Snaked

Stay Outta This

Julie's pov

When I wake up, I sneak out of my bed as I try not to wake Luke up but since his head was resting on top of mine, he fell onto his side, waking up immediately.

We hear a knock at my door and we both look at it. "Julie, can I come in?" My dad asks.

"Just a second!" I holler to him, throwing at sheet on top of Luke and opening my window so that he can sneak out. "What's up?" I ask, opening the door slightly so that he can't see Luke.

"Nick is at the door," he says with a smile before I hear thud, making my eyes widen as he looks at me confused. "What was that?" He asks, pushing the door open and looking around.

I stand beside my dad as my eyes scan the room as well noticing my sheets are off of my bed, sighing when I realize that Luke isn't in my room anymore. I hear my sheets moving around before I see my dad moving to the other side of my bed.

"Hi Mr. Molina," I hear Luke groan quietly, making me wince and look away.

"Who is this?" My dad asks, pointing at my floor as I walk over to him and see Luke staring up at us with my sheets wrapped around his leg.

"I'm Luke, uh-" he says, standing up as he tries to unwrap his leg before falling over, making me duck my head, feeling guilty about smiling just hours after Avery disappeared. "I'm in your daughter's band," he says, yanking the sheets off of his legs and standing up, putting his hand out to shake my dad's hand.

My dad takes his hand and shakes it, smiling nicely. "Nick's waiting at the door for you," he says before smiling at me and walking out.

"He seems nice," Luke says, his voice cheery but there still wasn't a smile on his face.

I roll my eyes and pull his arm to make him stand up and walk him to my door and push him out. "He is, now leave," I say, surprising myself when I realize how harshly I say it. He looks down at me, confused and almost hurt. "Sorry, this is all so weird," I say, smiling apologetically up at him.

"I know," he says, looking down at me, still no smile. We stare at each other for a while without saying anything.

"Julie!" My dad yells from downstairs, making us blink and look away, Luke looking almost disappointed in himself.

"I'm gonna go see if the others are okay," he says before walking down the stairs before I follow behind him and walk toward the door.

"Nick, hey," I say once I open the door, making him turn around quickly, revealing a bouquet of pink and orange flowers that matched my pajama shirt. "Oh, thank you," I say, taking the bouquet from him. I stare at him awkwardly, feeling that something was off with him before I hear yelling coming from the studio, making me and Nick look toward it. "Thank you for the flowers but you need to go now."

"Are you sure? I could help with whatever's going on," he offers, almost sounding excited that they're yelling.

"Yes, I'm sure, now please leave," I say, pushing him away from the door and down to the sidewalk. "Nice to see you," I say before walking back to the house before bolting for the studio.

"It should've been me!" Alex yells through tears as he stands in front of Reggie and Luke, gripping his drumsticks in one hand and Polaroid of her and the boys in the other.

"Alex," I whisper, walking over to but he moves away like I had offended him in some way.

"Don't, Julie! Just stay outta this," he says, gripping his drumsticks tighter, not wanting to ruin the photo.

"Alex, we're all upset," Luke said, his face sad.

"You don't get it," he responds, he's voice breaking. "You had one job, Luke. One. And that was to make sure she didn't get hurt, you promised me," he says walking toward Luke and placing the photo against his chest before waking toward the studio doors.

"Alex, dude, where are you going?" Reggie asks, his voice shaky.

He shrugs and shakes his head. "I don't know, but it's not like you'll come find me if I disappear," he says before walking away.

Luke and Reggie sigh before Luke climbs up to the loft before Reggie and I hear things banging and falling around in the loft.

"Goddammit!" Luke yells, making Reggie and I wince before I notice that Reggie is huddled in a corner, his hands covering his ears.

I walk over to him and bring him into a hug, noticing that he's shaking so I start to rub his back, hopefully grounding him. "It's okay, this is all gonna be better soon."