The night before the showcase, Luke was sitting alone on the piano bench in the practice room with the light off, trying not to look at his phone, when he heard the ding of the elevator arriving in the atrium. Through the window, he watched Julie approach and open the door without needing to check whether he was inside.

"Can I turn the light on?" she asked the dark room.

"Yeah."

The overhead lights buzzed on and Luke squinted his eyes against the brightness. Julie walked towards him, but stopped short of the piano, putting her hands in her pockets. "Reggie texted me."

"I'm okay."

"I know I always sit alone in the dark when I'm at my happiest."

He shot her a pout. "You're supposed to politely pretend to believe my lies."

"When has that ever been part of our relationship?" She slid onto the bench next to him, one foot up so she could face him. It almost brought a grin out of him—she'd adopted that from him. "Have your parents ever come to the showcase before?"

"No, working."

"So this is… pretty big, right?"

"Could be big, could be nothing, could be really bad. Who knows? Just an extra thing to think about tomorrow that I didn't really need." Hope and resentment were battling in his stomach—he badly wanted this to be a turning point for his relationship with his parents, but he'd been burned so many times in the past. The idea of trying to figure out his emotional state beforehand felt exhausting and ultimately pointless.

He scanned her face for signs of her own emotional state. "How are you feeling about tomorrow?"

She shrugged right back, smiling tightly with her mouth closed. "Who knows?"

He huffed in sympathy, then reached out an arm to pull her into his chest in a hug.

They stayed like that for a while.

"Why are we going last? Who decided that?" Alex paced back and forth in the green room, probably the most panicked Luke had ever seen him.

Reggie pointlessly tuned his bass for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. "I think it's good. We're technically the headliners."

Alex grabbed his bandmate by the arms and gently shook him. "This. Is. Torture. I am being tortured."

As Dirty Candy filed out of the green room, Luke checked the set list again. "Only one more performance to go before we're on anyways."

Alex held up his phone. "Willie says Bobby's here. I am not okay with that."

From his right, Luke heard a deep shaky breath. At first, he thought Julie was reacting on his behalf, but then he realized that she was breathing deeply out of her mouth, watching the door nervously. While Alex seemed to be trying to outrun his anxiety, Julie was imploding with hers.

He slipped her fingers in his. "You okay?"

She didn't answer, which was when he started to get worried. He got to his feet, bringing their eyes level. "Julie."

Puffing out another shaky breath, she shook her head. "I don't—I don't know if I can do this."

"You can. We've practiced this. Just think of it like another rehearsal."

"It's not just another rehearsal. There are so many people and lights and pressure and I don't want to ruin this for you."

"You won't." By now, Alex and Reggie had realized what was happening and he could feel them hovering behind him, not wanting to crowd her but wanting to help.

"I can't even sing with my eyes open. Maybe I can't even sing with my eyes closed, maybe I'm just br-broken. And my mom's not out there. Luke, I can't go out there if my mom's not out there." Her face twisted up, tears shining in her eyes. His heart broke, and he cupped her face in his hand, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. Her words stopped coming out as her breath picked up, bordering on hyperventilating.

And that's when he made the decision, without even needing to debate it.

"Then you don't have to. We won't play." He glanced back at the guys to confirm that they were okay with it. Alex nodded faintly, more focused on Julie.

It shocked her enough that her breathing slowed temporarily. "What?"

"It's that simple."

She stared at him, trying to piece it together. "Luke, there's a whole crowd out there."

"I know."

"Managers."

"I know."

"Bobby."

"I know."

"Your parents."

"Julie, I know you can rock this. But if going out there is going to hurt you, then we don't go out there. That's not even a question." Her head collapsed forward, her forehead resting against his.

"I can rock this?" she asked, her voice small.

"Eyes open, eyes shut, back to the crowd, dancing in the aisles—no matter what, you can rock this. But just because you can doesn't mean you have to."

She opened her eyes, peering into his with a dizzying proximity. But she didn't seem to actually be looking at him; instead, she was debating within herself at a mile a minute. What she was thinking about and what conclusions she was drawing, he didn't know, but she finally exhaled and nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Let's do it," she clarified.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked.

She nodded. There was something… different about her. More settled. "Yeah."

Luke beamed at her, but before he could gather them into a band circle, the door opened and Ms. Harrison popped her head in. "Final ensemble's up!"

The entire walk to the stage, Luke kept a pace behind Julie, watching to see if she would change her mind or even if her posture would change. But she stayed determined, chin jutting forward slightly. As they filed onto stage and took their places, and Reggie and Luke quickly double checked their tuning, she went up to her mic and looked out at the audience.

"Hi, we're Julie and the Phantoms. This song, Luke and I wrote together, based on something I worked on with my mom, and I would like to dedicate it to my mother, Rose Molina."

She strode over to the piano. But rather than sit down as she normally did, because it gave her an excuse to hide, she stayed standing and looked out at the crowd again. The spotlight swept over her, and for a moment she paused. Then she exhaled a deep breath, like she was exorcising a demon, and began to play.

Don't blink
No, I don't want to miss it
One thing, and it's back to the beginning
Cause everything is rushing in fast
Keep going on never look back

Luke, Alex, and Reggie exchanged identical grins.

