okay but why has no one mentioned luke looks at julie’s lips so often?! like he’s not slick at alllll he just stares and I need a fanfic where one of the guys calls him out on it!!!!!
he REALLY DOES!!! boy can’t stop himself it’s like he’s never seen lips before damn
he’s so stressed most of the time because he doesn’t know whether to stare at her eyes or lips or face in general and then she starts singing and he’s a goner because what the hELL is he supposed to do if not melt in a puddle
(also it would definitely be alex calling him out all the while reggie is snickering away (while throwing in his own comments) in the background)
an exhaustive list of things i love about “perfect harmony”:
- on a meta level, i am deeply obsessed with the fact that madison and charlie wrote it together because that’s such a clever way to give the actors more immediate access to a huge part of their characters’ intimacy AND because it’s a really nice mentorship move, affording two actors early in their careers the opportunity to push their creative limits
- luke singing step into my world when he’s actually taking a step into julie’s, both in the context of the fantasy and in the story more broadly, and how the world being that of a bittersweet love story ‘bout a girl reinforces this crafty juxtaposition
- much of the choreography being a mirror image of the dance julie just did with nick, starting with the hands and how carelessly julie can take nick’s vs. how much pathos goes into the moment she tries to grab onto luke’s
- julie’s ‘please reassure me through this’ look she gives to luke when their hands miss coming into contact twice and his ‘trust me, you got this’ eyebrow wiggling and subtle little nod
- and then the way she freaking Comes Alive when they finally do touch
- when the keyboard beat drops and just. the song currently exists solely in julie’s head so of course it’s driven forward by her instrument while being supported readily by luke’s lulling guitar (god i just *clenches fists* love subtext)
- nick’s lift being straightforward and about the act of the lift vs. both of luke’s lifts being more stylized and romantic
- the lyric when he goes, i know he doesn’t leave because it’s a playful line about luke being a ghost but also because luke’s not there in dance class yet he’s fully alive in julie’s head and heart she’s carrying him with her always the ROMANCE of it all
- speaking of ROMANCE her hand planted over his heart for the move that accompanies the lyric? top-shelf
- nick’s fancy floor moves ft. julie vs. luke’s fancier floor moves ft. fancier julie
- they just have the cutest flirty expressions here idk
- nick & julie’s clumsy and short-lived version of this move vs. luke & julie’s smooth af, lingering version
- the way all these mirrored moments add up to say that luke has fully supplanted nick as the loverboy of julie’s fantasy life and is clearly a far more complete person to her than nick ever was. on the flip side of that, though, is the way these mirrored moments speak to flynn’s line about julie ‘always want[ing] what she can’t have’…nick is there in real life and it’s less glamorous than the fantasy. which is only a small part of why julie’s going full ‘i am not looking i do not see it’ with nick’s feelings but the writing/framing is encouraging us to see that it’s still for sure a factor and i, for one, am compelled
- luke’s finger flare when he reaches his destination and they’re finally palm-to-palm and how it makes me need to lie down for a full hour
- smiiiiles
- and lastly, the way the complete song is chock full of lyrics that play with the convergence of these two people being in each other’s lives unnaturally (two worlds collide when i’m with you + we’re heaven on earth) and their connection being only more powerful for that fact (we come to life when we’re / in perfect harmony speaking to how they defy death through music + love me as i am / i’ll hold your music here inside my hand building on that to bring the deepest ‘music = the spark of life’ cut into being)
from this list and thank you anon! this was so much fun to write 😍
50. A kiss, followed by more that trail down the jaw and neck.
Julie couldn’t keep the dopey smile from her face as she watched the coffee run through the machine. She had been practically smiling non-stop for almost twelve hours now, and she wasn’t entirely sure if she’d ever stop again.
After all, Luke and her had finally kissed. Years and years of pining and being best friends and worrying about their friendship and they had finally taken the plunge into the unknown.
Okay, maybe, Alex and Reggie had shoved them.
It didn’t change the outcome, though.
The machine gurgled and Julie took the can, filling up her mug. She was about to breathe in the delicious scent of early morning coffee, when two hands snuck around her waist.
“I knew it…” He whispered, his breath fanning against her neck, voice still rough from sleep.
