Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“No music is worth making, Julie if we’re not making it with you,” Luke stated, his eyes shining with tears, “No regrets.”

The last line sounded too much like a goodbye for Julie’s liking, and she knew her own tears were threatening to spill over. Without thinking about the impossibility of what she was doing, she launched herself at Luke, throwing her arms around his neck. In return, Luke’s arms circled around, one at her waist and one at her upper back, pulling her even closer to him. With her head nestled into his shoulder, Julie muttered, “I love you guys.”

They clung together as if each were the only anchor holding the other in place for several seconds before Julie realized she was physically touching Luke. With a gasp, she pulled away, capturing Luke’s hands, noticing the soft gold light that had begun to surround him. “How can I feel you?”

“I-I-I don’t know,” he replied, his look of confusion endearing. Julie reached up and took his face in her hands. Luke mirrored her actions, brushing his thumbs across her cheeks before reclaiming her hands in his and holding them to his chest. Without letting go of Julie, he turned to face Alex and Reggie. “I feel stronger.”

When he pivoted back to Julie, she glanced at the other two boys who were still propping themselves up with furniture, wondering if whatever was happening with Luke would also help them, so she called out, “Alex, Reggie, come.”

The other two band members made their way over unsteadily and joined Julie and Luke in a group hug, all four friends able to feel each other, for the first time. The glow that had appeared around Luke now enveloped all of the boys. When they were able to let go enough to look at each other again, Reggie was the first to speak, “Woah! I-I-I-I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

“Yeah, me, neither.” added Alex, “Not that, you know, I was ever that weak.”

The boys suddenly flinched, pulling back from Julie and grabbing their right arms. They watched the purple light that represented Caleb’s stamp appear on each of their wrists, before floating up into the air and vanishing.

“What do you think that means?” Julie asked.

Luke let out a small chuckle, “I think the band’s back.”

Julie smiled at each of the boys, noting that she was not the only one whose eyes were brimmed with happy tears. When she turned to Alex he asked, “Do you guys think we could try that hug thing one more time?”

“Yeah,” answered Reggie, as the others nodded. They all moved back in, wrapping their arms tightly around each other, enjoying their newfound ability to do so.

“Hugs are nice,” said Alex, causing Julie to let out a laugh.

When they pulled back again, Reggie nodded, “I like this!”

“Me, too!” agreed Julie, as they all leaned into the hug once again, “We played the Orpheum!”

“Yeah, we did!”

The group bounced around in a circle without breaking apart from one another. None of them had quite realized how much they needed this contact until it became possible. They were hesitant to let go of each other and may have stayed embracing each other all night, but they were suddenly interrupted by a voice from outside the studio.

“Hey, Julie! You said you were only gonna be a minute,” yelled Carlos, “What is taking so – woah!”

Julie and the boys jumped apart in surprise, which turned into awe as they watched Carlos’s eyes travel over each one of them. There was no looking into empty spaces this time. Carlos was actually meeting each boy’s gaze. Julie was the first to recover. Taking a step toward her brother she asked, “Carlos, can you see the guys?”

Wide-eyed and speechless, Carlos merely nodded. Julie walked the rest of the way to her brother, throwing an arm over his shoulders, “Well, in that case, come and meet the band.”

She dragged him over and introduced him to each of the band members. Luke and Alex smiled as they introduced themselves, but when Julie got to Reggie, he held out his hand for a high-five, which Carlos hesitantly provided. As their hands made contact, Carlos jumped back in surprise, “But-but-but they’re ghosts, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, we are, little man,” Reggie declared, “You were right all along even if none of the adults believed you. You’re welcome for the proof, by the way!”

“Somehow I thought it was you,” Carlos smirked at the same time Julie growled, “Reggie! What does he mean ‘proof’?! What did you do?!”

Reggie sputtered, trying to think of any answer that wouldn’t get him in trouble, but Luke saved him by speaking up as he bounced closer to where Julie and Carlos were standing, “That’s not important right now. And yeah, we are ghosts, but, uh, I mean something’s changed. Maybe we’ve changed. We can touch you guys! And Julie, you aren’t the only one who can see us anymore!”

“Great,” groaned Alex, “more change, and still no handbook. And this is definitely beyond the information Willie shared with me about being a ghost. Oh, God!. Willie! I hope he’s okay!”

Before Alex could start perfecting his model strut again, Julie laid a hand on his arm, “Alex, we’re in this together, now and always. No matter what. I don’t know Willie, but if he’s important to you, we’ll help you find him. And we will figure out what exactly these changes in you guys mean, and we’ll do it together. That is what bands do. What friends do. What family does. And no matter what these changes mean for you guys, that’s what we are. Family.”

Alex took a deep breath, nodding, while the looks Luke and Reggie gave her let her know how deeply her speech had touched the two of them, as well. The shared moment didn’t last long, being interrupted by Carlos’s yawning. Julie shook her head affectionately, “I guess it is getting late. I know I should probably get to bed but I don’t want to leave you guys tonight. What if this is all a dream and I wake up tomorrow and you guys are gone.”

“That’s not gonna happen, Julie,” promised Luke, reaching out to take her left hand in his right one, “now that we’re free of Caleb, we’re not going anywhere.”

Julie nodded but still made no move to leave the studio. She glanced down at her hand in Luke’s then met his gaze. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, not knowing what to say. Luckily Reggie chimed in, “Ooh!. Can we go inside? I would love to hang out with Ray when he actually knows I’m there!”

"I don’t know if it's such a great idea to introduce you to my dad,” Julie replied then added, noting Reggie’s downcast look, “tonight. I don’t know how I’d even begin to explain this to him. But he has mentioned wanting to meet you guys in the past, and we’re going to have to tell him something now that you’re all apparently visible to others, so give me until the morning to think of something, and then you can meet him.”

“That doesn’t mean they can’t come in, though,” exclaimed Carlos, finding his second wind, “ I already heard Dad getting ready for bed. If everyone is quiet enough, we could all still have a sleepover in one of our rooms. I want to get to know the ghosts better. I mean, it’s my first experience getting to know real life – well I guess not life - but you know what I mean, ghosts!”

“I don’t know…”

“Please,” Carlos and Reggie pleaded in unison. Carlos continued, “I’ll stay with you guys, too. That way, even if Dad sees them before you can explain, at least I’ll be there, too, so you won’t get in as much trouble.”

Looking around at the four boys, who were all giving her puppy dog eyes, Julie sighed, “Fine. I know when I’m outnumbered.”

“Sweet!,” shouted Carlos as he rushed to grab Reggie and Alex by the hands and drag them toward the house.

Luke moved to follow but Julie tugged on his hand, holding him back, “Wait, Luke. I know a lot has happened tonight, and I’m emotionally exhausted with all the ups and downs…but do you think, if nothing has changed tomorrow morning, maybe we could talk about what you still being here, and now being solid, means for our ‘interesting little relationship?’”

Luke bit his lip and dropped his gaze before rocking back on his heels. As he rocked back forward, he looked up again, scratching the back of his neck with a shy half-smile on his face, “Y-yeah. We can do that. It’s probably overdue, really.”

Julie grinned at the smirk that overtook his face by the end of his answer. She turned back toward the house and pulled Luke behind her as she made her way toward the doorway. Her smile grew even bigger as she felt the bounce in his step and couldn’t help the laugh that escaped and he repeated words he had spoken to her once before, “I know you’re smiling.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him as she pulled him through the entrance to the house, “So are you.”

He didn’t answer, but his smile grew wider as he followed her up the stairs to the bedroom where their family was waiting for them.

Chapter Text

When the group made it to Julie’s room, she reluctantly dropped Luke’s hand and began to gather up extra pillows and blankets to create a sleeping area though she was still unsure whether or not her bandmates slept. While she was gathering everything, she heard Reggie whispering to the other boys, “So are we sure we’re still not going with ‘witch’? I mean, that felt pretty magical, but in a good way.”

She shook her head and turned in time to watch both Alex and Luke slap Reggie on the back of the head, making Carlos burst into giggles.

“Dude, you think my sister’s a witch? Granted she can be pretty weird, but even I’ve never thought that.”

“Well, I mean, we had undisputable proof that ghosts were real,” Reggie defended himself, “Why not witches, too?”

Carlos nodded sagely, “Okay, I guess that makes sense. Not to mention all that she could see you before the rest of us could. Hey, Julie, are you sure you’re not a witch?”

Reggie, turned to Alex, “See, someone gets it.”

“That’s not…,” Alex began, but stopped himself, “Okay.”

Julie simultaneously shook her head and laughed under her breath at the boys’ antics. Despite being weirded out to learn Reggie still thought she was a witch, Julie couldn’t help but smile as she noticed that Alex, Reggie, and Carlos had formed a triangle and that the boisterous conversation between Carlos and the bass player seemed to be distracting Alex from his earlier anxiety. She turned to Luke who had stepped closer to Julie because, though he would deny it if anyone other than Julie asked, he was as reluctant to let her out of his sight as she was with him. She gave him a shy smile, “I have to go get changed. But I will be back as fast as humanly possible. Is there anything else you guys need? Sweats or pajamas or anything?”

Luke bit his lower lip and shook his head, “We haven’t needed to sleep since we came back. And even if we could, I think we’re all a little too wired tonight.” “Okay, if you’re sure,” “I am, “he replied, smiling up at her with the tip of his tongue peeking out between his teeth, “now hurry up and go change so you can get back out here and join the party.”

Julie nodded, gathering up her pajamas and twirling away so she could bathroom go change in the bathroom, though she couldn’t help glancing back over her shoulder at Luke as she walked through the door. Luke stared at the now empty bedroom doorway until Carlos’s voice floated up from the floor, “So, Guitar Boy, exactly how long have you been in love with my sister?”

Alex let out a bark of laughter, which he tried to cover as a cough. He and Reggie shared a knowing look, both expected Luke to go on the defensive like he had during their conversation about chemistry. They were surprised when instead he simply looked at Carlos and shrugged, “A while.”

“How does that work when you’re a ghost and she’s not?” Carlos asked.

Luke shrugged again, “I don’t know. Probably doesn’t. That’s why nothing has ever happened between us.”

“Except for the whole mutual pining thing,” interjected Reggie.

“I was never pining!” an embarrassed Luke shot back.

“There was definitely pining,” insisted Alex, “but not just on your end.”

Carlos nodded, deep in thought, “I could only hear her half of the conversation before your show, but that still sounded like a boyfriend/girlfriend conversation.”

“We-we’re not…. Wait, you were listening to that conversation?! That was a personal private conversation.”

“I know,” replied Carlos, not looking at Luke, “I was just trying to get more proof that you were ghosts. I wanted to turn and leave after she started talking about Mom, but there was no way I could do it without being obvious.”

“Come on, Luke,” Alex added, “It’s not like we haven’t eavesdropped on things we shouldn’t have since becoming ghosts. Let’s just maybe not mention it to Julie.”

“What about me?” asked Julie as she re-entered her bedroom.

“N-nothing,” stammered Luke, “We were just talking about how we all rocked it tonight, especially you. I mean, you originally went up on that stage by yourself! That was amazing!”

Julie gave him a look that told him she didn’t believe him but wasn’t going to press the matter tonight. Instead, she walked back over to him and grabbed his hand again, pulling him down so they were both sitting with their backs against the side of her bed, their legs stretched out in front of them, turning the triangle created by the other boys into more of a square. She listened as Carlos asked the boys questions, which also helped her learn more about her bandmates. She learned that Reggie had a younger brother and that he played the most instruments out of all the guys and that his favorite food when he was alive was pizza. She learned that Alex had the largest family, but that he was also the most reluctant out of the three to try to seek his family out. Julie raised an eyebrow at Alex as he mentioned this but at the slight shake of Luke’s head, she chose not to question it. One of the more surprising things she learned was that Luke had been the best cook out of the boys, though he shrugged it off as simply needing to learn to feed himself after leaving home.

She and Carlos then told the boys about the family trips they had taken as children and how Carlos developed his interest in baseball after realizing he did not share a musical talent with his mother and sister. After Carlos fell asleep, the band continued to learn about each other, the topics taking a more serious turn. Alex looked nervous as he admitted to Julie that he was gay, but she merely waved it off, “I already figured that out. It wasn’t hard to see, but maybe that’s because more people are more open about it now. And when you spoke about Willie earlier, that cemented it in my mind. Don’t worry, it doesn’t change anything. You’re still the same Alex, right?”

Alex let out a relieved sigh, “The guys have known forever, but I didn’t want it to be a secret I kept from you, either.”

Julie nodded in understanding and to give him a reprieve, decided it was time for her to speak about her past. She told the boys about the first time she remembered seeing her mother perform on stage and recollected, with a tearful smile, how she knew at that moment it was what she wanted to do as well, but also about the feelings of grief that made her lose sight of that when her mother died.

“After months of therapy, who would have thought it would be three teenage ghosts who brought music back into my life? Speaking of which, I found a Sunset Curve t-shirt in that trunk of my mom’s stuff that I wanted to ask you about,” she nodded toward the trunk, “And, now that I think about it, the copy of your demo in the studio was separate from your instruments and things. Are you sure you never met my mom?”

“A Sunset Curve t-shirt?” asked Alex, “We only had those made for…”

Picking up on his thoughts, Luke jumped in, “Do you have the shirt here? Can we see it?” Julie crawled across the room to pull the shirt out of the trunk, before returning to spot next to Luke. She held up the shirt for the boys to see.

“Julie,” Luke whispered, “we had those shirts made for the gig we were supposed to play at the Orpheum. We only handed about three of them out before, well, you know.”

Reggie caught on now as well, “One t-shirt, size beautiful. B-by any chance, -was your mother’s name Rose?”

Julie’s eyes widened as she slowly nodded.

“Then we did meet your mother,” explained Luke, “She was one of the few people who did hear us play that night. She was working at the Orpheum and was there during our sound check. We gave her that t-shirt, and the cd when Bobby went over to flirt with her.”

Julie gave a shiver of disgust, “Ugh! Trevor Wilson was flirting with my mom. That kind of grosses me out, especially knowing what I do now about him. Though I guess she was still friends with him as I was growing up. I never thought there might be more to it than the fact that Carrie and I were friends. But wait…if you all did meet my mom, then maybe she really did send you guys to me when I needed you most.”

Luke bumped her shoulder with his own, “And when we needed you.”

Julie bumped him back. The events of the night were catching up with her and she let out a yawning, alerting the boys to the fact that she was fighting off sleep, herself. She still worried that if she slept, she would wake up to find everything that had happened tonight had been a dream. Sensing her struggle, Luke wrapped his arm around her and brought her head down onto his shoulder, “Go to sleep, Jules. We’re all right here and we will still be right here when you wake up.”

With the comforting feeling of Luke’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and his solid form beneath her head, Julie finally allowed herself to drift off into the most restful sleep she had experienced in a long time.

Chapter Text

The following morning, Luke found himself back in the studio with the rest of the band, still marveling that the boys had become corporeal. They were all finding small ways to touch each other as they rehearsed. Julie in particular couldn’t seem to get over this new sensation. She placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder as he moved past her to his drum kit. She leaned back-to-back with Reggie as they harmonized on a verse. Luke was impatiently waiting for his turn, aching to reach out and take her hand like he had the night before. When she glanced at him with a shy smile, he decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He stepped in her direction to give into this urge, but just before his hand met hers, they were interrupted by the studio door crashing open and Caleb’s menacing form filling the open space.

“Well, well, well,” sneered Caleb, “I knew you all were special, but I had no idea you had this level of power. You seem to have found a way to break free from my spell. But no worries, I will make sure you regret ignoring my offer. You may have escaped, but I can still take everything away from you.

 With a wave of Caleb’s hand, Luke felt himself frozen in place, an electric current, not unlike the previous jolts, running through his body. He knew without looking that Alex and Reggie were in the same predicament. They all watched helplessly as Caleb strode into the studio and placed a hand on each of Julie’s shoulders.” She met his gaze courageously, despite the tremor of fear that Luke could see running through her, “Who are you and what have you done to them?”

“Oh, they’ll be fine. It’s yourself you should be worried about.”

Luke fought against the magic holding him in place, terrified of what Caleb had is store for Julie, “Stop, please, Caleb! She has nothing to do with this!”

Caleb merely laughed, a chilling sound, “Oh, I think she has everything to do with this. There’s no way you would have turned down my offer, let alone broken through my magic without her.”

Caleb’s hands began to glow with the same purple light that was imbued within the stamps he had placed on the boys. In response, the golden light they had experienced the previous night flared up around Julie like a protective barrier. Rather than backing down, Caleb smirked, as if this was exactly what he had been hoping for. He moved his hands from Julie’s shoulders to the sides of her face, holding her head in place, and breathed in deeply. The golden light seemed to flow from Julie into Caleb.

Luke’s struggles intensified as he realized Caleb’s magic was draining Julie. He could do nothing more than watch helplessly as Julie grew weaker and weaker. Her eyes had rolled up in her head and her body had gone limp by the time Caleb released her. As he felt the magic’s hold release on him, Luke dove to catch Julie before he hit the ground. He caught her and sank to his knees, placing her head in his lap.

“Julie!” he yelled, “Come on, Julie, please!”

Julie’s eyes remained closed. Luke took a shaky breath, tears forming in his eyes as he shook her shoulder, but the only response was her head lolling to the side. He turned to look to the other for help, barely noticing the other boys had arrived by his side. Alex and Reggie were both crying, as well, when he met their eyes. Alex reached out a tremoring hand and placed two fingers on the pulse point on Julie’s neck. Letting out a defeated sigh, he shook his head, glancing up at the boy holding her, “Luke…”

“No!,” Luke yelled, cutting Alex off, unable to hear the rest, “After everything, it can’t end like this, it can’t….”

Luke awoke with a shuddering gasp, flying upright from his position on the floor. He felt a pain in his chest, different from Caleb’s jolts but just as surprising. Blinking slowly, he realized he was in Julie’s room. Looking beyond his feet, he saw Reggie and Alex, apparently asleep, with Carlos now sandwiched between them. He took a deep, shuddering breath as he tried to grasp that the scene he had just experienced wasn’t real He shook his head, unsuccessfully trying to clear the nightmare's remains from his memory.

A motion at his side drew his attention. Julie was sitting up, rubbing her cheek where it hit the floor when he inadvertently threw her off of him. She rubbed her eyes and looked back at him with her brow furrowed, “What the hell, Luke?”

Instead of answering, Luke threw his arms around her, pulling her into the tightest hug he had ever held anyone in. His relief to find her alive and well, left him trembling.

“Woah! Some of us still need to breathe,” Julie croaked out before glancing up at Luke and noticing the haunted look he held, “Hey, are you okay?”

Luke blinked at her and nodded, slowly calming down as he saw that she was truly okay. He loosened his grip on her and she pulled away but reached out her hand to him He grabbed onto the anchor she provided, squeezing painfully tight. He blinked and nodded again, “Yeah, I-uh-bad dream, I guess.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head, “I can’t. Not yet. It was just so, so real. And I-I couldn’t do anything.”

Julie nodded, giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Suddenly his attention was brought back to the pain in his chest, which had since settled into a mild discomfort. As he focused on what he was feeling, he let out a startled yelp.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Are you sure you’re okay?"

“Y-yeah. I-I just thought….” he broke off, “Can you check something for me? Just to make sure, because it seems impossible. Not that everything else happening seems less impossible, just…,”

“Of course,” Julie answered, confusion clearly showing on her face.

He moved their joined hands up and placed her hand so that it lay flat on his chest, right where the pain was centered.

“Wow! Are you absolutely sure you’re okay? Your heart is racing,” her eyes had been on their entwined hands but now shot to his face, “Wait, your heart is racing! Your heart is…it’s beating! Luke, you’re alive!”

He looked down at her with so much hope it made her want to cry, “So, y-you feel it, too? I’m not just going crazy?”

She smirked up at him, “Well, we’re all a little crazy.”

He choked out a half-laugh and half-sob sound at her attempt to lighten the mood. It seems she’s developing a habit of repeating his own words back to him.

“But how is this possible?” she asked, “How did we miss this last night?”

Luke shook his head to clear his thoughts, “I-I-I don’t know. I’m not sure we did miss it last night. I feel like it would be hard to miss. Then again, a lot was happening last night. Maybe we were all distracted. But I think that maybe, whatever magic happened last night was too big to happen all at once. Because, honestly, I can’t imagine I wouldn’t have noticed when we were talking alone in the studio last night.”

His cheeks flushed a deep red as he admitted that last part, causing Julie to reach up and cup his cheek with the hand that was not resting over his miraculously beating heart. He leaned into her touch, and she used her thumb to wipe away the tears that he hadn’t even realized had fallen from his eyes. She moved the hand on his chest, and he felt his newly beating heart stutter at the lack of contact. He fought the urge to grab her hand and hold it in place on his chest but was glad he refrained when she lowered her head so that her ear was resting right over his heart instead. She closed her eyes, marveling at the sound, more beautiful than any music. She grinned as she felt his heartbeat speed up beneath her head. She brought his hand up to place over her own heart so that he could feel that she was just as affected as he was. His eyes were full of wonder as he met hers. And while she had once described him to Flynn as having a perfect smile, she now realized she hadn't even seen the full power of it before as the grin that lit his face in this moment was the brightest she had ever seen. And realizing that there was now every reason to believe she would get to see that smile for years to come, her own grew to match it.

Chapter Text

When Julie finally managed to pull away from Luke again, she glanced over to where Alex and Reggie were still asleep on the floor, “Do you think they also…?”

“Yeah, I do. I may not understand everything that’s been happening. But I do know that there is a connection between all four of us. Whatever magic brought us together brought all of us together.”

Julie hummed, “How much longer do you think they’ll sleep? I kinda want to see their reactions when they wake up.”

“It’s hard to say. None of us have slept since 1995. And speaking of things we haven’t done in twenty-five years,” Luke blushed, “do you think you could point out where the bathroom is? I don’t want to have to go all the way out to the studio to use the one there.”

That surprised Julie into letting out a bark of laughter before slapping a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t wake the others. Nodding, she stood up and reached out her hands for Luke to take, before pulling him up after her. They tiptoed amongst the sleeping forms on the floor toward the hallway. She pointed out the bathroom. Luke hesitated, “Do you need to use it first?”

“I can wait until you’re done,” Julie replied with a cheeky grin, “I haven’t had to wait for twenty-five years.”

Once both were done, they slipped quietly back into Julie’s room and noticed Carlos was starting to wake up. As he blinked his eyes open, he stretched his arms out, hitting Reggie in the face. Reggie woke with a sputter, rubbing his cheek, “Ouch! What the heck was that?! I was having a good dream. There was pizza and a puppy. Hey, wait, I was dreaming!. I just woke up! Luke! Alex! I just woke up!”

Luke laughed, “Yeah, I know, buddy. I saw.”

“What is all the noise about?” asked Alex as he slowly came to consciousness.

By now, Reggie was sitting up, bouncing in place, “Good morning, Alex. How did you sleep?”

Alex blinked owlishly up at him, “How did I..,? I slept! We slept!”

Both boys turned to look at Luke, a question in their eyes. He nodded, “Yeah, I slept, too. And that’s not all!”

At their confused looks, Luke and Julie knelt next to the boys. Luke grabbed Alex’s hand and Julie grabbed Reggie’s, each placing the hand they held over the corresponding chest. Alex looked stunned, but a slow smile came over Reggie’s face as he whispered, “W-we’re alive!”

“What?! No way!” yelled Carlos, tripping over the blankets in his attempt to feel the proof of the boys' resurrection for himself.

When Alex remained silent through all of this, his bandmates turned to face him, with Luke asking the question on each of their minds, “Hey, Alex? You doing okay, man? I know this is another BIG change.”

“Y-yeah, yeah,” answered Alex, “It’s a huge change and I don’t understand it at all, but I’m okay. Maybe I just haven’t processed it yet, because I’m not feeling the expected level of anxiety. In fact, I think I’m feeling…hungry.”

Julie laughed, “Let me go talk to my dad. Maybe I can convince him to figure out a nice big breakfast for all of us.”

“Wait, Julie,” Carlos stopped her as she stood back up. He pulled something out of the pocket of his sweatshirt, “Take this with you. Hopefully, it will help convince Dad that you haven’t just gone insane.”

Julie took the folded-up paper from Carlos, noticing it was the cover of the Sunset Curve demo. When she unfolded it, she noticed, for the first time that it showed a picture of the boys along with the words ‘Summer Tour 1995.’ She reached over to hug her younger brother, “Thanks, Carlos.”

Turning back to her bandmates, she added, “I will be back as soon as I can, I’ll get everything straightened out with my dad, and we’ll have the biggest, most delicious breakfast you boys have ever had.”

As she went flying down the stairs, still dressed in her pajamas, Alex turned to the other boys, “Do you really think it will be that easy?”

“Of course!” Carlos replied, “Our dad is pretty cool about most things. The hardest part will be making him believe you were ghosts. But accepting that you’re all here, not a problem. He’s been wanting to meet you guys, anyway.”

Reggie nodded sagely, “I told you before, he has a kind soul. Everything will work out, you’ll see.”

“What do you mean, my dad has a kind soul? How would you know?” asked Carlos.

“Well,” Reggie explained, “While we were ghosts, if we walked through people – or if they walked through us – we could feel, I don’t know, like their souls, I guess. It would give us a deeper look into who a person was than if you were to meet them like a normal person.

Luke and Alex nodded in agreement and Alex added, “We didn’t try to make it a habit to walk through people, but your dad walked through Reggie once. I walked, or danced, through Carrie once without really meaning to.”

“Too distracted by the dancing, huh?” Reggie chuckled.

“I told you; it’s not me, it’s my feet.”

Carlos glanced at Luke, “And what about you? Have you walked through any of us?”

“Um, y-yeah,” Luke blushed and stared intently at the blanket he was sitting upon, “Your sister walked through me not long after we first got here after she swung the refrigerator door shut through me, I might add, and then we walked through each other on stage once.”

Carlos shuddered, “Better you than me. I don’t think I would want to feel someone’s soul, especially my sister’s. That would just be too weird. Did any of you ever walk through me?”

Alex cleared his throat, “You walked through me once, right before you threw salt at me. Thankfully, it didn’t burn out my soul like you thought it would.”

Carlos gave a small cough, “What did I feel like?”

“Well, I was a little distraught at the time, but I could tell that you genuinely wanted to protect your sister and that you felt bad for not initially believing her about seeing ghosts,” answered Alex.

“And my dad?” Carlos asked, turning to Reggie.

“I felt that he had a kind heart,” Reggie replied, “and that he was the kind of dad that any kid would be lucky to have.”

“Yeah, he’s always been pretty chill, and so was Mom, back when she was alive. She was someone who wouldn’t have any trouble believing any part of your story, even the ghost part.”

Luke ruffled Carlos’s hair, “Well, take it from three guys who didn’t have the best relationships with their families, enjoy what you’ve got.”

Carlos nodded, starting to get a little embarrassed with how emotional the conversation was becoming, “Well, I’m going to go get dressed before Julie gets back up here. If you need anything, my room is next door, and the bathroom is on the other side of my room. I wouldn’t go wandering much farther than that for now, though.”

Before Carlos was out of hearing range, Luke called after him, “Do you think you could grab some of our clothes out of the loft in the studio? I don’t really want to stay in this monkey suit all day.”

Carlos chuckled and popped his head back into the room, “Sure thing. You do all look kind of ridiculous.”

Alex looked affronted, “Hey! I think these are pretty sweet…and he’s gone.”

The boys went about getting themselves prepared for the day as they waited for Carlos to bring their clothes. Luke and Alex have to talk Reggie down from immediately jumping in the shower, reminding him that they need to keep a low profile until Julie has finished talking to her dad. Luckily, Carlos comes back quickly with a trash bag and two backpacks.

“How often did you guys sleep in the studio when you were alive?” asks Carlos, a hint of complaint in his voice, “There were more clothes than I expected.”

The boys exchanged glances, unsure how much of their family difficulties to unpack on a kid who came from such a loving, supportive family. Finally, Reggie spoke up, “Well, little man, it never hurts to be extra prepared. Sometimes practice would run late, and it wouldn’t be the best option to try to get home the same night."

Carlos narrowed his eyes at the older boy, convinced that there was more to the story, but decided not to press his luck trying to get more details, “Where are you going to stay, now?”

The three bandmates shared an uncertain look. Noticing the anxiety building in Alex’s eyes, Luke rushed to answer, “We-we haven’t exactly figured that out yet. As ghosts, we were pretty much using the studio as our home base, but if we need to eat and sleep regularly now, that doesn’t seem like an ideal solution. We’re hoping maybe your dad will let us stay a few days until we have things figured out.”

“I’m sure it will all work out,” Carlos stated confidently, “we’ll definitely do what we can to help you out.” The older boys shared a look once more, wishing they had Carlos’s confidence, and hoping against hope that he was right.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, downstairs, Julie approached her dad, “Hey, papa.”

Ray turned from where he stood against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hand, “Hey, Mija. I expected you to sleep in a little longer. I didn’t even hear you come back in from the studio last night.”

“Yeah,” Julie let out a nervous chuckle, “those two things are kinda related. There’s something I need to tell you, well a couple of things, really.”

“Of course,” her dad answered, “You know you can tell me anything.”

"It’s about the guys, from the band. They…,”

“Aren’t actually holograms?” Ray interrupted. Julie's eyes widened in surprise, so Ray continued, “I’ve had my suspicions since your garage performance, because how could you create holograms that look so realistic, but it wasn’t until recently that I came up with an alternative explanation.”

“An alternative explanation?”

Ray shrugged, “One that also explained why you didn’t tell me the truth when I first discovered you had joined a band because it sounds too crazy to possibly be the truth. But you, Carlos, and Victoria all started mentioning ghosts around the same time, which was also around the same time you joined the band. So, I can’t believe I’m asking this, but are the boys in your band ghosts?”

Julie gaped at her dad, “How…how, uh sort of? But there’s more to it than that.”

“I may be old, but I do know a thing or two about graphics, being a photographer and all, and those holograms were way beyond anything that should be possible,” began Ray, “and then, when I thought about it, that fact that every member of this family mentioned ghosts recently made open my mind to the possibility that maybe you were all on to something. I know I told Carlos early on that ghosts weren’t real, but the more he brought it up, the more open I became to the possibility. But I just didn’t want him to get his hopes up about your mom coming back, though I realize now he was more interested in ghosts for the sake of ghosts existing. On top of all the other evidence, you’ve got all the times the ‘radio’ was ‘accidentally left on’ in the garage. When I put everything together, ghosts were, surprisingly, the theory that made the most sense.”

Julie gave her dad a nervous smile, “I’m glad you’re not more freaked out by this. And I hope you understand why I didn’t tell you before this.”

“Oh, mija, of course, I do,” replied Ray, “I probably didn’t help that night you were first yelling about ghosts when I suggested going back to the therapist might be a good idea.”

“I just knew how crazy it sounded, I even thought I might be going crazy at first. I didn’t even tell Flynn right away because I knew how worried she would be about me. I didn’t want everyone else worrying about me and thinking I had lost my mind. Especially once they started helping me find my way back to music.”

“Something for which I will always be grateful.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

“So how does it work? We can only see them when they’re playing music?” Ray asked.

Julie shook her head, “Not any time they're playing music. Other people could only see them when they were playing music with me.”

“I guess that means I’m never going to meet them in person, am I?”

“About that,” Julie bit her lower lip in thought, “they had a curse placed on them by another ghost, which was slowly destroying them, which I realize is a whole other level of crazy sounding. They wanted to try to save themselves by crossing over before the curse took full effect. That's why we played at the Orpheum, we assumed that it was their unfinished business and that they would cross over after the show. Only they didn’t. They were still here and still cursed. As they were trying to say goodbye to me, I hugged them, and they became more solid. Then Carlos came out to the studio and could see them, too. And now, this morning, they seem to be alive again. They’re upstairs right now.”

