something's brewing, a julie and the phantoms fanfic

Julie cursed the day she ever decided to become a psychiatrist.

If she had known how draining it would be to get her undergraduate degree—that's not even including the years it'll take to get her master's and PhD—she would have hopped on a plane to Europe and never looked back.

Its final exam season and her five exams are all strategically scheduled within four days and she's about to lose her goddamn mind. She had just finished writing her first exam on cognitive psychology, and still had four more to go.

She nearly cried three times during the exam and all she wanted now was a cup of steaming hot coffee so she could stay up all night studying for her next two exams tomorrow. And that's exactly what she was in the process of doing but when she turned to put some cream in her coffee, she bulldozed straight into a hard body.

She dropped her iPhone (screen first, obviously), the textbook she was holding and the steaming cup of coffee in her hand. Oh, but it was fine because the coffee spilled all over her cable knit sweater; it easily seeped through and burned her skin. Julie let out a grunt of pain.

Oh God, this could not be happening right now.

"Oh, shit!"

She heard the deep voice of the body who ran into her and felt their arm shoot out to steady her; the arm was lean, muscled and definitively male. "Shit, I'm really sorry."

Her skin is still stinging and her phone and textbook are still lying on the ground; she can't picture her day getting any worse,

Oh, but it did.

"Hey, are you alright?" The mystery man was talking to her and she noticed him ducking his head to look at her face when she hadn't moved or reacted for a good thirty seconds. "I'm so sorry. Please, let me buy you a new coffee."

Julie still hadn't reacted because she knew if she moved even a little bit, she was going to lose her shit.

She caught a glimpse of his flannel shirt as he swooped down to pick up her textbook and—oh surprise, her iPhone with a cracked screen.

That is literally all it took to break what was left of her sanity.

"Are you kidding me?"

The stranger in front of her blinked. He clearly wasn't expecting this kind of outburst, considering she had been silent during their whole interaction.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Julie yelled again, this time directing her withering glare up towards the ceiling.

"Uh — shit. I'm sorry," the stranger in front of her looked extremely uncomfortable and at an utter loss for words. "I, um —"

Julie was so furious; she couldn't even appreciate how unbelievably attractive he was. He was on the taller side (well, that was easy to be, since Julie is quite short) and muscular with piercing green eyes. If she wasn't so distraught, she would be attempting and failing to flirt shamelessly.

The curly-haired beauty doesn't stop to wait for his stuttering reply. She hastily grabbed her items from his possession and pushed past him, aiming for the exit doors. She ignored how heavy and sticky her cable knit sweater suddenly felt and the overwhelming stench of coffee. She was desperate to get home and forget any of this ever happened.

However, clearly, luck is not on her side today.

The unknown stranger chased after her. He wasn't expecting Julie to slam the glass door behind her and frowned when it collided with his body, but he powered through to catch her before she got too far away. "Hey! Hold on, wait, pl —"

"What?" Julie snapped, whirling around to face him. The venom in her tone and the hostility in her eyes was enough to make his widen in surprise.

"Shit," he sighed and she rolled her eyes because he's already said that (multiple times). "Are you okay? You look really upset, and I'm really sorry. I just want to make sure you're alright."

Julie stared at him. She couldn't picture anyone being fine after what had just happened, especially if they had as much going on in their lives as Julie did. And just thinking about everything she still has to do makes her even more upset.

"No, I'm not okay," she replied, surprising herself and the green-eyed stranger at her calm tone. Her temperament throughout their whole interaction had been like a rollercoaster and he wasn't sure where they were at. "I'm covered in coffee; I just failed my exam and I still have four more to write within the next three days. All I wanted was coffee. That's all."

Her tone dropped from calm to just emotionless and she was so done with this conversation.

Instead of keeping her shit together and just walking away, she started to cry.

His eyes widened. "Oh shit," he cursed and scratched the back of his head quickly. "Okay, let's go."

