A/N: Y'all are so kind to me. Thanks for all your reviews and encouragement! Happy reading!


"So tell me your thoughts for what this song should be about that we're writing for this festival," Luke said as he mindlessly strummed his guitar. They were sitting in Luke's garage because Dirty Candy was rehearsing in the girls' garage.

"I thought we should write about music. Because music is the reason we've become such good friends." Julie cringed internally at the word 'friends,' but she couldn't think of another word to use in the moment. "Or we could finish this song that Mom and I started, if you want. It's about standing up for what you believe in, even when you're alone."

"Okay, wow. I am definitely interested in helping you finish the song you and your mom started, if you're serious about that offer. But also, I'm intrigued by this song-about-music idea. Tell me more."

"The way we feel about music… it's a little like falling in love with a person, ya know? At least, that's how I feel. Like, when you're in love you just want to be with that person all the time. That person becomes part of your identity. They help you become who you really are-almost freeing you. Music does all that too. What if we wrote a song about that? Like, even if we're not super explicit about it."

"Julie, you're a genius! We write a love song for music!" Luke's enthusiasm for her idea gave Julie butterflies. Of course, most things Luke did these days gave her butterflies. But still.

"I have some lyrics already, actually." Julie held out her purple journal to him, open to a page that had some lyrics that had sort of been a love song about him, not music. Well, about telling him how she felt. But she thought they worked too well for this concept not to be used.

Luke started reading the pieces aloud. "'Hearts on fire/We're no liars/So we say what we wanna say...I got a spark in me/Hands up if you can see/And you're a part of me/Hands up if you're with me.' Julie, these are fantastic! I love how it's not explicitly about music, but like, it's totally there! I kind of like how vague it is! And I can already hear a melody!" He grabbed his guitar and started singing. "Hearts on fire…" As he sang her words and added some of his own, Julie felt her heart nearly burst with pride. It felt so good to know that he got her, that they were on the same wavelength. This was going to be their best song yet, she knew it.


The following Saturday, Julie and Flynn headed to Percy Warner Park at a ridiculously early hour. They parked Julie's car in a gravel parking lot and went out looking for the Franklin High School Cross Country Team's tent.

"Wow, there are a lot of schools here," Flynn commented as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, who knew?" Julie agreed. "So Dad texted that they're set up near the starting line? And it looks like that's it over there." She pointed to a wide path that was clearly marked with flags. There was a line of tents, and among them somewhere was her father. So the pair trudged through the grass toward them. They glanced at each maroon-colored tent, hoping it would be the one, until Julie heard a familiar voice.

"Julie! Flynn! Over here!" Julie and Flynn spun around, and then, having seen who called to them, looked at each other.

"Did you know he was coming?" Flynn asked her best friend. "Because a heads up would have been nice."

"Flynn, I honestly had no idea. I mentioned it to Luke one time and then forgot about it until this moment. I'm so sorry!"

"How did he even know where to come?" Flynn grumbled, even as her smile widened at the excitement of their friend.

"Hey Reggie! I didn't expect to see you here!" Julie said as she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "Don't you normally work Saturday mornings?"

He shrugged. "I traded shifts with Claire. I couldn't miss this! I love cross country!"

Flynn rolled her eyes at him even as he hugged her next. "How does anyone love cross country except the people who are actually running?" she asked with a grin.

"It's awesome! I mean, they've trained all year for this run! And the Steeplechase at Percy Warner is actually a pretty miserable run. I hated it in high school! But it's fun to cheer the runners on and watch them cross the finish line!"

"Reg here ran cross country in high school," Luke explained, walking over from somewhere behind him. "Hey girls! How's it going?"

"Hey Luke!" Julie pulled him into a long hug, and Flynn and Reggie exchanged smirks. "I low-key can't believe you're here!"

Luke laughed. "I told you I wanted to come. We used to come to Reggie's meets in high school, and I miss it a little." He released Julie and gave Flynn a much quicker hug. "You guys looking for the Franklin High tent?"

"Well, what else would we be looking for?" Julie sassed, and Flynn saw a dopey grin appear on Luke's face. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's just over this way! Come on!" Luke grabbed Julie's hand and started pulling her in the direction they had already come from.

Flynn looked at Reggie, and he met her smirk with one of his own.

"When are those two gonna come out with it?! It's obvious they like each other!"

Flynn laughed and nodded. "I know! Did you hear the love song she wrote about him? It's gorgeous and kind of intense!"