Ray blinked a few times, “That's… a lot to take in. How long ago did these boys die? How old were they?”

“They were seventeen when they died, twenty-five years ago. They were supposed to perform at the Orpheum the night they died, that’s why they thought that was their unfinished business. Here, look,” replied Julie, holding out the album sleeve to her dad.

“Twenty-five years?” Ray let out a whistle, taking in the picture of the boys, “That’s going to make it hard to explain them suddenly being alive again. Are they still seventeen? Why did they show up here? I have so many questions.” 

“I know. I don’t have all the answers, maybe we never will” Julie replied with a shrug, “They are still seventeen. They appeared when I played an old CD of theirs that I found in Mom’s studio. I think she somehow sent them here."

“Wait, your mom worked at the Orpheum around that time, it was before we met, but she told me about it. She said she quit after a traumatic experience there.” Julie nodded, “She was there the night they died. Apparently, she was one of the last people they talked to before, well, you know. I want to believe that Mom sent them to me, to help me find my way back.”

“That sounds like something your mom would do,” Ray smiled.

“There’s more,” Julie nodded toward the picture of the boys, pointing to the member who had survived, “Do you recognize this guy?” Ray squinted at the picture before shaking his head. “It’s Trevor Wilson,” stated Julie, “He used to be the rhythm guitarist for the band the boys were in, but he went by Bobby back then. His first album was mostly music he stole from them after they died.”

“That could be an issue,” Ray replied, “given that Trevor was at The Orpheum last night.”

Julie paled, “He was?”

Ray nodded, “But we can worry about that when it comes up. I think we need to take this one thing at a time. The boys are upstairs now? Why don’t you run upstairs and bring them down here? I can get some breakfast started. I know I’m not an expert chef, but think, I can manage to whip up a batch of pancakes, will that work?”

“They haven’t eaten in twenty-five years,” Julie reminded her dad, “I think they’ll be okay with anything at this point, especially Reggie.”

With that said, she ran back upstairs to gather up the boys. She was impressed to find they had all changed while she was gone, and even more impressed that Luke had chosen a shirt with actual sleeves. If she had to guess, she would bet he was worried about making a good impression on her dad. Smiling to herself she gathered up her own change of clothes before turning to the boys, “I’m going to go get dressed but then my dad wants to meet all of you. He’s making pancakes.”

Reggie’s exclamation of glee as she was leaving her room made her laugh. She laughed even louder when she got back to her room and found her bandmates lined up shoulder-to-shoulder. Luke and Alex looked more nervous than she had ever seen them, but Reggie was bouncing excitedly. “I promise this will be okay guys,” she reassured before turning to Carlos, “Why don’t you lead the way.”

Carlos gave a salute and walked out of the room gesturing for the boys to follow him. Reggie was almost skipping as he left next, followed by Alex, with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Julie held out a hand, grabbing Luke’s arm to prevent him from immediately following, “It’s all gonna work out, you know? He’s been wanting to meet you guys since he found out about the band. I think he’s really excited that he’s finally getting the chance to. He is so supportive of the band and our music, but we do have a lot of logistics to work out now that you guys are alive. Once we got the basics out of the way, though, I would still like to have that discussion we talked about last night.”

He gave her a small smile, which she returned before sliding her hand down his arm to link with his own. She gave his hand a little tug, “Now come on, before Reggie eats everything!”

Julie’s heart swelled as she heard Luke’s laughter trailing after her. She pulled him down the stairs and into the kitchen. Once there she began to introduce the boys to her dad. He shook hands with Alex and Luke, but when he reached out to shake Reggie’s hand, the bassist launched himself at Ray, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. He pulled back a little embarrassed by his enthusiasm, “Sorry, I just, I’ve been spending a lot of time hanging around you. You passed through me once and I felt a warmth and kindness from you that was so welcoming. I’m just so excited that you know I’m here now.”

“It’s fine, mijo,” Ray answered, “you’re all a part of this family now and we never apologize for showing affection. Now, I hope you boys are hungry. I’m making enough pancakes to feed an army and once they are ready we’re going to have a nice breakfast together and I want you to tell me yourselves, while we work out how it is going to work to legally bring you back to life.”

Reggie grinned at Julie, “I told you before, best dad ever!”

Chapter Text

Julie’s family and her band got to know each other during breakfast. Ray asked each of the boys about their interests outside of music and their families, though not pushing for answers beyond what each boy was willing to offer in response.

“Luke’s family is the only one we know anything about currently,” Reggie offered, “My family’s old house is gone, and I have no idea where to even start looking."

“And you, Alex?” asked Ray.

“I haven’t even tried looking for my family. They weren’t very accepting of who I was when I was alive. I don’t feel like I would be comfortable going back to them even if I could.”

Ray shook his head, unable to comprehend how any parent could make their children feel that way, “Well, you are all welcome to stay here as long as you want or need. Reggie, we can help you find your family if you want. Luke, if you want to go and see, or move back in with your parents, that’s fine. I want you to know you’ll always have a place here if you need it. We can transform a couple of the other rooms in the house for you boys to use. Or we could make the studio a little more all-weather friendly, if you prefer.”

Luke answered for the group, “Thanks. That means a lot. We’ll think it over and let you know what we decide.”

“Of course,” Ray replied, “You’ve already done more than you probably know for Julie, this seems like the least I could do.”

Julie ducked her head in embarrassment but was saved from any further discussion revolving around her by the ringing of the doorbell. She jumped out of her seat, “I’ll get it. You guys stay here and talk things over with my dad. You’ve got a lot to sort through.”

When she opened the front door, she was taken aback to see Nick standing on the porch, facing away from her and holding a bouquet. His stance seemed a little off, with his shoulders held at a weird angle, but Julie was surprised enough to see him that she didn’t give it much thought. After their conversation at school, Nick was the last person she expected to show up on her front porch this morning. Still, she saw no reason to be rude, “Hi! Nick!”

The way he whirled around to look at her gave her a little bit of a start. He walked toward her with a swagger that was more fluid than one would expect from a boy who could barely stay on his feet during dance class. A cocky grin appeared on his face as he handed over the flowers.

Julie smiled, “Thanks.”

Nick bobbed his head, “That was quite the show last night. Just wanted to let you know, I think you’ve got quite a talent there. Your band could really go places. It was almost magical.”

“Oh, well, you know, it felt pretty magical to me, too. But that could just be because we were playing the freaking Orpheum.” Julie chuckled nervously, “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the flowers, but I’ve gotta get back inside. We’re in the middle of a big family discussion.”

Nick nodded, taking a step back, “I hope everything’s okay. See you around, Julie.”

Julie shut the door and leaned back against it for a minute. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, but something about that interaction with Nick had felt off. She had always felt like Nick had a kind-hearted aura about him. That was part of why she had developed a crush on him. This interaction left her feeling vaguely like she had been threatened, but she wasn’t sure why. Shaking her head, she pushed away from the door and headed back to the kitchen. The sight she saw there brought a smile back to her face. Luke and Reggie were helping carry the breakfast dishes over to the sink, where Alex had himself stationed to start washing. She giggled, “You guys don’t have to do that, you know?"

“Oh, I’ve told them that,” Ray responded, “They insisted. Who was at the door?”

“It was Nick, he brought flowers to congratulate me on last night’s performance,” Julie did not fail to notice the way Luke’s eyes snapped to her at the mention of her former dance partner, an expression she couldn’t quite place on his face. She turned back to her father, “Can you put these in some water for me? I’ll help the guys get finished here and then I’m going to borrow Luke for a minute. There’s something I need to talk to him about.”

Ray gave his daughter a knowing smile, “We’ve got more than enough help in here, why don’t you two head out to the studio. I’ll spend some more time getting to know the other two while you’re gone.”

Julie couldn’t help but smile at her father’s understanding. After handing over her flowers, she grabbed Luke by the hand and led him out to the studio. She sat on the sofa and patted the spot next to her, urging Luke to take a seat, as well. Luke took a seat but immediately started bouncing his right leg up and down with nervous energy. Julie leaned over and placed her hand on his knee to halt the movement before turning her gaze to his face and sighing, “Nothing is going on between me and Nick, you know?”

When Luke merely gaped at her, she continued, “I will admit, I did have a crush on him at one point, but not anymore. He asked me out the other day and I turned him down. I didn’t give him a reason, but he figured out on his own that I liked someone else.”

“Y-yeah?” Luke cleared his throat, “Who-who might that be?”

“Reggie, obviously.”

At the look of shock and confusion that came over Luke’s face, Julie started laughing, “I’m just kidding. I told you last night we should have more of a discussion about whatever is between you and me. Do you really think I would have phrased it that way if I was interested in Reggie?”

Luke let out a small chuckle as he shook his head, a timid smile slowly appearing.

“But speaking of Reggie,” continued Julie, “he mentioned something earlier that I wanted to ask you about.”

“You can ask me anything, Julie.”

“Earlier Reggie mentioned that he could feel warmth and kindness when my dad passed through him, what did he mean?”

Luke took a deep breath before answering, “It turns out that one of the weird side effects of being a ghost, is that when people would pass through us or we would pass through them, we could get a kind of sense of who they are, or what they were feeling. It kind of felt like feeling that person’s soul, I guess. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“We passed through each other at least twice.” Julie pointed out. At Luke’s nod, she continued, “If you don’t mind telling me, what did you feel when I passed through you?”

Luke ducked his head, and Julie noticed a pink tinge painting his cheeks before he whispered an answer almost too softly for her to hear, “Complete. I-I felt complete. I had never felt that before, even when I was alive.”

Julie felt tears threatening to spill over. Without allowing herself time to second guess anything, she threw her arms around Luke, “Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

“What good would it have done? We were ghosts. Even if we didn’t cross over during your lifetime, we would have stayed seventeen, while you grew up and started a life apart from us. There would be too many questions if your band never aged. There was no scenario I could imagine that would end with a happily ever after. Me, Alex, and Reggie were just going to end up being more loss in your life.”

“And now?” asked Julie, now crying in earnest.

“Now? I have no idea what the future might hold, if we’re going to be allowed to hold on to this second chance at life, and that terrifies me. But I do know that I-I really like you, Julie.”

Julie beamed through her tears, “I really like you, too, Luke. So does this mean our interesting little relationship is actually going to become a relationship?”

“God, I hope so. If that’s what you want, I mean. I know there are a lot of other factors to consider, given we’re in a band together, and we might be living together, and I guess I’m still legally dead even if I’m not actually dead anymore.” Luke rambled.

“I know it might not be the most conventional relationship ever,” Julie interjected, “but I want you to know that you make me feel complete, too. I would like to give us a try.”

While Julie was speaking, Luke had moved his hands to cradle her face, using his thumbs to wipe away the tear tracks on her cheeks. Now he gave her a soft smile, “Do you think-do you think I could kiss you now?”

Instead of answering, Julie pulled his face the rest of the way to hers. Their first kiss was soft and sweet, both still marveling that such a thing was even possible. When they pulled apart, Julie could have sworn that Luke’s grin was the brightest thing she had ever seen, and her heart swelled with the knowledge that she was able to make him look like that. They sat together in happy silence for a few minutes before Luke nudged Julie’s shoulder with his own, before standing up, “As much as I want to just stay out here with you, we probably should get back inside. We don’t want Alex to worry that you’ve murdered me when I just came back to life.”

Julie laughed as she took Luke’s outstretched hand and let him pull her to her feet. She intertwined her fingers with his and they headed back to the house to share their happiness with the rest of their family.

Chapter Text

Julie and Luke re-entered the house hand in hand and could not stop smiling. They met Alex in the kitchen, who gave them a knowing smile that made each of them blush. Alex’s grin grew larger, “Good conversation?”

Julie snuck a peek at Luke before nodding. She then glanced at the bouquet, sitting in a vase on the counter, “Figured it was time to set the record straight to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding.”

“Well, I’d say it’s about time,” Alex responded, standing up to clap a hand on Luke’s shoulder, “And speaking of things people have been waiting for, Reggie beat everyone to the shower, so I hope there’s enough hot water left for the rest of us.”

Luke chuckled, “I’m sure we’ll make do. So, once we’re all squeaky clean, what are the plans for the rest of the day?"

“I know Julie’s dad wants to have us go shopping with him at some point. He wants to make sure we’ve all got some new clothes and a comfortable place to sleep, now that we do that again. But I would also like to start looking for Willie. Since he probably thinks we crossed over, he’s not going to come looking for us, and I do want to make sure he’s okay. Thinking about it now, though, I don’t even know if I’d be able to see him now that we’re not ghosts.”

“Hey,” Julie comforted, “we’ll do what we can. Maybe the fact that you’ve been a ghost will still let you see ghosts. Or, even if you can’t see him now, maybe I can. We’ve never really tested out how far my ability to see ghosts stretches. I know that we think my mom had something to do with me being able to see you guys, but maybe as part of the process I can see other ghosts, too. You can’t give up hope until we’ve tried everything.”

“I know you’re right,” replied Alex, “I guess I’ve just never been great at being the optimistic one.”

Luke slung an arm over Alex’s shoulder, “Alex, we’ve been given a second chance at life! If that isn’t a reason to be optimistic, I don’t know what is. But if you’re still struggling, the rest of us will be optimistic for you.”

“Thanks, guys.”

At that moment, Reggie bounded back into the kitchen, shaking out his still damp hair, “Oh, man! I had forgotten just how nice a good shower feels. Whose up next?”

“Alex, why don’t you go next? Use the time to think about places Willie might be, particularly if he’s feeling sad. Oh, and we’ve got the second shower out in the studio, if you want to take one now, too, Luke,” offered Julie.

At Luke’s reluctant pout she continued, “I promise we will all still be here when you get back. I need a chance to call Flynn anyway. If it makes you feel better, Reggie and I can call her from the studio.”

Luke blushed, “No, no, that’s fine. Um, you can call her from in here. I’ll be back soon.”

As he ran out the door, Julie turned to Reggie, “What was that about?”

“I think he just realized that, even though he wants to stay close to you, if you were to go out to the studio to wait, you would be able to hear him showering, which probably led to him imagining hearing you in the shower, which led to…”

“Okay, okay,” interrupted Julie, cheeks flaming, “I get the picture. But I guess, if you guys stay here it will eventually be inevitable, won’t it? The overhearing part, I mean.”

Reggie shrugged, “I guess that depends on whether we stay in the house or the studio. I don’t know that any of us would choose to move back home, even if it were feasible. The three of us haven’t really been apart since you brought us here, it would feel weird to split up like that. Not to mention I don’t think any of us are ready to leave you, yet. At least not with everything being so new.”

Julie nodded, “Speaking of which, I should probably call Flynn now. I’ll let you talk to her, too, after I break the news.”

Reggie bounced up and down in excitement at the process and Julie pulled out her phone. Flynn answered on the second ring, “Julie?! Are you okay? I didn’t really expect to hear from you today, given, well, everything.”

“That’s part of why I’m calling, Flynn,” Julie interjected, “The boys didn’t cross over.”

“What?!” Flynn shrieked, “What about the jolts? Are they okay?”

“Yes, yes. They’re fine. Better than fine, actually. Flynn, something happened after I got back last night. I thought we were done, that the guys had moved on. But somehow they’re still here and we have a second chance. I found the boys in the studio when I got home, and the jolts were still zapping them. When I tried to convince them to go to Caleb, they refused. Without thinking, I hugged Luke. And I was actually able to hug him.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Flynn yelled for the second time.

“I’m not finished,” Julie replied, “I brought the other guys into the hug, and they became solid, too. Then Carlos could see them. And then this morning, they were all alive again.”

“I-I don’t know where to start. That’s a lot to unpack!"

“Oh, I know,” Julie sighed, “But to help make it more real for you, Reggie’s right here. He wants to say hi.”

“Hi, Flynn!” greeted Reggie, cheerfully.

“Oh my gosh! I can hear him over the phone. This is kind of huge. I’m coming over right now. Wait, does your dad know, yet?”

Julie laughed, “Yes, my dad knows. And I would expect nothing less from you. We have some things we want to try to do today, but we can wait for you. I still need to get cleaned up and ready for the day, anyway.”

“Okay, see you soon!”

Just as Julie was hanging up the phone, Alex appeared in the kitchen again, “I think I have an idea of where Willie might go, if he’s able to. So, if we get a chance today, I’d like to swing by and look.”

Julie reached over and squeezed his hand, “Of course. We’ll do everything we can to help. Just let me and my dad know where we need to go. For now, I’m going to go get cleaned up and dressed so I'll be good to go before Luke gets back.”

She ran out of the room and Alex sent Reggie a quizzical look, “What’s her sudden hurry?”

Reggie laughed, “She and Luke apparently just realized how awkward it might be now if we all live together. Now that we’re alive and have human needs.”

“Oh, man. I’m almost sorry I missed that.”

“Missed what?” asked Luke as he rejoined the other boys. “You coming to the realization that you and Julie could be sharing the same living space now, particularly after finally admitting your feelings for each other,” Reggie answered, gleefully.

“I don’t think you have any right to judge my reaction,” Luke growled, “It’s not like you’ve ever unexpectedly found yourself sharing a living space with someone you’ve liked before.” “That may be,” Reggie replied, “but at least, unlike you, I have dated a girl before. So, I can at least get enjoyment from teasing you about having your first real girlfriend.”

Alex was about to get between the other two boys when the doorbell rang again, and he sighed in relief at literally being saved by the bell. Before any of he boys could make a move toward the door, Carlos came flying down the stairs, yelling, “I got it!”

Moments later, Carlos entered the kitchen, followed by Flynn, who stopped in her tracks once she caught sight of the boys. After staring at them for a few minutes, she moved over to Reggie and reached her hand out to push his shoulder, as she had done before. She gave a startled yelp and jumped backward in surprise when her hand met his solid arm this time, “Oh my gosh! It’s really true!”

“Of course it is!” Julie’s voice came from the stairs as she made her way back toward the group, Ray following a few steps behind her, “I know you thought I was delusional before you first met the guys, but I couldn’t possibly have thought up a scenario like this.”

“I don’t know, as I said then, when you create a world, you really live in it.”

“But I wasn’t imagining things then, and I’m definitely not imagining this now.” Julie made her way over to Luke, who threw an arm around her shoulders, earning a knowing smirk from Flynn that let Julie know she was in for an interrogation later.

Ray made his way over to the couple and placed a gentle hand on top of Julie’s head, “No, mija. As bizarre as this all is, it’s definitely real. And while I don’t approve of all the secrecy that went on, I understand. And I am so proud of you for taking care of these boys when no one else could."

Julie smiled as she noticed all three of her bandmates look embarrassed at this speech, but she turned back to her father before speaking, “Of course. They’re family now. And if there is one thing this family does it’s take care of each other. But it sounds like we’ve got one family member still missing, a friend of Alex’s who was also under some sort of curse, and we’re gonna need all the help we can get to help find him.”

Ray clapped his hands together, “In that case, let’s move into the living room so we can all get comfortable. It sounds like we have some planning to do.”

Chapter Text

“Okay,” Ray clapped his hands together, “Why don’t we start by making a list of the most likely places your friend would be.”

“Willie. His name is Willie,” Alex stated.

With a nod, Ray continued, “Okay, let’s list the most likely places Willie might be, and then we can figure out the best approach for checking all the locations.”

“What about the park you first introduced us to him?” suggested Luke.

“Or the area where you first met him, in Hollywood?” Reggie added.

Alex nodded, “Those should both go on the list. We should also add the Santa Monica Museum of Contemporary Art. That’s where he took me when he knew I needed to blow off some steam. He also mentioned something about skating in Justin Bieber’s pool once.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s one place we’ll be able to check,” Julie answered, “I could get into Trevor’s house because I had been there before as Carrie’s friend, but we’re not going to be able to easily sneak into other celebrities’ houses.”

“What if he’s still at Caleb’s club?” Reggie asked.

“That would suck,” replied Alex, “I don’t know if we’d be able to go there, either, now that we’re lifers.”

“Not to mention I don’t want any of you near that place again,” Julie added, “But that doesn’t mean we’ll give up looking. If we can’t find Willie anywhere else, we’ll figure something out.”

“This is a good start,” Ray spoke up, “We can probably cover more ground if we split up. Since you boys are the only ones who know what Willie looks like, and since you and Julie are more likely to be able to actually see Willie, I suggest we split the boys up. I can take Carlos and one of the boys.”

“Oh, oh! Me!” exclaimed Reggie, bouncing excitedly, “We can check the park.”

“And I’ll take Alex,” Flynn added, shouting a sly glance at Julie and Luke.

Alex nodded in agreement, “I would like to check out the area in Hollywood where Willie and I first met.”

Julie gave Alex’s an encouraging nod, “Then I guess Luke and I will take the museum.”

The three groups went their separate ways, promising to keep in touch, and to re-group at the house no later than mid-afternoon. Alex watched his friends leave, letting it sink in that if anything were to happen, the boys wouldn’t be able to poof to each other. It was going to be the most separated they had been in over 25 years, and it was making him a little anxious. But Reggie was practically skipping to the Molina family car, excited to spend time with Ray, and Luke could barely take his eyes off Julie as they wandered off to make their way to Santa Monica. He was happy for his friends, but it was hard to watch when he was still so worried about Willie. He turned to Flynn, “Thanks for letting Luke go with Julie. I know it sounds dramatic, but I think making him leave Julie for a full day right now might actually kill him again.”

“Oh, I know,” was Flynn’s response, “she’s just as bad. Come on, let’s head out, see if we can go find your boy.”

“He’s not my…” Alex started but was cut off by a look from Flynn.

“Please,” she stated, “I’ve been around my girl Jules there enough lately to know exactly what lovestruck looks like. You all may not be official, but this Willie is definitely your boy.”

Alex dipped his head in agreement and let Flynn lead him to the stop where they would catch the bus.

Time passed as each group searched their dedicated area. Alex could feel his anxiety and sadness ramping up with each minute that passed with no sign of Willie being found. By the time the group decided it was time to head back to the Molina house, he was on the verge of tears. Luckily Flynn, having been friends with Julie through her loss, had learned a thing or two about how to comfort someone. As they found their seats on the bus back to Los Feliz, she put an arm around his shoulder and told him to look at her, “Listen, just because we haven’t found him yet, doesn’t mean we won’t. Not everyone acts predictably when they’ve lost someone close to them. And if Willie cares about you half as much as you care about him, he still thinks he has. It’s the weekend, we’ve got all day tomorrow to look, too. We’ll tear Los Angeles apart if we have to.”

The duo was the first to arrive back to the house. Upon their return, Flynn deposited Alex on the living room sofa before announcing they both needed some sugar after the stress of the day and heading off into the kitchen to see what kind of snacks she could rustle up. Ray, Carlos and Reggie returned soon after. The group had an unspoken agreement not to start making plans for further searching until everyone was back at the house. About an hour after Alex and Flynn arrived home, the group heard Luke and Julie’s voices coming up from the street. Suddenly Julie’s voice rose in volume, “Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Ray was the first one out the door, ready to protect his kids, but the rest of the group followed after, finding a figure with their back to the crowd, lowering themselves from their tiptoes, shoulders drooping and head dropped to stare at the ground. As the figure turned, Alex let out a gasp, “Willie?”

Willie’s head shot up, “Alex? How-how are you here? You crossed over. Or you were supposed to.”

“Yeah, well. We didn’t. But we don’t have to worry about Caleb’s stamp anymore either. Wait! I can still see you! Why can I still see you?”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to see me, Hot Dog?” asked Willie.

“We didn’t cross over, we somehow came back to life. As a lifer, I shouldn’t be able to see you, right?” Alex was close to hyperventilating.

Willie glanced around the crowd of people, “I don’t think you’re the only one who can see me.”

Alex whipped around to find everyone watching the interaction between Willie and him, eyes moving back and forth between them. He turned back to Willie, “I think maybe we have some catching up to do after last night.”

Willie nodded. Behind them, Ray cleared his throat, “Let’s move inside where we can all sit down and work through everything that has happened in the last day.”

The group made their way indoors, pulling chairs from the kitchen into the living room to ensure enough seating for everyone. When everyone was seated, Alex turned to Willie, “What happened last night from your point of view? You obviously experienced some change, if we can all see you.”

Willie glanced around the room, before answering, “When you guys escaped from the club, which I would like to know how you did that, it seemed to break the hold Caleb had on everyone. Some of the ghosts immediately crossed over. Others, like me, felt his hold break, but nothing else seemed to change. Caleb tried to send his jolts through those of us who were left behind, but nothing happened. He disappeared in a fury. I didn’t want to wait around to see what Caleb’s reaction was going to be when he reappeared, so I got out of there as fast as I could, but I didn’t know where to go. I knew you had gone to the Orpheum. I knew what that was supposed to mean; that your unfinished business would be completed, and you would cross over. When the glowing light surrounded me later that night, I thought that was somehow you trying to tell me goodbye. I didn’t know what to do or where to go after that. As far as I knew, you were gone. If I had had any idea that you were still…I would have tried to find you sooner. I ended up here just trying to find a way to still connect with you when I thought you were gone.”

Feeling emboldened, Alex reached over and grabbed Willie’s hand, linking their fingers together, “As you can see, we did not cross over after the show at the Orpheum. But we weren’t freed from Caleb’s curse right away like you were. We didn’t want Julie to worry so we pretended to cross over and came back here but were still getting zapped by the jolts. Julie found us and when she hugged us, we began to glow, like you described. We became solid, and visible to others, and then Caleb's stamps lit up and floated off of our arms into the light. Then, we fell asleep! When we woke up, we were alive again.”

“Yeah,” Reggie added, “After everything we went through, I still can’t believe we’re actually alive. How is this possible?”

Willie shook his head, “I don’t know. But I sure don’t want to ask the ghost who might.”

“Agreed,” Ray interjected, “It seems like this Caleb has caused enough trouble for all of you. I don’t want any of you trying to seek him out, for any reason. We may never know why any of this happened, but it is a miracle, and miracles deserve to be celebrated. So tonight, we are going to have a big dinner, all of us together and then all of you can camp out together here in the living room tonight. We work on long-term arrangements tomorrow. So, any requests for dinner?”

Before anyone else could even blink, Reggie’s voice rang out, “Can we please get pizza? I have missed pizza so much.”

Ray laughed, “You got it, mijo. Pizza it is.”

Chapter Text

True to his word, Ray ordered enough pizza to feed an army that night and dinner was the most festive and animated meal in the Molina house since Rose had passed away. While Julie loved her brother and father, she felt that this was the first time in a long time that the house felt full of life and love. And Reggie’s thorough enjoyment of the pizza was a source of amusement for all. After his first bite, he let out a borderline indecent moan, proclaiming, “I think this might be my favorite part of being alive. This pizza is so much better than Hollywood Ghost Club's food.”

Alex spoke up at the confused looks on Flynn and Julie’s family's faces, “Caleb, the ghost who cursed us, ran a club where people could pay to see performing ghosts. And ghosts could eat the food there. That was part of why he cursed us; he wanted us to perform there permanently.”

“He made it sound so attractive at the beginning,” added Luke, “Reminding us that it was the one place we would be able to keep a connection with the audience after the music ended.”

“He didn’t curse you just to get you in his band.” Willie explained, “I told you before that I had never met a ghost other than Caleb who could be seen by humans without his help. But the truth was he had never met one either. He felt threatened by that. He basically told me you were too powerful to let you roam free.”

“But we don’t have any magical power,” stated a confused Reggie.

Flynn snorted, “Says the former ghost who somehow came back to life.”

“But that was all Julie, wasn’t it?”

“Actually,” answered Willie, “I think all four of you have some kind of abilities. I’ve learned over the years that becoming a ghost in the first place requires some level of, for lack of a better word, magic. And the fact that all of your unusual powers seem centered around Julie suggests that she has some, too.”

“So, what you’re saying is that I actually am a witch?” asked Julie.

“Called it!” yelled Reggie, earning a smack to the back of his head from Luke.

Willie chuckled, “I don’t think that’s quite it. You, all of you, just have some abilities that are beyond those of normal humans. It translates into talents, too. I don’t know if you guys noticed, but all ghosts had some talent that was above average. I think of it more as having an extra-large soul, I guess.”

“Hey, that tracks with what I said when we learned to summon our instruments,” Luke interjected gleefully, “Our instruments really are connected to our souls, right?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, I don’t know about how all this magic works,” said Ray, scooting his chair out from the table, “but your music surely comes from your souls. If you all are planning on rehearsing this evening, I would love the chance to come and watch; and see the process in action.”

“Sweet! You guys can have a mini-concert. I haven’t ever heard you play, either, except at the club, but that wasn’t your own music. Alex told me you were set to play at the Orpheum before you died, too. I want to hear you before you officially become legends!” added Willie.

The group moved out to the studio, where the band's instruments had appeared when the boys came back to life. They spent a few minutes moving things around to get the set-up that they wanted while Ray, Carlos, Willie, and Flynn found seats on the sofa and chairs across from them. Luke turned to Julie, “What are we starting with, boss?”

“I think we should start with Bright. It’s the first song we ever performed together, so it makes sense. And kind of has a special place in my heart.”

She expected Luke’s answering grin as he nodded in agreement. She did not expect to see that grin turn to the softer, more private smile he gave her before turning back to the rest of the group, “This was a song I wrote for Sunset Curve, back when we were alive. One that Bobby, luckily, didn’t know about. When Julie needed something to sing to get back into the music program, I let her use this song. Once we saw her up on stage, we had to join in, which is when we discovered others could see us when we performed together.”

Carlos piped up from his place on the sofa, “So this song is like the Julie and the Phantoms origin story?”

Julie grinned at her brother, “Something like that, yeah.”

She started her keyboard intro followed by her solo first verse. Much like the first time she performed the song, Luke couldn’t take his eyes off of her, but he turned to the audience for his verse. Even with the feelings he had found with Julie, he craved a connection with their audience, as he spoke of the night they had died. As the song progressed, however, and he felt the connection, he let his attention turn more and more back to Julie until they were once again sharing a microphone. As Julie sang the final note, he met her gaze with the same soft smile from earlier and nearly leaned in to kiss her before remembering their audience included her dad and brother. The audience he was now realizing was clapping and making their way over to the band members.

Ray was the first to reach them, “While I don’t know as much about music as Julie or her mom, I do believe there was some kind of magic in that performance.”

Willie nodded as he moved in to hug Alex, whispering, “Legends.”

“Wow, if you were still trying the ‘no eye contact’ thing, you failed even worse than last time,” Flynn told Julie, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

“Wait, what ‘no eye contact’ thing?” asked Luke.

Julie blushed before answering, “Flynn was concerned that I was going to get hurt by, you know, crushing on a ghost. She told me to try to avoid eye contact with you during the performance we had here at the house.”

“So that’s why you were ignoring me! Do you know I spent the first three-quarters of the song wondering what I had done wrong? Why you were mad at me?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Julie leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, “I was trying to protect myself. But I’m pretty sure I was already past the point of no return where you were concerned, thus the…um…epic eye contact at the end of the song.”

“Well, in case it wasn’t obvious, I was pretty far gone, too.”

“Which is kind of funny when you consider how hard you were trying to convince me and Alex earlier that day that you didn’t have any more chemistry with Julie than with anyone else you sing with.” Reggie butted in before turning to stage-whisper to Julie, “You know, he sort of kissed me that day.”

“What?!?"

“Yeah, well, he kissed his fingers and touched them to my lips, after proving that he did, in fact, have chemistry with me, too.”