Julie was so utterly confused at why she was even crying; all she knew was that her brain was exhausted and she had no idea what was happening. But as she watched her mystery stranger grab her arm and move her aside, she jolted back to reality. "Hey!" She started to protest and was relatively surprised when she saw him roll his green eyes.

"You're crying in the middle of campus," he hissed. She was truly shocked by the change in his tone, but when he looked at her, his features were still soft. "People are going to think I did something to you."

Julie hastily wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. "You did do something to me! I'm covered in coffee!"

He visibly flinched. "I already apologized! I don't know what else you want me to do."

He had a point and she knew it, but there was no way she was letting this stranger win this argument.

"What I want is to go home and study for my four exams!" Julie could see his eyes softening with every word she said. "What I want is to take a forty-seven hour nap and get accepted into my master's program," her tone was visibly deflating and the exhaustion was hitting her like a tidal wave. "What I want is to get through this week without any more emotional breakdowns."

The green-eyed stranger listened carefully as she ranted. He could see the obvious distress in her features and the exhaustion within her eyes. He was no stranger to any of those things himself and he completely understood why she snapped the way she did. But all that aside, he also couldn't help but notice her beauty.

"I'm Luke," he blurted before he could even think about it.

Her brows furrowed and she squinted her watery brown eyes. "What?"

"That's my name," he chuckled nervously. "My name is Luke."

"Oh," she replied quietly, because she's very confused and this conversation was getting away from her quickly.

A slow smile spread across his features. "So, master's program?"

Julie looked more confused than ever. He spilled coffee on her, watched her cry, snapped at her, let her yell at him in public and now he's inquiring about her life? What the hell is going on?

"What is happening right now?" She voiced her thoughts out loud.

Luke bit his lip. "I think you're very beautiful, and obviously very smart," he was rubbing at the back of his neck and it was adorably awkward.

Julie's jaw popped open and she wasn't able to close it. "I literally just had my sixth breakdown of the week. Does that not freak you the hell out?"

Luke laughed and it was one of the most beautiful sounds Julie had ever heard. "Not at all, actually. If I was majoring in psych, I would be reacting the same, if not worse," he gently poked at one of her cognitive psychology textbooks in her hand.

"And what are you majoring in?"

She was still confused as hell, and stressed and covered in coffee. She was still thinking about all the studying she had to do, but this absolutely stunning stranger was showing an interest in her and she would be damned if she just blew it. With all the studying she had to do on a regular basis, she doesn't have much time to meet cute guys. This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.

A slow smile spread across his features when he realized she was slowly letting down her guard. "I'm in the music program actually," he scrunched his nose adorably and she noticed he had the cutest smile. "I'm uh — I'm actually in a band with my best friends. You should check us out sometime; we play literally everywhere."

Julie sent him a soft smile and for a minute, he was stuck looking into her eyes.

"Uh —" He scratched the back of his neck adorably. "I should probably go — I have an exam to study for."

Her face quickly paled. "Oh my God, I have like four." Reality was closing in on her and it wasn't pretty. "I'm really sorry, I have to go," she was already turning around and preparing to walk away when he grabbed her arm hastily.

"Hey, wait, please — can I please get your number?" He asked with a shy smile.

"Can I please get your number?" He asked with a shy smile.

"Oh," Julie blinked, "yeah — yeah, that sounds good."

And so, Julie shyly gave him her number and listened as he promised to call once their exams were done. He apologized once again for spilling her coffee and with a sweet smile, he was on his way. Julie still couldn't believe the encounter and how it had transformed. She was stressed and red eyed and not looking nearly as cute as she should be but somehow, she attracted the attention of an adorable green eyed cutie and she felt giddy inside.

So, she tightened her grip on her textbook and cracked iPhone and set off to fry her brain studying; but in the back of her mind, she couldn't stop thinking about Luke.

ah, i hope it wasn't too terrible or out of character or just totally farfetched?

i just wanted to do something a little different and i hope it was okay. the next fic won't be au and will actually be in their ghostly universe!

let me know your thoughts!

(and if you have any prompts, PLEASE send them my way)

stay safe everyone xx