.’ She crossed her arms, feeling slightly embarrassed that she knew so much.
"We’ve eaten there before." The nameless cute boy was quick to step forward. She doesn’t respond until she’s digging the key back into the door knob and opening up the cafe again.
Julie didn't know what was telling her to be nice to these guys, but she wasn’t going to let these boys eat hot dogs that were given an F rating grade by the city. She knew she packed away leftover blueberry and corn muffins from the afternoon rush, and she didn’t mind giving them away if her brother Carlos and Flynn could help her make a new batch in the morning.
"How do some blueberry muffins sound? I have a batch you guys could kill if you want." Gesturing to the dimly lit display cases from the outside.
"For free?" Alex prompted.
Julie unlocked the door like second nature and pushed it open, stepping inside and turning on the light to her right. Using her foot to keep it open, she extended her hand out. "It’s late and some sugar never hurt anyone. I’m sure you guys need better fuel for whatever you’re doing in this big city than hot dogs."
Reggie’s mouth stayed open in surprise and awe, and Alex nodded his head as appreciation. They walked into her empty shop and let their eyes wander around the setup.
The door closes when she hears a voice behind her.
"Thanks for this by the way,"
Julie holds back a flinch from the sudden sound of the person’s voice, forgetting that Alex and Reggie hadn’t been the only two in the space with her. They had gone up to the front of the cafe near the stage where her grand piano sat.
She was never type to be shy around talking to boys, but she didn’t know how to describe how she felt around this total stranger. He interlocked his fingers nervously, bouncing on his heels.
"It’s no problem. I just wanted to help you avoid making a big mistake tonight." Julie laughed.
He smiled, bright and genuine. She thought it was beautiful in the way it took up half of his face.
“I’m Luke, by the way. The snapback is my buddy Alex, and the other is Reggie. It’s nice to meet you—“ He pauses, waiting for her to tell him her name.
“Julie.” She repeats, letting him fall in pattern beside her as she walks to the counter to crouch under it to go on the other side. “Nice to meet you too, Luke.” She hoped her smile was welcoming enough.
Sure, she already knew his friends’ names before walking in here—but she was glad she was introduced to them properly by the boy in front of her. When they sit down at the booth in the back of the room to chat about their favorite songs, Luke doesn’t say anything when Julie feels comfortable enough to break off the last piece of his muffin to split between them.
It had only been an hour.
And she felt comfortable enough to steal his food. What was going on? She should be scared of these three guys she randomly welcomed into her store, but all she feels is warmth.
Luke didn’t think nice people existed anymore in Hollywood. His manager was a mess and controlling over the band, wouldn’t even let them write their own songs without help from an outside source. Their fans had been begging for new music, and because of their Sunset Curve contract, they could only release singles every four months until an official album comes out.
He hated it. He wanted to give the fans what they wanted, he wanted to put out the music that spoke to him—not what spoke to Bobby or his PR guy. At any time.
So he’d admit that he was holding back his anger at Bobby while the band walked down sunset, it was nearing ten o’clock at night and the boys just left the studio for the day. Having left his black Honda at the apartment, they were enjoying the night air to calm down.
Luke was feeling grateful, because he was seconds away from yelling at Bobby for the entire record label to hear for pushing back their album again. It had been two years since the band signed with Ghost, and they had only released a handful of EP’s and he had been told a bunch of shit excuses from the label as to why but what really ticked him off was Bobby’s comments tonight.
‘Don’t poke the bear, Luke. You’re smarter than this. We have to push back the album because of Taylor’s release being on the same day. We need as much revenue as we could get from this music.’
Luke didn’t care about whoever else was releasing music on the same day. He just wanted Sunset Curve’s debut album to be available to stream for every single fan that’s been waiting for so long, to anyone who feels a connection to their music to finally be able to find and analyze a new story in his lyrics.
He didn’t care about the money—Not as much as Bobby, or even Alex or Reggie who wanted to buy their parents a new house—he cared about his fans. His music.
Thankfully, Reggie was able to pull him back by his guitar strap to avoid a confrontation with their manager earlier tonight. They had been stuck in the recording studio for hours coming up with melodies and lyrics for the last track on the album, and Luke was tired of everything relating to Bobby and Ghost.
“I just wish the old guy would listen to us. He doesn’t see the vision.”
Alex says abruptly, bringing the band out of their daze of helplessness. He stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling like these days at the studio had been a waste of time if they weren't even able to write.
"He just doesn’t want to see the vision. He has the power, Alex. He could make us into whatever he wants" He responds, kicking the pavement.
He hasn't spoken about this with the band, but he was seriously thinking about dropping Ghost Records and going independent again. Luke needed a push to have enough courage to bring it up to his best friends since being successful was their dream for so long, and he wasn't ready for that yet.
"What about what we want? That doesn’t seem to matter to him or the label."
Luke wishes he could've given his friend a better answer. "We can’t do anything about it. The only thing we could control right now is how much mustard you want on your hot dog, Reggie"
They don't stop and reminisce about the Orpheum when they pass the building like they used to when they were teenagers full of hope, because they only had a bad performance that night and neither of them wanted to think about it. The first time they performed at the Orpheum theater was last summer as an opening act for Panic At The Disco, and Bobby had spent the entire night disappointed with how the boys only performed unreleased songs that the crowd didn't know. Luke just thought about it differently, knowing the band wasn't going to get bigger if they didn't perform songs that people didn't know.
Personally, the crowd went off for Now Or Never at the very end and Bobby seemed to forget that. Their manager was quick in pointing out their flaws instead of supporting them, but he felt like he couldn't do anything without worrying over the boys and how they'd react. Filled with fear and a clouded mind, Luke is drawn out from his thoughts with the sound of another voice that didn't belong to Alex or Reggie, that didn't sound like someone he knew.
If Alex didn't stop them from walking ahead, he would've thought it was a figment of his imagination after his hectic day.
"Hey, would you guys wanna come in for some snacks?"
Luke turns around with Alex's arm pressed against his chest to keep him calm, and he sees a girl appear from under the red awning they just passed. He looks up and squints at the lettering as best he could during nighttime, reading The Dahlia, and then focuses back on the girl. She had her hands crossed awkwardly, a brown apron still wrapped around her waist on top of black jeans and red graphic tee that read 'Something's Brewing Inside' (how cute was that? He held back a smile.) and big curly hair that was tied back into a low ponytail.
"Is that a trick question?"
"If I know the place you’re talking about then you’re thinking of going to that street cart around the corner, right? They violated the health code last month and people have gotten sick off of their food." Although she was right, Luke felt drawn to telling her that she shouldn't be worried about the appetite of three random dudes she started a conversation with in the middle of the street.
"We've eaten there before." He perks up, walking forward.
"How do some blueberry muffins sound? I have a batch you guys could kill if you want." She argued back.
And how could they say no?
Luke finds out her name is Julie when he introduces himself. It's a pretty name, and when she grabs a tray of muffins from the display case and makes her way to the booth they picked out in the back of the cafe, he tests the name on his tongue again when he thanks her for the food.
"Like I said, it's not a big deal." Julie sets the tray down, and takes her spot sitting in front of him next to Reggie. "I'm just hoping we could finish this batch so I could start fresh tomorrow so eat up boys." Her pride over the food makes her smile brighten, and Reggie purposefully kicks his foot to make him stop staring. Ouch..
"Unless you're looking to poison us, I think we could definitely take these off your hands." Alex suggests, and makes a play out of hesitating to grab a warm corn muffin from the plate in front of them just to make Julie laugh.
He didn’t notice the little gap between her front teeth until now when she threw her head back, and he thinks it suits her well.
She waved her hand dismissively when Reggie gives her wide eyes, "I didn't do anything, I promise." She reaches forward and grabs the muffin that the blonde's hand was hovering over and takes a bit bite. With a mouthful of yellow corn goodness, her voice was muffled to reply a soft "See? Told you."
Luke tries to tell himself to look away, but he gets distracted by her playful grin after she swallows the bite and how she was so quick in teasing his friends without thinking.
"This girl is harmless, Reg." He looks to his friend and flicks his forehead lightly to knock him back to reality, and when Reggie groans, Luke takes a blueberry muffin from the plate and takes a bite. He finds Julie's gaze when she's mid-conversation with Alex about his favorite song off Taylor Swift's last album Lover, and the curiosity and warmth in her eyes was enough to make him feel better about his day.
He doesn't tell her that they're in a band or about their record label troubles when she asks what had them so upset earlier when she called out to them. Luke tried to kick Reggie's shin when he slumped his shoulders in defeat and relief that someone finally cared about their issues, and luckily he got the hint. (It was also a bit of payback for earlier, if he was honest)
Alex was a bit more alarmed in picking up on his cues, of how badly he didn't want Julie to know about their day. With a sharp side eye, he was practically yelling "She could help us figure out what to do without bias" and Luke knew he could be right, but he didn't want to burden anyone with his troubles.
"Is there anything I could do to help?" Julie asked, folding her hands on the table. Luke didn't know what it was about this girl, but her sincerity and adorableness was something that made his heart beat fast in his chest. "My best friend says I'm great at advice and—" She paused, gesturing to the plate that was now empty after twenty minutes of mindless conversation. "You guys were clearly stress eating."
Reggie shrugs, not minding the call out. "They were great muffins, Julie."
She nudges his shoulder as a thank you, and when she looks to Luke with raised brows to hopefully get a few words out of him after asking nicely, the words are on the tip of his tongue and if he didn't convince him earlier, he was sure he would've admitted all of his life troubles in that moment. She was so easy to talk to.
"We, uh.." Luke starts, trying to think of something to say that would resemble the truth. "I've been having trouble writing songs lately and it's been tough to find inspiration in a toxic environment." He tries to dismiss the larger issue at hand, not wanting her to read between the lines.
"You write songs?" She changes then, shoulders softening in intensity when she leans forward like she's interested in what he has to say. He thought of the grand piano sitting behind them with his back to the small stage, and wondered if she was the one that played it when the place was filled with customers.
"He's been doing it for forever," Reggie adds on. "I'm pretty sure his brain is ninety five percent lyrics at this point."
"A full hundred." Alex scoffed.
"Not the point here," Luke says through gritted teeth, trying to keep his tone lighthearted. He didn't think his band mates would feel the need to embarrass him right now. As a habit, he taps his fingers on the plastic tray and lifts his gaze to Julie. "I just haven't been able to write a good song because of where I'm at....if that makes sense."
"It does," Julie nods to assure him, and her brows furrowed together in thought before she was ready to give him an answer. He couldn't lie, he was grasping at straws and hoped her answer would help clear his head of all the doubt he has about the band. Alex would call him hypocritical if he admitted that he wanted an answer with weight behind her words, but if Julie didn't know who they were when they've been sitting together for an hour, then he didn't feel the need to tell her about the label.
She was normal, a breath of fresh air during a storm, and Luke knew something had to change in his life for the band's career. (It wasn't that he didn't expect a surprised gasp when he walked through the door with the boys, but they literally played the theater next door in a sold out show last summer and she didn't even bat an eye. Maybe, he just missed and appreciated being heard.)
