Part Seize

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The next couple days passed without incident, Luke felt better and they had band practice after school Thursday, instead. Ray had some lengthy phone conversations with Bobby, who had put out some feelers with some... not so scrupulous... people, that he had come in contact with as a big musician. Life was moving along for everyone in their, not-so-little anymore, found family.

Friday afternoon arrived, and Luke was almost vibrating in anticipation. He had gotten over being sick, and this was the first free night he and Julie had had since he had become solid most of the time, and they were 'officially' together. All of the family time and movie nights over the last week where he got to snuggle with Julie were amazing, but, well, he wanted to have a night with her to himself. Alex and Willie got to go on dates all day since neither of them needed to be at school, but Julie DID. And Luke was so excited to have a night alone with her.

He wasn't sure what it was. He just knew that tonight he wanted to take her on a date. A real date. He went to the florist and got a bouquet of dahlias, managing to be solid enough to pay with most of the money left in his ghost wallet from 1995, and he begged Ray to help him with some portable food he could use for a picnic on the beach. He had the flowers with him when he asked for help, he didn't realize, but that softened Ray even more than the (odd, but insistent) understanding of Luke he already felt. (Those flowers showed the innate care Luke had for Julie, and Ray couldn't have refused him anything.)

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Julie got home from school and dropped her backpack in her room. Homework could wait until at least tomorrow, it was Friday and she just wanted to relax.

As she walked down the stairs, Luke appeared in front of her, wearing a nice red and black flannel, with dark washed jeans and a black undershirt (she couldn't quite tell if it was sleeveless or a regular t-shirt), and a black beanie on his head. She barely noticed this for a long second, her focus on the flowers he was offering to her, it was a mix of dahlias in a few different colors. Julie was astounded at the care he had apparently taken to choosing them, red, purple, white and blue.

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"Red: symbolizes strength and power that we want to give to the person who is receiving this flower. Color red in general symbolizes love and passion, but it can also be a symbol of power, strength and importance. We gift red Dahlias to people we care about and who we want to see rising up from the ashes. They are very important to us and we want to see them succeed in all areas of life. You can gift red Dahlias to your partner or a friend who is going through some difficult moments in life. Bouquet of red Dahlias is going to send a clear message of support and love that can't be better expressed by any other flower."

"Purple: symbolizes royalty, dignity and grace, so you can gift the purple Dahlia to any person who represents perfection in your eyes. Gift this beautiful flower to someone you love and someone who is in your eyes the representation of grace and dignity."

"White: symbolizes purity and focus. White Dahlias can be given to anybody you love or want to surprise. Color white symbolizes purity, faith and clean soul, so this is the perfect gift to give to someone you find to be innocent and pure soul."

"Blue: symbol of a new beginning and a new chapter. This flower color is the perfect gift for someone who is turning his/her entire life around and beginning a new chapter in life."

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"What's this for?" Julie asked, already accepting the bouquet and burying her face in it to smell with an adoring expression.

Luke blushed a little, and his hand went up to rub the back of his neck in a familiar, slightly nervous manner. "I wanted to surprise you. Will you come out with me tonight Jules? Just the two of us?"

His impossibly enchanting eyes pulled her in, and she was only too happy to say, "Yes."

His smile lit up every corner of her heart, and then he took her hand and tugged her out the front door, waving goodbye to her dad with a call of "Thanks, Ray! I promise we won't be out too late!"

He may technically still be a ghost, but, well. Julie could not possibly have cared less. Luke was perfect for her.

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Luke walked her to a quiet section of the beach. There was a blanket laid out with cheese and crackers, and the option of some deli meat, along with some apple and peach slices. He had even persuaded Ray to get him a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice.

They sat down and just nibbled the food and talked, about anything and everything, while looking at the ocean and the stars. And when Julie shivered a bit at the breeze off the water, Luke was only too pleased to lend her his flannel shirt.

Julie was delighted to accept, although she would probably never admit it, it was partly because his sculpted arms were now on display (yup, the black undershirt was sleeveless, as she suspected!). She was equally pleased when he also wrapped those arms around her and leaned them back to lay on the blanket so they could look at the stars more comfortably.

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Julie had started to drift off to sleep, but Luke wasn't having that. He had promised Ray that they would be home not too late that night, so he gently shook her and made quick work of the picnic clean up. Then he grasped her hand, fingers intertwined, and willed them back to the Molina front door.

"-Um. Luke how did you do that?" Julie was wide awake now.

"I just wanted to...?"

She looked at him in incredulity. "You teleported us BOTH, as in yourself and me, a LIFER, home, and all you have to say is, you 'wanted to'?!"

He shrugged sheepishly, "...Yes?"

"-"

The door opened, and Carlos stared at them imposingly, or as close as he could as a little brother. "Are you going to come finish watching 'Dead Man's Chest' with us or what?"

Luke jumped at the distraction, "Yes, yes we totally are. Come on Jules!"

She just rolled her eyes and shook her head, slightly vexed at his deflection, 'I guess we can talk about it tomorrow.'

They wouldn't talk about it tomorrow...

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(The flower meanings are quoted directly from )

A/N: Okay, I want to say how incredibly grateful and humbled I am to the response to this story. I hadn't written anything for YEARS and aside from my first one-shot for this fandom "Julie's Thoughts," (which I wrote half-drunk), the first chapter of this, which was supposed to be a ONE-SHOT, is something that I was actually kinda proud of, then it mutated into this *thing* and people keep ACTUALLY LIKING it?! So I just want to say thank you, and although I have the next chapter mostly done, I'm not quite ready to post it yet. I'm torn between excited and anxious for the response. But, it SHOULD be up by late morning, unless I decide to add to it. I want to step away and sleep and then read it through for one more edit.

"Hmmm hmmmmm hmmm..."