Disclaimer: All rights belong to the creators and writers of Julie and the Phantoms (2020). I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made.

Rating: K+

Chapter 37

When Flynn sits down on the bus next to Julie, she hands her the songbook, the page already open. Flynn glances down at it before looking back to Julie.

"What's this?" she asks.

"It's the notebook Luke used to write all his songs in." Julie nods towards the open page. "Tell Andi that I'll play the Orpheum."

A smile grows on Flynn's face. "You will?"

"I owe it to the boys. After all they've done for me, fulfilling their lost dream is the least I can do."

Flynn reads over the lyrics. "Julie, this...this is really good."

"Luke and I wrote a melody that it goes with." Julie swallows. "I just can't believe it's all coming full circle. The boys started the game in the Orpheum, and now I'm playing the Orpheum and they're stuck in the game again. I couldn't play music after the death of my mom, and now I can't play music because I lost them, too."

"Don't think of it like that," Flynn says. "Think of it as proof that you were meant to meet the boys, that everything that has happened happened for a reason."

"If you find out the reason, let me know."

"I can think of one that lives in your basement." Flynn's eyes flicker over to Reggie. "Plus, you were cool at school for a few weeks."

"You mean the boys were cool and popular people tolerated me more than usual." Julie rolls her eyes.

"Actually, speaking of the boys…" Flynn pulls out her phone and opens up Twitter. "You know that weird kid in our music class who is obsessed with conspiracies?"

"The one who did an entire presentation on how the moon landing was faked for ninth grade history? And spent last summer hunting crytid moose in New Zealand with his uncle?"

"Exactly. Mike. While you guys were in the game, he apparently did some digging and actually uncovered a true conspiracy for once." Flynn hands Julie her phone. "It's all over Twitter. Along with the conspiracy of what happened with us and Trevor Wilson, of course."

Julie scrolls through the tag Flynn had cued up. She sees pictures of the Sunset Curve album compared to stills from their Youtube videos. There's even a popular picture of Mike standing in front of a board with pictures and pins and red string. It looks exactly like that popular meme.

"I'd be worried, except this will all die down once Luke and Alex never return." Julie jumps to another tag, this one focusing on what happened to the fourth member of the band. While Mike had apparently been smart enough to link Sunset Curve to Luke, Alex, and Reggie, he falls short when it comes to finding out Bobby's true identity. But if Julie knows Trevor, he's probably spent a lot of money erasing every traceable connection to his past.

Besides Rose, of course.

"What about Reggie?" Flynn asks. "He has the same name. It's not exactly subtle."

"He'll manage." Julie can't seem to stop scrolling through the feed. There are tweets about how Luke, Alex, and Reggie might have killed their fourth band member. There are tweets about how they might be immortals, and some students have dug up old black and white photos from a hundred years ago that look like any attractive white boy and claimed it's them from the past. There are tweets about how the fourth band member kidnapped them and conducted experiments so that they never aged.

Julie finally hands the phone back. "These are ridiculous," she says.

"Not as ridiculous as the truth," Flynn reminds her.

"Touché." Julie looks out the window. "We can just say that the boys adopted American names when they came over because they had unpronounceable foreign names. Lots of exchange students do that. And maybe they were fans of Sunset Curve so that's where they got the idea for their names."

"And they look exactly like them? And play the same instruments as them?"

"All white boys look the same. It's easy for them to style their hair the same way and maybe they were inspired to play the same instruments." Julie shrugs. "But it doesn't matter. It'll die down."

"Hopefully sooner rather than later. I'm sick of being stared at like I have a third arm. Even Carrie's suffering - the only girls that still hang out with her are Dirty Candy."

"High school is so dumb and shallow. I can't wait to get out of here. If there's one thing the game taught me, it's about what really matters."

When the bus drops them off at school, Flynn finds a quiet spot to call Andi back while Julie heads into school with Reggie. Although they receive a lot of weird and suspicious looks, there are also a lot of students (mostly girls) who come up and ask about Luke and Alex. Julie swallows past her grief and tells them that the boys returned to Sweden, which breaks a lot of their hearts. A few ask about Trevor Wilson, and Julie claims she has no idea what happened with him.

The day goes by slowly. Julie's mind wanders. She hasn't been able to pay attention to her classes since she lost the boys. She imagines what they're doing right now. She wonders how they're feeling and if they're missing her as much as she misses them.

Her teachers notice her lack of attention. Julie doesn't know if they've heard the rumors or not, but they're all very kind about it, especially when she tells them that the boys have returned to Sweden.