Reggie shook his head. "Alex is insistent-Julie's privacy is sacred. So I haven't heard it yet, but I've heard about it. And Alex loves it."

They followed after their ridiculous friends at a much slower pace, and so weren't worried about being overheard.

"They should just talk about their feelings! This is getting a little ridiculous!" Flynn exclaimed vehemently.

"Woah. Flynn, you okay?" Reggie asked. Flynn blushed.

"Julie's just been through a lot, and Luke makes her really happy. It seems like she's avoiding something that would make her even happier for the sake of the band."

Reggie nodded. "Yeah, I get that. But honestly, I think they're almost there. I mean, Julie knows, right? About Luke's feelings?"

"Yeah, I think so. She said Alex mentioned it when they were rehearsing 'Perfect Harmony.' But I'm not sure how seriously she took him."

Reggie rolled his eyes. "Eventually, one of them will get it through their thick skull and say something to the other."

"They better," Flynn huffed, even as she watched them fondly as fifty feet ahead, Luke randomly pulled Julie into a dance posture and started waltzing her around.

"Hey." Reggie grabbed Flynn's hand to stop her walking. "People who are meant to be together always end up together." Reggie was staring deeply into Flynn's eyes and she took a deep breath.

"You really believe that?" she asked quietly.

"No doubt in my mind," Reggie replied with incredible confidence. She felt herself melt a little. Damn those gorgeous blue-grey eyes. After a moment, he blushed and started walking towards their friends, pulling her along from where their hands were still connected. "C'mon. Let's catch up to those goobers."


Reggie was a little surprised at his internal response to Flynn. She'd always been comfortable for him, even from the night they met, but at the state meet, looking into her eyes while holding her hand, he felt his heart begin to race. The vulnerability that had flashed in her eyes when she asked him if he really believed-it caught him off guard. She had always seemed so confident and independent, but in that moment she looked… less independent Supergirl and more Julia Roberts at the end of that rom com with Hugh Grant? The whole 'I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy…' thing his coworker Ella talked about all the time. (She'd made him watch that clip on YouTube once. That's all. Honest.) For just that split second, it was like she didn't want to just be comfortably single forever, which is sort of the vibe he'd gotten from her in the past.

He suddenly noticed that he was still holding her hand, so he let it go quickly, feeling super unsure of his own feelings. But then they got to the Franklin High tent and Carlos jumped up from where he was sitting on the ground. "Reggie! Flynn! Dad said you guys were here, but I only saw those two weirdos," he waved his hand in the general direction of Luke and Julie, who looked like they were discussing their new song. At least, Julie had pulled her purple notebook from her purse and was showing Luke something she'd written there.

"Dude, I would never miss this!" Reggie said, doing the handshake Carlos had taught him at Sunday lunch.

"I knew you were the cool one," Carlos said, and Flynn laughed. "Just like Flynn here. Way cooler than Carrie or my sister!"

"Just don't tell the others!" she responded conspiratorially.


That afternoon, Kayla came into the coffee shop while Reggie was on shift. It had been a pretty quiet afternoon, with just a few college kids in to study in relative peace or to escape unpleasant roommates for a bit (it was amazing how much some people were willing to share with the stranger who makes their coffee). When she walked in with her hair carefully curled and wearing a short skirt and heels, Reggie knew Luke had been right-Kayla was definitely into him.

"Hi Reggie! How's it going?" she asked as she walked up to the counter.

"Kayla! Hey! I'm good! How about you?"

"Oh, I'm exhausted! Carrie had us working on our set for the festival next week all morning! But it'll be worth it, because a bunch of record execs are gonna be there, according to Trevor."

"Yeah? We had no idea! You know, we're playing that festival too!" Reggie said excitedly.

Kayla laughed. "Of course I knew! Carrie keeps us apprised of all of the latest goings on with Julie and the Phantoms!"

"Cool!" Reggie smiled and nodded, hoping she would keep talking because he didn't know what else to say. And of course, she didn't disappoint.

"So Carrie says you guys are debuting some new stuff. That should be good, right? Will you be singing much?"

Reggie shrugged. "We are playing some new stuff, but I mostly sing backup, which is what I like. I much prefer jamming on my bass, or plucking my banjo, or improv-ing with my upright. I'm not much of a singer."

"Well, I'd love to hear you sing sometime, anyway. I think you've got a great voice!"

