Episode Seven

Dear To Me

"She has brown, curly hair and brown eyes," Ray said into the phone, sitting down on the couch anxiously next to Carlos who was being held tight by Victoria, her arm across his chest, "Yes, I've looked everywhere she could possibly be; I called at least a dozen clubs," Ray said, his voice cracking a bit as he looked over at Carlos.

"How about we watch some TV mijo, does that sound good?" Victoria asked Carlos, turning his face gently towards the television with her red acrylics. She clicked on the TV, the television turned on to the news. It displayed a building engulfed in flames, the headline reading 'Historical Orpheum Basement Caught On Fire; Hollywood Boulevard Closed Down Temporarily' in bright blue letters. Victoria's face soured at this information, resulting in her promptly shutting the TV off right after Ray had already caught the headline.

"I'm not waiting 24 hours you asshole," He spat, "I know you mean well but–" Ray paused, taking a second to process the news headline he read, "I think my daughter might have been in the Orphuem fire," He spat, yelling into the phone's speaker, "Turn that back on now, Vicky," He said coldly. Victoria followed his demands, turning the television back on so that Ray could do a double take. She sat the remote down on the coffee table in front of her, then got up and dragged Carlos upstairs. Carlos was upset, yes, but the only thing that could make this situation worse was getting doted on by his overbearing aunt. He knew she meant well, but still.

The voice of a reporter played quietly behind Ray's phone call, the only words he could manage to make out from the soundbar being 'one confirmed casualty' and that was enough to make the waterworks come. "Yes, you heard correctly. I need you to tell me what the hell is going on down there–"

"Dad!" Julie said, busting through the front door unexpectedly. Without any hesitation she ran into her fathers arms on the couch, her head crashing into his chest. Ray dropped his phone on the leather couch, wrapping both of his arms around Julie as soon as she made contact with him. She had smoke stains on her face, and her clothes reeked of smog embers, but Ray didn't care at all. The only thing he was worried about was taking his sweet daughter in his arms, rocking her even though she was way too old for that, and kissing her on the head to tell her it was all okay.

"I thought you were dead. Where the hell were you?" He said, wiping her face to get rid of the tears she had on her cheeks, "Well I know you were at the Orpheum now just by looking at you, but what even happened?" He said.

"So much," She exasperated, "I would have called you but I lost my phone," Julie said. By lost, she really meant confiscated by an evil ghost who only sang showtunes.

"Whatever," He said, smiling so wide it hurt his face, "I'm just glad you're safe. I love you so much; I really thought you were gone," He cried.

Julie collapsed back into their hug, holding her father just as tight as she did after the first time she sat on Santa's lap, "I love you too, daddy," She said, smiling back at him.

"Gosh, you look like hell," He frowned, studying the embers on her face.

"I know," She replied back.

"Uh, by the way," Ray started to say, "Carrie's dad has been calling all night looking for you. Something about a plan you two had? Anyway, I thought I was going to have to take the phone off its hook–"

"Oh my gosh, Bobby," Julie said, pulling away from the hug and making her way hastily to the hallway by the stairs, dialing a number into the base and sticking the receiver to her ear unexpectedly.

"Who is Bobby?" Ray asked, getting up from the couch to chase after his daughter.

The phone rang a couple of times, then finally transferred over to a gruff 'Julie!' so loud you could hear it from down the hall. Julie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, twisting the phone cord anxiously around her finger, pushing the telephone closer and closer to her ear.

"I'm so sorry I didn't answer any of your calls, I was down on Hollywood Boulevard when the Orphuem caught on fire," Julie fibbed. She nodded and hummed mhm a couple of times, then let go of the cord wrapped around her pointer finger.

Ray could hear Trevor on the other end saying, "I think another email will be able to smooth this whole situation over," and, "I have a few ideas on how to kill this story for good."

"That's... Your plan?" Julie said, looking a little underwhelmed as she looked at her father who was leaning against the archway to the hallway, "I mean, if you think it will really work, I trust you," She said, straightening her posture. Another mhm.

"Alright. Goodbye, Julie."

"Alright, I guess I'll see you there," She said, hanging the phone back on the wall.

Ray cocked his head to one side. "What was that all about?" He asked, turning to watch Julie walk towards the door, grabbing a sweatshirt from off the coat rack next to the front door.

