electric touch // luke patterson

brooklyn baby - lana del rey

GRACIE SAT ON HER BED, playing with her hair while staring off into her wall. it was a little after midnight and luke hadn't shown up, but she didn't want to go to sleep incase he did. then again, her eyes were drooping more and more and she could feel her shoulders slipping against her backboard.

gracie paused tangled on her laptop to quietly stand and make her way to her door. she walked slowly to the bathroom she shared with jj and sighed softly in the mirror. she felt stupid waiting around for some dead guy who happened to be cute and who happened to die a year older than her. she cringed while looking at her face.

"what am i doing?" she whispered, gently pulling her cheeks down. she sighed, beginning to brush her teeth as she thought.

why could she see them anyways? maybe it made sense for julie - maybe it was so they could get her back into music. after all, if it weren't for them, she never would've played her mom's song. but why her? why gracie? did they have to help her do something as well? it was possible, but there was nothing like music for julie in her own life. sure... there was, well, music. but gracie still wrote and sang, just not in front of more than twenty people.

she hoped they didn't have to help her play in front of more than that. she couldn't do that. she felt bile rise in her throat at the thought and swallowed harshly.

after she had finished in the bathroom and scrubbed her makeup off, gracie gently peered into her brother's room to see him fast asleep. she closed the door and entered her room short after.

she was biting her lip while she shut her door, so focused on not making noise, that she didn't notice luke sitting on her bed, watching the movie on her laptop curiously.

gracie let out a breath and spun only to yelp at the sight of the brunet. he winced, struggling to pause the disney movie. gracie was frozen, hands covering mouth. she looked horrible - she knew it. she was red and makeup-less. why couldn't he have come ten minutes earlier?

"i stick to my word, gracie. you should learn that." luke said casually, hopping up. the blonde glanced at her door, waiting for a noise down the hall to indicate anyone getting up.

once she decided it okay, she spoke, "what the hell? it's way past midnight. i have school, and i have to sleep." she glared at him as she walked by, quickly shutting her laptop. she tried ignoring the blush that itched along her neck at the sight of rapunzel and flynn kissing - he had watched that part.

"sorry, but i had to help julie, too. i tried to come earlier, i really did. she's sorta freaking out though, and i felt bad just leaving." she sighed, understanding, but still frustrated. he watched guiltily as she pushed her things off of her bed and pulled her hair away from her face.

"you have the song?" she asked, sitting criss-crossed on her bed.

he smiled, nodding. he was quick to pull out a crumpled sheet of paper with messy scrawled out writing.

gracie squinted, laughing immediately, "how did you pass any classes with handwriting like this?" she showed luke who rolled his eyes.

"i'm a poet." he said sarcastically. gracie laughed again, about to look away from the boy only for a guitar to appear in his arms. she yelped again, jumping back on her bed.

he winced at the noise, "stop yelling!"

she glared at him, eyeing the guitar that appeared out of thin air, "then stop surprising me!"

"i can't help it, im a surprising person." he sassed, "we found out about this today - we can get our instruments to appear whenever we want."

"how? why?" she asked, inching closer to look at the electric guitar.

he shrugged, "i think it's because our instruments are tied to our souls - i've always thought that. now, i guess, it just makes the most sense, right?" she hummed, her fingers reaching out to touch the strings only for her hand to go through.

she looked up in surprise, but he was smiling sadly, like he expected it.

"but if it's real -"

"i'm not, though. it's connected to me." gracie furrowed her brows in confusion, shaking her head softly.

"you are real. you're just..."

"a ghost?" he guessed, strumming lightly.

she frowned, tugging on her hair, "that doesn't make you any less real." he quirked a brow at her before raising his hand.

"what are you doing?" she asked, looking up at his eyes. from their close proximity, she began to see that his eyes weren't just plain brown - they had flecks of green, blue, and gold. a beautiful combination that some would call just hazel, but gracie knew right away that there were no pairs of eyes that could even be classified as the same as luke's.

he nodded his head towards her own hand, manicured and sat on her bare thigh, "put your hand up." she gave him a hesitant look making him chuckle softly, "come on, gracie~" he sang quietly.

she huffed before raising her hand an inch from his. he swallowed, feeling the warmth her hand could bring. if he just...

luke closed the gap between their hands, his fingertips reaching for her's. only, a cold gust breezed through their skin when luke's hand went through gracie's.

gracie kept her hand there for a second before pulling back. she looked up at luke once again through her lashes, "why'd you do that?"

he shrugged, dropping his hand to strum the guitar around him again, "maybe i am real, but i'm not alive. no matter how much you - you and julie make me feel like i am. sunset curve is long gone, so let us help you guys out. yeah?" she frowned softly, her fingers going back to her hair.

after a long moment, she hummed, "show me the chords."

gracie was doing this for them - for luke. because they never got to live out their dreams in life, and they deserved to feel like they were at least helping the girls in music. gracie didn't want to perform - she felt her eyes go blurry with tears and her throat close up every time she thought about it - but she was going to. she would for julie, and she would for the boys. she couldn't bear to see anyone disappointed or upset, and now she was really starting to feel her chest shimmer with pity for luke. she couldn't let them down.

she couldn't let the brunet guitarist down when he grinned at her voice singing his song - even when it was shaking with nerves. she couldn't let him down when his ringed fingers reached out to touch her guitar to strum and point to the right strings like he was alive. he looked alive, and he felt alive. both to himself and her. and she'd do anything to keep it that way.