Another short, fluffy chapter for all of you.

The Recording Studio

The band had already been in the studio for six hours, but Julie could still feel the excitement of being in a real recording studio coursing through her. All of the equipment, the recording booth, and the high-quality instruments felt like they were something out of a dream for her. She could see Luke felt the same. Recording in a real studio had been their shared dream for so long.

Reggie and Alex had also been initially excited, but now they were starting to get tired.

"I have the attention span of a goldfish and we've been at this for so loooong," Reggie whined.

"I genuinely don't think I can do another drum solo justice at this point," Alex added. "My brain is just too fried to be creative anymore."

Julie and Luke pulled the headphones off their ears. They had been focused on listening to their recorded harmonies and figuring out ways to make them more interesting. Julie looked at Reggie and Alex sympathetically.

"You guys can head out if you want, you don't have to stay here. I want to do at least one more take of this vocal part for 'Edge of Great' but your parts are already perfect," she told them.

Alex and Reggie looked relieved and then looked at Luke. Luke glanced at Julie for a moment and then back to the boys before saying, "Yeah I, uh, think I'll stay, too." Julie had already put the headphones back on and had closed her eyes, so she missed Alex's raised eyebrows and Reggie's knowing wink before they poofed out.

Julie smiled at Luke when he stepped back beside her and put his own pair of headphones back on. Julie rewound the recording to the part where they sang harmony and they listened again.

"Don't you think we could make this more… I don't know, emotional?" she asked.

"In what way? The rest of the song is sort of anthem-y so I feel like we've just been doing this as a soft exit. Did you have something else in mind?" he asked. Julie appreciated the way he listened to her and really thought about her ideas, even when it didn't match his existing vision.

"Well, I think this song sort of has a dual meaning, right? We're singing most of this like it's just about each individual achieving something great or a group being on the edge of success, like our band. But there's this other interpretation, too. Like it's about a pair of people needing to take a leap of faith and jump in to achieve greatness in a, uh, romantic way…" she trailed off, refusing to make eye contact with him.

Luke went through the lyrics again in his head. Julie had written more of the lyrics on this one than he had. Was this what she had meant the whole time? His heart beat a little faster at the idea that she might have been writing this about them. About him.

"Yeah, okay, I can see that. So you want to make this last bit more romantic, not just soft?"

Julie nodded tentatively, glad he wasn't making things awkward.

They turned on the recording equipment and went into the sound proof box. With their headphones on, they faced the mic together. The first time they sang the words "Running from the past," Luke could tell that Julie was acting instead of feeling.

"You've gotta loosen up, you're trying too hard to achieve this specific idea, but it's gotta come from a place of genuine feeling," he commented. She nodded and he reached out to squeeze her hand reassuringly. The warm contact sent tingles up both their arms.

Luke tried to be more of what she needed in a vocal partner. He leaned into the smoothness of his voice and tried practically whispering to her. He could see her start to loosen up and lean in towards the mic, replicating some of the chemistry that was so ever-present between them on stage.

"Third time's the charm," he whispered, and she smiled at him. His proximity was starting to intoxicate her and this time she lost herself in the idea she was trying to convey, of two people standing on the edge of perfect relationship and trying to overcome their fears.

Their voices blended in whispery soft perfection and they stood extremely close, only a few inches from each other, to capture the mix on the microphone. They beamed at each other, knowing they had the perfect take, and in that heady moment Luke leaned in and kissed her without thinking.

It was only a quick kiss, and left Julie a little stunned. Luke only had a second to begin worrying, however, before Julie leaned in more forcefully and kissed him again, this time pushing him back against the wall of the booth.

Her hands slid up to his head and pushed the headphones off his ears, as she cupped his face and strong jaw line. He gripped her hips tightly, pulling her to him and enjoying the surprise of Julie's passion. Their lips slid over each other's in a blend of softness and firmness, and Luke knew he had never before experienced a kiss as perfect as this.

Suddenly the motion-activated lights in the booth went out because they had been standing still for so long. The abrupt lighting change made Julie pause and step back. She blushed, realizing how carried away she had gotten, but she stopped worrying when she saw the look on Luke's face. Then she looked at her watch and gasped.

"Crap! We have got to go, my Dad's going to be so pissed," she exclaimed.

She turned to go, her hand already on the handle of the sound booth door when Luke grabbed her arm, spun her around, and kissed her one last time, leaving her slightly breathless. She grinned at him and ran out of the room.