As she walks through the halls, Julie remembers Flynn's comment about how Carrie lost most of her friends. She sees Carrie wearing dark clothes that are very unlike her and walking by herself. Julie tries to go to her, but the moment Carrie sees her approaching she speeds up and disappears into the stream of students walking down the hall.

The sight saddens Julie, but she would be lying if she said she was surprised. When she started going to therapy after her mother died, Dr. Tanner talked a lot with her about the stages of grief. Julie went through them herself, and while Carrie seems to be reacting differently than she did, she can still identify the signs.

"You're all set," Flynn tells Julie while they get changed for dance class. "You're playing the Orpheum on Friday night. Andi is sending out an email with guest passes for your family and me."

Julie can only manage a small smile. She's doing this for the boys, for Luke and Alex who stayed behind in Jumanji so that she could escape. Her mother used to tell her that doing things for others brought more joy than doing it for yourself, but Julie can't seem to find that joy. It feels wrong to be playing alone at the place the boys dreamed of playing - even if she knows it's what they would want her to do.

"Come on, Julie," Flynn says, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her lightly. "This is an amazing opportunity. You have to be at least a little excited!"

How can she be, when the act of playing the show means letting go of two people she loved? Playing without them, when they're the ones who brought music back to her, is accepting that they're gone. Even though the logical part of Julie knows it, her heart is still holding out hope. She's not excited to crush that last hope.

Julie knows she's talented. She knows that music is a huge part of her. But how can she be excited about playing alone when most of the good memories and joy from music came from sharing it with others? When she played with her mother, they formed an unbreakable bond. When she played with the boys, the studio was filled with the sound of laughter. What is there when she's playing alone? Empty applause?

"I'm sorry, Flynn," she finally says. "It's hard to be excited right now when all my energy is going into holding myself together and trying to pick up the scattered pieces of my life."

Her friend's face softens. "I know, Julie. I miss them, too." She pauses. "Maybe you shouldn't play alone."

"I was going to ask Reggie if he'd play with me, but just bass and piano is hard to pull off. It's literally half of a band."

"Nick plays guitar and sings," Flynn points out. "And I'm friends with a guy who plays drums. I know it won't be the same, but at least you'd have some support."

Julie nods. "Yeah. I'll think about it. I just - "

"Don't want to replace them," Flynn finishes. "I get it." She reaches over and pulls Julie into her arms. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this."

Julie feels a little of the weight around her shoulders disappear, making just a little easier to breathe. "I love you, Flynn."

She pats her back. "I know."

When Julie gets home from school, she tells Reggie about the Orpheum gig and shows him the song she wrote. She's a little nervous that he might take it the wrong way, but all he does is nod.

"Luke and Alex would want us to do this," he says. "They didn't sacrifice themselves just so we'd turn away opportunities like this."

Julie knows they should practice, since they only have a few days until their performance, but somehow she can't force herself to lift the keylid of the piano or switch on her keyboard. Reggie doesn't make a move to grab his guitar, either. Instead they head inside the house and work on homework together in the kitchen. Carlos joins them when he gets home from soccer practice.

When Julie's dad walks in, he stands and watches them silently for a minute.

"You know, this is every parents' dream," he says. "I only wish it didn't take tragic circumstances to bring my kids together like this."

Tía comes over for dinner. They had agreed to not tell her the truth because they knew it would only freak her out. Instead they told her that they were at Carrie's all weekend and once again regurgitated the lie about Luke and Alex returning to Sweden.

"It's too bad," Tía says between bites. "They were nice boys. I'm glad you're staying, Reggie."

Reggie swallows hard. "Yeah. Me too."

Julie reaches over and squeezes his shoulder. The unspoken words drift between them: If only the others were with us, then everything would have been perfect.

Shortly after Tía leaves, Julie's phone buzzes. The boys' shared phone, which is now Reggie's, buzzes as well. Julie glances over to see that he got the same exact text she did.

"It's from Carrie," she says, surprised.

"It says that we need to get to her house ASAP. It's about the game." Reggie glances over. "Do you think something happened with Willie?"

Julie curses inwardly. They hadn't dared touch the game again, not even to destroy it. When they'd left, Carrie had locked the room and put signs up warning the housekeepers against going inside. Julie wonders if someone accidentally entered it or if Willie tried to go back in to get Alex.

"We need to get over there." Even as she's about to call an Uber, she gets a text from Nick that reads, Headed over to Carrie's. I'll be at your place in five minutes.