"Yeah, thanks Kayla. All you girls in Dirty Candy are fantastic singers, too."

She smiled and batted her lashes at him. "Thanks, Reggie. Speaking of, Jasmine made me promise to help her study this afternoon, so I should probably head out. Can I get a nonfat soy latte with a pump of hazelnut?" He was a little surprised she was just going to study with someone. Julie, Flynn, and Alex always looked more comfortable than cute when he found them studying (often together) at one of their houses. Even Carrie looked more chill than this when he found her doing school work. He had expected Kayla to at least be doing something. But whatever.

"Coming right up!" Reggie said, giving her his most charming smile. He turned around to make her drink, glad he didn't have to keep talking while he worked. After a few minutes, he turned and handed Kayla her to go cup. "Here you go! It's $4.25!"

She swiped her card and smiled coyly at him. "I'll see you around, Rockstar," she said over her shoulder as she walked out.

Reggie only realized that he had been a bit stressed by Kayla's presence when she walked out the door and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"What, is she your ex or something? Or maybe one of your friends' exes? You seemed a little tense there," commented the girl sitting at the table nearest to the counter who had claimed to be here to study for her Engineering Fundamentals exam.

Reggie laughed a little. "Nah, just not someone I'm super comfortable with, apparently."


On Sunday, Julie and Emily made Earl Grey shortbread cookies.

"The nice thing about this recipe is that you just dump all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse it until the dough clumps together," Emily explained as they pulled ingredients out of the pantry. "Sometimes you just want an easy cookie with a quick cleanup."

"Yeah, life gets hectic sometimes," Julie agreed.

"Yes, I suppose you have a lot to do to prepare for next weekend?" Emily asked.

"Sort of. We're playing a few new songs, so we just have to fine tune them, make sure they're really solid." There was a moment's pause before Julie continued. "Luke told me you and Mitch agreed to come. I'm really excited you're gonna be there."

Emily smiled at the girl. "He's never invited us to a performance before."

Julie internally rolled her eyes at Luke. Of course he hadn't. "Well, there's a first time for everything. And hey, this means you'll get to meet my Dad and my Aunt Victoria."

"Oh really? Luke didn't mention that. I'd really like that a lot."

"Me too! I know most people aren't crazy about it, but I kind of like when my different circles of life meet. And I really think Dad and Tia will like you guys. They love Luke. He's been to a couple of our family Sunday lunches, and Dad keeps talking about how great he and Alex and Reggie are. Can't get enough of them, really." She laughed. "I've been joking that he likes them better than me."

Emily laughed too. "My dad used to hire a couple of boys from down the road to help out on the farm. I grew up on a farm, you know. And he loved having them around. He loved my sister and I deeply, but getting to help boys become men was a joyful experience for him."

Julie nodded. "Yeah, that's sort of how my mom was and definitely how Tia Victoria is. Mom basically adopted Flynn as her second daughter, and Tia still treats us like we're her kids."

"Now remind me again what your Aunt does for a living?" Emily asked as they poured the flour into the food processor.

"Tia Victoria is a nurse. She works at the hospital, mostly in the Neonatal ICU, although she fills in at the ER sometimes. But she loves babies."

"Wow. I imagine she must really feel called to her work. Healthcare work can be very taxing, I think."

Julie nodded as she poured in the tea leaves. "She really loves what she does. And she loves that she gets to help sick babies grow into strong children."

"Well, she sounds like a wonderful woman. I look forward to meeting her."

"Yeah, me too! I'm also really excited to hear what you think of our music! I think you'll like it!"

"I'm sure I will, dear. After all, each of you is incredibly dear to Mitch and me. That's enough for us to love it."

Julie smiled. "You sound like Dad. Mom on the other hand used to say, 'I will always love you, even if I don't love your sound. But that doesn't make it bad. If you love it, that's what matters most.'"

"Your mother took music very seriously," Emily commented.

Julie nodded. "Music was her everything, after her family. And she wanted us to know that different taste is okay. As long as we liked our music, that was always what mattered most."

"I imagine that was hard sometimes, if she didn't like your music?"

"Yeah, but it taught me to love my music regardless of anyone else's opinion." Julie shrugged. "That was worth it."

Emily nodded. "I believe that." She looked down at the recipe. "Yes, now that our dough has formed, we wrap it in wax paper, roll it into a log, and stick it in the freezer for fifteen minutes."