To him, rhythm is the pattern of music. To her, rhythm is movement on a page.
JATP season 1
[reggie x female oc]
[alex x male oc]
Disclaimer: I do not own Julie and the Phantoms and the associated characters. I own all original characters and orig...
"If anyone else heard what I just said, I'd die of embarrassment right here and now."
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"I heard you. And you've already died."
Justin has never been more nervous to walk into Julie's garage. He and Jess had stayed up all night—literally all night—just talking about what happened. She explained her experiences at the ghost club, even memories including his father after pushing her, and he told her what she missed.
Namely how he has kept everyone at arm's length since she disappeared. And how he dropped out of the dance showcase. And how he helped Carrie take down her parents' fame, though they are still working on her mother. And how he hasn't spoken to Julie or her phantoms at length for ages.
So, here he sits in his car with Jess beside him. Music blares through the space, but he cannot bring himself to get out of the car. Not to face the consequences of his own actions. Jess sits quietly with her fingers drumming against the dash.
It has been at least half an hour, but every time he opens his car door, he closes it instantly.
Once the 45-minute mark passes, Jess heaves out a sigh. She poofs outside of his door and opens it for him, arching a brow when he doesn't move. "Justin," she says as she kneels next to him. "We can either walk in there or drive back. It's up to you."
"You want to talk to them."
"I want to run and hide and work myself raw to stop the pain in my arm," she admits. Knowing her so well, it only takes one look to see her trembling left hand. "I want everything to go back to the way it was, but I know I can't. I made a decision. A decision that hurt people. I have to face that sooner or later. Even if they end up hating me."
"They don't hate you," Justin says instantly. "How could they possibly hate you?"
"And how could they hate you?" She winces as she stands, holding her right hand out. "Eventually, we have to accept what we did. You don't know how relieved I am that you don't hate me, that you didn't throw me out of your house. But now it's time to see how Julie and the boys are taking it. We can't just ignore it and pretend everything is fine. That's how everything got so bad with Phoebe. I pretended I was fine up until I couldn't. And then I got hurt. We care about them all. We need to talk to them. Or we can drive away and try again tomorrow, but I will not do this without you."
Leave it to Jess to give him courage at his lowest point. How could he possibly leave her alone to do this on her own? With a deep breath, he steps out of the car and locks it behind him. "Ok. Consequences of our actions."
"And then we can run away and bury ourselves in ice cream."
Before Justin has a chance to scoff, he hears the rustling of leaves behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he just barely sees the door to Julie's garage close. "I think someone—"