"If you're having trouble writing at your usual spot, then find a new one. If you're having a mental block, then take a break for a few days and reflect on the story you wanna tell through your lyrics. It helps to cut off any ties with the toxic environment that you spoke about," She giggles at that, air quoting the last few words with her fingers. Then, she grows serious again and straightens her back to say something that flips a switch in Luke's impulsivity. "If you don't like how you're writing then find the reason why and make sure to listen to yourself. That's important too."
Luke's face goes blank, choosing to add onto her thoughts with a realization of his own. "You have to make the decision best for you, is that what you're saying Julie?" He's leaning forward now, hands flat pressed against the table as the light bulb goes off in his head.
"Lyrics come from the heart, Luke." Julie agreed with a pout. "If your heart isn't in the music you're making then it's worthless. It won't mean anything."
She was right.
Luke's heart wasn't in the music he was making. His heart wasn't in the lyrics that someone else was writing. His heart was in the pages of his journal sitting in his bedside drawer, songs that never got to see the light of day because of Bobby.
Julie was right.
One Week Later
Sunset Curve quits Ghost Records: Is This Is A Big Hit Against The Dying Label ? (see third page for the official post from the band's manager earlier this morning)
Luke was left uneasy, finally deciding to exit the Internet tab and letting his head fall back against the couch cushion. On top of worrying if he and the band had made the right decision, they finally got the exposure they deserved for the wrong reasons.
Sunset Curve left Ghost Records this morning.
And Luke felt fantastic.
Only that wasn’t the problem. He may of felt great about the decision, but he was slightly worried for the consequences. How could he not be?
He did it because of Julie, she had opened his eyes to the fact that he should have the power to make the music he wants to make. They had a medium following with the band, and if their fans followed them to their new journey, then he was perfectly fine in accepting their fate.
Tapping his finger against his coffee thermos as he stays lost in thought, he hears his phone buzz next to him and rolls his eyes. He wouldn’t have a problem if it had been his parents to ask why their son was all over the news—but he promised he would call his mom later in the day to explain what had happened, because he was a rush of words and angry mumbles last night—but he already knew who he was dealing with.
The root of all of the band’s problems.
The man that gave him hell for being a teenager with big aspirations in the first place.
Bobby.
Look, I know last night was heated and you have a lot of emotions, Luke. But we can negotiate a new contract if you come in today, we can fix this.
Luke wanted to scream.
Our contracts are up. We left. We don’t want nothing to do with Ghost anymore, and that’s final.
There was three text bubbles that kept deleting from the receiving end, and he felt like he was finally in control.
They were free. Sunset Curve was gonna be great without the label, he just knew. Alex had just walked through the door with their breakfast sandwiches when he deleted any contacts related to Bobby or his team.
He really liked the idea of starting over.
Luke just hoped the world would like the change too.
October
It happens a month later.
They’re sitting in a conference room with the A&R heads of the label, and the head producer—the same guy that recorded High Hopes for PANIC, was right in front of him, and to say that Luke was seconds away from panicking was an ironic understatement—when the news breaks.
Alex smiles so big that he reaches for Reggie’s shoulder and shakes him roughly as the boy looks stunned. Beside them, Luke feels like he’s on top of the world with shaking fingers as he reaches for the pen.
Apparently some execs had caught wind of their gigs last summer, and thought they would be a good addition to the label. Luke had gotten the call a few days ago, and he had kept himself up every night thinking it was just luck.
“Is that a yes, Mr. Patterson?” One of the A&R people he knew as Mark asks him, and he looks up to see everyone in the room with a grin. This was huge. This was their new beginning.
“We have a lot more to discuss because I have more ideas—“ Luke stammers, but Alex puts his other hand on his shoulder covered by his blue Jean jacket and the comfort is enough to calm his excitement to speak clearly. He could talk the future later. “But yeah, yes, we want this. Thank you.”
“We should thank you, boys.” An older woman that was sitting in the center of her peers unfolds her hands, standing. “I see how passionate you are. You were held back before, and we want you to be the best. Welcome to the family.”
Phantom Music Group.
The new home for Sunset Curve.
He’s sitting on the floor in their newly given studio at the label, strumming his guitar when he finds himself thinking about the girl from the cafe.
He misses her, and it forces him to think about why. He thinks of her most days when he’s writing, wondering what she was doing at the cafe. Was she waiting tables? Was she playing her piano? Was she writing her own songs? Does she sing?
Luke hadn't seen Julie since the night she gave him the courage to talk to the boys about the future of the band.
She pushed him to realize that it was okay to want better, to be treated like actual recording artists and a human being at the same time.
Although they had only met once, only talked for an hour during one the worst days of his life, he felt like she was one of the easiest people to talk to.
He felt drawn to see her. He had to get to know her more.
Luke hopes for the best one night when he's desperate to keep his eyes open as melodies for a new song swirl in his head and he doesn't wanna lose the inspiration by sleeping. He grabs his phone, checks the clock to see that it was nearing eight o'clock, and leaves his two friends who were in their rooms relaxing after a long day at the studio.
He needs coffee.
He didn't even know if Julie's would be open or if she was even there, but he would love to see her again.
She blames the radio for being on when the door chime rings from across the room and she doesn't notice. (She blamed Lewis Capaldi specifically, because his voice was too good not to turn the volume all the way up even when she was working.)
Julie usually didn't get any customers at this time, maybe the rare college student who needed a quiet space until she closed in an hour—like one of her oldest friends Nick who would come every once in a while to facetime his girlfriend Carrie while he ordered his last coffee for the night—so she took the time to put away racks and clean the counters. Her brother had left a few hours prior to meet up their dad to go to his high school orientation, and it meant she was alone to do whatever she pleased.
As the slow song came to a stop, she couldn't help but hum the melody that immediately got stuck in her head.
She doesn't have time to lift the slip of her piano before the chime went off.
Julie flinched in surprise, confused but ready to welcome whoever walked in, and curls a piece of hair behind her ear. On instinct, she reaches for the notepad in her back pocket.
"Hello, how may I help—"
"Julie?"
She recognized the voice, even if it took her a second for the name to pop up in her brain. "Luke."
Her smile widens as she walks towards him, ignoring the way her heart threatened to flutter at the sight of him in a plaid jacket and black jeans with a beanie over his head. When she told Flynn about that night nearly two weeks ago, she called it a school crush. She internally shook her head at that, because how could she have a crush on someone she's only met once? She just thought he looked....nice.
"Are you still open?" He asks, and she notices that he always bounces on his heels when he's nervous. "I'm in need of some coffee if you have any."
"Duh." Julie gestured playfully, and nods her head while internally cringing at what she just said. "It's what this place is known for. Any preference?"
"Black with a few spoonfuls of sugar, please." Luke asks.
"That's quite bitter for the time of day. Is anything wrong?"
"The opposite, actually." He follows her to the main counter, and sits at one of the stools in front of the coffee machine. Julie hoped she didn't forget how to make coffee in the span of five minutes because he was closer than expected, having originally thought that he would want to find a table to sit at. "I'm trying not to go to sleep to avoid losing all the melodies in my head."
"Did you walk here?" Julie wondered aloud, wrapping a small white mug and setting it under the coffee nuzzle.
"I definitely wouldn't be able to drive when all I'm thinking about is what lyrics go together."
She chuckled, pulling the nuzzle down until his cup grows full.
"That's smart. I get like that sometimes too, where the words won't stop bothering you until you write them down." Julie agreed.
"It's kind of annoying," Luke huffed, but all she could do hide her smile because he wasn’t afraid of telling the truth. She was a songwriter too, and knew what it felt like to be fearful of losing ideas in the morning. "This melody has been nagging at me all day, and I can't get the right words on paper."
"Maybe you don't need coffee," She suggested. "Maybe all you need is a break."
Their fingers graze when she hands him the mug and she tries to not think about his cool skin against her warm fingers when she pulls back, but Luke was the one looking down at the way their hands touched and she couldn't say anything. She couldn't say 'hey, you could take the cup without being weird' because there was nothing weird about it. There was something that happened when they touched, an invisible spark yet to ignite.
He blows on the rim of the cup to avoid burning his tongue with the first sip, and looks directly at her.
“Do you play?”
Julie gestures to the piano, and he nods in clarification.
“I grew up playing because of my mom. She taught me everything I know.” Like all the times she mentions her mom, the memories of playing beside her as a child make her beam up at him.
She felt on top of the world when she had her mom next to her. Now, she just felt like she was stuck in a void of not knowing what to do when stuck behind an instrument.
Julie had started playing a month ago after not being able to for a year of strictly sticking to singing. She wouldn’t dare get behind a piano before Flynn told her Tía to let her close up shop so she could get comfortable with the idea again.
Her friends and family gave her the strength to play again, and she would be forever grateful.
“Do you write, too?” The softness in his voice brought her back to the present, having noticed how she was lost in thought for a moment of another time in her life.
Returning her gaze back to Luke, she takes note of the way his eyes are even bigger when he’s concerned and how his hat hides most of his hair. The tips of his curls stick out above his brows. He looked content being here with her, and she felt the same.
“I used to write more when I was in high school.” Julie admitted. “I graduated from a two year arts program last summer, but then life had a different path for me.” It was an indirect way of telling him what happened to her mom, and she was glad he caught on.
“I think you’re right about one thing.” Luke stands with his mug still in his hands, and a small part of her wonders if he’s trying to distract her from the sorrow of what she just told him. He has a plan though, walking backwards towards the piano, “That I might be driving myself crazy with this song.”
“And?” Julie doesn’t know what to do, so she just crouches under the employee counter and follows him so she wasn't left alone.
“I think that playing some songs might put both of our minds at ease." He suggests, then opens his palm. " Can I have your notebook?” He sits down on the bench, leaving half of the space for her beside him.
She sits down slowly, unsure of what to expect.
“You don’t have to play, but a wise girl once told me that finding a new place to write gives lots of inspiration.” He biting his lip in concentration when she glances down at him, hoping she wasn’t blushing at his compliment.
She could feel her face get hot. She was the wise girl.
“Oh god—I didn’t even ask, Julie, can I play your piano?” He was getting so excited, his knee bouncing up and down as her hands settled in her lap.
“Yeah, go ahead.” She told him smiling, and handed over her notepad with a fresh page. She couldn’t say no to him, and she would rather encourage than push Luke away. Julie knew what it was like to be inspired by a new place, to create a new world to imagine. “I don’t have any earplugs if you make my ears bleed, so beware.”
“Funny.” Luke makes a face, then digs into his pocket for a pen.
“Do you always have pens in your pockets?” It was random, but she didn't want the back and forth to die out.
“Inspiration strikes at any time,” He says as she lifts the cover from the piano keys and adjusts next to him. She makes sure to leave a gap between them so it wasn’t a problem, feeling the sense of familiarity around her. “With anyone." If she heard him, she didn't bother to acknowledge the mumble that passed his lips out of his control.
In the next thirty minutes, Luke played simple chords on the piano to string together a melody with Julie's help. She didn't play as much as he had hoped, but she reviewed his lyrics that he had written down on paper and he would feel his heart tug every time she thought of something to add. For someone who hadn't written in years, he watched as she listened to him and how the gears worked carefully in her mind to bring his words to life.
Luke didn’t stop her when she started scribbling on the same page he had been working on, knowing it had been a long time since she wrote a song.
When she would hum a few words under her breath as he replayed the same chords, he would hold back from asking her to sing.
