Bruises - JATP Fanfic (Luke x OC)

Chapter 4

On the other side of the neighborhood, Brielle is still standing in front of her house, hoping for any sign that things have died down because she doesn't want to go see those ghosts, but after a full ten minutes, it's still as bad as when she arrived, if not worse. Taking the shortest route to Julie's house, which still takes a full twenty minutes, she hears rock music coming from the general direction of Julie's house before it cuts out a few moments later.

"Jules?" Brielle walks in to see the boys all around various instruments, and Julie reprimanding them about playing.

"Hey. Just making sure you're okay. Brielle, is everything alright? I thought you were going home." Ray notices Julie's friend sitting on the pullout couch. Ray has been like the father she could never have.

"I tried, but it's still going, even after six hours." Brielle shrugs, settling in on the couch.

"Wait, is this the junk that was in the loft?" Ray asks, and the boys freak at this remark, offended that Ray thought it was junk. "Some of this stuff is in pretty good shape." He bangs on the drums, freaking Alex out, since they're his drums. "Maybe we can make a couple of bucks. Or do you want any of this stuff, Brielle?"

"I mean, aside from the six-string and keyboard in the loft, I haven't even touched any of this stuff." Brielle shrugs, trying to keep a strong face on while he's around. Ray knows a bit about what goes on behind her front doors, but not much.

"I liked that song you had on." Ray heads towards the door, telling Julie she can play anything she wants in the studio and the guys obsess over the fact that Ray likes their music.

"He likes our song." Luke smiles, while Brielle starts to become more scared, because she doesn't know the guys, and her track record is littered with bruises, hospital visits, and more when new guys come around.

"Why can't you guys just be normal ghosts? Hang out at an old mansion. I hear Pasadena's nice." Julie walks out of the garage, leaving a terrified Brielle and three teenage guys in the studio.

"I think she's warming up to us." Alex smiles, completely ignoring Brielle's presence in the room.

"I've always wanted to go to Pasadena." Reggie agrees, and Luke poofs away.

"Look, I've had a really rough night. Can you guys just please be quiet?" Brielle interrupts Alex and Reggie's daydreams about Pasadena, scaring them half to death, if they weren't already dead.

"We're sorry. We forgot you were in here." The boys walk over to the pullout couch, and Brielle does everything in her power not to panic, run away, or cry as they sit next to her.

"Why are you here all the time? Didn't you say something still happening after six hours?" Alex remembers, and the outer shell she's made to hide her emotions from everyone cracks because she realizes they aren't going to do anything.

"My parents and brother get into a lot of fights, and it's just a lot to be around at home, so I usually crash on this couch." That's barely the surface of what goes on at her house, and basically all Ray knows about her home life. Julie only knows about that and a bit more, but Carlos somehow found out that her dad is very, very scary and beats her half to death after these episodes. Carlos and Julie's mother, before she passed, knew everything. The bruises, the cuts, the prosthetic foot, everything. It was like losing the one safe place she had when Julie's mom passed.

"Clearly your mom is into music." Luke tries to rationalize with Julie, hitting a heartstring that.

"Was." Julie corrects him, and the two boys sneak out of the garage silently to listen. "She passed away."

"I am so sorry." Luke's heart starts to break open as soon as he hears that, realizing he overstepped and had no idea the gravity of what he just said.

"Yeah, we... we didn't know." Alex apologizes, sharing the hurt that all five of them feel.

"It's alright." Julie shrugs, knowing they had no way to know that her mom had passed. "You guys haven't seen her anywhere, have you?" Brielle's ears perk up slightly, silently hoping for a yes.

"No. No, I mean, you and Brielle are kind of the first people we've seen." Julie's and Brielle's faces fall, at that sound knowing exactly what Alex means.

"Yeah, but she's not dead, so it doesn't answer her question." Reggie points out, even though he has a maturity level five years younger than his bandmates.

"I think she knows what we mean." Alex shuts Reggie up, quite well actually before apologizing for not knowing the situation well enough.

"Sorry I got mad. You guys are kinda good." Well, Luke isn't happy with that. Music is his life... and afterlife it seems.

"Kinda? You know, that's like twenty-five years of rust just being dusted off."

"Do you play the piano too?" Reggie wonders, asking about the beautiful grand piano that has been untouched for the last year.

"No, I don't play. Brielle occasionally plays on one of the guitars or the keyboard, but it's basically just my mom's stuff in there." Julie lies. She is so talented, but just hasn't gotten the courage to play since her mom died.

"No way. She's an amazing songwriter."

"She was. Wait, how would you know?" Julie wonders, realizing there's no way they should know that information.

"There's a song on the piano. If it's hers... your mom was really talented." Luke actually went through the entire song while Brielle and Julie were away, amazed at the talents of Julie's mother. Brielle writes plenty of songs too, but they're all in a songbook that she hides near the keyboard and guitar in the loft.

"I guess, if you need a place to stay, you can stay in there. There's a bathroom in the back and a couch that turns into a bed, if you still use any of that stuff. As long as Brielle is okay with it." Julie offers, and their faces light up at the chance to stay where they used to practice for days on end before they died.

"Dibs on the shower." Reggie calls. "I just really like showers and sometimes the occasional bath."

"Only if Brielle says it's okay. She's been through a lot, especially these last few years." Julie walks back to the main house, leaving the boys to deal with Brielle and her reaction to them staying there.

"So, Brielle, Julie said we could stay in--she's asleep. Shh. We can ask tomorrow. For now, let's just stay in the loft." Luke whispers once he sees the once terrified girl at peace.

"It's only eight thirty. Why would she want to be asleep?" Reggie sees the time on the old clock on the wall as Alex notices a bruise on her wrist that is exposed.

"Look. People don't just get bruises on there for no reason." Alex says to his bandmates, and they kind of piece the story together, which is more comprehensive than what even Julie knows, but don't say anything aloud. Not even Reggie wanted to say anything because it hurt him a lot to know someone else had to go through the thousands of screaming matches he had to go through at home. It was one of the many reasons he was happy to be in the band. Luke quietly sits on the semi-creaky bed, worried about the little girl who he barely knows.

Author's Note: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and all other holiday celebrations, again! This is my Christmas gift to all of you! There will only be one chapter next week, but I thought you guys deserved to have two chapters today in the spirit of giving. Did you guys like seeing some of Brielle's secrets. Super excited because I think I'll have one of the original songs I promised in the blurb that got you guys to read this next chapter, and I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Well, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Loves,

mistyrider921

~❣~