She hummed questioningly in response, enjoying the way, his thumbs drew circles against the shirt she was wearing. It was his, because of course, it was. She had been stealing his shirts to sleep in for years now. “What?” She asked, when he didn’t elaborate.
“You like coffee more than me.”
“I do?” Julie turned around so she could face him, eyebrows raised.
Luke nodded earnestly, his fingers sneaking their way onto her skin, hands spanning her sides. It was ridiculous, the way her entire body reacted to the contact. The flutter in her stomach, the way her heart picked up speed, the heat pooling between her legs.
“Yeah… leaving me all alone in bed like that,” he pouted. Then his eyes flitted over her face, bottom lip disappearing and the way he blinked told her that he wasn’t joking anymore. “I- for a moment, I thought you had left.”
She let out a breath. Putting her hands on the sides of his face, she got onto her toes. Julie made sure, he was listening closely when she said, “I’d never leave like that. I’m all in. I’ve been all in for years.”
He wanted to duck his head, but she wouldn’t let him.
“You’re it for me, Luke Anthony Patterson.”
He grimaced at the use of his second name but that didn’t diminish the radiant smile on his face. “You’re it for me, Juliana Molina.”
She rolled her eyes fondly. “That’s not my name,” was all she got out, before his lips were on hers.
The kiss started out harmlessly enough, her hands framing his face, thumbs tracing over his cheekbones. His were still drawing circles above her hip bones and the tenderness of the moment filled her with the familiar butterflies she always felt whenever Luke was being sweet or kind or passionate or any other quality or thing she liked about him.
And there were a lot. She had songs filled with them hidden away in her dream box, never brave enough to show them to him.
Her tongue swiped across his bottom lip, asking for permission and when he opened his lips, the air around them turned heavy quickly. Fingers and hands wandering over every inch of skin they could find, continuing their explorations from the night before.
He gripped her legs, hoisting her up onto the kitchen counter, coffee machine long forgotten as he stepped between them, fingers wandering up her sides, brushing against her breasts.
Julie let out a moan, especially as he peppered kisses onto her jaw, down her neck to her clavicle. Her breathing turned heavy, fingers messing up his hair even further.
“You know, I really like you wearing my clothes and all but that thing has to go.”
She laughed at his offended tone, tugging the shirt over her head.
A low whistle, he said, “Remind me again why we haven’t been doing this naked thing much, much sooner?”
“Something about bandmates not fraternizing and not ruining our friendship and stuff like that…” She answered, words muffled by her lips wandering along his jawline until they reached his ear lobe, gently biting into it.
Julie stopped when she felt him grow tense underneath her touch, leaning back slightly.
“We’re not ruining that, right?” He asked.
“You’re it for me, remember? As my co-writer, my best friend, my lover” – she wiggled her eyebrows at the last part – “you’re it.”
He blinked at her, brain obviously working and Julie let him think for a moment, fingers playing with the curls at the nape of his neck. When he still hadn’t said anything after a minute or two, she raised an eyebrow.
“But I can always put on the shirt again and—”
“No!” He exclaimed, shaking his head quickly. “Nope, no- no clothes. You’re my lover, remember?”
She hummed. “Seems like you forgot about it for a second there.”
Leaning forward, she wanted to kiss him, but he blurted out something else before she could do so. “I love you.”
Julie blinked.
“I know, that’s like, super early because we’ve only been doing this for, um, half a day now but I mean, I’ve been in love with you for years and this is not just because you’re ridiculously sexy and pretty right now, but because you’re you all the time and well, I love you.”
She smiled at him, the earnestness and softness in his eyes making her heart flutter excitedly in her chest.
“I love you, too.” She answered simply, making him let out a loud ‘whoop’ before he swooped in to kiss her again.
“Bed now, coffee later?” He mumbled against her lips.
“Sounds like a good idea.” She answered before pulling him in for another kiss, sealing a deal that would last a lifetime.
juke | human!au + brother!reggie | title from BFB // victorious
If someone had to ask her who the one constant in her life was, she would have to say Luke Patterson. Which was depressing, cause the guy went through life pretending to be a 90s heartthrob and, even worse, that list didn’t even include her own mother.
Julie met Luke when she was five and he was six. Her brother Reggie befriended him on the first day of school and the rest was history. “Soul-brothers” they called themselves, which would be cute if they weren’t so obnoxious together. Separate, they were somewhat manageable. Put those two in the same room? Chaos would ensue.