It was out of respect because he didn't know much anything about her mom and her passion for music, but he really did want to hear what her voice sounded like.
It must be beautiful, just like Julie herself.
Alex and Reggie both threw pillows at him when he got home, bothered by the fact that he woke them up to tell them about his night with Julie.
The smile hadn't left his face since he left her cafe. He had helped her turn over chairs, helped lock the back doors and even teased her about his song that she had begun humming when she pulled her red University sweater over her head when they were ready to leave.
(It's stuck in your head already? I didn't think I was that good at this whole writing thing until now' He let the smirk take over his face, watching as she tried to play it off after being caught. 'I'm sure your band mates think your head is already too big for an ego boost, so I'm not gonna say anything.')
Before climbing into bed that night, Luke takes out his leather journal and slips the folded up piece of paper from his back pocket to make a bookmark so he could play it for the boys tomorrow morning.
The lyrics were easy to remember, the narrative having clicked so well in his head with Julie beside him.
When he looks up at the ceiling, he's distracted by blue clock light that made his eyes squint read the time of ten o'clock.
He hasn't gone to bed this early in weeks.
Luke knew the reason why.
It was because of a curly haired cafe employee and songwriter that had seemingly written her way into his end of the night thoughts.
Julie.
He lets his finger brush across her script messy writing on the edges of the page, wishing her a goodnight to wherever she must be right now.
NOVEMBER
Between producer meetings and spending days at the studio to finish up Sunset Curve's debut album, Luke had only seen Julie five times since she helped him write his song. And it bothered him more than he'd like to admit. After showing the song to Alex and Reggie the following day, their last minute notes and lyric additions had helped him title the song perfectly.
At their next meeting to discuss the album making progress, Luke showcased Bright to the world for the first time.
It didn't feel right without the girl that wrote it with him, but he managed. Luke just couldn't stop thinking about her lately.
1) The next time he saw her after writing Bright, Julie had been taping cute ghost decorations to the front window so her aunt wouldn't have much to do in the morning. There was two weeks until Halloween, and he wanted to laugh at her for being so panicked about making sure the cafe looked festive enough. But, he couldn't laugh. He was too busy helping her step on tables to think anything was remotely funny.
2) He sings and plays while she works around him. A warm cup of coffee was placed in front of him at one point, Julie having read his mind while she wiped the counters and turned the chairs over by herself. He offered to help, but she dismissed him with her washrag; "I like that song you were playing. It's helping me work faster, and I wanna leave." If her teasing smile directed at him told Luke anything, she was fine staying as long as he was here.
3) He didn't know what changed. He wanted to be a goofball and tease her about a ghost possessing her when she opened her mouth to sing--mainly because Halloween was the next day and he had just sat down at the piano bench that night--but he had just started playing a song that he heard on the radio this morning that got stuck in his head and soon enough, Julie's voice filled the room. When the both of them realized what had happened, she couldn't hide a blush behind her signature braid ponytail because her hair was down today...and he was so happy.
4) Her coffee cup sat next to his, and she had agreed to play some more complex chords while he sang the lyrics that popped into his head. They spent some time recalling their Halloween nights; Luke had gone out to a party dressed up as hotdogs and he felt his fingers twitch with the urge to caress Julie's hair out of her face when she doubled over laughing at him. Julie tells him that she spent the night with her brother and best friend Flynn, and he grins. She would sing when he asked her to, just to get another perspective, and he realized he loved how their voices sounded together.
5) He sang Bright to her for the first time. And he didn't hesitate for a second when she asked to sing along with him and placed the lyrics in front of her.
It was a rainy night in the middle of November when he has the courage to ask her something he had been thinking about for weeks.
"Jules?"
The nickname was new, and he continued using it as long as she didn't have a problem with it.
She looks at him to let him know she's listening, the room goes silent as her fingers hover over the keys. Luke avoided her gaze on purpose, looking at the empty mugs in front of them instead of the brown eyes that he'd much rather get lost in. Julie knew whatever he would ask would be harmless, so why was he scared? She knew him well enough now to pick up on his quirks, and she caught the way his hands fell rigid to his sides.
He would get tense when he got nervous. It was the same reaction for when she asked to sing Bright with him the last time they saw each other.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything." She encouraged, turning to face him with her leg crossed beneath her thigh. "You know that."
Luke took a breath, desperate to keep her eyes on him. "I know you've told me that you used to write songs before...." His voice trailed off and of course she knew what he didn't want to say. She would always talk about her mom in the past tense, so he would've understood by now. Julie wished it didn't happen, but she feels her heart drop to her chest when he hesitates to go on. She knows what he's gonna ask her. "But, I would love to hear one of your songs.
Even through his fear of ruining the moment, he still manages to be adorable in her eyes.
"You've heard me sing before and we've written a song together." She points out, feeling the warmth leave her body even though she was bundled in a long sleeve and purple sweatshirt.
"I know and you're great, Julie." Luke told her, copying her position when he reaches for her hands unexpectedly. "But I'd wanna hear what your heart has to say."
She gasps at the contact, but he doesn't think much of his actions when she pulls their clasped hands to his chest. He's told her repeatedly that he never understood how she could be cold all the time, which was why he always walked around with a long sleeve and draped his sweatshirt and jacket across the nearest chair closest to the piano; so when he pulls her close, she could feel the warmth of his body and it did little to ground her.
"Luke, I—"
She wanted to say no, wanted to just get up and tell him to leave for asking her to play the songs she wrote when her mom was still alive.
But, her heart wouldn't let her.
"I'm not forcing you, but from the moment I saw how you lit up when we were playing Bright the first time..." Luke's brain was working too fast for him to keep up, and he was rushing to get all the words out before she had the chance to push him away. "I knew there's a whole different girl that I haven't met inside, and Julie...." He paused on her name, his voice dropping an octave and he squeezes her hands while feeling brave. "I care about you a lot."
There it is.
When she stood and pulled her hands back from his grasp, Luke fears the worst. He thinks she would leave him stuck in her own cafe as she stormed off in a fit of anger and various emotions but he wouldn't even let himself see what happened next as he buried his face in his hands and wondered if he made a mistake.
While others saw him as Luke, the lead singer of Sunset Curve, Julie had seen him as the person. As the guy he truly was.
A small part of him hoped she would never find out about his career, hoped that she would never think of him as someone who used sweet words to only write songs. He didn't want to be anyone but the authentic Luke around Julie. He wanted to hit himself, knowing he had found a girl that could be--
"Luke?" He opens his eyes then, tearing his hands away from his face to let them focus on the girl he liked so much. She was standing in front of him after walking over to her backpack, a pink journal clutched to her chest. His eyes switch from the book to Julie's glossy eyes multiple times just to make sure she was okay with what he asked.
"Did the book belong to your mom?" He questioned softly. It must be pretty important if she kept it with her all the time, waiting to find the right moment to open it.
Julie sits down next to him again, inching closer than ever before until their thighs touch. She opens the journal carefully, and there's a slight crack in the spine when she opens it up to the bookmarked page. They could both feel it in that moment. The way the cafe suddenly shrinks into a world where it's just the two of them taking the other in, two hearts opening and allowing the other to walk in.
Setting the book down in front of her, she takes a shaky breath. "Yeah," She cleared her throat when he reached to put his hand on top of hers. "She wrote in the first half, and I took the second half to finish all the songs she didn't get to write in full."
"Julie, you don't have to do this."
"I trust you, Luke." She tells him honestly, and even if she didn't look at him when she said it, her words held steel. When a tear falls down her cheek, he doesn't wipe under her eyes like he wanted to, but lets her cry because there was nothing he could do to bring her mom back. She's remembering the woman that raised her all because of him. "I care about you too, and you’re right. I shouldn’t hiding these songs if they mean a lot to me."
"I'm here for you." It's simple but means the world to her.
"This song is called Wake Up," Julie tries to smile, but when he pulls his hand away so she could start playing the song, she forced herself to find bravery to continue. She needed courage. “This is probably my favorite song in there.”
Here's the one thing I want you to know
You got someplace to go
Life's a test, yes
But you go toe to toe.....
He doesn’t realize how badly he wanted to kiss her until they hugged.
Sure, they’d hug goodbye when they walked in opposite directions down the street at the end of the night—that was more of a side embrace that considered them friends—but this was different.
Julie threw her arms around his neck after she finished the song, both of them still in awe over the emotion and power in her voice as it filled the room, and pulled herself closer to him. He didn’t have a problem at all, so he wraps his arms around her waist and lets her hold onto him as she cried into the crook of his neck.
“Thank you.” She whispered, “I needed to do that, I needed to feel her with me during the song and I did.”
Looking down at the girl he’s been spending so much with over the last month, he takes a mental note of her soft curls, teary eyes and thick eyelashes through her glasses (he loves it when she chooses to wear them, thinking they look great on her even if she’d rather wear contacts) that make her look so much smaller than she actually was. Julie wasn’t small, she was a raging fire in his mind almost constantly. He would never tell her, at least not now, but he’s been writing a few songs for her and it’s been some of the most sappy emotional songs he’s ever written.
He knows nobody is perfect. But Julie is damn near close to it.
“That was amazing, Jules.” The grip of her hands loosens around his neck, but he inches closer to let her know it was alright to keep the contact. He was so proud of her, and he hoped she knew. She pulls her head back, getting a look at him. “I loved it. You sounded like an angel, and your mom would’ve been so proud.”
“You think so?” She prompted, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. She always did that when she was concentrating, he noticed.
Luke nodded, slowly getting lost in her eyes and how she’s staring at him. He doesn’t know who leans forward more, doesn’t really care, but now he’s looking at her lips. “That was really brave, and I’m proud of you. I don’t know how to thank you for letting me hear one of your mom’s songs.” He’s speaking to her as if he’s in a trance, and she hasn’t done anything to stop him.
The realization is subtle, like waves crashing in the ocean. He really likes Julie.
She untangles her arms from his neck, letting one hand rest on his shoulder. His heart is beating fast in his chest, and he inhales sharply.
“You don’t need to thank me,” Julie said, and he could feel her breathing against his nose as she tilts her head. He licks his lips, preparing himself for meeting her halfway.
She’s the one stuck looking at his lips now, and he just feels the need to warn her about what’s about to happen.
“Julie, I—“ He croaked.
She cuts him off immediately, “Yes, Luke?” not on purpose but she wouldn’t mind being told what he was about to do.
“You’re beautiful.” It’s the first thing that comes to mind and he doesn’t want to stutter.
He withdrawals her hand from her waist and caresses her cheek with his thumb.
“Thanks.” She exhales at the notion, and feels her breath hitch in her throat when he begins to lift her glasses and settle them on top of her head.
Julie could almost feel his lips on hers, he was that close, and if she just tilted her head and inched forward—
And shine through the night, you and I will shine together. Bright forever....
Luke’s ringtone.
His own voice and guitar riffs ring loudly in the space between them, and Julie springs backwards so fast that it reminds her of two opposite ends of a magnet being pushed apart.
The moment lost between them, she could feel her face turn red when he groans—Did he really want to kiss her right now? Just as bad as she wanted to?—and picks up his phone from that was laid in front of him, and presses the phone to his ear.