Julie turned to Alex for confirmation or denial of this, but his attention was completely focused on Willie. She turned back to Luke, who was scratching the back of his neck, “Yeah, you know that self-preservation thing you were talking about with avoiding eye contact. This was kinda my version. I knew I was a goner, but if I admitted it to anyone else…. Like I told you before, I didn’t see any potential for things to end the way I wanted them to.”

Noticing the increasing intensity of the conversation going on between his daughter and her bandmate, Ray cleared his throat, “Well, since we didn’t get around to getting a space set up for you boys yet, I’m going to go get the living room set up for everyone who wants to sleep there tonight. Carlos, why don’t you come help?”

“I’ll come, too.” Flynn practically yelled, shooting a conspiratorial wink at Julie.

Reggie, excited at the prospect of helping out his newfound father figure, chimed in, “Oh, oh, me, too!”

Alex stepped over to his remaining friends, “Willie and I are gonna go for a quick walk. We’ve got some things to talk over. If anyone comes looking for us, we’ll be back soon.”

“Not too soon, I hope,” Luke shouted after him, causing Julie to slap his arm. Once they were alone, he leaned down to touch his forehead against hers, “Finally! Do you know how badly I’ve been wanting to kiss you since you started singing? Didn’t feel right doing it in front of your family, though.”

“Well, I don’t see anyone else around now, so what are you waiting for, Patterson?”

Luke’s grin lit up the entire studio before his mouth came crashing down to meet hers in a kiss that sent a shiver down her back. When he pulled away, he touched his forehead to hers again, “I don’t know what other abilities Willie thinks we might have, but there was definitely some magic there.”

Julie snorted, “You’re such a cheeseball!”

“But you love it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” she replied, pulling him back in for another kiss.

Chapter Text

Alex and Willie wandered down the block, away from the Molinas’ house. As they reached the corner, Alex stopped and turned to face the other boy, “I want you to know how glad I am that you’re okay. From the moment Caleb showed up in our studio, aware of our plan to play the Orpheum, I was afraid he had done something awful to you.”

“I don’t think Caleb ever figured out the role I played in getting you guys that gig,” Willie responded, “but even if he had, I meant what I said; I’d do anything for you, Hotdog.”

“I still don’t like that nickname. But I meant what I said, too. Even if you had skated away, when we asked about Caleb, I would have followed you. I-I really like you, Willie.”

“I like you, too, man!”

Alex took a steadying breath, “As glad as I am to hear that, I mean I really like you. And after everything I’ve been through lately, I want to make sure we are on the same page with what we mean by that.”

Instead of answering, Willie stepped closer to Alex and placed a hand on Alex’s cheek, slowly stroking the blond boy’s cheekbone with his thumb. When Alex’s eyes met his, he let out a soft hum before speaking, “When I thought you were gone, Alex, I honestly didn’t care if Caleb found out that I had helped you. In my entire life and afterlife, I’ve never met anyone quite like you. The idea of continuing on in an unending afterlife didn’t seem as appealing as it once did, if you were really gone, especially so soon after I found you in the first place.”

“So just to be absolutely clear,” Alex began, a shy smile forming on his lips, “when you say you like me….”

“I mean, I’m looking forward to our second date.”

“S-second?’ stuttered Alex.

Willie laughed, “What did you think our trip to the museum was?”

“I-I um, what?”

Willie silenced Alex’s stuttering by placing a finger on his lips. He watched redness spread over Alex’s face before meeting his eyes again. Emboldened by what he saw there, Willie leaned up and brushed Alex’s nose with his own. Pulling away, he cleared his throat, “I don’t know exactly how this is going to work, now that you’re alive again and I’m, well, whatever I am now. But do know that I want to spend time with you for as long as I can.”

Alex gave a small chuckle, ducking his head, “I know I’ve never been what anyone would call an optimist, but with everything that’s happened lately, I actually believe this might work out somehow. If there really is something like magic involved, then why would we find each other again if there was no hope for a future? And the fact that you’ve changed to some degree, well, it gives me a reason to hope. That’s not a feeling I’m particularly familiar with, so I’m gonna need your help to know what to do with it.”

“You got it, Hotdog.” A large smile spread across Willie’s face as he tangled his fingers with Alex’s, “After all, I already took on the role of your guide to the afterlife, I can be your guide in learning to be hopeful, too.”

“Well, since we're talking about hope, I think I have an idea for that second date that I hope you'll like.” Alex stated shyly, “If I were still a ghost, I might even poof us there now. But I can’t poof out anymore and, since I’m alive, I actually require sleep again and it’s getting late, so raincheck?”

“Of course. Just say when, and I’ll be there.”

Alex glanced down at their intertwined hands again, a slow blush spreading across his face, before he turned them back in the direction they had originally come from. They walked hand in hand back to Julie’s house, swinging their joined hands between them. Alex felt lighter than he ever had, even when he, Reggie, Luke, and Bobby had first become friends.

As he let his mind wander, he came to the startling revelation that he was feeling grateful they had eaten those infamous hot dogs twenty-five years ago. If he and his bandmates hadn’t died that night, they would have never met Julie, and he would never have met Willie. Even if he and Willie had lived at the same time and still met, he would have had to deal with his family’s disapproval. He didn’t miss his family the same way he knew Luke and Reggie did. He had almost believed Luke’s statement at the beach that the three of them were the only family they would ever need. He realized that while he didn’t have a strong desire to reconnect with his biological family, they were growing their found family more than any of the boys had ever thought possible.

Willie bumped shoulders with him, asking, “What are you thinking about? You seem pretty deep in your head.”

“I was thinking about family,” Alex shrugged, then added with a smirk, “and how weird it is to be grateful that I died.”

Willie laughed, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad you died, too. But I’m also happy for you that you didn’t stay dead. Especially since it didn’t end up meaning the end of things between us.”

“No offense taken,” snorted Alex, “Can I ask you something?”

“That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it?”

A smile formed on Alex’s lips at the mirroring of their first conversation, “Did you ever go see your family? After becoming a ghost?”

“Yeah, at first, I went pretty regularly. My parents were always pretty open-minded and believed in things like spirits and the afterlife. I thought, maybe, since they believed, they would somehow know I was there. After the first few visits, though, it became obvious that they couldn’t sense me more than any other lifer. After that realization, it felt easier, less painful, to stay away. What about you?”

“No, I haven’t. Luke visits his parents pretty regularly. Reggie tried, but his family’s old home was torn down, so he doesn’t know where to look. But I can’t actually say that I miss my family that much. They were never very accepting of who I was. What with my parents’ disapproval and Bobby’s betrayal, I’ve got a better family now than I did when I was alive, so there’s no reason to look back.”

“That’s both sad and beautiful, Hotdog,” Willie spoke after a moment of taking in everything Alex had revealed, “But as long as I get to figure into this new family of yours, I can’t feel too bad for you.”

This surprised a laugh out of Alex, “I’m pretty sure the whole purpose of my speech was to show that I don’t feel too bad for me, either.”

By this point, they had arrived back at Julie’s house, and Alex was further surprised to realize that he now thought of it as his home, too. He turned to Willie before heading inside, “I’m pretty wiped out after today. I know you don’t need to sleep, but would you stay? At least until I fall asleep?”

Willie’s answering smile was one of the most beautiful sights Alex had ever seen, and his words one of the most beautiful sounds he’d ever heard, “I’ll stay as long as you want me to, Hotdog.”

Chapter Text

After the living room slumber party in the living room of the Molina house, Julie woke up the following day to the buzzing of her phone. Leaning up on her elbows, she glanced around at her friends and noticed that the only other occupant of the room awake was Willie, who sent a small wave her way. She smiled back before grabbing her phone to see what had disturbed her sleep. She was surprised to find a text message from Carrie, asking if she could come by later with her dad. Unsure of what to do, she glanced down at Luke, who was still asleep beside her. She was so unused to seeing the animated boy so calm and relaxed that she took a moment to appreciate the sight before reluctantly shaking his shoulder to wake him up. He blinked a few times, shaking off the last bits of sleep before smiling up at her, “Morning, Boss.”

Julie couldn’t help smiling back, ruffling his hair as she replied, “Good morning, Sleepyhead. Sorry to wake you, but I got this text and wanted to get your thoughts on it.”

She turned her phone screen so that Luke could read it. She watched as he scanned the message once, then again, before he met her eyes again with a resigned sigh, “I guess, I mean, we know Bobby saw us perform the other night. It’s kind of inevitable that we’d have to come face-to-face with him at some point. Might as well get it over with.”

“Okay,” Julie nodded, “I’ll tell Carrie they can come over later. Should we wake the others and tell them?”

“Nah, we can let them sleep a little longer. Let’s go get started on breakfast,” turning toward Willie, he added, “You’re welcome to come, too, if you want the company, but I understand if you want to stay here.”

Willie grinned in return, “I’ll stay, thanks. I don’t want Alex to worry if I’m not here when he wakes up.”

Luke nodded in return, glad Alex had found someone who understood him so well, even if he wasn’t sure how things were going to work out for the duo in the long run. He rose to his feet and reached a hand down to help Julie up, as well. As they entered the kitchen, Julie paused, drawing Luke’s gaze to her face. She gave him a sheepish smile before speaking, “I know you said you could cook the other night. If we’re putting together breakfast, I hope that’s true, cause I’m actually pretty hopeless in the kitchen.”

Luke grinned at her, “I mean, I probably wouldn’t make it on Iron Chef, but I can throw together a simple breakfast. Besides, I might have learned out of necessity, but I found I do kinda enjoy it. Maybe I can give you some cooking lessons. Might be nice to cook together sometimes.”

Julie noted the blush that painted his cheeks as he said the last part. She took pity on him by focusing on the early part of his speech, “Iron Chef? What’s that?”

“Oh, man! Is Iron Chef not still around? I guess that makes sense. Most shows don’t last twenty-seven years. It was a cooking competition show. It had been on for a couple of years when we died. When I could, I watched it sometimes as a kind of inspiration as I was learning how to cook.”

Julie shook her head, “Never heard of it, but there’s no shortage of cooking competition shows these days. We’ll find you a replacement.”

“Eh, we’ll see. It’s not as important as focusing on our band now that we’ve got this second, or maybe third, chance.” Luke answered, opening the refrigerator door, “Let’s see what you got.”

After rummaging around for a minute, he turned back to Julie, “You’re not very well stocked for making breakfast for this many people. Honestly, I don’t think you have enough to make a good breakfast for your family. What do you guys normally eat for breakfast?”

Julie shrugged, “I normally just grab a piece of toast and some juice on school days.” The scandalized look Luke shot her made her blush. He walked toward her, shaking his head, “Julie, you need to do better than that, especially on school days. And days when we have gigs. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all.”

“Seems a little strange getting nutrition advice from someone who died eating tainted street dogs,” Julie shot back with a smirk to let him know she was only teasing.

“Hey, we were poor, starving artists. We didn’t have a lot of options.”

Julie leaned forward to place her head against his chest as she wrapped her arms around his waist, “I’m sorry you guys had to get to the point of depending on that kind of food. But now that you’re alive again, I’ll do whatever I can to make sure it never gets to that point for you again. While we may not have a lot of options here, we can stick to toast and cereal today if we have to, and then maybe we can go shopping after meeting with Carrie and her dad. After all, now that the idea of a Luke-cooked meal has been planted in my head, I really want to try one.”

“You got it, Boss.”

The sound of a throat clearing caused them to jump apart. Ray stood in the doorway with several grocery bags in his hands, “Why wait? If you’re willing, Luke, it sounds like you are probably a better cook than any of us Molinas. I realized when I got up this morning that we weren’t prepared to feed a crowd this morning, so I ran out and grabbed a few things since everyone else was still sleeping.”

“Sweet!” shouted Luke, grabbing the bags from Ray’s hands and digging through them, “This is perfect, sir. I can make a decent scramble from what you’ve got here.”

Ray laughed, “I would sure appreciate that, Luke. And none of this sir nonsense. I want all of you boys to call me Ray.”

“Okay, sir, or Ray. Actually, I think don't think it would take much to get Reggie calling you Dad.”

“That would work, too.”

With that, Luke turned to start cooking. Julie used the opportunity to daydream about a future of them cooking together, maybe in a house of their own someday. She didn’t get to daydream for long, however, as the scent of breakfast seemed to wake the rest of their friends and family, who started trickling into the kitchen.

Flynn sat beside Julie and bumped shoulders with her, a sly grin on her face, “You know your boy could cook like that?”

Julie shook her head, “No, how would I have known that?”

“I take back everything I said when I was pushing you toward Nick. Looks like you got yourself the whole package with this one.”

“Yeah,” Julie’s smile turned soft as she continued to watch Luke cook, “Yeah, I did.”

Luke finished his cooking and set out the spread consisting of a breakfast scramble, toast, and fruit. As everyone started dishing up, they were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a stomach growling. Julie, Luke, and Alex all turned to Reggie, who threw his hands up in the air, “It wasn’t me this time, I swear.”

Willie took a step closer to the group, “I-I think that was me. I think I actually feel hungry.”

Alex rushed over to Willie, placing a hand over his heart. A moment later, his shoulders slumped, “I thought maybe that meant you were alive again, like we are, but I guess I was wrong.”

Willie placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder, “Maybe I’m not, but this seems like a step closer and that’s a good thing, right?”

Alex nodded, a small, sad smile playing across his lips, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“It didn’t happen immediately for you guys, either,” Carlos pointed out from his seat at the table, “Maybe it’s just going to take longer, because he hasn’t known the rest of you as long, or something.”

Julie smiled at her brother as she sat down next to Luke at the kitchen island, “Well, since it seems everyone is hungry, I say we dig in.”

While the group enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, Julie told Reggie and Alex about the text that had woken her up that morning, “I’m not sure what time they’re coming, but I wanted you guys to have a chance to prepare yourselves. And I want to make sure you’re not going to do anything stupid when you see Carrie’s dad. Maybe we can find a way for you to get credit for your songs without causing a lot of trouble. I almost lost you guys last time, I don’t want to do that again.”

Luke and Alex nodded, having already concluded that they would rather keep what they had now than risk it trying to get revenge for the past.

“Can we maybe just mess with him a little?” Reggie asked. Then, seeing the glares aimed at him by the other boys, he added, “I guess not.”

It was mid-morning, and Julie and the boys were sitting in the living room, searching for a cooking competition on TV when the doorbell rang. Before the boys had a chance to react, Julie ran to the door, figuring it would be best to give the others a chance to prepare for this meeting. She opened the door to find Carrie and her dad standing on the front porch. She was about to greet them when she noticed Mr. Wilson’s face drain of color. She didn’t have to turn around to know that at least one of her bandmates was now standing behind her. She found she wasn’t surprised when it was Luke’s voice that spoke up, “How’s it going, Bobby?”

Chapter Text

Carrie glanced back and forth between her father and Julie’s guitarist before asking, “Who’s Bobby?”

When she received no answer, she elbowed her dad in the side, but it was Julie who answered, “Hey, Carrie. Why don’t you come inside? The answer to that question is going to take some explaining. But trust me when I say, I’m kind of relieved that you don’t already know.”

“Yeah, okay,” Carrie’s reply was hesitant as she continued to watch the interaction between the two males present. It was a tone Julie hadn’t heard from her former friend since before her mom had gotten sick, and it made her miss their old friendship in a way she hadn’t in a long time.

Noticing that the stare-down was still going on, Julie turned toward Luke, grabbing his hand, “Come on, Luke. We should go back to the living room. Everyone needs to be involved in the conversation.”

Her use of Luke’s name was enough to finally snap Carrie’s dad out of his stupor, “Luke? It’s really you? How-how is that even possible? I was there when all of you…”

Luke huffed, a sound of bemusement, “I don’t know how it’s possible any more than you do. But we’re all back. Me, Reggie, and Alex. And I think you owe us an explanation, as well.”

The older man ducked his head and followed Julie and Luke toward the living room while Carrie brought up the rear. She pushed her way past the others when they got to the living room to take her preferred seat. When she glanced up again, the four former bandmates were having a stare down. The three younger men showed a spectrum of emotions, while her father looked like he was in shock. Realizing no one else seemed in a rush to speak up, she cleared her throat, “Can somebody please explain what is going on here? And how do you all know each other. And who is Bobby?”

Her father finally broke out of his trance and turned to her, “I’m Bobby, or I was. Before I started my solo career, my name was Bobby Shaw and I was a member of a band called Sunset Curve.”

“Sunset Curve, never heard of them.”

Carrie noticed Julie’s bandmates all glared at her father when she said that. He, in turn, shifted uncomfortably before replying, “That’s because the other members of the band died when we were still teenagers. On the night we were supposed to have our big break. They went out for food while I…”

“Stayed behind to flirt with my mother?” interrupted Julie.

Carrie’s eyes widened as she turned back to face her father. He dropped his head in shame and nodded, “I wasn’t with them when they bought the tainted hot dogs, but I was there for the aftermath. I watched our dreams of playing the Orpheum shatter, as my bandmates were carted off in ambulances.”

“And how long was it before you turned around and stabbed us in the back?” asked Reggie.

“Come on,” Trevor nearly yelled back, “you know what our families were like. Did you know I didn’t even hear that you had died until I heard about it in the news? I read multiple articles about your deaths, but no one actually reached out to let me know. None of your families would talk to me! The hospital wouldn’t talk to me! At the time that I talked to the police, there was no news of your condition yet.”

“Wait, wait! Hold up a minute,” interjected Carrie gesturing toward the boys, “What do you mean they died? They’re sitting right there. Not to mention, you guys are, what? Eighteen?”

It was Luke who answered, “Seventeen.”

“See?” Carrie whirled back around to face her father again, “They wouldn’t have even been born yet when you were a teenager.”

“But we were,” stated Alex calmly, “We were the same age as your dad. We died that day, from eating bad hotdogs, of all things. We recently came back as ghosts when Julie found our old CD and played it.”

“And then, the night we played the Orpheum, for real this time, something happened,” Luke added, “We were supposed to cross over that night, but instead, we started coming back to life.”

Carrie threw her arms up in the air, shaking her head, “I don’t believe this!”

“I have the CD sleeve in the kitchen. Maybe that’s help.”

Julie ran to the kitchen and came back, holding out the sleeve to Carrie. Carrie held the paper in her hands. Her eyes moved over the faces of the four boys in the picture. Three of the boys were sitting in the room with her, and the other did look like pictures she had seen of her father when he was younger. The script at the bottom announced a tour from 1995. But the story still seemed to insane to be true, “This doesn’t prove anything. This could easily be photoshopped.”

Her father spoke up, “But it wasn’t. That picture is real, and these boys were my bandmates once upon a time.”

Reggie snorted, “After what you did, I’m not sure you should get the right to call us bandmates anymore.”

“You don’t understand! After you all died, my grandma got sick. She was going to lose the house. I would have had nothing. I knew my own songs weren’t going to get me where I needed to be, so…”

“Dad? What did you do?”

“I took Sunset Curve songs, Luke’s songs, and passed them off as my own to launch my solo career.”

Carrie pinched the bridge of her nose, “Did you at least give them some writing credit? Never mind, I know the answer to that. I’ve read the album cover enough to know that you didn’t.”

“I thought, with them all being gone, that no one would get hurt, but I know I was wrong.”

“You know, I never got the chance to make up with my parents?” Luke asked, “Maybe if they could have known that it was my songs that became hits, it would have given them some pride to know that I could have made something of myself. Instead, they were left believing that our family was torn apart for nothing.”

“And maybe my family home wouldn’t have been torn down to become a bike shop,” added Reggie.

“I know all this now, but at the time I was young and I was desperate,” Trevor stated, before turning to Carrie, “Your mother pointed all these arguments out to me when she found out.”

“Mom knew?!” Carrie shouted.

“It was one of the factors that led to her leaving,” Trevor stated before glancing at Julie, “Your mother didn’t know, by the way. She only heard to one song we used for our soundcheck, and she had no way of knowing which of us did most of the writing.”

Carrie let out a sound that conveyed both rage and frustration before running out of the house. Trevor moved to follow her, but Julie shook her head, “I’ll go after her. You all still have some issues to straighten out. But so do Carrie and I. Maybe now’s as good a time as any.”

Julie stood up to follow her former friend but stopped to squeeze Luke’s hand on the way out. After she left, a silence filled the room. All of the occupants glanced around at the other faces in the room, unsure how to continue the conversation.

Finally, Trevor spoke up, voice catching in his throat as he asked, “What can I do to make things up to you?”

, who had remained silent until now, answered for the boys, “For starters, I think maybe you could use some of your wealth and connections to help these boys get their lives back. Right now, they don’t legally exist. Surprisingly, I think it’s going to take more work to legally bring them back to life than it did to physically bring them back to life.”

Trevor nodded, “I will see what I can do.”

“And could you please, at least tell my parents where your music came from?” Luke asked, “I don’t care anymore if I get more credit than that. That music was our past, and we’ve got new music and a future now with Julie. But it would help me to know that my parents could see what I was capable of.”

“That’s fair. What about you, Reggie, Alex?”

Trevor nodded, “Alex?”

“I honestly don’t care. I don’t really plan on seeking out my family, anyway. I don’t think knowing how close we came to greatness would change the way they saw me. I've got a new family who sees me and accepts me for who I am.”

“Okay,” Trevor replied, “I’ll start with Luke’s family, then. And I’ll see what I can do to help give you lives to live again. Maybe I can use my pull to get you into Los Feliz. They made an exception for an extra student in the music program for Julie. Perhaps a generous donation would convince them to let three more students join.”

Ray let out a laugh, “That would help me out a lot. I love having the boys here, but they need something to occupy their days, and I would like to see all of them finish high school before going out in the world to become rock stars. It’s the same thing I would ask of Julie.”

The boys nodded, Reggie’s eyes filling with glee at being held to the same standards as Julie by Ray. It made him feel like he really was part of the family.

“So how did you guys come back to life?” Trevor asked, “I still find it hard to believe that it could be possible, but here you are.”

“Oh, I'm pretty sure that was all Julie,” Luke answered.

“And her magic hugs,” added Reggie, before launching into the story of what happened the night of the Orpheum gig.

When he was finished, Ray spoke up, “I always knew my little girl was special, but even I never imagined anything like this.”

“Speaking of Julie,” Trevor added, speaking directly to Luke, “Are you two…?”

Luke scratched the back of his neck before nodding.

Trevor laughed, the truest he had laughed in a long time, “Somehow, that is the only part of this story that I think makes sense. You two are so alike. I always thought she was exactly like Rose, but now that I think about it, the person she reminded me most of was you.”

 “Yeah, well, thanks to you, she was raised on my music, so it’s no surprise she turned out perfect," Luke replied before turning on his heel to go find the girl in question

Chapter Text

While the boys made their peace with their former bandmate, Julie followed Carrie to where she had hidden herself away in the studio. She found the other girl sitting on the sofa, angled so that her back was to the entrance, her face hidden from view. Julie slowly approached, “Um…Carrie? Are you okay?”

Carrie whipped around to face Julie. The look on her face was a mix of emotions that Julie couldn’t even begin to sort out. “I get it now, you know? I didn’t for a long time. I always wondered why people made extra allowances for you when you lost your mom, but nobody treated me any differently when my mom left.”

“It may not be right,” Julie answered, “but it’s different when someone actually dies.”

“It is different. Your mom had no choice. My mom made a conscious decision to leave me behind. At least, that’s how I viewed it until a few days ago. And today had me doubting that even more.”

“What made you change your mind?” Julie asked, tilting your head.

Carrie gave her a wry smile in response, “I started to change my mind after seeing your performance at the Orpheum. The way I saw it, I paid my dues, I earned my spot, while you stayed silent for a year. But your performance that night was so powerful, I began to understand why Mrs. Harris fought so hard to keep you in the program. I still believe Dirty Candy’s music is record label worthy, but you and your Phantoms? What you have is something that only comes around once in a lifetime. If what you guys said in there is true, your music literally brought those boys back to life. I don’t think that’s something I could ever do. I realized that while singing professionally is my dream, I don’t feel music as deeply as you all seem to. There’s no way I can compete with that.”

“I never meant for there to be competition between us, Carrie. I always wanted both of us to live out our dreams, so that we could stay friends and help each other as we navigated the world of becoming recording artists. And I know I’m partly to blame for our falling out. I wasn’t a great friend during everything with my mom.”

Carrie shook her head, “I get that part of it, Julie, even if I struggled with it at the time. Your focus was on your mom, as it should have been. I was just jealous of how differently we were treated when, through different situations, we both lost our moms.”

“I do understand that now, more than I probably would have at the time,” stated Julie, “Luke and his mom had a pretty major falling out and didn’t have a chance to make up before he died. I’ve seen the sadness that he carries around with him because of that. And I’ve come to understand that the difference in our circumstances doesn’t make my sadness more valid than his, or vice versa. And the same can be said for you and me.”

“Speaking of Luke,  I sense a little bit of a spark between you two."

"Yeah, I think we both felt it pretty early on but were afraid to admit it when there was no way for us to ever be together, but now that the boys are alive, well, I'm happy Luke and I were able to open up about our feelings."

Carrie nodded, "Well, can you please tell your band that I apologize for everything my dad did? I realized early on that his writing was never as good as it was in his first album, but I never guessed it was because he hadn’t written those songs. When he admitted that his secret was part of the reason my mom left, I was finally able to see that my mom’s decision to leave wasn’t specifically about her leaving me. I just don’t understand why she never talked to me about any of this."

I think I know why she didn’t,” offered Julie, “You idolized your dad when you were younger. And your mother knew she could never provide you with the same lifestyle your dad could, the lifestyle you were used to.”

“She still could have at least asked me,” Carrie retorted, “You’re right, I probably would have said no, but at least I would have known her leaving wasn’t because of me.”

“Maybe she wanted to. Maybe something else stopped her from offering. I have a feeling we still don’t have the full story, and maybe we never will.”

“Thank you, Julie. I forget sometimes how good a friend you were. But that solid friendship made everything even harder. When your mom got sick, it kind of felt like I was losing my mom all over again,” Carrie explained, “but at the same time, I was losing some of the connection that we had. And I know it sounds terrible, but I can admit now that I was jealous. It felt like your mom’s illness was taking you away before you even lost her. And even before my mom left, I didn’t have a ‘normal family’ other than yours, so I felt like I was losing that normalcy, too. And then to see how much leeway everyone gave you, which I never had. I took a lot of my anger and jealousy out on you. But I’m tired, emotionally and physically, from keeping all that anger inside. I’ve held onto the past for too long. This is our chance to come together again, and I don’t want to miss it.”

Julie laughed, “You’ll have to find a way to get Flynn onboard, too. That’s gonna be the biggest challenge. But I imagine Reggie will be happy. I think he showed an interest in Kayla after the spirit assembly.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there was some interest on her side, too.”

“So, friends?” Julie asked, sticking out her hand for Carrie to shake.

Carrie smirked in response, “As long as you don’t expect me to just give up the spotlight for you. You’ve still got to pay your dues.”

Julie grinned while shaking the other girl’s hand, “Deal.”

“Well then, let’s go see if the guys have worked through their issues,” Carrie replied, “Ugh! I can’t believe my dad. I’m so disgusted with him right now. With all the work I’ve put in to get to where I am, finding out that he stole someone else’s music for his own gain is aggravating.”

“Still, he is your dad. If the guys are able to forgive him, I hope you can, too, for your sake.”

With that said, the girls headed back into the house. Not long after that, Carrie and her dad left, offering to give Flynn a ride home. Julie wondered if that was Carrie’s first step in earning Flynn’s forgiveness and was happy to see that Flynn accepted, even if it was hesitantly. Eventually, Julie found herself standing on her front porch, watching as they drove away, when suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind. Luke lowered his chin to rest on her shoulder as he asked, “Are you okay?”

She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m pretty sure I should be asking you that.”

“Yeah, it went better than I expected. After we missed the dance and you quit the band, I realized that this band and our music were more important to me than revenge on Bobby. He stole my old music and the life I thought I would have. But I wouldn’t trade what we have now for what we could have had then, or any other life, for that matter. Reggie has some lingering anger towards Bobby, but I know he and Alex agree with me. That makes it easier to put this behind us. Plus, we really could use his money and connections to figure out how to come back from the dead, from a legal standpoint. We’ll need to exist if we want to do anything like make money, drive, or get married and buy houses someday.”

Julie felt herself blushing, “You’ve put a lot of thought into the future for someone who has only been alive for a few days.”

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Luke laughed, “but I’ve always been someone who goes after what they want, even when it hurts. And Julie, I do want all of those things. And I really hope that someday, I’ll be able to share all of those things with you.”

She tilted her head so it was leaning against his, “I would really like that, too.”

Chapter Text

Julie and Luke walked back into the house to find her dad and the other boys deep in conversation. They huddled around the table as if planning for a secret mission. For a moment, Julie was worried that one of her boys was having trouble dealing with their earlier confrontation, until she heard the soft laughter coming from the group. She turned her head back to Luke, “I feel like I’m missing something. What’s going on?”

“They’re planning out sleeping arrangements and a shopping trip to get us some basic necessities, like you know, beds and clothing and toiletries. Reggie’s super excited about the shopping trip.”

“He’s gonna be like a little kid in a candy shop, isn’t he?” Julie asked.

Luke grinned back at her, “Yup.”

“Well, this should be interesting,” she strode over to the group, pulling Luke by the hand along behind her. “So, what’s the plan?”

Reggie glanced, “I think we’ve decided to get one of those three-bed bunk beds. I’ve always wanted a bunk bed. I call dibs on the top bunk.”

Julie couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm, “Sounds like we’re going to have a pretty full day. I guess we should get started sooner rather than later.”

“Unfortunately,” Ray chimed in, “all seven of us won’t fit in the car, it won't even fit six, if Willie can't transport himself there. And your Tia isn’t available to come and stay with Carlos right now.”

“Oh, um, I guess I can stay here, then,” Julie answered hesitantly, “I need a chance to work on my homework anyway.”

She felt Luke’s hand tighten around hers, and she knew the thought of being separated was bothering him as much as it was her. She glanced at Reggie and Alex and found the same worried look on their faces. She plastered on a brave smile, “It’ll be okay, guys. I really do need to catch up on my homework. Besides, we’re going to be apart most of the day tomorrow when I go back to school, since you can’t enroll in school until you legally exist again. This can be like a test run for that. Besides, I’m sure my dad and Carlos will take good care of you. And, this way, you show me everything you buy when you get home.”

Her boys were all still frowning, but they nodded. Willie spoke from where he was seated at the counter, “I can stay, too, if you want. It’s not like I need the new clothes or a bed yet.”

“Oh, but if you keep changing like we did, you’ll need a bed eventually,” Reggie chimed in, “Maybe we should get two regular bunk beds.”

Julie smiled at Reggie before turning back to Willie, “You should go. Reggie’s right. You might eventually need to sleep, too. You should have some input on the furniture for the bedroom.”

“I don’t know what the limits are for people seeing me, yet. I don’t really want to test that out in the middle of a crowded store. Besides, I could sleep anywhere when I was alive, so I’m not that worried. This way we don’t have to coordinate meeting up if I have poof somewhere, while they travel by car.”

“Are you sure?” asked Alex.

Willie nodded, and the other boys nodded back before leaving the kitchen to get ready to leave. Ray walked over to his daughter, “I’m so proud of you, Mija. I know it wasn’t easy for you to put on a brave face like that. But the boys will have to reorient themselves to the world away from you at some point.”

“I know. And Carlos will be excited to help them pick things out. And it’ll be a good chance for you, Carlos, and the boys to get to know each other better.”