Julie slipped on the jacket, grabbing the handle to the front door. "I have to go somewhere. I'll be back, I promise–"

"Woah, you're not going anywhere without me. I've had enough of wondering where you are for one night," He said awkwardly, "Is this about your show tonight? It's far too late to perform, baby,"

Julie huffed, her hand dropping from where it was clutching the door handle, coming to the side of her hip. "Trevor actually wanted to help me fix things. Y'know, about the whole email thing?" She said, smiling to show her father everything was okay.

"Okay, now I'm definitely coming with you," He said, fishing his hand into his pocket for his keys, tossing them across the room to her. She caught them with both hands, opened the door, and let her father go out first. "I don't trust that man."

"Look, I'll tell you everything once we get into the car," She said, following Ray out the front door.

"I'd expect nothing less after everything that has happened tonight," He said, "and lock the door."

"Tonight is a devastating night for rock music fans alike; the legendary Orpheum, known as the place where stars are born, caught fire mere minutes ago as you can see behind me, leaving the place in ruins. The fire has since been contained, and searched through, with unfortunately one casualty,"A reporter said into her foam covered microphone, standing in front of what was left smoldering after the fire. Luke and Alex watched as firemen sprayed hoses over the embers, resulting in thick smoke lifting up into the night sky.

"I'm surprised it didn't catch anything else on fire," Reggie said, arms crossed as his eyes followed the movement of the hose spurting out water. Alex just nodded, holding a palm over the bottom of his chin. The two remained quiet in the fact that they had no idea if Julie made it out of the building before it collapsed, but tried not to think about it too hard and just focus on the dripping of liquid fire from bits of the Orpheum that still stood upright.

"The victim, a male, could not be identified due to extreme charring on the body caused by the fire. The police are currently investigating the start of the fire, and actively trying to identify our John Doe. If you have any information please contact the Los Angeles Police Department," The reporter said, clearing her throat, "That's all for tonight; I'm Kimberly Frobesher of Hollywood Local," She finished. The camera man in front of her called for a cut, then lowered the camera and walked down the street with the reporter by his side.

"I can't believe Willie's little plan worked out perfectly. Y'know, I can see why you love him so much now," Reggie said, turning towards Alex with his arms still crossed.

"I do love him very much," Alex said softly, "He's smart. He sure knows a lot more than we do about Caleb, which is why it's not for us to understand. I'm just glad Caleb died before we were shocked to death by the stamps," He said.

The smoke coming from under the door was growing thicker and thicker in the empty room Alex and Reggie were in, blocking their vision to only being able to see the folds of the thread in the rope that was fastened around them. The smoke wasn't going to affect them much, besides the fact they couldn't see what was in front of them, but what scared them the most was the stamps that still hadn't lifted off of the pairs wrists.

"Either the plan didn't work, or Caleb's still not dead," Reggie said, kicking his feet erratically in the chair. Alex just started to cry, bending over the constraints that were tight against his stomach sorrowfully.

"Aw, don't cry man," Reggie said with a frown, another jolt, "There's still a chance we'll get out of here," He groaned, trying to scooch his chair over to Alex with his tiptoes so he could comfort Alex, which resulted in the chair almost tipping sideways. As Reggie continued to try and maneuver his way over in the chair, he suddenly slipped, falling on his side on the hard tile floor, resulting in a, "Shit..."

"The rope," Alex jived, "It's gone. We're out," Alex said, getting up freely from his constraints, lending out a hand for Reggie to take.

"I wish that happened before I fell on my ass," Reggie goraned, rubbing his hips from the smack to the ground. Reggie then threw his head back, taking Alex's hand, using it to pull himself up off of the floor, "But what did I tell you man?" He laughed, high fiving Alex with a reverberating smack. As their hands met together, their wrists started to glow.

"What the hell?"

"I know what that feeling is," Alex said, leaning his head back in rejoice as he thanked whatever God from above, "We're free."

Reggie let go of Alex's sweaty palms and examined his wrist: stamp free. "Thank you lord," Reggie said, bending over with his hands turned inwards on his knees, taking a deep breath in he didn't even know a ghost could take.

"Let's get out of here now before something bad happens again," Alex said, pointing towards the entrance, "I can barely see anymore," He said.

Reggie nodded in agreement, gestured with his hand for Alex to follow his lead, then ran through the walls towards the Orpheum parking lot. Moments after, the building collapsed in on itself.

"Yeah..." Reggie trailed off, looking at his wrist where the stamp used to be, "Me too," He said. The two continued to stare up at the embers that rose towards the night sky, then fizzled out and fluttered back to the mass in the wind.

