Chapter Notes

Damnnn, I really did just write 3400 words of this. Teehee.

Julie opened the studio doors after school, only to find it void of the three ghost boys. Shrugging, she walked in and dropped her bag before sitting down at the piano, absently fingering the chords of the song that had been playing on repeat in her mind for a week now. She hummed along as she played, singing quietly when she reached the second verse.

Here in front of me,

They're shining so much brighter,

Than I have ever seen,

Life can be so mean,

But when he goes,

I know he doesn't leave,

"That's really nice," Julie jumped, falling off the seat of the piano in shock (and a little bit of fear) at the voice behind her. "Shit, sorry, Julie," she looked up from her new place on the floor. She relaxed a little when she saw that at least it was Alex and not Luke.

He offered her his hand, which she gladly took, and pulled her up. Julie returned to the piano seat, scooting over a bit and motioning for him to join her. He sat down next to her, smiling at her.

"Soooo," he trailed off, and Julie knew exactly what he was going to say. He was going to ask who the song was for. "Is the song for who I think it's for?" He eventually asked. Julie whipped her head around to face him again. Okay... not what she had been expecting. Wait, he already knew she liked Luke? Was she that obvious?! Seeing the panic in her eyes as she spiralled into full freak- out mode, he waved his hands around. "I mean, I've seen the way you look at him, not that it's super obvious or anything," he was sweating now.

"It's fine," she sighed, lowering her head and playing the first chord again. "Yeah, it is," she paused, thinking about exactly how much she wanted to reveal about it all. But then, its Alex, she thought. He was trustworthy, he could keep a secret. And most importantly, he might be able to tell her if she was being completely ridiculous.

"Can," he gulped, clearly nervous about asking, "can I hear it?" He fully expected her to turn him down, say it wasn't ready, or she wasn't ready to sing it. Or worse, that she just didn't want to sing it to him.

"Yeah, but on one condition," her answer surprised him, he looked up to meet her eyes as she looked away. "It's kind of... a duet?" She said, glancing up at his eyes again as they widened.

"You- You want ME to sing it with you?" He asked, completely shocked. She nodded. "But, I don't know the lyrics?" He asked, a last-ditch effort to get out of it without hurting her feelings. While he wasn't a horrible singer, it wasn't really his thing. It didn't make him as comfortable as banging on the drums in the back. Besides, he wasn't a front-man, that had always been Luke's job.

"I wrote it down!" She declared, jumping up and going to her abandoned school bag. She pulled out a sparkly purple book before returning to sit next to him again. "It just... doesn't feel right singing it alone, you know?" She smiled weakly, looking up at him.

Alex could hear his resolve crack, as he sighed, giving in. Everyone said Luke had a good puppy- dog face, but Julie didn't too bad herself. How could he say no to that face? He shifted closer to her so he could read the book in her hands. She looked reluctant to open it, but she did. She turned to the right page, dog-eared he noticed, another thing she clearly picked up from Luke, as her books used to be crisp and unfolded. The page looked very worn, he could tell she must have thumbed it and turned to it a lot. He checked with her one final time, as if to ask 'are you sure this is okay?' She nodded and gave him a wider smile.

Each line had been written with care, in her neat cursive, a stark contrast to Luke's chicken-scratch he'd grown quite used to. He nodded at her, letting her know she could start the song. He watched as she played the first few chords, waiting before beginning to sing.

Step into my world,

Bittersweet love story 'bout a girl,

Julie smiled as he sang. He really did have an amazing voice; it was too bad he wasn't comfortable singing more. She might be able to work with him on that, actually. The confidence boost might do him wonders for his anxiety. Her time came to sing and went, and then they were singing together.

It was a weird feeling, she had to admit. His voice was so different from Luke's, and he, Flynn and her mom had been the only people she had ever really sung with. It didn't make her as uncomfortable as she assumed it would. She even thought they sounded nice together.