"Should we tell your dad?" Reggie asks, lowering his voice. "Or Carlos?"

Julie shakes her head. "My dad will just be worried, and if there's something weird going on in the game, I don't want to risk Carlos getting involved again."

"Won't Ray be upset when he finds out we're gone?"

"I'll text him once we get to Carrie's and figure out what's actually going on. I'd rather him be upset than forbid us from going in the first place."

She doesn't have to explain to Reggie that she's willing to risk herself for any chance to bring the boys back. And she doesn't have to hear Reggie say the same thing back.

She and Reggie slip out the back door and through the neighbor's yard. Nick pulls up to the curb and they load in his car. Everyone is too tense to speak. They only stop to pick up Flynn on the way. For once, even she doesn't have anything to say.

The security guards at the Wilson mansion wave them through. Carrie is waiting on the front porch, her arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapping impatiently against the boards. Nick doesn't bother to park, he just pulls up as close to the front of the house as he can and they all spill out.

"What's going on?" Julie demands when she reaches Carrie.

"The TV the game is in - it just turned on suddenly. Willie is in the room now. I evacuated all the staff to the east wing for now."

She leads them through the house to the room. Willie is standing in front of the TV, holding his arms. He glances over ever so briefly when they run in.

The TV is flashing black and white static. Occasionally it flares and the homepage from Jumanji flashes before disappearing again. Underneath the white noise, Julie can vaguely hear jazz music playing, though it's too quiet to identify a melody.

"It started doing this at least twenty minutes ago." Willie's thumb rubs against his arm and his voice is tight. "I don't know what's going on."

"Did you touch the TV or the controller?" Flynn asks. Both Carrie and Willie shake their heads.

"The door was locked. One of the housekeepers mentioned that she heard a noise behind it. That's when I sent them away and we opened up the door." Carrie turns to Julie. "We thought you might know what's going on."

Julie shakes her head. "I have absolutely no idea. I've never seen it do this. Willie's the expert on the game."

"On the inside of the game," he corrects. "I didn't even know video games existed until two days ago."

"Do you think Caleb is trying to draw us back in?" Nick asks.

"It's something he would do," Willie says. He takes a step back and eyes the TV warily.

"What do we do?" Carrie asks. "We can't just leave it like that forever."

Julie stares at it. The thought that pops in her mind sickens her, but it's something they should have done a long time ago. "There's only one thing we can do." She grabs a solid metal trophy off a display table and hefts it in her hand. "We have to destroy the game."

Carrie reaches out and grabs her arm. "Are you insane? If you do that, they'll never come back."

"They're not coming back, anyway." Julie shakes her off. "I know it's hard to accept, but they made a deal with Caleb. He's not letting them go. The last thing they want is for us to get sucked back in again. As long as the game still works, we're at risk."

"She's right." Reggie's voice is quiet, but everyone hears him. "They would want us to do this."

Julie glances over at Willie, waiting for his approval. He stares at the trophy in her hand, then looks back at the flickering TV, at the flickering game that had stolen his entire childhood. He grabs another trophy from the table and grasps it tightly in his hand.

"Together?" he asks, glancing over at her.

"Together," she agrees, trying to ignore the tears building up in her eyes.

They both smash the game console at the same time. It takes a few hits before they smash through it. She and Willie both channel their anger, frustration, and grief into their swings. Carrie covers her mouth and reaches out for Flynn. Nick watches in horror and Reggie wipes at his eyes.

The volume on the TV flares before the screen abruptly turns black. Julie and Willie drop the mangled trophies on the ground with the remains of the video game and step back.

Julie knows she did what had to be done, but she can't help but feel like she killed Luke, Alex, and Trevor herself. She looks over at Willie, whose eyes are also shimmering.

"You're never going back there," she tells him softly. "None of us are."

"I used to dream of escape," he says quietly. "I never imagined it would be so painful."

There's a popping noise. Everyone jumps back on instinct, and a second later a body sprawls out on the floor. Carrie shrieks and rushes forward. The figure rolls over to reveal that it's none other than Trevor Wilson.

He's pushed back by Carrie's assault, and then he recovers and throws his arms around her. They're both sobbing. Julie looks over at Nick, then Flynn, then Willie and finally Reggie. Reggie actually looks happy to see Trevor, which Julie never imagined, especially after hearing how angry they were at him for stealing their songs.

As happy as Julie is about their reunion, she's also itching to ask what happened and how he escaped. She's just about to interrupt them when there's another popping noise and another body tumbles out.

