Comfort after the storm

"I'm here!"

Flynn stopped trying to burn a hole in her bedroom's roof with her gaze and looked over at Julie, currently standing in the doorway with her hands on her knees.

"What happened to you?" Flynn sat up on their bed, hating how hoarse their voice came out. Stupid tears. Stupid emotions. Stupid vocal chords. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Julie waved a hand, still doubled over. "You... sent… a 911, remember?" she panted. "So I ran."

"You ran one and a half miles? For me?"

"Well, duh," Julie said as if it was the most obvious thing to do. She sounded a little less out of breath now. "Might've been faster to ask dad to drive me, but didn't think of it 'til now, so…"

Before they could stop it, a sniffle escaped their lips. "You're ridiculous and I love you."

"Right back at ya. Now tell me what's up."

As Julie plopped down next to her on the bed, Flynn swept her gaze around the room. Took in the familiar purple walls, the overflowing closet tucked into one corner, the desk and photograph-covered wall opposite it… how was it that everything could look the same as always when so much had changed?

Not that she'd exactly expected things to look different just because she knew ghosts existed now, but shouldn't there be some indication, some little change… just something?

They sighed. "Heads up, rant incoming."

"Bring it," Julie said, nudging her side.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, all the words that had been spinning in her head for the past hour spilling out. "Okay, so once I'd processed it a bit, finding out ghosts exist and that three of them had actually joined a goddamn band with you - it was pretty cool, you know? Kinda unconventional since I can't see them or talk to them without going through a whole batch of sticky notes, but, y'know, I could work around it. Especially since you sound crazy good together.

"And then last week... you freaking disappeared." And damn it, here came the tears again. If their eyeliner hadn't been doomed before, it definitely was now. "You being kidnapped by some ghost Satan-wannabe is not something I thought I'd have to worry about, but apparently I do and I hate it. The only things we had to worry about before was, like, calculus. Or Carrie. Or both. It's… it's just too much, okay?

"And I can't help but think that all this never would've happened if those ghost boys hadn't come into your life." She met Julie's gaze, touched but not surprised to see the tears in her eyes too. Julie had always been an empathy crier. "Real talk, if they weren't so goddamn sweet I'd tell you to exorcise them the heck away or something. But they're, like, adorable puppies and it freaking sucks-" A dull ache stabbed through her skull and she rubbed her forehead with a groan. "Dammit, I need some soda."

A small laugh escaped Julie's lips even as she dragged a sleeve across her eyes. "Can you make do with a hug?"

"Fine, if I have to." Flynn rolled their eyes in mock exasperation before leaning over and squeezing their best friend tightly. And as Julie wrapped her arms around their shoulders, resting her head against the crook of their neck, Flynn found just a little tension seep away… the headache just a little easier to ignore.

Damn, Julie really did give the best hugs in the world.

"I'm scared too," Julie mumbled. "Knowing Caleb's out there, still after Luke, Reggie and Alex… I know he'll probably leave us alone for a while now, but… it still terrifies me, honestly. Knowing I could lose them just like that."

She tightened her grip around Julie, voice soft as she answered, "It's the same thing with everyone though, right? Not the 'being hunted by Budget Wraith Houdini'-thing of course, but… what?" she said as Julie let out an involuntary snort. "You go after my best friend, I'll be calling you names before and after I murder you!"

"You know he's already dead, right?"

They scoffed. "Technicalities. Anyway, where was I?"

"Something about the same thing for everyone?"

"Right. Evil Ghost Gatsby aside, you could say it's the same thing with everyone. That no matter ghost or lifer or whatever... we're all here on borrowed time."

"... Yeah. I know. But that's what makes it worth it too, right? Fighting, I mean. Because every second together counts."

"Damn, that's deep… and depressing," Flynn said after a moment of silence. "Is it weird it still made me feel better?"

Julie laughed quietly, pulling away far enough to meet their gaze. "I promise you, I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure I have as many seconds as possible together with you and the guys and dad and Carlos a-and… and I won't let anything, not Caleb, not anyone-" A sudden yelp escaped her and she jumped backwards. The worried questions didn't even have time to make it out of Flynn's mouth however before Julie's shoulders slumped in relief again. "What are you guys doing here?"

