Continued - Julie and the Phantoms

Chapter Six

Julie had never seen Alex look so hurt and angry before. She'd helped him lift Willie onto the couch, where Reggie had laid a clean sheet down.

Julie had gone back to the house for a first aid kit and was cleaning up his wounds the best she could, while Alex carefully washed the blood out of his hair.

Upon a full inspection, Julie was shocked to find out that Willie had a pulse. She was unsure what that meant, but at least they knew he was alive. Whether that was a good or bad thing, Julie had no idea.

Alex wrung out the rag he had been using to clean Willie's hair and dipped it back into his bucket of water, gently cleaning dried blood off of his forehead.

His eyebrows were furrowed, concern painted on his face. He leaned forward, whispering comfort to his friend. Althought Willie couldn't hear him, it helped soothe Alex's nerves.

Julie had heard of Willie before, just that he was a friend of Alex's and had helped them get their spot at the Orpheum.

But watching Alex care for him, she quickly realized he was much more than a friend, which made her heart ache even more at Willie's condition.

Luke and Reggie walked into the room, carrying blankets and pillows.

"We got the bedding," Luke announced, setting his pile down on the floor. He joined Julie standing next to the couch.

"How is he doing?" He asked her, taking her hand.

"No better, no worse. I cleaned up his injuries the best I could, but there's no way to tell how much it helped." She lowered her voice so Alex wouldn't hear. "These kinds of injuries are deadly, Luke. If he wasn't already a ghost I think he would have been gone by now."

Her eyes welled up slightly, and dropping Luke's hand, she turned away to help Reggie set up small beds on the floor.

They were simple, but thankfully the Molina's had an unnecessary amount of blankets that had finally come in handy.

Reggie pointed to an extra bed in the corner. "I figured you'd want to sleep in here tonight," He told Julie, and she smiled appreciatively.

It was around 10 pm now, and Julie's dad had already gone to bed. She didn't know how she would explain to him the fatally injured teenager unconscious on the couch, but decided to cross that bridge when she got to it.

Alex stood up from finishing treating Willie, moving the water bucket and the rag to a small table on the other side of the room.

"Guys, I think I know what happened to Willie." He said quietly, looking small as he stood in the middle of the room.

Julie sat down on her makeshift bed, looking up at him attentively. Luke and Reggie had sat down as well.

Alex took a seat on his own bed, then began explaining.

"Willie and I talked once, about how our deaths affected us. He told me about how he had died from skating too recklessly and getting in the way of a car. He also told me how he'd laid there, in horrible pain, for almost five minutes before he died.

"He could remember every little injury he had, because he could feel them all. Those injuries he told me about exactly match ones he has now. I think.." He paused, swallowing and blinking back tears. "I think Caleb turned him back into a human the way he was, injuries and all." He explained.

Julie felt a tear fall down her cheek. She couldn't imagine how it felt for Willie, to have to endure such horrible pain.

She scooted over to where Alex sat, giving him a big hug. Luke and Reggie joined in, throwing their arms around their friend.

"Don't worry, Alex. We'll do everything we can to help Willie." Luke reassured him, not pulling away from the hug.

"He'll be okay, I know it," Reggie added, giving them all a big squeeze.

"I love you guys," Alex sniffled, "But now you've gotta get off me before I get claustrophobic."

They all laughed half-heartedly, returning back to their own makeshift beds. Alex was positioned directly next to Willie's couch, with Reggie on the other side of him.

Luke had his bed next to Reggie's, and Julie's was on the very end.

They all decided it was probably best to get some sleep after a stressful day, and Julie turned the lights off. After about an hour, everyone was asleep except her.

She sat against the wall, holding her knees and staring at nothing.

The last person she'd seen that close to death had been her mom, and she felt horrible seeing Alex in such a similar position to what hers was.

His painfully familiar cry out when he saw Willie had brought back all the memories she fought so hard to forget.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away. Crying wouldn't help anyone right now, least of all her.

"Julie?" A soft voice broke through the quiet dark, and she looked over to see Luke sitting up in his bed.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?" His concerned voice asked.

Julie sniffed, wiping her face again.

"Yeah, I'm okay. You should go back to sleep," She answered, turning away. Even in the dark, his gaze was chokingly intense.

"Julie."

She heard shuffling movement, and turned back to Luke. He had moved over to her blanket, now sitting a foot away from her.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, gazing at her with question in his eyes.

Her heart thumped in her chest as she held his gaze. She was fighting back tears, but she could only hold them for so long.

She sobbed as quietly as she could, tears streaming relentlessly down her face as she looked helplessly at Luke in the dark.

He stared at her for a moment, hesitating, then reached out and pulled her into his arms.

She sobbed onto his chest until she couldn't anymore. Luke let her cry, holding her securely and gently rubbing her shoulder with his thumb.

"I'm scared, Luke." Julie confessed, choking on her sobs in an effort to stay quiet.

"It's okay," He assured her, in a voice softer than she'd ever heard him speak before. "You're okay."

She eventually pulled away from him, regaining her composure and smiling weakly.

Luke returned her smile, pushing a stray lock of her hair back behind her ear.

Julie felt her cheeks grow hot. Luke was inches away from her, but he didn't even seem to notice.

His eyes searched hers, still looking concerned. "Do you feel any better?" He asked, wiping away the tears on her face.

He didn't move his hand away.

Julie swallowed, nodding slightly. She couldn't catch her breath. She looked up at Luke questioningly, trying to read his expression through the dark.

The concern in his eyes had melted into intense emotion, his gaze flicking back and forth between Julie's eyes and lips.

Her heart hammered in her chest. Their faces were as close as they could be without touching, and Julie half expected to lean forward and go through Luke, like a ghost.

He closed the gap between them, slipping his other hand to the back of her neck as he kissed her gently.

Julie melted into his presence, feeling nothing but bliss. Part of her wanted to worry about how this would affect their friendship, if Luke really meant what he was doing, but the other part of her didn't care and kissed him back.

They kissed until they couldn't fight back sleep anymore, Julie fell asleep happier than she'd been in a long time, and Luke fell asleep with her in his arms and nothing on his mind but a vow that he would do everything in his power to protect this girl.

Juke my babies🙁🙁

i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter <3