A Julie and the Phantoms Fanfiction

Chapter 1

Luke stared at the blank page, a pit of frustration forming in his stomach. He had been at this for hours, tapping the pen against his knee, trying and failing to find the right words to put on paper.

Why was it so hard to write a love song?

And, to top it all off, they had a gig coming up, a big one because of the holidays, and he couldn't focus because his writing partner was Julie.

Julie, who was practically perfect in every way, who left barely a couple inches between them on the bench(Which she probably did because she hadn't been able to touch them since the Orpheum, and probably was afraid they would stop being solid if she wasn't physically touching them...but he didn't like to think of it that way) and every time he would look at her, it would take his breath away, and then she would turn to face him and...

He would choke and fumble on his guitar and just made it so much more obvious.

But, lucky for him, she doesn't seem to notice.

At least that's what he thinks.

The rest of the group had gone inside with Julie to make hot chocolate, him making an excuse saying he couldn't get this melody out of his head and needed to write it down. The guys obviously knew what was going on, that he either was about to enter his big writing marathon and would not let anyone disturb him, or he needed to think.

It was the latter.

So here he was, in the bitter cold (because even though the studio was soundproofed it lacked internal heating), trying to find the words to express how he felt about Julie.

But it was hard.

There were so many things he could say, so many ways to describe how absolutely perfect she was. How every time he saw her he felt alive again, her voice stirring something inside him he didn't know was there.

But he was a ghost.

And she was a human girl.

An amazing human girl.

And he was just holding her back by pining over her, and she didn't even notice.

Ugh, he felt so stupid.

He flung himself over the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling and the chairs that had somehow gotten bolted to them, trying to clear his mind of Julie.

Yet, all he could think about was her.

Her smile, the gap between her teeth, her voice and the way it could move people. No, it could move mountains.

Like he said before. She was a wrecking ball.

He sat back up with a huff. He knew this wasn't going to end anytime soon.

Grabbing his jacket off the piano bench, he opened the doors of the studio, the chilling air sending him tumbling back through the doorway. It didn't snow in LA, but the wind chill definitely brought the temperature down, and he felt himself shiver against the wind, despite even being able to feel it.

It was already hard for him, knowing that he never got to fix things with his parents before he died, and with "Unsaid Emily" he at least got some sort of closure. But it being so close to when he ran away, it feels....wrong.

He doesn't want his parents to grieve over him, for them to be stuck in the same loophole Julie was in for her mother. He needs them to move on, but they were always so stubborn. And at the same time, he doesn't want them to stop. He doesn't want them to stop blowing out the candles on his cake, or crying over a song he wrote them because he wants them to remember him.

But he also wants them to be happy so he can be happy and live his life and understand everything that's going on in this freaking dimension.

And he can't do that if they're mourning the death of their son for more than 25 years.

He pulled the collar of his jacket closer to his neck, kicking at the stones on the sidewalk. A few people walked through him, but he could barely feel it, the goosebumps on his arms having no startling effect against the wind. He felt numb, aimlessly walking around the random streets and alleyways, not bothering to look up. But when he did, he could feel a small smile creep onto his face and a feeling of warmth settle in his chest.

It was his house.

____________________________________________________

Lights ran up and down the pathway, illuminating the trees they had been carefully strung around. He could see the outline of a Christmas tree in the window, and the faint sound of...laughter? He poofs to the front door, peering through the open window. The sound of Christmas music floats through the window, and when he looks closer, he can see his parents hand and hand, swaying to the music. He doesn't know the song, it has an amazing melody and is very catchy, but it doesn't sound like something you would slow dance to.

But that didn't matter.

All that mattered was that his parents looked happy, that they had moved on. He felt a tear tickle his cheek, watching as it almost disappeared as it hit the ground. These were happy tears.

Before he could think, he knew he had to leave. Let them have their moment. Alone. Together.

To celebrate.

Just as he was leaving, though, he thought he saw his mom stare right at him, and smile.

And he smiled back.