We Come Alive (Julie and the Phantoms #JUKE imagines)

Step Into My World

"Does this mean you guys won't have to cross over then?" I pulled away from our group hug, and all three guys smiled at me. They were at the brink of their second death, and yet somehow, managed to pull themselves back from the edge.

Luke shrugged, wiping tears from his eyes. "I mean, I guess? Caleb's mark is gone. So no more flickering."

"Thanks to you!" Alex patted me on the back.

Reggie whooped and hollered. "AH! I gotta go tell Ray!" He jogged to the doorway, and then paused. "You think he'll be able to see and hear me now?" With wide eyes, he turned back to us.

"I have no idea. Tell you what – I'll take you to meet him tomorrow and we'll find out together. It's late, and I'm exhausted. It's been a crazy day." I brushed my sweaty, curly hair out of my face and off of my neck as the other guys agreed.

Reggie nodded, and walked back to the couch where he plopped down.

"Thank you Julie, for everything. You really saved us." Alex gave me another quick hug, and I couldn't get over how insane it was that I could touch them now.

"I'm just so glad you're here, and that you can stay. You are staying, right?"

Luke smiled and nodded. "You know there's no place we'd rather be, Jules. Besides, we gotta schedule more gigs!"

I laughed as he sat on the couch next to Reggie. "Yeah, I mean, kinda hard to top the Orpheum, but we'll do our best. Hopefully record labels contact us now."

Alex tapped his drum set cymbals nearby, disrupting the silence that descended on us, all in awe of what'd just happened. "Guys, this has been amazing and I'm so relieved, but I think I should go find Willie and tell him we're okay. See you tomorrow, yeah?"

"We better! See you then." I waved as he headed out the door. I noticed he didn't poof out this time. Maybe he couldn't anymore. After checking the time on my phone, I realized I should probably get to bed too. And I still had to talk to Carlos about everything.

"Well uh, I dunno if you guys need to sleep or anything, but I definitely need to, so I'll see you in the morning. Let me know if you need anything!"

"'Night, boss."

"Sleep well, Julie. We couldn't've done this without you!"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, we would've been, like, astro dust or something by now."

"I'm really glad you're not, then." I could sense that maybe Reggie noticed my gaze travel to Luke's now only semi-dead eyes, by the little smirk on his face as I quickly pulled away from his hug. "Goodnight guys!" I walked back to the house after sliding the studio doors shut behind me, trying to suppress my smile so Dad wouldn't ask more questions than I was ready to answer.

But I did have to talk to Carlos, which I did, even though he knew basically everything already. I have no idea how my pain-in-the-butt little brother got so smart. He wanted to tell Dad everything right away, but I told him I needed a couple days to figure everything out. Carlos wasn't too happy about that, but I bribed him so he'd agreed. 

I had a gut feeling the rules had changed, and suddenly people might be able to see and interact with the guys normally.

Maybe meeting Reggie would be a good enough start, but only time would tell.

I showered and got into bed as quickly as I could. All the emotions I felt throughout this day had me really beat. First, I wasn't even sure if the guys had crossed over or not, and almost had to perform alone. Then they showed up, and I managed to help them avoid their fate, but I still wasn't sure what all this meant now. I could really touch them, and they could touch me? Crazy. Did this make everything real now?