He was there for it all. Weekly play dates, birthdays, the occasional holiday, her mom’s funeral, band rehearsals. And when Luke had a month-long falling out with his parents, he stayed with them.
Realistically, that should make him seem like a brother to Julie. But neither Carlos or Reggie were as infuriating as Luke was! With the stupid band tees and the stupid smile and the stupid, relentless teasing he lovingly bestowed upon her. She lost count how many times he “poisoned” her soda with salt or woke her with a heart attack by playing his electric guitar. At least she had some grip on her brothers, being their only sister, but Luke…
How long do you think Julie stayed in the garage after the group hug? They way they’re like “We’ll give you this, and you can let your imagination run wild with what happened after.” Part of me feels like she couldn’t just leave after that hug.
Wait no stop-
All of them giving her individual hugs after like I-
She stayed in the garage all night and I will not be taking criticism at this time. She was scared. She almost lost the three people that mean the most to her and she’s going to immediately let them out of her sight? I don’t think so. They hugged all night, they made up fun handshakes, Luke literally would not leave her side, they talked about all the memories they made so far, THEY PLAYED TAG!!! They might have just sat there and held hands, who knows? She did not go to bed that night though.
As soon as Julie leaves the room, he’d gush to the boys “She just called me her boyfriend!” in the same tone as when he found out Ray liked their music, but with more of this kind of energy😍😍😍
canon-verse, pining, established, a piece of clothing you find significant for either of them <3
i love this so much, and i hope you enjoy this fic. thank you so much for writing me that one-shot, because WOW is it my new favorite thing. just. wow.
Julie never thought that painting clothes would be a cute couples activity -- but here she was, with a pair of her own jeans, and a pair of Luke’s jeans, in front of her on a plastic-covered table.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me painting these jeans?” Luke looks up at her, paintbrush in hand, looking down at her already partially-painted pants like he could destroy them by touching them. “I’m- I’m worried I’m gonna mess it up.”
“So what if you do? You’re trusting me to paint your jeans. I could easily mess it up.”
He shakes his head with a smile. “No, you’re Julie Molina. You don’t mess things up.”
She’s always been used to his sweet, full-faith compliments towards her that he made effortlessly -- but now that they were together, Luke almost seemed to shower her in them, like he had gone so long trying to hold himself back from saying them most of the time and now he could finally verbalize every loving thought that came to him.
With a blush, Julie mirrors his head shake.
“Well, I trust you. Do your worst. It’ll look cool no matter what.”
Julie watches as he takes his bottom lip between his teeth, and looks down at her jeans as if they are something special to him.
(Anything she owns his special to him, but he hasn’t exactly said that out loud. He doesn’t have to.)
Taking his silence as a signal that she is good to start, Julie dips her brush into the orange paint off to her side and is drawing a line down the side of the pants before her focus is disrupted by Luke suddenly saying: “I don’t like being this far away.”
He was only on the opposite side of the dining room table, but he lifts up Julie’s jeans and walks over so that he is sitting right next to her. Once the denim is spread out in front of him, he sends Julie a content grin and leans over to kiss her on her shoulder.
“Much better.”
Julie tries to prevent a dopey smile forming on her face -- but it’s Luke, and he’s being Luke, and she shouldn’t feel like needing to hide her happiness anymore. If anything, he wants to see it.
For the next five to ten minutes, the two of them run their paint brushes along each other's pants in silence. Just each other’s company is comforting in itself, and eventually, Julie finds herself tilting to the side and resting her head on his shoulder.
A kiss is pressed to the top of her head. She hums in response.
Luke’s pants, after about twenty minutes, have cool multicolored diagonal lines criss-crossing along the sides. When she glances over at her own pants, where her boyfriend has been lazer-focused on whatever design he’s been painting, she sees an intricate purple design.
“Does this look like a dahlia?” He asks her, out of the blue. He’s gesturing to the purple blob, and when she looks closer, she is surprised at how much it actually does look like her favorite flower -- like he’s put a lot of time in making it good.
It’s a perfect little purple flower on her right back pocket.