Ohh. Flynn turned their head in the same direction as Julie's, towards the empty end of the bed. Or, well, judging by what Julie had said, it only looked empty.

"We really need to work on those teleportation powers," Julie muttered, before pausing. No doubt one of the guys speaking. "No, nothing like that, Luke. No one's hurt. We're just-" she gave Flynn a questioning look. She nodded. Go ahead. "We're just talking about what happened last week. With… with Caleb. Flynn was really worried about us." Another pause. Then Julie looked at her again. "Do you want them to leave, or…?"

Pulling in a steadying breath, they waved a hand. "It's okay. Stay if you like. I'm done crying about this now. Like you said, Jules: every second, right?"

A soft smile crossed Julie's lips and she squeezed their hand.

"But," Flynn held a finger out warningly at Julie and the guys (at least she hoped she was pointing at the guys), "if any of you, and I mean any of you, disappear like that again, I will haunt your after- and after-afterlives. Got it?"

Julie huffed out a laugh. "Got it."

The fond look on her face turned thoughtful though as her focus shifted back to the guys. It was a bit annoying, Flynn had to admit, not being able to follow the conversation taking place. Even though they knew Julie would fill them in, it sucked being out of the loop. Well, they could go get a pen and some paper, but right now it felt like too much effort getting off the bed.

Maybe one day she wouldn't need a pen and paper though. Maybe one day Julie's powers or whatever would extend to her so she could see and hear the guys too.

Ha. Wishing to hear ghosts. Damn, if her old self could see her now - she'd throw herself straight into the nut house.

"Hm, yeah, it could work..."

Flynn frowned at Julie. "What could work?"

"The guys really want to give you a hug," she said with a little smile, "since they can't comfort you with words."

As they'd said before: adorable puppies. There was one teeny-tiny problem though… "But I can't feel them either?"

Julie's smile grew. "Maybe you can. If I hug you, then they hug me… then maybe you can feel them through me or something… without them having to phase through you."

"Sounds convoluted, but what the heck, let's try it."

Once again, Julie leaned forward, this time however embracing them a lot looser. They were just about to ask about it when suddenly, one of Julie's hands and the lower part of her other arm increased the pressure slightly against their back. As if… as if someone's arm was crossing over Julie's. As if someone was hugging them both.

"Oh my god," she breathed, just as Julie's hair brushed against her forehead. Was she imagining things, or could she actually feel the faint outline of a nose and cheek through Julie's curls? No, that had to be imagination.

The sudden force that nearly sent them both toppling over was definitely not imagination however.

She was getting a ghost hug. An actual ghost hug.

"Okay, this… this is some real spooky stuff. Pun intended."

Julie's laugh reverberated through them, her hair fluttering in their face. As if someone else was laughing too. "So you can actually feel them?"

"Uh huh. Kinda anyway." Damn, this was so freaking weird. Shaking her head slightly, she sunk further into Julie's (and the others') arms. A smile slowly crossed their face. "Okay, this might be the weirdest thing ever to happen to me, but… it's also kinda nice?"

"Agreed." Julie paused. Then, "Yeah, you were. Completely wrong."

"Huh?"

"Apparently, Luke said sometime that a ghost hug can't be a feel good moment, which as Alex said now - and I quote - is 'complete BS.'"

"Damn right it is. Haven't you guys seen the meme? This is totally a feel good moment."

Another pause. "Yeah, I'll show you the ghost hug meme later, Reg. It's the cutest thing you'll ever see."

"It totally is." Flynn nodded before burrowing her face against Julie's shoulder. "But let's focus on this ghost hug for now, yeah?"

Julie laughed again. "Definitely."

The five of them didn't move for quite some time.

If you haven't seen the ghost hug meme, do yourself a favour and look it up. I love it so much, especially the gif version!

Not gonna lie, I'm feeling both excited and sad there's only two chapters left now - excited because I had (and am having) so much fun writing them, but also sad because I don't want this story to be over... writing and sharing these one-shots has truly been such a blast.