Our Connection • • Julie and The Phantoms

Chapter 11: "Finally Free"

A/n: This chapter contains another favorite song of mine, Finally Free! I recommend listening to it while reading this chapter. The part in bold and italics is when Y/n and Luke sing together! Thanks for the support!

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Julie takes her place at the piano and I grab a microphone, letting her begin. She begins to play and leans forward to sing into the microphone. "Hearts on fire. We're no liars, so we say what we wanna say. I'm awakened, no more faking, so we push all our fears away." She sings beautifully into the microphone, waving briefly at her dad who has come to watch. I smile at her before I begin to sing. "Don't know if I'll make 'cause I'm falling down under. Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder." I sing, my eyes on the crowd as my nerves immediately start to melt away. I dance a bit to the music as Julie and I start to sing together. "I wanna fly, come alive, watch me shine!" The boys appear behind us. The crowd begins to cheer louder and get closer to the stage. The lights shine down on me as I dance more, dancing around Reggie. He chuckles at me and watches me. Alex smiles, moving his head to the beat as he plays. I lean over to the crowd, letting my hands touch a few of theirs as they cheer more. Luke moves closer to me and I hold the microphone out in between us so we can sing into it together. We make eye contact which makes me smile as I sing. "I got a spark in me (I got a spark in me). And you're a part of me (And you're apart of me). Now till eternity (Now till eternity). Been so long and now we're finally free!" Alex and Reggie look at each other, smiling more. I giggle a bit and shake my head. I move away from Luke to hide the fact I was blushing like crazy. We finish singing as the crowd cheers more. I grab Julies hand and walk closer to the edge of the stage with the boys, taking a bow. The boys disappear as soon as we do. The crowd gasps and Julie giggles a little. I hug Julie before walking off the stage. The boys appear all the way in the back of the restaurant where no one could see us talk to them. We quickly go over.

"That was incredible!" Julie says, smiling widely. I smile at her and nod. "I'll be back, I need to go talk to my dad." She tells us before running off to find him. "Mr. Ray!" Reggie says quickly running off with her. Alex sighs and follows after him. Luke and I stay quiet, looking at her each other. "You were amazing." He says softly, his hazel eyes peering into mine. I smile at him. "You weren't so bad yourself." I comment, nudging his shoulder gently. We smile at each other before it seems like he's starting to lean in. I panic slightly when I notice and pull him into a hug instead. "Thanks. For helping me tonight." I say quietly, holding him close. He seems caught off guard at first before hugging me back. "You're welcome." He says. I smile and pull away from him. "Y/n!" I hear beside me. I move away from Luke and look over to the voice. It was my grandma. "Outside. Now." She says, pointing to the door. I glance at Luke before walking outside with her.

"This has what your little projects have been? A band?" She asks, crossing her arms and looking at me. "They're more than just a band. After mom and dad died, I hadn't thought or found joy in music. They helped me." I tell her, slowly looking down. She sighs quietly. "I'm proud of you." She says softly and pulls me into a hug. I quickly hug her back. "This was a big step for you. Please don't keep this kind of stuff from me. Especially when it's about music." She says, rubbing my back gently. I nod and smile a bit. She pulls away from me and holds my shoulders. "Just promise me you'll do your homework on time." She says, holding up her pinky. I smile and wrap my pinky around hers. "Of course." I say. She smiles at me.

"You can hang out with your friends tonight since it's not a school night, but you better tell me who that cute boy is you were singing with when you get home." She says, making me laugh softly. "I'll see you later." I say. She nods and walks off with my grandad. I walk back into the place, looking around until I find everyone. "Wait? So you're not dead?" Reggie asks, looking at me confused. "She wasn't mad." I smile at them. The boys high five each other. I laugh at them and shake my head. Someone comes up to wrap their arms around me from behind. "How's it going, Y/n?" Josh asks into my ear. Luke watches him, his jaw clenching a little. I turn around to hug him briefly. "It's going good. What about you?" I smile when he holds out some flowers for me. "Flynn told me you were performing tonight so I thought I would bring them." He says, scratching the back of his neck lightly.

"Bro, what if she was allergic? Or her favorite flowers were daisies like the ones covering her journal and room?" Luke asks and crosses his arms. Alex and Reggie look at him. I glance back at him but make it look like I was looking at Julie. Julie shrugs a little and smiles at Josh.

"How about you and I hang out tomorrow? Go to the movies? It's been a while since our last date and it was kind of weird." Josh says, chuckling softly. I smile at him. "I'll see if i'm ungrounded and let you know." I lie already knowing I was ungrounded. "It could be a double date? Julie and Nick. You and I." He says, looking over at Julie. Luke mocks him a bit and rolls his eyes. Julie quickly steps forward. "Yes! We can have a double date at my place. We can make my living room into a cool little movie room." She says smiling at Josh. I knew she was only doing this to go on a date with Nick. I decide to take one for the team so Julie could he happy. "Sounds great." I give them a thumbs up.