Snaked

Coping Mechanism

Julie's pov

Day one hundred and twenty-three without Avery and still no sign of her returning any time soon. The boys, as usual have been hanging out in the studio but recently things have become better between them. It could just be the Christmas spirit though, who knows. Speaking of Christmas, Luke and I are in the kitchen trying to put together a Christmas dinner for our annual Molina Christmas party. I'm sitting on the counter reading the recipe out to him as he tries to keep up.

"Jules, you're gonna need to slow down, hun, I just about cut my finger off," he says quickly as he moves over to the drawer near the sink before wrapping a band-aid around his thumb. He looks up at me and smiles, making me instantly smile back. God, I love this man. "Okay, what's next," he says, his smile falling as he pats my leg before walking back over to the cutting board.

I furrow my eyebrows together in confusion before looking back down at the recipe, squinting to see the words since I forgot my glasses upstairs. "Next is... the turkey," I say, looking up at him and seeing that he's staring at me doubtfully.

He dips his head before shaking it and walking over to me before washing his hands. "Yeah, I'm not sticking my hand up a turkey's ass. Lemme get Alex, he's always made the best turkeys," he says before walking out the door, leaving me in the empty kitchen.

I hop down from my place on the counter before grabbing the celery and dumping it into the pan with the rest of the stuffing ingredients before putting it in the oven. A minute later Alex marches through the door and into a kitchen in a tight shirt and his hair is tied back into a small bun. "Where is it?" He asks, staring at me. I point to the freezer and he sighs before grabbing the turkey and running it under scolding hot water. "You couldn't even take it out of the freezer?" He asks, his voice stern, making me surprised because I've never heard this side of him before. When I don't answer he sighs again and flicks water at me. "Shoo, shoo, you've done enough. When is everyone getting here?"

"My family is coming at six, Luke's parents and your family is coming at six-thirty," I say, running the times through my head.

"Perfect," he says, never taking his eyes off of the frozen turkey. "Now go, get dressed, go spend time with Luke, just get outta my kitchen," he says with a girly voice making me laugh.

"Will do, Chef," I say before leaving and walking upstairs to change into the dress my dad and I picked out together. It's a beautiful red dress with a cream long sleeve shirt underneath. I then put my hair up into a bun and put in a pair of my mom's golden earrings before walking out to the studio where Reggie and Luke are strumming on their instruments, practicing the Christmas song we're going to play tonight.

It's our first performance since Avery disappeared and to be honest, I'm kind of dreading it. I love performing with the guys, I do, but for some reason, after Avery left, everything's been different in the way we perform. I know we all miss her, some more than others, but even though she was glue holding us together we'd still be great, right?

I feel Reggie's arm wrap around the back of my shoulders and pull me into a side hug. "You good, Molina?"

I shake my head quickly and look up at him with a small smile. "Yeah. Just thinking," I say as he looks at me sadly.

He rubs his hand up and down my left arm as he pulls me closer. "I miss her too," he says before kissing me on the top of the head and walking over to Luke who was just staring at me. He pats Luke on the shoulder before looking over to me. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

Luke looks at him annoyed but then walks over to me in awe. "What do you think?" I ask with a smile as I turn around in a circle for him to see the whole thing.

He walks closer to me and places a small kiss onto my lips before rubbing his thumb over my cheek like he did so many times with Avery before smiling softly. "You look amazing, Julie," he says, looking down at me, his eyes soft and genuine. He then walks away and I see his hand cover his mouth before he grabs his guitar again. "Wanna practice?" He asks as I tighten my lips into a forced smile before grabbing my microphone and sitting at the piano before we start playing again.

A few hours later Alex runs into the studio wearing a white button down and black pants, matching both Reggie and Luke, to tell us that my side of the family is here. Luke and I look at each other quickly before I grab his hand as lead him into the house where he's crowded by all my family members on both of my parents side. They give him kisses on the cheek and shake his hand, honestly by the end of it, I'm surprised his hand hasn't fallen off.

Luke and I excused ourselves from the room and he's now sitting on the toilet while I wipe away all the lipstick off of his cheeks. I look up at him and smile awkwardly at him, confused. "What?"

He shakes his head but his smile never falls. "You're eyes are just pretty."

He starts to lean in and for a minute and I lean it too but then I come to my senses and pull away before throwing out the now red paper towel. "No, Luke, come on," I say, walking until my back hits the wall before I slide down until I reach the floor.

"What? What's wrong?" He ask, his eyes now filled with worry.

"This. This whole back and forth thing we have going on," I say, shrugging.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, making me sigh and roll my eyes.

"You kiss me and then you wipe my lipstick off. You stare at me like you want me and then you act like it never happed. You think I'm Avery but I'm not," I say, listing a few of the examples as I cross my arms over my chest. "I'm your coping mechanism."

He sigh and rests his head in his hands. "You're right. I'm sorry. You're not Ave," he says, saying that last part quietly.

We hear a knock at the door before it flies open, revealing Reggie who looked like he was being chased but when he sees us, he tilts his head to the side in confused. "What's wrong?"

Luke stands up and I grab his hand as he pulls me up before walking past him. "Nothing," Luke says as we walk down the stairs and sit at the table before filling out plates, again, acting like nothing happened. Everything may have been alright, but now it's all going wrong.