Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Brown Eyes on Brown Eyes

Two weeks in the little house were sometimes slow and sometimes it had been three days without realization. Julie tried not to spend a lot of it crying, but there were moments where it was too quiet she couldn't hear any birds outside, and she was left alone with her thoughts. Luke always came to her rescue, and his arms were a newfound comfort that were becoming a bad habit of running to. There hadn't been a day where she didn't find an excuse for Luke to hold her.

Over a thousand dead was the last number Julie heard, and she didn't want to hear anymore. She began reading the old books in the shelves, and Luke would read with her. Luke would cook for them, and he taught her how to do a few things. She had only cooked with her mom in her earlier childhood before Carlos was born, and there was a book of family recipes out there she wanted to cook one day.

"Who taught you how to cook?" Julie asked him one day. He took a moment to himself before he answered. He always did.

"My dad." He gave clear-cut, almost boring answers, but anything he said was precious to Julie. He would had never given her this much information before, and she felt close to finally uncovering everything that was underneath him.

There was one morning where Luke was sitting out in the kitchen, reading a letter. There were bags of groceries out on the counter. Julie asked him, "Did you go out?"

"No." He shook his head and handed her the letter. "Someone left these here for us." Julie got the letter and read it.

Dear Princess Julie,

We are a mile East of your safe home. My name is Constansa and my daughter is Clara also knows of your existence here. We are in charge of making sure this house was ready for your arrival and that you would have enough supplies over the weeks. If you need any specific items, please list them for us and leave it on your door next Friday. If any emergencies occur, we are less than a mile East from your home. It is a little pink house, and you are welcome here with open arms.

Sincerely,

Constansa Garvor

"Do you know who they are?" Luke asked her when she put the letter down on the table. She shook her head. "Probably random recruitments."

"I hope we can trust them," Julie said. "You can't be too careful during a war." Luke looked down at his cup of coffee and agreed.

It started raining at the cabin nearing the end of the second week. Julie stared out the window for a long time before she felt fingers run through the back of her hair. Luke always fixed it for her or simply tugged lightly at a curl to let her know he was there.

"Hey," he greeted her. "I got a text from Reggie. He said things are going pretty well over there." He looked down to the floor, tapping his foot up and down. Julie turned her body to him and hugged him, taken him aback. He hugged her back after a brief moment. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Does something have to be wrong for me to hug you?" Julie asked. He chuckled and put his hand on the back of her head.

"Of course not." They stayed still for a moment before Julie pulled away, lining her hand on his arm to end up grabbing his hand. They hadn't talked about it. All the small touches, the hugs, and the moments where they'd stare at each other for a minute until one of them, mostly Luke, would give up and look away. It was just their statis, an audition for an evermore that got shattered when the curtains were pulled.

Julie pulled him near their pile of books on the floor and said, "It feels like a good time to read." She liked the peace that came with being in a distracted silence with him. They co-existed and although everything that could go wrong was going wrong, they were both safe and sound, in different worlds.

"You like these old things?" Luke asked her as they settled down next to the bookshelf. She sat right next to him, not letting his touch get away from her for a second. He picked up his book and took out the piece of cardboard he ripped from a box of cereal that he kept as bookmark.

"You like them, too," Julie said, nudging him. "And you're reading the nonfiction ones. That's even more boring than these gothic romances."

"Are they good?" Luke asked her, looking her face to face. Julie stared at his face for a moment, reaching out to brush out bangs from his eyes. His cheeks got red after, and it made her smile.

"Yes," she said in a whisper. She took one good look at him before she opened her book and started to read Jane Eyre. Luke started to read his book too and at one point, he leaned his head on top of hers. It was her turn to blush. He rarely initiated anything, and although it confused her at times, he had his own ways of showing the affection she was almost certain he had for her. It was warm and sometimes hazy, taking her moments if not hours to realize what he had done was a hint. He was sneaky.

They had been reading for a while when Luke suddenly laughed out loud while reading. Julie turned to look at him with a smirk and asked, "What's so funny?"

Luke laughed again and leaned closer to her face, their foreheads touching. "Nosy," he called her.

She scrunched nose and giggled, "I just want to know." They stayed there for a moment, brown eyes on brown eyes, Luke's breath on her face. They were so still, both now realizing how close they were. Julie moved in a little closer, their noses touching now. She didn't want to make the final push, though. She needed to know he liked her too. She kept staring into his eyes, her face was hot. He laughed again out of nowhere, causing her to join him. Not for a second did their foreheads part.

"What?" he whispered.

"Are you going to kiss me or not?" And he did. 

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A/N: Super short but that's all I had planned for this chapter, and I imagine you guys will be content with this ending hehe. I've been updating super late because of school but hopefully when it ends in a few weeks, summer school doesn't take that much out of me.