Fifteen minutes later, only Julie and Willie were left in the house. Julie moved to make her way up to her room to study. She let Willie know that he was welcome to leave if he got bored, just to give her a heads-up. She sat down at her desk and pulled out her history. She found it disturbingly hard to concentrate without the familiar presence of her bandmates. She shook her head, trying to clear it. They had only been corporeal for a few days. Before that, they had wandered about at will. It didn’t make sense that their absence should be affecting her so much now. In an attempt to focus better, she placed her earbuds in and pulled up her normal study playlist. The music seemed to help somewhat, and she was able to slog her way through her assigned reading.

She had moved on to her math homework when a hand on her shoulder made her jump. She turned to find Willie, holding his skateboard and looking contrite, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to let you know, I was planning to take a spin around the neighborhood. I think I underestimated how much being away from Alex again so soon would bother me. I’m just a little antsy.”

Julie gave him a wry smile in return, “I totally get it. I’m feeling the same way. I unfortunately still have a couple of pages of math equations to work through, which I highly doubt I’ll have time to do once the guys get back. Enjoy your exploring. I hope it helps.”

Willie nodded and poofed out of the room. Julie went back to work, trying again to work without music so she could be more alert to her surroundings now that she was alone in the house. She made it about halfway through her assignment when she heard the ring of the doorbell. Sighing, she set her homework aside. “Apparently, it’s the weekend for unexpected visitors.”

She trudged down the stairs and peered through the window. She was surprised to see that it was Nick again. Before this weekend, he hadn’t been to her house since a study group session in junior high. Now here he was showing up on her doorstep for the second day in a row. It figured this would happen when she no longer had any interest in him romantically. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. “Hey, Nick! This is a surprise. What brings you here for the second day in a row? You missed Carrie, she was here earlier, too.”

“Oh, that’s okay. She already knows we aren’t getting back together. I just wanted to tell you again how impressed I was with your performance the other night."

“Oh, well, thanks again, I guess.”

“I’m glad the problems with your hologram projector didn’t throw you off too much. It would have been such a shame if you had to perform without all your Phantoms. Though you were doing a marvelous job on your own. I can’t say I’m not a little jealous. Playing the Orpheum, that must be a dream come true.”

Julie giggled nervously, “Well, it was always more of a dream for the guys. They were going to play there once before we met, but they unfortunately had to cancel due to a medical emergency.”

“That’s weird. How did three guys from Sweden get a chance to play the Orpheum?” Nick pressed.

“Oh, they were here as part of an exchange program and managed to land an audition. They’re actually thinking about coming to the States again, now that we could be getting noticed.” Julie rambled, uncomfortable with Nick’s questioning. Although there was no way he could know the truth, it felt like he was trying to catch her in her lies.

“Really? I would love to meet them if they do make it out here. Maybe we could all have a jam session together.”

“Uh, yeah,” Julie slowly took a step backward away from Nick, “we’ll see what happens. They might not even make it here if we don’t get some interest from managers.”

Before Nick had a chance to answer, Willie appeared on the walkway behind him. Glancing back and forth between the two, he asked, “Everything okay here, Julie?”

At the sound of Willie’s voice, Nick whirled around, a strange expression appearing on his face. He reached out to shake hands with Willie. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

Unsure if Nick would be able to make physical contact with Willie, Julie stepped between the two boys, “This is Willie. He’s a friend of the family.”

Nick smirked, causing both Willie and Julie to take a wary step back. But Nick merely bobbed his head, “It’s very nice to meet you. But I should get going for now. Let me know if your band does decide to come out here.”

As he walked away, Julie felt a strange shiver move down her back. Willie turned her to face him. “Julie, who was that?” “That was Nick,” Julie replied, “He’s a boy I know from school. But he’s been acting weird last few days.” “

I can’t fully explain why,” Willie stated, “but I get a bad feeling about him. I want you to try to stay away from him as much as possible. Something about him almost reminds me of when I first met Caleb.”

Chapter Text

The shopping trip had been successful so far. They had managed to get beds and cell phones for the boys. Now they were moving on to find bedding, clothes, toiletries, and other items of interest to the boys.

“So,” Ray started as they pulled into the parking lot of their next stop, “Tell me a little bit about your likes and dislikes. That will probably help us pick things out more quickly.”

“What do you want to know?” replied Reggie.

“I don’t know. What are your favorite colors, favorite books or movies, or hobbies outside of music? Not as relevant to this shopping trip, but it might also be good to know what foods you like and don’t like.”

“No hot dogs!” Alex shouted before anyone else could answer.

“Sorry about that,” Luke continued, patting Alex on the shoulder, “but tainted hot dogs were what killed us.”

“Okay, then. Hot dogs have never been a particularly popular meal in our home anyway. Rose always had an aversion to them. Maybe it was because of you. So now that we’ve established the number one thing not to get, how about telling me what you do like, Alex?”

Alex looked startled to have been addressed directly as the one to start, “Um…my favorite color is pink. I, uh, don’t think I really have a favorite movie. I enjoy dancing, but I’ve never really had any formal training…my parents certainly wouldn’t have approved, so I primarily would dance around the studio between sets during practice. I’m mildly lactose intolerant, but I love a good quiche.”

Ray merely nodded, still shocked by the lack of parental support these boys appeared to have had in their previous lives, “Luke?”

“My favorite color is blue. I like writing, which I guess still relates to music. But I do also like cooking and working out. I’m not particularly picky about food, but I don’t think I’ll be eating another hot dog anytime soon. My favorite movie is Top Gun. When I used to visit my grandparents as a kid, it was the only modern movie they had, so I watched it a lot.”

Ray chuckled a bit at the explanation before turning Reggie, who was bouncing in his seat.” He practically shouted out his answers, “I like red, pizza, and Star Wars. Obviously, the original trilogy, since I never had the chance to see any of the others, but they don’t sound nearly as good, anyway. I like taking things apart and putting them back together. I never really thought about it while I was alive, but after having seen what you do, I think I would like to learn about photography, too.”

“I think we can manage that.”

“You’ll also want to keep an eye on him if he’s fiddling with any electronics,” Alex stated, “He told me recently that he once tried to fix his amp in the rain. He may be unexpectedly good at fixing things, but he doesn’t always make good choices.”

“Noted,” Ray replied.

At the same time, Carlos piped up from his spot crammed between Luke and Reggie, “Even I know that’s not a good idea.”

Reggie blushed at being called out but otherwise appeared unfazed. Still to save him more embarrassment, Ray continued, “Well, we should be able to find at least a few things for each of you here. We can make a few other stops if need be, and anything we don’t find today, we can look for online.”

While Ray, Luke, and Alex entered the store at a leisurely pace, Reggie bounded ahead, dragging Carlos along with him. The others lost sight of him as he skipped around the store. Ray sighed, “He’s more like a toddler than a teenager at times, isn’t he?”

The other teens nodded. Alex sighed, “It’s always made him a hit with younger kids, though. I’m glad we were able to bring Carlos. Reggie had a younger brother who sometimes seemed like his reason for living. I think he’s missed being a big brother. If his brother is still out there now, he would be more than twice Reggie’s age. That’s a hard pill for him to swallow.”

The three of them wandered. Occasionally, an item would be placed in the cart by one of the boys. Ray noticed that Alex seemed more focused on the practical items, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, while Luke seemed more into clothes and other items that would add to his rockstar image. They had made it about halfway through the store when Reggie and Carlos came hurtling towards them, with their own cart full of items Reggie had picked out.

Luke leaned over to whisper to Alex, “Good thing Bobby felt guilty enough to give Ray the money to cover this shopping trip. I think Reggie would have spent us all out of house and home otherwise.”

Alex nodded, “I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word restraint.”

“Look guys!” exclaimed Reggie, “They still have all kinds of Star Wars merch. I got a comforter set, a toothbrush, and a phone case. I'm so glad Star Wars is still popular after all these years. And it was easier than I thought to find clothes I liked. I thought, maybe after 25 years, styles would have changed too much, but I guess leather jackets and flannel shirts never go out of style. Hey, Ray, do you guys have the Star Wars movies? If not, maybe we should buy them.”

Ray couldn’t help but laugh at Reggie’s enthusiasm, “I think I still have copies of the original trilogy on DVD somewhere. But we can also watch all the Star Wars movies and TV shows on streaming services.”

“There are TV shows, too?! You mean besides the cartoons from the 80s?”

“Yes, there are a couple of new cartoon series and a live-action show that just came out last year that I think you’ll enjoy.”

“Best day ever!” Reggie shouted, before turning to the other boys, “Hurry up and get your stuff! We need to get home. Star Wars movie night, tonight!”

As Reggie ran to the cash registers, Carlos turned to the other two teens, "Wait until he finds out about Star Wars Day! He's gonna freak out!"

Chapter Text

The boys returned home, filled with the sense of belonging they received from purchasing items for their new life. They raced to the door, eager to show everything to Julie. Reggie made it to the living room first, but the scene before him caused him to skid to a halt. Luke slammed into him, followed by Alex. They tumbled forward and landed in a heap on the ground. Rubbing his head as he sat up, Alex groaned, “What the hell, Reggie?”

Reggie pointed into the living room while Luke, who had already jumped to his feet and started toward Julie and Willie, answered, “Something’s wrong. What happened while we were gone?”

“Nick stopped by again,” replied Julie. Taking note of Luke’s glowering expression, she added, “And there was something really off about him. Wilie noticed, too, and thought it was familiar.”

Willie took over at this point, “I’m not sure Nick is entirely Nick anymore. His presence gave me the same feeling as when I was near Caleb. I’m worried Caleb may be using Nick somehow.”

Alex had moved closer during this explanation and upon hearing the fear in Willie’s voice, laced his fingers with the other boy’s, “Hey, we’re in this together, no matter what.”

Willie gave him a weak smile, “This feels like a kind of role reversal.”

Alex laughed in response before squeezing Willie’s hand, “We may have been getting zapped by Caleb, but we were able to break free. And you were at his mercy for a lot longer. If you need to freak out about this, I can be the strong one for a change.”

Meanwhile, Luke moved to stand in front of Julie, grabbing hold of both of her hands and resting his forehead against hers, “I don’t like the fact that Nick keeps popping up, even if Caleb is not involved, but if he is, you need to be extra careful. As much as I was not a fan of school the first time around, I almost wish Bobby could get us back into school quicker so we could make sure you were okay there. The idea of you facing Caleb on your own terrifies me.”

Julie dropped one of his hands so she could bring her own to cup his cheek, “I would hope he wouldn’t try something in such a public place. Besides, you guys are the ones who escaped him. I’m more worried he’ll come after you guys.”

“We escaped him because of you. If he figures that out, he’ll be after you, too. He doesn’t like others having more power than him.”

“Maybe we’re wrong about the whole thing.” Julie’s voice lacked conviction, “Maybe Willie was just picking up on the weird stalker vibe Nick was giving off.”

“Maybe.” Reggie spoke from where he was still sitting on the floor, “but…Caleb is still out there. And he is not done with us.”

Luke nodded, “He’s right. We got so distracted by all the good changes, we forgot that just because we escaped Caleb, it doesn’t mean he’s gone. We’ve all got to be careful.”

“I’ll be sure to let Flynn know what’s going on,” replied Julie, “She can help make sure I’m never alone with Nick at school. Luckily, I’m not in any classes with him that she’s not in.”

“And if anyone is set to take on an evil magic ghost, it might be her,” Reggie replied, “She can be pretty scary.”

Julie laughed, glad for some relief from the tension that had been building up in the room. It was also at that moment that her dad and Carlos walked in with their arms full of shopping bags. Julie glared at her bandmates, “This shopping trip was for you, and you didn’t even help bring your stuff in?’

The boys grinned sheepishly back at her before Luke replied, “Reggie was so excited to show you what he bought, and Alex and I kind of got caught up in that.”

“Hey!” Reggie sounded affronted, “You were just as excited to show her what you bought.”

Julie couldn’t help but giggle, “Come on, let’s go bring the rest of your stuff in. Then we can sit down with my dad and work out what we should do about the whole Nick/Caleb situation.”

As the boys headed outside, Julie pulled her dad aside, “Something kind of strange happened while you were gone. Once we’ve got everything in the house, we need to have a family meeting. I wish we could leave Carlos out of this one, but he needs to know what’s going on, too.”

“Is everything okay, Mija?”

Julie shook her head, “I’m worried that something could still happen to take the guys away, and I don’t know how to stop it.”

“Oh, Mija. You know if there is anything I can do to help, I will.”

Julie hugged her dad and went out to help the guys finish unloading the car. They all tried to act as if everything was normal. The boys showed off their new things to Julie, and she admired them appropriately. But once everything had been brought in and put away, a dark cloud descended over the mood of the house. Everyone gathered together back in the living room. Luke sat with his arm around Julie’s shoulder. Alex let his head rest on Willie’s shoulder. Reggie sat on the floor with Carlos. Ray sat behind them but placed a hand on Reggie’s shoulder. Despite the difficult conversation, Julie was glad to see that everyone had found a way to seek and give comfort as needed. She took a deep breath before she and Willie explained again what had happened that day.

When they finished, her dad let out a deep sigh, “So, this evil, angry ghost is still on the loose? And possibly possessing one of your classmates?”

Julie nodded while her brother, bouncing with excitement, let out an awed, “Cool!”

“Not cool, little man,” Reggie explained, “This guy almost erased us from existence, he’s dangerous. And we don’t know for sure who he wants to take down the most or what lengths he’ll go to.”

Carlos sobered up, “So what can we do to help?”

“The best thing you can do to help us is to keep yourself safe,” Luke answered, “Don’t let yourself be alone with Nick or anyone you don’t know. I don’t think Caleb would have any reason to hurt you, but he might do anything to get to us or Julie.”

“Do you really think Julie might be a target?” Ray asked.

Luke shrugged, “We don’t know, but I’d rather not take any chances.”

“How much do you know about this guy?” Carlos asked, “Maybe, if we find out more about his life and death, we can find some weakness that could help. I can work on that at least.”

“You’re absolutely right, Carlos. That would be a big help. Nobody’s better and deep diving into internet searches than you are,” Julie smiled at her brother.

“What about while you’re at school?”

Julie had anticipated that question from her dad and had her reply ready, “I’m going to update Flynn on what’s going on. We’ll stick together there. And hopefully the boys can join us at school soon. And if anything does happen, you’re all just a phone call away. I think the best thing to do would be to go about my normal routine. If Nick really is Caleb, we can keep an element of surprise if he doesn’t realize we suspect him. And now that Carrie and I are sort of friends again, I have a perfect excuse for staying away from her ex-boyfriend. I should probably let her know what’s going on, too. Hopefully, she’ll be okay with helping keep up a good cover.”

“I don’t like it,” stated Ray, “but you all have a better handle on this kind of thing than I do. I’ll contact the priest to see if there are any religious solutions to this problem. I mean, exorcisms are still a thing, but I’m sure there are protocols involved. And we don’t want to take action that might accidentally harm Willie, so I’ll see what I can find out.”

Julie got up from her seat and went over to hug her dad, “Thank you, Papi!”

Ray nodded before standing up and declaring he needed some time to process everything. The others eventually split off, with Carlos and Reggie heading upstairs to see if they could get the beds assembled, and Willie and Alex moved to sit on the bench on the front porch.

Julie sat back down next to Luke, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder again, pulling her head down to his shoulder. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before asking, “Do you really think we’re going to get through this?”

Julie tilted her chin up to meet his eyes, “Yes, I have to believe that after everything we’ve been through, that we’ll make it through this, too. Besides, we beat Caleb once. We’ll find a way to do it again.”

Luke grinned down at her, “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“You’re not so bad, yourself.”

Chapter Text

Despite their worries, a few weeks passed without incident. Nick, or Caleb, had not approached Julie at school. Sometimes he seemed like his old self, and Julie began to wonder if she and Willie had imagined the strangeness. While she knew that didn’t mean they were safe from Caleb, she began to let her guard down. As she relaxed back into life’s normal rhythms, so did the boys.

Willie was continuing to experience small changes, though he had yet to have the full return to life the other boys had experienced. But just yesterday, he had complained that his legs had gone numb after he sat on them during the band’s rehearsal. It gave everyone, especially Alex, reason to hope Willie might eventually be fully restored to the status of lifer.

And now, things were starting to look up in other aspects of their lives, too. Somehow, Carrie’s dad had convinced the school to let the boys audition to join the music program at the school the following semester, even before getting all of their documentation straightened out. Julie had laughed when she heard that, thinking to herself, it must be nice to have that kind of money. She had never envied it before, but now that it was being used to help her boys, she was beginning to see the benefits.

She and Flynn had worked to find a way to get all the boys to the dance, with a surprising amount of help from Carrie. Given that their last gig at the school had not worked well, they were not invited to perform at this dance, but they had been invited to play semi-regularly at Eats & Beats. Carrie ended up being instrumental in getting two of the four guys there. She was bringing Alex as her date, the two having formed a strange friendship after she learned about his love of dance. She and Julie had also introduced Reggie to Kayla, who had jumped at the chance to invite the bassist who had once winked at her. Flynn had agreed to bring Willie along, on the condition that each of the boys danced with her at least once, to which they readily agreed. Luke, of course, was going as Julie’s date.

Julie had to admit she was a little nervous. Even though she and Luke had been together since the boys came back to life, this was going to be their first official date. She couldn’t help but think they were doing things a little out of order. They already lived together and had talked about a future they envisioned together, but they’d never even been out to dinner or a movie outside the Molina house, unless you counted grabbing a bite with the band on the way to their second gig at Eats & Beats, but there had been nothing romantic about that.

She was working through these nerves by brainstorming new song ideas with Luke when a thought suddenly struck her that made her laugh. Luke looked up from his writing, “What’s so funny?”

“I just realized that the Halloween dance will be our first official date.”

Luke looked confused, “You just realized that. Man, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that.”

“No, no,” reassured Julie, “I just meant. I only just now realized that it’s funny that my first date with a former ghost is going to be on Halloween. You have to admit, that’s a little bit on the nose.”

Luke chuckled, “Okay, I haven’t thought about it like that. By the way, we’re supposed to dress up, right? You have any idea what you’re gonna dress up as?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking of going with ‘witch’,” she answered dryly.

“Man, I’m never gonna live that down, am I?” groaned Luke, “But I do think you would make a very fetching witch. And your voice is certainly spellbinding.”

Julie groaned, “That was so cheesy!”

“But you loved it.”

Julie lightly rested her forehead against his, “I did, but I’ll deny it if anyone asks.”

“You wound me.” Luke placed a hand over his heart as he spoke.

Julie’s eyes widened as a thought occurred to her, “Oh, no. You’re not going to be one of those guys who’s always telling dad jokes, are you? I expect it from Reggie, but didn’t expect it to come from you.”

“I’m not sure I know what that means.”

Julie looked surprised for a minute, “Oh, yeah, I guess sometimes I forget that you guys grew up in a different era. You all took to the current times so well, it’s easy to forget that you missed my whole lifetime’s worth of slang and technology."

When a flickering shadow passed over Luke’s face, Julie hurried to redirect the conversation, “Speaking of the different eras, what were school dances like when you were in school?”

“Probably not that different than they are now,” Luke shrugged, “I don’t know for sure, since I’ve never been to a school dance in either time.”

“You never went to a school dance?” Julie was shocked.

Luke shrugged again, “I never really saw the point back then. I was so focused on music, I didn’t see the point of giving up a night of band rehearsals to go to a dance. And the closest thing I had to a dating relationship back then was Alex, who would be at band practice with me anyway.”

“Wait! You and Alex dated? How did I not know that?”

“I wouldn’t say we dated really. Alex already knew he was gay. I knew he had a crush on me, but I hadn’t really been interested in anyone that way, male or female,” he explained, “Alex, Reggie, and Bobby were the ones I was closest to. We did kind of the middle school equivalent of dating. We held hands and shared one awkward kiss, but ultimately we decided we were better off just being friends and bandmates. It didn’t really change much. You might have noticed I’m kind of physically affectionate with everyone I’m close to.”

“You don’t say,” Julie replied sarcastically, “I never noticed.”

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you, boss? Just for that, you get a hug attack.” Luke jumped off the sofa, pulling Julie up with him, bringing her back against his chest before wrapping her in a hug so tight it was just shy of becoming painful.

Julie let out a shriek that became peals of laughter as Luke relaxed his grip enough to begin tickling her sides. Between her giggles, she pleaded with him to have mercy. When he finally stopped, she turned around in his arms and met his smiling eyes with her own. “Now might be a good time to practice.”

“Practice what?” he asked, tilting his head to one side.

“Dancing,” answered Julie, “I know you’ve got decent moves on stage, but if you’ve never been to a high school dance, and I’ve never been with a date…we should make sure we’re not going to be tripping over each other’s feet.”

“Here? Now? We don’t have any music,” Luke stammered out.

“I’m pretty sure when the two of us are together, there’s always music,” Julie replied, “It may not be audible to anyone else, but it’s always there.”

Luke bit his lower lip as he smiled, nodding. He unwrapped his arms from Julie’s waist to bring hers up around his neck. When he returned his arms to their previous position, he pulled her more tightly into his embrace. He began to hum a melody known only to him, but which Julie quickly picked up and added her harmony to. She laid her head on his chest as he began to sway them around the studio. They lost track of time, dancing together. When they finally broke apart, Luke was wearing one of his largest grins, "I knew we wouldn't be tripping over each other's feet. You and me? We always seem to be in perfect harmony.

Julie felt her cheeks heat up.  She still had not told him about her... daydream? Hallucination? Whatever it was that had happened during her dance class at school.

He looked at her with concern and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but was interrupted by his stomach giving a loud grumble. Julie laughed at him, “Come on, rock star. Let’s go get you some food. You’d think by now you’d remember that you need to eat regularly again.”

Luke’s cheeks flushed, but he allowed himself to be pulled back to the house and into the kitchen. When they arrived, they found Reggie sitting at the counter, talking to Carlos. He turned when he heard them come into the room, “Oh, hey guys. You have to hear this joke I just learned. Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They might crack up.”

Luke rolled his eyes. Julie groaned and face-palmed, “Carlos, did you teach him that?” Turning back to Luke, she added, “I told you I expected it from him. That was the very definition of a dad joke.”

Chapter Text

The entire group met at the Molina household to get ready for the Halloween dance. Julie could not let go of the idea of dressing as a witch to give the guys a hard time. She still wanted to coordinate with Luke, as this was the first event they were attending as a couple, so she picked up a couple of Hogwarts uniforms for their costumes. However, Reggie was one most excited about his costume, he was dressing up as Han Solo and had gotten Kayla to agree to dress up as Princess Leia. Flynn and Willie were dressing as pirates, Alex and Carrie were going as an elf and a fairy.

While Julie helped Kayla perfect her wig, the other girls headed downstairs to meet up with the boys. When Flynn caught sight of Luke, she let a sly smile spread across her face, “Look at you. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to figure out how to put on something that had sleeves.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny, Flynn,” replied Luke as the laughter of his friends echoed in the background.

She walked over and slung an arm over his shoulder, “Come on, you know teasing is a sign of affection. But all joking aside, there is something I wanted to talk to you about while Julie’s occupied.”

“Something about Julie?” Luke’s posture straightened, and his face contorted into a look of concern.

“Don’t worry,” Flynn reassured, “She’s fine. There was something I was hoping you could help me with.”

“Anything for Julie.” “That’s what I thought,” Flynn directed him into the kitchen.

“Julie’s sixteenth birthday is coming up just before Thanksgiving. Last year, her birthday was really hard on her without her mom. I want your help making sure she has the best birthday possible this year.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good man,” Flynn smiled a genuinely affectionate smile, “We’ll discuss this in more detail later, I hear Julie and Kayla coming down now.”

Once everyone had assembled, they headed outside and piled into the car provided by Carrie’s dad. When they arrived at the school, they followed the other students into the gym, impressed by how it had been fully decked out for Halloween. A girl Julie barely knew approached her, “Hey, Julie. Are these your bandmates? Are they actually here in person?”

Julie let out a nervous giggle, “Yeah, they are actually going to be staying in the area for the foreseeable future, after the gig at The Orpheum. In fact, they’ll probably even be joining us here at school after the holiday break.”

“I see you and the guitarist have as much chemistry off stage as you do onstage, huh?” the girl pressed.

“Yeah. That’s Luke. He and I are together now. The others are Alex and Reggie,” Julie pointed to her other two bandmates, “and our friend, Willie.”

“Cool! Well, have a good time tonight!”

Once the girl wandered back to her group of friends, Julie and the others settled in to enjoy the evening. As promised, each boy danced at least one slow dance with Flynn, but other than that one dance, Luke barely left Julie’s side. He kept an eye out for Nick the entire time, but the other boy appeared to have decided to skip the dance. When he pointed this out to Julie, she responded, “It’s Halloween. If he really has been possessed by Caleb, he’s probably up to something evil spirit-y. And if he isn’t, it’s probably better that he’s not watching you and me or Carrie and Alex. He admitted to me once that he and Carrie never danced together at a school dance. She looks like she’s having the time of her life with Alex, Willie, and Flynn. But either way, as long as he’s not here, we should relax and enjoy the evening.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he pressed a quick kiss to Julie’s forehead. They spent the rest of the evening dancing and having fun like normal teenagers. The others teased the two of them about being lovey-dovey. Reggie, at least, didn’t have much of a leg to stand on, though. He had been making puppy eyes at Kayla most of the evening. He was pleased to find out that, while she wasn’t as big a Star Wars fan as he was, she did have an appreciation for the Star Wars universe. And Alex and Willie weren’t much better, though their ways of communicating their affection were more reserved.

When it came time for the last slow song of the night, Julie watched from within the circle of Luke’s arms as Willie leaned down and whispered something into Flynn’s ear. Flynn, in return, grinned and gave him a thumbs up as he pulled away. When she saw him approaching the sidelines where Alex was standing with Carrie, she tapped Luke’s shoulder. When he turned toward where she was pointing, Julie smiled and whispered, “I think Willie’s about to make a move.”

“I hope Alex doesn’t freak out.”

They watched Willie grab Alex’s hand and start to pull Alex to the dance floor. They could see the struggle on Alex’s face as he started to pull against Willie’s grip, shaking his head. Willie spoke, gesturing to the room at large, causing Alex to glance around the room. His eyes landed on Julie and Luke, who each gave him an encouraging nod. After one more glance around the room, Alex’s shoulders visibly relaxed, and he allowed himself to be pulled onto the dance floor. When Willie wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist, he hesitantly placed his own arms around Willie’s neck and began to sway to the music.”

Luke turned his attention back to Julie, leaning his forehead against hers, “Looks like our little Alex is all grown up.”

Julie smiled, “And realizing that he might find more acceptance in this time.”

She laid her head against his shoulder but continued to watch their friends dancing together. As the song came to an end, there was a moment when she thought the two boys might kiss, but Alex shyly stepped back before anything could happen, though he did allow Willie to keep hold of one of his hands.

Julie smiled up at Luke, “I guess we should go collect the others.” Before she could walk away, though, Luke dipped her and kissed her as deeply as he dared in public, before pulling her back up to stand in front of him, “If they’re not gonna lock lips, I figured someone should.”

Julie twirled away from him, with a soft laugh, before reaching her hand back to take his and dragging him to where all their friends were now gathering. Reggie was bouncing on his tiptoes as they made their way over, “Oh, man! That was more fun than I remembered.”

“What do you mean?” asked Kayla, who had not been made privy to the whole truth about the boys. “How long has it been since you’ve been to a dance?”

“Um…”

Reggie was saved by Alex, “He just means it feels like years since we’ve taken the time to just relax and not be the ones providing the music.”

Kayla merely shrugged, and the other breathed sighs of relief before heading outside to the car. When they arrived back at the Molina house, the group split up. The driver was going to drop Flynn and Kayla off before taking Carrie home. Reggie hung back, hoping to make plans to meet up with Kayla again. Willie and Alex headed inside, while Julie and Luke decided to swing by the studio before getting ready for bed.

In the living room, Alex flopped down on one of the sofas, exhausted from the dancing, as well as the nerves he felt when Willie had asked him to dance. When he felt the cushions dip next to him, he dropped his head onto the other boy's shoulder, “Thanks for being the brave one tonight. I wanted to dance with you, but I don’t think I would have worked up the nerve to ask.”

“No worries, Hotdog,” Willie replied, “You haven’t been able to see the changes since you were alive. If the last thing I knew was 1995 society, I might have hesitated, too.”

When he didn’t receive an answer, he glanced down to see that Alex had fallen asleep, resting on him. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb a peaceful Alex, so he brushed his lips across the top of the blond boy’s head and settled in to spend the night being a pillow.

When Julie and Luke entered the house an hour later, having shared a few more slow dances and a few new song ideas in the studio, it was to a silent household. Julie glanced at Luke, “Do you think the others went to sleep already?”

“Maybe,” Luke replied before glancing into the living room and coming to a halt, “Hey Julie?”

“Yeah?”

“Alex is definitely asleep. But is it my imagination, or does it look like Willie is actually asleep, too?”

Chapter Text

Despite likely being the last one to fall asleep last night, Luke was the first one awake in the morning. He made his way downstairs, peeking into the living room to check on Willie and Alex. Both boys were still sound asleep. At some point during the night, Alex had pulled his legs up onto the sofa and was now firmly snuggled into Willie’s side. Luke smiled at the pair, happy for his friend, before heading into the kitchen to make some breakfast.

He was soon joined by Ray, who tilted his head back toward the living room, “Did they party a little too hard last night?”

Luke laughed, “Not anything out of control, they just both happen to be very exuberant dancers.”

Ray hummed in response, “I didn’t think Willie could sleep?”

“He couldn’t,” answered Luke, “until last night, apparently.”

“Do you think that means he’s fully alive now, like the rest of you?”

“I don’t know, man,” Luke shrugged, “I don’t know how any of this works. And nothing about Willie’s changes has been quite like what Alex, Reggie, and I experienced.”

“Well, at least we have everything set up for him if he is.”

Ray grabbed a cup of coffee and a piece before leaving for the photo shoot he had that day. Luke started making some scrambled eggs. Just as he was finishing the first batch, Julie and Reggie came down the stairs. Like Luke, Julie stopped to smile at the couple on the couch before following Reggie into the kitchen, stating, “I hope that turns out well. They are just too cute together.”

“I don’t know. I think you two give them some pretty fierce competition,” Reggie replied as Luke walked away from the stove to kiss Julie on the forehead.

Julie smiled in response, “And what about you and Kayla? Are you going to be competing, too?”

Reggie laughed, “I don’t know for sure, yet. But we had a good time last night. We’re gonna go out again soon. And speaking of things that are happening soon, your boyfriend here told me that someone has a birthday coming up.”

Julie shot a sideways glance at Luke, “How did you find out about that?”

“Flynn told me,” Luke answered with a shrug.

“Why didn’t you tell us, Julie?” asked Reggie, “Sixteen is a pretty big birthday.”

“I don’t know. Probably partially because my birthday last year was so tough, you know, without my mom. And I guess I partially felt bad because I didn’t know about Luke’s birthday until the day of, and I feel bad that we didn’t do anything for it. Oh, and that you weren’t alive for it.”

“You know what that means, though, right, Julie?” Luke asked her. When she shook her head, he replied, “It means that I am technically still seventeen now, not eighteen. It means our age gap isn't as big. Though it also means I went from being the oldest member of Sunset Curve to the youngest."

Julie tilted her head, “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Luke smiled back at her, “The only problem I had with my birthday this year was the regret I felt, knowing my parents are still recognizing it when I’ve been gone for so long. And that we left on bad terms.”

“Have you thought any more about whether or not you want to go and see them, now that you’re alive again?”

