this is the end!

thank you all for reading, and i hope you enjoy this last chapter.

It had been a strong five months since that fateful party that led Luke to Julie.

So much had happened in between. It was now June and their senior year was coming to an end. Julie got accepted into UCLA to focus on her music, with a side of psychology, and she was eager to start in the fall. Luke and his parents had finally gotten onto the same page about him not going to college. The only reason they did was because they had finally gotten noticed by a producer, who was really interested in helping Sunset Curve record a demo.

It wasn't what they wanted yet, but it was a step in the right direction.

Luke had coincidentally been with Julie when he got the call. The phone was frozen in his hand and he couldn't move, much less breathe for a solid minute after the call.

"Luke?" She asked, waving a hand in front of his face. They were in her studio, cuddling on the couch, binge watching New Girl on Netflix. "Babe, what's wrong with your face? Why do you look like that?"

In any other situation, Luke would have replied with a smug comment such as, "look like what, devilishly handsome?" but he was too starstruck.

"Jules," he stuttered, turning to her with a large smile forming, "that was the producer dude. Julie, he wants us to record a demo with him!"

The inhumane scream that erupted from Julie's throat was completely out of her control. She was up on her feet within a millisecond, jumping onto the coffee table in excitement. Luke turned to her with devious eyes (he really was devilishly handsome, wasn't he?), and he excitedly grabbed her hips, lifting her up in a poorly executed Dirty Dancing signature move. Julie was too busy giggling, but she wrapped him in a tight hug as soon as her feet were back on the floor again.

"I'm so proud of you boys," she told him earnestly. Her face was buried snugly into his neck, and she could feel the way his heart was racing with excitement. "This is going to be amazing; you all deserve the world."

And so, he kissed her in that moment because what could be better than the news of your dreams, but also the girl of your dreams?

Carrie and Nick both had spots at Berkley University, so while they were all staying local, it was going to be a massive change not being in the same school anymore. But Julie had been preparing for this; she knew it was coming eventually, and she was becoming more prepared for the inevitable.

"Oh. My. God!" Carrie gasped. Julie had taken off her sweater and revealed the old jersey Luke had all but begged her to wear. "You dare wear that shirt to a home game? Where Nick will see it? Do you have a death wish?"

Julie rolled her eyes, but she was smirking. This was it; it was the final game of the season and the winners would be declared the 2020 State Champions. And once again it was Cornwall versus Illyria for the final title.

No one was surprised. It usually came down to these two teams anyway.

However, it was a little different for Julie this time around. While Cornwall was her school, where she met her best friends and the team her best friend captained, she now had her boyfriend who was captain of the rival team. They'd moved past the "he's so hot, but I'm supposed to hate him because friendship first" phase and now it was more like "he's so hot and now he's mine."

"Girl, you wear that jersey," Flynn responded, waving her hand in the field's general direction. "Nick can deal with it. Luke will go out of his little pea-sized mind when he sees you in that. You look hot."

Carrie shot a smirk in Flynn's direction. "Well, I never said that. But Nick will definitely lose his mind too. But it's alright; I can distract him with my intelligent wit and luscious hair."

"Luke asked me to wear it," Julie admitted. She was doing her best not to feel self-conscious, especially because she was surrounded by all her schoolmates. "I didn't want to, but he's so convincing."

"I can only imagine," Carrie sighed with a wink. Beside her, Flynn wrinkled her nose in disgust; she saw these boys as her brothers (her annoying, taller brothers) and she definitely didn't want to think of Luke like that. "But on a serious note, who are you cheering for? Your school, or your boyfriend?"

Julie sighed, grimacing as she looked out at the field. They were sat much closer than they were that last game, and she had a clear view of the players and how they were behaving. She uses the word 'behaving' because these teams were still rivals (regardless of her relationship status), and there's usually some kind of conflict among them. So far, so good, though. In fact, during the first twenty minutes when Nick fouled Alex and knocked him down, he was right there next to him, offering him a hand up. It warmed Julie's heart.

"I'm cheering for whoever wins," she replied simply. "Nick is pouty, but trust me, Luke is ten times worse."

Carrie shrugged and said, "that's fair," but she was cut off by the roar of the crowd.

The three of them jumped to their feet, unbelievably confused because they were too busy chatting, but somehow aware someone scored a goal. Through squinted eyes, they could pick out Nick making his victory run around the field and jumping on his team members to celebrate his goal.

