Luke's PoV
It had been seven weeks since we got Julie back in our lives and she was slowly gaining her strength back. She was eating regularly just smaller meals and we were monitoring her diet making sure the small amounts she had were packed full of nutrients she needed with a mix of meat, vegetables, fruits, and dairy. We had started introducing more carbs as she started to consume more and allowed her the occasional cheese burger that she would request. Tonight we were going to have shepherd's pie with beans and carrots on the side, or rather we were going to try. Julie apparently hated beans but they were good for her so she would try to eat at least half of them. Alex swore that they would taste better tonight as he was going to fry them so that held some promise.
The doctors had left after a week of observation and changing out for breaks or shift changes. We were talking about heading back to our apartment so Bobby could have his space again with his daughter who was currently staying with a friend. We had decided to stay with Bobby for a few extra weeks to give Julie a sense of consistency and also if we needed Bobby's help with anything. Carlos was going to come with us and finish school but I informed him that he couldn't bunk with me any more which he said he was okay with. His foster family had officially handed the papers to us giving us full custody of the young adult he had become, they were good people and he had promised to check in with them from time to time when things had settled.
Julie's bones were still broken but she had gained enough strength to get from place to place without help which was good although I didn't let her out of my sight any more just in case unless she was with one of us. One bad fall and she would be back to the hospital so despite her telling me I was acting like a mother hen, I continued shadowing her. Her casts were coming off in a week which was exciting though, she would finally be able to reach the itch that had been bothering her for some time. The other thing that had brought joy to my heart was seeing her laugh again. It took her a few weeks but she slowly started to come back to us as the person she used to be. It started with simple things like asking questions then talking with more confidence. She wasn't completely back to her own self but she was getting there, and occasionally would grace us with a laugh. Alex and Reggie had been working tirelessly with pranks trying to get that gorgeous sound out of her while Carlos and I just rolled our eyes at them.
I was currently in a chess match with Carlos since the kid had me beat on every video game. I thought changing to a slower pace, strategic style of thinking game, would give me the advantage, I was wrong. Julie was currently trying to hide her smile from behind her hands, she knew something, either that I lost several turns ago or that there was something I wasn't seeing. I wasn't sure and it was frustrating. Was there anything this kid wasn't good at?
"Okay I give up, hurry up and beat me already Carlos so we can find something else to do that you're not already amazing at" I said as I tried to mask my sulkiness.
"Don't feel too bad Luke, our grandfather taught us how to play chess when we were five, I'm really good at the game also" said Julie as she squeezed my hand softly.
"Noted, don't play you at chess either" I said as I brought her hand up for a gentle kiss.
"Check mate, yeah like Jules said, we learnt at a young age, I'm going to go check on Reggie to see if he needs help with dinner"
Julie and I started up a movie while we waited, we were currently chewing through the old Disney movies such as the little mermaid and lion king. Alex came to interrupt us just as we were about to begin the live action version of Aladdin.
"Hey guys, I'm sorry to interrupt, I have a really cool idea that I wanna run by you guys first. Before we head home, why don't we go on a holiday first, Julie gets her casts off in a weeks time, how do you feel about heading to Hawaii for a relaxing trip away, you will be able to walk, go swimming or scuba diving now that you have a lot of your weight and strength back. You have more of an appetite too so you will be able to eat more of the food and it should be relaxing? What do you think Julie?" Alex asked.
"Yeah lets do it, that sounds like a lot of fun, Luke?" Julie asked.
"Oh I'm down for whatever you want!" I said looking directly at Julie.
Alex beamed with joy and zoomed off to start making arrangements while I pulled Julie into my arms as we started our movie.
Ten minutes in, we were given plates to carefully eat from on the couch and this time, the beans did taste good! They were fried then coated in melted cheese, not exactly healthy but it was still food and Julie ate all of them which made me happy. We were now back to sleeping in our own bedroom in Bobby's massive mansion which was nice and Carlos had also moved into a different room. We had privacy but we both had no interest in doing anything. I had talked to her about it, after what was done to her and to me, I honestly had no interest in doing anything like that ever again unless she wanted to or if she wanted a kid, I just wanted to hold her at night time and watch her sleep. She still sometimes woke up with horrible nightmares, a million times worse than what they used to be but we had worked out a solution since she couldn't exactly run for the hills with her leg still in a cast. We had moved a kettle, cups, hot chocolate, whisky and of course, marshmallows into our room. So that when either of us woke up sweating from some terrible nightmare, the other would go brew some hot chocolate or pour a drink of whisky. We also had sneaked in a portable fridge that had a freezer compartment for ice which was epic. I had a suspicion that Bobby knew but wasn't going to tell, he knew we needed space and some privacy since during the day everyone else was in our business, fluttering around wondering how Julie was doing.
