You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 4

Julie watched as Luke followed her dad into the kitchen. Carlos was eagerly talking to Reggie about... well she couldn't actually tell because they were talking so fast, but Julie did hear Jar-Jar come up a few times. She turned to Alex, "Well I guess since you guys are staying here, you won't be in the studio anymore and we should figure out where you'll be sleeping."

When the Molina family had first moved into this house, Ray had turned the basement into his home office. Due to his long hours editing photos after shoots, he had also set up a bedroom as he didn't want to wake up the family once he finally was able to go to sleep. Julie's grandfather had also lived with them before he passed away, and there was a guest room as well. Her dad was right, it was a big space for just the three of them It would be nice to have the house full of life again. After giving Alex a tour, he decided he would stay in the basement – sometimes he would practice new drum beats on the walls and didn't want to disturb anyone. Reggie would obviously be in her grandfather's old room – it was right beside Carlos' and they would share a bathroom. Julie could only imagine what a mess that would be and was grateful that she would never need to find out. Which meant that Luke would be in the guest room... which was directly across the hall from Julie's room.

***

Luke and Ray washed the dishes in silence. Ray felt bad for the kid, he was clearly miserable but trying to make a good impression. Well, he might as well get this out of the way.

"So Luke, what are your intentions with Julie?"

"Wha-" Luke panicked. He dropped the dish he was holding back into the sink. Ray knew he shouldn't laugh, but the kid just looked so terrified.

"While Julie may not notice, I've seen how you look at her while you sing. I may be old, but I'm not blind." A blush spread across Luke's cheeks reaching all the way to his ears.

"There is nothing going on sir. Julie's the best. She's great. But she's too important to me, to us, for me to tell her... I mean, we're just friends sir." At least until Julie says otherwise, Luke thought to himself.

Ray understood now. Luke was scared.

"Have you ever put peanut butter on ice cream?" Ray asked Luke.

"Um... no. I tend to not put toppings on. Ice cream is good enough without the extras" Luke replied, slightly confused to the sudden shift in conversation.

"Here's the thing, ice cream can be the best, it can be great," Luke noticed how Ray repeated what he had just said about Julie, "and sometimes, the idea of changing the way things are can be daunting. But sometimes, adding the peanut butter can make it even better, and even if it doesn't work out, I know the ice cream isn't going anywhere. The ice cream will still be there for you. Do you know what I mean?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I thought I did, but you kind of lost me."

"Like I said Luke, I may be old, but I'm not blind. I see how Julie looks at you too."

Ray left Luke standing alone in the kitchen. Had Ray just given him some sort of blessing or encouragement to ask of Julie? Or did he really just think he should put peanut butter on his ice cream. Either way, Luke was confused. And now really wanting some ice cream.

***

It was later in the evening and Julie was getting ready for bed. She had finished helping Alex setting up his room, and Reggie's was already a mess and she could hear Carlos yelling something about vanquishing him? Seconds later, Reggie ran out with a Nerf gun and attempted to use Julie as a shield from Carlos' attack. Julie quickly moved out of the way. She loved Reggie, but knew he didn't stand a chance in this war.

Luke had been noticeably absent for most of the night. Her dad had ordered pizzas, and everyone just sort of looked after themselves while adjusting to their new living arrangements. Julie thought about knocking on Luke's door, but decided she would wait for him. What did she have to apologize for anyway? He was the one who had acted immaturely, not her. She may or may not have cried in front of Alex about the whole situation. He and Flynn were the only ones who knew how Julie really felt about Luke. Oh shoot – she forgot to tell Flynn all the new changes. She hopped on her bed and called Flynn from her laptop.

After filling in Flynn on the events of the day – how had this all happened in one day – she heard a soft knock on the door. She assumed it was her dad or Alex so she yelled at them to come in, not bothering to look.

"Um Julie..." Flynn said from the screen, "you might want to turn around."

What? Julie looked over her shoulder to see Luke standing there, looking uncomfortable.

"Um Hey Flynn." Luke said. He still couldn't get over how technology had changed in the past 25 years. Sometimes he felt like he was living in some sci-fi story. But then again, he was a ghost who had come back to life – was he alive? Well at the very least he was a ghost who up until today, was only visible when he played with Julie, so I guess things were pretty strange.

"Don't you 'Hey Flynn' me! You fool, you had no right..." Julie quickly said bye to Flynn, promising to call her back later and shut the computer screen.

Julie said nothing but stared at Luke. He took this as permission to continue. He went to close the door, he didn't want people listening in on what he had to say, but a cough from Ray downstairs reminded him that second of only two rules to this living arrangement was no closed doors if they were in Julie's room.

Luke scratched the back of his neck. "Um I just wanted to um say sorry for earlier."

"And what are you sorry for?" Julie was not going to make this easy on him

"I shouldn't have made a big deal about you and Vick. If you're happy, that's all that matters. I just know our band can do great and I'm worried that he might keep you away from us." Away from me. Luke knew he should have left it at the first part, but he was afraid Julie would see right through him and really know why Nick's appearance bothered him.

"Well thank you for your apology." Julie said. It felt like she had forgiven him. Luke couldn't believe it. That was it? She wasn't going to say anything else? He had to know more. He knew it would hurt, but he just had to know for sure. He sat down on her bed. She sat up so they were side by side.

"So... you two pretty serious? Like is he going to be coming around to rehearsals? Wait - You're not going to ask him to join the band are you?" Luke said in a panicked tone. He had heard Nick had played guitar. Was Julie going to replace him? Oh no, he was starting to spiral again. He heard a muffled sound and looked at Julie. He couldn't believe it. She was laughing.

"No. I am definitely not going to ask NICK to join the band. We're just friends. He's not the one I like." Julie abruptly stopped laughing. She had said too much.

"Oh but you do like someone?" Luke said with a smirk. He bit his lip and knew he had trapped her.

Ugh with the lip biting! "Who I do or do not like is none of your business Luke."

"Mhm. Just you wait Jules. I'm going to find out who it is." He jumped off of her bed and headed across the hall to his new room. If Julie wouldn't tell him who it was, it meant it couldn't be that serious, right? It meant that her heart hadn't been won over. It meant he had a chance.