Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks for checking out my story. I have fallen in love with the characters in Julie and the Phantoms, and am hoping that we get a second season soon! In the meantime, I've decided to dabble a bit in this universe. This is meant to be a one-shot, but if there is enough interest I may continue it into a small series of one-shots.

Disclaimer: I do not own Julie and the Phantoms.

For the Love of Music

Luke knows he shouldn't be upset.

He is, after all, a ghost. And this other guy, Nick whatever-his-name-is, is not.

To be honest, he hadn't even really thought of Julie that way until he'd gone to her at school, hoping to convince her to blow it off to rehearse with him and the guys. He'd done what he originally wanted to do and asked what song she thought they should perform that night, but then he'd felt the urge to tell her something else. That she made him a better writer. Which she did.

What he'd really meant to say was how much he enjoyed writing with her. But he just couldn't get those words out.

And when she'd looked back at him, telling him how she thought they both made each other better, it had somehow clicked in his brain. He saw just how beautiful she was; not just the talented musician that could finally catapult Sunset Curve to stardom.

And then that Nick guy had shown up. And he was everything Luke had despised about high school back when he was living. Nick, it seemed, was one of the popular guys at the school. He wore a letter jacket, which meant he must play sports, and he obviously played some type of instrument since he was in the music program with Julie. Essentially, he had it all. And he was apparently Julie's dance partner.

That in and of itself wasn't what had Luke's stomach in a twist. It was the way he saw Julie dancing with Nick. After Julie had left him in the hallway to get to class, Luke had been bored. Alex was out with Willie, and Reggie had been hanging out with Ray. With no one left to practice with, Luke had contemplated going to visit his parents, but he just wasn't up to it.

Deep down, he knew it was wrong to spy on Julie. She had talked to him so many times about boundaries, but what was he supposed to do? It was like he had told her; once he knew something was off-limits he couldn't stop thinking about it. And bugging Julie at school was definitely something she had said was off-limits. She didn't want everyone thinking she was crazy, what with talking to thin air and all.

But Luke hadn't been able to help himself. So when he knew she had dance class, he had poofed into the gym, high up in the bleachers where he knew Julie wouldn't catch him. At first, he had laughed at the pairs of boys and girls on the gym floor below, struggling through the steps and awkwardness of dancing with a partner of the opposite sex. But then the teacher had started the music and he had watched as Julie twirled around and danced with Nick, and she looked rad.

Unfortunately for him, Julie also looked like she was having the time of her life. She was staring somewhat dreamily at Nick as they danced, and it was clear she was very into him. A pang had hit Luke's heart then, and he had desperately wished it could've been him down there, even if it did mean he had to suffer through classes in school again.

But no matter what Luke did, he would never get that chance. He was dead after all. Him and Alex and Reggie.

"Dude!"

He looked up to see Alex and Reggie staring at him quizzically.

"What?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet off of his couch.

"You've been sitting here for, like, ten minutes, just staring off into space."

Luke forced a smile. "Just letting the creative juices flow, boys. And you just interrupted a killer lyric in my head."

Alex raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Let's hear it then."

"Hear what?" Luke asked, walking over to his guitar and slinging it across his shoulder.

"This, killer lyric, as you just so eloquently put it."

Luke stopped what he was doing. He hadn't actually been composing a song, much less devising lyrics. He had just used that as an excuse to get the other boys off his back. He turned back to Alex. "It's gone. Poof. You interrupted it, and now I can't remember it."

"Ahh," Alex grinned. "Are you sure you were thinking about lyrics, and not a certain member of the band?"

"A certain charming, pretty member of the band with the voice of an angel?" Reggie piped in.

Luke scowled. "Let's just start practicing. Julie will be home in a few hours and then we have to blow the roof off of this place tonight."

Not only a few minutes later, though, Alex had started drumming faster and faster, causing both Luke and Alex to look over. When the topic of Willie was brought up, Reggie also somehow managed to bring up Luke's chemistry with Julie. Again.

Not that Luke was denying it.

Sure, he had always felt chemistry with the other boys up on stage when they were performing. If he didn't, they probably wouldn't have had nearly as much success as they had. He was friends with them all, and they all seemed to know how to play off each other's strengths and weaknesses.