“Hey Reg, what’s up?” His voice tight and enthusiasm forced, and Julie felt the same. Her palms were sweaty, and she couldn’t stop thinking about their almost kiss. “I could be home soon, yeah. Get me the usual, thanks.”
When he hangs up, they both stare at the wall in front of them. Not confident enough to look at the other after what happened.
She had one question in her mind.
“You recorded the song?” She asked. “It sounds really good when it’s produced. How did you do it?.”
Luke swallows thickly, but she didn’t know what made him nervous right now. Was his nerves spiking because of the kiss? He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it just as fast.
He hesitated.
“Alex is pretty good at mixing.” He said simply. “It’s a great song because of you.”
Julie was about to start a back and forth game of their usual banter to get back to normal, but he was quick in standing and reaching for his furred jean jacket and slipping his arms through the sleeves.
She looks at him puzzled as she watches his every fleeing move, unsure of why he was leaving so fast.
“I should go, Jules. Reggie and Alex are getting dinner and I don’t wanna be late.”
Woah. What just happened?
“Luke, are you sure everything’s okay?” She couldn’t help but feel concerned. "Is Reggie alright?"
He nodded, “I just don’t want my food to get cold,” He forced a smile, immediately regretting it because she had begun to frown as she put her glasses back on. She looked sad, and he would never want her to feel that way with him. “I’ll see you soon, okay? Have a good night, Julie.”
He didn’t even hug her goodbye.
He kept trying to play it off, but deep down, she knew she did something that ticked him off.
Julie needed help understanding what the hell just happened with Luke.
She needed to talk to Flynn. Her best friend had been busy directing music videos for her classmates, and Julie couldn’t blame her for not having much time to talk when her friend went to one of the most popular LA Arts Academies in her state—but she knew she could count on Flynn to reply when needed.
Julie tried not to groan with toothpaste in her mouth, but she needed to hurry if she wanted to wake Carlos up before left for work. He had his school’s winter pep rally today, and she wanted to help her Tía Victoria make new batches of pastries and try out their new caramel sauce that just arrived in bulk for the cafe.
When she finishes in the bathroom, she sat down at the edge of her bed, taking a deep breath and smelling the coffee her dad was brewing downstairs. He was getting ready to leave for work too, having two magazine shoots back to back today.
She really did like Luke, and she wanted to get to know him better.
Why did he never wanna talk about his band? Why did he write music with her that she never got to hear?
Flynn told her to be patient. She thinks she could do that.
Julie smiles to herself as she knocks on Carlos’s door and kisses her father goodbye, prepared to wait for when Luke was ready to talk to her.
December
Sunset Curve blows up after Thanksgiving.
Luke didn’t know what happened, but he wakes up to Alex and Reggie banging on his bedroom door saying that they had something to show him, and he couldn’t even get out of bed without hearing his phone buzz nonstop.
“Luke, I swear to god—“
“Be nice, will you? This is huge.”
He barely has enough visual orientation to wipe at his eyes as he sits up, “The door isn’t locked, you idiots.”
He may have been shirtless, but he would never be embarrassed when he lived with his two best friends. His two band mates come rushing through the door, Reggie in sweats and Alex fully dressed—a big grin on both of their faces as Reggie jumped up and down.
“What’s going on?” He asked officially.
“Panicathediscojustfollowedusontwitter.” Alex stumbled all over his words, trying to open his phone and show him. "So did Tori Kelly, but I don't think you guys know who that is and oh my god—"
Luke’s eyes widened, not be able to comprehend what he said past the word disco.
He looked to Reggie, confused and wanting to know more.
Running his fingers through his black hair, his band mate explains slowly with air quotes: “Panic At The Disco just followed us on twitter and Alex is freaking out.” Reggie shrugged once Alex gave him a look of disbelief, “I think he’s broken.”
“What?” Luke exclaimed, throwing the blanket off from his legs and standing up, eagerly waiting for someone to show him a phone and their band profile.
Alex picked up on this first, handing over his phone.
“They also retweeted our pinned tweet about the album release date before Christmas, and we got like twenty thousand more followers over night.” Alex was beaming, cupping his own face in his hands in shock.
“My phone keeps going off.” Luke told them, scrolling through Alex’s notifications from the band account. Every time he refreshed the page, they got at least twenty more followers. They now had almost sixty thousand followers and counting.
“Do you think Phantom put them up to this?”
“Is it bad that I don’t care?” Alex grabbed Reggie by the shoulders and shook him. “This just promoted us.”
“We played a show for them last year.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t care for our music. Now, there’s a chance they actually listened to us and became fans. We were a replacement gig for them before, but now we’re signed to the same label.” Luke explained, smiling so big and for so long that he could feel his cheeks ache.
He had no idea what to do with himself.
Luke wakes up to forty thousand followers the next morning.
Alex and Reggie are close behind him with thirty five thousand, and the band account kept getting bigger and bigger over the course of the week.
He doesn’t have enough time to scroll through every notification, but he could feel his heart pound in anticipation every time he sees someone compliment their music and say that they found a new band to love.
The Phantom Music Group account retweets mostly every and any positive tweet they saw about the band, and Luke can't believe it. He never thought they would get here.
It was getting harder and harder to not tell Julie about the band's success, and it was beginning to scare him with how quickly he was falling for her.
He didn't want to ruin anything between them, especially after they almost kissed the last time he saw her. He hadn't been able to see her since that night, because he was busy with the album and had to prioritize something else other than his heart for once. These past three months had been life changing, and in most part, it was because of Julie.
It was so easy to just be Luke around her.
He wasn't afraid of showing her this side of him, the one that's a lead singer for an upcoming band apart of a huge label or got on the news because he broke his band away from the harsh treatment under their previous record label—but he was afraid of her thinking that he'll change in the long run because of it.
He wanted the success, the appreciation for his craft, but Luke wanted Julie too.
How long could he be two different people afraid to merge and tell the girl he really likes that he's apart of Sunset Curve?
Luke didn't want to find out so he knew he had to do something soon.
@TheBandCAMINO just followed @sunsetcurve and @lpatterson
[@lpatterson replied] I think you broke Reggie.
@lpatterson - Did you guys hear? We're playing the Orpheum for the second time and performing at our label's masquerade party in two weeks! The boys and I are really hype, and excited to meet new artists! I swear we're nice.
@PhantomMG: Sunset Curve's new album drops December 27th, have you preordered?
[@lpatterson replied] Yeah, have you?
Luke drops the boys' at their apartment after rehearsals for the showcase, wanting to put in extra effort in making sure they were perfect for tomorrow. They were just told today that the party's performances would be taped, mostly because of Panic!'s surprise release that nobody knew about, and it would be the first time that Sunset Curve would perform under their new label.
He knew their performance had to be perfect, but he wanted his entire night to be perfect. He took the teasing glances and punches to the arm from his band mates the entire car ride back to the studio, Reggie being the most annoying with "Bringing a date to an event is next level, dude. I'm impressed"
Trying not to psych himself out with the possibility of Julie saying no, he wanted to be confident in asking her to come with him to the dance. A dance. God, he feels like he’s in high school all over again.
Luke remembered taking this girl named Kayla to senior prom, she had been with the popular crowd and went to Sunset Curve’s earl gigs with her friends. She was short and brunette, and always had a great fashion sense. He appreciated the gesture so much that when she asked him if he’d be her date, he said yes and they ended up having a good night. They never dated, because he never felt that something that he thrived for when writing, and he was never the guy to string someone along for the thrill of acting in love.
He was young and not looking for anything serious.
But, that all seemed to change with Julie. He had walked the few blocks to her cafe from the apartment, and he had spent the entire time thinking about everything he liked about her that he didn't realize he was standing right outside. Did he want something serious with her? Did he love her?
When she sees him through the glass, she notices him before he tried looking for her, she meets him in an embrace and wraps her arms around his neck to pull herself up into his chest.
She missed him. He had left so quickly the last time, and that must’ve scared her into thinking she did something wrong. She needed for him to hug her back.
“Hey.” She whispered in his ear, “I missed seeing you.”
He felt like he could just melt into her words then, easing her worry when he returned the hug.
“I missed you too, Jules.” He doesn’t leave her hanging for long, wrapping his arms around her waist loosely. “What have you been up to?”
Julie tells him all about her day, her weeks of learning covers of popular songs she hears on the radio, her nights of seeing Flynn and her family. And the smile doesn’t leave his face.
“I have something to ask you.”
“Shoot.” Julie taps her fingers against the piano cover, having just closed it and holding back a yawn. It was almost nine o’clock the last time he checked.
She had been festive for the times, a red silk ribbon holding her hair in place as a headband and a green knit sweater with black jeans suited her well. Her curls looked so soft, he wanted to pluck at them and see if they fell into place. Every time he looked at her, he felt something in his chest constrict. Luke didn’t know what to call it. The feeling of admiration and warmth that overwhelmed him when he saw Julie.
(Or maybe he knew, and he didn’t dare admit it yet.)
“Would you like to come with me to a dance tomorrow night?” Luke asked.
She giggled, nudging his shoulder. “Like a high school dance?”
“Haha.” Luke teased, rolling his eyes before clearing his throat to make sure he wouldn’t mess up his words. He had planned what to say already, so it shouldn’t be hard. He takes a leap of faith, keeping her stare when he adds on. “My band got invited to a party at a record label, and I would really like—“ That’s a lie. “Love if you could come watch us perform.”
Julie holds back a grin, instead a small smile quirks her mouth upwards at his plead.
“A label? That’s crazy.” She exclaimed with pride, putting her hand on top of his where it laid on the cover. “Where is it?”
“Is that a yes?” He pressured, just having to make sure.
Going to a dance with her crush didn’t sound like a terrible idea; so of course she wanted to say yes. She would do anything with Luke.
She nods, “It’s a yes.”
“It’s next door at the Orpheum, it’s a masquerade party.” Luke explained, looking down at their interlocked hands and taking a breath. “I know it’s last minute but—“
She stops him, “Don’t worry about it. I love dressing up and my best friend loves that kinda stuff, and we share everything. I’ll put something together in time for tomorrow.”
“And your shift?”
“My tía would probably by the first one pushing me out the door to have fun.” She laughs at the thought. “I distract her with eating the red frosting off her Christmas cookies all the time.”
“I’ll meet you here if that works for you.”
“Perfect.”
Luke knew what he had to do. Tomorrow would be the day that he told Julie everything.
She was going to find out about Sunset Curve tomorrow.
Julie nervously bit into one of the Christmas cookies that she picked freshly from the oven, careful to avoid her Tía’s stare from across the kitchen.
She was only working a half shift today to get ready for later.
Why did she have a bad feeling in her stomach?
She didn’t feel right. Hopefully, Luke could fix her mood later.
For right now, she was stuck daydreaming about the boy whenever she passed the piano to get through customers and she didn’t want to sour her mood anymore. She was seeing Luke tonight, and Julie plans to have a good time.
(If her Tia Victoria caught her smiling in a daze as she waited behind the counter for customers to arrive for the afternoon rush, then she didn't say anything to knock her out of it. Julie was thinking about how it would feel to hear him sing in front of a crowd and how it would feel like to press her lips against his.)
"He's gonna drop dead, I know it."
"Flynn, I don't want him to die...."
"Is it because you actually have feelings for him?"