Julie isn't sure who's faster: Reggie or Willie. Both boys pile on Alex the moment they see him. It takes Julie a couple seconds to realize who it is before she joins them, the four of them sprawling on the floor together. When they finally lean back to give Alex room to breathe, he has an expression that's mixed confusion and relief.

"What happened?" Willie asks. He's holding tightly onto one of Alex's hands.

Alex shakes his head. "We were playing for Caleb - we didn't want to, but he was, like, controlling our bodies. We didn't have a choice. We were trying to fight it. We saw you guys disappear and we knew you left the game. We thought we were stuck in there forever, so we kept playing."

"How long was it for you?" Julie asks.

"A few songs - maybe an hour, at most? Then we felt something change. Caleb stopped singing and he got this terrified expression on his face. The game glitched - it was like a shockwave ran through it. Trevor stopped playing and disappeared. I started fighting again, and realized that Caleb was weaker. It took me a couple minutes, but I was able to throw off his control and stop playing as well. The moment I stood up from my drums I got sucked back here."

"We destroyed the game," Willie says, squeezing Alex's hand. "That must have been what scared Caleb and distracted him."

As excited and happy as Julie is that Alex is back, she can't help but look over at the TV. If Alex and Trevor escaped, then that means Luke can as well, right?

A minute passes and nothing happens. Julie reminds herself that it took Alex a few minutes after Trevor to break free, and time between the game and reality works differently. A few feet away from them, Trevor and Carrie climb to their feet. Trevor and Alex make eye contact and nod, an understanding passing between them. If Julie's attention wasn't drawn elsewhere, she would have been happy that they finally made peace.

Another minute passes. Everyone has fallen silent, watching the TV. Reggie reaches over and sets a hand on Julie's leg, and she covers it with her own hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Reggie holding Alex's other hand.

As time wears on, the tension in the room grows into a monster of its own. No one dares move until Julie's phone goes off. She nearly jumps out of her own skin with fright. The sound breaks the stillness. Carrie takes her dad's arm and escorts him out of the room. Flynn and Nick move to sit down on the couch.

Julie glances at her phone. It's her dad calling. Shoot. She meant to text him.

She doesn't dare leave the room, so she moves to the back corner to pick up, her eyes not leaving the spot where Alex and Trevor had reappeared.

"Julie! Where are you? Is Reggie with you?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. Now's not a good time. Reggie and I are at Carrie's. We're safe. I'll tell you more later, I promise."

She feels bad as she hangs up. Nervous energy is coursing through her body. It's been five minutes. That's twice as long as it took Alex to come out after Trevor. Where is he?

Julie paces back and forth behind the couch, clutching her hands together tightly. Flynn and Nick turn to watch her, the concern on their faces evident. She ignores them. Still sitting on the floor, but now off to the side, Alex, Reggie, and Willie also have worried looks on their faces.

Julie's phone goes off again and she shuts it off completely. Her pacing becomes more frantic as a few more minutes pass. Where is he?

When Julie hears the popping sound again, she nearly hurls herself over the couch. Luke appears on the floor, but there's something wrong. His entire form is slightly transparent and he flickers in and out of sight a couple times before disappearing again. Julie feels her heart grind to a stop.

He appears again a couple seconds later, still transparent and flickering. He's laying on the ground and curled up into himself. He reaches out a hand and when he raises his head, it's clear that he's in agony. He disappears again.

Julie's eyes sting as she turns to Alex. "What's wrong with him?" she cries.

Alex shakes his head slowly. "I don't know. Trevor and I escaped while Caleb was distracted. Maybe it's…"

Too late. He doesn't finish the sentence, but the words hang in the air. Julie raises a fist to her mouth as she tries to fight the tears welling up in her eyes.

Please, Mom, she prays. I've asked this before, and now I'm asking again. If you have any power, please bring him through. Bring him back to me.

Luke flickers in again. Julie reaches out for him, but her hand passes straight through his as if he were no more dense than smoke. Their eyes meet and she can see the pain in his, the tears sparkling. Her own are dripping down her cheeks. He disappears again.

Julie's hands are wringing together so tightly she's nearly losing circulation. Come on, come on, she urges in her head. You can do it. You're stronger than Caleb. I believe in you.

There's another popping sound and Luke tumbles onto the floor. The remains of the video game spark and short-circuit. When Luke pushes himself up into a sitting position, there's no sign of pain on his face. Julie throws herself at him and he barely catches her without falling backwards. When he gets his arms around her, he holds onto her like she's the only thing anchoring him to this world.