“It’s perfect,” she tells him, because it’s what she thinks. Rotating her head, she puckers her lips against the top of his bicep; lips curling into a smile against his bare skin. “I love it.”
His lips bloom into a smile, one that she doesn’t always get to see at it’s full potential: The smile that Luke gets when he is truly, genuinely proud of himself.
He’s got a good cocky smile, sure, and a confident one too, but sometimes he gets a heartbreakingly happy grin on his face like he has finally done something right and he can’t believe it.
Julie wonders if he would smile like that more often if he knew, truly knew, how happy he made her every day.
“Well, my pants look awesome, so thank you,” he compliments back with a low voice. “I would have loved anything you did, but that- That looks rad.”
She tries to muffle a giggle into his shoulder. “I love when you say stuff like that.”
“Like what?”
“That looks rad,” she mocks, lowering her voice to try and sound like him. When he pouts, she does the opposite and stretches her mouth into a smile; quickly pushing herself up to kiss him and get rid of his pout no matter how cute it is.
“It’s better than ‘that slaps,’” he fires back, making himself sound like her and Flynn when they listen to a new song that they both like. “You could learn a thing or two from my slang.”
“Just for that, I’m painting ‘that slaps’ right across the butt of these jeans. You’ll get some good action with that, too.”
In retaliation, Luke leans in and buries his face into her hair, pressing rapid kisses all along her neck and cheek. “Please don’t,” he growls with a smile. “I don’t want anyone touching my ass except for you.”
Laughing at the feeling of his lips ticking her neck, Julie shrugs him off so that she can turn herself to properly, fully, kiss him.
Against his lips, which are eagerly responding to hers, she chuckles: “Me neither.”
juke | canon compliant, established relationship | based on this incredible fanart by @lovelyrugbee !
When she and Luke got together, she expected things to change a little. Everything they had kept brimming beneath the surface was now allowed to be out in the open. Blatant affection, compliments thrown around, sneaking kisses, opening up about things that they couldn’t before for the sake of keeping some of their heart locked and safe. Now that they’ve given each other their hearts, secrecy wasn’t needed anymore.
Perhaps the best thing ever, Julie thought, was the way he preferred loving her. If someone asked her what she liked in a guy before Luke, she wouldn’t say to be dragged around like a doll into hugs and kisses. That she was above simple affection like that. But damn - she really wasn’t. Julie loved how Luke expressed himself. With music onstage, with his nose nuzzled in her neck offstage.
the jatp cast doing irl interviews would just be charlie and owen throwing down in the background for absolutely no reason at all while jeremy and madison continue to answer questions as if nothing happened
Someone please tell me. In the Perfect Harmony sequence, I could have sworn Julie was wearing a dress, but while rewatching I could have sworn it looked like a skirt. Sooo is it a dress or is it a skirt?? This is completely irrelevant btw. I’m just losing my mind waiting for S2 to the point where I can do nothing but rewatch and examine insignificant details. Like why???? Next thing you know I’ll be trying to find meaning behind these insignificant details!! Nick wears fedoras. Is it a distraction to cover up some childhood trauma? Carlos found a recipe for a third French dip! Who created the recipe?? Is he related to the Molinas? Why was his recipe in their garage?? Did he cross over?? How’s he doing??😭😭 Someone please save my sanity.
THIS IS COMPLETELY BC @lydias--stiles PEER PRESURRED ME BC THIS CAME IN MY FEED (if this is shorter and isn’t as good as my usual ones, my apologizes, it’s just my brain started going and wouldn’t stop and I was peer pressured in the best way possible into writing this) A heatwave, no air conditioning as the band practices in the garage
They were a dedicated group. Most bands would call it a day if the weather wasn’t in their favor. However, Julie and the Phantoms was not like most bands. For one, a quarter of their band was the only alive one in the group. Although, it did beg the question. If there was only one lifer in the band, why were all of them sweating?
The garage had turned into a sauna. When the garage was built, the builders probably didn’t keep in mind that in a the future a band, primarily composed of ghosts, would be using it to practice in during a heat wave.
They were practically drenched in sweat. Sure, Reggie had ditched his leather jacket and opted for his black tank top. Alex ditched his signature pink hoodie for his blue shirt. Julie wore her crop top and Luke... well... Luke was still sleeveless, what a shock. None were spared from the heat though.
