The band practice had been going on for about an hour and Julie had had enough. She would gladly go back to subtle smiles, forlorn looks and accidental phasing through Luke to their audience's constant bewilderment, as he had happened to stand in her path a lot during their past rehearsals and concerts.
But now that the guys were tangible to her? Mister Patterson became simply insufferable, smirking in satisfaction every time he managed to block her way. She stopped counting after the tenth time she almost bumped into his chest, still not used to the fact that she couldn't point-blank walk through him.
And it wasn't just that. The looks he shot her were doing interesting things to her heart rate. Each gaze was just a little bit too long for a regular eye contact. Each smile a little bit too smoldering. Each sung phrase a little too directed at her personally.
Julie pondered if this was just her overactive imagination. In fact, Luke behaved like he always had during their actual performances, tapping into the supposed chemistry between them as two lead vocals. But a few puzzled glances from Reggie and Alex confirmed this wasn't the regular thing. Luke had clearly stepped up his game, whatever that game was.
If only he kept strictly to non verbal cues, she might have let it slide. But of course he couldn't keep his mouth shut between songs.
'So how's your dancing partner, Julie?' he'd ask with a cheeky smirk. 'Still as sweet as a cinnamon roll, tripping over his feet?' Every comment about Nick just added to the pile of mockery Luke heaped upon him, as if he had any reason to feel insecure in comparison.
'You were on fire, Julie!' he'd comment after one of their more energetic numbers. 'I always thought you're a girl who likes spice, not cinnamon,' he'd murmur barely audibly, sticking his tongue out and wiggling his eyebrows.
'Ah, our sweet angel spreads her wings!' he'd jest, ruffling her hair. He'd been ruffling her hair so much these days, Julie was afraid she'd eventually end up with one huge dreadlock. Flynn would kill her if she had to shave her head.
Not-so-accidental touches were another new thing in their interesting little relationship. Hand brushes, high-fives, hugs (though that was mostly Alex), any excuse was good enough for contact. Julie hated how flustered she felt on these occasions, though she couldn't deny the happiness that blossomed inside her as well, nor the tiny smile that inevitably escaped each and every time Luke got close. She did all she could to hide it from him, but judging by Luke's continued presence, she clearly had failed.
So it really wasn't a surprise when, after a long string of mixed comments, compliments and quips about Nick's dancing skills, accompanied by a wide selection of goosebumps-inducing brushes during their practice, Julie finally snapped.
'Oh my gosh,' she threw her hands up in exasperation. 'Will you just shut up?'
Reggie froze, gawking at her, while Alex grabbed a cymbal, as if it was his drums that offended her.
Luke blinked and then his lips stretched in an impudent grin. 'Make me,' he dared, raising a brow.
Julie narrowed her eyes. Then without thinking what she was actually doing, she grabbed his face and kissed him straight on those stupidly grinning lips.
It took a second, maybe two, before she withdrew. Luke, who had stilled under her touch, gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. She was quite satisfied with the dumbfounded look on his face.
Somewhere to the left Reggie cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
'Oh, I see you found the mute button,' he remarked, causing Alex to snort. Reggie chuckled, proud of his joke.
But Julie couldn't take her eyes off of Luke. His chest was heaving as if he'd just run a marathon, although being dead he clearly didn't need to breathe. Julie's heart was beating wildly by now, though it was much too late for second (or indeed first) thoughts about the solution she'd applied. She started counting Luke's breaths.
It took one, two, three, four- and the boy swooped in for a second kiss, taking the lead this time, as he tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her flush against him.
Softness. Sweetness. She often imagined how it would feel like, expecting stars or fireworks exploding in the air above her. Sometimes she thought that maybe it would be like kissing a snowman, or like shivering in a cold breeze. Or that suddenly music would start to play, like in movies, their own personal soundtrack. But no cold appeared, no celestial choruses, no sparkles, not even a single flicker. Just a boy and a girl in an uncharted space between here and there. Strange calmness washed over her, like this was where she was supposed to be; the place she belonged.
This was too strange even for her. She thought she must have passed the point to form coherent thoughts, because all she could think of was Luke's lips on hers and the unexpected warmth that radiated from his ghost form. She rose to cloud nine quite quickly, and it appeared she might become its permanent occupant since Luke seemed to be dead set on kissing her forever.
Julie barely heard when Alex asked, 'You guys remember we're still here, right?'
Luke just grunted in reply.
'Oh-kay,' Alex said as he and Reggie poofed out to somewhere else.
Author's Note: Ta-da! My first Julie and the Phantoms oneshot. I hope you liked it. Please let me know!
A big thank you goes to my dear beta, Remasa, who not only helped making this fic better, but who's also responsible for introducing me to this lovely series!
I hope more stories for this fandom are coming, since clearly I've caught the JATP fever. Check out my tumblr blog (perditaalottachocolate-blog . tumblr . com) for more JATP content, maybe submit an ask for a drabble - I'm taking requests from time to time.