She still doesn't quite believe he's really here when she pulls back. She reaches up slowly, cupping his face in her hands. He returns the gesture, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. A relieved laugh breaks out, and he slowly smiles back at her.

"I thought I'd lost you," she says.

He tilts his head slightly to the side. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to keep me away from you."

Julie feels her heart drop to her stomach as she stares back at him. His eyes drop down slightly and then back up to her eyes, a question in them. Julie answers by leaning forward.

He meets her halfway, his lips soft and gentle and sweet against hers. Julie breathes him in, her fingers moving to tangle in the hair at the back of his head. It's her first kiss and she doesn't know if she's doing it right but she doesn't care. All she cares about is him, and being with him, and that she has him back.

They pull away. Julie looks up at him shyly, but he just has a small smile on his face. Julie hears a scuffing noise and remembers that the others are in the room with them. She takes a step away, pretending she doesn't notice how hot her face is, and motions to Alex and Reggie.

They jump up and join her and Luke. For a moment the four of them stand there, facing each other and smiling.

"I think the band is back," Luke says, and they all wrap their arms around each other in a group hug. After a minute, Julie pulls away long enough to motion to the others in the room - Willie, Nick, Flynn, even Carrie and Trevor, who have returned and are hovering the doorway.

"Get over here," she says. She has to practically drag Carrie in, but then they're all hugging and jumping around the living room. It's over. The game is done. They all survived, and they're never going back.

In the midst of the celebration, Julie takes a moment to close her eyes. Thank you, Mom. For everything.

Then she's drawn back. Reggie and Luke are jumping on the couch and chatting excitedly, Alex is standing to the side and watching them with an exasperated smile on his face, Willie is holding his hand and laughing, his entire face lit up like the sun, Trevor is kicking away the remains of the game (as well as the mangled trophies, which Julie recognizes as music awards for songs he stole from Luke), Flynn has one foot on the couch and the other is attached to Carrie's arm, trying to pull her up, and Julie finds herself going over and hugging an overwhelmed-looking Nick.

A loud banging interrupts their celebration. Julie's heart skips a beat and she dives for her phone, turning it back on. Her entire lock screen is covered in missed calls, texts, and voicemails from her dad.

Flynn leans over her shoulder and winces. "You better go open the door," she says.

Julie takes a deep breath and heads through the connecting room to the foyer. She hears footsteps and sees that all three boys are right behind her. They give her sheepish smiles, Reggie winking and Luke giving a double thumbs-up before she opens the door a crack.

Her dad is standing on the doorstep, a look of mixed anger and worry etched into his face.

"Look, Dad, I'm sorry - "

He pushes the door open and pulls her into a big hug. "I was so worried, mija. I thought you might have gotten sucked into the game again. You weren't answering your phone and you were so vague when you answered!"

She holds him tightly back. "I'm okay, Dad. And I have a surprise."

He pulls back, his eyebrows furrowed. Julie steps back and motions to the boys standing behind her. They're watching the scene nervously.

Ray's face lights up. He crosses the distance between them in three strides and pulls them all into a big hug. Julie isn't sure how her heart isn't bursting.

Carlos nearly gives her a heart attack when he suddenly appears right next to her. She hadn't even seen him on the porch when she opened the door. As soon as their dad steps away from the boys, he's running towards them.

They all end up staying for another two hours, recounting the story of the boys' miraculous return and celebrating. They raid the snack pantries and sit around the massive island in the main kitchen, talking and hanging out. The boys have even seemed to forgive Trevor, or at the very least they're letting him off the hook for this one evening. Julie notices Carrie dividing her time between her dad, Nick, and Flynn; since her dad's disappearance, Carrie hasn't been her usual mean self. And tonight, she's been friendly and fun to be around, the way she was back when they were kids. Julie hopes this version of Carrie is here to stay.

It's late when they all finally head back home. Flynn rides with Nick, since the Molina car is at max capacity. Despite the hour, Julie doesn't feel tired. She feels like her veins were shot through with caffeine. Her cheeks hurt from smiling and her stomach aches from laughing. The car ride home is filled with more laughter, though it slowly ebbs away as they near their house and everyone begins to realize how tired they are.

Everyone but Julie, at least. She'd been distracted by her happiness of the boys' return and everyone's excitement, but now that it's all fading away, her thoughts return to Luke. Sitting in the front seat of the car, she can't see him without turning around, but at times she thinks she can feel his gaze on her. She tries not to think about their moment, not here with her dad right next to her. A smile tugs at her lips and she doesn't want him to be suspicious. Eventually he'll learn about her and Luke - he already suspected it, even before either of them made a definitive move - but for tonight, she just wants to enjoy her happiness without anyone prying.