"Wow," he muttered as she played the final note. "That- that was amazing Julie," he said only after she removed her hands from the keys. "If it makes you feel any better, I know for a fact he feels the same way about you," he smiled as they turned to face each other. Technically, he was breaking bro-code by telling Julie this. But after that performance, he felt connected to her, and she was being so raw and honest. He had to tell her that her feelings were returned.

He expected her to smile, say something about how relieved she was, hug him then race off to find Luke. To his surprise, she did none of that. Instead, her face fell, her eyes dropping to her lap.

"Yeah, I thought so," she gave a weak nod. Now, this confused Alex. If she liked Luke and knew he liked her back, then why hadn't she done something by now? "Honestly? It would be easier if I didn't think he might like me," she chuckled bitterly. She wiped at her face as if expecting tears, only to find her cheek dry. "If he didn't like me, I could move on and get over it all, like Flynn keeps telling me to do."

"Why do you want to get over it?" He asked, more confused than ever. This wasn't making any sense to him. If you liked someone, you should tell them, right? There was also that little comment about Flynn not approving, but he'd ask more about that later.

"Alex," she sighed, looking up at him again, the look in her eyes was clear, she'd given up. But why? "You guys are dead," he flinched at the words.

He hadn't considered himself dead for a long time now. Sure, he wasn't alive, but dead wasn't the word he would use either. Ever since meeting Julie and Willy. Ever since playing their dream. And finally being able to touch Julie only solidified that. Yeah, he definitely didn't consider himself dead. Not anymore. He told her this, struggling to find the words to explain how he felt.

"Julie, I don't know if Luke told you this," he paused for a second. Maybe if Luke didn't tell her, it was for a reason, before shrugging it off. "We- Our hearts beat now." She tilted her head at him.

"Yeah? So?" She asked, looking so confused, trying to understand what he was saying. He took her hand, folding it and pressing her fingers against his other wrist, right where his pulse was.

"Before we became able to touch you, we didn't have a heartbeat." Her eyes widened, her jaw falling open. "You made us more alive than ever before. And every day, it's like we keep becoming more and more alive," he was struggling for words again. There was no way to describe exactly how they had all been feeling. She continued to stare at him, trying to take in everything he was saying. "Did you know we sleep now? And I don't just mean we are capable of it, I mean we actually need to sleep. At least a couple of hours every night."

"Wait, but I thought ghosts couldn't sleep?" She looked so confused, her mind racing.

"That's what I mean Julie. Normal ghosts can't sleep at all, let alone actually need to," he was trying so hard to get his point across. "We're not normal ghosts, not anymore. I would even go as far as to think we might be becoming alive again." Her jaw dropped once more, "don't get me wrong, I don't know if we ever actually will be alive again. But at the rate we're going..." he trailed off, looking at the frozen girl.

Poor Julie, she must have had her whole world shaken. Everything she thought she knew about them, changing in a matter of minutes. She had no idea what her friends were going through, potentially coming to life and all. And there was the added fact of if they did come to life, her and Luke could...

"Are you telling me this as a way to reassure me to not give up on Luke?" She asked, chuckling, knowing full well exactly why he was saying this. He grinned at her.

"Ah, you know me too well," he bumped her with her shoulder, lightening the mood a little as she pushed him back. "We kind of all agreed to not tell you about all this," he looked down, frowning. "Well, all agreed is putting it loosely. Luke didn't want to get your hopes us, and he convinced Reggie. In my defence I wanted to tell you everything," he smiled at her, making her smile back.

"I can see why he didn't want to tell me because my hopes are definitely up," she laughed genuinely, making Alex grin at her. "But I'm glad you told me, thank you, Alex." She wrapped her arms around him. He returned the hug, squeezing her a little before letting go.

"So, when did you write this?" He asked, picking up the notebook and jumping up, desperate to relieve the tension. And he couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease the girl.

