#juke au

dahliagirl0910: u want to commission me?? fr?? mad-ducks1026: im a patron of the arts dahliagirl0910: luke u dont have to mad-ducks1026: i want to also its not for me i actually really need a present for him dahliagirl0910: you’re not getting a discount btw girl needs to pay for her new shoes mad-ducks1026: jules i’m willing to pay you above your rate 1)cuz you worth it you talented wrecking ball you And b)he’s been having a rough time. this would cheer him up also so u could focus on ur art and performance dahliagirl0910: luke ur so sweet i’ll do it So what you thinking? mad-ducks1026: he thinks the way you draw rachel is ‘supes adorbs’ nah he don’t talk like that lol be awesome if you drew him like that dahliagirl0910: a portrait noted wanna tell me more about him? so i can get a feel for what to draw mad-ducks1026: well he drums also loves to dance think britney spears but if it was a tall skinny dude also mad sarcastic you’ll get along dahliagirl0910: if we both put up with you on a daily basis Then yep we're already besties tho im gonna need to know what he looks like mad-ducks1026: ... i got u

***

“Hey, which one of these pics do you like?” Luke all but shoved his phone into Alex's face.

The drummer stumbled into a stop in the middle of the school hallway. He gave Luke and odd look before swiping through the folder of his own pictures.

“Ugh. I look homeless in this one” Alex scrunched his nose at their group photo before settling on a pic Bobby had taken of him at a past gig, "That one? I guess? I don't look half bad"

“Sick. Thanks”

Luke took his phone back and promptly sent Alex's picture to Julie on discord.

The blond tried peering over his friend's shoulder, “Uh, what are you doing with my picture?”

“Can’t tell you. It’ll ruin your birthday surprise”

“Well, now he know it’s for his birthday” Reggie stage-whispered.

“Luke, it’s my image I have the right to sue you for unauthorized distribution of said image. Now gimme!”

Alex made a grab for Luke's phone but he ducked under the drummer's outstretched arm, shielding it from view.

The two began fighting over the phone until Reggie had to step in before a teacher noticed their roughhousing.

“Guys, guys!" Reggie wedged himself into the middle, pushing Alex back and snatching Luke's phone out of his hand.

"You" Reggie pointed to Alex, "You are gonna stop using your height to your advantage."

Luke gaped at the two of them, while Alex smirked. "Hey!"

"And you" Reggie addressed Luke, "can you please tell us what's going on?"

There was a moment of hesitation.

Then Luke caved.

"Fine” he looked to his shoes, “I may have commissioned a portrait in your honor.”

“You’re commissioned Julie” Alex surmised.

“I never said-”

“Luke” the blonde sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Were you actually gonna send her my picture?”

“I, uh, already did”

“Dude!”

“Don’t you want her to draw you?”

“Er, well, I mean, yeah" Alex stammered, "But, aside from sending a stranger my picture and the boundaries with that, are you sure this is a good idea? Like weird that she’s gonna see what I look like before she finds out what you look like”

Reggie hummed, “Why haven’t you video called yet? You guys have been calling and collabing for a while now"

“I want to” Luke shrugged, “I dunno. It’s just something we haven’t done yet.”

“Scared?” The bassist asked.

“What? No”

“Of what you'll see? Or what she'll see"

Luke's face softened, “I don’t care what she looks like. We’re doin’ alright, okay?”

Reggie turned to Alex, "It's definitely of what she sees."

Ok, maybe, maybe, Luke was a little bit self-conscious of what Julie may think of him. His life, despite how fun it was playing music with his boys and writing fics, was pretty much a mess.

He looked homeless half the time and barely remembered to brush his hair before going anywhere.

Meanwhile, Julie was an LA girl. Though he knew better than to assume she was the judgemental type (She wasn't. She was the sweetest internet friend he's ever had, despite her friendly snarking), Luke still couldn't help but be nervous.

"Luke, I'll say this once because you know this, the school knows this, and you already have a big head when it comes to music" Alex braced his hands on Luke's shoulders, "You're tragically handsome"

"Hot. He means" Reggie clarified.

Alex relented, "Ok, tragically hot"

Luke didn't know how to take that, "Like it's sad?"

"It's sad how hot you are" Alex said.

Reggie nodded in agreement, "Like, kind of unfair."

"Thanks, boys" Luke rolled his eyes, opting to give both of them a surprise hair ruffling, "You're not so bad looking yourselves."

"Aww shucks" Reggie waved a flattered hand, batting his eyelashes "You really know how to charm a guy, Lukey."

