Luke knew Julie from the day she was born. He wasn't around a whole lot for the first few years of her life, but once the band was home all the time when they took a break from touring, all the guys were around almost every day since they were in and out of the studio (Ray and Rose just so happened to buy the house that their studio was at. Rose said it was a coincidence, but all the guys knew she just wanted an excuse to keep them around because she let them keep their studio there). Julie and Luke would write songs and play together all the time, and the two of them always had a special connection that words couldn't really describe. All he knew was that they knew each other in ways they didn't even know themselves. But, after Julie's mom died, she didn't want anything to do with music. She and her mom would always play the piano and sing together. The last time she ever touched a piano was two days before her mom died when they sang together.

Julie and Luke were sitting in the studio. Julie was on her phone on the couch and Luke was trying to work out a song for the band. He was trying to use the piano as a frame of reference for the notes, but he was never any good at it, and he just couldn't work out which notes were where. And he knew trying to do it with his guitar never worked out well.

"Hey, Julie?" Luke asked. "Can you help me with this song for a minute?"

"Umm..." Julie said, "I don't know." Luke could tell she was hesitant, but he really needed help.

"Here," he said, getting up from the piano bench. He walked over to her and held his hand out to help her up. He knew she didn't need help standing up, but he just wanted an excuse to hold her hand. She took it and stood up. They walked hand in hand to the piano bench. They sat side by side there, with their arms brushing.

"What did you need help with?" She asked.

"So, I just can't work out the chords." He explained. "I'm not too bad with the notes, but chords are hard."

"Ok, what chord?" She asked, not touching the piano. He could tell she really didn't want to. After all, the last time she did was with her mother over a year ago.

"I can't decide if I want it in a major or minor key." He explained. "Can you play a B-flat major and a B-flat minor?"

Julie took a deep breath. Luke could see the internal struggle inside her head. He could tell she wanted to help, she really did, but she also wanted to run the other way and go hide in her room.

Her face changed just slightly, and he could tell she made a decision. She took his hands in hers and put them on the piano, and his heart skipped a beat. She arranged his fingers, one on a white key, then on a black, then another white. She was very careful not to actually touch the piano.

"This is B-Flat Major." She explained, and he played the chord. It was a beautiful, melodic sound. Then she moved his rightmost finger to another black key. "And this is B-Flat Minor."

"Thanks." He smiled and started playing the chords over and over again, and in different octaves. He just needed to figure out what key this song was going to be in.

To Luke's surprise, Julie didn't get up. She just sat there and watched. He thought for sure she would leave the bench as soon as he didn't need help anymore, but Luke guessed she was still curious.

She sat there for a while as he figured out the lyrics to the song, just staring at the keys. Her hand moved closer and closer to the keys the longer she sat there. He could tell she wanted to play the piano again. She longed to touch the keys. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Eventually, her fingers were just hovering over the keys. Luke has given up on trying to write and was just watching her. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know if he wanted to disturb her progress. She was so close.

Her fingers finally touched, and she laid her hands down on a B-Flat Major Chord. She pressed down on the keys, making a sound, and she gasped as if she wasn't expecting it to make a sound at all.

She pulled her hands away, but Luke took her hands in his and put them back on the piano. "No, Julie. You're doing so well. Don't stop now." He put her hands on the keys and made her play a chord. Well, it couldn't really be described as a chord, just three notes that sounded horrid together. Julie giggled at the sound, and that made Luke smile.

She started to play a song, one she and her mom wrote together, and tears started streaming down her face, but she smiled through the whole thing. Luke could tell she finally felt alive again. He could see it in her eyes.

"That was beautiful, Julie." Luke smiled.

She started to put her hand down as he was bringing his up, and their hands brushed as they passed each other. Luke's heart did a little flip when they did, which was not a new experience. That had been happening for a while now. He just wasn't sure what to do about it.

Luke was laying in his bed in his small apartment later that night, staring up at the ceiling. He knew that he could afford whatever kind of house he wanted with all the money the band had made over the years, but he never saw a reason to buy a big house when he would be living alone in it. He was never really home anyway. He spent most of his time at the studio or on tour.

He couldn't get his mind off of how he felt when his hand brushed Julie's earlier that day. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about her in a romantic way. He was twenty-five years older than her, and he had known her for her entire life. Hell, he met her the day she was born. He just couldn't get her out of his head.

Then song lyrics started floating around in his brain, and he got up, turned the light on, grabbed his song journal, and started writing.