Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Acceptance

Flynn kept looking at Julie from across the room, giving her a We need to talk look Julie tried to pretend she couldn't see. They were in a fireplace room with the boys playing board games in a circle on the floor and Luke and Julie weren't hiding that they were holding hands. Her hand always just made its way onto Luke's palm. It belonged there.

There was still uncertainty between them as to whether he'd stay, but it seemed like telling him that she wanted him to stay in Inmarcsesible was a good idea. Communication was much easier as an adult and when the entire world wasn't falling apart around you.

"Reggie you're cheating," Alex told him, crossing his arms across his chest.

Reggie scoffed and crossed his arms in a similar fashion, "I am not! Luke," he glanced their way, "tell him I'm not."

"Leave me out of this," Luke said, shaking his head. Julie saw a smile on the corner of his face. He had missed his best friends so much.

"There's clearly money tucked under his sleeves!" Alex said, trying to grab Reggie's arm. Reggie moved fast enough to avoid Alex getting his arm, but Alex was clumsy on his knees, and they ended up falling over the entire game board, wiping off their placements.

Luke laughed and let go of Julie's hands to clap. "Just great you guys," he told them as they got back up.

Flynn joined in on the clapping and said, "Y'all were just not ready for me to win. You guys owe me a real game later."

"It's all Alex's fault," Reggie said as he and Alex cleaned up the pieces.

"Aha!" Alex shouted, pulling out a Monopoly dollar from Reggie's pocket. Reggie glared at him but continued to clean as Alex gloated. "I was right."

Luke smiled and said, "We're patting you down next time, Reggie."

"Fair enough," Reggie sighed. Flynn stood up from her place on the floor and motioned Julie to follow her. Julie couldn't pretend she didn't see her now.

"Come show me the bathroom, Jules," Flynn lied to her. "I always get lost." Flynn knew the castle better than Julie did if they were being realistic, but Julie still got up and followed her into the hallway. They stopped halfway down, Flynn turning around to face her with a huge grin.

"You don't have to use the restroom, do you?" Julie said in a quiet tone, looking down at the floor. When did she get so damn shy?

"You know I don't," Flynn giggled, failing to keep it quiet. It bounced through the halls of the castle. "So. What's going on there, blushy girl?" Julie's hand retreated to her face, not even realizing it had failed to hide her shyness. "Are you guys making up for lost time or?"

"Something like that," Julie said, her hands moving over to comb through her curls. A strand of hair got stuck in the corner of her nailbed, and she moved to free it as Flynn bounced back and forth on her feet. She was so excited, and it made Julie smile. She relaxed. "I asked him to say." Flynn froze. All her energy was pushed to her jaw as it fell open.

"What?"

"I asked him to move here. To Inmarcesible."

"And what did he say?" Flynn asked rather loudly. Julie rose a finger to her mouth and Flynn clasped her hand over her mouth and nodded. Maids.

Julie whispered, "It's a maybe right now." Flynn squealed a muffled noise through her fingers. "But either way, we're together." Flynn started jumping up and down and screaming through her hand, making Julie laugh. It had been her and Luke's little secret for the past few days, but it was nice to get it out.

When Flynn calmed down, they started walking down the hall, arms linked. Flynn told her, "I can't believe you basically proposed to him." Julie gave her a light nudge with her elbow.

"Get out of here. I did not." Julie blushed. God, did she?

-

After another two rounds of games, they all left, leaving Julie and Luke behind. They sat together on a loveseat in front of the fireplace, a knitted blanket draped over them. Julie was wrapped in Luke's arms, staring at the crackling red and orange. It snapped viciously at a distance and yet the noises were so comforting. That mixed with Luke's heartbeat. There was no safer place.

"So. I talked to Alex and Reggie about staying," Luke said to her. Julie tried to hide that she was excited to hear the news, but she immediately moved to look at his pretty face. Whether it was good or bad, it would ease her mind. "Alex can get me a job on ones of the committees here, and I can live with Reggie for some time. He has an extra room." Julie stared at him in awe. How he had it figured out so quickly. To stay there. To stay with them. With her. Luke darted his eyes away during her silence and said, "Unless you don't want me to stay anymore."

Julie moved her hand over to play with the hair on the back of his head, Luke relaxing into her touch and looking back at her. She smiled at him and said, "Of course I do." Luke's face formed a grin that could have set fire to her chest. "Are you really ready to leave Malachite?"

"Yes," Luke said immediately. "I'll miss my parents, but I can go see them whenever. We've had enough time to play catch up. 'Sides. My home is here, and they've known. They knew how much I missed it here. And." Luke leaned his head to kiss the inside of her wrist, "I missed you." Julie smiled, pulling him in to kiss him on the lips.

-

Julie and Luke went to visit her mom's grave. It was her birthday that day and although Julie could've spent the whole day crying the years before, she didn't. It was almost nice to arrange the dahlias and sunflowers her and Luke got her at the market. They disappeared next the other flowers the citizens brought in, everyone bringing out her favorite flowers in all the colors they could come in.

It was more peaceful than any other time she had visited the grave. She had crawled on her bloody knees and scabbing hands to the acceptance stage, and she was relishing in the freedom of it for a moment until it inevitably retook its shape of grief another day. For now, though, she was fine.

"Everyone brought your mom dahlias," Luke said as he finished finding a place for the sunflowers he picked out. "I wanted to be a little bit different. Make a good impression on the in-law."

"You're dumb," Julie rolled her eyes as he came back to her side, holding her hand. She leaned her head on his shoulder and said, "But that's very sweet of you. Thank you."

"Of course." Luke kissed the top of her head, and they stared at her mom's plaque for a while. Had it really been that many years already? Julie smiled at the photo of her mom. Julie would look like her one day when she reached her mom's final age and one day, when Julie was older than the age her mom lived to, maybe, just maybe she could give people a glimpse at what she was supposed to look like if she had lived. She missed her, but she had sent her enough angels to keep her at bay. She was never without her, never alone.

A bluebird flew past them, Luke pointing it out immediately and making Julie smile. There were more birds emerging in the area, and it made Julie excited to see Luke so eager to discover them with her. Of course, they'd always recognize a bluebird.

After saying bye to her mom, they walked into the woods through Julie's secret entrance that had once given Luke so much trouble. It made her laugh to think about it. How much she hated to have him around and now? She couldn't let go of his hand.

Luke asked her during their stroll, "Do I have to ask your dad to court you or something?" Julie snorted, squeezing his hand.

"It's not the 1600's, Luke."

"Just checking," Luke shrugged. "They don't really teach us about what to do if you date the princess in the Knight Academy."

"You actually do have to sign a document," Julie said to him. Something similar to an NDA she assumed. Luke laughed, but he realized Julie wasn't laughing. They looked at each other and she said, "I'm serious." Luke just chuckled again before picking her up in a tight hug, as if he would never let her go.

-

A/N: Hello! Sorry I disappeared for a bit. I had another drop in my health, and I had to take it easy to avoid surgery. But I am back >:) We're almost done out of here folks! I have a few more Juke fanfics in mind, but I don't want to start them just yet. Maybe I'll do one shots for a while. Thank you for reading!!