"Oh, hell, did Nick just score?" Carried asked in confusion. Realizing what happened, she started clapping manically. "He scored! Shit, I missed it!" She turned to Julie and Flynn with a menacing expression. "He does not find out about this."

Flynn mimicked zipping her lips and locking it with a key. Julie laughed, but nodded when Carrie's glare continued. "Oh my god, Julie, look!" Flynn smacked her shoulder and pulled her attention back to the field.

She watched as Luke waited until Nick was finished celebrating with his team, only to go up to him and offer him a fist bump. Julie's heart nearly stopped and she smacked Flynn's arm to gain her bearings. A fist bump might seem like nothing, but in boy talk? It meant everything. She could spot Nick's grin as they exchanged a few more words, and with a pat on Luke's shoulder, they were back to playing the game as if nothing happened.

But it happened. Oh boy, did it happen, and Julie could not be happier.

Her heart was so full, she felt as if it could explode any minute.

"This is the best moment of my life," she cried, reaching around Carrie and Flynn's shoulders in excitement. "My boys are finally getting along!"

Carrie was also shocked at what had just transpired. "I didn't think it could be done," she joked dramatically, "wait, do you think we can suggest double dates now?"

"Please," Julie scoffed, "they both know we're the ones who wear the pants. Hell yeah, we can go on double dates."

Carrie cheered excitedly, turning to Flynn with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, Flynn, you're next. Where's your date? Can we make it a triple date?"

"Don't worry about me," Flynn smirked, "I'm doing just fine playing the field."

The whistle from down below brought them back to notice it was finally half-time. It's not like any of them were doing an especially good job paying attention to the game anyway. So, of course, the girls made their way down to the player's benches because Julie was feeling especially giddy and wanted to show Luke just exactly how appreciative she was.

Nick happened to notice the three of them first, his eyebrows furrowing when he noticed Julie's shirt. It was much too big on her so she had it tied up in the front, along with her high-waisted black ripped jeans. She was preparing herself for the blow-out, but instead, was pleasantly surprised when he grinned at her, shaking his head. She shot him an appreciative smile, along with an "I love you!" before heading to Illyria's side of the field with Flynn.

She spotted Luke walking off the field, catching his water bottle that Alex threw at him. She easily passed by Alex, hopping on his back playfully. He retaliated by pinching her sides, and smiling proudly at the jersey she was sporting. "You guys make me want to throw up; that's how adorable this is," he teased, but she only stuck her tongue out at him.

Catching Luke off guard, she charged at him and jumped into his very unsuspecting arms. If he was any other, he probably would've let them fall to the ground, but he would argue his athleticism gave him an advantage. She could hear hollering coming from his team members behind them, but she was solely focused on his adorably confused face.

"Not that I'm complaining in the slightest," he started, setting her back down on her feet, "but this is an unusual public display of affection for you."

He wasn't wrong.

Julie was never overly affectionate in public, simply because she believed there was a time and place for it, and random strangers didn't need to suffer through it. Luke agreed, to a certain degree. He'd always been overly physical because he liked showing his affection through human contact (just ask the boys), but he respected Julie and her preferences.

"Yeah, well," she mused, wiping some dirt off his cheek, "I just thought I should share my appreciation for you."

Luke smiled, his eyebrows knitting together because he was still slightly confused. So confused he hadn't even gotten the chance to react appropriately to her outfit of choice. "Your appreciation for how great I am on the field? Sorry babe, you've lost me."

"No, you dork," she snickered. "You and Nick have really come a long way. I just want to thank you for all the effort you've put in."

Luke's eyebrows quirked cheekily. "Of course, Jules. Anything for you, you know that."

"Yeah, I do," Julie assured, her smile growing as she looped her arms around his neck. "But I also know it's really hard to not commit murder sometimes. Especially given how much you two dislike each other."

Luke barked out a laugh, his eyes crinkling. "You're not wrong," he admitted, "but now I have more to lose."

His words were simple but the significance behind them meant everything. So, she had no choice but to kiss him and actively ignore the hollering that surrounded them. Luke was more than willing to ignore it as he reached for her face, holding her delicately. But Julie's shyness caught up to her and she found herself pulling away and hiding her face in Luke's chest.

