https://pin.it/7a7dWV1 << this w a mini denim skirt ~ gracie's outfit
MAYBE GRACIE WAS BEING A DOWNER, maybe she was ruining the fun, but as soon as she and julie parted ways with the plan for both families to meet up at the molina's, the girl burst into tears. she couldn't help it - it didn't feel right. something was wrong and she didn't know if it was because the boys were officially gone, or... something else.
her family took the emotional release as happy tears - after all, not only did she play the orpheum, but brendon urie tweeted them out in support and taylor swift liked the post - taylor swift had heard and saw the girl perform.
"i made a folder of all your performances - that way you and your band can watch them." jj told gracie who nodded along wordlessly.
"what are the phantoms's names again?" her dad asked, peaking into the mirror from the front seat. they were almost to julie's, having left at the same time.
gracie adjusted her pink baby tee, looking down at the disco ball on it, "luke, alex, and reggie." she answered quietly.
"which ones which?" her mom asked as she applied lip stick in her hand mirror.
gracie sighed, looking out her window, "luke's the lead guitarist, reggie's the bass, and alex's the drums."
"so you and luke...?"
"not a thing." she mumbled, not bothering to look over at tonia.
"but you wanna be." jj teased.
gracie stayed quiet, her eyes floating down to her jean skirt as she played with the hem. they parked only a few seconds later, prompting the family of five to exit.
madeleine fixed her sister's hair, "you should put a bow in."
the blonde instantly thought of luke and shook her head lightly, "nah. i'm gonna go down to the studio real quick. you guys can go in."
"are you sure?" her dad asked.
"mhm, go ahead." with that, gracie turned and walked down the path with her hands behind her back, fiddling with each other.
julie looked up from the sound to smile at the sight of gracie walking around her bushes. the brunette took her hands off of the garage door handles to wait for her friend, "hey."
gracie nearly broke down at that, "hey, jules."
a soft silence filled the air before julie pushed open the studio doors. the girls glanced at each other before walking in side-by-side.
julie sighed, "i... i know i already said this, but, uh... thank you, guys."
the room was dark and still... until reggie spoke in a strained voice, "you're welcome."
the girls eyes flew to each other's at the sound of alex and luke groaning his name. julie sped to the light and tugged on the switch, a gasp slipping from her lips at the sight of the three boys sprawled out on the ground with pained expressions.
they were coughing and groaning and gracie inhaled shakily, "why... why are you here?"
"i... i thought -"
julie was cut off by the sound of a jolt buzzing through the guys. they groaned again, coughing loudly.
"no. no, i thought - i thought you..." gracie had her eyes trained on the ghosts, her breathing pattern quickening as a hand clawed at her chest.
"we thought you crossed over. why didn't you cross over?" julie asked, tears falling down her face. the guys slowly sat up, reggie leaning on the chair, alex holding his stomach, and luke resting his arms on his knees.
alex groaned, "i guess playing the orpheum wasn't our unfinished business."
"point caleb." reggie muttered in annoyance.
all of the boys had red eyes, but when gracie looked over at luke, she felt her stomach drop at his teary ones. he breathed shakily, "we wanted you to think we crossed over, so we pretended to."
gracie and julie gave him pained expressions as he continued, "we just..." he looked down and shook his head, shrugging lightly, "we had nowhere else to go."
he sobbed lightly making gracie take a small step forward. her chest was heaving as the girls watched the boys in pain, unable to do a thing to help. reggie shrugged slightly, "we thought you'd go straight to bed."
alex was standing, placing most of his weight onto an amp as he did so, "yeah, well, i knew they were gonna come out here, but no one ever listens to me." just as he finished, a jolt sparked through the three again.
they groaned, screaming out in pain. gracie gasped, her hands jumping to her mouth as a soft sob escaped her. julie rocked on her feet before rushing forward, "you have to save yourselves right now," she was speaking through a sob, turning to face each boy, "go join caleb's club. please."
gracie met her side, watching as the three stood, "it's better than not existing at all - you can still play music. please just go." she threw her arm out as she briefly turned towards the garage doors, sobbing while speaking, "go! poof out! do something!"
"please. do it for us." julie cried, "please." she had her hands on her chest as she doubled over, her lip quivering.
reggie sat on the arm chair, shaking his head, "we're not going back there."
gracie had her face crumpled up with her hand continuing to hold her chest. she felt like she herself was breaking along with them, and yet it felt so stupid to think that when they were groaning in pain at every flash of lightning that hit their bodies.
luke walked up to her, breathing heavily, "no music is worth making, gracie, if we're not making it with you."
gracie's bottom lip was quivering as she shook her head, shutting her eyes tightly for a second. she was praying that when she opened them, they'd be gone. they would've crossed over. they wouldn't be in pain and they wouldn't be in front of her, even if it hurt her just as much.
but when she opened her eyes, luke was still standing, inches away from her. his brows were furrowed and he inhaled shakily before saying, "no regrets."
gracie had no clue what happened next. thinking back to this moment days, weeks, months, even years later, she couldn't comprehend why she would assume it would work. why she would assume they could touch and she could jump up and hug the ghost and not fall through him. her body moved without thinking - without considering the idea of falling flat on her face - because she knew she could do it. some part, deep inside her, next to that same part that knew they weren't gone - that knew something was wrong - told her they could touch.