But performing with Julie was next level. She upped the energy so much, and when she looked into his eyes while she sang… well, if Luke still had a beating heart he was sure it would be beating a million miles an hour.

The problem was, that night during the performance Julie seemed to be avoiding all eye contact and interaction with Luke. At first he had thought nothing of it. She was jamming with Reggie and Alex, and even though Luke would've preferred that she danced and sang over by him, he knew that as a band he couldn't just hog all her attention.

But then during his solo she completely ignored him.

That was when Luke started blaming it on the production that Julie's dad was putting together for them. He figured she was playing it up for the camera, trying to get some good footage. Except that during the bridge, she still seemed to be avoiding him. By that time he couldn't ignore it any longer and walked up to her while she sat on the piano. Thankfully, she actually turned and met his eyes, her own eyes shining brightly as she sang to him. Everything seemed alright as he sang along with her, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

So when the other boys poofed out at the end of the song, instead of poofing out with them as planned, Luke went up and sat down next to Julie on the piano bench and sang the closing lines of the song with her.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?

Julie hadn't seemed to mind, but after the performance he didn't get a chance to talk to her alone like he had hoped for, first because her Dad and brother were hanging around, and second because then her whole family and Flynn decided to order pizza. Luke had watched in disappointment as the two girls followed Julie's brother inside the house.

To distract themselves from the fact that they could not eat pizza, Reggie had suggested shooting some hoops. It had all been fine until they were rocked by one of those jolts. And then Willie had shown up. And the whole damn night had turned from bad to worse.

Luke sighed. What were they going to do? Either the jolts were going to destroy them, they figured out their unfinished business and crossed over, or they joined Caleb's house band. Not an easy choice by any stretch of the imagination. Luke had made it a habit of running when things turned bad, and right now he so wanted to run far away. But he knew that no matter where he and the boys poofed to, Caleb's curse would destroy them. And by destroying them, Luke had a hunch that Caleb would also destroy Julie and her rekindled love of music.

Looking around the empty studio, Luke started pacing. He had always been antsy, needing to keep himself occupied with something, anything. And at this particular moment he wished that his two best friends were around. But Reggie had announced he was going to shadow Ray at his job, and Alex had mumbled something about trying to find Willie to get some more answers, so Luke was all alone in the studio.

He tried writing a song in his notebook, but all he could think about was his impending doom. He honestly hadn't felt this upset since leaving his home and parents all those years ago.

But Julie was available. Granted, she was at school, but it honestly couldn't hurt that much to go see her. Right? Right. She could just pretend she was on the phone again. And he could see her and talk to her. Maybe she could even help calm him down. Not that she had any idea that the three boys were about to be destroyed by a ghost that they had hoped would help them get revenge on Bobby. And she couldn't ever know that. Luke didn't want her to lose music again. She had lost too much already.

But just talking with her might help get his mind off things. Making up his mind, Luke poofed himself to Julie's school. He stood in the door of a hallway as kids and teachers alike passed through him.

Never had he felt as alone as he did at that exact moment.

Slowly, he began scanning the crowd for any sign of Julie's trademark curls. He spotted Flynn, and knowing that Julie must be somewhere nearby, started making his way toward her. As he got closer, Luke saw that Flynn was intently watching something, and he followed her gaze to see Julie speaking with Nick in the middle of the hallway.

"-and you have an A in history, any chance we could be study partners?"

Luke stopped.

"I'd love to, but with the band I'm not sure I'll have any free time. Sorry."

Luke let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Umm, yeah. No worries. Then I'll ask you this. Any chance you could find time to go on a date with me?"

Luke felt like his heart stopped.

"Wow, Nick wants to go on a date with-"

Luke poofed out of the school before he heard any more. As he materialized on Sunset Boulevard, a jolt rocked Luke and he stumbled back several feet before hitting a brick wall and sinking to the ground against it.

Luke's chest ached, and although he blamed it on the strength of the jolt, he knew that it actually had to do with Julie. He mentally berated himself. He should've known better than to fall for Julie. She was a Lifer after all. Someone who would keep aging while he stayed seventeen forever. There was a myriad of reasons why they would never work out. But Luke had fallen for her anyway.