"Guys," Luke said, running towards Alex and Reggie with baited breath, "I was blinking all over Hollywood Boulevard for you guys," He said, bending over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, or lack thereof.

"Y'know, standing like that doesn't help you breathe any better," Alex said, picking up Luke by his upper arm to stand him up straight.

"Oh shut up dude, I don't even have lungs. I'm happy to see you guys safe and the first thing you do is correct me?" Luke said, leaning into Alex whose hands were placed on his tattoos for a hug. Alex laughed hardily, slinging his shoulder around Luke and taking in Reggie for a group hug.

"Just because this whole situation is serious doesn't mean we can't fuck with you anymore," Reggie said, leaning his head on Luke's shoulder as they looked back at the fire.

"Shit's intense," Luke said, leaning his head on top of Reggies, "What even happened?" He asked.

"Long story," Reggie said, "Wanna take this one, Alex?" He replied, shifting his head to the right a little to look at Alex. Alex just shrugged.

"Me, Reggie, and Julie were kidnapped by Caleb so Willie killed him by setting the place on fire while he was in lifer-form," Alex said in one quick, run-on sentence.

Luke retracted his head back a bit, raising both of his eyebrows widely. "That's a lot of information all at once," He said, "I believe you, but it's a lot," Reggie and Alex both nodded in agreement.

"Anyway," Alex continued, "Where's Julie?" He asked Luke.

Luke swallowed hard. "I thought she was with you?" He said, his back straightening upward a bit, "You said she was also kidnapped."

Alex huffed. "She made it out, but we have no idea where she went," Reggie said. Luke just frowned at the two.

"We really need to keep track of that girl," Luke sighed, "it seems like we are always losing her," He said, trying to lighten the mood. Alex just looked down at his feet, and Reggie didn't even react at all.

"Don't jinx it, dude."

"So, explain this to me again," Ray said as he opened the car door, climbing out but still peeking his head into the car to see Julie, "He's actually trying to fix all this?" He asked.

"Yes, dad. I've said that about ten times now," She said, getting out of the driver's seat so she could hand the keys back to her father. Ray just scratched the back of neck, looking up at the brightly lit mansion in front of him.

"Do you know the code to the security gate?" He asked, pointing to the newly barbed wire gate with fancy sconces on each side. She had been told how to get in on the phone with Trevor, unsurprisingly the four digit password was 1111.

"Yeah, it's incredibly stupid. I'm surprised no one has broken into his house yet," She said, walking over to the gate with her father by her side. She lifted the beige cover that was blocking the buttons, then promptly pushed the one button four times in a row, resulting in the gate opening automatically in a slow, robotic manner. Julie looked over at her father nervously, then walked through the gate to the front door. The two stood on the front steps for a moment, Julie looking down at the floor awkwardly.

"Are you going to knock on the door or…?" Ray asked, looking over at Julie who was still looking down at her sneakers on the concrete steps.

"Uh... yeah," She started to say, "I'm just hoping this isn't a waste of my time. I was trying to collect my thoughts, sorry," She swallowed hard.

Ray placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it. "It's okay. Take your time, just as long as you get in there by..." Ray stopped, looking down at his watch, "midnight," He said. Julie just chuckled.

"I'm ready," She said, lifting a balled fist to rap on the door. Knock knock knock. After a couple of seconds, the door handle started to rattle, and the door was unlocked and swung open.

"Julie," Trevor answered, "There you are," He smiled widely, moving out of the way so Julie and her father could enter the living room of the house. Julie walked in first, her father following after her. When the father and daughter walked into the house however, they were greeted by an annoyed Carrie holding two glasses of water, one in each hand. She handed a glass to the both of them, furrowing her brows when she handed it off to Julie. Julie just smirked sarcastically, cocking her head to the side.

"Sit, sit, please," Trevor said, crashing down on the white couch he had by the stairs, "We have a lot to discuss," He said, taking a sip out of a glass of whiskey. "Carrie, can you go get your old father his reading glasses?" He asked politely, pointing towards upstairs. Carrie just scoffed, turning around to obey her father.

"That should get rid of her for a little while," Trevor chuckled, taking another long sip out of the cup. Ray looked over at Julie with a sort of vexed look on his face, raising one eyebrow. Julie just looked down at the laminated floors, avoiding her fathers intense eye contact.

"So, what first?" Julie asked, crossing her arms in between her thighs as she looked back up.