“Yeah,” Luke mumbled, “I think I really would like the chance to go and talk to them. To apologize and explain why I felt I had to leave that night. I just don’t know how to do it.”

“We’ll do it together,” Julie replied, squeezing his hand, “We can bring Reggie and Alex, and even Carrie’s dad along if you think that will make it easier for them to understand.”

“Thanks, Julie.”

Julie turned her attention back to Reggie, “So, I already know Luke’s birthday. When are yours and Alex’s birthdays?”

“My birthday is December 11th, and Alex’s is March 4th. March was an expensive time for Sunset Curve with both Alex’s and Bobby’s birthdays.”

“Well, since you know mine is coming up, it’s November 19th, so exactly a week before Thanksgiving this year.”

“Let us know what you wanna do, yeah?” Luke spoke up, “Even if it’s just stay in and have a movie night. I want your birthday to be perfect this year.”

Julie was about to reply when a loud thump came from the living room. Julie and the two boys ran in to find Alex, now awake, sitting in the floor staring up at Willie. He glanced over at his friends, “He’s asleep! He is just asleep, right? Nothing happened to him?”

“Yeah, buddy, he’s asleep. That's a good thing,” Luke replied with a grin.
“Does that mean…?”

“We don’t know yet,” answered Julie, “We didn’t want to disturb either of you.”

Alex placed his hand on Willie’s knee, causing the other boy to stir, slowly blinking his eyes open. He smiled softly when his gaze met Alex’s face, “Morning, what’s going on? Why do you look so worried?”

Alex gulped, “You-you were sleeping.”

“Well, we knew something like this might happen eventually. Did you check to see if that means…?”

Alex shook his head, “I just woke up. I think I’m too nervous to check.”

Julie stepped forward, “I can do it.”

She walked over so that she stood in front of Willie. She bent slightly so she could place her fingers along the side of his neck. She stayed that way for what seemed, to Alex, like forever before her shoulder sagged. She turned to look at Alex and gave a small shake of her head.

Alex felt a small sob escape him and barely noticed when Julie walked back over to the other two boys, dragging them out of the room to allow Willie and him some privacy. He did notice, though, when a hand began stroking through his hair.

“Hey, Hotdog, there’s no reason to be upset. This is still a step in the right direction. Whatever happened to you guys just worked a little faster than it's working for me, probably because of your relationship with Julie. I’m sure it’ll still happen for me at some point.”

“How can you be so calm and casual about this?”

Willie chuckled, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Hotdog, but you’re the high-strung one. I’m more of a go-with-the-flow type of guy. I’m also eternally optimistic, which has gotten me into trouble before, but I have a good feeling about this.”

Alex wiped his eyes, giving Willie a watery smile, “It’s just so hard, you know? Everyone else is getting to resume their lives. Luke has Julie. Reggie and Kayla seem to be hitting it off, but they are also all the same degree of alive. Which is a phrase I never thought during my previous life I would ever use, but here we are.”

“Alex,” Willie’s use of his real name pulled Alex up short, “We’ll get there eventually. And the fact that we’re not there yet doesn’t have to change anything between us.”

“You’re right. You’re usually right,” Alex dropped his head in defeat. “I just wish we knew what the trick was to bring you back fully. I want to think about the future with you. And that’s hard to do when you’re not really alive.’

“You want to think about the future with me? As in a future together?”

“Well, yeah,” a blush spread across Alex’s face, “I know it’s ridiculous. We haven’t known each other that long, though that hasn’t stopped Luke and Julie. I’ve just never felt like this with anyone else before. It might be too soon to say it, but I think I love you, Willie.”

Willie let out a small gasp, causing Alex to rethink his confession, “I’m sorry. I knew it was too soon. You can just forget I said…”

He was cut off as Willie’s finger pressed against his lips, “Say that again, Hotdog.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not that part,” Willie laughed.

“I-I think I love you.”
Willie let out a whoop and started laughing again. It was the most joyful sound Alex had ever heard him make. He grabbed Alex’s hand and held it to his chest. It was still slow, but Alex could make out a slow thumping beneath his fingers. His eyes widened.

“Oh,” an idea formed in his head, “It’s about love. That night, after the Orpheum, Julie told us she loved us. Caleb’s magic was based on jealousy and anger. Ours is based on love. Oh my gosh, that is so corny. But at the same time, it makes so much sense.”

He hopped to his feet, reaching his hand out for Willie to take. Willie glanced at his hand, then back at his face. “Where are we going?”

“To let the others know, of course. That you’re alive. That we’ve figured out the key. Maybe somehow, we can use this knowledge when we eventually have to face Caleb again.”

“Well, in that case, let’s go. I think we’ve got some celebrating to do.”

Chapter Text

It was the night before Julie’s birthday, and Luke was nervous. Not so much about the plans for the following day. Being a Thursday, they were limited in what they would be able to do around Julie’s school schedule, so they were going to go out to celebrate more on Saturday. Tomorrow there will be a low-key family dinner with cake and gifts. And that led to the source of his nerves. He was nervous about Julie’s gifts. He knew each of the other boys had gotten Julie small gifts. And he, Alex, and Reggie had a surprise planned.

He was a little bit worried about the combined gift, as it was not exactly a traditional gift. But he was more worried about his gift for Julie. He’d never bought a birthday gift for a girl before, much less one he was becoming more and more convinced might actually be his soulmate. He enlisted the help of the other boys as well as Tia Victoria, as she insisted the boys call her once they were introduced to her.

He was also going to make a request of Julie, one that he had cleared with Ray first. That was what he was most nervous about, even though he knew her reaction to the request would be positive.

So now he found himself lying awake while the rest of the house was sleeping around him. The sound of soft snoring filled the room, making him more frustrated with his own inability to fall asleep. He finally decided to get up and at least get a glass of milk. He remembered his mom telling him once that a glass of milk had always helped her on nights when sleep was hard to come by.

When he made it to the kitchen, he glanced at the clock, noticing it was only a few minutes until midnight. If she didn’t have school tomorrow, he would be tempted to go wake Julie up so he could be with her as it transitioned into her birthday. But Julie was a better student and a better sleeper than he had ever been, so he thought it best not to disturb her. He also didn’t want to risk getting caught sneaking into Julie’s room in the middle of the night by Ray, who had done so much for the band since they came back. It seemed a lousy way to repay him.

With a sigh, he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk. He uncapped the bottle, giving the milk an experimental sniff, a habit he had developed after coming back to life. After death by tainted hot dog, he wasn’t eager to press his luck with spoiled food.

Deciding that the milk smelled fine, he poured himself a glass. He was debating whether or not to grab a snack as well when a shuffling sound caught his attention, making him turn around. Standing in the entrance to the kitchen, garbed in baggy pajamas and monster slippers, was Julie, looking like she was still half asleep. She gave him a sleepy smile, “Hmm…What are you doing up?"

“I couldn’t sleep,” he shrugged, “you?”

“I had a dream about my mom.” Luke’s eyes softened and filled with concern, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I think I have to.” Julie replied, “It wasn’t a sad dream. It was strange. I think it might pertain to you and the guys, also.”

Luke cocked his head to one side before moving to sit on one of the stools by the counter. After chugging the milk down quickly, he patted the stool next to him. Julie climbed onto the stool and rested her head on his shoulder before releasing a small sigh.

“If you’re not ready to talk about it, you know that’s okay.” Luke told her, “You know I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”

Julie lifted her chin slightly to glance up at him, “It’s not that. I’m just not sure how to explain. I think it might have been more than a dream.”

“What do you mean?” “In my dream, or whatever it was, my mom looked younger than I ever remember seeing her outside of pictures. But it was like she knew what was going on in my life now. She asked about the band. She told me how proud she was of all of us. But then, she said something really strange.”

“Well, don’t leave me hanging, Boss. What did she say?”

“She said,” Julie took another deep breath, “she said we had all the pieces we need to defeat Caleb.”

Luke jerked in surprise, and Julie’s head slid off his shoulder. He gave her a sheepish grin and apologized, “Sorry. I just…I really wasn’t expecting that. I think you’re right, though. It does sound like more than just a dream. I think your mom has been helping us out all along. I mean, we already decided that she helped bring us all together, right? So, I guess it’s not all that surprising that she knows about Caleb also.”

“Why haven’t I ever been able to see her the way I could see you guys?”

Luke shrugged, “I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say she’s probably not a ghost. From what you’ve told me about her, she always lived life to the fullest. With that, and the awesome family you have, I’m willing to bet she didn’t have any regrets when she died, other than leaving you guys behind. She probably crossed over right away. And, to be the kind of person who raised someone like you, you know she’s up above somewhere, watching down on you like I told you we would.”

“How did you know exactly the right thing to say?” asked Julie.

He smirked at her, “I guess I’m just an amazing boyfriend.”

She bumped her shoulder against his before resting her head back down on it, “Not that you need your ego inflated, but, yeah, you kind of are.”

He flashed her one of his ‘perfect smiles’ before growing serious again, “Julie, can I ask you something?”

Repeating his words from the night of the Orpheum, she replied, “Anything, you know that.”

“I decided I want to try to go see my parents sooner rather than later. While I don’t think I would ever want to move back in with them at this point, I would like them to know I’m alive before the holidays. They don’t deserve to spend another holiday season grieving. Besides, I ran away around Christmas, so it feels kind of poetic. Do you think we could come up with a plan by Sunday?”

Julie lifted her head from his shoulder and reached up to tousle his hair before placing a kiss at his temple, “Absolutely. I’ve actually been thinking about how we can make this work since we talked on Halloween. I’ve already talked to Carrie’s dad, and he said he was willing to help whenever you’re ready. I’ll give him a call tomorrow and let him know we’re aiming for Sunday.”

“Tomorrow? Or later today?”

She crinkled her eyebrows at him, “What?”

“It’s after midnight, Julie. But if you still want to wait until tomorrow tomorrow, I get that. Today should be about you, not me.”

Julie jumped off the stool to move around in front of him. She rested her forehead against him, “Don’t you know, silly boy? You’re part of me now, whether you like it or not. Just like our song says. So, anything important to you is just as important to me. I’ll call once school is out.”

“Oh crap, you’ve got school in the morning! You need to get some sleep!”

“So do you, even if you don’t have school in the morning.” Julie laughed.

Luke sighed, “I still don’t know if I’ll be able to fall asleep.”

“Do you wanna try sleeping in my room?” Julie asked, “And before you say you’re worried about my dad catching us, he and I talked about it. He knows you guys have been through more than he could ever imagine and that you might need comfort sometimes. He agreed that if the door stays open, and it doesn’t become a regular thing, you guys are allowed to stay over.”

“Man, your dad might actually be too good to be true,” Luke answered before hopping off his stool.

“Mind you, this is just to sleep, so don’t try anything funny,” warned Julie as she took him by the hand and started walking toward the stairs.

“You got it, boss. I never want to do anything to make you uncomfortable. Nothing physical happens until you say it’s okay. Besides, if and when we take that step in our relationship, I want it to be something more amazing than us fumbling around in the dark while we’re both sleep deprived, and the house is full of people.”

Julie gave him a large grin before rising on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly, “There you go, being an amazing boyfriend again. And don’t think I didn’t notice that ‘if.’ I can safely say, I don’t see a future in which we don’t get there eventually.”

She left him standing dumbfounded as she raced from her doorway to the bed before jumping in. When she looked back and saw him still in the doorway with a glazed-over expression, she laughed before waving him over to join her. He shook his head to clear it before making his way over to the bed and climbing in next to Julie. He placed his arm around her shoulder, pulling her head down to rest on his chest, “I love you, you know?”

“I know,” she giggled, “I love you, too.”

Placing a soft kiss to the top of her curls, noting she was already drifting off, Luke whispered, “Happy Birthday, Boss.”

Chapter Text

On the morning of her birthday, Julie awoke before her alarm clock. Her head was resting on Luke’s chest, slowly moving up and down to the pace of his even breaths. His arm opposite her was draped across her waist. When she glanced up at his face, she noticed he was still soundly sleeping. She took a moment to study his face, normally so expressive, now so still.

Reaching up, she traced a finger along his cheekbone and down his jawline. As she reached his chin, she noticed his lips start to twitch upwards into a soft smile. The arm around her waist squeezed briefly tighter before relaxing as his eyes blinked open. Looking down at her, his eyes crinkled as his smile grew large and bright. He nuzzled at her curls with his nose before sighing, “I could get used to this.”

Julie chuckled, “Not so fast. One of the rules was that this wouldn’t be a regular thing, remember?”

“For now,” Luke replied, “I owe your dad that much, at least. But someday….”

Julie felt her heart stutter. It always took her by surprise when Luke spoke about a future together. He was her first boyfriend. She knew most high school relationships ended before high school did, but she couldn’t imagine a day when she and Luke weren’t together, and she was always glad, and a little in awe, to hear that he felt the same way. She let out a groan as a new thought occurred to her, “If you want that someday to actually happen, we should probably get up. One of my dad’s other rules is that school still comes first. Even on my birthday. And even when I would rather stay snuggled up with my boyfriend all day. Besides, I need to talk to Carrie so that her dad will be expecting my call later.”

Luke sat up, pulling Julie up with him before shooting a pout in her direction, “Ugh, fine. But I’m not happy about it. If I had my way, I’d spend your whole birthday right by your side.”

Julie laughed, “That would be hard, even if you were already going to school, since you’re gonna be a grade above me and probably in different classes.”

He shrugged before letting her up to get ready for school, briefly pressing his lips to her forehead in the process, “Can’t blame a guy for trying. I’ll see you downstairs?”

She nodded before heading to her closet to pick out her wardrobe for the day. When she had finished getting ready, she made her way down to the kitchen, a spring in her step from the pleasant start to her morning. She found her dad, Carlos, Willie, and her bandmates all seated around the larger table that her dad had recently purchased. They all stood up as she walked in, her dad walking over to give her a large hug, “There’s my birthday girl! I can’t believe you’re sixteen! It seems like just yesterday…”

“Please stop!” she cut her dad off with a laugh, “Just because it’s my birthday doesn’t mean we have to do the whole trip down memory lane thing, yeah?”

“Okay, okay,” Ray raised his arms in surrender, “How about a special birthday breakfast, though? The guys pitched in and we made breakfast casserole from a recipe that Reggie found.”

Reggie spoke up from his spot at the table, “Yeah, Luke may be better at cooking than me, but nobody beats me when it comes to finding new foods to try.”

“Well, it smells great,” Julie replied. “Thanks, guys!”

Breakfast was a boisterous, happy affair. But before long, it was time for Julie to leave for school. She didn’t know why she was more hesitant to leave her guys behind today than usual. Maybe it was just because she knew they played a large part in making today easier than it was last year. She hesitated longer than normal before reminding herself that she just needed to focus on the school and she would be home before she knew it.

Her dad was driving her to school this morning. Once in the car, he turned to her, his face more serious than it had been earlier, “I saw the sleeping arrangements this morning. Thank you for sticking to the rules. Is everything okay?”

Julie smiled at her dad, “Yeah. Things were a little rough late last night. I had a dream about Mom. When I went downstairs, Luke was awake. He decided to try to see his parents this weekend, so they wouldn’t have to spend another holiday season grieving. The reminders of what we’ve both lost were just weighing a little too heavy on us when we decided to try to get back to sleep. But, yeah, everything’s good.”

“I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this, given how young you both are,” Ray started, “but I think the two of you are good for each other. He’s a keeper, Julie.”

“Thanks, Papi. I agree. I’m pretty sure he feels the same way, given how he talks about the future.”

“It’s rare for boys that age to be focused on the future. But I suppose having your future taken away from you and being given a second chance changes your perspective a bit.”

Julie nodded, “I know most of the time they seem as carefree as any other teenage boys, but they know better than anyone that life is short.”

“Still,” Ray added, “No getting married until you’re both done with high school. And preferably college, but if your music career takes off, I understand if you put off college.”

“Dad!”

Ray just laughed, “I just remember how it was when I first met your mother. The two of you remind me of that time. I know that you know you’ve got something good there. I want to make sure that what happened with your mom doesn’t make you rush into things you aren’t ready for or make you shut yourself off to the possibilities. Because even if I knew what was going to happen when I met your mom, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

By this time, they had reached Julie’s school. Ray leaned over to hug his daughter, “You’re welcome. Have a great day. I’ll see you when you get home. I know the boys have a special surprise planned for you.”

Julie spent the day at school focused more on that conversation than on her classes. She did manage to remember to speak to Carrie about Luke’s plans to contact his parents. Carrie had immediately texted her dad, who replied that he would give the girls a ride home from school so that they could discuss the plans in depth. But other than that, she spent her day watching the clock, eager to get home to her family and to find out what her boys had planned.

During the ride home, she and Carrie’s dad came up with a plan she was sure Luke would approve of. She promised to confirm with him and give Carrie his answer the following day at school. Both Carrie and her dad wished Julie a happy birthday as they dropped her off, causing Julie to marvel at how much had changed for the better since the boys entered her life. She rushed out of the car and into the studio where she knew they would be waiting.

Willie was sitting on the sofa, watching Luke, Alex, and Reggie debate some aspect of a new song, while gathered around the piano. She ran over to her bandmates and threw her arms around them, “I missed you guys so much! I know it wasn’t any different from any other day that I’m at school, but I just really wanted to spend the day with all of you.”

“About that,” Luke bit his lip, showing that he was nervous about what he was about to say, “We have a surprise gift for you. From all of us. We got you individual gifts, too, but this is something a little different.”

She glanced around at the other boys. Alex smiled encouragingly. Reggie was bouncing up and down, like he couldn’t contain his excitement. She glanced at Willie to see if he had any idea what was going on, but he merely nodded his head back toward the group. Reggie hopped around to the other side of the piano and picked up a box from the piano bench. It was wrapped in a pale purple paper with a glittery dark purple ribbon and bow. Reggie nodded his head, “I picked out the wrapping paper.”

“Thanks, Reg,” Julie replied with a laugh before returning her attention to the box. She took extra care to unwrap it without ripping any of the paper. By the time she was ready to lift the lid, all the boys were watching her anxiously. The box was filled mostly with folded papers, but she noted there were some smaller, less flexible objects in the box as well. She pulled them out one at a time to look at them. When she realized what she was looking at, happy tears came to her eyes. She was looking at the documents that legally brought her boys back to life. There were birth certificates and ID cards for each. She glanced up, meeting the eyes of each of her bandmates, “How? When?”

Luke moved forward to brush the tears off her cheeks, “We’ve been working with Bobby while you’ve been at school. It’s amazing what a little fame and money can do. We’ll have to keep that in mind for the future, given that his fame and money came from my music. And our music is even better.”

Julie gave him a watery smile. “So does this mean?”

While Luke returned her smile, it was Reggie’s excited voice that answered. We also officially got enrolled in your school. After the holiday break, there will be nothing keeping us apart.”

Julie laughed and pulled her bandmates back into another hug, “Thanks, guys, this is the best birthday gift I’ve ever received."

Chapter Text

It was still early in the afternoon, and her dad was still at work, so Julie and the boys decided to spend a bit of time rehearsing before getting ready for dinner. They played through their typical set list twice, with Willie enthusiastically cheering from the sofa, before Ray got home.

Having followed the sound of their music, he wandered out to the studio as the band was finishing up. He made his way over to his daughter, “How was your day, Mija?”

“It was okay. Until I got home…then it was pretty amazing!”

Ray smiled widely and glanced around the room at the boys, “I take it they gave you their combined gift, then?”

Julie nodded, “I can’t wait until we all get to be at school together! Oh, I should probably thank Carrie’s dad again when I see him on Saturday. Although he kind of does owe this to the guys.”

Seeing the reproachful look on Ray’s face, Luke stepped in to save Julie. “So, what’s the plan for dinner?”

“We’ve got a family tradition of going out to diners on birthdays,” Julie answered instead, “It’s not anything particularly fancy. But it’s fun. And there are usually awesome milkshakes involved.”

“Sweet!” Reggie’s voice rang out from where he was putting his bass away behind the piano under the loft, “I love milkshakes!"

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me,” answered Ray, affectionately shaking his head. While he saw all four of the former ghosts as his adopted children, there was something about Reggie’s innocent exuberance that Ray found particularly endearing.

“Oh, oh!” Reggie continued, turning to face Julie, “Are you going to open the rest of your presents before or after dinner?”

Julie laughed, “We usually do presents after. Once we come back home, we’ll do presents while we let our food settle enough that we can enjoy the cake.”

“I almost forgot about the cake!,” Reggie exclaimed, “Milkshakes and cake together, best night ever!”

Not for the first time, Julie wondered exactly what Reggie’s home life had been like when he was alive the first time. But he never seemed to want to dwell on it, so he never pushed him to share more than he was willing to. So, instead of commenting on his exclamation, she nodded toward the door, “Flynn should be back here soon. Should we go round up Carlos and Tia, so we’re ready to go when she gets here?”

The others nodded in agreement and started making their way to the house. Flynn showed up not long after, and everyone piled into Ray and Victoria’s cars. Dinner was one of the most entertaining meals that Julie could remember. Reggie was bouncing on the springy seat of the booth, with Willie joining in, though to a lesser degree. Alex looked like he wanted to sink into said seat in embarrassment until Carlos started the traditional debate about what the best flavor of milkshake was. It turns out, Alex had a very strong opinion on the subject. He, Carlos, and Flynn were firmly on Team Strawberry. Julie, Luke, and Reggie preferred chocolate. Willie, surprisingly, sided with Ray and Victoria in voting for vanilla. Each group spent the rest of dinner arguing for their chosen flavor, and it was a wonderful distraction for Julie, keeping her from focusing on who was not there.

When the group got back to the house, Julie took a seat in the living room as the other rushed off to get their presents for her. She spent time oohing and aahing over all her gifts, which included some new clothes and books, a new makeup palette, a Build-a-Bear in an outfit that somewhat resembled her Orpheum outfit, some new art supplies, and a leather music journal.

The most sentimental gift came for Tia Victoria, who had created a recipe book of some of her mom’s favorite recipes, both from when Rose was a child and those she had made for her family. “I figured these could get some good use,” Victoria explained before shooting a glance at Luke, “now that there is someone in this house who might be able to fix them properly.”

Luke blushed bright red, while Ray clapped a hand on his shoulder and laughed good-naturedly at the jab at his skills in the kitchen before adding, “Speaking of food, are we ready for cake?”

He was met with an enthusiastic response from Reggie and Carlos, who decided to race to the kitchen, and nods from the others. As the others followed after the two energetic boys, Luke grabbed Julie’s wrist to hold her back for a moment. He scratched the back of his head as he spoke, “I, um, I got you another gift, but I-I didn’t really want to have you open it in front of the others. The guys are gonna give me a hard enough time about it as it is.”

“Well, if the guys are going to tease you about it, I’m sure I’ll love it,” Julie replied with a laugh.

Luke stuck his tongue out at her in response before pulling a small box out of the pocket of his hoodie and holding it out to her. It was not wrapped, but did have a ribbon holding the lid in place. Julie eagerly removed the ribbon and opened it up before letting out a pleased gasp.

“Do you like it?” asked Luke, “I mean, I know you’ve already got a bunch of necklaces, but I saw this one and it reminded me of you.”

Julie nodded as she stared at the necklace inside. On a delicate gold chain was a butterfly charm, outlined in the same shade of gold, but each wing was colored with a deep purple amethyst. She glanced back up to meet his gaze, nodding again as she exclaimed, “It’s beautiful! Help me put it on?”

He picked up the necklace and motioned for her to turn around. As she did so, she lifted her hair to allow him better access to her neck. He clasped the necklace in place, then took hold of her hand, spinning her back around, “I wanted to get you a little something to let you know just how glad I am that you were born. And that we all got to meet you. As teenagers, not as skeevy old men. Even if it meant we had to die. It was worth it for the chance to meet you.”

Julie crinkled her nose and held his face between her hands, pulling him down to her level so she could place a kiss on his forehead, “That was pretty cheesy, but thank you. I’m really glad I got to meet you, too.”

As he grinned in response, she reached down to take one of his hands and pull him toward the kitchen. When they entered, Alex greeted them with a, “Oh, thank goodness. I think Reggie was going to have a meltdown if he had to wait much longer for cake. “

Julie smirked, “Is he going to sleep at all tonight?” When Luke and Alex shook their heads in unison, she laughed, “Well, have fun with that.”

She made her way to the table, where Luke placed an arm around her shoulders as her gathered group of family and friends sang to her. She leaned forward to blow out the candles. As Tia Victoria started cutting the cake, Julie stood back up and leaned into Luke’s shoulder. He turned his head to the side to whisper in her ear, “Happy Birthday, Boss.”

She smiled as she took in the group around her. It was a happy birthday, indeed.

Chapter Text

It was Friday afternoon, and while she was on her way home from school, Julie was searching for a way to make Luke less nervous about going to see his parents the next day. She decided they should go out and do something related to music that wasn’t about promoting their band. She considered busking, or finding an open mic somewhere, before settling on karaoke. They could invite the other guys and spend an evening singing their hearts out just for the sake of singing.

As soon as she got home, she ran out to the studio, where she knew Luke would be, to tell him about her plan. While she didn’t expect him to turn completely shut down the idea, she was surprised by how quickly he agreed. When she questioned this, he shrugged, “I know I need a distraction tonight, too. I know I’ve seen my parents since we came back as ghosts, but knowing I’ll be able actually to interact with them, it hits differently, you know?”

Julie nodded, taking one of his hands in hers, “I get it. But I’ll be right there with you, no matter what happens.”

“Thanks,” Luke squeezed her hand, “I know from seeing them while I was a ghost that my death really hurt them. I went back a few times when I was still alive and saw my mom looking at a picture of me once, but I don’t know if they ever put any effort into looking for me, or if they only really wished for me back after there was no chance of me coming back.”

“I’m sure they missed you right from the beginning.” Julie rested her head on his shoulder, “And I’m sure your mom regrets that last argument as much as you do.”

Luke turned so that he could bury his face in the curls at the top of her head before nodding slowly, “I just don’t know how to expect them to react after all this time.”

“There’s no way to predict how anyone would react to something like this. It’s not exactly something that happens every day.” Julie replied with a snort of laughter. She turned to give his cheek a peck before adding, “But I have faith that everything will turn out fine. So for now, I’m going to go inside, make some reservations at one of the karaoke places in Koreatown, and figure out what I’m gonna wear tonight. You can go tell the guys the plan and see if they want to join us.”

She made her way inside and made the necessary arrangements for the evening’s entertainment before continuing up to her room to pick out an outfit for the night. She couldn’t say what drew her to the trunk of her mom’s old things, but she didn’t even give her closet a second glance before kneeling in front of the trunk and pulling open the top. Ever since Flynn had found the Sunset Curve t-shirt, Julie had vowed she would pay more attention to the contents of the trunk each time she opened it, so when she noticed the black canvas notebook her mom had used as a diary when she was a teenager, she decided, for the first time, to open it and get a glimpse of what her mom’s life had been like.

It opened up to a page about three-quarters of the way through the journal, where a folded-up sheet of paper had been stuck between the pages. When Julie glanced at the date on the page, she sucked in a breath. While she and the boys hadn’t ever spoken in detail about the night they died, she remembered the date from the article she had found when she Googled Sunset Curve the day her ghosts first appeared. The page in the journal she had opened up to was dated from the night the boys had eaten their tainted hot dogs. Now, surer than ever that her mom was the girl the band met that night, she shied away from looking more closely at what her mom had written about that night’s events. Instead, she turned to the paper she now held in her right hand.

When she unfolded it, what she saw made her cry out, before clapping a hand over her mouth. Staring back up at her was Luke’s smiling face on a missing person flyer. She slowly traced the lines of his face before returning her attention to the journal in her hand. According to the journal, her mom had found the flyer just after the boys had been loaded into the ambulances. She had taken it down and kept it in case their band ever made it back to The Orpheum. She had planned on showing it to Luke to let him know someone was looking for him.

Unfortunately, Sunset Curve never made it back to The Orpheum, so Rose had folded up the flyer and tucked it into the pages of her journal. It had served as a reminder to live life to the fullest because everything could be taken away in an instant.

By now, Julie truly believed that her mom was watching out for her and guiding her, as well as the band, from wherever she was. She smiled softly at the knowledge that she would be able to do what her mom hadn’t had a chance to do. She could provide Luke with the proof he had been looking for that he had been missed in life, as well as in death.

She refolded the paper in her hand, shoving it into her back pocket before leaping up and running back down to the studio. When she arrived, Luke was moving to put his phone away. He looked up and grinned as she re-entered, “Hey, Boss. The guys are down to join us tonight. Willie in particular seems pretty exci-oof.”

Julie cut off his sentence by slamming into him and throwing her arms around his waist.

“Hey, Jules?” he asked, placing one hand gently on top of her head, “Everything, okay? Not that I mind a hug from you, of course. But this seems a little than your typical show of affection.”

Julie lifted her head, nodding with a soft smile and watery eyes, “I found something in my mom’s old journal that I needed to show you.”

“Okay,” Luke’s voice held a hint of uncertainty. To cause this reaction from Julie, he assumed that whatever she found was going to be major.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it over to him. He unfolded it and stared at it for a moment. He glanced back up at Julie, a look of confusion coming over his features. She reached up and placed her hands over his, where they were still holding on to the page, “Don’t you see, Luke? This is proof that your parents never stopped looking for you and missing you when you were alive. My mom found it on the night you died, hoping she would have the chance to show it to you someday, but, obviously, she never got the chance. She wanted you to know that you were loved and missed.”

A stray tear slipped down Luke’s cheek, and Julie reached up to brush it away. He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him, before hiding his face in her shoulder. His voice, when he was able to form words, was muffled due to his position. “Thank you, Julie. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Julie held his head against her shoulder, lightly running her fingers through his hair, “I would give anything for a chance to see my mom again. I know your parents feel the same way about you. Yes, they will probably be overwhelmed and confused, but getting you back is going to be the best thing that ever happened to them.” She pulled back, making him meet her gaze before continuing, “And, if by some crazy chance I happen to be wrong, I want you to remember that meeting you was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

He beamed back at her, “Thanks, Boss. Right back atcha.”

Julie rolled her eyes, “Now did I hear you start to say Willie was particularly excited about tonight. Well, now I am, too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Willie sing before.”

“I haven’t, either, but Alex said he’s got a good voice.”

“Aw, they must be so cute singing back and forth to each other,” Julie cooed.

“Maybe,” Luke agreed, “But we’re still, what did Flynn call us? The most watchable dueters she’s ever seen?”

Julie laughed, “Yeah, something like that. Now let me go. I didn’t have a chance to pick out my outfit for tonight.”

“Fine,” Luke huffed, “I see where I stand. You know, you don’t need to change. You look perfect just how you are.”

She scrunched up her face, “Thanks, Cheeseball. But I’m just not feeling the karaoke vibes from this outfit.  I want to put on something a little more ‘rock star.’”

“That’s my girl.” Luke grinned at her, “Fine, go get changed. The guys will be back in like half an hour. We can go out and grab some pizza before we sing. That’ll make Reggie happy. And don’t worry, after a night of fun, I’ll be ready to go. I learned by lesson – running away doesn’t really solve anything.”

“Good,” Julie shot him a wink over her shoulder as she walked off, “because I don’t intend to let you run away from this. And I certainly won’t let you run away from me.”

As Luke watched her leave the studio, his smile softened, and he whispered to himself, “At this point, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”

Chapter Text

Julie put extra care into getting ready for their night out. She knew, with the whole crew going, that this wouldn’t count as a date, but she wanted to put the effort into looking extra nice for Luke before the next day’s stress.