Despite her best efforts, she can't stop thinking about the kiss. The skin on her face and her lips still tingle where he'd touched her. The electricity from their contact was like a jumper cable to her veins.

Julie gets out of the car slowly after her dad pulls into the driveway. Carlos is leading Reggie and Alex up the porch stairs, talking animatedly to them. Her dad follows two steps behind, smiling and shaking his head.

She lingers in the kitchen as the others separate and head either upstairs or downstairs to their rooms. Her dad is the first to leave, telling them all goodnight and part-jokingly, part-seriously asking them to please not go out again without his permission tonight. Carlos finishes up his conversation and heads up next.

Alex, Reggie, and Luke hang out with her in the kitchen for about another half hour. Alex and Luke are dying for real food, so they pull out a frozen pizza. Reggie catches them up on what they missed at school and about Willie's arrangement to stay with the Wilson's.

"I'm not sure what he's going to do now that it's all over and he's in the real world," Reggie admits. "If you thought we missed a lot in twenty five years, you have no idea how much he has to catch up on."

"The good thing about Trevor knowing you guys are alive is that he can probably get real fake IDs," Julie points out. "He's definitely got the money to spare. You guys can have a true fresh start."

It's past midnight by the time they finish the pizza. As much as Julie enjoys hanging out with Alex and Reggie, she's eager to talk to Luke alone. She's afraid the other two might never leave, unlike Alex finally nudges Reggie's arm and says, in a slightly louder than normal voice, "Man, we should probably get to bed."

"Yeah, it's been a long and crazy day," Reggie agrees. He looks over at Luke. "You ready?"

Alex clears his throat. Reggie frowns. His eyes dart to Julie and he opens his mouth suddenly. "Oooh. Right. Yup. I'm beat. Let's go, Alex."

Once again Julie's face is hot with embarrassment. She glances over at Luke and is amused and relieved to see that his face is red as well. They both wait until they hear the sound of the basement door closing before they speak.

Julie is more than aware that they're standing in the same spot as when she'd given Luke his birthday present and he'd hugged her - really hugged her, not just in a friend way - for the first time.

"So." Julie smiles a little, suddenly feeling awkward.

Luke reaches up and scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah."

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you all night." She moves around the corner of the island to stand next to him. Not super close, but closer than in a friendly way.

He raises an eyebrow.

"Remember how you guys were supposed to play the Orpheum on the night you were sucked into the game?"

He gives her a strange look.

Julie can't hide her smile. "We got asked to play the Orpheum on Friday night."

Luke stares at her, his face uncomprehending. She waits for it to settle in, and slowly an amazed smile grows on his face.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely." She takes the songbook off the table and holds it between them. "I thought - I thought you and Alex were gone for good. It felt like when my mom died. I didn't want to play music, didn't want to touch the piano - but everyone reminded me that you and Alex would have wanted me to do it anyway. You wouldn't have wanted me to pass up the opportunity just because you were gone."

"Julie." Luke reaches out and takes her hand. "You can't ever quit music again. Especially not because of anything that I do, or anything that might happen to me. Your music is a gift. It's meant to be given, not hidden."

"I know. You taught me that. You and Alex and Reggie." Julie uses her free hand to flip through the book. "Remember that melody we were working on that we couldn't think of lyrics to? I finished the song. I wrote this for you guys."

She holds out the page for him. He releases her hand and takes the book. Julie feels her heart pounding in her chest as he reads the words. This is the first song she's written the lyrics to completely by herself and shown to anyone. Both Flynn and Reggie had said it was good, but she's still nervous. Luke is the real songwriter in their band. He's the one whose songs have won Grammys and other awards - even if he didn't actually get credit for them.

He slowly raises his head, a look of awe splashed across his face. "This is amazing, Julie."

"Thanks." She rocks back on her heels. "I learned from the best."

He takes a step towards her, closing the distance between them. "I think you've surpassed the best."

Julie crosses her arms. "While I appreciate the compliment, I won't exactly go around and brag until I win my first Grammy."

One side of his lip quirks up in a half-smile. "I can live with that."

He leans down and kisses her again, this time just a light brush. It still sends a thrill all the way down to her toes.

Luke steps back and swipes the songbook off the counter. "Goodnight, Julie."

She watches him until he disappears down the stairwell. "Goodnight, Luke," she whispers to the empty air.