the blonde jumped up, throwing her arms around luke's neck to bury her face in his shoulder. she felt him wrap his own arms around her body, one hand on her waist, touching the bare skin her shirt showed, and the other grasping her upper back. his face was against her neck, his wet eyelashes tickling her shoulder blade. his lips rested against her skin sparking butterflies to erupt in her stomach. she was on her tip toes with the boy still having to hunch over slightly to reach her, and it felt perfect. she felt like every part of her matched every part of him. she felt like after so long, after her entire life, she could finally breathe. she felt complete, and she suddenly understood, way in the back of her mind, why people thought soulmates existed. she'd been saying since they met that gracie believed she and luke clicked, somehow, but at that point in time, they really did click.
gracie sniffled, not understanding for a flicker of a second why julie gasped from a few feet away. she was too busy grasping the boy tightly, only thinking about the possibility of them disappearing at any second. she sniffled again, hearing luke sob, and said, "i love you guys."
that's when something in her shifted. the feeling of luke's bare shoulders under her fingers were warm, the smell of his cologne was deep, the touch of his ripped up tux was smooth, and she was feeling it all. she was touching luke, a ghost. her eyes snapped open and she slid back onto her feet, staring up at the brunet in surprise. he was glowing - literally. his skin was producing a soft, warm glow that instantly made him look ten times more alive.
her hands rested on his biceps, looking down at where her body touched his. luke still had his callused finger tips grazing her waist, looking down at her hands. he slid his fingers from her torso to her hands, holding them in disbelief.
gracie stared down at their connected hands, feeling his eyes on her face, "how can i feel you?" she asked through shaky breaths.
his brows were knit together when she looked up and he gently shook his head, "i...i... i don't know." his thumbs gently caressed her knuckles before he placed his hands on her cheeks, wiping her tears.
"i..." he sniffled, inhaling sharply when gracie placed her warm hands on his arms. he chuckled lightly and reached one hand for her messy hair, twirling it around his finger lightly. she chuckled in disbelief, another tear falling. he swallowed hard, his hands sliding from her cheek to her jaw to her neck before they grabbed onto her's again. he held them before ripping his eyes away from the blonde to look at the rest of the band who were staring in disbelief.
he sniffed, "i feel stronger."
he immediately turned to look back at her, as if he'd never seen her before, and gracie looked away, turning to julie, "help them - alex, reggie, come here." julie followed her word and rushed forward, a laugh escaping her throat when she could touch them as well. the boys snapped their heads up, eyes wide, and the three moved to luke and gracie quickly.
julie stood opposite of her with luke instantly moving to the blonde's side so they could group hug while he never stopped touching her. the feeling of reggie and alex's clothes against her hands sent shivers down her spine. she and julie could feel and touch these ghosts.
they had their heads touching with gracie on her toes since alex, the tallest, was beside her. they sniffled and a chuckle escaped gracie once again. the boys seemed to gasp at the same time, pulling back slightly.
reggie looked around at them, "woah... i...i... i don't feel as weak anymore."
alex turned to look around at his band mates as he said, "yeah, me neither." he licked his lips, "not that, you know, i was ever that weak." the band laughed before the boys gasped again, holding their wrists up. the purple stamp that was the exact same on each of their forearms began to glow. gracie had her arms slightly outstretched, missing the feeling of the boys's warmth.
"what..." julie whispered as the stamps departed from the ghosts's bodies and floated towards the ceiling. the group had their heads upturned as they watched the purple sparks disappear.
julie let out a deep breath, "what do you think that means?"
the boys chuckled, looking around in amazement at each other before luke answered with a smile, "i think the bands back."
gracie cleared her throat, "dude, we're getting the band back together!" julie laughed making the blonde smile widely but the boys just looked at her in confusion and amusement.
reggie chuckled lightly before alex sniffled and said, "you guys think we could try that hug thing one more time?"
they all chuckled before reggie said, "yeah." and brought them into another group hug. luke's arm wrapped around gracie's shoulders making her grin widen.
"hugs are good." alex mumbled while julie slapped reggie and alex's backs, making them chuckle lightly.
they all began laughing before reggie said, "i like this."
"me too. aww," julie muttered, hugging tighter.
gracie laughed, throwing her head back lightly, "we played the orpheum! woo!"
they were laughing as the blonde instigated a jumping hug with alex saying, "yeah, we did!" and began to spin the group in circles.
they were all laughing, unable to stop the hug for a good minute or two. after what seemed like both forever and the shortest second in history, the band pulled back.
gracie laughed again before attacking alex in a singular hug, "alex!" he chuckled, spinning the two around while the band took turns hugging each other. she pulled back to squeeze reggie into a tight embrace, softly screaming in joy. he was giggling and pulled back to spin the girl.
julie went to hug reggie making gracie turn to find luke looking at her. she had a hard time pushing her smile down, especially when luke looked down at her the way he did.
he chuckled before pulling on her waist to embrace her again.
she felt alive, like seriously alive. like she'd never felt before. and she wished that that night would never end.
author's note!
the series is finished!!! thinking abt js uploading this and maybe doing some extra chapters bc i have tons of ideas on how to advance the story. hope u guys enjoyed <33