Julie hasn't thought about it. Not in that way. She didn't know if Flynn meant it as a joke to rile her up, but she wouldn't treat it as one.
The word makes her stop smoothing out the hem of her dark purple dress, not wanting to pick off one of the jewels with a jerk movement of surprise. Flynn was sitting crosslegged on her bed behind her, as Julie straightened out the material of the dress to make sure it fit her well. It flared out just below the knee, a lavender color peaking through the first layer, making her feel like a ballerina. Green rhinstone jewels lined the waist hemline, making the color pop under the dim light of her bedroom.
Luke had told her it would be a festive celebration, but the purple called out to her the most when figuring out what to wear. It was also one of her favorite colors, and Flynn had it in the back of her closet from an old photoshoot and would match the emerald green of the mask she was going to wear.
She could only imagine what it would look like under theater lights.
In her hands, she held the pair of two inch black heels she would slip on when preparing to leave. The question replayed in her mind. Did she love Luke?
"I've never felt like this with anyone, Flynn." Julie found her friend's gaze through the mirror reflection, choosing to be honest. "I don't know what it is, or if he even feels the same, but I like him alot. And I think that's enough for right now."
"That's okay." Flynn encouraged softly a minute later. She grabbed the felt hat she had set down when she arrived an hour ago, and slipped it back on her braids. Her smile was contagious, and Julie could feel the butterflies in her stomach. "Let's get you to the cafe, then."
Luke knocked twice on the cafe door, standing to the side so he wouldn’t see Julie’s outfit until she was in front of him. He looked down at his navy blue dress shirt, straightening out any creases and trying to keep from swaying side to side in anticipation.
He had nothing to be nervous about. This was Julie that he was spending time with.
He told the boys to go in ahead of him and meet with their manager to give him some alone time with Julie before they enter the party.
It was still early enough that he felt comfortable in showing her around the Orpheum without the chaos of a party kicking into full swing, and he couldn’t wait to show her the hidden snack bar in the dressing rooms.
He scruffs his curls that fall on his forehead, hoping they look messy enough to be cute. Luke didn’t feel the need to dress up for these kinds of things, and washing out excessive amounts of gel wasn’t how he’d spend the early morning if he had a choice.
The temptation to peek through the glass was getting stronger with every passing second that Julie wasn’t in front of him, but he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in when the lights turned off and the yellow reflection inside turned to black.
Luke steps aside when the door begins to push open on the other end, and holds the knob so she could walk out.
“Hey.” She says, running her hands down the front of her dress nervously seeking his opinion.
He wants to say that she looked beautiful, gorgeous even, but he bit his tongue—Letting his eyes travel up and down her outfit, he admires the way the dark colors contrast each other. Her heels gave her a bit of height, meaning he wouldn’t have to lean down to reach for her hand to hold, and the dark purple color of her dress made the green of her mask pop—and he grins like a child when she gives him a small twirl.
“Hi.” Luke immediately bends his elbow to the side as an invitation for her to loop her arm through his, and Julie laughs at the formality. They were just walking next door, and he was being such a gentleman.
Julie reaches first for the door of the Orpheum, gasping in awe at the velvet red ties that hung above them. The lights from beneath the awning made her glow under the night sky, and Luke knew he just had to stop to tell her what he really thought. And what he couldn’t say before.
He grabs her hand, pulling her back until she’s pressed against his chest. In a flash of memory, he remembers when they were in the same position the night they almost kissed for the first time.
She looks up at him curiously, wondering what made him stop. He didn’t know if it was because she had left her hair natural and resting on her shoulders, or if her curls had framed her face effortlessly, but he really wanted to take his hand and tangle his fingers through it and feel its softness. He could get lost in her eyes forever if she let him.
"I know I'm not the most festive but—" She tried to excuse once they were close enough, thinking he would say something negative about her.
Luke lets his eyes soften as he visibly traces all the features of her face, cutting her off with a shake of his head. “You look beautiful tonight. I love the dress.”
She was blushing so hard that he noticed the pink tint to her cheeks for the first time, acting giddy. “Thank you.” Taking a chance and glancing over his outfit of navy blue and black slacks, she whispered “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
He sticks his tongue out at her playfully, not wanting to draw out the moment longer than it had to be when they were in public, and swings her hand until she twirls behind him so he could open the door first.
Her laugh over his antics replays in his head, feeling a sense of pride knowing she found the simplest things to be funny if it came from him. Luke tugs on the black eyepiece covering the top half of his face, making sure it was set in place before leading her inside. He had almost forgotten he had put it on in the first place.
(When Reggie runs to hug Julie and welcome her to the party, Luke remembered that it had been the first time they had seen her since the night they met. “ He just wanted to keep you all to himself and I thought it was so rude ,” he told her as they embraced. She hugged him tightly as a hello, and said she loved how his black mask fit so well with his red suit jacket.
Alex greeted her more softly, just feeling happy to see her again. It was about time he spent more time with the girl that ultimately stole his best friend’s heart.
Knowing what Luke had planned for the night, the reveal of their success and popularity of the band was a bit daunting on the other end. He didn’t want Julie to think negatively of them. But he also didn’t want Luke to be hurt if she took it the wrong way.
Tonight was gonna change something between them, and Alex didn’t know if it was gonna be good or bad.)
Julie is almost certain that she bumped into Brendan Urie when Luke was navigating her through the growing crowd of people and celebrity guests. She had to admit, she loved the secrecy of not knowing who she had talked or stood beside as they spoke with the boys.
He had already managed to sneak her into the dressing room areas, too high off adrenaline and joy to question how they got there in the first place.
She had visited the Orpheum once when she was younger, when her mom took her to her first concert at the age of thirteen—and although the memories are sad to look back on, she was happy making new ones with Luke and hoped that if her mom was looking down on her that she appreciated the boy for making her smile as much as he has—so she knew the layout vaguely.
Julie was pretty sure they had ran across the stage behind the curtain at some point during the night, just for the thrill of being rebellious and she didn’t mind as long as she got to hold his hand.
She was proud of his band for making it this far, and for being recognized by a label. It was huge . Maybe the boys could get signed and Luke could finally put his songs to good use. It would be a shame if they never got produced like Bright , they deserved to be.
Alex and Reggie came by an hour later, pulling Luke aside to tell him that they’d be performing in less than fifteen minutes. He had already informed her that the night was gonna be filled with new performers, resembling an open mic type of feel, and she was excited to hear people sing.
Her love for music was outstanding.
Soon enough, the tables got cleared and moved out of the way and Julie was content watching from the sidelines as the band got ready to perform.
“I’ll see you after, okay?” Luke promised as he followed his band mates to the stage. She just laughed and waved him off.
She was having a great time so far, she thought the entire theater looked amazing with their draped silk curtains and bright lights—
Thud.
Something drops beside her, and Julie tries to look for the noise.
“Sorry, miss.” She whips her head to the side and notices an older man with a big recording camera in his hands. He had just leaned down to pick up the lens that fell to the floor, and she muttered a “no problem” under her breath as she tried to focus on the stage being set up.
She wanted to be respectful if he was going to place a camera right in front of her, but she had chosen the back of the theater for a reason; to watch the band perform without anyone bothering her. Julie walks away from the empty bar, frowning when the guests began to crowd towards the front of the theater where the stage was.
Panic At The Disco had already performed, and she knew they were probably the biggest band signed under PMG, so who was everyone so excited to see now?
Moving off to the side of the room near the lobby doors, she was blocked by yet another camera being set up at a different angle.
What was going on?
The crowd got more antsy near the stage, excited murmurs filling the air as they waited for the next act to come on. Julie didn’t wanna feel left out, especially not when Luke was about to perform and she would feel really stupid if—
“Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the stage our next act and our very own recent addition to Phantom Record Group….” The overhead speaker announced, and the sound would’ve startled her if she wasn’t so deep in her thoughts. Our very own? Luke’s band was signed to Phantom?
She wanted to laugh, but she couldn't. Since when we're they signed?
The stage curtain begins to pull back, and Julie doesn’t feel good. Luke had never lied to her before, sure he had been confusing to understand at times, but he never lied.
“Please welcome Sunset Curve, and help us celebrate their debut performance of their first single from their debut album dropping next week, Bright !”
The crowd seems to go nuts after that entrance.
The curtains pull back, and she sees Alex grinning from ear to ear as he twirls his drumsticks, and switches to Reggie’s who’s picking at his bass under the harsh lighting.
She feels like she’s under water right now, trying to find a reason not to drown.
Julie was wrong.
The screams from the girls in the front row had made it obvious to her that Luke's band was known, but it was a shock to her system to know that he could never belong to her if he had an entire fan base to care about. Their intimate moments each night at the cafe were possibly just a ploy to get their album done and finished.
Luke and his band weren’t just independent artists like she had thought all along. They weren’t singing or writing songs for a hobby like she was. The songs that she helped him write….they had been produced officially. He had used her for the band’s benefit .
When he finds her gaze in the midst of all these people who were apparently here for them , Julie was trying to piece together all of her thoughts and try to stop herself from crying. She turns away from him, turning her back to the stage as she tried to find a way to leave. She just had to be told one thing before she left, which caused her to take deep breath and go find someone to talk to.
She taps a random girl who looked friendly with her blue feathered mask, on the shoulder from the group of people waiting for the performance to start and asked her a dreadful question.
“Do you know the band that’s playing next?” Leaning in closer so the girl could hear.
She barely looked older than her, so it made sense for a target audience.
“Sunset Curve?” The girl tilted her head, and pointed to the stage. Then nods at the sound of someone testing out the drums, “I knew them when their EP dropped last year, they’re great! They just got picked up by Phantom a few months ago after dealing with their trash label, which I’m glad for because Luke deserved—“
Julie walked away before the girl could finish, her fingers turning numb as she placed them over her beating heart. This is what she was afraid of. She was afraid of her dreams becoming a nightmare....that she had gotten so close to someone who didn't trust her or love her just the same.
Even with all the lights shining on him, and his guitar slung across his chest, he could still find her eyes in the crowd. He felt alive up here on stage, and knowing that she could finally see him in his element was enough to calm his worry about rejection—he would find her after the performance and explain why he kept this a secret for so long—and focus on putting on a show for the one audience member that he cared about that night.
Bright was his first and only choice to sing tonight when asked about a set list.
If Julie was gonna be here with him, then he wanted to sing the song for and to her. It was special to them.
Nobody else would know who he was singing to expect the boys behind him.
Luke doesn’t spot any purple when he looks out into the crowd.
Where was she?
Telling himself to focus on the camera every once in a while, he tries to make it seem like everything was okay.
He can’t think about anyone else. It wasn’t until halfway through the song that the thought settled in and taunted him; the fear of not knowing if he made the biggest mistake of his life.
Julie felt like a headache was starting to form in the front of her skull, a painful reminder of the night they spent going back and forth between melodies and lyrics. She hadn't written a song in a year. She thought the lyrics were terrible in comparison to Luke's who was clearly more experienced than her. They had barely known each other then, but she couldn't ignore the binding of their souls that night. It was unlike any other song she's written, because as they got closer, Julie hoped it would just be a promise between the two of them.
She thought his ringtone was harmless.
She couldn't look up at the stage, not wanting to find that he was looking for her.
Luke had put their song on Sunset Curve's debut album.