After changing her clothing and applying slightly heavier make-up, she made her way down to the kitchen where the boys were waiting. Willie was the first to glance up when she entered the room, and when he saw her, he let out a bark of laughter.

He nudged Alex in the side with his elbow and exclaimed, “See? What did I tell you? They did it again.”

“You’re right,” Alex replied, glancing back and forth between her and Luke, “I can’t believe I never noticed before.”

Julie glanced over at Luke, who appeared to be as confused as she was. Not understanding, she turned back to Willie and Alex, “What did we do?”

Alex bit back a grin as he answered, “Willie pointed out to me recently that the two of you are frequently color-coordinated, whether you plan it or not.”

Glancing down, she noticed they were correct.

Willie nodded, “I first noticed when Alex showed me the video of the show you did here. While your styles were different, your color coordination was just adorable.”
Julie felt her cheeks heat up, but Luke merely shrugged, “I guess great minds really do think alike.”

Julie rolled her eyes at him before moving to stand next to him, linking her arm with his, “Or maybe we just know what colors look best on stage.”

Reggie spoke around his mouthful of food, “But you’re not gonna be on stage today.”

“Sure, we are,” she replied. “We may not have much of an audience, but anytime we have microphones in front of us, it’s a stage.”

Luke snapped his fingers and pointed at her in agreement, “Yeah, Julie’s right. No holding back tonight, just because nobody’s watching. We know better than most that you have to make every second count. That extends to karaoke.”

When Julie nodded in response, Alex leaned over to Reggie and whispered, “I can’t believe there are two of them.”

“It’s like they’re the same person.”

“Yeah, just like,” Alex replied, actually meaning it this time.

Julie smirked before asking, “Well, are we going to go out and have an epic karaoke night, or are we going to keep talking about how alike Luke and I are?”

Reggie’s hand shot up in the air, “Ooh! I vote for karaoke night!”

Alex groaned and smacked Reggie on the back of the head, but Julie just shook her head and laughed softly, “I guess we had better get going, then.”

With her arm still linked through Luke’s, she pulled him towards the door, the others following close behind them.

They had an amazing night, singing their hearts out. Willie impressed those in the group who had not heard him sing. Reggie joked that they would have to invite Willie to join the band, too. Willie had laughed off the suggestion, stating that he didn’t have the same passion for music as the others; he just enjoyed singing for fun from time to time. They stayed out late and let themselves forget about their worries for the night.

By the time they left the karaoke lounge, they were exhausted. Alex spent part of the ride home sleeping, with his head on Willie’s shoulder. Reggie, who had sung very enthusiastically throughout the evening, was sounding a little hoarse. But Julie focused on Luke, who was unusually quiet on the ride home.

When they got back, as the others went upstairs, Julie pulled Luke into the kitchen and poured them each a glass of water. She then stood next to him by the island and bumped her shoulder against his. “Hey, you doing okay?”

He furrowed his brow as he glanced back down at her, “Yeah, why?"

“You just seemed subdued on the way home. I wanted to make sure you weren’t slipping back into your nerves about tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Luke looked surprised, “No, I know now that I’ll be able to handle whatever happens tomorrow if you’re there. I was actually thinking about how lucky I am. Not only were the boys and I given a second, and even a third chance, that we didn’t deserve more than anyone else. But you knew exactly what I needed tonight. Even though I couldn’t see it before, I know my parents tried. But nobody else, including Alex and Reggie, has ever had the knack of always knowing just what I need that you do.”

“It’s not exactly the same for me,” Julie began, “because I had that connection with my mom. But after she died, I didn’t think I would find that with anyone else. But you get me, too. You always seem to know what I need, too. You know when to push and when to hold back, and that was part of what allowed me to let music back into my life. Nobody else knew what I needed to get me there, but you did, from the very beginning.”

A flash of pink painted Luke’s cheeks as he replied, “Sometimes I feel like I depend on you too much.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, because you’re also the one who makes me believe that I can handle anything.”

Luke let out a small chuckle. “Well, either way, thanks again, Julie.”

Julie stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his forehead, “Anytime, Luke. Now go upstairs and get to bed. You want to be well-rested for your big day tomorrow.”

Luke took a few steps back from her, walking backwards before he broke out into one of his famous ‘perfect smiles’ and gave her a salute before turning around to run upstairs.

Julie shook her head at his antics, but a fond smile formed on her own lips as she watched him follow her suggestion, marveling over how much a couple of months and a few ghosts had changed the course her life was on.

Chapter Text

Saturday morning dawned cloudy and chilly, for Southern California, even in mid-November. Julie wasn’t sure whether Luke’s decision to wear long sleeves was related to the weather or if it had more to do with his nerves about trying to talk to his parents for the first time in twenty-five years. She had noticed, after all, that he was more likely to cover his arms when he was feeling insecure about something.

Either way, seeing him bundled up was enough to bring out the protective side of Julie’s nature. She held tightly to his hand as they climbed into the car that arrived courtesy of Carrie’s dad. Once in the car, she rested her head on his shoulder, as an extra signal that she was there for him and would continue to be no matter how this meeting went. They rode this way in relative silence. The main sound within the car came from the jiggling of Luke’s leg, which only ceased when Julie laid her free hand over his knee. He gave her a weak smile of thank you in return, before leaning his head back and closing his eyes, using the opportunity to focus on breathing to calm himself down.

When they arrived at the Patterson house, Luke turned a wide-eyed gaze in Julie’s direction. She bumped her shoulder against his, “Will you be okay on your own for a minute? I think it’ll be best if I go up first. Mr. Wilson…Trevor…Bobby, I’m not really sure what to call him anymore, can be just behind me. I’ll come and get you after we’ve talked to your parents.”

Luke nodded, and Julie gave his hand one last squeeze before taking a deep breath and climbing out of the car. Carrie’s dad trailed behind her a few feet behind her has she made her way up to the door. She briefly closed her eyes, grounding herself, before ringing the doorbell as Luke had done not that long ago.

Unlike last time, Emily was the one who opened the door. When she saw Julie, a quizzical look passed over her face, but she greeted her kindly, “Hello again. Julie, right?”

Julie nodded, “I’m so sorry to bother you again, but I have something more to share with you and your husband. It’s going to be a little difficult to explain, so I brought along one of Luke’s old friends to help out. This is Trevor Wilson, but you might have known him better as Bobby Shaw.”

“Hello, Mrs. Patterson.”

Emily glanced up, tears springing to her eyes as she saw her son’s childhood friend, “None of this Mrs. Patterson business. You’re an adult now, and the closest living connection we have to Luke. I think it’s okay for you to call me Emily at this point. Come in. Have a seat. Let me go grab Mitch, and we can talk.”

As Emily wandered off, farther into the house, Julie and Trevor made their way into the living room and sat down in one of the chairs across from the sofa. Somehow, she instinctively felt that Mitch and Emily did not spend much time in these chairs these days. Trevor took his seat just as Mitch and Emily entered the room.

“Well, Julie,” Mitch started, before turning to glance at Trevor, “And Bobby Shaw, this is a surprise. Emily said you had something more you wanted to share with us.”

Julie nodded, “We do, but it’s going to sound really strange, so I want you to keep an open mind, and keep in mind that I don’t want to do or say anything to hurt you. I know better than most what it feels like to lose a loved one, so please understand that I would never lie about what we’re about to tell you.”

Mitch and Emily exchanged confused glances before turning back to face their guests. Emily nodded, “Okay, we will try our best to keep an open mind.”

“I’m going to start with a confession,” Trevor announced, “As you know, I was with Luke, Reggie, and Alex the night they died. I didn’t go with them to get dinner because I was busy flirting with a girl who worked at the Orpheum, where we were set to perform that night.”

“That girl went on to become my mom,” Julie interrupted, “Sorry, but that does become important later in the story.”

“Anyway, I didn’t realize how bad things were, how sick the others were. When the boys were taken away in the ambulances and we had to cancel the show, I stayed and spoke with some of the managers who had shown up to see us. I thought Luke would have wanted that.  But, and I know this isn't much of an excuse, my family was in a financial crunch, and when the boys didn’t make it, I passed off some of the Sunset Curve music as my own, which is how I started my career. In reality, it was all Luke’s music. I wanted to let you know that Luke did have what it takes to make it in the music industry. I have lived with that guilt for a while. But part of what we’ve discovered recently has made me feel the need to come forward and tell you this.”

Emily stifled a sob as Mitch slowly nodded, “Thank you for telling us. It means a lot to know that Luke was on his way to making his dreams come true. It gives me hope that we could have reconciled if he hadn’t passed away so young.”

Emily added, “I don’t regret anything as much as I regret our fight the night he ran away.”

“Now comes the hard-to-explain part,” Julie cut in, “I told you my mom was at the Orpheum the night the boys died. She was, in fact, one of the last people to speak to them. They gave her a band T-shirt and a copy of their CD. Flash forward to a couple of months ago. My dad was getting our house ready to sell, thinking it would help the family move on after my mom passed away last year.”

“Oh, Sweetie, I’m so sorry.” Emily gasped.

“Thanks,” Julie replied, “We didn’t end up moving after all, partially because of what I found while trying to clean out and organize my mom’s old studio. I found the CD that the other boys in the band had given to my mom. Now comes the really unbelievable part of the story. When I put the CD in the player and turned it on, three teenage boys-or rather, the ghosts of three teenage boys–appeared out of nowhere and scared the hell out of me.”

“Now listen here,” Emily began, sounding upset by the turn the story had taken, not ready to believe what Julie was telling her.

Mitch patted his wife on the arm, “Calm down, Emily. We promised we’d listen with an open mind.”

“Thank you,” Julie replied, “I was as shocked by this as I imagine you are by hearing it. I never believed in ghosts and still really didn’t until I stuck the cross from the wall in my room through one of the boys’ chests.”

“Who was that?” asked Trevor, with a bit of a laugh. “Alex. He was trying to explain things to me with a ‘softer touch.’”

Now Trevor let out a full-out laugh, “And I’ll bet he didn’t do any better at gently explaining it than the others.”

Julie shook her head, “They explained to me that they were in a band and had died, they thought only the night before. When I looked up the name of the band, I found out they had actually died twenty-five years ago.”

Now Emily let out a gasp, a look of hope in her eyes as she squeezed her husband's hand. “I tried to kick them out of the studio, as it was a place of pain for me. I hadn’t been able to write or perform music since my mother died. During dinner, however, music suddenly started blaring from the studio, music that my dad and brother could hear.”

At this point, she leaned forward, reaching out a hand to each of Luke’s parents. Only when each of them had reached out and grasped her hands did she continue, “Luke was the one who brought music back into my life. That song I brought you last time? I didn’t find it. Luke showed it to me. We discovered that they could be heard when they played music. Then they decided to help me with a performance to keep my place in my school’s music program, and we learned that they could be visible when we all performed together, so we formed a band together."

“That’s how I found out about all of this,” Trevor butted in, “My daughter was watching a video of a performance they played together. I recognized the boys right away, but didn’t understand how I could be seeing them, looking exactly like they did the last time I had seen them. I went to see them, in person, at the Orpheum, where we were meant to have played together all those years ago.”

“But there’s more,” Julie added, “Luke and the others had been looking for a way to confront Trevor, er, Bobby, about taking their music, so they went to another ghost for help-I know, ghosts are more prevalent than I could have imagined. But instead of helping, this ghost cursed them to be zapped out of existence if they didn’t join him. We played the Orpheum, hoping that playing the gig they didn’t get to play in life would help them pass over before the curse could work.”

Julie took a deep breath and wiped a tear from her cheek. “When the show was over, the boys faded out. I thought it had worked. But when I got home, they were still there and still being zapped by those jolts. I begged them to go join Caleb, to save themselves, but they refused.”

Emily let out a sob. Julie squeezed her hand and smiled encouragingly, “The story doesn’t end there. Without thinking about it, I hugged Luke. And for the first time, I could actually touch him. The others joined, and the marks Caleb left on them disappeared. Before I tell you the next part, I need you to know that Luke came to visit you several times during the course of these events. He regretted leaving the way he did. That’s why he wrote that song. He wanted a way to tell you that he regretted the way things ended. But now, he has a chance to tell you himself. Whatever happened the night of our gig brought Luke, Reggie, and Alex back to life. Luke is out in the car right now, waiting for me to bring him in, if you feel ready for that?”

She glanced at Luke’s parents. Emily had tears streaming down her face at this point, but she managed to nod. Mitch was also blinking back tears, but was able to get a few words out, “Yes, please. We’d like to see our boy.”

Julie smiled and stood up. She walked back to the car, tapping on the window to get Luke’s attention. The look he gave her when he met her gaze nearly broke her heart. She gave him an encouraging nod, and when he opened the door, she firmly grasped his hand in hers. He stayed a step behind her as they made their way back into the house. When they reached the living room, Julie stepped to the side, letting Luke’s parents get their first look at their son. Emily gasped through her tears, and Mitch let out a choked sob. Julie turned to face Luke to find tears streaming down his face as well, but there was a watery smile as well as he spoke, “Hi Mom. Hi, Dad.”

His parents launched themselves at him, and before the words were all the way out of his mouth, he was wrapped up in a hug that none of them thought they would ever have the chance to experience.

Chapter Text

Mitch was the first to find his voice, pulling back from embracing his son, “How-how is this possible?”

Luke wiped his sleeve-clad arm across his face as he stepped back, “I don’t know. I don’t know how any of this happened, but it did. I’m back. And I’m so, so sorry for how I left things before.”

“Oh, honey, no,” Emily cried, “I’m the one who’s sorry. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by in which I didn’t regret that last fight. I want you to know that we looked for you, always hoping you’d come home, until that terrible day.”

Luke sniffled and reached for Julie’s hand. Once it was in his grasp, he replied, “I regret everything, too. I know Julie showed you the song I wrote. It was everything I was hoping to be able to say to you one day.”

“This might be the strangest question I’ve ever asked, but did you write it before or after…?” Emily trailed off, not quite willing to finish the question.

“Before. I always meant to come back someday. To try to make amends.” Luke explained, “Actually, I did come back. Several times, but I never made it to the door. I stood in the shadows of the bushes and watched you some nights. I never thought I wouldn’t have the chance to try to make things right. I was so sure I would come back once the band made it big.”

“And you know now that he would have succeeded,” Trevor interrupted, “It was because of Luke’s songs that I found success. And the new music he and Julie have been writing is even better. Believe me when I say that they have what it takes to make it.”

Emily glanced around the circle at each person in the room. Mitch gave her an encouraging nod, and she grabbed Luke’s free hand in her own, “Julie showed us how talented you were…are. I am so sorry we never encouraged you before. I just wanted you to have a secure future. And look how that turned out.”

Luke shook his head, “Obviously, it didn’t work out the way any of us expected, but I do still have a future, thanks to Julie, who I never would have met if things hadn't happened the way they did. And I have to believe that if music is part of what brought me back, then it is meant to be part of that future.”

At these words, Emily and Mitch turned to look at Julie. Emily gave her a watery smile, “I don’t know how we can ever thank you. You’ve given us back our boy.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” Julie replied, “I think my mom was guiding everything. She passed away a little over a year ago. When the guys appeared, they brought me back to life in a way, as well.”

Mitch cleared his throat, “Does that mean Reggie and Alex came back, too?”

Luke nodded, “They did. They haven’t searched for their families yet. I don’t know if they will. But I needed to let you know how much I regret running out. I guess I’ve always been a little too stubborn for my own good.”

Mitch nudged Emily’s shoulder with his own, “I wonder where he got that?” Emily choked out a laugh, “I guess we were always more alike than either of us realized.”

“With one exception,” Luke glanced down at his feet, knowing that what he was going to say next might hurt his parents, “and because of that one exception, I have a request. I know we have lost a lot of time. And I do want a better relationship with both of you. And for that reason, I want to keep staying with the Molinas. There is a lot of pain in this house, for all of us, and I don’t know that it would help me to be back here permanently. But, in compromise, I would like to do family dinners. Maybe even a couple of times per week. I don’t want to lose contact again, like before I died.”

“And,” Julie added, before Luke’s parents could protest, “My dad has invited you to come spend Thanksgiving at our house. My tia will be cooking, so there will be enough food to feed an army. That’s part of why Luke decided to come see you today. He didn’t want any of you to have to spend another holiday without each other.”

Emily frowned, “But, against all odds, we just got you back. I want to spend every second possible with you!”

Luke opened his mouth to answer, but his father beat him to it. “Emily, you know that wouldn’t be healthy for any of us. We should cherish the fact that we get this second chance and do everything in our power to work things out the right way this time. Julie obviously understands Luke. And the way she described the place where they write music made it sound exactly like what Luke always needed and didn’t get from us. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Emily let out a defeated sigh but nodded in agreement, “Deep down, I know you are probably right.” Turning to face Luke, she continued, “If you were to move back here, I would probably try to hold on too tight.”

“And we’re not as young as we once were,” Mitch added, “And we’ve now had more time without Luke than we had with him. As much as we love Luke, we’ve fallen into our own routine, and we’d never be able to go back to exactly the way things were before things turned sour. We need to let him do what is best for him.”

“Thank you,” Luke choked out, “I love you guys!”

“Oh, my sweet boy,” Emily sobbed, “We love you, too. So much. I am so sorry if we ever gave you reason to doubt that.”

Luke let go of Julie’s hand to embrace his parents again. He had no idea how long they stayed that way, but when they broke apart, with tears streaming down all three faces, Julie and Trevor were nowhere to be seen.

“Where did the others go?” asked Mitch.

“Probably outside,” Luke answered, scratching the back of his head, “Julie’s pretty good about giving people space when they need it. And giving them a push when they need THAT.”

Emily gave her son a knowing smile, “So are you and Julie…?”

A blush painted Luke’s cheeks, and he smiled bashfully, “Yeah, we’re together. She…she understands me in a way I don’t think anyone else ever has. I know it’s kind of crazy, but I think she may be it for me.”

“And her father’s okay with you staying with them?” Mitch questioned.

“Yeah, Ray’s pretty cool. I mean, he definitely set some ground rules, but he’s been cool enough that I don’t want to do anything to break his trust. He, um, he and Bobby, or Trevor, helped us get enrolled in a music program at Los Feliz High School. We’ll be starting after the Christmas break. I know we’ll have some performance showcases, and hopefully the band will have some more gigs coming up soon. I would love it if you guys would come and hear us play. At least once.”

“We’ll come as often as you want us to,” Emily replied, “I am so sorry that it took you…well, you know...dying for me to understand just how important music was to you. I will do whatever it takes to rebuild our relationship now that we have this second chance.”

“Thanks, Mom!”

“Now, go and bring your girl back in here. I want to meet her properly now that I know how much she means to you, too.”

“Just promise you won’t do anything too embarrassing.”

Mitch smiled slyly before answering his son, “No promises. Embarrassing our children is what parents do best. Besides, she’s already seen at least one of your baby pictures.”

“Oh man, I forgot about that!” Luke exclaimed, but he couldn’t help but smile at the sound of his father’s laughter echoing behind him as he turned away to find the girl he realized belatedly that he had brought home to meet his parents. He hoped she was ready. He hoped they both were.

Chapter Text

Trevor left not long after the mention of baby pictures, but Luke and Julie spent most of the day at the Patterson house. Despite their reluctant agreement earlier, neither Mitch nor Emily was eager to see Luke leave after their son had been miraculously returned to them. They begged him to stay when Trevor left, promising to provide him a ride back to his new home after their visit. Luke, in turn, requested that Julie stay as he knew the day was likely to be a rollercoaster of emotions that he wasn’t ready to face without her.

After multiple assurances that they were welcome at the Molina house for Thanksgiving dinner, Emily and Mitch reluctantly let Luke and Julie leave after dinner that evening. Luke was happy, but emotionally exhausted by the time they arrived home. Luke headed directly to the studio, while Julie went inside to let her dad know that they were back and would be out in the studio for a while. At Ray’s raised eyebrow, Julie smiled tiredly, “He’s okay. It went well. It was just a lot. I don’t think Luke had that much positive interaction with his parents at once for a long time before he died, so it was a bit of an adjustment on both sides.”

Ray frowned, but nodded, “And his parents agreed to come over for Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah,” Julie’s smile grew a little wider, “I think he's equal parts nervous and excited about that. It's a good thing Tia agreed to cook. We’re going to need enough food to feed a small country.”

Ray chuckled, “That sounds about right. Now go on out and help our boy process. The others are already out there. They figured he might need some support after today.”

“Thanks, Papi!”

She ran out to the studio to find the boys all gathered together, sitting on cushions and bean bag chairs on the floor. Luke was reassuring the other boys, “Really, I’m fine. I got the chance to make amends. Yes, it was a little stifling at times, but I think we can have a better relationship this time around. I think it will help that I’m not going to go back to living with them, but it won’t be like when I ran away. I’m glad I went now. They told me that since I ran away in December, and that was the last time they saw me alive, they’ve really struggled each year as it gets closer to December. This year, they can go into December with a reason to celebrate instead.”

“Do you know,” Reggie asked, “if they stayed in touch with my family at all? I don’t know for sure that I’m ready to find out how things turned out with them, but it would be nice to know I have a place to start if I do want to.”

Luke shook his head. “I don’t know for sure, but we can ask them at Thanksgiving dinner if you want.”

“I’ll think about it.” Willie had been sitting with his head resting on Alex’s shoulder, but he lifted it at this point, “What about you, Hotdog?”

“I don’t have any great desire to go looking for my family,” Alex replied, “If they find out through the grapevine that we’re back and they want to find me, that’s fine. But they didn’t really want anything to do with me when I was alive before, so I don’t need to have anything to do with them now. You guys are my family, and that’s enough. Besides, your family is gone, and I don’t want you to feel left out.”

“That’s sweet, but it’s not a good enough reason, and you know that.”

Alex tapped his forehead against Willie’s, “And that’s why it’s not my only reason.”

Julie cleared her throat from the doorway, “You got room for one more in there?”

Luke grinned up at her as he patted an open cushion next to him, “Of course, Boss. I saved you a seat and everything.” She returned his grin and ran over to sit beside him, leaning into him as she did so. She glanced around the room at her found family. She didn’t know much about Willie’s family, but knew his parents had either passed away or were quite elderly. She knew Willie originally died significantly earlier than the other boys, but she still wasn’t clear on exactly when. The others had each had their own family problems. Her own family was missing a member. But somehow, when they all came together, they created the best family anyone could ask for. She sent a silent thank you to her mom for sending these boys her way.

Once the others were convinced that Luke was going to be fine and was even looking forward to seeing his parents again on Thursday, they headed inside, leaving Luke and Julie alone in the studio. Luke pulled Julie so that she was sitting between his legs in front of him, leaning back against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head and let out a contented sigh, “Thanks for coming with me today.”

She tilted her head up, trying and failing to meet his eye, “Thanks for letting me be there. I know it couldn’t have been easy to let someone else into what could have been a messy family situation.”

“No, it was easy, or at least easier, because it was you.”

Julie sat forward, turning so she could face Luke fully. She searched his eyes and, emboldened by what she found, stood up, walking over to the sofa, where she had left her backpack the day before. Luke watched her walk away, confusion etched across his face, “What are you doing?”

“You shared something private and meaningful with me. I want to do the same for you,” Julie replied. “You remember when I had that dance performance at school?”

“When you refused to ditch school to come rehearse with me?”

Julie rolled her eyes, “Yes, that day. I don’t really remember performing the dance for our class.”

Luke’s eyes filled with concern, “Why not? What happened?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it was anything bad,” Julie answered, “It was like I was in a dream. I was still dancing. But not in front of the class. And not with Nick.”

The concern on Luke’s face turned to confusion, “If you weren’t dancing with Nick, then who were you dancing with?”

Julie crossed her arms and shot him an unimpressed look.

“Wait, me?” he questioned, pointing to himself.

“Yes, you,” Julie confirmed, “It was like everything else disappeared and you and I were dancing. And singing. We were singing a song I had never heard before, but I wrote it out later. It’s a bit different than most of our music, but it stayed with me. It’s more of a love song, so it was kind of embarrassing at the time, but I think I’m ready to show it to you now.”

“Yeah, let’s see it!” All concern was gone from Luke’s face, replaced by the rush he always felt when learning a new song. Once Julie handed it to him, he skimmed it over once, then studied it in more depth before lifting his face with a look of wonder, “Julie, this is amazing!”

“It’s not too sappy?”

Luke shook his head, “It may be more of a long song than Julie and the Phantoms or Sunset Curve has ever performed, but I get the appeal of love songs more than I once did. I can’t wait to sing this with you.”

Julie blushed, "But maybe not tonight. You’ve had a long day, and before the others left, you looked about ready to fall asleep where you were sitting. Let’s head inside and get some sleep. I’ve got a little bit of homework to finish tomorrow, but after that, I’m free all day. We can sing all you want!”

Luke let Julie pull him up from his seat on the cushion, once again grabbing her hand and twining their fingers together. Heads resting against each other, they made their way back up to the house, blissfully unaware of the eyes watching them from the bushes.

Chapter Text

In Julie’s mind, the first half of Thanksgiving week seemed to drag on endlessly. She always marveled at the fact that the shorter a school week was, the longer it felt. While at home in the evenings, she watched in awe as Luke ran around with Tia Victoria, trying to prepare the perfect Thanksgiving. The two had spent the early part of the week planning a menu that would blend the favorite dishes of the Molina household, the Patterson household, and the found family that made up Julie and the Phantoms.

Now it was Wednesday night, and Julie wanted nothing more than to snuggle up with her boyfriend, working on new music in the studio. But said boyfriend was rushing around the house, cleaning. When Julie actually caught him dusting, she snuck up behind him and circled her arms around his waist, letting her head rest between his shoulder blades before chuckling, “Hey, who are you and what have you done with Luke Patterson?”

He let out a sigh, “I’m going a little overboard, aren’t I?”

“No,” Julie replied with a laugh, “You were going a little overboard when you suggested making 3 different potato side dishes for dinner tomorrow. Now you are so far overboard, I think we might as well declare you lost at sea.”

Luke chuckled as he turned around to face her, “Okay, okay. I get the point. Maybe it’s time to take a little break. I just want everything to be…”

“Perfect. I know. And I would probably be acting the same way if I knew I had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with my mom again. But what would you say to me if that were the case?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Probably that you should take a break because I miss spending time with you,” he smirked.

Julie grinned, “Well, while that is absolutely true, I also want to tell you that your perfect Thanksgiving won’t seem as perfect if you are too exhausted to enjoy it.”

Luke’s shoulders slumped. “I know you’re right. And I have missed you during the last few days.”

“Well, then, all the more reason to come spend some time in the studio with me. We can write, or we can just enjoy each other’s company. Whatever works for you. Even with you right here, I’ve missed you, too. Besides, it’s already going to be a perfect Thanksgiving for you parents, because they’ll be spending it with you.”

“And Reggie,” Luke laughed, “I’m not sure how perfect that part will seem. You’ve seen his table manners. He eats like an elephant and chatters like a monkey.”

“Then I guess we can call him Abu.”

“I got that reference.”

Julie shook her head, “Of course you did. That movie came out in 1992.”

“Maybe that’s what we should do tonight,” Luke perked up as an idea came to him.

“What, get all dressed up and pretend to be royalty?” joked Julie.

Luke rolled his eyes, “No, we should just relax and watch a movie. We’ve got popcorn and cocoa. And we can cuddle up next to each other and not really have to think about anything for a couple of hours.”

“You know,” Julie replied, “When I first met you, I didn’t have you pegged as someone who would admit to wanting to cuddle.”

“Well, you had that wrong, physical touch is totally my love language.”

She laughed in response, “Oh, I know that. I just didn’t think you would be the type to admit it.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have been, when I was alive the first time,” Luke answered thoughtfully, “but coming back as a ghost? Not being able to touch the people I cared about? I think I can be more honest about wanting that, now that I can.”

Julie briefly tightened her grip on his waist before pulling back so she could look him in the eye. “You have no idea how glad I am that you can.  Now, do you want to pick a movie while I start in the kitchen, or vice versa?”

“I’ll pick a movie. I’ve been in the kitchen a lot lately and will probably be there for most of tomorrow. Besides, I think I can trust even someone with as little culinary skill as you to make popcorn and cocoa.”

Julie stuck her tongue out at him but hurried off to the kitchen to prepare their snacks. When she came back several minutes later, carrying a tray filled with food and drinks, she looked over Luke’s shoulder to see what he had picked out. She let out a snort, “Of course you would pick out a movie with the word singer in the title.”

“Is it a bad choice?” Luke held up the copy of The Wedding Singer, his brows knitted together.

“No. It’s not a bad choice. It came out only a few years after you died, so it might have similar vibes to some of the movies you remember from back then. My mom loved it. It’s got music, comedy, romance, 80s fashion, and a relationship that brings music back to one of the characters’ lives.” Julie replied, then tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Maybe it is actually the perfect movie for us to watch together.”

They snuggled up together on the sofa, under one of the blankets that had been draped over the back. Luke glanced at Julie as she started the movie up, “I’m glad you still have some hard copies of movies here. I get the convenience of the streaming services, but it’s a pretty big jump for someone whose family hadn’t made the transition away from VHS tapes yet.”

“VHS tapes?” Julie snorted, trying to cover her laughter, “God, you’re so old!”

“Aw, shut up!” he pulled her closer, temporarily burying her face in his shoulder to halt her teasing. When she calmed down, he eased his grasp on her shoulder, and she turned to face the TV, keeping her head against his shoulder. And he smiled a soft smile, feeling glad he found someone as comfortable with physical affection as he was. He knew not everyone was. Alex, for example, had taken a long time to get used to Luke’s constant need to be touching those close to him. But with Julie, it seemed effortless.

About halfway through the movie, he noticed Julie’s breathing even out. He glanced down to find she had fallen asleep with her head upon his shoulder. Not eager to wake her and invested in the movie, he merely pulled the blanket up to better cover her. Even after the movie ended, and Julie was right about it fitting their relationship, he was hesitant to move. Eventually, sleep began to claim him as well, and he slowly drifted off, with his head now resting on hers.

When Ray came downstairs in the morning and found the two of them still fast asleep on the sofa, he shook his head. It might not always be the same combination; finding multiple youngsters who had fallen asleep on the sofa together was quickly becoming a familiar sight in the Molina household. He found it cute when it was one of the couples, but his favorite was when it was Reggie and Carlos. Regardless of what pairing he stumbled across, it made his heart glad to see that love and happiness not only still lived on in the home he and Rose had created, but that it was constantly growing and taking on new shape. It was something that Rose would have been proud of, and he found himself believing, as Julie did, that somehow Rose had played a part in bringing these boys into their lives.

Chapter Text

Julie sat in the kitchen, watching as her aunt and her boyfriend put the finishing touches on their Thanksgiving side dishes. Luke’s parents were due to arrive any minute, and Julie was relieved to see that working with Tia Victoria seemed to be keeping the worst of his nerves at bay.

“Let’s see,” Victoria began, “The turkey will be done in about 45 minutes. We’ve got the vegetables, the stuffing, the gravy, the rolls, and the pies. We’ve got the macaroni and cheese that Carlos and Reggie requested. And Luke, your mom is bringing cranberry sauce, right?”

Luke nodded, “Yeah. We told her she didn’t need to bring anything, but she wouldn’t hear of coming empty-handed. And her cranberry sauce was always one of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving meal. None of that canned stuff. She makes it with cinnamon, orange, and maple syrup. You’re gonna love it!”

“If you say so,” Julie wrinkled her nose, “I’ve never really been a fan of cranberry sauce.”

“That’s because you’ve never had REAL cranberry sauce.”

