I'm trying to post a new one-shot every day up until Christmas. Hope you enjoy!
"Hey Julie," Reggie greeted the younger girl brightly as he landed on her bed.
Julie huffed and rolled her eyes at him but a small smile tugged at her lips in response to Reggie's bright grin. It seemed almost impossible for the two to ever be really annoyed with each other.
"Reggie," Julie chided for what felt like the hundredth time, "We've talked about knocking."
"But the door was open." The bassist frowned and pointed towards the door.
When Julie turned to the door she found that it was, in fact open, she blamed Carlos for leaving it open. Reggie watched as Julie sighed dramatically as she got up and closed the door then returned to sit next to Reggie on her bed.
"It's still polite to knock," Julie reminded him as she set aside her homework to give Reggie her full attention, she knew Reggie appreciated that small gesture.
Reggie only nodded at her comment. He bit his lip and leaned back onto her bed clearly deep in thought about something.
"So," Julie dragged out the word and gave him an expectant look, "What's up?"
He squirmed a little under her gaze, a tint of red working it's way up his neck as he mumbled something. Julie leaned forward to hear him but couldn't make out what exactly the boy muttered so she asked him to repeat it. Reggie let out his own huff and startled to fidget with his necklace, a habit he did whenever he felt nervous.
"I said," Reggie paused to take a small breath, "It's almost Christmas...our first Christmas as ghosts...and our first Christmas with you. I guess it's a big deal, at least Luke made it seem like a big deal."
Julie smiled gently at him and moved to lie down next to him with their shoulders pressed together. She learned early on after their magical hug that all three ghosts were very tactile, she wondered if they'd become a little touch starved since becoming ghosts.
"It is a big deal and it's only twenty-four days away," Julie told him gently, "Did you guys want to do something? I mean I'll be spending Christmas Eve and Day with my family but if you guys want to do something before then we definitely can. I think Flynn's trying to book us a gig somewhere this week so Luke and I have been talking about some Christmas songs, but that's all he and I have done so far. Maybe we could decorate the studio like my mom and I used to do and we could get a tree! We can hang up lights and find fake snow and of course we can get presents. There's not really enough of us to do a Secret Santa...well maybe we could make it work but you guys don't really have money so maybe not. We can definitely make hot chocolate and watch a bunch of movies-"
Somewhere in the middle of that small rant Julie's eyes got that spark they got whenever she had a big idea, they usually saw it when she made a breakthrough with a song. She'd also sat upright so quickly that it made Reggie's head spin. Julie only stopped talking when she saw the mix of emotions of Reggie's face and she briefly wondered if she'd said something wrong.
"Unless you didn't want to celebrate at all…?"
Reggie quickly and emphatically shook his head. He still looked confused but he didn't seem like he hated the idea, it looked like the opposite actually.
"No that's not it at all," he assured, "I guess I've just never really celebrated Christmas like that before. I mean with a real tree, decorations, hot chocolate, and presents."
"Really?" It was Julie's turn to look confused. "Did your family not celebrate? And what about the other guys?"
Reggie went back to staring at his hands which were fidgeting with his necklace again.
"My family never celebrated," the way he said it made it seem like there was more to the story but he didn't offer any other details and Julie didn't push, "Luke's family used to celebrate and so did Bobby's and Alex's. When I moved in with the guys we struggled for rent money let alone extra money for decorations and gifts. Besides, we only lived together for a year before we died and we agreed that we'd save up for next Christmas to have a big celebration. When we were younger we all bought gifts for each other and gave them before winter break but that's about it. Not that presents aren't awesome, I just always wanted the full Christmas experience."
Julie's heart clenched and she immediately pulled Reggie in for the strongest hug she could give. She felt him let out a small laugh and felt him hug back just as tightly. When the two separated from their hug Julie started painting Reggie's nails while he told her about when Luke and Bobby attempted to cut down a tree for the one Christmas the boys spent together. It turned out Luke and Bobby had come home empty handed with pine leaves sticking out of their hair and clothing. Alex and Reggie tried for weeks to get the full story out of them but both refused to share the details but Reggie swore he heard Luke mutter something about angry deer. As Julie laughed and waited for Reggie's nails to dry she swore to herself that she'd make sure all three boys had the best Christmas she could give them.
