I've had this living rent-free in my head for months, so I thought I would let it out. Written out in one hour that I should have used to sleep and not edited because we die by street dogs in this house. They're in love, your honour.

"I didn't have many regrets in my life, except for running out on my parents, especially my mom, so… thank you."

"You help me feel more connected to my mom, so…" Julie shrugged. "I wanted to do the same thing for you."

She said it so simply, as if it was so obvious and… and simple, and it melted his brain with its simplicity. So he helped her feel connected to her mom by making music with her, something he would be doing no matter what, something that was second nature to them. In return, she had gone to his house and put herself in what could have been a truly weird and uncomfortable situation just for the chance to help him, and by the magic of her… her Julieness, had managed it. She had known what to say to him to put him at ease and she had known what to say to his parents to steer the conversation in the right direction. She was magical like that.

And, right now, looking at her on her front porch, surrounded by so many plants that it gave Luke the sense of more privacy than what they probably had, it made him forget. Even though their topic of discussion literally had him being dead as a central pillar to it, it didn't matter. He wasn't thinking about it. He was just thinking about how pretty and dark her eyes looked and how kind she was – as a person, in general, but especially towards him today. So kind, and so thoughtful. He didn't think he could take it.

He seriously wanted to kiss her.

He wasn't thinking. He just took a step closer and held out his hand, trying to layer his voice with as much gratefulness and feelings as he could, so she would understand how much it meant. "That was perfect."

Julie looked down at the movement and she… she didn't even hesitate, he noted. She untangled her hands from each other and reached out, placing her palm on his as if this were as second nature to them as music.

For a moment, nothing happened. Luke brought his eyes back to her face, wondering how lucky he had been to land an afterlife with her in it and wondering whether just leaning down to kiss her would be too forward. He didn't want to set himself up for heartbreak, but he knew he wasn't imagining things. This was different. This was something.

And now she was looking back at him, so soft, so kind, so gentle, so absolutely perfect, that Luke really thought he wouldn't have the strength to not kiss her.

He only realized that he had been swiping his thumb over her knuckles when her hand tensed up in his. Then he realized a second, more important thing, about one second after Julie apparently did – their hands were touching.

Her soft gasp was loud in the quiet night, drowning out the crickets, and she reacted first. Julie took a step forward, much like he had done before, and cupped his face with her free hand, staring at him in awe. Suddenly, all he could feel was the warmth of her skin on his hand and cheek. He reacted more slowly, in completely disbelief, and mirrored her. God, her face was so soft.

"H-how…" she stuttered.

Luke didn't have an answer for her, but he had a goal, the same one he had had during their entire conversation, even before they knew they could touch. Never mind why now – he wasn't about to waste it in case it didn't last. Although, to be honest, as established, little could have stopped him.

Without thinking too much in it (because his thoughts had been mostly erased and overwhelmed by Julie's presence), Luke took that final step forward and leaned down, bringing their faces close. He paused for a moment to a) give her a chance to push him away and b) breathe. When her eyes stayed on his, with no hesitation behind them, he dove in.

It was a quick press of lips at first. He hadn't really planned ahead, not thinking he would get to it, and now that he was doing it, he was on the edge of overthinking it.

He didn't have to think, he reminded himself. It was Julie. Everything else had eventually fallen into place easily with them before, there was no reason why this shouldn't.

So Luke stopped thinking and pressed his lips to hers again, with a bit more pressure, and moved his hand so his fingertips held the back of her head in place to give him some leverage. Julie breathed in deeply and seemed to relax when she let it out – not only her stance, but her lips, making his bottom one slip between hers. With that opening, he coaxed her mouth open a little, enough to seal another kiss and release another string of butterflies in his stomach.

As they worked their lips together, slowly, tentatively, Julie's hand left his to join her other one in cupping his face, so Luke did the natural thing and held her waist. Having her so close, holding his face to hers so gently like that as if there were no other thing she would rather be doing, made something click for him and gave him a boost of confidence. It bled into the kiss, with him pressing more and being bolder, just needing to let her know how he felt without actually having to say the words.

He didn't know if it was something he did, but Julie's lips stretched into a smile and she giggled. With her mouth like that, he couldn't kiss her there, but he could, and would, place a lingering kiss on her cheek.

Luke pulled away gradually as her giggle died out, and he felt his own lips curling up. She was even more beautiful than before, looking at him like that from so close. He was hypnotized, running a thumb over her cheek, back and forth, back and forth, in awe that she existed in the same universe as him and let him be this close.

"How?" Julie asked again, in the small space between them.

Luke shook his head. "Just go with it."

Pulled in by her genuine smile, he couldn't help but kiss her again. And maybe one more time, for good measure.

Then a light turned on somewhere to his left and Julie looked over there, eyes widening. "Oh. Right."

"What?" Luke turned to look as well, but it was just the living room light.

"That's my dad coming downstairs," she explained, her hands unfortunately slipping from his face. "It'll be really weird if he looks out the window."

Right. Yeah. Luke was a ghost. Other people couldn't generally see him.

(Even if they did, would he want to be caught by Ray kissing his daughter on the porch? Nah, he would probably be chill about it. He was pretty chill. But now that had Luke thinking about kissing Julie on the porch and her dad catching them, which felt too much like a date for it not to hurt a little for not being their reality.)

That train of thought led him to the other reason why this couldn't be their happy ending, and it came down over him like a bucket of ice water. He seriously needed to talk to her about their deadly predicament.

"Hey," Julie called. "You okay?"

Luke realized he had tensed up and spaced out, although he was pretty sure she had said that she had to go help with dinner. His hand had fallen from her face, leaving the one on her waist their last point of contact.

"Yeah, yeah," he rushed to reassure her. "Just… spaced out a little. But hey, can you come to the garage after dinner?"

Julie didn't seem entirely convinced, which he couldn't blame her for, so he took one of her free hands and squeezed it, giving her a genuine smile. It was enough for her to let it go for the time being and nod. He knew she would be freaking out about it, though, so, when she stepped away to go inside, he brought her hand up and kissed the back of it to show her that there wasn't anything wrong with this, with them. That was never the problem.

It worked, and she averted her eyes with a blush. Just… the cutest. It made him want to pull her in again and kiss her for the rest of the night, but he let their hands fall from each other as she walked, and he stayed there long before she closed the door.

He didn't think any song he could ever write would ever come close to describing the amount he was feeling now. And maybe that wasn't a bad thing.