Trevor set his drink down on the coffee table, resting his chin on the back of his hand that was propped up by his knee. "First of all, I want to say sorry to you. Like, in person, not over a phone call or anything," He said, exhaling.

Julie smiled a little. "Thank you," is all she said.

Trevor smiled back. "Anyway, my publicist Linda is going to help us write another email to my fanclub. I wanted you to be here so you could help me find the right words, since this is about you after all," He said, gesturing for Linda who was standing in the corner of the room the whole time to come sit down. She set her computer onto the coffee table, took a swig of his drink without asking, then sat next to Trevor.

Ray cusped his mouth over his chin, brows furrowed at Trevor. "Are you sure this is going to make it to the public? I just don't want her reputation to be tainted forever, you know how the business is–"

"I am 100% sure," Trevor said, "I'm Trevor Wilson, remember? Just trust me," He said.

"I wasn't done talking," Ray said coldly. Trevor just swallowed hard, looked over at Linda nervously, then back at Julie.

"Uh, anyway," He huffed awkwardly, "I wanted the email to start with me taking full responsibility, so I thought it would be smart to say that this was all for publicity," He said, "and that I paid for your hologram technology,"

Julie paused for a moment, thinking about his proposal. "It sounds believable enough, but it seems like an easy story to poke holes into. Are sure this will work?" She asked. Trevor took the computer from Lindas lap, and handed it to Julie, the screen displayed on a composed email.

"This is what we've come up with so far. Read it and tell me what you think," He said, intertwining his hands on his knees, looking like he was mid-prayer. The email read as follows:
Dear WilSON'S,

I start this eMail with the intent to tell you all about my mistakes. I made a terrible decision; one that you've probably all heard of by now. If you are unaware however, I foolishly insisted that a teenage girls band was made of ghosts, a claim that I had crafted by myself. This may seem like common sense to you all that ghosts don't exist, but I have realized that I was not in my right mind when making the decision to wrongly accuse Julie Molina. Not because I was overly drunk, or too tired to form any coherent thoughts, but because of a reason I am most ashamed of: I was desperate.

Like I mentioned in my previous eMail, my daughter Carrie was a close friend of Julie's. I often regarded her as my second daughter, and treated her like family up until the incident at hand. Julie's holograms were paid for by me, as a gift to such a dear friend of mine. However, in that grasp of desperation for some sort of attention or minute of fame, I had used that very gift against her. I am a liar, and it is something I must admit if I want to clear my conscience. I am sorry, and I don't expect any of you to forgive me. Slander my name and ruin my reputation in the media as much as you please, I deserve it. Most of all, I am sorry to Julie.

Best regards, in the worst of circumstances, Trevor Wilson.

Julie scanned the whole email, her father also reading it off Linda's computer over her shoulder. "I think I underestimated you, Trevor," Julie said, looking up at him with an appreciative look on her face. Ray, surprisingly, nodded in agreement.

"What did I tell you?" He said, grabbing the laptop off of Julie's lap and handing it back to Linda, "I think it sounds okay, but I can't help but feel like there is something missing or wrong with it. What do you think?"

Julie swallowed hard, tugging on the collar of her sweater. "This could definitely work on its own, but I think there is one more thing you need to add to it before you send it out," She said, biting her lip nervously.

"And what is that?" Trevor asked, nursing his glass of whiskey.

Julie bent forward towards her knees, getting real close to Trevor as she spoke slowly, "Make sure you make it clear that I had nothing to do with this," She mouthed. Trevor nodded, then held up his drink for a toast.

"You got it," He said, bringing the drink back down and finishing the last little bit of alcohol in the bottom of the glass.

Luke crashed down on the leather couch in the garage, arms spread out as if he was making a snow angel. Nothing made that teenage ghost happier than being in that musty garage on that musty couch, sprawled out in the late hours of the night. Alex and Reggie sat down in the beanbag chairs surrounding the couch, melting into the fabric of the seats in their exhaustion. Even ghosts got burnt out sometimes.

"I am so glad to be home," Luke murmured, turning over onto his side, "We won't have to worry about Caleb any more," He said, hanging his head off of the ledge of the couch. Reggie just nodded sleepily, and Alex was already out by the time they sat down. Luke closed his eyes gently to try and get some sleep even though the early hours of the morning were fast approaching, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen when he heard a rustle.

"Hey," Lisa said, entering the garage with gentle steps. Luke sat up and turned towards the door, taking in Lisas unsightly appearance. She had clearly been crying; her eyes were bright red around her irises and her lipstick was smeared around her lips like she had wiped her face with something. Luke's face softened, and he got up from the couch and stood in front of her.

