You Can Find Me In The Space Between

Chapter Four

Flynn was standing at Julie's locker by the time she got there.

"So I see Petey boy is here again," Flynn said with a smirk.

"Don't remind me. He's been coming around all week. I'm considering getting a restraining order!" Julie exclaimed. She was 98% joking.

"Jules, don't get me wrong – I love the drama. And you know I'm here for you, but... well I've seen him talking with Carlos a few times." Flynn replied.

"What?! Oh hell no." Julie slammed her locker shut, marched out of the school doors and toed right up to Pete. He was at least 8 inches taller, so begrudgingly, she had to tilt her face up to look at him. "Listen here – it was one thing to harass me, but you leave my brother alone!" Julie yelled in his face. Out of the corner of her eye, Julie noticed a small crowd forming around them.

She watched at Pete bit his bottom lip as his eyes were glued to her lips. She felt a quick shudder go through her body before she regained control. Pete's eyes snapped back up to her's. "Julie... I... It's not like that. I've –"

"He's been helping me. With a project." Carlos interjected. He was out of breath as he had to squirm through the crowd.

Julie turned to face Carlos, a slight fire still burning in her eyes. "What project?"

Carlos and Pete shared a panicked look.

"A project about Greece!" Pete said.

"A project about food!" Carlos said.

Julie raised her eyebrows.

"He's teaching me about Greek food. Cause he worked at a Greek restaurant." Carlos said quickly.

"Niiiiiice" Pete mouthed to Carlos.

"Well not anymore. That's what Wikipedia is for. Come on Carlos, we're going home. Now." Julie grabbed Carlos' arm and dragged him away from Pete as the crowd dispersed.

"Well that could have gone better." Pete mumbled to himself.

***

Julie slammed the car door once they had arrived home. The ride had been silent, neither saying a word.

"Studio. Now." Julie said to Carlos before he could make it to the house. Hanging his head, Carlos followed her to the studio while Julie stomped in front of him. Once they were inside, Julie slammed the door behind them. "Carlos! What were you thinking! Why have you been hanging out with that lunatic?! He's practically been stalking me. He's up to something. Just... just stay away from him."

"Julie I really think you should hear him out. I... I think he's telling the truth."

Julie let out an aggravated sigh. "Ugh not you too!"

"Julie if you... wait, what do you mean 'too'? Have you met someone else who is claiming to know your former ghost boyfriend?" Carlos said with a shocked face.

"He told you!?" Julie was furious. "I can't believe this." When she next saw Pete, she was going to give him the biggest slap in the face. "What did he say to you?"

"Jules, just talk to him. He knew things only Luke could know."

Julie couldn't take this anymore. "If I talk to him, and prove to you that he is not Luke, will you drop it? And stop talking to strangers?"

Carlos smiled. "Great! I'll tell him to come over."

"Wait? Why now?"

"Julie, he literally came back to life to see you. Or I mean, I assume so. He doesn't really know why he came back, but why would you want to wait?"

Julie didn't say anything. The truth was, she didn't want to let herself even hope that Luke had come back to her. Losing Reggie and Alex had been devastating, but losing Luke was something else. She wasn't sure what would happen if she let hope into her heart, only to have it be crushed. That was why she kept pushing Pete away.

Well, like her Tia always said, you've got to rip that band-aid off and get the pain over with. "Fine. He can come over. But... Carlos, are you sure?" Julie let her guard down, and Carlos could see the pain radiating behind her eyes. He pulled her into a sideways hug, and gave her a tight squeeze.

"It's going to be okay Julie. He's home."

***

Pete was pacing, if he had been standing on a carpet, he had no doubt that he would have created holes. Carlos had texted him to come over. This felt too good to be true, but he knew this was his one shot. Julie was stubborn, so she wouldn't give him another chance, he was sure of that. But he was stubborn too – he wasn't going to give up without a fight.

He had practically run to the Molina house. Now he was standing in front of the studio, trying to work up the courage to go in. He didn't have much time to deliberate as Carlos opened the door. He gave Pete a smirk, laughing at how fast he had arrived. "Good luck man. I'm going to leave you two alone... but remember Boy Band, she's still my sister, and I'm still the man of the house."

With that... word of encouragement (?), Pete entered the studio. Julie sat at the piano, playing the melody of Finally Free. Hearing those soft notes made Pete smile. Julie looked up, sensing his eyes on her.

"Just so you know, I'm doing this for Carlos. Not for you." Julie said, emotionless.

Pete stood awkwardly, not sure where to begin. "So I see you kept my couch."

Julie narrowed her eyes at him. "My mom never got rid of Luke's couch, so neither did I."

Pete sat down and raked his fingers through his hair. "Listen, Jules. Do you want me to run through our whole history? How me and the guys appeared here after you played our demo cd? How we sang Bright at your school and that was the first time people saw us." He stood up now and was slowly making his way over to Julie. "How you ignored me and it drove me crazy when we sang Edge of Great right outside those doors. How you told us to leave after the Orpheum, but we refused. How you hugged me... how you saved us. Or how we kept getting our signals crossed and had to have three first dates? How my mom saw us in the garden?" Pete was now standing in front of Julie and scratched the back of his neck. "How... how we said goodbye right before you realized Carlos was gone. How we said we loved each other? How we went to New York, how Caleb held you and I thought I was going to lose you?" He reached out for her hand – thankfully, she let him. There were tears streaming down Julie's cheeks, and Pete softly wiped one off. "Jules, please, it's me. I have missed you. Please say you know it's me. I have loved you. And I will continue to. And not just till the day I die, because I have already done that, and it didn't change how I feel about you."

She held Pete's face in her hands, and looked deeply into his eyes. She couldn't deny it. It was him. It was her Luke. She brought him closer and tentatively placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you too."

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Milton Berle