Turn Back Time

Chapter 6 - Cold Front

"Dad, I'll fix it, I promise. I'll make them change their mind about the decision to kick me out of the program."

Luke caught Julie pleading with her father in the living room as he snooped around the first floor. He leaned over the corner of the wall, seeing a sliver of the conversation going on in front of him.

"Julie, I just want you smiling again. That music program made you so happy." He watched as Julie's eyes gravitated toward the floor, clasping her hands together. Ray walked closer to his daughter, eyes wide "What happened, baby? How can I help?"

Julie shook her head "Dad it's not anything you can do. I'll take care of it. I....I just need some time." She avoided his eyes and ran up the stairs quickly.

Luke slid his back against the wall behind him. He bit down on his bottom lip as he thought hard about what he just heard.

Later that afternoon, Luke strummed mindlessly as he watched the sunrise out of the garage window. He looked over at his girlfriend, who was flipping through an old magazine she found in one of the crates around the room. His smile stretched wide as he watched her expressions seemingly changed with every sentence she read. His eyes rose to the ceiling as he tapped his pencil on the table in front of him. His movements stopped for a moment before his eyes darted toward a blank sheet of paper in his songbook, writing furiously.

Y/N sat up on the couch and diverted her gaze toward her boyfriend, writing frantically in the notebook below him. She smiled lazily at his tongue hanging from the corner of his mouth, his hand rapidly pressing across the page. Whatever he was writing, he was about to lose it. She could tell by the way he rose his hand to Alex as the blonde tried to approach him with a question. Alex nodded in his direction, rotating his feet and moving back toward Reggie. She giggled as she admired his conviction, leaning her chin against the arm of the chair and laying on her stomach.

He finally looked up from the book with a proud smile. His eyes drifted around the room until they landed on hers. As he moved over to the couch, Y/N quickly flipped to her back. Luke grabbed her legs, raising them and then sliding underneath her body. He laid them gently on top of his lap, meeting her eyes again.

"What's racing through that mind rockstar?"

He pressed his lips together "Something I can't show you yet."

She pouted, leaning her head back. She felt the boy begin to tap on her shins and pulled her gaze back up toward the other side of the couch. He met hers with his signature puppy dog pout and she rolled her eyes. Luke nodded his head, encouraging her to move to a seated position. As soon as she was vertical, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her over to him. She tried to hold back a smile as she laid her head in the crook of his neck.

"I promise, I'll show you soon." He pressed a kiss to her head as she ran her fingers up and down his arms, smiling as she felt him shiver underneath her touch.

"Y/N, you ready to go?" Alex asked, approaching the two of them.

She nodded, leaning out of Luke's grasp. She had promised Alex that she'd take him to a nearby park to meet Willie properly, Alex was a bit nervous to bring the new skater boy around anyone else in the group. As she stood to her feet, Luke and Reggie tried to plead with him to tag along, but Alex denied them immediately by stating he didn't want to overwhelm his new....friend.

"Y/N is a calming presence, you two are....ridiculous," Alex said, his finger pointing between the two boys in front of him.

Luke scrunched his face in frustration and Reggie rolled his eyes, but Alex stayed stoic. He wrapped an arm around Y/N and the two snapped simultaneously, leaving the room.

Once the garage went silent, Luke paced around the room as he hummed lightly to himself. He ran over to the book again, writing another few lines. Reggie peeked over his bandmate's shoulder at the scribbles and smiled.

"You're on a roll today Patterson?"

Luke didn't answer, hunching over the table and continuing to write. Reggie stood back up, nodding to himself as he walked back to his chair. "Yup, definitely on a roll."

Reggie wandered into the house to spend some quality time with Ray, leaving Luke alone in the garage. His head lifted at the sound of the door opening. He watched as Julie's small body walked cautiously inside. He gave her a soft smile, ushering her over to him with her hand.

"Hey Julie," He greeted her eagerly, winning a slight wave in response.

"So I heard you and your dad talking about the music program today..." She rolled her eyes at him as the boy dug right into the point.

"Luke, why were you snooping-"

He interrupted her, tearing out a piece of his journal and pressing it out to her. "I know, but I have a song for you, it's an unreleased Sunset Curve track, our old band. This is a surefire way to get you back into the program."

"Luke, I can't just ask them to..."

He held a hand up to her face "That's where you're wrong. Asking is not a part of the plan, you are going to go out there and perform for them whether they like it or not. Blow it out of the water!" He smiled wide at her before snatching the paper from her hand.

"Just...sing with me please?"

Julie sighed, peeking over to share the sheet of paper with Luke.

"And rise through the night, you and I, We will fight to shine together, bright forever And rise through the night, you and I, We will fight to shine together," The pair sang. Luke held his hand higher, keeping his eyes on her "and go up higher at this part." Julie nodded as they started again "bright foreverrr"

Julie beamed up at Luke, who looked pretty satisfied with the results. He handed the paper to her again, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Thanks, Luke, this is amazing." He returned the smile, nodding slightly.

The two singers didn't notice Y/N's eye at the slightly ajar garage door. The girl had found her way back after Alex insisted on staying with Willie for "just 20 more minutes." She frowned to herself as she watched Julie and Luke giggle and harmonize alone.

So Luke didn't want to show her his new song, but he'd show Julie....who he just met? She couldn't remember a time that he had ever let her listen to a track before Reggie or Alex or even Bobby at one point. She tried to fight the rising heat to her cheeks as she pursed her lips together.

She needed a breather so she snapped her fingers and left the house once again.