"Does anyone else constantly feeling like throwing up when they're around?"

"Alex, shut up. Love is love, man."

"Dude, are you really telling me that?"

"Bro, you're so negative. Who hurt you?"

"I'm about to hurt you in five seconds if you don't get your ass back on the field, Reginald."

"So touchy," Reggie shot back, flinching embarrassing when Alex made a pass at him. He set off running to the field, passing Julie and Luke. "Hey Jules, catch you later!"

Julie noticed the rest of the players making their way back onto the field and Carrie and Flynn waiting patiently for her on the sidelines. "Shit, I should go!" She observed, pulling away from Luke to make her way back. "I'll see you after the game, good luck!"

Before she could get too far away, he grabbed her hand to pull her back. He gave her a quick kiss on the neck, and whispered, "by the way, you look unreal in my jersey," before running away with a wink.

Was she flustered? Yes.

Was she in love with him? Also yes.

Has she told him so? Hell no.

Instead of heading back up to their seats, they took up the first row of seats right above the benches. They had a much clearer view, and there was no way they could slack off and not pay attention because it was painfully obvious. But, it turned out they didn't have to, because the game got significantly more interesting. It was the finals, Illyria was down by one and they really don't like to lose.

It was obvious both teams stepped up their game. There was an increase in fouls and the pressure was on. Every time either team would get close to scoring, Julie would hold her breath; the tension was too much to handle. This particular time, she found herself holding onto Flynn as Alex made an amazing pass to Reggie, who slipped the ball right past the goalie.

And suddenly, they were tied one to one.

Flynn and Julie jumped up, cheering on their boys loudly. Even Carrie, who was all for Cornwall by default, was cheering (if nothing else, then to congratulate her new friends). Reggie looked so excited, welcoming his favourite boys with open arms. Alex jumped on his shoulders, nearly toppling him to the ground, while Luke and Willie jumped to his other side for a group hug.

"That's how it's done, Reginald!" Alex yelled, shaking his shoulders proudly.

If the game was intense before Illyria scored, it was on a whole different level now. The clock was ticking and by the time it came down to seven minutes left, tensions were running unbelievably high. All Julie could do to keep herself calm was chew on her cheek and bounce her leg up and down; the suspense was absolutely killing her.

It came to the last three minutes and Luke was making another play for the goalie. He took the shot and Julie held her breath; it bounced off the goal post, but he didn't give up. With a leap, he head-butted the ball and it went soaring into the top right corner of the net.

For a second, Julie couldn't tell if it went in or not, at least from her angle. But then Luke caught Alex as he jumped on him (he really likes to jump on people), and she knew that he had scored a goal. Her and Flynn were on their feet in an instant. Cheering this time wasn't enough, so she joined Flynn and Carrie in an impromptu dance session.

She was laughing, because she couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy. She was smiling, because she was so proud of Luke and everything he did. And she was nostalgic, because she didn't want any of this to end, even though she knew this was the end.

When Luke turned in her direction and pointed at her, she nearly passed out.

She was already emotional enough as it was, he certainly didn't help. Flynn wrapped an arm around her shoulder, cuddling into her when it was clear Julie was about to lose her shit and cry.

"You okay, girl?" She asked quietly.

Julie nodded, wiping the stray tear that escaped. "I'm just going to miss this."

"We'll still be together."

"It won't be the same."

"No," Flynn agreed. "It'll be better. Because we'll make it better. Don't stress girl, everything will work out if we work for it."

Julie turned to Flynn with a grin. "Have I ever told you how glad I am I met you, Flynn?"

"Not nearly enough as you should," she giggled, then turned to her other side where Carrie watched on proudly. "I'm glad I have both of you. Dealing with the boys 24/7 makes me lose braincells."

She pulled them both into a hug and they only pulled apart because the referee blew the final whistle, indicating the end of the game and Illyria's victory. The remaining members sitting on the bench dashed across the field to join their members in a celebratory tackle. It was hard on Cornwall; a loss was always hard, especially on your home turf, but they were handling it with nothing but dignity and class. Nick took the lead and went over to congratulate Illyria's members and slowly, the remaining members followed suit.

Julie never thought she'd see the end of a feud such as this one... but was that what she's seeing right now?

"Bitch, did you actually just end this feud that's been going on for decades?" Carrie gasped, her jaw dropped in shock.