Reggie was the one to grab his elbow in warning when their performance ended, pointing to the side stage door.
A flash of purple.
He held his breath, Julie.
Luke thanks the crowd, barely acting composed when he runs past Alex and down the stage steps to follow Julie outside.
“Jules!” He calls out, catching the door before it's able to close fully. She seemed to walk faster at the sound of his voice, and he didn’t know why. Did he really ruin everything that quickly?
She doesn't slow down, and he doesn't feel the need to run to catch up to her until her hand reaches up to wipe at her face.
She was crying....Luke picked up his pace and was able to grab her hand when she made it to the Orpheum sign.
“Julie?” He asked, concerned and utterly confused. His brows are tightly furrowed together, ripping the eye mask off when the notion made it uncomfortable to keep on, wondering why she wasn’t raising her head when he turned her around.
“Let go of me,” She said bitterly, shaking his hand off. “Luke, let go of me.”
He dropped her hand so fast that he felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice over his head. Did she not want to know why he waited this long to tell her? Was Julie willing to throw everything away because of her disappointment in him? God, even the thought of her being disappointed in him makes him ache. Luke could feel his heart rise to his throat, “Can I explain?”
“What?” She flinched. “Did you think I wasn’t going to react to you and the band? That I was stupid or something?”
“Julie…” Luke begged, feeling his hands tremble at his sides. This wasn't how he planned this conversation would go, especially not in the entry to a dark alley as he chased a fleeing Julie....and all he hoped for was a chance to explain. He didn't want to lose her. Not like this.
“I should’ve known. I should’ve known that you would turn out like this,” Julie was clearly talking to herself, her fists clenched at her sides. “I knew deep inside that your band was talented and should be recognized, but I didn’t think you were already signed. I didn’t think you would be famous, you just seemed so normal— “
This was exactly what he was afraid of. Suddenly, the world feels like it’s falling all around him.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that we were signed—“
“No.” She said sharply. “It’s not only that. I shouldn’t have had to find out from one of the girls in the crowd that you left your label for Phantom. I shouldn’t have had to be told by a total stranger that you have an actual career.”
“Was it all a lie?” She asked him suddenly, her eyes narrowed with emotion. “When we wrote and played together, did you actually keep them or did you throw them out to just get inspiration for a better one?”
“I kept every single one of them.”
“And how do you feel about me?” Julie looked down at the ground, not brave enough to meet his apologetic eyes. “Were these last four months just a part of that famous lead singer trope where you use a girl to gain inspiration for an album?”
Luke’s eyes watered at how low she suddenly thought of his character, “I’m still the same guy that you know, Jules. I’m not just a part of Sunset Curve, I’m Luke, the guy who’d help you stack chairs at the end of the night and sing covers with you. I still like my coffee black and little sugar….I’m sorry .”
Julie doesn’t feel brave, she feels far from it; more like ashamed and naive because relationships with artists never end well. Luke was a writer, just like her, they drew from the same page—but the only difference was that he published his pages, he would only use her for writing songs.
She was being stubborn, she knew it. But she was hurting and acting irrational out of being lied to.
“So why didn’t you tell me, huh?” When she looked up, Luke was quick in looking past her emerald mask and noticed the tears threatening to fall. She was seconds away from crying, all because of him. Julie’s finger shakes when she points it to her own chest, “Do you know how personal it was to sing one of my mom’s songs? I trusted you!”
“My career with the band doesn’t change anything—“
Her head was running in circles, and she felt like she couldn't breathe when their eyes locked. Her heart was tearing along the seams, crumbling into his hands.
“I showed you the other part of myself that I hid for a year that I didn’t show anyone else! And you couldn’t even show me the part of you that the entire world knows.” Julie reached up and peeled off her mask, throwing it to the ground. She didn’t even care if her mascara was running at this point, her night was ruined and Luke wasn’t the guy she thought he was.
“It was different with you, Julie.” Luke paces forward, trying to convince her otherwise. “It was always different with you. I could be myself around you, I could just be the guy that writes songs. That’s the guy I was desperate to be for years, you have to understand that.”
“Different?” She scoffed, stepping backwards to get away from him. The action made his heart clench, and he gasped silently. “Different in what way? Did you like how my name sounded as a song title? Did you think I would be a good story?”
“Never.” He says in a tight voice, just wanting her to take a breath and understand. “You saw the real me, the one who wanted to be with you, Julie. The guy who wanted to spend time with the girl that stole his heart.”
She softens at that, tears falling freely down her cheeks. He knows that she feels the same, that she felt their connection from the very beginning, he knows .
“I don’t wanna be a song you write about,” Julie whispers in defeat. But, he instantly knew from her tense frame and retreating steps, that she felt defeated over how she felt about him. “I can’t even handle watching the morning news, Luke. Maybe, it’s my fault that I didn’t know sooner.”
“Julie—“ Luke begs, trying to reach for her hand to offer her any comfort he could.
“I should’ve changed the radio station more, maybe I would’ve heard you.” She wipes under her eyes, and the broken sigh that's mixed in with a cry that escapes her lips is one that he’s convinced would appear in his nightmares tonight.
“I was honest with you, Luke.” She sniffled. “And you weren’t.”
Luke blinks away his tears when she turns around and walks in the opposite direction. He feels like he’s just lost the best thing he’s ever had.
He was left speechless. His heart falling to the floor, feeling just as empty and angry as the day he met Julie for the first time.
Only this time, he wasn’t angry at Bobby.
He was angry with himself.
(The boys knew not to bother him after that. Alex was the one who drove them home that night, not before Luke checked if the lights were on in the cafe. His left hand was bruised from banging on the cement wall opposite of the theater, his eyes red from holding back tears the entire rest of the night.
He made Alex stop in front of the cafe when they got in the car, wanting to check up on Julie.
The lights of the main area were off. The only lights that were on were behind the employee counters near the back of the cafe, and Luke noticed a door slightly cracked open with a pair of black heels thrown on the counter messily. Next to them sat a black fur fedora, and it eased his mind to know that she wasn’t alone.)
Do you love him?
Julie thinks back to Flynn’s question from earlier, when her best friend holds her through sobbing in the back of the cafe, and wished she realized sooner. She wished that she didn’t love Luke.
She knew her heart was broken.
A broken heart meant that she was in love.
The pain she felt over Luke’s dishonesty was enough to mask all the joy he gave her over these last few months.
She loved Luke. He loved her back.
But nothing could prepare Julie for the pain of being in love with someone that hurt her.
Julie doesn’t respond to the picture, leaving her best friend on read as she frantically reads through each tweet. She didn’t have a twitter account, not finding any use for it if she wasn’t ready to post any covers, and she certainly didn’t ever think Luke would be so hurt by what she had told him too.
She wanted to cry, scream at him, and apologize all at once.
She was surprised by own yearning over the passion and pain in his words when she let her fingers trace over the letters on the phone screen.
What if he had trusted her enough to be his true self around her, letting his walls tumble down to let her in? After her outburst at the Orpheum, Luke already knew how vulnerable she had been around him.
Looking back, she could’ve let him talk. She could’ve let him explain why he never told her the truth. It was the what if that held her back from admitting the possibilities of a healthy conversation, because would they have grown so close if she knew that he was apart of a band that was growing in popularity?
Would she think of him differently?
It was the what if of all her burning questions and realizations that made Julie stay awake that night.
Long after the sun fell and she was alone in the darkness of her bedroom, she reached for her phone and looked over his lyrics again.
Although she couldn’t really see without contacts or her glasses on, she looked down at the screen and spoke the words aloud to herself.
“Your hands on top of mine as the melody grows, was I a mere fool for thinking we could be more than a midnight shadow.”
Julie hadn’t read a lyric so impactful in ages, not since she used to write with her mother who had seen so much of the world. Who experienced so much of everything. Luke wrote about her, and not in a cliche falling out of love way, but about crashing so hard into love that it feels like you cant let up when the worst happens.
She hugged her knees to her chest, blinking away stubborn tears, and stays awake wondering if he meant every word that he spoke out into the universe. He let the the entire world know about how he felt about her, about how he felt when he lost her and it made her sad.
Julie had been so personal to him that he wouldn’t dare mention her name and expose whatever they had.
It hits her so hard in the end that she lets herself cry for what they could’ve been. For what they could be when she felt the strength to confront him.
January
The texts come a day later.
And Julie’s heart feels ready to implode at his desperation to be forgiven.
She couldn’t stop thinking about his lyrics either, in a daze of understanding that they both broke each other’s hearts that night at the Orpheum.
Julie feels her phone buzz in the pocket of her jeans, sighing in annoyance when she’s forced to pull back the coffee creamer nuzzle to leave her morning coffee half made. It was a text message from Flynn, who had sent another screenshot of Luke’s social media page. He still hadn't tweeted anything in days.
She had been driving herself and the daily customers crazy trying to switch between radio stations every chance she got, trying to hear one of Sunset Curve’s new songs.
She wasn’t ready to talk to Luke, but she was hoping to hear one of the songs from their debut album. Flynn had tried to get her to listen to the entire thing after their conversation, but she wanted the authentic reaction from hearing it on the radio.
Flynn was also hesitant to tell her how well their album had done on the pop charts, but she thinks it was mostly due to the fact that Julie had wanted to wait. She just mildly regretted it now because...she hoped that it had done good for Luke’s sake. She would never wish bad on him, a small part inside bursting with admiration of his talent—but it had been a long time since she heard him sing beside her.
She missed that, the whole having him around so they could be alone together.
Julie missed the boy that stole her heart. And she didn’t know how to get it back.
The idea struck her randomly when she wasn't expecting it.
She wasn't even two steps through the front door with Carlos behind her when it hit her.
Julie knew what she wanted to do. She knew it was her day off, but she had to—no, needed to—run back to the cafe and hope that her Tía had left for the night so she could have the space to herself.
Carlos knew better than to question her, so he just stares blankly at the back of his sister’s head as she races down the steps of their front porch.
She pats her coat pocket, making sure she felt her phone and then takes it out and goes to speed dial.
She needed Flynn for this.
“I can’t believe you didn’t have a twitter before this.”
“You know me,” Julie sighed and brushed her fingers along her piano keys. “I never had a need to until now.”
“Not even a secret one?” Flynn went on, too caught up in the fact that her best friend hated social media. She’s given a stern look, which makes her focus back on setting up Julie’s phone in front of her to where the camera only showed below her neck to her hands.
Julie bit her lip, trying to remember all the lyrics in her head. Even if she had a hand in writing the song four months ago, she had to search up the lyrics last night just to make sure. Coming up behind her, Flynn straightened out her best friend’s sweater and fixed her curls to lay over her shoulders.
She could always trust Flynn to make her look good. That’s for sure.
All of the lights were off in the cafe except the one that hung overhead the stage, creating a dimmed effect that illuminated onto the piano. She would place a bet that nobody knew where she was, or had ever been to The Dahlia enough to figure out who she was….but she wasn’t doing this for social media. She was doing this for Luke.
If he wanted to talk, she was ready now.
She wanted to communicate the only way they knew how, the only way that meant so much more than spoken words; through song. Their song.
“Do you want me to step out?” Flynn asked, smiling down at her friend who was finally taking charge of how she felt about a boy. She would always fight for Julie’s chance at happiness.