Luke snorted and poked the bassist's sides, earning a laugh out of the both of them.

"Gay"

The two turned to Alex.

He shrugged, "What? I can say that."

Reggie shot him finger guns, "Hell yeah you can, buddy."

The bell rang, prompting the trio to make their way to their classes.

"So," Alex couldn't help but grin, "I'm gonna get a Dahlia original?"

Luke shook his shoulders, excited, "Yeah, bro!"

"Wait" Reggie stilled, remembering he had Luke's phone in his hand. He unlocked it, and stared at the picture Alex had chosen.

"What?" Luke asked, "What is it, Reg?"

"You sent her a picture of Alex"

"That's how a portrait commission works, yes"

"This picture?" Reggie showed him the screen, "The same one from our Instagram?"

"...yeah?"

Reggie's eyes widened, "And what if she google image searches it?"

Then it would lead Julie right to their page. Where there were many, many pictures of not only the boys but of Luke as well.

It dawned on Luke what he just did.

"Oh no"

“Yeah, yeah, things are good. I’ve pretty much readjusted to the cold after so long away, which is good, because it’s cold for like seventy-five percent of the year.” 

“I guess that’s a good thing, then. Have you guys gotten any snow yet? My Tia posted a picture of a snowman on Instagram last week while she was visiting her stepson David in Boston.” 

“Nah, not yet, anyway, but Mom says she thinks it’s coming.” There was a hint of worry in his voice. 

“How is your mom? Last time you called, you said she was supposed to be out of the cast on her right leg and getting ready for surgery on her left. Is that still going on?”

"Yeah, she’s out of the cast and doing PT and stuff. And they're talking about scheduling her other surgery. But it's gonna be a few months, so she can really PT well on her right before her left is in a cast." He sighed. "I don't regret coming home to help out for a while, because Mom needs me, ya know? And I love her. But it's hard being away from LA, away from my best friends and the city that I love and worked so hard to make it to and put down roots in." 

Julie nodded. "That makes sense." She looped her fingers through the coiled phone cord. "But LA will still be here when you get back, and I know your parents are grateful that you're home to help while things are so tough. Besides," she chuckled, "if you hadn't gotten that temp job, you never would have ended up chatting with a mad woman in LA once a month trying to get my boss to consider some deal." 

"That’s true. You make it all worth it, Jules!" He teased, but even though she knew he was kidding, Julie felt a fluttering in her belly that told her how much she wished that was true. 

"Well let's change the subject. You heard from your boys lately?" 

“Yeah, actually!” Julie loved the way his whole voice brightened at the mention of his friends. She could almost picture the joy on his face, except for the fact that she had no idea what he looked like. Damn his dislike of Instagram. “Reggie and Bobby scored us an invite to this talent manager’s open mic event, and Alex sent a pic from his six-month anniversary date with Willie. I think they’re all doing really good.” 

“I’m glad to hear it, Luke!” she answered warmly. 

"Now you, please tell me all about the best city in the world. Give me all the news from LA." 

Julie grinned. "It’s LA. Traffic's a nightmare and there are celebrities all over the place. Flynn is convinced she saw Olivia Rodrigo at her favorite coffee shop. We went to another open mic at Eats and Beats a couple weeks ago, and there were some really solid acts. There was one band, Triple Deck Lost, that was pretty good. They had a really grungy, punk vibe that reminded me of bands my mom used to listen to." 

"No way!!! Alex was at that open mic!! That's what he and Willie did for their anniversary!! Willie loved that band!” 

"Oh my gosh! I was in the same room as one of your boys and had no idea! That's wild!" 

"Man, I wish you guys had known. You would totally be friends if you ever met. Alex is great!" Luke sounded wistful and even a bit homesick, so Julie tried to cheer him up. 

"Well think of it this way, when your mom's all healed up and you move back to LA, we'll all get together and meet for real. And then Alex and I will be friends and it'll be great." Just then, she heard the elevator ding, and she immediately shifted into a more professional tone. “Give me just one minute, Mr. Patterson, and I’ll see if anyone in our marketing department is available to assist you.” She pretended to put the call on hold just as her terrifying boss passed her desk. 

“Hold all my calls, Janie. I’m going to lunch.” He glided through the fancy lobby and out onto the sidewalk, and only when the glass doors closed behind him did she let out her breath. 

“Was that him? I don’t think I’d ever heard his voice before,” Luke commented. “He sounds mean. Also, how does he not know your name? Haven’t you worked there for like, three years?” 