“Can’t we be done yet?” Reggie huffed through the wet strands of hair that had fallen over his eyes after the ending of a measure.
“I’m telling you, this is the last time.”
“That’s what you said the last five times.” Alex ran a hand through his soaked mop of blond catching Luke’s bluff.
“You know how he is.” Julie directed her comment about Luke towards Alex, which got a smile of agreement.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The guitarist looked over to the girl on the keyboard.
“Nothing. Just,” she shrugged, “how nothing gets in your way even a heatwave.”
“Yeah speaking of that,” Luke interjected, “out of all the changes you couldn’t have at least included an AC in here?” He grabbed the bottom edge of his shirt, brought the fabric up to his forehead to wipe the sweat away.
Julie tried to avert her eyes.
Right, they were originally a band from the 90’s who practiced in here all the time that consisted of all guys. If there was ever a heatwave when Sunset Curve practiced they probably would have other means of staying cool... that involved less clothing... on the top half. The section she did see as he wiped away the sweat left much to the interpretation. Maybe if he pulled it up just a little bit- WAIT! NO! NO! She was not imagining that. Nope! Not at all. At least in was in her head. Well, based on Alex and Reggie’s looks of exchanges to each other, there was also probably a large possibility that a hint of red was on her cheeks and they knew exactly why.
After what seemed like forever, also coincidentally when Luke finished wiping his forehead therefore the shit came down, she finally found the words after clearing her throat. “Maybe I would have if I would have known I would be in a ghost band who apperently can sweat.”
“Yeah, I don’t get that.” Reggie agreed.
“We’re made of air yet can still feel the heat?” Alex added. “This ghost stuff is all too weird.”
“You know what else is weird?” Luke brushed a hand through the soggy mop on his head directing his question at Julie. “How are you not hotter?”
...That... did not come out right.
“TEMPERATURE! I MEAN TEMPERATURE!” He instantly corrected his sentence after getting a wide eyed surprised expression from Julie and his friends rolling in laughter behind him. “REAL MATURE GUYS!”
“What do you mean?” Julie tried to ask in a way that sounded like she wasn’t about ready to combust right then and there.
“We’re over here drenched and you’re just sitting there looking-” he stopped himself from pretty, “-not drenched.”
Smooth... real smooth there.
“How about you?” She directed the question back.
“Hm?”
“How are you drenched when you...” she decided to gesture to the lack of sleeves.
“Yeah.” Alex agreed. “How?”
“I’m sure you have something up there.” He suddenly poofed up the loft to prove his point of Alex being clearly a little annoyed that he was in just a t-shirt compared to the others.
Alex got up from his drums and stood next to Julie, who was sat at the piano, to be able to see Luke more clearly in the loft. Reggie also joined Julie at her side to also be able to see Luke more clearly.
Alex saw the Duffel bag, which had his items in it, be thrown over the railing onto the floor at his feet. “Hey!”
“I’m just saying, you probably have something in there.” Before he went to poof down, something caught his eyes. “Hey! I’ve been looking for this one!” He exclaimed excited, clearly forgetting he had an audenice, kneeling down pulling his shirt over his head.
Julie’s veiw was obstructed by Alex and Reggie’s hands shielding her eyes, which immediately came once Luke pulled his shirt up over his head.
“If you were blushing like crazy the last time-”
“I was not.” She defended Reggie’s statement.
“Tell that to your bright red checks.” Alex chimmed in.
“...how bright were they?”
“Reggie’s bass bright.”
“Well he didn’t notice.”
“Yeah he’s kinda oblivious to things like that.”
“Uhh?” The pair dropped their hands hearing Luke’s voice. He stood in front of them, new sleeveless shirt and all.
“Oh yeah!” Reggie recalled seeing his shirt. “That’s a good one.”
The three could see him trying to work it out. “You two were... when I was...”
“Sixth times a charm as they say!” Alex gave him no more time to work out why him and Reggie had covered Julie’s eyes. They didn’t want their lead vocalist to combust in the middle of rehearsal. If her cheeks were any indicator of seeing the sneak peek earlier... Julie Molina would have passed out right then and there and Luke Patterson would have been completely oblivious to the reason why.
theartofmadeline
turnnoffyourmind
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
pixelskylines
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