“Can you?” Julie replied, her focus elsewhere as she prepared to lean forward and press the record button.
“Can you promise we’ll go out for food after?” Flynn backtracked towards the door, pouting in hopes it’ll make her say yes. “I’m sure that singing will make you hungry!”
Julie exhaled a shaky breath, ridding herself of the nerves. She had plans to eat with Carlos and her dad tonight, but that all got thrown out the window when she felt like recording the video.
Smiling in agreement, she replied, “You get to pick for helping me out!”
When she leaves the room, Julie lets her eyes close and thinks of all the times she had Luke beside her on the bench. How special that was for her, to be next to someone who understood her way of thinking.
Luke gave her the comfort and strength to play one of her mom’s songs. It was a milestone she never thought she would meet.
He gave her courage to sing and create without a care in the world.
Nobody could take that away from her now.
Not even herself.
Reggie had been combing his hair after a morning shower when he gets the notification on his phone. He was usually the first one to wake up out of the three, so he took his time to get ready.
He could hear Alex rummaging around in the kitchen down the hall, both deciding that they should let Luke sleep after the night he’s had.
His band mate had spent another night at the studio until midnight, and as always, had escaped into his bedroom until either him or Alex gave him breakfast and he had to force a smile and any creativity to flow on their way to the studio with the band.
Reggie had never seen him like this. He was a walking broken heart and it reminded him of something straight out of a romcom that his mother was in love with.
In regards to everything that went down with Julie, he knows Luke could’ve handled it better. He could’ve told the truth from the beginning, but he had grown to like her so fast and he didn’t wanna ruin their friendship by throwing her into the life of a growing rockstar.
Reggie understood, feeling quite proud of himself to come to a conclusion after watching his friend sulk around. It was their day off and he would much rather spend time taking to their fans on social media.
He decides that he would just get his hair do it’s own thing after it was brushed out, and reached for his phone to see what had alerted him.
Reggie almost forgot he was last logged into the band account, scrolling through a bunch of quoted replies on a fan’s cover of one of their songs. Huh. Interesting, he thought. He would always smile when he saw someone learn their music. He checked the last three notifications.
@sunsetlover: @sunsetcurve did you guys see this? It’s blowing up!
@metaglitters: THIS IS AMAZING. THE BEST COVER I’VE SEEN OF BRIGHT EVER! @sunsetcurve PLEASE SEE THIS!
@PMG: Wow. If anyone wants to watch @jmolina absolutely kill this cover of “Bright” by our very own @sunsetcurve then you’re in for a treat!
Wait. Could it be?
Reggie sets his hairbrush down on the bathroom counter, clicking the video to zoom into the background after further examination.
He only knows one spot in their area that has a piano in the back of the room. He uses two fingers to zoom into the background of the girl who didn’t show her face, and when it clicks...his eyes widen in shock. Just to make sure, he took notice of the girl’s tight curls that laid on her shoulders and framed her grey knitted sweater. He only knows one girl with a name starting with J.
Reggie couldn’t believe it.
He recognized the booth to the right of the frame, and the stacked wooden chairs on tables to her left.
The Dahlia.
He wonders if the place smells like blueberries like it did that night they first met.
He needed to find Alex, tell him the news, then run to show Luke as quickly as possible.
“Did you know we ran out of waffles—“
”Not important right now,” Reggie dismissed his friend’s complaint, making his way over and pushing his friend away from the fridge. “There’s something you have to see.”
Alex peeks his head out from behind the fridge door when Reggie walked over, holding on tightly to his phone with a smile that wouldn’t go away.
“Should I be scared?” The blonde hesitantly stood back.
“Not of me,” Reggie assured, dragging this charade for as long as possible. He shoved the phone in Alex’s hands, already unlocked and twitter feed opened. “But of Luke’s reaction when he finds out about what blew up over night.”
Soon enough, the sound of Julie’s angelic voice filled the room and when it clicked for Alex—he had been knocked back into the fridge with his mouth hung open. Instead of a smile, the ends of his mouth grew into a smirk.
“That’s Julie?” Alex questioned, exiting the video after Reggie showed him the chairs and curly hair that made it obvious to him. “She sings so well!” He exclaimed in a hiss, careful of waking Luke up with their enthusiasm.
Luke was going to flip.
“Should we wait for Luke to get up?” Reggie took back his phone out of precaution, too excited to act reckless. “He’s gonna freak.”
“I hope so,” Alex insisted. “He’s been broken over Julie for the past month, and if this doesn’t make him run out of the house then I’ll make him. She sang the song for him, and this is just an open invitation for them to meet.”
It made sense to the both of them instantly.
His band mate switched his gaze from Luke’s bedroom door to Reggie constantly, and he knew something was about to happen. Was he going to like it the plan? Probably not. He knew when his friends were debating if something was worth the trouble.
“What are you thinking?” Reggie grabbed Alex’s elbow in warning, suddenly concerned for his friend's health. “It’s barely eight in the morning. He got home late.”
Alex shrugged, “Forget the waffles, Reg. I’m gonna wake the guy up if he likes it or not because Julie wants to talk to him. She’s probably driving herself crazy waiting for him to see it.”
“So we’re doing this for Julie?” Reggie didn’t have a choice but to follow Alex to stand outside the door, his heart was already too deep and invested to see what would happen next.
"They’re both lovesick fools, if that wasn’t obvious enough.”
Luke was getting really tired of the boys knocking unnecessarily hard on his door when he was sleeping.
(He still classified the act of trying to sleep as actually sleeping. Nothing seemed to get him out of bed for a while regardless.) Last night had been yet another forgetful writing session, and he was tired of feeling uninspired and stuck in a funk. He missed Julie more than anything that he was glad to be left on read with those texts in the beginning of the month.
Luke groaned, “What is it?”
One of the voices on the other side sounded muffled and he couldn’t tell who was speaking, but he still tried to pay attention with his arm slung over his eyes.
“Our phones are blowing up with notifications of this girl doing a cover of Bright!” The voice sounded like Alex, he was the type to get straight to the point and he appreciated that right now. “You should check it out!”
“I was sleeping, why couldn’t this wait?” Luke pointed out the obvious, sitting up against his headboard knowing the boys weren’t gonna leave him alone if he didn’t stay attentive to their interests.
Reaching over to the side of his bed, he switches his lamp on and waits for an answer on the other side of the door.
“Will you let us in?” Reggie leaned in closer, raising his voice against the frame.
What was so important to show him right now and why were they dragging it out so much?
Alex added on swiftly, “You could watch it on your phone, if you want. It’s apparently our best cover in the words of the label!”
Something felt wrong about this.
Thinking about it, Luke hadn’t been pranked by his best friends in a long time and he wasn’t prepared for anything out of the ordinary.
“You guys are being too weird, can you just come inside and tell me what’s going on?!” Luke shouted, and he only reached for his phone when the door clicked open.
Alex was too silent, and it slightly terrified him.
“What’s going on, boys?” Luke asked carefully. He opened his phone with his thumb print, cautious of swiping at any notifications and took a mental note of how close Reggie had been standing to Alex. He had known them both long enough that they had only stayed close together when they needed to defend the other against him.
“We want you to watch the cover.” Alex repeated and ran his hands through his blonde hair, voice urgent as if he needed to do this right now. “It’ll blow you away.”
“You guys are never this enthusiastic about other fan covers, and never bang on my door to wake me up to watch one.”
“Yeah because this time is different.” Reggie said, the words just dying to slip out of his mouth before he could have control over telling the truth.
“How so?” When Luke thinks he understood what was going on, he runs his hand down his face in defeat. He only wanted to be nice to his fans. “Don’t tell me it’s good and then force me to watch a parody or someone else knocking us down for fun—“
“It’s different because it’s Julie, dude.”
Reggie couldn’t help himself. He had to say it.
“Reg! I thought we were waiting!"
“I’m sorry, he just didn’t get it and I was getting impatient.” He was able to move out of the way before Alex pushed him.
Luke threw the covers off his body and stood up so fast that he almost fell right back into bed, “J-Julie?” He stuttered, holding his phone to his chest before anyone could take it from him. “As in, Julie ?” He could feel his throat restrict, and then it hits him that he couldn’t watch her cover— oh my god, she had sung their song and tweeted it for the world to see—unless he unlocked his phone and he was too impatient to look for the tweet so he hands the phone to Reggie.
He hadn’t heard that name in weeks.
Luke had begun pacing back and forth, with crossed arms concentrated in thought. He couldn’t believe it. He had known how bad she hurt him, and deep down, he hoped that she knew how much he regretted letting her down.
He lost her trust once, and he couldn’t do it again. This was his one chance to make things right, and she was ready to talk to him.
His feet came to a halt at the sound of her voice and sweet melody that fills the room, and Alex was the one to turn him around to hand him the phone when he stood in shock—his fingers tingling with the wish to be playing right there next to her—feeling each worry and sleepless night in the last month release in tension from his shoulders when he hears her get to the chorus. He hums the song to himself for a few seconds, unbothered by his friends next to him.
She sounded like she was singing directly to him.
“Read the caption under her post.” Reggie encouraged, putting his hand on Luke’s shoulder as his way of letting him know that things would be alright between them.
Julie took the first step.
Reggie knew Luke was getting ready to take the second.
@jmolina: [attached a video] to the person I'm singing this song to, I want you to know that I don't think our story is done either. what we had was special, and it still is in my eyes.
She somehow saw the lyrics he tweeted that night of the Orpheum. He had been so torn after the party, the lyrics hidden in his journal for weeks until he felt the urge to post them and let everyone know that he had a chance at love and blew it.
He re-reads the statement multiple times, taking it all in. Julie had shared this because of him. He was the guy that she was talking about and to, and it made him want to race as fast as he could to the cafe to see her to tell her that he felt the exact same.
And then he realized that nothing was stopping him from doing what he wanted today.
It was his day off.
Luke races to his closet and grabs his nearest sweatshirt and pair of jeans without saying another word. His friends watch on with grins of their own, expecting and hoping for this to happen in the first place. He wanted to look good for Julie of course, but he was working on overdrive right now—just wanting to see her would be enough for his self esteem. He would be fine, she wouldn’t care if she got to see him in person.
Her face is what he missed the most anyways.
“What do you want us to do?”
Luke ran past them to the door, holding his change of clothes to his chest while balancing the pair of sneakers that he just picked up from the floor. He looked back at them, his mind foggy. “Retweet the video from the band account to let her know that I saw it, will you?”
The boys nod and take some time to scroll through other comments that their fans left under Julie’s video.
The girl was a force, they had to admit. They hoped they would get to know her much better if things went well with Luke, wanting her around more often than not.
Reggie wasn’t kidding the night of the Orpheum holiday dance, he thought that Luke stole her too much and didn’t give him a chance to get to know her.
He wanted all of that to change after today.
She was having trouble twisting the key into the lock, too focused on reading the replies under her cover tweet.
Julie had been reading them all morning, mostly because her phone wouldn’t stop buzzing and she had almost lost all sense of direction walking down Sunset Boulevard when scrolling past her thousand notifications to see that Phantom Music Group had quoted her video. She had tried not to think too much about Luke’s reaction, knowing that he most likely would see it after this, having replied directly to the lyrics he wrote about her and tweeted the night of the Orpheum disaster.