"Lisa..." He trailed off, "You're here," He said, more like a question than a fact. Lisa just rubbed her forearm nervously, taking a step back when Luke got closer to her. "Listen, Lisa, I'm actually really glad you are here. I wanted to explain what I said right before I left, I–"

"Stop," Lisa interrupted, "I'm not mad at you," She said softly, wiping the bottom of her nose. Luke just looked confused at her, like maybe he was hallucinating because of how tired he was. Why would she not be mad, he thought.

"What? But, you were so angry when I left," He paused, "and what I said was really shitty, so I–"
"I am not mad," She repeated. Ever since she had met Luke, every conversation they had seemed to have one never changing constant. No matter what the subject at hand was, he would somehow be able to sneak in her name into the discussion. Lisa had tried to chalk it up to a coincidence with her discountenance, but unfortunately Lisa wasn't blind. It was indisputable that Luke liked Julie.

"Why? I mean, I'm glad I'm not in trouble," He laughed, "but I don't understand why you aren't mad at me," He said.

"Because your anger is something I'll never be able to change," She said like she was about to sob, "You don't want to be with me, and I can't change that," She said softly, looking down at her feet.

Luke's brows furrowed in sorrow and confusion, realizing exactly what Lisa was trying to say to him. "No, I want to be with you–"

"Quit the bullshit," She said in a way that seemed delicate, even though the words she spoke were not, "I love you, but you are not mine," She whispered in a sort of 'duh' tone.

The last thing Luke wanted to do was break Lisas heart, but she was right. Luke was being dishonest with himself. Being in a relationship, a real one, was something he had always wanted, but if he wasn't with Julie did it really matter to him at all? Lisa was giggling and talking calmly, but deep down she wanted to bitch slap the hell out of Luke.

Luke bit his lip. "Whose am I then?" He asked her.

"Julie's," She said, placing her hands on his shoulders, "I don't want to be the one to stop you from being with who you love. Don't live a fantasy just because it's easier to."

The two sat in silence for about a minute. "How did you know?" Luke asked calmly.

"Because she's all you talk about," She smiled, "I didn't want to admit it, but there was no point in being with you if I wasn't the only girl on your mind," She whispered.

"So, what now?" Luke trembled, his bottom lip quivering nervously.

"Now, you go find her. And kiss her, and touch her, and treat her the way you treated me the night we had our first kiss," Lisa said. She pushed him towards the garage door with her hands still on his shoulders.

Luke just frowned, pushing her hands and forceful push off of him. "I want to listen to you, I do. I just can't though," He said, "She's alive and I'm dead."

"That shouldn't stop you from being with who you love," Lisa explained. She then got closer to him, looking up at his gentle face with an expression that looked like he was either going to cry or vomit. Maybe both. "Don't pay any attention to whether it's right or possible, or whatever. Go find her now, before I have to beat your ass," She chuckled, grabbing the sides of his cheeks to bring his face closer to hers.

Luke didn't say a word, just nodded. He knew she was right. Then he leaned in towards where her lips hung slack, wrapped his arms around Lisas waist, and gave her one last kiss. Luke deepened into their embrace, causing Lisa to lean back a little like he was about to dip her.

"That's enough," She giggled as she pulled back, "I love you," She whispered.

"I love you too. You know, in a platonic way," He joked, smiling at Lisa. Then he turned around, dug his hands into his jean pockets after he blew Lisa a kiss, then walked towards Julie's house.

Lisa tried to smile as he walked away, but she couldn't help but let a tear slip from her eyes at what could have been. She knew what she did was the right thing to do, but it still hurt, and she was allowed to feel that way. Lisa started to sob, buried her head in her hands, and cried like a baby in the middle of that quiet garage. She bit her lip so hard it started to bleed in the hopes she wouldn't wake Alex and Reggie up, even though she could have used the comfort. Hopefully Luke and Julie would get to live happily ever after like Lisa so desperately wanted for herself, and maybe, if she was around them enough, she would get to feel the same vicariously.

Lisa was proud of herself.

"Andddd," Trevor said, finishing the last little details of his email before he sent it out, "Sent," He said, slamming his pointer finger down on the enter key of the computer. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but he felt confident that this was going to work. He just needed to wait until the morning for the media to get a hold of it, so he slammed the laptop shut.

"So, what do we do now?" Ray asked, leaning forward towards Trevor.

