'Guys, help,' Luke mouthed at his bandmates, eyes wide with panic. He had no idea what to do, no idea how to console her, no idea how to get her to stop crying.

Flynn reached a hand out to ease her friend, only to flinch back. She clenched her eyes shut. She couldn't bear the sight of her hand going through her friend's shoulder again. She wrapped her arms around herself, her closed eyes welling up with tears.

The guys were in full panic mode now. The only thing scarier than one girl crying, was two girls crying, and they had no idea how to deal with it. Luke's eyes never left Julie as he pulled her closer, attempting to comfort her, even if only a little.

"Okay, we can sort this out," Alex declared, firmer than before, not wanting his friends hurt like this. "Julie, come here," he gently pulled her from Luke's arms. Julie blinked at him, her face red and blotchy, tears still falling. His smile was so reassuring that Julie believed him. "Besides, there's no way you can be a ghost, you're not dead. It must be something else." Yeah. Yeah, he was right. She didn't die. She can't be a ghost. She's not a ghost. She's not.

Julie took a deep breath, gulping, she turned to meet Flynn's teary gaze. Pensive, she reached out a hand, the other girl doing the same. To both of their dismays, their hands passed once more.

"I just don't understand," Alex muttered, removing his hand from Julie's shoulder to pace around the room again.

"Me neither," Julie whispered, looking at her hands. She took a step forward, Flynn meeting her halfway. They locked eyes as they reached their hands out. They jumped when, instead of passing through one another, they met.

"It worked!" The two leapt forward, hugging one another. The guys watched in confused awe, unable to keep up with the emotional whiplash of the past three minutes.

"Why can we touch now, but not before?" Julie asked, looking back at the boys, yet refusing to let go of her friend.

"I-I don't know," Alex looked stumped, yanking at his hair in frustration.

"You're gonna pull all your hair out if you keep doing that," Reggie muttered.

"Wait- do you think it's got something to do with you touching the boys?" Flynn asked suddenly, reluctantly letting go of Julie. At their confused looks, she elaborated. "I mean, I tried to grab your hand when you were holding Luke's hand," she gestured at the two, "and then again when Alex was touching your shoulder, but it didn't work. But we can touch now," she stepped forward and grabbed Julie's hand again, half to convince them, half to prove it to herself.

"Hmm she has a point," Alex muttered, loosening his grip on his hair. "Julie, grab Luke's hand again and try touching Flynn." Julie did as told, dropping Flynn's hand and walking back to Luke. She grabbed his hand again with a small smile, which he returned. Julie pulled Luke to where Flynn was still standing, reaching out to the other girl. Just as they guessed, her hand passed through Flynn's.

"This is so freaky..." Julie muttered, waving her hand through the middle of her friend's body, telling herself over and over; 'it's only temporary, you can still touch, it's fine, everything is okay.'

"Well, at least we figured one thing out?" Reggie asked in a confused manner.

"Yeah..." Flynn trailed off, still staring at her best friend's hand as it moved through her midsection. "But we should still get to bed." She shook her head, reaching a hand towards Julie, only to pause, sending a pointed look at Luke. A beat passed and he didn't move. Her look turned to a glare.

"Oh!" His eyes widened, "right, sorry. My bad," He chuckled sheepishly, letting go of Julie's hand. Flynn then grabbed the other girl and pulled her out of the studio, Julie waving to the guys as they left.

The next day at school, Julie's mind was racing, and she was barely able to concentrate on her classes. And when she hugged Flynn every time they passed in the hall, and when the two were more attached at the hip than normal, neither commented on it.

When the time finally came for their dance class, Julie had to admit she was dreading it a little. It was the first time interacting with Nick since the flowers. She wanted to believe that Luke was right, that Nick was only being weird because she rejected him. An involuntary sigh escaped her lips at the thought of a certain guitarist. She ignored the knowing look her friend sent her.

"Yeah yeah, girl. You can fantasise about your little crush later. We're gonna be late," Flynn rolled her eyes at her friend, knowing exactly who the girl had been thinking about. She grabbed her hand (she could still do that, she reminded herself again) to head to class.

"Hey, Julie!" Nick waved as the two stepped into the room. Julie looked up at him, blinking, not expecting such a happy greeting. He walked up to the two of them, linking his arm with hers, barely giving Flynn a nod of recognition before pulling his partner away. He took her to a back corner of the gymnasium, as the teacher told them to take their places.

"Umm, don't we usually dance near the centre?" Julie asked, a little unnerved by the prolonged contact, pulling her arm out of his as subtly as she could. Glancing around the room, she didn't love how distanced she was from her best friend.

"Well yeah," Nick stuttered a bit, but quickly regaining his composure. "Maybe I wanted to spend a little time with you one on one?" He gave her a winning smile, raising one eyebrow.

"Nick, look," she sighed, trying to figure out how to word it. "If this is about you still trying to get me to go out with you, I'm sorry. I already told you I like someone else..." She trailed off. Thinking about Luke always made her lose her train of thought. She looked back at Nick, seeing a calculating look, but when she blinked, it was something more friendly. Must have imagined it.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he rolled his eyes in a very non-Nick fashion, "but I'm not giving up on you that easy, Molina." The smirk was back, and Julie frowned. He still wasn't acting like himself.

"Okay class, let's run it through with the music." She snapped her head up at the teacher. Right, she had forgotten that now she had to dance with him. She returned his confident smile with a tight-lipped one of her own.

They began their dance, but something was different about that too. Not to be mean, but Nick hadn't been very... good before. But now… he seemed so confident, his movements so natural, not missing a single beat or cue. It was like he was born to perform, out of nowhere.

"That was great, Julie!" Nick exclaimed, turning to her once they finished their final run through. Then he did something completely unexpected, pulling her in for a tight hug. Julie didn't have the time to fight it, but luckily (for her or for him, she wasn't quite sure), he ended the embrace. "For next time though, you might want to practice counts twelve through twenty a little more. You were a few beats behind, and I noticed your foot slip," he commented, sending her a blinding grin. Julie's jaw dropped halfway to the ground.

Now this, this was definitely new. Nick had always complimented her on how well she danced, saying how he could never keep up with her. Never before would he have even noticed her, admittedly, sloppy performance, let alone comment on it.

"Hey, hey, sorry. Didn't mean to offend you," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. Now that was more like him. "I thought I should tell you is all. I mean we need to be in perfect harmony for this, right?" He grinned again.

Julie's eyes bugged. Did he say what she thought he said? There was no way... right? He couldn't know about that song, must have been a coincidence. And if his grin seemed a little too knowing, it was only a trick of the light.

"Anyway, I gotta head off. See you later, Molina," with a final grin he sauntered away.

Chapter End Notes

How would people feel about me posting little ideas on small bits and pieces I would like to add to this story, at the end of chapters. I have over 10 ideas written in caps at the bottom of my document, some of them won't be put into the story for quite some time, but I feel like I need to get them out of my head, ya know? Would be happy if people would maybe comment on some of them, giving feedback on whether they like the idea or discuss with me how they would like to see it come to fruition. Let me know in reviews if this would be something you'd be interested in.