Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Pond

Julie didn't realize the implications of "I have a thing for knights" until it was too late. But she didn't panic. She sat there and let it sink into her skin like a thin needle, ignoring Flynn and Luke, and then laid back down to nap as the other two sat in silence. Whatever they were thinking, she did not want to hear it, especially Flynn who would be screaming out her lungs if they weren't around other people. Luke wouldn't say anything either way. But he had said stuff about Nick before, so... would he? Would he think she was talking about Nick? Or him? Or both? Both wouldn't be a full truth, but it wouldn't be half a lie, either. There was history as well the one that was being written.

Their pool party ended before sunset, Julie and Luke tired from judging many of Reggie and Flynn's dives into the pool while Alex struggled to find a song to play half the time. Reggie called him the world's worst DJ at one point and Alex jumped in after him, neither of them rising to the surface for a minute. Flynn was freaking out, but Julie copied Luke when it came to those two. If he wasn't worried, she shouldn't be either.

The car pulled in front of the castle, Luke once again helping Julie out. Julie looked around, letting evening air nip at her skin before she let go of Luke's hand. "I think I want to take a walk in the garden," Julie told him. He nodded with a polite smile before waving goodbye at Reggie who went inside the castle to shower. The rest of the knights dispersed on their own, leaving the two alone together.

Julie started walking around the corner of the castle where the hedges were, hiding many flower bushes and fruit trees. She heard a bird chirping and tried to follow its noise, bending her knees low and taking large quiet steps. The bird stopped singing when Luke stepped on a branch behind her. She turned back to glare at him, and he put his hands up.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I thought you were just walking weird." The corner of his lips curved into a small smile. He was teasing her. Julie clicked her tongue and stood up straight, ignoring him and continuing her walk. It was silent now and every moment, the sky seemed to get darker. There were garden lamps on the ground lighting the way to a place she hadn't visited in a while.

The man-made pond awaited them, the old oak steel bench behind it where it had for decades. Engraved in it was the name of her great grandmother who had the pond built in honor of her young son who died of a sickness. Julie's great uncle died around fifty years earlier from the same thing that would kill her grandfather. She walked to the bench and ran her fingers along the name, feeling a connection to the woman who came long before her. It was strange to think she wouldn't exist without her. Without many people who were all ghosts. She sat down, praying that maybe a spirit would envelope her in warmth.

The pond wasn't tiny, but it wasn't large either. It was a decent size, frogs the main habitants. Carlos would always go frog hunting with their mom as much as it made her squeamish to hold one. She somehow felt better when he moved onto his bug fascination.

Julie watched Luke crouch down next to the pond, poking at the lily pads with a twig from the floor. She felt a bug land on her cheek, and she slapped it, causing Luke to jump backwards and fall down. Julie couldn't help but laugh, Luke getting up and dusting himself off with an embarrassed look on his face. "Are you alright?" she finally asked him as he went to sit down next to her on the bench.

"Yeah," he said, shifting around in the seat. She wondered how he could stay put all day. "I've just been over-alert these days. Can't ever be too careful."

"Careful from a bug?" she asked, pointing at her cheek. "Is there blood?"

"Gross," Luke made a face before leaning in to look. "Oh, that's nasty."

Julie swiped her face with the back of her hand. "What is it?"

"Tiny bug wing. Well," he said, leaning in even closer. "It was. You got it off. Now it's a tiny bug ghost." He pulled his body away and sat as far away as possible from her as he could. She wondered what he would do if she scooted closer to him and chuckled at the idea. He looked at her and raised a brow. "What?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. She stretched her arms, looking up at the darkening purple skies. No clouds in sight. It'd be nice to bird watch the next day. If she could manage to get out. She felt her phone buzz, and she looked at it.

Nick: Hey, Julie. You back yet?

Julie stared at it for a moment before putting her phone away. She would have put it on silent, too, but it was a new rule that she couldn't. Luke asked, "Sir Nick?" Julie turned to look at him, but he was looking up and around as if there were butterflies around his face.

"Nosy," she called him. Luke smiled, biting his lip afterwards.

He was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "Like I said, I'm super alert now. I have to pay attention to every detail. Anything could be a sign."

"I don't think Nick is a sign of danger," she rolled her eyes. It did amuse her to know that he looked over. He wouldn't struggle to see their messages if she messaged him back unknowingly. He was tall enough, and the bench wasn't exactly the largest bench in the world. They were at most a foot and a half apart. She wondered if it bothered him. "Just don't look at my phone in the future. That's a little weird."

"Noted," he said, crossing his arms and smiling. "It's a force of habit from the academy. All our lives were very much mixed together. Even with those we weren't that close to, we knew a lot about them." Julie liked it when Luke talked about the academy. His face would get bright, especially when talking about the people. He really was a different person with a crowd.

"Did you know Nick at that level?" Julie almost regretted asking him the question because Luke's reminiscent smile went away. It was one she rarely got to see.

"Didn't know him that much at all," Luke said, tapping his fingers on his arm, Julie noticing traces of dirt under the dimming lights. "Different training groups and different barracks. Knew of him, of course. That's about it." He sat still for a moment and Julie watched him. He seemed to be having a battle with himself, leaning his head from one side to another. "Are you guys, like, a thing?" he asked. He wouldn't look at her, and even though it made her sad to seem him worried, she couldn't help but snort. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"No," she shook her head, smiling. "What a horrible knight you would be if you never noticed I had a boyfriend." Luke relaxed and smiled back at her, shrugging.

"Well, I don't know. You can be sneaky."

"Yeah," Julie said with a proud smirk. "I know." She looked over at Luke and in that moment, he reached over as if to playfully push her, his hand close to her shoulder. But he stopped himself, and brought his hand to his throat, pretending to be coughing. He wasn't as sneaky as her.

A breeze went by, making Julie shiver. "It's getting cold, Luke," she said, knowingly dropping the title. "Let's go inside." Luke stayed silent for a moment, hiding behind his shaggy bangs. Julie was surprised they let him keep it so long. It always made her want to reach out and push hair out of his face. He seemed to be a master at concealing his true self, the one even Alex and Reggie didn't seem to know, though his emotions were accessible if she make an attempt to uncover them.

Julie rose from the bench and started walking back, her faithful knight trailing behind her like a baby duck. Her phone would buzz again but instead of checking, she would say, "Luke. Do you want to go play some music with me?"

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A/N: My first unplanned chapter ;-; I had an outline and then this scene manifested itself in my head, and I couldn't ignore it. Even the last chapter wasn't true to the outline lmao. So if there's some fluff chapters with no plot like this one, this is why. I mean they serve to push their relationship forward. Oh well. This is just a consequence of short chapters.

I was rewatching JaTP and it pushed me to write again so hopefully I'll see you guys sooner than later! Thank you for reading! Remember to vote if you'd like! It really helps push the story up <3 xoxo