Flynn shrugged her shoulders. "Women always have the power," she explained, "plus, boys are stupid and they fight over dumb stuff."

"Ain't that the truth," Carrie high-fived her. "Alright, I'm going to see how Nick is truly doing. Meet you guys in a bit?"

Flynn and Julie nodded and made their way in the opposite direction. She could see her favourite four boys hugging it out on the pitch, so she obviously had no choice but to join. She pulled Flynn along with her and did her best to hop on top of their hug (god, they were all so tall). "Congrats you guys!" She cheered excitedly.

They instantly hollered back, pulling both her and Flynn into the middle of the hug. She nearly suffocated because they were so sweaty, but she made a sacrifice because they deserved it. "You guys really did kill it," Flynn added, mostly so she could remove herself from the sweat circle.

"Thanks Flynnie," Willie replied with a soft smile, moving to ruffle her hair. She retaliated with a glare and a well-aimed punch to the gut.

Luke picked up Julie's hand as they walked off the field. "Did you see me out there?" He asked excitedly. He looked like a little kid waking up on Christmas morning; it was adorable. "That was amazing! I can't believe this was my last high school game."

Julie held on a little tighter to his hand. "Yeah, me neither."

They've postponed the future talk because neither of them wanted to face reality, but it was going to happen regardless. This wasn't going to be the normal for much longer.

"Nope," he blurted, shaking his head venomously. "I don't want to see you frowning. We're not dealing with that right now."

Julie barked out a bitter laugh. "We have no choice, Luke! We have to deal with it whether we want to or not."

"And we will," he promised, hazel eyes shining passionately. "But not right now. Not tonight."

Julie took a deep breath and cursed when it came out shakier than she intended. She could feel her eyes watering again, like they did in the stands. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I'm just scared."

"I know," Luke assured, "I know, Jules. But I believe in us and you bet your ass I'm going to fight like hell to make this work. I don't care if you go to UCLA or NYU, I'm not letting this go." There was so much passion in his voice, Julie couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. "I'm not letting you go."

He wasn't saying the words, but somehow, it felt like the truest of love confessions.

"I love you."

Instead, she found herself blurting the words.

"What?"

It wasn't the reaction she was going for, but from the proud grin stretching across his face, she suspected he just wanted to hear it again.

"I think I'm in love with you, Luke."

His lips were against hers before his name had even left her mouth.

"Say it again."

"Nuh-uh, I don't think so," she sassed with a bright smile. His arms were looped around her waist and she had to crane her neck to see his face. "Here I am professing my love for you, not once, but twice and I'm not hearing much feedback."

Luke kissed her again, stopping her rant because he, more than anyone, knew how much she loved to lecture him.

"I love you too, Julie Molina. And I've been trying to find the perfect time to tell you, but there's always so much going on. And you deserve some grand romantic gesture, not me sweating my ass off on your high school soccer field."

Julie stared at him with determined brown eyes. "I don't want some grand romantic gesture. I just want you, Luke. And if that means kissing you on my high school soccer field when you're sweaty and covered in grass stains, I don't want anything more."

How the hell did he get so lucky?

As he swept her up in another heart-stopping kiss, their friends finally made their presence known again.

"You got anything to say now, Alex?"

There was a small sound of a scuffle.

"Wait, are you crying? I knew you were the emotional one!"

Julie pulled away from Luke only to rest her head on his chest. Their friends were waiting for them at the bench and she spotted Alex dabbing at his eyes while Reggie laughed hysterically. Willie was shaking his head, while grabbing his things and Flynn was shooting her a proud smile. Carrie was hanging off Nick, whispering something in his ear. The two of them turned to Julie with thoughtful eyes and soft smiles, and she had never been so grateful for her childhood best friends.

Everything was exactly where it needed to be.

"Alright, we gotta celebrate tonight!" Flynn called out as they all started walking off the field. "Where's the after party?"

As per tradition, there was an after party for both teams. They knew all too well. As Julie giggled, slipping her hand into Luke's, it felt like their special secret. If it wasn't for the first party, she never would have really gotten to know him, and they wouldn't be here.

"Okay, but only after a shower. Y'all stink."

thank you for reading! feel free to check out the rest of my jatp fics on here! or find me on ao3 at ruzekhalstead but even more jatp fics!

stay safe everyone! x