Finally Free -- JATP Luke x MaleOC

Chapter 1

Jay sighed as he drove up to the front of the Molina household, parking his car and pulling out his phone to text Julie that he was there waiting. Minutes later Julie was walking out the front door with Ray Molina, to whom Jay gave a quick wave.

"Mornin'," Jay greeted as Julie sat in the backseat.

"Morning," Julie said, giving a quick but small smile. Jay glanced at her nervous form in the rearview mirror briefly before driving off to Flynn's house to pick her up.

The ride to school was mostly silent on Jay's part. He simply listened while the girls talked in hushed voices, giving glances in the mirror every so often. He picked up on nearly every word spoken despite the music playing from the car radio but kept quiet while Julie gushed about her anxieties with the music program and Flynn tried to be nothing but supportive until they finally parked.

"Good luck with the music program, Jules," Jay says as the girls began to step out of the car. The two of them gave a look to each other before looking back at Jay, who smiled at them, the click of the doors sounding as he stepped out of the car and locked the car with his keys, putting them into his pocket in one swift movement. He pulled his shirt down to keep it from bunching up on his chest, swung his backpack over his shoulder, and put some distance between himself and the girls before walking into the school.

After the day passed by rather uneventfully for Jay, he waited outside his car for the girls to arrive. He swiped absentmindedly on his phone, shifting his weight and posture as people passed by him. His backpack was already tossed into the passenger seat and he thought it was too much of a hassle to grab his headphones right now.

When Julie and Flynn had finally arrived, they both had a rather ashen look on their faces. Jay quickly took note of that and gestured to them to get in the car. He drove away from the school and was en route to Flynn's place when he finally spoke up again.

"Everything okay, you two?" Jay asked.

"Yeah," Julie said, nodding and giving a fake smile. "Yeah, everything's fine."

Jay raised an eyebrow, showing his disbelief, and Julie sighed.

"No. No, I." Julie released another sigh. "I couldn't play today. And the principal said it was my last chance. You know what that means."

Jay sighed through his nose, parking the car on Flynn's driveway and turning back to face the girls.

"I know it's hard. I can't imagine how much it hurts. You're still healing, and that's alright. I wish I could say more, but...take your time. Don't force anything, yeah?"

Julie nodded and gave a quick hug to Flynn as the latter departed. Jay reversed out of the driveway and went to Julie's house.

"Maybe we could try tomorrow?" Jay asked as he drove. "I could drop by your mother's studio and we could play something."

"Jay, you know I haven't been in there for a long time," Julie said.

"I know. That's why I said we could try." The two of them jerked forward as Jay parked. "If you don't want to, that's cool. The offer is available whenever you would like to accept."

Julie smiled and leaned forward, ruffling Jay's hair slightly with her fingers.

"I'll let you know, Mr. Businessman," she says jokingly.

"But of course madam. You know where to reach me," Jay replies with a smirk as Julie steps out of the car, shaking her head.

His drive back to his house is spent in silence, with only the noise of cars ringing in his ears. It had been about a year since Julie's mother had passed away, and the girl had lost her music. It was painful to her, Jay knew that, but a part of him was impatient for the girl to play music again. For her to rediscover her love for music and just how important it was for her, for them.

The studio used to be Jay's safe haven. A place where he could go to be who he was with no judgment. He could go play on the grand piano, oftentimes he would steal some of the instruments from the loft and play on those. He was good, he could admit that for himself, especially considering he was basically entirely self-taught. It used to be a near-daily occurrence when he was younger; now he was lucky if he got to stay at the Molina household for longer than an hour or two.

"I'm home," Jay called out as he closed the door to the house behind him.

No response.

Jay heaved a sigh of relief, going straight to his room and tossing his backpack onto his bed. He immediately opened his desk drawer and dug through its contents until he found a journal and a CD booklet. His homework could wait, right now he needed music.

He didn't pay attention to what CD he placed into his CD player, but the moment the electric guitar came in, he felt a weight go off his shoulders. AC/DC was always a good listen.

He tossed himself onto his bed, being careful to not hit his head on his backpack, and took a deep breath, spreading his arms out. He stared absentmindedly at his ceiling, losing himself in his album collection for most of the evening.

Sorry for such a short first chapter, but I think something short is a great way to get this story started. I have a lot of ideas for this story that I've put to paper and now am putting to a published area