"Now we wait," said Trevor, "It could probably take all night for it to reach everybody, so we have to be patient," He said.

Julie smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "What's wrong?" Ray asked his daughter, looking over at her.

"I'm just grateful," She started to say, "I'm glad that you see how important Luke, Alex, and Reggie are to me," She said, placing a hand on Trevors shoulder.

Trevor smiled back at Julie. "Well I'll take credit where credit is due," He said, placing his hand on top of Julies, looking over at their hands.

Ray just grumbled at his joke. "I'm sorry that I didn't realize sooner that these boys were so close to you," Ray said to Julie.

"It's okay, dad," She said, retracting her hand back in between her thighs, "How were you supposed to know?" Ray shrugged, then slung a hand around Julie's neck, bringing her close to his side.

"I'm very proud of you, honey," He praised, "I know your mother would be too. I think she was planning all this out for you and we didn't even realize it," Ray smiled at her.

Julie nodded, leaning her head on her father's shoulder. "I completely agree," She remarked.

"Well, it has certainly been a long night, hasn't it?" Trevor said, disrupting the silence, "Linda, pour our guests some more water before they go, maybe some bourbon for the man?" He said, looking over at Ray. Linda nodded, picked up Julie and Rays cups, and retreated to the kitchen.

"I don't drink, sir," Ray said, resting his head on top of Julie's.

"I suppose that is why I said maybe," Trevor snapped back. The two just glared at each other awkwardly, leaving Julie to have to break the silence.

"You know what, how about we just call it a night?" She said, getting up from the couch. Ray nodded, getting up after Julie.

"I agree. It's far past your bedtime anyway," He said to Julie.

Trevor huffed, and crossed one leg over the other. "Well, I don't want to be the one to leave you groggy in the morning," he said, "I'll call you if anything goes wrong," Trevor said.

Ray just nodded, took Julie by her hand, and drew her out of the mansion to their car. Ray couldn't quite put a finger on why he was so tense around Trevor Wilson; maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn't completely trust him. To be fair, he had put his daughter through so much unnecessary trouble, so could you really blame Ray for being so weary? Hopefully this time Trevor Wilson would actually stay true to his word and this whole situation could be forgotten, and Ray could finally move on with his life.

"Why were you acting so grumpy in there?" Julie asked as soon as the two got outside, her brows furrowed as she got out the car keys.

"What?" Ray asked, "I wasn't acting grumpy," He said as he opened the door, ironically in a grumpy tone.

"Uh, you definitely were," Julie said as she put the key into the ignition and put the car into drive, pulling away from the mansion's curb, "You could cut the tension between you and Trevor with a knife," She pointed out. Ray grumbled at her observation.

"I wasn't trying to be," he whined, "It's just, I'm worried about you, okay? This guy was the person that put you through hell in the first place, so why should I trust him?"

Julie tapped her fingers rhythmically against the steering wheel. "I'm not asking you to trust him, I just don't want you acting all short-tempered," She said, "But if you really want a reason why, it's because he's trying to fix this."

"What if he's just covering up for something more nefarious?" Ray accused.

"Oh come on, dad," Julie rolled her eyes, "He told me that the only reason he made that email about me was because he thought I was just using his bandmates. You can't sit here and tell me that you've never felt that way about something, right?" She said, raising her voice a little as she drove.

"I get that, honey," He said, "and I'm trying to put all this behind me but I care about you too much to let you get hurt again," He admitted.

Julie frowned at him. "So that's what this is about," She smiled.

"What do you mean?"
"This is about me growing up, isn't it?" She asked him, looking over at her father who was staring at his lap.

"Is it really so wrong of me to want to keep you safe?" He asked, not looking up from his knees.

"There's nothing wrong with keeping me safe, I suppose," She said, "But I think I can take care of myself now."

"I know you can, but–" He trailed off.

"But what?"

"You're my little girl. Ever since your mother died, I have realized that there is no shared responsibility over you and Carlos. If I mess something up, or allow anything bad to happen to you, that's all on me," Ray admitted.

Julie looked sad, but turned her head back towards the road so she could slow down to a stop at the red light.

"It isn't your fault if I mess something up," She said, "Sure, maybe it was a little stupid of you to let me do something on my own, but I made that decision. Not you," Julie laughed.

"I would never be stupid enough to let you do stupid things," He laughed back.

"Are you sure about that?" Julie jeered, putting her foot on the gas once the light turned green.