It probably wouldn't have been so bad for the fact that they had to perform together, and Luke had actually thought they had chemistry. Reggie and Alex had apparently thought so too. But maybe Julie was just that good of a performer. Luke had after all seen her dance with Nick, and the look in her eyes as she had danced with him suggested that there was something there beyond just dance partners.

Luke blinked back tears. God, what was wrong with him?! Telling himself to get it together, Luke wiped his eyes on his sleeve and dragged himself to his feet. He didn't want to go back to the studio quite yet as he was sure Reggie and Alex wouldn't be back so soon, but neither did he want to walk the Hollywood scene as it was just a reminder of everything slipping from his grasp again.

Sighing, Luke poofed himself to the beach. He walked for a while before sitting down in the shade of a tree and watching the waves come in. The beach was quiet for once, with children and teenagers in school and most adults working. Tourists were few and far between this time of the year, and usually when they came to L.A. it wasn't for the beach. Luke picked up handful of sand after handful of sand, letting it slip between his fingers. Grains of sand representing his dreams of making it big in Hollywood, and his more recent dream of maybe, just maybe, having a relationship with Julie beyond being bandmates.

When Luke finally looked back up from his pile of sand, the sun had moved a lot further down on the horizon. He slowly got to his feet and brushed off his pants and hands. He didn't feel like going back to the studio and facing the rest of the band yet. But he also didn't want to be alone any longer. Biting his lip, Luke poofed to the place that he thought he would eventually make it back to when he was living, once he had made it big, of course.

"Luke!"

Luke turned and saw Julie on the front step of his parents' house, right in front of the door. Anger boiled through him, thinking about all her talk about boundaries. Fresh in his mind was also the conversation he had witnessed between Julie and Nick at the school.

"What are you doing here?"

As Julie stammered through a response, Luke barely heard any of it. A million and one thoughts were racing through his brain, and before he knew what he was doing, he had reached over and pressed the doorbell of his childhood home. Soon his father had welcomed Julie into the Patterson house, and he watched as Julie handed over a folded-up piece of paper with the song he had written for his Mom scribbled all over it.

By the time his parents had finished reading it, Luke had to poof himself away. He had stood, waiting for Julie, on her front porch. He had needed time to think of what to say to her, but it had still taken her much longer to get home than he had thought it would. Maybe she was trying to think of what to say to him too.

By the time Julie arrived, Luke had made up his mind that even if Julie didn't return his feelings, they could still be friends and bandmates. Luke would just have to work on keeping his feelings in check. But when Julie spoke about how she wanted to help him feel more connected to his Mom just like he had apparently made her feel, Luke couldn't help but reach out a hand as if to hold Julie's hand. It shouldn't have come as a surprise when Julie's hand passed right through his and she turned away to face the yard, but Luke still felt a pang of disappointment.

And then came a jolt so hard it knocked him back into one of the columns of the porch. Julie, understandably, was freaked out. And when Luke finally summoned the courage to tell her what he and the boys had done and that they had to cross over or they would cease to exist, Julie had completely shut down on him and locked herself in her room.

After trying and failing to convince Julie to let him poof into her room, Luke slowly made his way down to the studio.

"Dude! Where have you been? You've been gone, like, all day," Alex questioned.

"Yeah," Luke muttered.

"Whoa," Reggie said. "Your face looks like this." He pulled his face into an exaggerated frown.

"I do not look like that," Luke scowled.

"Yeah you do," Reggie smirked.

Alex frowned at the two of them. "So, where were you all day?"

Luke sighed. "I told Julie."

"What do you mean, you told Julie?" Alex asked, his voice getting higher.

"I told her about crossing over. Or being obliterated. Or joining Caleb's house band."

"Ooohhh. Which one did she choose?" Reggie asked, his eyes wide.

"God Reggie!" Luke exclaimed, falling back onto his sofa. "Is that honestly your question?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What did she say?"

"She didn't say anything. She just ran up to her room and now she won't talk to me."

"Is she quitting the band?"

"Think about it, Reginald!" Luke snapped. "There isn't going to be a band. Either we cross over, or we disappear. Unless you want to join Caleb's band."

"Oh." Reggie fell silent, and Alex looked glumly between them.

"At least we have each other," Reggie managed after a few minutes. "All for one and one for all, right?"