And it's one, two, three, four times
That I'll try for one more night
Light a fire in my eyes
I'm going out of my mind
Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing

Cheers, well-fucking-earned cheers, started as she effortless nailed her high notes.

I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall
Whatever happens
Even when everything's down
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall
I gotta keep on dreaming
Cause I gotta catch that feeling
Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall

Alex came in with the drums, and she flashed him a smile as she always had, but her eyes didn't leave the crowd, as if she thought her ability to look beyond the stage would disappear if she stopped doing it for even a moment.

I'ma stand tall

Reggie started playing and she nodded to acknowledge him but still kept her attention on the audience.

Right now
I'm loving every minute
Hands down
Can't let myself forget it, no
Cause everything is rushing in fast
Keep holding on nevеr look back
And it's one, two, three, four times
That I'll try for one morе night
Light a fire in my eyes

Luke started singing, and she took her mic out of the stand and started dancing over to him. But unlike in the past, when dancing was a way for her to not look out at the audience, she kept her face turned out to them.

I'm going out of my mind
Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall

Finally, she pulled her eyes from the crowd and locked them onto his, singing without breaking eye contact. Where in the past, eye contact on stage had felt like a life preserver for her, it now felt like she wanted to sing to him and that… well, that gave him feelings that he really couldn't process right now.

Whatever happens
Even when everything's down
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall
I gotta keep on dreaming
Cause I gotta catch that feeling
Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall

She and Reggie strode to the front of the stage. Performing back-to-back. Singing out to the crowd. Performing with an abandon he hadn't seen her exude on stage before.

Like I'm glowing in the dark
I keep on going when it's all falling apart

Luke added his voice to theirs.

Yeah I know it with all my heart
Ooh, ooh
Never look back

Alex stood up at his drums, singing to the crowd, drawing whoops from the members of their class who, despite his presence in the vocal performance class, knew him primarily as a drummer.

Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall

Then Reggie came in for his solo. It was a good reminder that, while it was easy for Luke to want to give the bulk of their vocal solos to Julie, his bassist had a damn fine voice as well. Definitely needed to utilize that more.

Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall

There was Luke's favorite part, where Julie got her solo line.

Stand tall

Or was the moment when all their voices blended together his favorite?

Stand tall
Whatever happens
Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall
Whatever happens

Julie approached Luke with her mic, a fire and joy in her eyes. He quickly followed her away from his own mic, rushing to keep up with her.

Even when everything's down
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall
I gotta keep on dreaming
Cause I gotta catch that feeling
Whatever happens

As they reached the front of the stage, he became aware that 1) Julie was practically cuddled into him (which wasn't important at the moment, but also really was) and 2) that the guys had come out to join him.

Even if I'm the last standing
I'ma stand tall
I'ma stand tall

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, the band beamed at one another and took a deep bow. Luke suddenly became aware of the thunderous applause around them.

They'd slayed. Good to know. But at the moment, it hardly seemed like the priority.

As they hurried off stage to the final applause, Luke pulled Julie to the side. She was absolutely glowing.

"How did you do that?"

"I guess I've spent all this time thinking that I had to sing and forcing myself to sing because it's what everyone wanted and it's what my mom would have wanted, and I never really thought about if I wanted to. As soon you said I didn't have to, it just…" she tapped her chest. "finally made sense in here." Her face was flushed with a bright energy he'd never seen from her before, a new confidence. "I want to sing. I'm going back to therapy, and I'm throwing myself into practice, and I'm going to find a way to deal with my performance anxiety because… I'm a damn musician."

"You are a damn musician. You're incredible."

She shrugged modestly. "I was born with the voice. Not really an achievement."

"No, I mean, you're incredible." He cupped her face with his hand again, rubbing his thumb over her cheek, marveling in how different the circumstances were than they had been four minutes ago.

She turned her head into his palm and kissed it, then popped up on her toes and pressed her forehead against his. Her lips were inches from his, but first he had to know.

"How do you feel about long-distance relationships?"

Incredulous, she laughed. "Luke, we live in the same city. It's not going to be long distance."

"During peak traffic hours, aka basically all daylight hours in LA, it's, like, an hour minimum between us."

"We're in a band. We're all gonna be in the studio together basically every day anyways. And on non-band days… You're what, ten minutes from the beach?" He nodded. "I like the beach. And I like you. Worth the trek."

Pulling her in close to him, he kissed her eagerly, almost dizzy from the bliss of their performance, her success, and her lips on his. It wasn't a great kiss—they were both smiling far too much—but he was pretty sure they were going to have plenty of chances to perfect it.

Before he could kiss her again, Reggie elbowed him in the side. "A manager's heading our way! Act professional!"

Alex inserted himself between Luke and Julie. "Wait, what do professional people do with their hands?"

Julie wrapped her arms around Reggie and Alex, the whole band linking together in a side hug. As they turned to greet the approaching woman in a suit, Luke felt his heart clench, almost pained by how happy he was. He had absolutely no idea what was coming next, but with this group of people by his side, he knew it could only be good.

And that's all, folks! Thanks so much for coming on this ride with me—I hope you enjoyed. I'm planning to write a follow-up oneshot in the future, so if you want to be notified when that comes out, make sure to follow me! And if you want to read more of my multi-fic JatP AUs, check out Some Killer Queen You Are!

Songs/musical references in this chapter:
• "Stand Tall"