Ray just shook his head while he laughed, slapping his hand down on his thigh. "I supposed I have let you do some stupid things before. Like letting you be friends with Flynn," He joked.

"Oh come on," Julie said, opening her mouth in a shocked smile, "She is a great friend."

"I know, I was just teasing."

"This morning more news from Trevor Wilson about his allegations against Julie Molina; this time revealing the truth behind it all," A reporter on the Entertainment channel started to speak as Carlos and Ray watched the morning news during sunrise, "Robert, as you may recall, on October 6th of this year, Trevor Wilson put out a statement regarding singer-songwriter Julie Molina, claiming her bandmates were actually 'ghosts."

"Oh, I remember well," Robert recalled, "It's hard to forget a claim as crazy as that, wouldn't you agree, Tracy?" He said, Tracy nodding in agreement.

"Definitely, Rob," She continued, "This new email regards the backstory of why he made such allegations, a surprising moment of rectitude from Trevor Wilson; take a look:" Tracy said, the screen switching over to the email that Trevor and Julie composed.

"The son of the bitch did it," Ray whispered under his breath, chuckling a bit. Carlos just side-eyed his father, furrowing his brows at his uncharacteristic cussing.

"Turns out, like most of us suspected in the first place, Trevor Wilson made this whole situation up for attention. He says, 'This may seem like common sense to you all that ghosts don't exist, but I have realized that I was not in my right mind when making the decision to wrongly accuse Julie Molina. Not because I was overly drunk, or too tired to form any coherent thoughts, but because of a reason I am most ashamed of: I was desperate.' What do you think, Robert?" The reporter said, reading off of a teleprompter.

"I would have totally bet my money on him being too drunk when he made the email, Trace," The man joked.

"I agree, but I guess we'll have to take his word for it," She joked, "Anyway, we'll be back to coverage on what seems to be Trevor Wilson's ruination after the commercial break," Tracy said, tapping her stack of paper vertically onto her desk so that they straightened out.

"How come he backtracked on his statements all of the sudden?" Carlos asked, turning towards his father on the couch.

"It's a long story, Carlos. I suggest you ask your sister about that," Ray replied.

"Wait, you knew that he was going to put out this new email?" Carlos said, furrowing his brows even more than they were before.

Ray bit his lip, picking up the TV's remote so he could put it on mute. "I did," he said, "But I don't think it's my business to go around telling people about Julie's business, so you should really ask her yourself–"

"She made a deal, didn't she?" Carlos asked blankly, brows softening. Ray just stared confused at Carlos, like he was going to say something but no words could come out.

"How did you know?" He asked.

Carlos sighed, making a tsk tsk tsk noise with his mouth. "I'm really not as clueless as you think I am, dad," He said, crossing one leg over the other, "The news is back on, unmute it," He said, turning his head towards the television.

Ray leaned his head back against the couch in an almost offended manner, clicking the mute button on the remote so the television started playing sound again.

"And we are back," Robert spoke this time, "with more live news coverage on the unraveling Trevor Wilson situation. To recap, Trevor Wilson has been under fire for the last week for an email he sent out to his fanclub claiming a band called, 'Julie and The Phantoms' were actually ghosts. Today, he released another email coming clean to have conjured the whole thing up for attention; who would have thought?" The man laughed.

"Right now, we have a very special guest: psychologist and behavior analyst, Dr. Sicily Kalman, here to break down for us why Trevor Wilson felt provoked to do such a thing," Tracy took over, the screen splitting in half to reveal Sicily over zoom call.

"I say, in celebration of going through all this, we go out for breakfast," Ray said, tossing the remote carelessly onto the couch, getting up from his spot that now had an indent from his sedentary.

"That sounds damn good to me," Carlos said, getting up after Ray.

"Hey, who allowed you to say words like that?" Ray said, taken aback by Carlos' unexpected swearing.

"Well you said 'son of a bitch,' so I think I should be allowed to say damn," Carlos explained, crossing his arms.

Ray chuckled nervously. "You weren't really supposed to hear that," He said, "Besides, I am an adult, and you are a child who is too young for vocabulary like that," He said.

"Fine," Carlos sighed.

"Now, if you can find your sister, we can go eat breakfast," Ray explained, gesturing for Carlos to go find Julie with one flick of his fingers.

Julie rolled over in her bed groggily, a clear sign that she did not want to get up that morning; perhaps maybe she would have gotten up sooner if she knew what beheld her. She wasn't expecting to find anyone there when she tumbled onto her side, but sitting on the edge of her bed, mere feet from here, was Luke.