"Hey!" She jumped up, chasing him around the room, desperate to get her book back. Almost too desperate, Alex couldn't help but notice, a smirk creeping onto his face. He poofed up to the loft, ignoring her shouts, giving himself a few extra seconds to see what she was hiding. Flicking to the last page he saw it. Right when she reached him, he burst out laughing, seeing what had been written all over the page. Julie's face turned bright red in a way that even her dark skin couldn't hide. She snatched the book back from him with a huff. Alex was on the ground now, practically wheezing. He tried and failed to recapture his breath.

"J-Julie Patterson!" He eventually coughed out, laughing all over again, clutching his side in pain from the stitch.

"You're horrible!" Julie huffed, plopping down on the ground with a pout, while Alex tried to gather his bearings. It took a few minutes, but eventually, he sat up again. Chuckles still slipping past his lips, as he tried to contain them. Judging from the glare on Julie's face, she was about ready to throw him over the railing of the loft. Which, while he wasn't certain if it would hurt, he wasn't willing to test.

"Sorry, sorry. But yeah, you're totally over it," he laughed, stopping himself from breaking down again.

"Yeah, yeah, like you're one to talk," she rolled her eyes at him. The two settled into a comfortable silence, still grinning at one another. Julie leant against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Luke chose that moment to pop into the lower level of the studio, calling out and asking if anyone was there. Julie and Alex exchanged a look, both glad that he hadn't shown up any earlier.

"Up here!" Alex called, poofing down the stairs. Only to be surprised when Julie poofed down with him. "What the-?!" The two yelped, jumping apart and staring at one another.

"Uh, what just happened?" Luke asked, pointing at the two in shock.

Alex reached forward, placing his hand on Julie's shoulder, and poofing himself to the other side of the room. Again, she went with him. Only her hair-tie and her jacket both disappeared this time.

"Woahhh, that's so weird, what the heck!" She shook her head, then noticing her lack of hair-tie. "Hey! Where'd my stuff go?" She pouted, looking around the room.

"Yeah, that happened to Reggie for a little while," Luke laughed thinking about it. "One time he lost his shirt."

"Wait, could I LOSE MY SHIRT?!" She panicked, turning on Alex and shaking him. "Never do that again, I don't want to lose my shirt!"

Luke had meant it to be a joke, he gulped, trying not to think of the implications of what she had said, torn between two extremes.

"Nah, you just gotta focus," Alex said weekly, "now please stop shaking me." He looked sick, almost like he might throw up. Was he able to do that now? Another thing she would have to ask later.

"Sorry," she laughed at his face, letting go of him. She took a deep breath, thinking about her jacket. Sure enough, it poofed back on her a moment later. Next, she thought about her hair-tie. Again, it was back, only not in her hair this time (maybe the ghost magic couldn't handle that). Instead, it plopped onto the ground in front of her. She grumbled as she picked it up and slipped it around her wrist. "Can we try it again?" She asked, slightly more excited now that she (sort of) knew how to stop her stuff from disappearing. Or at least how to get it back once it was gone.

"Try with me," Luke said, poofing next to the girl and grabbing her hand. He noticed her and Alex exchange a knowing smile and panicked a little. What had they been talking about while he was gone? "To test if it works with all three of us?" His statement came out like a question, as he tried to justify just wanting to hold her hand again. "Make sure you don't lose your shirt," he smirked, winking at her, regaining some of his confidence. At her huff, he knew it was safe and poofed himself to the loft.

It was such a weird feeling to Julie. Tingles starting in her hand and rushing up through her arm and spreading through her whole body. The tingles only lasted a few seconds, disappearing as soon as they appeared.

"Try something longer distance!" Alex called up to them. He was curious to see how far this newfound power would go. Luke sent Julie a look, making sure she was ready. She nodded, letting him know she was good, and then he disappeared, only, this time she didn't go with him.

Alex poofed up to her, grabbed her hand, and waited for her to be ready, before poofing back to the bottom floor. A few seconds, Luke popped back to the loft, then the bottom floor once seeing Julie wasn't there.

"Didn't work," he stated the obvious.

"Maybe we could try together?" Alex asked, thinking that with more power it might work. "Where did you try to go before? We can work out a few limits on how far we can take her."