If he saw it already, he would know she had done it only for him.
Her hands began to sweat, not able to get a grip on the keys and look at her phone at the same time. It never went below sixty in California when winter came around, but Julie felt her body go cold at the thought that Luke was too far gone for him to care anymore.
Why hadn’t he seen the video yet?
Would he text her saying that he saw it or wanted to meet up? Texting would be a better method of getting into contact with her since her notifications wouldn’t stop and she had no idea who was responding to her anymore.
Did she miss his comment? Julie was getting restless as she gave up on scrolling to shove her phone in her back pocket and focus on opening the cafe. She would get back to it when she was inside, finally telling herself to focus on something other than—
“So your last name is Molina, huh?”
Julie froze, a voice coming from behind her. She turns the key, unlocking the door in a moment of suspense.
The voice sounded a lot like….
"Reggie noticed the background when he watched your cover."
Luke. He was here. He came to see her.
She couldn’t stop the surge of happiness that ran through her at sight of him when she turned slowly, still feeling slightly anxious about looking him in the eyes.
So much had happened since that night at the Orpheum, and being that the theater was in view for the both of them right now, the memories are fresh in her mind. She had so much to say to him, and hoped he would listen.
The smile is on her face before she has the chance to control herself, feeling a bit breathless as she forces her gaze on his face. He looked the same . “Yeah it is.”
Flynn had set up her username and password on the way to the cafe last night, Julie giving final approval of everything.
Luke stood in front of her, hands dug into his red sweatshirt pocket, standing as still as possible.
As much as she wanted to reach out and wrap her arms around him, they needed to talk about what had happened that night.
But first, she had to ask him what he thought of the video.
“Did you like it?” She asked, thankful for the empty sidewalk that gave them some privacy. Having to squint to see his eyes under the sunlight, she tried to look for an immediate reaction. “I know it’s not like the original.“
Luke steps forward, almost springing into her at the sudden move to be closer to her. He took his hands out of his pocket and ruffled his hair as if he was shy and needed something else to do, “It was even better than the one of the album.”
Julie kept her hands at her side, “Thanks.”
The silence between them makes her heart pound in her chest, knowing she had been waiting for this moment for forever and she has no idea what to say first. Now that he was in front of her, her brain had gone out the window.
She felt so much for him, and the words couldn’t get out of her throat because her heart wanted to talk to him.
The growing awkward tension makes her hand instinctively reach for the doorknob, which makes everything happen so quickly that Julie gasps. Luke sighs in defeat, finally giving into the doubt and words he was afraid to say, and he’s fast to grab her hand and pull himself closer to her until their feet touched.
Julie deflates as his touch, squeezing his fingers back when he looks down at her with sorrow written all over his face. I’m sorry . She could see it in his narrowed eyes, and the way his teeth bit into his bottom lip in worry.
Something breaks between them, the tension gone from their reunion, and she feels like she could breathe in the scent of his faint cologne that reflected off his sweatshirt.
They got lost in each other's eyes for another long moment, content with being so close.
Luke’s thumb caressed the back of her hand constantly in a rhythm, his voice raspy when he whispered between them. “I’m so sorry for everything. I never wanted to hurt you, Julie. I just—“ She opens her mouth to say something, but he shakes her head at her to give him some time to get his thoughts clear. “I fell for you so fast and I wanted to cherish that.”
His overbearing posture blocks the sun from her eyes and when she’s finally able to see the look of relief on his face, and his brown eyes that used to leave her speechless when he smiled at her playing piano late at night—Julie squeezed his fingers hard to tell him that she understood now. She understood how he felt about her—which causes her heart to swell.
She nods, “I was angry at you before because I thought you didn’t really care for me and that you were only telling me what I wanted to hear—“
“Are you kidding?” Luke disagreed, not being able to get enough of her when his other hand trails up to cup her cheek and stroke her cheek. He looked down at her like she had something wrong with her, “Julie, you were the one thing on my mind everyday.”
She was seconds away from exploding, she was sure of it. When he thought of how lowly she thought of him in the past month, it made him go crazy. She drove him crazy.
Julie took a deep breath, knowing she would have to tell him more of her doubt to come clean and be able to move on from this.
“I was hurt by your lies,” She admitted, the emotions of that night coming back in full swing. He grips onto her tighter, "I was confused for a long time about how you felt about me, and it only hit me after Flynn showed me those lyrics you tweeted that you really cared. I didn’t know how to reach out to you and those texts just made me sad to think about that night that I yelled at you and—“
Luke shook his head sadly in agreement, “I deserved it." His speech was just as urgent, a weight lifted from his chest. "I deserved to be pushed away and get yelled at because I needed to understand how I hurt you by not telling you from the beginning.”
“I realized after posting the video that I didn’t care if you were signed, that I didn’t care if you and the guys were famous because I simply just don’t anymore."
He gets even closer, “Julie…”
"I only cared about you, Luke."
With her heart written on her sleeve, she knew she had to confess something else. “I was sitting at my piano last night,” Julie swallowed, wanting to tell him everything as she let her eyes flutter shut at the memory with his hand on her cheek. “And I kept thinking of the night we wrote the song, and how it was wrong of me to be mad at you for performing it if you were proud of the song you made. I’m happy that you put it on the album in the end.”
When both of his hands cup her cheeks, her own reach for his forearms to grab onto just to make sure that she was still able to touch him, Julie opens her eyes to the feel of his lips pressing against her forehead in a light kiss.
She felt her heart stop.
He was trying to be a tease, shrugging his shoulders a little as he pulled back far enough to talk. “I put the song as the last track because I wanted the end of the album to be a new beginning.”
Julie holds him in place, licking her lips when the words register in her brain. She’s too good at putting the pieces together, and Luke begins to duck his head and meet her tilted gaze. The feel of his lips against her forehead was new, and she wanted more.
“A new beginning?” She asked, not knowing if she even said the words loud enough for him to hear because she was too captured by him.
His half nods, not wanting to move so much as he leaned in until their noses grazed together. She could feel his minty breath against her cheek, and she inhaled softly to get some air in her lungs for what was about to happen.
“I think I’m falling in love with you, Julie.” A smile stretched across his face, continuing to tell her what he wished for the future. “I want you to hang out with the guys more, I want to see you everyday and call when I miss you because I swear,” He paused, in awe of the girl in front of him who hasn’t said a word through his speech but teary eyes had told him everything he wanted to know. “I never felt this way about anyone.”
She doesn’t waste another second, after all, she had been dreaming of kissing him for the longest time and she didn't want to tell him how she felt with words.
Julie leans forward, capturing his lips with hers and pressing against him as their mouths meet. His hands freeze against her face in shock, the softness of her lips make it impossible to not react. Instead of her hands holding his elbows, she reaches for the strings of his sweatshirt and grabs onto the crease of his hood.
She doesn’t regret wearing a long sleeve today to work, hoping he doesn’t feel the goosebumps arise on her skin when his fingers trail down her arms when he pulls away after the dizzying hard press of her lips when they were both running out of breath.
She wanted this moment to last forever, pulling away with a goofy grin, she knew she had to ask: “How was that?”
Luke feels like his entire body is on fire, and all he really wanted to do was kiss her again, but he had to give her an answer.
“Could’ve been better.” He croaked, trying to take a deep breath. His heart was beating fast, having replayed the moment their lips touched a second time in his head.
“Hey.” She smacks his shoulder.
He pulls her back to his chest when she threatens to withdraw from his hold, and he pouts.
Julie tried to reason, frowning as well. She gestured to the unlocked door, “I have to work today, so I don’t know what to tell you.”
“What?” Luke questioned, not wanting to leave her just yet. He wanted to spend time with her, and now that they’ve kissed….he needed to know what they were now. Swinging her hand back and forth when they part from their embrace, he doesn’t let go of her when she turns to push the door open. “You’re not gonna let me inside? I think I could make a great coffee and I haven’t had one of those muffins in a while.”
Julie rolled her eyes, walking to the front counter to reach over the top and grab her apron hanging from a set of hooks. "You are not getting behind the counter."
"Can I help you do something then?"
“It depends.” She thought about it. “Are you free? What are the guys doing? Did you leave them to come here?”
Luke’s ears grow warm, and she even gets a little shy and looks away from him. He had raced out of the house to get here as fast as possible, and she must’ve connected the dots.
“We have a day off today,” He sits at one of the stools in front of the coffee machine, remembering it as his usual spot when he came at night. “And I really wanted to see you.”
Julie was full of surprises today. She walked towards him, and he thought she was leaning in for a hug after tying her apron, but she had only wrapped her fingers around his wrist and kissed his cheek before he could realize what she had done.
“Does that mean you could stay?” She asks, full of so much hope and joy that Luke actually wouldn’t mind staying the entire day if he got to be with Julie the whole time. In a room full of people, he would be her only view.
“As long as you want me to.” He promised.
“Are you okay with meeting my Tía Victoria?” She grinned when she ducked beneath the employee counter, settling her hands on her hips as she fixed her shirt under the apron. “I’ve told her a lot about you and it’s fine if you—“
Luke reached across the table to take her hand when she places them flat against the counter, stopping her from rambling.
“I don’t mind.” He replied sweetly. “I have to meet your family at some point, right? You’ve already met mine.”
The boys were his family. He knew that for sure.
His parents would come later, if Julie and him ended up getting more serious. (He really hoped they would.)
He didn’t know where life would take him, or the band, but he knew who he wanted in his life. These last five months had been some of the best, and he couldn’t believe he had gotten so lucky with a girl that cared about wherever three strangers ate horrible hotdogs in the middle of the night.
Julie looks at him, and the sun shines even brighter.
“Can I make you a coffee?” She asked, curling pieces of her hair behind her ear as she glanced to the clock above the chime bell of the door. They had an hour before opening, and she wanted to spend every minute with him.
“Black with a few spoons of sugar.” He tapped his chin, pretending to think about it.
“Anything else?”
“It depends," Luke mocked, "How much longer till opening?”
His question didn’t catch her off guard. She knew what he wanted to do.
Julie reached for two white mugs to make two cups of coffee and made her way to the machine, answering confidently. “An hour.”
“Play a few songs with me.” Luke smirked at her, feeling like he was in a daydream that he never wanted to get out of. His inspiration had always been Julie since the day they met. “I’ve been playing around with some songs in my journal, and I think you could help me with them.”
He gestured her over to the piano, loving the feeling of serenity that washed over him when she sat down next to him and set the mugs in front of them.
“What do you have?” She asked him, leaning her head against his shoulder to wait for him to tell her what he had in mind. It was a simple affectionate gesture, but it made Luke almost forget the lyrics that always seemed to swirl in his mind.
The lyrics he was stuck on last night, he remembered.
The lyrics that now made sense because he was reunited with Julie.
“It’s called Perfect Harmony,” He began to explain, gently nudging her off his shoulder so he can adjust his hands on the keys. He didn’t want to lose her warmth next to him, but he wanted her to hear what he had so far. Not being able to help himself, Luke grazed his fingers over her knuckles as an apology for moving, and cleared his throat to prepare to sing. “It goes like this….”
Step into my world
Bittersweet love story about a girl
Shook me to the core
Voice like an angel I’ve never heard before….