Julie shrugged. Luke had a point. While her mom and Tia Victoria were both fantastic cooks, both had always preferred to save time where they could by using canned cranberry sauce. And since Carlos loved the stuff, there had never been a reason to try something different. While she didn’t think the combination Luke was describing sounded appealing, she was willing to humor him and give it a try.

“You don’t think this is going to be too much, do you?” asked Victoria.

Julie and Luke looked at each other before they both burst out laughing. Luke caught his breath first and was able to reply, “Are you kidding? We’ve got ten people eating here, and two of them are Carlos and Reggie. We’ll be lucky if we don’t run out of food.”

“I don’t understand where either of them put all that food,” Victoria replied, “I don’t think either one of them has an ounce of fat on them.”

Julie opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, the doorbell rang. A glance at Luke told her his nerves were back in full force. She reached over to grab his hand, “Come on, I’ll go with you. Just remember, you’ve already gotten through the hardest part.”

Luke smiled down at her and kissed the top of her curls, “I know, I know. I just don’t know that I can remember the last holiday that wasn’t strained. I know I wanted us to be able to spend the holidays together. And I know that things are different now, that my death gave them a different perspective on our relationship, but I want tonight to go well, especially since this is my first major holiday with you. I’ve never done the whole holiday thing with my parents and someone I’m dating before. It seems like kind of a big deal.”

“For any normal couple, it would certainly be a big deal, “Julie agreed, “but we’re hardly a normal couple. We’ve been through way bigger things than this. And we just keep coming out stronger.”

Luke nodded before turning his attention back toward the front door, where he now heard Ray greeting his parents, “Welcome! You must be Mitch and Emily. I’m Ray, Julie’s dad. We’re so glad you could join us this evening.”

“Thank you so much for inviting us. We haven’t had a big Thanksgiving meal in so long.”

At the sound of his mother’s voice, sounding so calm and content, Luke felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. Julie tried to nudge him forward, but he refused to let go of her hand, dragging her along with him as he moved to greet his parents. He reveled in the feeling of being pulled into loving hugs by both of his parents and couldn’t help the grin that overtook his face when his mom pulled Julie into a hug just as tight.

When his mom pulled back from hugging Julie, her eyes were bright with unshed tears, “Thank you for making this possible.”

Julie cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the praise she was receiving, “I didn’t really do anything.”

“Nonsense. You brought our son back to us even before he came back to life. And even if you don’t know how, I know you’re at least partially responsible for that miracle as well.”

Luke blushed at the implications, knowing what little they did about what brought them back. He wondered if his mom somehow knew the emotions that had been required to make coming back to life possible. He squeezed Julie’s hand, and she turned to smile softly at him. A glance back at his mom told him she definitely understood the emotions that existed between him and Julie.

Soon, dinner was underway, and Luke was slowly starting to realize that his fears had been for nothing. The Molinas had a way of making everyone feel at ease. The conversation was light and full of laughter and love. Luke particularly enjoyed watching Victoria’s eyes bug out and Carlos’s look of awed admiration when Reggie mentioned how much he was looking forward to trying each of the three kinds of pie, as he was loading up his fifth plate of dinner.

When Ray brought the pies out, he made a point of mentioning that Luke had baked two out of the three pies, and, to his surprise, his parents had each taken a slice of one of his pies to share with each other. The pride he felt as his parents complimented him was greater than what he had felt when the boys had landed their first gig at The Orpheum. It was what finally gave him the courage to do something he had been afraid to do, even before his death. He invited his parents to come see the band perform at their next gig, “It’s not a huge event, but we’re going to be doing a showcase at Eats & Beats, and it would mean a lot if you’d be there. I know we’ve got a few talent scouts and managers coming to see us again this time.”

His parents glanced at each other before his mother turned to smile at him, “We would like that very much.”

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding before returning the smile, “That means a lot to me.”

After dinner was over and his parents and Victoria had left for the night, Luke was sitting out on the front porch, staring up at the stars, when Julie joined him. She nudged him with her shoulder, and he grinned back at her, “So, what’s the verdict on the cranberry sauce? It sure looked to me like you were enjoying it when you took a second helping.”

Julie rolled her eyes, “Fine, you win. That was way better than the canned cranberry sauce.”

“I knew it,” he replied with a smirk, “We’ll convert you to the cranberry sauce-loving side yet.”

“Yeah, yeah. Still wasn’t as good as your pies, though. Where’d you learn to bake like that?”

Luke shrugged, “I don’t know really. When I was little, I liked to help my mom in the kitchen, like a lot of other kids, I think. But I always enjoyed the challenge of looking at a recipe and thinking about how I could make it better. It’s not quite as exhilarating as writing music, but it was a much more appreciated skill in my house, back in the day.”

“I’ve probably told you before, but I’m so sorry you didn’t feel the support you deserved, back then.”

“Hey, none of that!” Luke chastised, “I know things weren’t perfect. But if my life hadn’t been what it was, I wouldn’t be here now. You and I most likely never would have met, or if we had, you’d see me as like a weird uncle or something. When my grandparents were still alive, back when I was younger than Carlos, they used to have a tradition on Thanksgiving, that we’d go around the table saying what we were thankful for. Of course, as a kid, I didn’t really understand and would usually just say something about my friends, or my latest toy, or something to do with music. Even when I was older, I didn’t really understand the point.”

“And now you do?”

“I think so. At least more than I did in my former life. I have a second chance at life, a second chance to make music. I have my friends by my side. I have a chance to fix my relationship with my parents. And last, but certainly not least, I have you. This year, I’ve got plenty to be thankful for, and I’ve realized that when you’ve got a lot to be thankful for, it’s nice to be able to share that with others.”

“You know what I’m thankful for?” Julie asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

“What?”

“I’m thankful I get to sleep in tomorrow,” she replied with a laugh. When he pouted, she continued, “Fine, I’m also so thankful that you guys came into my life. You all have helped me in more ways than you will ever know.”

Luke rested his chin atop her head, ‘Right back atcha, Boss.”

Chapter Text

Despite what she had said the night before, Julie did not sleep in the day after Thanksgiving. Instead, she woke with a start around 6:00 am. The dream that had woken her was still fresh in her mind. She quickly threw on the robe she had purchased after one too many instances of running into one of the boys in the flimsy t-shirts she sometimes wore to bed and made her way downstairs, in search of something to drink.

She was surprised to find Willie and Alex sitting at the table, each with a cup of coffee in front of them. She greeted them before asking, “What are you guys doing up already? I’m surprised enough that I’m awake. I really didn’t expect anyone else to be.”

Alex groaned, “I had forgotten that when Reggie goes into bottomless pit mode, he snores ridiculously loud that night. We were tossing and turning most of the night. I think the only reason Luke isn’t here is that he got up early on and went out to sleep in the studio. We tried to come downstairs to sleep, but I’ve never been as good at falling asleep without being in bed as Luke. When he’s tired, that boy can fall asleep anywhere.”

“Anyway,” Willie interrupted, “What has you up so early?”

Julie let out a sigh as she sat down next to them, “I had a dream about my mom again.”

“That doesn’t seem that unusual,” Alex replied.

“It wouldn’t be, except since you guys came back to life, my dreams about my mom are about her giving me hints on how to beat Caleb.”

“Really?” Willie asked excitedly.

Julie nodded, “In the first dream, she told me we have everything we need to defeat Caleb.”

“And in this one?”

“She told me to beat Caleb; I had to understand why Luke had the hardest time appearing at The Orpheum.”

“Maybe Caleb just tightened his hold on Luke after Reggie and I escaped?” guessed Alex.

Willie shook his head, “No, Caleb doesn’t work like that.”

Alex’s shoulders drooped, “You’re right. Besides, Luke was probably trying even harder to escape than Reggie or I was. He should have been the first one to break free.”

“So why wasn’t he?” Julie asked

“Caleb must have had a stronger hold on him from the start.” Willie reasoned, “Which means Caleb had a reason to believe Luke would be the strongest adversary out of you three.”

“Well, Luke was always kind of the leader of Sunset Curve,” Alex suggested.

“I don’t think that’s the only reason.”

“No, it isn’t,” Julie broke in, “Luke has the strongest connection to music out of all of you. I’m not saying you and Reggie don’t love music or the band, but Luke lives and breathes music, even when he was a ghost. And music is what made you visible. So, Caleb must believe the connection to music is where your power comes from.”

“But music alone didn’t make us visible,” replied Alex thoughtfully, “It was only when we played music with you. Luke also has the strongest connection to you among all of us.”

Julie blushed but nodded, “So something about our connection to music, and connection to each other, is going to be the key to defeating Caleb. I wish we had more to go on. These little hints don’t feel like enough to go off of. And the fact that Nick, Caleb, has been so quiet lately is making me a little nervous.”

“Maybe you should talk to Luke about this,” offered Willie, “He can tell you more about what happened that night.”

“Talk to Luke about what?” Luke’s voice echoed through the kitchen.

Alex stood up and nudged Willie’s shoulder, “We’ll leave you to it. We’re gonna go sit on the porch and watch the sun finish rising if you need us.”

As the other two boys left, Luke made his way to Julie’s side, “What do you need to talk to me about?”

She grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers through his, “It’s nothing bad really. I had another dream visit from my mom. She gave me another hint about Caleb.”

“And it focuses on me, somehow?” When Julie nodded, Luke squeezed her hand and gestured to the coffee pot, “I’m gonna grab a little caffeine first. You want some? No offence, but you look like you could use a little something to pick you up a bit.” She nodded, and Luke went to pour coffee for both of them. Julie smiled when he placed hers in front of her, the perfect amount of sugar and milk added for her liking. Once he was seated, she explained her dream and the theory they had come up with earlier that morning to Luke, “So, can you think of anything in particular that explains why it was harder for you to escape him than it was for Alex or Reggie?”

Luke looked upset, “I’m so sorry it took me longer. I tried to fight him off. I tried to leave the second he started pulling me onto his stage.”

“Oh, Luke,” Julie whispered, “I’m not blaming you. I know, I knew even that night, that you did everything in your power to get back to me. You can ask Flynn, even before you guys reappeared, I told her I knew you wouldn’t ditch me again. I was more worried that he had destroyed you and I had lost my chance to say good-bye. We think your connections to music, and maybe to me, made him put a stronger hold on you.”

“I don't know that I can explain more about what happened that night, but that might make sense,” pondered Luke, “From the very beginning, he made a lot of comments about connecting with the audience that were probably directed mostly at me. When we were alive, the first time, that was always something I talked about to the boys. I always wanted to connect to people through music. It was my weakness. Maybe he was always targeting me the most. Then again, I was also the one who was most angry at Bobby that first night we met Caleb. That could be a factor, too.”

Julie sniffed, pressing her forehead against Luke’s, “Every time that I’m reminded that he’s still out there, I worry that he’s going to make his move before we’re ready. I’m worried that this time, we might lose each other for real.”

“Hey,” Luke pulled her into a hug, “I’m not going to tell you that’s not a valid fear. I have nightmares about it, too. But we have to believe that your mom knows what she’s doing. She brought us together. She wouldn’t be helping us now if we didn’t stand a chance at beating Caleb and being free to take on the world.”

Julie nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks, “I do want to believe that.”

“And what’s more, we’ve all made a mark on each other. Deeper than any mark Caleb could place on us. No matter what happens, some part of us will always be together. But I have to believe, after everything we’ve been through, that we do have the tools we need to come out of this together, and we’ll be stronger for it. Just think about the songs we’ll be able to write about it.”

The last line did the trick, causing Julie to laugh through her tears, “As if anyone will ever believe our story.”

“Hey, your family did. My family did. Flynn, Carrie, and Bobby did. And I’m willing to bet Nick will, when all is said and done. And even if no one else believes it, it’s still gonna be an epic story.”

Julie laughed, “Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined. Bloodshed. Epic.”

Luke gave her a confused look, “And you told me before that my methods sounded violent.”

“It’s from an old TV show,” Julie laughed harder, “The line finishes with one of the characters stating that no one writes songs about relationships that come easily. I imagine that goes for life stories as well.”

“Exactly. We have to have the most epic story! That’s how we’ll write the most epic songs!”

“You still think Caleb’s hold over you had more to do with your anger than your connection to music?”

“Nah, just wanted to make sure we had all the variables. We’ve got to look into every factor if we are going to win. And I swear to you now, I will do everything in my power to make sure we win. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me now.”

Chapter Text

Alex and Willie sat outside watching the sun come up over Los Angeles. While that had been their plan since they woke up earlier in the morning, their conversation took a turn neither would have expected before their encounter with Julie.

“Do you really think we’re going to be able to come up with a way to defeat Caleb?” Alex couldn’t help but ask anxiously.

Willie gave his boyfriend’s knee a gentle squeeze, “I think if anyone has a chance, it’s the four of you. Do you remember what I told you about what Caleb said when he placed his stamp on you guys? He mentioned then that you were too powerful. At the time, I thought it was just a control issue, you know? I thought Caleb saw power in you and wanted to control it to make himself more powerful. But I saw what happened at the club after you all escaped him. The more I think about it, the more I believe he wanted you under his power because he was afraid of what you would be able to do to him if you weren’t.”

“But at the time, we had no reason to want to do anything to him.”

“No, but with great power comes…” Willie started.

“Great responsibility,” Alex interrupted, “Yeah, we saw that movie.”

Willie let out a bark of laughter, “I was going to say, comes a sense of paranoia. At least in the case of those to whom power means everything. I don’t think it would corrupt you guys the same way, even if you did become more powerful than him, because I don’t think the power is what you crave.”

Alex nodded, “I guess that makes sense. All I ever really wanted was the sense of belonging I felt with the band. Luke wanted to connect with others through music, and Reggie…I’m not actually sure what Reggie craves, besides pizza, but it definitely isn’t power.”

“Besides, we’ve already managed something Caleb hasn’t in all his years as a ghost. We came back to life. I think Caleb was right to fear the amount of power you guys possess, even if he was wrong to fear you guys, specifically."

“Thanks, Willie,” Alex tightened his grip on the other boy’s hand, “I actually feel a little bit better. You’ve always known how to bring my anxiety down a notch.”

“Do you believe that things happen for a reason?” asked Willie.

“You mean like fate? I didn’t, when I was alive the first time, but after everything, I can’t really deny that it feels like everything has happened for a reason.”

“Like us meeting? I think the fact that I knew right away how to make things better for you is further proof that there is something bigger than us directing what happens.”

“Does that mean that the outcome with Caleb has already been decided?”

Willie shrugged, “I don’t know, man. It could all just be nonsense anyway. But if there is a greater power directing everything, why would it bring us all together only to tear us apart by letting Caleb win?”

Alex smiled softly, “I like your way of thinking. Always the optimist, aren’t you?”

Willie placed a kiss on Alex’s forehead before resting his own against it, “Not always. When I said good-bye to you before the show at The Orpheum…”

“You said, ‘See you around.’”

“Yeah, but I didn’t really believe it. I was trying to be strong for your sake and maybe for my sake, too. But then, it really happened. I guess that gives me more reason to hope.”

Alex wrapped his arms around Willie, “Thank you. Again.”

“You’re welcome, Hotdog.”

Alex groaned, “You’re never going to give that up, are you?”

“Not a chance,” Willie laughed, shaking his head.

“I suppose I can make up a better story as to how I earned that nickname. I can’t exactly tell people it’s how I died, now that I’m alive again.”

Willie’s eyes sparkled mischievously, “How else could you possibly earn a nickname like Hotdog?”

Alex blushed at the implication, making Willie laugh once again, before another thought came to him, “Oh, God! And you go by Willie. Willie and Hotdog. People are going to think we’re the most sex-obsessed couple on the planet. Which is really unfair given that I’ve never even…”

Noticing Alex’s discomfort, Willie took pity on him, “Hey, man. I haven’t either. I never had that kind of relationship in my original life. I didn’t even realize I could like someone like that until I met you. So, no rush. We’ll take things slow and let this relationship develop naturally.”

Alex nodded gratefully, “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” “Right back atcha, Hotdog. Changing the subject, now that Thanksgiving is over, we should focus on Christmas, right? Or, I guess, do you celebrate Christmas?”

“I do. But actually, Reggie’s birthday is up next. It’s December 11th. And you know he’ll want to have big blow-out celebrations for both.”

“Man, a birthday that close to Christmas must be rough, especially for someone with Reggie’s sense of child-like wonder.”

“Yeah, we always tried to make a big deal of his birthday with the band, so he didn’t feel like it was being overshadowed by Christmas,” agreed Alex, “By the way, when is your birthday? I don’t feel like we’ve ever talked about that.”

“Oh, I’m a Gemini. I was born on June 5, 1961. I died just a couple of weeks after my eighteenth birthday.”

“Man, the boys and I were just toddlers when you died,” Alex processed, “that’s weird to think about.”

“Not as weird when you consider Julie and Luke’s relationship. Julie wasn’t even alive yet when you guys died. Her parents weren’t even married yet. That whole ghost thing changes what is and isn’t normal. Despite being born in different decades, we are all about the same age now. And that’s all that matters from the outside world’s perspective. Besides, once we’re all adults, who cares? There are celebrity couples with huge age gaps, and for the most part, people don’t care.”

“Well, when you put it that way.”

“It goes back to everything happening for a reason,” Willie reasoned.

“Well, I still don’t like that we had to die,” Alex responded, "but it is comforting to think there is some grand plan that brought us together. And if I’m honest, Julie’s dream messages from her mom make me feel a little better, too. Though it would be nice if she could just tell us flat out how to defeat Caleb.”

“I once heard someone say that nothing worth having comes easy. If we were given all the answers, we wouldn’t appreciate the end result as much when we all get to grow old together.”

“I guess that future is worth putting some effort into.”

“You better believe it, Hotdog.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence after that, leaning against each other. They sat together, watching the sun until it had made its way fully over the horizon, enjoying the peace and quiet and basking in the time they were able to spend together.

Chapter Text

As November rolled into December, the Molina household was filled with anticipation. Along with Reggie’s birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s, preparations were being made for the boys to start up at Julie’s school after the holiday break. True to his word, Carrie’s dad had made sure that Luke, Reggie, and Alex all found places in the music program. Willie planned to find part-time work once the others returned to school, having made it to graduation when he was originally alive.

During band rehearsal a week before his birthday, Julie asked Reggie what he would like to do for the big day, “You made a big deal about my sixteenth birthday, but eighteen is a pretty important birthday, too? So, what do you want to do? I obviously can’t do much during the day, because of school, but since it’s a Friday, we can have an epic party that evening. Flynn can help with planning.”

“Oh,” Reggie replied, taken aback, “We don’t really have to do anything special. I don’t mind just hanging out with everyone and getting pizza like the guys and I did back in the day.”

“Didn’t you and your family ever do anything special?” questioned Julie. She watched Luke and Alex exchange a glance behind Reggie’s back, and she frowned in confusion.

“When I was little, they went all out. We went to Disneyland for my seventh birthday. But, as I got older….”

“Let’s just say none of us had the easiest family lives, back then,” Alex filled in.

Reggie shook his head, “Julie’s family now, it’s okay if she knows.”

The other boys moved closer to Reggie, Luke slinging an arm around his shoulders, while Alex placed one hand on top of Reggie’s head. Following suit, Julie moved so she was sitting next to Reggie on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. Reggie smiled as he glanced down at her, “Thank you. Okay, where to start? When I was young, my family seemed like the best family in the world. I had both of my parents and, later, my younger brother. I wonder now if my brother’s birth was one of my parents’ attempts at pretending things were okay, before they got so bad that they couldn’t pretend anymore. Maybe things really were still okay at that point.”

“But?” prompted Julie.

“I started noticing the cracks when I was about thirteen,” Reggie continued, “Around that time, my dad lost the first of several jobs. I don’t know if either of my parents really drank before that, but that’s when I noticed my dad start turning to alcohol.”

“Oh, Reggie.” Julie felt tears start to form, but she refused to let them fall. She wanted to be strong for her friend.

“At first, he just slept more than usual, and he would occasionally get angry enough to yell at one of us. I don’t remember hearing either of my parents yell before that. It slowly got worse. He wasn’t the only one yelling, after a while.”

“Was it just yelling?” Julie asked, “Did he ever…?”

Reggie nodded, “He hit my mom a couple of times to start. I think there were a few times she hit back. By the end, they were yelling at each other more than either of them even talked to my brother or me. I don't know if he would have turned on me if I hadn't tried to protect my mom, but I did, so.... sometimes I think that if we hadn’t died when we did, I might have ended up as a runaway, too. The only reason I stayed was because of Steve. I didn’t want him to have to face any of that alone and I knew as long as I was there, Steve was somewhat safe. But I guess I failed there, huh?”

Julie turned to face Reggie and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder, “You didn’t fail anyone, Reggie. You died! You didn’t choose to leave your brother behind. I bet you were the best big brother he could have asked for. And I bet he still misses you. We can try to find him, if you want.”

“Thanks, Julie. I’ll think about it. It might be nice to know he turned out okay, at the very least. But the rest of my family?” He turned to look at the other two boys, “I know I wanted to see him the day we went to the beach, but I meant what I said before The Orpheum, though that family has extended a little bit. This new family we have together is the only one I need.”

The bandmates fell into a group hug, an occurrence that happened frequently since what Reggie had dubbed ‘the magic hug.’ As Julie relished in the feeling of being surrounded by her boys, she felt she suddenly had a deeper understanding of one of them. Reggie’s one-sided friendship with her dad when the boys were still ghosts made a whole lot more sense now that she had an idea of what Reggie’s dad had been like. She wonders if his cheerful, care-free persona was built as part of an act or a coping mechanism, or if that was just pure Reggie. She made a mental note to ask the other boys sometime.

Giving Reggie one final squeeze, she pulled back from the hug, “Thank you for telling me all of that. I know it couldn’t have been easy. Just know if you ever need or want to tell me more, I’m here, ready to listen.”

“Thanks, Julie. That means a lot. You’re the first person I’ve ever really told about it. The guys knew because, you know, they were there, but it’s different telling someone who never saw it.”

“I get that. It’s the same when I talk about my mom. You guys were the first people, other than the therapist, who I talked to about who weren’t around when she was sick.” Julie replied thoughtfully, “But even when it’s things that are painful, I’m glad for every new thing I learn about each of you. And I’m thankful you trust me enough to talk to me about your past. You, Luke, and Alex have a whole set of memories together that I’m not a part of. It feels strange because I feel like we’ve known each other forever, but there is still so much we don’t really know about each other.”

“Hey,” Reggie admonished, softly, “don’t think like that. We know the most important things. We know that we’re each other’s family now. And since you brought us back to life, we have time to learn the rest.”

Alex’s voice broke into the conversation, “When did you get so wise, Reg?”

Reggie just blinked in response, a confused look on his face. This caused the others to chuckle and Luke to ruffle Reggie’s hair good-naturedly. Julie smiled at the easy affection between her boys before standing up from her spot on the couch and stretching, “On that note, I say we wrap this up for now and go check on dinner.”

“That’s right!” Reggie exclaimed, jumping up, too, “It’s Friday, so you know Tia Victoria made something amazing!”

He took off running toward the house. Alex slowly moved to follow, but Julie stopped him with a hand on his forearm. She glanced sideways over at Luke to make sure she had his attention as well, “Wait! I have an idea of what to do for Reggie’s birthday, but I’m going to need both of you to help pull it off.”

“Yeah, sure,” Alex replied.

Luke bounced over to stand next to Julie, throwing an arm around her shoulder, “We’ll do whatever we can, you know that, Boss.”

As Julie quickly explained her idea to the boys, she was struck once again by how lucky they all were to have found each other.

Chapter Text

The day of Reggie’s birthday dawned cool and cloudy, but Julie wasn’t worried. A few clouds wouldn’t hamper any of the plans for Reggie’s birthday, especially with no rain in the forecast. She heard movement in the kitchen as she got ready for the day, so she knew Luke and her dad were already hard at work on a special birthday breakfast. She made her way downstairs, surprised to find Reggie already in the kitchen, as well. He was bouncing in his seat, watching the others work. When he noticed Julie, he leapt out of his chair and bounded over to her, dragging her over to observe the process, “Look, look! Luke’s making Funfetti waffles!”

Julie fondly shook her head at Reggie’s antics but noted that Luke did indeed appear to be making Funfetti waffles, while her dad was preparing toppings and fruit to go along with the main dish. She snuck up behind her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his waist, “You’ve been keeping secrets from me! I didn’t know you knew how to make waffles.”

“It’s not that difficult,” Luke replied, “as long as you have a waffle iron.”

“Which is something I did not know we had until Luke brought up the idea of making waffles,” Ray interjected.

“I’ve been finding a lot of recipes online that I think each person here would like. When I found this one, I knew it was perfect for Reggie’s birthday,” Luke added.

“Oh, man! This is already the best birthday ever!” Reggie exclaimed.

Ray laughed, “We haven’t even gotten started. Here, why don’t you go fill your plate? I’ll get the others down here and, once we’re all eating, we can discuss the plans for the rest of the day.”

Reggie nodded eagerly, taking the plate from Ray. He grabbed two finished waffles from the stack Luke was creating. Julie and Luke watched with affection as he topped his waffles with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles, before adding a variety of fruit to the plate as well. Julie leaned in close so she could whisper to Luke, “Are we sure it’s a good idea to let him start the day with that much sugar?”

Luke shrugged, “It’s his birthday. And he’s technically an adult now, so who are we to tell him what to do? We’re still just kids, right?”

“Does it bother you?” Julie asked, “I mean, that Reggie’s older than you, now?”

Luke let out a laugh, “Not really. It’s a little weird. But maybe he can be the responsible one from time to time now.”

Julie glanced over to where Reggie was dancing around in his seat after taking the first bite of his birthday breakfast. She laughed as well, “Yeah, I wouldn’t count on that.”

At that moment, her dad came back into the kitchen, followed by Alex, Willie, and Carlos. Carlos’s eyes went wide as they landed on the food laid out on the kitchen island, and he rushed over to grab a plate, suddenly more awake than Julie had ever seen him at breakfast. The others followed suit at a more sedate pace. Once everyone was seated, Ray turned to Reggie, “So, Mijo, what are your plans for the day?’

Reggie shrugged, “I don’t really have any. I figured the guys and I would just hang around until Julie and Carlos get home from school, then we could go out for some pizza.”

“How would you feel about spending the day with me?’ asked Ray, “I don’t have any gigs today. I figured we could go out to some of the sights around the city and I could give you some photography lessons, if you’re interested?”

The reply he got was the clattering of Reggie’s fork as it hit his plate. Reggie was staring back at Julie’s dad, his expression one of confused awe. Alex waved a hand in front of his friend’s face, “Reg, bud? You okay over there?”

Reggie shook his head, as if to clear it, “Are…are you serious?”

Ray smiled back at the boy and nodded, “I’d like to get to know each of you a little better one-on-one. I figured this would be a good place to start. Not to mention, Julie thought this might be something you would enjoy.”

Reggie glanced over at Julie, who nodded at him, “After Carlos and I get home, I have a restaurant in mind for dinner, too. It’s a place that serves wood-fired pizzas. They have some signature pizzas on their menu, but you can also create your own. They’ve also got sandwiches and salads if anyone doesn’t want pizza.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone want pizza?” Reggie asked.

“Not everyone is as pizza-obsessed as you, buddy,” Luke replied with a laugh.

“I don’t know,” Willie chimed in, “I think birthday pizza sounds like the way to go.”

Everyone finished breakfast and got ready to start their days. As Julie was heading out the door to prepare for school, Reggie turned to his friends, “Wait, what are you guys going to do today?”

“Don’t worry about us, man. We’ve got some last-minute details to take care of for tonight. Tia Victoria’s coming over and she and I are going to make you the best cake you’ve ever had.”

Reggie pulled Luke into a hug before rushing off to catch up with Ray. Even though he was eighteen now and legally an adult (something that, for a while, he didn’t think he’d get to experience), the idea of spending the day with the best father figure he had ever had, in either of his lives, made him feel more like a kid than he had in a long time. He spent the day soaking up all the information Ray provided on photography. Reggie had never really given photography serious thought as a hobby before, but he found he really enjoyed it, and maybe even had a knack for it. At least Ray seemed to think so, “You’ve got a good eye, Reggie. You see beyond the surface of things, beyond the big picture. Photography is about telling a story, which makes the little details important. Not everyone is capable of finding those small details, but I think you’ve got it.”

Reggie felt tears well up in his eyes. He sniffed and turned away from Ray to hide his reaction. But Ray, for all he seemed lost in his own home sometimes, did also notice the details in subjects he was focused on. And since the day was about Reggie, he did not miss the boy’s reaction to his praise. He placed a comforting hand on the younger man’s back, “Hey, Mijo, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just…before we died, my parents were so focused on fighting with each other, I think sometimes they forgot to notice my brother and me. Even before the fighting, there wasn’t a lot I was really good at. I was an okay student, pretty good at math. But playing in the band was the only thing I knew I was really good at. While my parents weren’t against me being in a band, like Luke’s were, my dad drank a lot and wasn’t great with loud noises, so I never played much at home. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any adult tell me I’m good at something.”

“Reggie,” Ray’s use of his name made Reggie look up to meet his eye, “there are so many things you’re good at. Yes, you’re good at music. I can’t wait to see how you do in math once you start up at school again. I also think you’ve got a natural talent for photography. But in the long run, these are small things. You’re also good at making people feel at ease around you. You’re the best big brother Carlos could have asked for. You make friends easily, and you know how to lighten the mood, and when it’s not appropriate to do so. These kinds of skills are going to get you so far in life.”

By this time, Reggie had tears streaming down his face. He threw his arms around Julie’s dad, “Thank you, Ray.”

“Anytime, Mijo.”

“Do you think,” Reggie trailed off before clearing his throat and starting over, “Do you think it would be okay, if maybe, just sometimes, I could call you ‘Dad?’”

Ray grinned, feeling his own eyes moisten, “I would be honored.”

The two spent a few minutes staring out a the scenery, one of Ray's arms around Reggie's shoulders until the moment was broken by the buzz of Reggie’s phone. He glanced down at the text message he received and felt a slight blush spread across his cheeks. Ray noticed this as well, “Someone special?”

“Oh, it’s a birthday text. From Kayla,” Reggie explained, “She’s one of Julie’s classmates.”

“That’s right. You went with her to the dance, right?”

Reggie nodded, “We’ve hung out a few times, but it’s usually been part of a larger group.”

“And do you like this girl?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not like all-consuming, soulmate-type feelings, but yeah.”

“Not every relationship has to be love at first sight,” Ray told him, “It wasn’t for Rose and me.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No,” Ray laughed, “we went to school together. She was always so much cooler than me. We had some mutual friends and we hung out sometimes, but it wasn’t until a few years after school that we reconnected and fell in love. I was actually working a photography job at a gig her band was playing at. But if there is anything I learned from our relationship, it’s that you’ve got to take the chance when you have it.”

“Life’s short?” Reggie snorted, “Yeah, I get that.”

“I guess you would, wouldn’t you? So, all I’m saying is, think about asking this girl out. You’ve got a whole weekend free after tonight. I bet she’d like to celebrate with you, too.”

Reggie leaned in to give Ray another hug, “Thank you. You’ve done so much for me today. This has truly been the best birthday I remember…Dad.”

Chapter Text

Julie found herself more anxious than ever for the school day to be through. And that was saying something. Ever since the night she almost lost her Phantoms, she had found spending time away from them to be difficult. But today, she was eager to get home and celebrate Reggie’s birthday. Besides being the first birthday of one of the boys that she knew about in advance, Reggie’s birthday further cemented the idea that the boys were actually alive again and would age just like she would. It reminded her that the idea of spending a life together as a family was now a true possibility.