"I tried to go to the other side of town." Luke shrugged. "This will be super handy with sneaking you out for future late-night gigs," he winked at her, making her roll her eyes. Julie held out her other hand, the one not still holding Alex's, out to Luke, which he took.

"Where to?" Alex asked, looking at the other two. "Keep in mind people will be able to see us all. They might be a little creeped out if we appear out of nowhere, so try somewhere quiet."

"Try across town again, now that there's two of you?" Julie, questioned, shrugging a little. The guys shrugged too and checked she was ready before poofing to the other side of town. Once again though, Julie remained in the studio. Luke was back a few moments later, Julie sent him a questioning look, wondering where Alex had gone.

"Alex thought he saw Willy, said to say he'd be back," Luke chuckled as Julie giggled and rolled her eyes. That boy sure was smitten. Although she couldn't talk, she smiled up at Luke, trying and failing to look away before he noticed.

"Sooo," Julie trailed off, trying to find something to talk about. Not that the silence was uncomfortable, just that they hadn't had a chance to talk much the past few days. "Where did you go today?" She eventually asked. After all, he had been gone for almost an hour after she got back from school, and who knows how long before then.

"I," He trailed off looking down before taking a deep breath. "I was visiting my parents," Julie's mouth turned into an o. "You know, for the first time since you gave them Unsaid Emily," he smiled at her. She smiled back, glad he was talking to her about this.

"How are they doing?" She asked, hoping the two were doing well. She didn't know Mr and Mrs Patterson very well, but they seemed like good people. And they had been through so much.

"They're- They're doing better. Have I said thank you enough for that?" He asked, grinning at her, stepping closer. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"Only about thirty-two times." The two continued to smile at each other. "How are you doing?" She asked, praying he wouldn't close up when he flinched a little.

"I-..." He gulped, weighing out whether he should answer her honestly. "I'm fine." Her shoulders sagged at the vague response, which he noticed and felt guilty for. "Sometimes," he continued, making her look up at him again, "sometimes I wish I could talk to them again. But this is so much better than it was. At least they have some closure." Then a thought struck Julie. She gasped, jumping and grabbing his shoulders, making him jump too. His eyes darted to meet hers again.

"Why didn't I think of this earlier!" She shouted, cursing herself for being so stupid.

"Uh? Think of what?" Luke gulped, trying hard to remain focussed. With her so close, her hands on his shoulders and gazing deep into her eyes...

"You can talk to them!" She shouted, shaking him a little. He looked confused for a second before it hit him. When he touched Julie, lifers could actually see and hear him again. He would talk to his mum. Sing her Unsaid Emily himself. Tell her everything he should have told her a long time ago. Apologise to her. Maybe even hug her, if he played his guitar.

"I... I can," he muttered in a trance, his thoughts racing. He could actually do this. Couldn't he?

"What are you waiting for?! Let's go!" Julie smiled at him. He nodded numbly before he realised something.

"It might be a little far for me to take you alone," he muttered, unsure if it would work.

"Well, all we can do is try. And if it doesn't work then we'll go in a few stops!" Her infectious energy was rubbing off on him. His face was starting to hurt from all the smiling he was doing.

"Okay," he grinned at her. The two then poofed away. Moments later, Alex poofed back into the now-empty studio.

"It wasn't him. It was not him," he muttered to the vacant room. He spun around, looking all around only to find Luke and Julie gone in the three minutes he was out. He shrugged and moved to sit on the couch and take a nap. He was more than a little emotionally exhausted. The rest would do him well. Right as he closed his eyes, the studio doors burst open. He tried to ignore the noise, knowing that if it was a lifer they wouldn't be able to see him.

"Ummm, we may have a problem," Reggie's voice came. Alex groaned, sitting up and opening his eyes. He prepared to scold Reggie for disturbing his nap. Only for his eyes to widen as he laid them upon Reggie... and Ray... Who was looking right at him.

Chapter End Notes

Coming up next: Some Patterson family love. Reggie and Ray development. Bobby? BAMF Julie.