Julie started singing, suddenly pulling me out of my musings. Her favorite part of the movie was playing, when Aladdin takes Jasmine on a magic carpet ride and they break out into song. I couldn't resist and joined in quietly next to her, getting a smile out of her as she blushed and snuggled in closer. I kept singing even though she had stopped, it was nice to hear her voice again. At Jasmine's part, I nearly nudged her to start singing but Alex had interrupted us by taking the girl part as he belted out the lyrics while twirling Reggie around the lounge and in front of the TV.
"Honestly, it's amazing you can sing that high Alex" I said sarcastically while Carlos sat down next to me with a bowl of popcorn to watch the spectacle. I was pretty convinced that the kid never stopped snacking. Reggie started joining in taking up Aladdin's part causing Julie to shake with laughter at their silliness while the two clowns danced around. At the end she stood up carefully to clap her hands while they both bowed for her.
"You know what, after your movie, why don't we set up a campfire and roast some marshmallows? We can show Carlos some of our music and have a few beers?" asked Reggie hopefully. I was sure Julie would say no but she said yes enthusiastically which surprised all of us. Thankfully Alex recovered and cheered before zooming off to find resources. We wouldn't need much since it was in the middle of summer, just chairs really and cold drinks.
"I better go help set up and make sure they don't set fire to the house" I mumbled as I kissed her head and left her with Carlos.
By the time Julie's movie had finished, Reggie had gotten back from picking up a portable roasting pit, firewood, sausages, biscuits, marshmallows and skewers, apparently Bobby wasn't a fan of bonfires since they left a sour taste in his mouth after he thought we were dead and we hadn't had a reason to do any thing like this since we had gotten together. I had helped Alex move some chairs out with some guitars and his cajon then we had joined Julie again as there wasn't much else we could do till Reggie came back with the resources we needed.
Soon we had a fire blazing, and Alex was helping Julie navigate the concrete stairs into a chair while Reggie was pulling out cold beers from a chilly bin to pass around. Bobby had started to roast a few marshmallows to pass to Carlos whose face melted like ice cream, reminding us all of the first time we had introduced Julie to smores. He soon was making his own after a few directions from Bobby and had tried them with chocolate biscuits also. Julie just smiled and leaned into me once I sat down to cook her a few also.
Reggie just started tuning his guitar, I had a feeling I knew what song he was going to play and after he started strumming, I knew I was right.
"So we found this song while you were gone and well it isn't ours, but it's hella fun to play and Luke has the perfect voice for it, its called Bad habits by this band called Nerv that we think you might like, this is the acoustic version" said Reggie as he started strumming the first few chords again.
I nodded my head and started singing, it was a good song and I knew she would like it. Carlos had never heard me sing before, music wasn't something any of us wanted to touch without Julie and it was amusing to see his face drop. Maybe that was something I could be better than him at. Alex lightly added some acoustics with his cajon while Reggie offered back up vocals and Julie just nodded her head enjoying the song and smiling softly.
"That is a beautiful song" she breathed once we were done playing.
"I didn't know you guys could sing!" said Carlos in awe.
"Thanks, we thought you might like it, I built a playlist of music for you that you might wanna check out some day" said Reggie to Julie.
"Well what should we play next?" asked Alex with a wicked grin.
"Oooh how about the jester?" asked Julie as she began to bounce in her seat a little.
"You guys still like that song?" asked Bobby.
"Hell ye, come join in!" I said.
Bobby sighed and picked up a guitar then faced Reggie to watch what chords he used and I started us off picking up my own electric guitar that was plugged in while Julie smiled wickedly.
I started us off and Reggie softly whispered the upcoming chords to Bobby since they were sitting next to each other. Carlos this time remembered to pick his mouth up from the floor and recorded us on his phone this time which probably would make for an epic video to go on his TikTok page later. Julie even joined in on the second chorus while head banging gently.
The rest of the night progressed with more drinking, more epic songs, showing Julie a few others and in general having a great time. Carlos took more videos and Alex taught him how to play the cajon, he picked it up fairly fast once he got used to which parts made which sounds. It was almost like the last three years had not happened and it was worth seeing her smile again.