Julie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but he never bothers learning the names of receptionists. At least he got the right first letter. He called Carrie Misty for a month.”

“Well, while we’re on the subject of Mr. Covington, I wanted to schedule an appointment with him for Lila Harrison.” 

Julie sighed. “I know your boss is desperate to make this deal, but you know I can’t put you on his calendar.” 

“I suspected as much,” he answered, not sounding even a little put off. “But Lila’s doing her annual visit to Valley Dreams Management next week and told me to see if Covington might be interested in letting her buy him lunch.”

“I can ask when he gets back,” Julie answered doubtfully as she wrote down the information in her message book. “Any particular day?” 

“We’ll be there Monday til Thursday evening, and she doesn’t have anything set in her calendar yet, so whenever would be most convenient for him.” 

“Okay, I’ll pass the message along…” Julie looked around. The other receptionist was at lunch, and the office manager’s door was closed. She was definitely alone. “But Luke. You’ve been calling this office for months and Caleb is never available to talk to you or to schedule an appointment.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Julie could hear the smile in his voice.

“Has it occurred to you that there might be a reason for that?”

“It has. Has it occurred to you that there might be a reason I keep calling anyway?” 

“And what might that be, Rockstar?” she asked, feeling foolish for the spark of hope that had suddenly burst to life in her chest. 

There was a long pause, and then she heard him clear his throat. "Jules. Lila's bringing me with her on this trip to LA next week. I think she knows how much I miss that city, plus apparently when she's not on maternity leave, Melinda always takes these trips with her. Anyway, I'm finally gonna be back in town, if only for the week, and I thought maybe… I mean, it could be cool if… would you want to get coffee or something with me?" 

Julie was speechless. She had been expecting another six months at least before they could meet in person, so she wasn’t prepared for his invitation. 

“Uh, Jules, you still there?” 

“Oh my gosh, yes, I’m here, sorry. And, yeah, I would love to get coffee with you!” 

Luke let out a nervous laugh. “Cool. Can I give you my number and you can text me and we’ll make plans?” 

At that exact moment, the front door opened and the COO walked in. “Of course, Mr. Patterson. What is the best number for me to reach you at?” she said in her practiced professional voice. 

Luke laughed. “I assume someone else just walked in?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” 

“Well, I’ll let you go, but my number is 773-555-4357.” 

“The last four were 4357?” she clarified. 

“That’s it!”

“Perfect, I will get back to you as soon as I get a chance to look at the calendar. I hope you have a pleasant day!” 

“Bye, Jules!” 

She hung up the phone just as Mr. Dante stepped into the elevator. She immediately pulled out her phone and sent a text to the number she had scrawled on her wrist. 

310-555-4639: Hi Luke, this is Julie Molina!

773-555-4357: doesn’t seem like you had time for more than a quick look at your calendar. sure you’re ready to make plans? 😉

“Come here often?”

Her eyes flew open at that voice and Luke was standing there beside her. He was leaning against the glass, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He was soaking wet.

“What?” she opened and closed her mouth. “How?”

His smirk turned into a mischievous grin, “Surprise.”

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She didn’t care that he was wet and he was going to get her clothes wet. He was here! He pulled her close and kissed her back just as enthusiastically.

The world disappeared as she lost herself in Luke’s kisses. He was so warm despite being soaking wet she wouldn’t have been surprised if steam was coming off of them as they clutched at each other.

Someone banged on the glass from inside the store and they broke apart to see an angry looking employee waving at them.

Julie bit her lip and turned to Luke trying to suppress a giggle. He was still frowning at the guy in the window so she grabbed his chin and turned his face to hers. The frown morphed into a smile. “Sorry Jules, apparently that dude doesn’t believe in love.”

She giggled noticing the moms with toddlers trying to distract their kids while they shot daggers at her and Luke.  

She took one more look at the angry Starbucks guy standing inside with his hands on his hips and then looked out into the pouring rain and thought, fuck it. She stepped out from under the awning pulling Luke with her and getting soaked to the skin instantly.

“Julie!” he laughed. “What are you doing?”

She laughed continuing to walk backwards down the street pulling him along with her. “I’m saving the children from our debauchery.”

As she walked backwards she tilted her head back to the sky and let the rain slick her hair back. Once they were out of sight of the Starbucks she looked for a less conspicuous place for them to stop and pick up where they’d left off.

Flynn was sick back in their room so if she wanted to keep kissing her boyfriend her options were limited. She spotted a large tree in a green space between a couple shops and pulled him under. It didn’t completely block them from the rain but it was definitely better.