"Good morning," Luke said gently, hand propping his head up so he could study Julie's features; her eyes looked different when she was tired.

Julie immediately ducked under her covers, hiding from Luke when greeted by his less than stellar stalking. "I look terrible right now, get out!" She whined, her fingers barely peeking over the edge of her comforter as she held it up. Luke wanted to respect her wishes by leaving her alone, but he felt that if he did not get what he wanted to say out of the way now, he would never be able to have the courage to do it again.

"How long have you been sitting there?" She said, her voice muffled under the covers.

"All night," He said, propping his feet up on the bed and laying down next to her, "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your sleep, but I've really been needing to talk to you about something."

Julie brought the covers down gingerly, peeking over the quilt to examine Lukes face. He was being serious, more serious than Julie had ever seen Luke be. Whatever he wanted to talk about had seemed to be getting under his skin, so Julie straightened her posture and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Okay," she started to say, "whatever you want to talk about seems important, so spill," Julie said.

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat, inching his shoulder away from Julie nervously despite that being the exact opposite of what he wanted. He couldn't stand the pressure building up inside him any longer, and suddenly and unexpectedly, Luke decided to say, "Lisa and I broke up."

"I didn't even know you two were together, "Julie admitted, "uh, but I am sorry," She said, moving over to be close to Luke once more.

"It's not your fault, so there is no need to be sorry," Luke started to say, but he realized he was just straight up lying to Julie, "Actually, it is kind of your fault."

Julie lifted her head up off of Luke's shoulder, her eyebrows stitching together. "What?" She said softly, wondering what in the world she could have said or done to make Lisa and Luke break up.

"You wanna know why she broke up with me?" He asked, a smile creeping on his face that took over his anxious expression.

"Yes," Julie said with a sort of 'duh' look, "I wanna know what I did wrong," She explained.

"Oh, you did nothing wrong," He whispered to her, "Lisa broke up with me because she knew I liked you," He said, looking Julie square in the face with a coy smile.

Julie just laughed at first, fully thinking that Luke was joking with her. It was the middle of October, so it wasn't April Fools Day, but Julie couldn't wrap her head around what Luke was trying to say to her. "What are you talking about?" Julie chuckled.

Luke moved his face closer to Julies, his eyelids touching the tip of her nose and his breath hot on her face causing her to close her eyes gently. "I don't know why I didn't tell you this a long time ago, but you are the most beautiful, talented, caring, sexy woman I have ever met. I want to be with you more than anything, so please, please, please go out with me?" He spat, all the right words coming out of his mouth like word vomit. He was a bit surprised at himself for the unplanned declaration, but he was glad he didn't end up saying something stupid to Julie instead like, 'bone me.'

Julie just swallowed hard, opening her eyes mere centimeters away from Lukes. "Okay," She whispered softly, not moving at all. She then let Luke come closer to her, his lips hanging gently like a full moon in a pitch black sky, faintly brushing against hers just enough to send a slight shiver down her spine. For some reason, it sent a pang of blistering pain through his body.

Uh, okay," He whispered back, "If you want me to stop, don't be afraid to tell me," He whispered calmly, his breath burning against her lips. Julie nodded, and Luke finally put his lips upon hers; not forcing his tongue past her teeth or pulling on her hair, just sharing an innocent moment with an innocent kiss like the teenagers they were. When Luke pulled back, Julie opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Luke whispered, gently tucking stray wisps of her hair neatly behind her ears.

"Nothing," She whispered back, "I am just trying to take all this in. That's all," Julie explained. Luke nodded in understanding, then moved back towards her lips for another kiss before pulling back again.

"I want you to know that I don't want this to be a fling, or a dalliance," He said, "or whatever you want to call it. I want to be with you for as long as I am allowed to. All I need for you to do is to say yes," He said, narrowing his brows.

Julie thought about it for a moment. She knew what Luke was asking was something she so desperately wanted to say yes to, but no matter how much she tried to get her answer out, it felt like her throat was closed up. "I want to say yes–" She started to say.

"That doesn't sound like a yes to me," Luke whispered calmly, interrupting her

Julie cleared her throat, "I want to say yes, but being with you feels almost unattainable. If I choose to be with you, I will betray a normal life," She explained, "but if I choose a normal life, I betray you."

"Does a normal life mean more to you than I do?" He asked her.

Julie frowned. "No, it does not mean more than you do," She said, leaning her nose against Lukes.