Alex rolled his eyes, while Luke sank down onto the floor.

"We were so close. So close," Luke whispered. "We could've been great. Again. With Julie. And now…"

"Now it'll never happen unless we play at the Orpheum," Alex said, lying down on the couch above Luke, trying to balance his drumsticks on his forehead. "And we know how hard it was to get that gig booked the first time."

Reggie sat down on the armchair beside the couch with his bass. "We're doomed." He idly plucked at a few strings.

The three boys fell silent before Reggie piped up again in a small voice. "Do you think it will hurt?"

"I don't know, Reg," Alex said quietly. "Do any of us really remember dying the first time?"

Silence blanketed the room again.

Luke closed his eyes as he remembered the night they had died. An odd tasting hotdog. Severe stomach cramps. Being so hot and then so cold he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. Vomiting. Then vomiting some more. Sounds of a siren. And then nothing.

"Snap out of it!"

The drumstick Alex was trying to balance on his face clattered to the floor as Alex fell to the ground beside Luke.

"Jeez, I think you broke Alex," Reggie said in an emotionless voice.

Luke listened as Julie started in on the three of them. He didn't want to lose her, and she didn't seem to want to lose them, but it was the situation they were in and nothing could change that. It was so unfair. But at least if they were able to book the Orpheum like Julie thought they could, they would have one more epic performance with Julie.

And they did. It was awesome. After being able to just get away from Caleb's control, Luke found himself giving the performance of a lifetime with Julie on stage at the Orpheum. It just wasn't until the band had bowed to the roars of thunderous applause and the boys and him had poofed out that they found out the truth.

Playing at the Orpheum wasn't their unfinished business.

"Do you feel anything?" Alex questioned anxiously in the dressing room at the Orpheum.

Luke shook his head.

"Guess playing at the Orpheum wasn't our unfinished business," Reggie said, stating the obvious.

"Julie can't know," Luke breathed. "It will destroy her."

A jolt rocked the three boys followed closely by another, as if to punctuate the point that they were getting closer and closer to ceasing to exist.

"We…," Luke panted, "… have to get out of here before Julie gets back. She can't see us like this."

"And where are we going to go?" Alex asked. "We're about to die! For a second time!"

"The studio."

"The studio? The studio?" Alex questioned, his voice rising higher with each word. "Don't you think Julie will go there when she gets home?"

"Nah," Luke said as another jolt hit them. "… She'll go … straight to bed."

"I want to go to the studio," Reggie said, sniffling. "It feels like home."

Luke slung an arm around Reggie's shoulder. "It is, bro. It is. We'll all be there together." He motioned Alex to join in their huddle.

Reluctantly, Alex approached. "This is a bad idea," he warned, but he poofed with the other boys the garage studio.

It seemed like hours, possibly even days later, filled with so many jolts that Luke lost count, when the door to the studio opened. He heard a sigh, and then Julie's voice. "I… I know I already said this but uh… Thank you guys."

"You're welcome," came the response from Reggie.

"Dude!"

The lights in the studio flicked on, and then there was Julie. Out of her performance outfit and standing there with a look on her face that he couldn't read. He watched as tears started streaming down her face, and something inside him broke.

Summoning all his strength, Luke forced himself to his feet and walked the few steps to Julie.

"No regrets," he said in a soft voice.

And the moment he had been so desperately wishing for finally happened. Julie threw her arms around him and brought him in close for a hug. Her hair tickled his cheek and his skin grew warm from her touch.

Her touch?

Julie must've realized the same thing he had, as she pulled slightly back from him. His heart ached for a moment at the loss of close contact with her, with his first taste of contact with someone besides Reggie and Alex in 25 years. But then he noticed an odd sensation in his body. It was as if he was getting stronger. As if the jolts that had just rocked his body for the past week had never happened. As if he was 17 years old again and as alive as ever.

When Alex and Reggie made their way over and Julie could touch them too and the marks from Caleb disappeared from their wrists, Luke had never felt such a sense of relief. They were going to be okay. He was going to be okay. Julie was going to be okay.

They were all going to be okay.

And Luke had never been so happy in his whole life or afterlife.

Please review! If you would like this continue where Season 1 left off, let me know!