𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟒𝟎 | 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

We reappeared on the roof, it had been a while since we had been up there.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't - it just - I - "

"Hey, it's okay," I said as I pulled him in. "You don't have to say anything. That was a lot."

I ran my hand through Luke's hair as he started to sob. I don't know how long he was in my arms, but it had started to get dark out. I never wanted to let go of him, but eventually, he pulled away.

"Sorry," He chuckled. "I may have ruined your hoodie."

"That's okay," I smiled. "I was going to give it back to you, but now ... "

"Of course it's mine," Luke smiled, his eyes puffy and red. "Do you own any clothes of your own?"

"Nah, man," I shook my head. "Touchy subject, actually. I'm very much dead."

"Ah, I see," Luke observed the houses in the distance. "What would you say to your mom if you had the chance?"

I sat with this for a minute. I felt Luke's eyes on me as I thought, and I could tell he was thinking to, he might've known my answer before I did.

"Nothing."

Luke nodded. "Moms, huh?"

"Yeah," I scoffed. "You could say that again."

Silence took over us for a bit. The street lights had started to flutter on across Hollywood like a set of dominoes. It was as I sat there, contemplating afterlife and playing with my shoelaces, that I remembered something. My head shot up.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"One second."

I reappeared as quickly as I had vanished. Only when I returned, I had my notebook. I pressed my hand to the black and white cover and turned to face Luke.

"I think this will cheer you up."

"Alright," Luke said, accepting the notebook. "No black ink, right?"

"You can read the black ink," I pursed my lips. "But not yet, I wanted to show you that song again."

I sat closer to Luke and flicked through the pages. Once I reached the page entitled Stand Tall, I explained everything. How Rose suggested I started songwriting, how I couldn't describe the feeling it gave me, how we got detention for being late to class, and I had even shown him the note she left at the very back.

Luke wiped a tear from his cheek. "Wow."

"Yeah," I nodded. "And ... I remembered the melody."

"Well, alright then," Luke stood up. "Let's hear it."

We poofed into the garage, right beside the piano. We sat down and propped the notebook up in front of us. I started humming the melody, Luke challenged me to sing it, and then we both laughed at my terrible singing. It was really bad. Like awful.

Thankfully, it was enough for Luke to get a feel for it. Next thing I knew, he had found the right chords and was singing through the song. I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling his chest rise and fall as he sang. Needless to say, I caught more than just that feeling.

"Well, was that it?" Luke asked, referring to the melody.

"It was even better," I smiled.

Our tears and heartaches from earlier were long gone. We had that effect on each other. It was as I sat there, smiling and looking into Luke's eyes, that I noticed a change. It was subtle, but I could've sworn his pupils dilated and his his cheeky grin dropped a little. I think he noticed it too.

"I love you," He said.

"I love you too," I replied.

It was that simple. I reached for his hair as he cupped my face. Innocent kisses turned to dirty secrets as we made our way up to the loft. Let's just say Luke found one way of getting his hoodie back.