Sorry there haven't been updates recently but thank you all for being patient with me during this exam season. We're at the final stretch now!
When Jay left the house, he noticed that Luke wasn't anywhere in sight. He wasn't in the front yard, nor near Jay's car, nor anywhere on the street as far as Jay could see. He wanted to know where Luke had gone, to be able to talk to him properly after everything that had just happened.
As Jay took a seat on the driver's side of his car, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He didn't want to check it, he didn't feel emotionally or mentally capable of having a casual conversation at the moment. His mind was just working through the places that Luke could be at the moment.
Could he be walking down Hollywood?
Or maybe he was visiting the Orpheum?
Would he really be back at the Molina house, at their garage?
Or would he be elsewhere, somewhere unknown to Jay or the others where he could be alone with his thoughts and emotions?
Jay was unsure. He didn't know what the next step was. Something inside him was compelling him to go to the Molina house, even though it was getting late. By the time he reached, the sun would be setting. But his body had gone on autopilot, and before he knew it, he was driving over to the Molina household.
By the time he reached his destination, the sky had become a symphony of color. The clouds against the ombre of reds, oranges, and yellows continually changed shaped, and it was indescribably beautiful.
When Jay had stepped out of his car and walked up to the front porch of the house, he froze when he saw Luke leaning against the wood. The sunset against his skin almost made him glow in an ethereal way and created a golden reflection in his eyes that made Jay's breath halt.
"Hey," Jay managed to speak out.
"Hey," Luke returned the greeting simply.
"You, um," Jay cleared his throat, walking up the steps and stopping in front of Luke. "You feeling better now?"
"Yeah," Luke said, wiping the back of his hand quickly against his nose. "I just...I needed to step out. That was-"
"I get it," Jay cut Luke off. "I know, you don't have to say anything."
"I want to," Luke replied stubbornly. "I need to. So lemme get this off my chest before I shove it down like everything else."
Jay raised an eyebrow and the two boys paused for a moment before breaking out into small huffs of laughter. Once that had died down, Jay gestured for Luke to continue.
"I, um," Luke began. "I didn't have many regrets in my life. Except for running out on my parents, especially my mom, so...thank you."
"If it wasn't for you and the others, I would have been so lost," Jay admitted, a small smile coming to his face. "I would have lost all connection with my parents, even if I thought inheriting their company was doing the opposite. I would have lost my music, I...probably wouldn't be here." Jay looked directly at Luke, into his blue eyes that seemed to glow gold in the sunset. "This was the least I could do."
"It was perfect," Luke said. "With that song, that was perfect, Jay, you're-"
Luke cut himself off, realizing what he was about to say before he said it. Enough of the sentence was said for Jay to realize what Luke was about to say and he faltered for a moment. Jay had never seen himself as perfect, he thought he was incredibly flawed. And yet in Luke's eyes, in his opinion, Luke thought he was perfect?
"Sorry," Luke said, breaking Jay from his trance. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"No, it's okay," Jay smiled. "I mean, I...I feel the same way."
It was the first time either of them had admitted their feelings to each other. After all the time they had spent together, all that they had been through, both Luke and Jay knew that they had strong feelings for each other. And everyone around them knew as well, though they never exactly hid it.
"So..." Luke trailed off.
"So," Jay scoffed, though there was an almost sheepish grin apparent on his face.
"How're we doing this?" Luke asked. "I mean, it's not like I'm gonna be around for much longer."
"Well, we've just got to make the moments last right?" Jay asked, eyes landing on Luke's hands. Something inside him willed him to reach out and take them into his own.
So he did.
And they didn't pass through.
Jay's right hand reached out and took ahold of Luke's left. Jay heard Luke's breath get caught in his throat as Jay slowly ran his thumb over Luke's knuckles, the cool feeling of Luke's hand incredibly different from the warmth of his own.
"I can feel you," Luke said, though his voice came out barely any louder than a whisper. His eyes were locked onto their hands until he finally looked up into Jay's eyes.
"Yeah, that's kinda how holding hands works," Jay said sarcastically, barely having time to brace himself before Luke threw himself at Jay and buried his head in the crook of Jay's neck, wrapping his arms around Jay's torso. Jay paused for a moment before returning the hug, one hand coming up to rest on the back of Luke's head while the other landed on his back.
"I get why Reggie didn't want to let go," Luke murmured, his voice muffled slightly. "You're so warm."
"Ew, PDA, PDA!" Julie's voice shrieked from the doorway, jolting both Luke and Jay so that they brome away from each other.