It took only one day for Julie and Flynn to arrive in the studio with large boxes full of decorations they'd found in the Molina attic. (Of course after her talk with Reggie she'd gone straight to Flynn to explain why this Christmas needed to be the best for the boys, especially Reggie.) The next day they arrived with another box full of new decorations they'd gone out and bought specially for the boys. The third day after Reggie and Julie's talk she'd convinced her dad to buy a second tree just for the studio. Reggie had practically bounced the whole day and went on and on about how Ray was the best dad ever. Of course Julie agreed with him.
The same day they got the tree they decided to decorate it and put the final touches on the rest of the studio and loft. Julie and Flynn (who could only see the boys for a short time after Julie hugged them) stood back as Luke, Alex, and Reggie put a few more decorations on the tree. The two girls even bought each of the three boys a special ornament to put on the tree. The three ornaments hung proudly near the top of the tree. They got Luke a guitar ornament, Alex a pride flag ornament (he'd blushed but couldn't hide the grin as he placed it on the tree), and Reggie a lightsaber ornament (wait until Reggie saw the Christmas present they bought him).
Julie and Flynn watched the three boys throw fake snow at each other and goof around with the santa hats and tinsel. Christmas music played in the background and Luke, Alex, and Reggie were singing along to the classic songs they knew. At some point Luke and Alex had lifted Reggie onto their shoulders so he could easily place the star on the top of the tree. Reggie said Julie should do it but the others all agreed it should be Reggie. Julie wondered if the other two boys were aware of how Reggie never properly celebrated Christmas before and then realized that they definitely knew more than she did.
"It looks like our work here is done," Flynn spoke up from beside her and the two girls shared a high five for all their hard work, "Next we have a big movie marathon with lots of hot chocolate and presents. Are we good for Christmas Eve?"
"Yeah, once I told my dad how important this is to the boys he agreed to let us spend Christmas Eve together as long as I spent Christmas Day with him, Carlos, and Tía," Julie explained, "I think he was ready to suggest we all spend Christmas together but we haven't let Tía in on the secret yet, Dad doesn't think she'd take it well."
After Carlos found out about the ghosts it only seemed right to let Ray in on the whole thing so Julie sat the two of them down and explained the whole ghost situation. Ray asked to meet the boys properly and, once they figured out how to make the boys visible without playing music, Julie introduced all of them. Julie felt relieved to not have the pressure of this big secret anymore.
"Good." Flynn grinned and hugged her best friend. "Well I guess I should go-"
"Hey Julie!" Reggie's voice interrupted Flynn and both girls turned to the voice. "What's that thing you and Flynn are standing under?"
"Really Reg?" Alex spoke up from somewhere behind the tree, he poked his head out enough for the girls to see him. "You don't know what mistletoe is?"
Reggie shook his head looking genuinely confused, but he smiled again when Luke gently nudged him with a grin.
"It means they have to kiss," Luke teased.
Julie and Flynn both looked up to see that they were standing right underneath the mistletoe. Flynn insisted they hang some up all over the studio because 'it's tradition Julie' and 'Reggie wants the full Christmas experience right?'. Julie laughed and quickly pecked her best friend on the cheek like she'd done thousands of times, she felt Flynn do the same and they both turned back to Luke.
"Isn't it supposed to be on the lips?" Luke asked, the teasing tone still there.
Julie ignored the slight fluttering in her stomach and chose to grab a pillow and chuck it at Luke. She knew she'd regret sharing her crush with him. She glared at him when it passed right through him, he seemed to be getting better at controlling that. Her glare softened when her eyes moved towards Reggie and saw that he still looked confused. Flynn decided to explain before Julie could.
