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

But When He Goes I Know He Doesn't Leave

I cannot believe my dad freaked out that much. Well okay, he was actually pretty calm about it, I guess. But he doesn't usually lay down the law like that. I'd never given him any reason not to trust me before. Well, there was that time I sneaked out for that coffeehouse gig - but only because it meant a lot to the guys. And that other time I skipped class. But I had my reasons, and we talked it over. Dad understood that the band was important to me, and I promised to keep school first in my priorities. We were on good terms, so I didn't get what made him snap like that. Luke was nothing but respectful at dinner; I'm the one who flaked out and didn't let him talk to my dad the way he wanted to.

Stomping up to my room, I took a quick shower and then curled up in my pajamas. It wasn't super late yet, but at 10pm, I figured it had been a long day. And I'd better not skip school tomorrow - unless I wanted to give Dad another reason to worry about me.

If I wasn't so afraid of hurting Luke, I would've marched right over to the studio and explained it to him right away. But I opted to just go to bed, and let the morning sunlight illuminate the situation a little more. Nothing was guaranteed, anyway, but I hated the way my whole body felt so tired. In the past forty-eight hours, I'd performed at the Orpheum, was convinced the guys were crossing over, admitted my feelings to Luke, made out with Luke on more than one occasion, introduced the guys to my Dad and Carlos (kind of), and then got forbidden to date the guy I'd already fallen hard for. That's a whirlwind and a half.

Kicking off my monster-foot slippers and flopping back into bed, I turned off the light and immediately was reminded of what happened last night. Luke, still in his tux from the Orpheum gig, tapping on the window from his perch on the tree just outside. In fact, I could practically hear his tapping on the window right now. Smiling to myself, I rolled over onto my right side, blinking when I caught a quick glimpse of Luke actually sitting in the tree branch, clearly wanting me to open the window.

The least I can do is talk to him. That won't hurt anything. It's fine - it's all gonna be fine. That's what I told myself, anyway, as I tiptoed over to the window.

"Is this your new routine or something?" The smirk that spread over my lips was equal parts sassy and slightly irritated. But only because I was worried about my dad catching me with him in my room. At night. Yeah, that'd be bad. Obviously.

"I dunno. I just wanted to see you." He paused, settling himself onto the side of my bed. "And well, I wanted to know what your dad said. About us." He smiled shyly, and I sighed at the way the moonlight through the window lit up his glassy, tired eyes.

"Yeah um, we talked. He wasn't... well, exactly thrilled about it."

His whole chest tightened, and I knew it because I could see every muscle through the loose over-sized holes of his muscle tank illuminated by the lowlight of the streetlamp. "Okay and?"

He's not mad at you, Julie. He's just worried. I kept reminding myself of that, but I didn't really believe it.

"So... there's no 'and'. He pretty much, flat-out said we couldn't date."

He bit his lip, searching for answers in my own tired eyes. His arm snaked around my back, leaving flames in its wake. "Why not?"

I shrugged, trying to figure out how much to tell him. It was already awkward enough, but I had a sneaking suspicion I'd have to for him to understand. "I dunno, something about teenage boys wanting something I shouldn't give them."

He scooted a full foot away from me, as if the shadows on the walls could blame us for unmentionable things that didn't happen. His face darkened, shifting his gaze away from me. "That's not... I mean I would never... Julie, you know me. I respect you. I always do." Luke crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, clearly upset at my Dad's implication. I wasn't too thrilled about it either. None of this was fair - to me or to Luke.

"I know, don't worry. And uh, sorry he even said that at all. It's so awkward, and I didn't want you to think that I thought anything-"

He shook his head, smiling sheepishly while scooting back next to me. "It's fine, let's just move past it." Then he frowned again. "So your dad hates me?" His head tilted, leveling his brown eyes with mine.

My breaths were sharp and hesitant. His lips were barely an inch away. "No, uh, he's just concerned. He doesn't know anything about you."

He smiled, brushing his lower lip against my upper, sending chill bumps over every inch of my skin. "Well he's about to. We'll just have to show him." The point was punctuated by the smoothness of his mouth on mine, lingering over to my neck and shoulder.

"Okay Luke, if you say so." I couldn't stop the butterflies from staging an all-out war in my stomach, so I just let them have their way. Some things weren't worth fighting. And Luke was a magnet pulling me toward him whenever we got within five feet of each other.

"Yes, I say so." Smiling at me, he pulled away, stroking my hair with his left hand. The way the sinewy muscles of his arm flexed in the lowlight of my room wasn't lost on me. "Can I stay here for a bit? I feel like we haven't gotten a lot of time to talk lately."

"Fine. I have school tomorrow though, so I can't stay up with you too late. And we gotta be quiet - my dad's right down the hall." He placed a quick kiss on my lips, and then flopped back onto my bed amongst all my pillows and blankets. It wasn't very cold or anything, but I always liked having lots of comfort items in my room.

"Truth or dare?"

I rolled my eyes. "Really? That's such a teenage stereotype."

"C'mon Jules. It's fun."

"Ugh, fine. Good thing you're cute."

"Oh yeah? How cute?"

Fighting the urge to stick my tongue out at him, I crawled further onto my bed, sitting next to him. His arm found its way around my shoulders like a reflex. "Very. And I choose truth."

He smiled at me, the sparkles in his eyes undeniably shining - that meant whatever it was he was going to ask, I was in for it.

"How long did it take for you to realize you had a crush on me?"

I sighed. "Oh um, I dunno. Maybe after that first weekend we spent writing songs together? I'm honestly not sure."

"Well, you did call us 'cute ghosts' when we first ended up in the studio."

I punched him lightly in the arm. "That was just a reflex - I was scared. You know that!"

"Sure. But that probably wasn't all of it."

We went back and forth like that for a while, just challenging each other to truth or dare. When it was Luke's turn, I dared him to go draw on Carlos who was fast asleep without waking him up. Let's just say tomorrow, my little brother will wake up to a pretty distinguished handlebar mustache on his upper lip.

The time got away from us though, because the last thing I remember was Luke's strong arms around me as we both drifted to sleep.

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Shorter chapter today - I know. But what's coming next is pretty harsh, so bear with me. Hopefully things will get better soon, but... I wouldn't count on it. Stay tuned for the next installment soon! I try to publish a new one every couple weeks or so, but it's not set in stone. Comment below with what you think is gonna happen next! Is Ray going to get even more pissed at Julie? What makes Luke so perfectly delectable? Whatever it is, can I buy it at Abercrombie? Jk, I haven't shopped at Abercrombie in at least over a decade.

Follow my Instagram @angelinasingerauthor for more updates on my latest books and behind the scenes content! And don't forget - you can find free samples of my published books here on Wattpad as well. Thanks so much for being here! It's so fun being part of the JATP fandom <3