"Jules!"
"Kidding," Julie said with a smile. "You two are cute. But no PDA on my front porch. My dad will think you're hugging thin air and you've finally gone crazy."
"Finally?" Jay repeated, questioning. "You make it sound like he's expecting me to go crazy at some point."
"I mean, considering your uncle, is he that far off?" Luke asked, poking fun at Jay and Reggie at the moment. Jay attempted to playfully shove Luke, but his hand simply phased through Luke's arm.
"And we're back to normal," Luke comments, though his tone is more sour now.
Jay hums in agreeance as his hand drops back to his side. There's a bit of silence between the three of them, one that grows heavier with each passing second until Julie speaks up once more.
"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to tell you guys!" she gasped. "Flynn said that the video my dad made is trending on YouTube."
"Trending?" Jay repeated in disbelief. "Like, actually on the trending tab?"
"Yes Jay, it's up there," Julie said, containing her excitement. "Last I checked we were fourteen in music."
"Wait, what d'you mean by trending?" Luke asked.
"It's a good thing," Jay said, trying to find the simplest way to explain a trending video without going into details about YouTube. "It means that tons of people across the country like our music."
"Like? They love our music," Julie corrected. "We'll definitely be getting calls from managers now."
The air grew heavier and weighed down more on Jay's shoulders, making them slump downward as he and Luke shared a quick knowing look.
"Julie," Jay began, tearing his gaze away from Luke and looking towards the young girl. "We have something to tell you."
"Actually, we do," Luke said, taking the lead from Jay. "The boys and I."
"Oh," Julie said, looking carefully at both Jay and Luke. "Okay."
"We figured out that we have unfinished business," Luke began. "That's why we came back as ghosts."
"Oh. What is it?" Julie asked.
"We have to play the show we never got to play."
"At the Orpheum," Julie said, nodding her head. "That makes sense."
As soon as Julie mentioned the Orpheum, Luke was hit with a strong jolt that sent him stumbling back against the wood. Jay heard the wind get knocked out of him along with the wince and thud that came with his back hitting the wood.
"Luke!" Jay exclaimed, rushing forward. His immediate instinct was to reach out to Luke and help him back to his feet, but he knew that his hands would just pass through him.
"I'm fine," Luke breathed out, looking away from Jay and to Julie, who had made her way forward after seeing Luke's condition. "But we don't have a lot of time."
"What was that?" Julie asked. "Are you okay?"
"We did something we shouldn't have, that night we missed the dance," Luke jumped into his explanation immediately, ignoring Julie's second question. "We met this ghost and he put this curse on us, and if we don't do what he says then those jolts will destroy us."
"Well, then you gotta do what he says," Julie said. "What does he want?"
"He wants us to be in his house band for eternity," Luke answered, finding the strength to stand straight again. "Me, Reg, and Alex. But if we can play the Orpheum soon, we can avoid all that and actually cross over."
"Cross over?" Julie repeated. "As in go to heaven?"
"No one really knows what crossing over is," Jay explained, bringing Julie's gaze onto her. "But that's the risk we're taking with this. The boys cross over, go to heaven, and the curse is broken."
"So it's either you cross over, be in his band for eternity, or be destroyed by those jolts?" Julie asked, her voice breaking as tears came to her eyes.
"Yeah."
"And you knew?" Julie asked Jay. "You knew and kept this a secret from me?"
"I found out just a couple of days ago, Jules," Jay defended himself. "After everything that's happened, when could I have told you?"
"I don't know, maybe while you were still staying with us?" Julie suggested. "Maybe at school? On the way home?"
Jay said nothing. What could he say? The truth was that he was so caught up in his own world that he didn't think about telling Julie about the boys, he forgot that she didn't know. But it wasn't his fault, he wasn't to blame. He had just gotten out of an abusive household and finally found a place he could be happy.
"That's just great," Julie said, her voice filled with venom as she went back inside her house.
"Julie-"
"Don't," Jay stopped Luke before he could follow her. "Flynn will come check on her."
"How do you know?"
Jay shrugs, though he knows exactly how he knows. Both Flynn and Julie have been his closest friends for years, of course he would know when the situation called for some friendly advice. Besides, that 9-1-1 system that the three of them had set up would come in handy.
"Jay, are you-"
"I'm gonna head inside, I need some water," Jay said quickly, excusing himself. He needed to get away from people right now, he needed to be left alone with his thoughts.
So Jay walked inside the Molina house, nearly slammed the door shut behind him, and went straight to the kitchen.