"This is mistletoe," Flynn pointed at the hanging decoration as she spoke, "It's a traditional decoration that's usually placed in doorways and if two people step underneath it they have to kiss. Most people try to get away with kissing on the cheek but the tradition is to kiss on the lips. Although, you can get away with kissing on the cheek for family members or people who are already dating someone else. And since Julie and I aren't related and neither of us are dating anyone-"
Flynn leaned forward and placed a short kiss on Julie's lips before waving at all of them and saying her goodbyes. Julie felt frozen and barely managed to mutter a goodbye when Flynn walked out of the studio. The sound of Luke making kissing noises and Alex telling him to knock it off, but then joining in with some 'oohing' noises, snapped her back to reality. She glared at both of them and tried to ignore how warm her face felt. Julie turned on her heels and walked away from all of them barely registering the fact that Reggie seemed unusually quiet.
The first time it happened she walked into the studio and nearly collided with him when she opened the door. She raised an eyebrow at him as he practically bounced up and down, in response he merely pointed up. When Julie glanced up she realized mistletoe had been placed there so she shrugged at Reggie and kissed him on the cheek, Reggie may not be her brother by blood but he still felt enough like her brother that she couldn't imagine kissing him on the lips. She laughed when he grinned brightly and wrapped her in a hug then kissed her on her cheek.
Later that same day, she sat in the studio with Reggie and Luke waiting for Alex so they could start rehearsal. Julie and Luke had been too distracted by working on their new song to hear the footsteps approaching, but clearly Reggie heard them and poofed over to the door. Julie looked up in time to see Reggie practically buzzing with excitement as Alex walked in and noticed the mistletoe. Since Alex officially started dating Willie, the two only shared a kiss on the cheek but it looked like more than enough for Reggie. Julie turned to share a laugh with Luke but found the other boy frowning instead. She shrugged it off in favor of getting the rehearsal started for their next gig.
The third time Julie had made the boys visible while they waited for Flynn to arrive. Reggie and Luke sat on the couch with Luke's arm casually slung around his friend as they worked on the melody to a song. Meanwhile, Julie and Alex inspected various nail polish bottles and makeup for their gig next week. At some point Reggie perked up and poofed to the door leaving behind a visibly upset Luke. Julie and Alex shared a look both clearly thinking the same thing.
Julie watched Luke's lips turn down when Reggie and Flynn shared a kiss on the cheek, she also carefully ignored the twisting of her own stomach. She rolled her eyes when Reggie bowed and kissed Flynn's hand before returning to his seat next to a pouting Luke. Julie greeted Flynn with a hug and quickly sucked Flynn into helping organize her outfit with Alex.
The fourth time, and by no means the last time, Julie knew it was Reggie's favorite. It had been about two weeks since the mistletoe went up and she and Luke were messing around with some Christmas songs. Julie really wondered if ghosts possessed some super hearing or something because clearly they heard when other people approached before she did. It felt oddly familiar when the ghost next to her poofed to stand by the opening door, except it was Luke not Reggie who poofed away from her.
The door opened to reveal a startled Reggie and Julie couldn't blame him, it must've been disconcerting to have Luke poof to stand so close their noses practically touched. Julie watched Luke grin and point up at the mistletoe hanging above them. Reggie's face went a deep shade of red as he gulped and nodded. A minute passed as the two stared at each other then Reggie leaned in to kiss Luke's cheek but Luke turned his head at the last second so their lips collided.
Julie muffled a laugh at the startled squeak she heard and chose not to comment when the kiss lasted longer than the other kisses Reggie shared underneath the mistletoe. About time.
This fic was written for Anon who requested: JATP—christmas theme in which Reggie—or all three of them—actually learns about mistletoe for the first time. And then once he learns he wants to kiss somebody under the mistletoe. Perhaps Luke, but I'll leave the rest up to you if you actually like this prompt.
I am accepting Christmas related prompts throughout December up until Christmas and somebody asked for this on Tumblr. If you'd like to submit a prompt and/or request a story then please do (check out my Tumblr page or the series for more information).