She was so distracted by her excitement for that evening and her thoughts of the future that she wasn’t paying close attention as she made her way to her locker when the final bell rang. As she turned around a corner, she smacked directly into another person. She nearly fell over backwards, but a set of hands grabbed hold of her arms to steady her. Though the hands on her arms were warm, Julie felt a shiver go down her spine at the contact. Shaking her head, she glanced up to apologize, but the words died on her lips when she caught sight of the person she had collided with in her inattention.

Standing in front of her was Nick, or more likely, Caleb, in Nick’s body. Gulping, she let out a nervous laugh, “H-hey Nick.”

“What? No Nickalicious, this time?” the form across from her teased.

Julie narrowed her eyes, wondering who she was actually talking to. She didn’t think that anyone other than Nick and Carrie knew about her nervous rambling at Carrie’s house. Then again, she didn’t know how possession worked. She made a mental note to ask Willie if a ghost could access the memories of someone they were possessing. Either way, it was an embarrassing memory, and she felt herself blush as she replied, “Good one. No, I think I’ll just stick with Nick this time.”

“I was wondering if you had some free time this evening to help me with some ideas for my song for composition class?”

“Oh, well,” Julie replied, realizing he had not yet let go of her arms, “I, um, I actually have a family thing tonight."

“No worries, maybe later in the weekend?” Julie wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or if the hands on her arms squeezed tighter when she declined. She took a step back, trying to shake off the grip, and was able to pull away easily.

Luckily, as she tried to think of an excuse, Flynn came around the corner. After a glance between Nick and Julie, she threw an arm around her best friend’s shoulder, “Julie, there you are. Come on, we’ve got to go. You promised your dad you wouldn’t be late.”

As they moved away, Julie let out a sigh of relief, “You, my friend, are a lifesaver.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Flynn glanced at her shoulder to see Nick was now also walking in the direction of the exit, but was making no move to catch up to them, “He didn’t try anything weird, did he?”

Julie shook her head, “No. In fact, the conversation was one I could have had with Nick, at any time in the past. I felt uncomfortable, but I don’t know if that’s because it was Caleb I was talking to, or if I’m just paranoid now.”

“Better safe than sorry. Are you gonna tell the guys about this?”

“I feel like I kind of have to,” answered Julie, “It brought up a question I want to ask Willie. And you know if Luke finds out some other way, he’s gonna lose it.”

Flynn scoffed, “He’s gonna lose it either way.”

“That’s…fair,” Julie’s shoulders slumped, “But you know it’ll be better if he hears it from me, and sooner rather than later. I just don’t want to worry Reggie on his birthday.”

“So, maybe talk to Luke and Willie first. Since I’m coming over anyway, I can try to distract Reggie while you talk to the others,” Flynn offered.

Julie nodded as they walked out the front entrance of the school. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, she glanced back and caught Nick’s gaze. He gave her a brief wave through the window before turning to talk to one of his teammates. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it left Julie with the same uneasy feeling as their earlier interaction. She tried to shake the feeling. By the time she got home, she had managed to shake off most of her discomfort.

They were about half a block from the Molina house when Julie heard footsteps rushing toward them from up ahead. Turning her eyes away from Flynn, she noticed Luke running toward them. When he reached them, he crashed into Julie, capturing her in a tight hug and burying his head in his shoulder, “Julie! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, confused.

Luke pulled back to look at her. His gaze travelled all over her face before he shook his head and answered, “I don’t know. I just had a feeling that something wasn’t right. But you’re here, and you look okay, so I guess it was nothing.”

Julie ducked her gaze before glancing over and Flynn and nodding toward the house. Flynn nodded and went on ahead. Only then did Julie face Luke again, “Actually, something did happen. I’m okay, but I ran into Nick, or Caleb, today.”

Luke’s eyes furrowed in confusion, “Like, more than just seeing him at school?”

Julie nodded, “I actually, physically, ran into him. I wasn’t paying attention when school let out, because I was eager to get home. It was weird because he was acting like Nick, and he said things that Nick would know, but I still felt kind of creeped out. And when he grabbed my arm…”

“He did what?!”

“Not in an aggressive way,” Julie continued, “He did it to stop me from falling down. It was something I would expect from Nick, not Caleb.”

“So, we were wrong?” Luke asked. “No, I mean, I don't know. That’s what I was trying to say. Even though every part of the conversation should have felt like talking to Nick, when he grabbed my arms, I felt cold. I could feel that his hands were warm, but for a second, it felt like my bones had turned to ice. I want to talk to Willie to see if he can explain any of this.”

Luke nodded, “Okay. And you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Julie smiled reassuringly at him, “You know, I’m a little tired from a week of school, but otherwise okay."

“Good,” Luke pulled her into another hug.

“By the way, I asked Flynn to distract Reggie until I could talk to you and Willie. He was so excited this morning, I don’t want to ruin the day for him. I promise to tell him tomorrow. I’ve had enough of keeping secrets these last couple of months.”

“Okay. Let’s go find Willie, then, and get your questions answered."

"Thank you, Luke."

He smiled down at her, "For what?"

"For not completely freaking out. For understanding why I don't want to tell Reggie, yet. For worrying about me." Julie grinned, "For just being you, I guess, and for being here."

"I will always be here for you, Julie. You..."

Julie cut him off, "I know that.  And I love you for that."

Luke's face broke into a megawatt smile, briefly erasing his earlier worry. It crept back on his face, though, as he lowered his forehead to rest against hers, "I love you, too, Boss. So I need you to promise to be careful."

Julie brushed her nose against his, "I will. For you. I promise."

Chapter Text

Julie and Luke entered the studio hand in hand, with Flynn trailing behind them. The usually laid-back atmosphere seemed tenser than normal until the group laid eyes on them. Alex and Willie shared a glance, but Reggie merely grinned at them, “See, Luke? I told you Julie would be fine.”

“You’re right, buddy,” Luke replied, “I guess I’m still just a little jumpy after everything that’s happened. We’re gonna head inside and drop off her school stuff. You guys wanna come in and grab some snacks while we’re in there?”

The other boys nodded, and Flynn took this as her cue, “Wait! Reggie, you stay here for a minute. As part of your birthday present, I want to hear some of these famous country songs I’ve been hearing about.”

Reggie beamed, looking like a puppy with a new toy. He glanced at the others, who all nodded at him. Julie flashed him a smile, “Go ahead, Reggie. We’ll bring some snacks back out for the two of you.”

Once they were in the house, Alex whirled around to face Luke and Julie, “Okay, what happened? I can tell from the look on your faces that everything is not as fine as you are making it out to be. Luckily, Reggie is, well, Reggie, so I don’t think he caught on. I assume you’re trying not to ruin his birthday?”

Julie nodded but didn’t have a chance to speak before Luke answered, “Julie had a run-in with Caleb.”

“We still don’t know for sure he’s Caleb,” Julie placed a hand on Luke’s arm, “although I think I believe it even more after today?”

“What happened?” asked Alex as he started to bounce nervously on his toes.

“I’m not really sure. That’s why we wanted to get you guys, particularly Willie, in here to talk about it. Nick, or Caleb, or whoever he is literally ran into me in the hallway at school. He prevented me from falling by grabbing my arms, but his touch made me feel cold from the inside out.”

“Was there anything else strange that happened?”

Julie shook her head at Willie’s question, “Not really. The conversation we had was one I could have had with Nick, but it just felt off. And now I don’t know if it’s because it really was Caleb talking through Nick or if it was just because I think it could be Caleb.”

“Can I see your arms, where he grabbed onto you?” Willie asked.

Julie nodded and pulled her arms out of the flannel and pushed up the short sleeves of her ringer tee so that her upper arms were visible. She had a brief thought that her outfit was now an even better match for Luke’s than usual before she began to feel self-conscious from the way the three boys were staring at her arms. She was afraid to look for herself. Just as she had gathered up the nerve to glance down, she heard Luke let out a relieved sigh and looked over to see him biting his lip as he grinned at her.

She glanced down at her arm, “There’s nothing there. From the way you were all staring, I thought maybe my arms were about to fall off.”

“I don’t want to be the party pooper, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in the clear,” cautioned Willie. He turned to Luke and Alex, “If you remember, your stamps didn’t stay visible once Caleb placed them on you.”

Watching the worry return to Luke’s face was enough to drive Julie into action, asking, “Can Caleb even place stamps like that on lifers?”

“I don’t know,” Willie shook his head, “I know he had the same level of control over the lifers at the Hollywood Ghost Club as he did over the ghosts, but he didn’t use his stamp on most of us. He has other ways of keeping those he owns in line. I’ve never actually seen him use his stamp on a lifer, and I have no idea how it would affect them if he did. But, knowing Caleb, I wouldn’t put anything past him.’

“How are you feeling?” Alex asked, voice wavering with concern.

“I feel fine,” she replied, “Just a little tired, but it’s the end of the school week. I’m always a little tired by Friday afternoons. And the teachers aren’t exactly going easy on us just because holiday break is coming up. So, given that I feel okay, and we have no proof that there's anything more to worry about than there was this morning, let's get back to our routine. I don’t want Reggie to start getting suspicious. I’ll tell him about this tomorrow, but today’s his day. You guys round up some snacks while I go drop off my school stuff.”

Alex and Willie nodded and headed to the kitchen to do as they were told. Julie smiled fondly at them and was about to turn toward the stairs when she felt Luke’s hand wrap around hers and tug her back toward him, “Promise you’ll let us know if you start to feel anything weird?”

“I promise,” her smile shifted to one she saved just for him. She reached up with her free hand to brush his bangs out of his eyes,” but for tonight, can you try to pretend that everything is okay? Because maybe it actually is.”

“I’ll do my best. Anything for you, Boss.”

Julie pulled her hand out of his and gave him a playful shove, “Good. Now go help the others. I’ll be right back down. The sooner you let me go, the sooner I’ll be back.”

Luke rocked back on his heels before giving her a mock salute and turning toward the kitchen. Julie shook her head at his antics. As worried as she was that Caleb might be targeting her now, she knew it was probably worse for Luke. She remembered how she felt when she found out about the curse Caleb had placed on the boys. She hated that she was now the source of the same worry for the boys. She decided right then and there that no matter what, even if Caleb had cursed her as well, she would find a way to beat him. She and her Phantoms had done it once before; they could do it again. And now they had Willie, Flynn, and her family to help. She smiled to herself. Caleb didn’t stand a chance.

She dropped off her school supplies and stopped to check her appearance in the bathroom mirror. Satisfied that she wouldn’t give anything away, she nodded before running back downstairs to rejoin her boys. When she made it to the kitchen, she had to bite back a laugh at the scene before her. All three boys had their arms loaded up with various forms of junk food. She ran over to grab some of the snacks, “You guys do realize we’re gonna be having dinner, too, right?”

“Yeah, but this is Reggie we’re talking about,” Luke replied, “you know if we don’t bring some of everything, he’ll be disappointed. We’ll bring back whatever we don’t eat.”

Julie sighed, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, boys, let’s get back out to the studio before Reggie and Flynn form a band of their own.”

“Somehow, I don’t see Flynn as a country music performer,” Alex quipped.

“Then you obviously don’t know Flynn as well as you think you do.”

At Julie’s response, Luke looked scandalized, “You…you’re not serious, are you?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. Why don’t you take your time, and we’ll find out for sure.”

Luke moved faster than she had ever seen him move as he flew out the door toward the studio, Alex and Willie following close behind. Julie followed a more sedate pace, knowing that even if Flynn and Reggie were to team up, Reggie would never leave the boys behind. They were more than a band; they were family. And family stuck together through thick and thin. Her boys had already proved that. And even if they were asked to prove it again, she knew, deep in her heart, that they were up for the challenge.

Chapter Text

The rest of Reggie’s birthday was a success, with Reggie exclaiming multiple times that it was, ‘the best birthday ever!’ Throughout the night, though, Luke kept a close eye on Julie. He was relieved to find that she didn’t seem to be affected by the incident from earlier, but he had learned to be cautious when it came to Caleb. He tried his best not to let his worries show, grateful that watching Julie so closely was not really outside of his normal behavior these days.

Julie wasn’t acting as if she were hiding anything, which impressed Luke because he knew she was usually terrible at lying. It honestly should be surprising that more people hadn’t found out about him and the other boys when they were still ghosts.

After they returned home, Reggie had opened his presents, eaten his cake, and eventually crashed from the sugar high he had been on all day. Once Reggie had gone to bed, Luke turned to Julie and spoke softly enough that only she could hear, “We should discuss how we’re going to tell Reggie about what happened.”

Julie nodded, “I know. And I’ve been thinking, we should probably tell my dad, too. We should go talk to him now, then we can continue the conversation up in my room. I know this whole Caleb thing has you freaked out, so I’ll let my dad know you’ll be staying with me tonight, abiding by all his rules.”

Luke let Julie grab his hand and lead him into the kitchen, where her dad was cleaning up from the mess left by that many people tearing into Reggie’s birthday cake. He hesitated, half a step behind Julie as she addressed her dad, “Hey, Papa? Can we talk for a minute?”

“Of course, Mija. What’s up?”

“Something happened today at school,” Julie began, “Something I think you should know about.”

Ray frowned, “I’m not sure I like where this is going, but continue.”

Julie took a deep breath, “Do you remember how there was a bad ghost that cursed the guys before they came back to life? Well, we don’t know anything for sure, but we have reason to believe he might have possessed one of the boys at school. And I kind of had a run-in with him this afternoon.”

“What kind of run-in?”

“He didn’t hurt me,” she reassured her dad, “in fact, he stopped me from falling over when I ran into him.”

“By grabbing your arms,” interrupted Luke.

Julie shot him a look, “How else would you have stopped someone from falling? Anyway, nothing really strange happened, but I have been getting a weird vibe off of him.”

Ray glanced at Luke, “You’re still worried? Why is it such a big deal that he grabbed her arms?”

“Because,” Luke glanced at Julie, realizing he had never told her the whole story of how Caleb had cursed the band, “when he placed the curse on Alex, Reggie, and me, he did it by merely shaking our hands. When he touched us, he imprinted a magical stamp under our skin that he used to nearly destroy us.”

“What?!” Julie whirled around to face him, “No wonder you’ve been a mother hen all night! I saw what those jolts were doing to you! He did that from merely touching you?!”

Luke dropped his eyes in guilt before nodding. He glanced up again when Julie squeezed his hand, seeing the understanding look in her eyes. He turned his gaze toward Ray, “So, with your permission, sir, I’d like to stay with Julie tonight. If anything does happen, someone should be with her.”

Ray’s eyes softened as he looked at the two teens in front of him, “I get it. You can stay tonight. Julie, why don’t you head on up to your room? I'd like to speak with Luke privately for a moment. I promise, he won’t be far behind.”

Julie glanced between her father and her boyfriend, only turning to leave when the latter nodded at her. She hesitated on the stairs, wanting to listen in, before realizing that her father was putting a lot of trust in her and Luke, and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. So, she moved as quickly and quietly as she could manage to climb the rest of the stairs and get to her room.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Ray pointed to one of the stools at the island, directing Luke to have a seat. He sat down next to the teenager, “You really do love my daughter, don’t you?”

Luke gulped, but nodded, “Yes, sir. And after everything we’ve been through, I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her. I believe I literally died just so I could meet her. And I was willing to die again rather than abandon her for the monster that is Caleb. But she saved me, she saved all of us. If there is anything I can do to protect her from this, I will do it, I promise.”

“Now, be careful what you promise,” Ray answered, “I don’t think Julie would handle it very well if anything happened to you, either. It’s not about one of you keeping the other safe; you need to keep each other safe. You both know, better than most kids your age, that none of us know how much time we have, so we have to make the most of the time we are given. You know, I always thought I would be giving the shovel talk to all of Julie’s boyfriends, because nobody could ever be good enough for my little girl. But I didn’t count on someone who would literally come back from the dead for her. How can I claim that’s not good enough? Also, I’m pretty sure, watching the two of you, that there won’t be any other boyfriends. So, even though you’re depriving me of my Dad rights, I trust you with my Julie.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“What’s with all this ‘sir’ stuff tonight? It’s Ray.”

“Thanks, Ray!” Luke grinned.

Ray smiled back before turning serious, “I know what it’s like to lose someone you care about. And I know that the two of you almost lost each other. Anytime there are situations like this that have you worried, I want you to let me know. I won’t try to keep you apart. Now, with that said, you'd better hurry up and get upstairs before Julie thinks I am giving you the shovel talk."

Luke smiled and nodded. He turned to leave, but hadn’t made it all the way out of the kitchen, when he heard Ray call him back, “Hey Luke?” “Yeah?” “The two of you remind me of Rose and me when we first met. I know you’re young, but someday in the future, if you need it, I have something of Rose’s that Julie might like to have.”

Luke felt the blush flame across his face as Ray’s meaning sank in. He mumbled something unintelligible before ducking his head and running toward the stairs. To be honest, he had never really thought much about the future, other than what it would mean for the band, but, since he came back to life, when he pictured the future, it always had Julie in it. Ray was right, they were young. But getting to spend the rest of his second life with Julie? The idea wasn’t as scary as it should have been.

He went to the room he shared with the other boys to grab something to sleep in, glad to see Reggie already snoring, so he wouldn’t have to explain why he was spending the night in Julie’s room. He used that time to try to get some sense of control over his emotions before heading back to Julie’s room. When he got there, he found her lying on top of her covers, clad in flannel pajamas, leaning against her pillows with her legs stretched out in front of her. She patted the space next to her, and he grinned as he obliged. She stared at him for a moment before asking, “Everything okay? My dad didn’t go too hard on you, did he?”

Luke tried to fight down the blush he could feel returning to his face, but doubted he was very successful, “No, he wasn’t too hard on me at all. In fact, I think he kind of likes having me around.”

“Well, that makes two of us,” Julie replied before climbing under the covers and burrowing in next to Luke, resting her head on his shoulder.

Luke smiled softly, her words pushing aside his worries momentarily. He reached over and turned off the lamp. He placed a soft kiss on top of Julie’s head and whispered, “Goodnight, Jules.” She was already half asleep, but she managed to mumble a response. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close before shutting his eyes and attempting to follow her into dreamland.

Chapter Text

Luke jolted awake, not immediately remembering where he was. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on Julie’s still sleeping form. He let out a sigh of relief. The nightmare that had forced him awake was reminiscent of the one he’d had the night he came back to life. Seeing that Julie was safe and next to him, he felt his heart rate start to return to normal.

He sat up and reached out a hand to brush a stray curl off her forehead. He smiled softly as he watched her eyelids start to flutter at his touch. When she finally opened her eyes all the way, she smiled back at him, “Good morning.”

He felt his grin grow, “Good morning, sleepyhead. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Mmm, good, I think. Much less tired. I think I sleep better when you’re near.”

“Come on, Jules,” Luke whined, as he flopped back down onto the bed, cheeks-tinged pink, “You can’t just say things like that.”

“Oh, and why not?” Julie asked with a smirk.

Luke groaned, “Don’t play innocent, Julie Molina. You’ve gotta know what a turn on it is to hear you say that. And you know I would happily sleep next to you every night, but…”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”

He rolled onto his side to face her, bending his elbow to prop his head up on his hand. With his other hand, he reached across her to grab her shoulder and pull her onto her side, facing him. She tucked her head under his chin, with her ear resting over his heart. He tilted his face down to kiss the top of her head before he spoke again, “You know I want everything with you, Julie, right? But not until the time is right, which won’t be while we’ve got the fear of Caleb hanging over us.”

Julie nodded, then sighed, “Speaking of, how are you this morning? I think this whole thing has had you more freaked out than me.”

Luke shrugged, “I had a nightmare right before I woke up. But seeing you, knowing you’re okay, helps.”

“Was it about me?”

“Yeah,” there was a time Luke might not have answered truthfully, but he found it easier to be open and honest with Julie than he had with anyone else in his life, “It was about you…and about Caleb, and what he could do to you.”

“You know, I’m wondering if there’s a reason Caleb hasn’t tried anything yet.” Luke snorted, “Sure, there is. He’s trying to lure us into a false sense of security.” “Well, that certainly is one possibility,” Julie admitted, not wanting to be dismissive, “but what if he can’t do anything? What if whatever happened the night of The Orpheum made it harder for him to do anything to us? Maybe that’s part of why he’s using Nick.”

“I’d like to believe that,” Luke replied, “but I have a hard time believing that. If he really couldn’t touch us now, why would he still be hanging around?”

“I suppose that’s a fair point. Anyway, if there’s even a chance he’s still plotting something, we should probably let Reggie know what happened sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Luke sat up and pushed himself out of bed before walking to the other side and holding his hand out to Julie. She let him pull her up and out of bed. He gave their joined hands a brief swing before letting go, “I’m just gonna hit the bathroom really quick.”

“Go on,” Julie nodded, “You take less time in there than I do.”

Once they were both ready, they stopped by the room that the boys shared. Luke knocked before peaking his head inside. Alex and Willie were both still sleeping, but Reggie’s bed was empty. Luke wasn’t surprised, given that Reggie was the first to fall asleep the night before. He took a step back into the hallway and turned to face Julie, “Looks like Reggie’s already up. Let’s head downstairs and see if we can find him.”

Not surprisingly, they found Reggie downstairs, following Ray around as he got ready for a photoshoot he had later that day. As he pulled Ray’s keys out from under a pile of mail, Reggie sighed, “I wish I could go with you again today, but we’ve got to get ready for the gig tonight.”

Julie’s eyes widened. With everything else going on, she had pretty much forgotten about the gig tonight. Luke’s parents were finally going to come to see their son perform. She had watched him vacillate between nervous and excited for the past week. She shook her head. She refused to let Caleb ruin this for Luke. Before she could dwell on that any further, Reggie glanced up and noticed her and Luke, “Oh! Hey guys. Did you sleep well? Ray said you had something you wanted to talk to me about.”

Ray took this opportunity to excuse himself, waving to Julie and Luke as he left the kitchen, “Have a good day. I’ll see you at the gig tonight.”

Luke managed to wave in return before turning back to Reggie, “Yeah, buddy. Something happened to Julie yesterday, and we think you need to know about it.”

Reggie turned a concerned gaze toward Julie, “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Reggie. I’m okay,” Julie smiled at the older boy’s concern for her, “I just had a potential run-in with Caleb, but I swear I’m fine.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?!”

“We wanted to let you enjoy your birthday,” Luke answered for Julie, “Besides, Julie’s right. She seems to be just fine. We just wanted to let you know now, in case this means he’s planning something bigger.”

“S-so, what do we do?” Reggie stuttered, “Do-do we need to cancel the show tonight?”

“Absolutely not!” Julie’s answer came out louder than she expected, but she was adamant, “We are not going to let fear of Caleb dictate every moment of our lives. Besides, tonight’s gig is too important. We can’t cancel it! And anyway, we’ll all be together, plus all our friends and family. I think Caleb knows that we’re stronger together. That may be part of the reason he was originally trying to get you guys away from me.”

Reggie nodded, “That does make some sense.”

“Of course it does, man. Julie’s the smartest of all of us.”

Julie rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, “Thanks, Luke. But that’s not true. I just don’t jump to conclusions as quickly as you boys do. And you’re lucky I stop to think things through, otherwise I might never have gone back in the studio after you first appeared.”

Luke gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, “Don’t even joke about things like that, Boss. Where would we be without each other?”

Reggie nodded in agreement, “I love our new family too much. I don’t want to think about not having met everyone.”

Julie shook her head at the boys, “Well, then, you’re both lucky I did go back out to look for you again. So, let’s forget about the past and focus on how much we’re going to rock tonight. With Luke’s parents coming tonight, we’ve got to be better than our best. We need to show them what they never got a chance to see before. We’ll show them that your dreams are worth chasing.”

By the end of Julie’s speech, Luke was bouncing on his heels, “Absolutely! Let’s get to work! If we wake the others up, we can spend all day making sure we’ve got everything perfect!”

“Hang on, there, Rockstar,” Julie laughed, “Maybe you want to have some breakfast first. After all, they say breakfast is the fuel for champions.”

“Fine, I guess we could eat first,” Luke fake grumbled before grinning at Julie, “Always watching out for us. What would we do without you?”

Julie smirked, “Probably crash and burn.”

Luke started to nod, but then Julie’s words caught up to him, “Hey!”

Julie laughed and whirled around out of his reach as he tried to grab her, “You know I’m teasing. After all, you’re the only one of us that can put together a better breakfast than cereal.”

“Oh, I see where I stand now.”

“You know I’d love you even if you couldn’t cook,” Julie told him, “But the cooking is a nice bonus.”

Luke reached out and pulled her into his arms. He was about to kiss her when he was distracted by a sound of disgust from Reggie, “Ugh, guys! I don’t want to see your PDA before breakfast. Cook first, make out later.”

Julie laughed and mussed up Luke’s hair, “You heard the man! You cook now, and I promise we can follow through with the rest later.”

Luke saluted and turned to start making breakfast with a new bounce in his step.

Chapter Text

Later that evening, as the band was waiting for their turn to perform at Eats and Beats, Luke was bouncing with nervous energy. He had already greeted his parents, who were sitting with Ray, Carlos, Flynn, and Willie, so he knew they had followed through on their promise to see the band perform. He had also spotted the woman from Destiny Management, whom the band had briefly met after their first performance at this locale, so there was a chance his parents would get to see a manager approach the band and see that he had what it takes to make his dreams a reality.

He knew he was not the best at staying still in any circumstance, but he didn’t realize how much he was bouncing around until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and found Alex looking back at him with a raised eyebrow, “You realize this might be the first time in history that you’re more nervous than I am? It’s a wonder we’re not all seasick watching you bounce around like that.”

Luke was about to retort when he felt another hand slip into his own, “Leave him alone, Alex. You know what tonight means to him.”

“Thanks,” he managed to smile down at Julie.

“You’re welcome,” she shrugged, giving his hand a quick squeeze, “I get why you’re nervous, but you have no reason to be. We’re gonna crush it tonight!”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Aren’t I always?”

Their moment was interrupted by a voice from the stage announcing that they were up next. Julie laughed, “Well, at least they got the name right this time.”

“They’ve gotten our name right every other time after that first night, also,” Luke pointed out.

“Oh, that’s right. Because someone wasn’t in charge of signing us up after that time,” teased Julie.

She didn’t give him a chance to respond before tugging on his hand to lead him toward the stage. Luke busied himself with finding the perfect placement on stage while he listened to Julie introduce the band. By now, they were starting to become accustomed to a few voices from the audience joining Reggie’s as he added his usual, “Tell your friends,” but it still made him smile every time he heard it.

As they started playing, Luke felt his nerves melt away, getting caught up in the rush that normally came with a gig. It was him, the band, the audience, and the music. Nothing existed outside of that once he was performing. He caught a glimpse of the table where their friends and family were seated and saw the looks on his parents’ faces. He knew, from that brief flash, that they finally understood. They may not share his beliefs about music, but they finally realized how important it was to him. That gave him a boost to push above and beyond his normal stage energy, and he knew that everyone in the audience was going to be talking about this performance long after it was done.

Everything was going so well, he was even more shocked than he normally would have been when he turned from playing to the audience and returned his gaze to Julie for their next call and repeat segment. His eyes widened, and he nearly missed a note as his gaze went from her arms to her eyes, and back to her arms. The purple light surrounding her arms made his heart speed up in a way that had nothing to do with the adrenaline from being on stage.

Noting his reaction, Julie glanced at her arms as well. When she met his eyes again, he could see the fear on her face, and it was almost enough to make him end the song right then and there. She must have been able to read his thoughts, because she gave a small shake of her head and gestured for him to come closer to her. Glued to his current spot and playing by muscle memory alone, he looked to Reggie and Alex to discover they had noticed this new development, too. Glancing back at the audience, it seemed they had not noticed anything out of the ordinary.

He felt a hand squeeze his forearm and found Julie, holding out her microphone for him to share, as they always did at this point of the song. Shaking his head, he continued the rest of the song, barely able to keep his panic under wraps. When the last cord faded out, he made a move to pull her off the stage, but she held him in place, making him take a bow before she waved to the audience and let him finally lead her away so they could discuss what was happening.

Luckily, Willie was the first to reach them as they gathered near the counter. He pulled them into a huddle and whispered, hurriedly, “It’s all going to be okay. I’ll explain later. The others didn’t see anything, so you’re going to have to pretend everything is completely normal until I have a chance to explain.”

Luke watched as Julie shook off the worried expression she had been wearing and forced a smile onto her face, just in time for the others to reach them. There were rounds of congratulations, but Luke wasn’t able to focus on much. He was vaguely aware of his mom pulling him into a hug and apologizing for discouraging his dreams in the past. He barely noticed when Andi Parker came over to speak to the band again, but after she left, Ray was holding her business card, so he assumed the conversation went well. On any other night, that alone would have him bouncing around excitedly, but tonight he felt numb.

He was finally pulled out of his own head when Flynn prodded at his side, “Hey, Himbo! You okay in there? I expected you to be like a toddler on a sugar high. What’s up?”

He managed a weak smile, “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. Just tired. Adrenaline crash and all that.”

She shot him a look that let him know she didn’t believe him, but she dropped the subject for the time being. He went through the motions of packing up their equipment and noticed Julie trying to encourage him to behave more like his normal self, but he just couldn’t, not when Julie might be in danger. Once they were finally tucked away in the back of his parents’ car, on the way back home, he turned to face her, noting that the purple light had faded, but not entirely disappeared, “Are you okay?”

She bumped her forehead against his, “I feel fine. I didn’t even notice anything until I saw your reaction. I’m most definitely not getting any jolts like you guys did.”

Luke let out a breath of relief at that. Those jolts were not something he would wish on his greatest enemy, much less Julie, “I’m glad. But, Julie, I’m also scared. I’m scared of what this could mean. Ever since we met Caleb, I’ve been so worried about me and the guys fading out that I never stopped to think that something could happen to you.”

“Hey, stop that. I know you're worried, but we don't even know for sure that there's anything to worry about, yet. Willie said everything was fine. He knows Caleb better than any of us. I trust him when he says it’ll be okay. Besides, now that you’re alive again, I don’t plan on leaving you for a very, very long time. And I expect you to stay around for a long time, too.”

“Whatever you say, Julie.” He let her lace her fingers through his and tried to calm his still racing heart. By the time they reached the Molina house, he was feeling a little more like his normal self. He hopped out of the car, watching as Julie followed after him, turning to his parents to thank them for the ride home.

“Of course, dear,” his mother answered, before turning to him, “Honey, I am so proud of you for never giving up on your dreams. What I saw tonight was beyond any of my expectations. I saw what you were like on that stage. I know that asking you to settle for anything less would be taking away part of who you are. Will you forgive me for not seeing that sooner?”

“Of course, Mom. And I promise, when the boys and I start up at school again, I’ll try to be more focused in my non-music classes. I never wanted to be the kid who didn’t finish high school, just so you know. But now, I want to make everything up to you guys, too. I want you to be proud of me.”

Mitch answered in Emily’s stead, “Luke, there has never been a time when we weren’t proud of you. We made mistakes and didn’t always show it, but that was because we wanted what was best for you. We just didn’t realize we were wrong about what that was.”

“Thanks, Dad. Mom. I love you guys.”

“We love you, too, sweetheart,” his mom smiled back at him, “Now go inside and get some rest. It’s late and you’ve had quite the night.”

He nodded and waved as his parents drove away. Once they were out of sight, he turned and stormed toward the studio, where he knew the others were already waiting for them, having left with Ray before he and Julie were ushered into a separate car by his parents. Julie trailed after him, reaching his side as he threw up the studio doors. His eyes landed on Willie, and he stormed over, “I want to know what’s happening to Julie!. Tell me! If she’s in trouble, I have to know how to stop it!”