Julie's POV

The guys and I stayed in our little huddle on the ground for what felt like forever- and still, when we pulled away, it wasn't long enough.

I leaned back and sniffed as my eyes got glossy. I looked among my three boys, happier in that moment that I had been since my mom died. I looked around at their smiling, wet faces and suddenly I felt whole again.

"So... what now?" I asked. Luke and Alex raised their eyebrows questionably as Reggie slung his arm around my shoulders.

"Now we go home, silly!" He exclaimed, ruffling my hair. "Your family, and Flynn, are probably super worried."

"Ouch- Reggie, you're choking-" I stopped in mid sentence and narrowed my eyes.

"Wait, why would they be worried?"

The guys looked at each other awkwardly, scratching the back of their heads.

"Well... we may have told your dad everything," Alex said in a high pitched voice. My jaw dropped.

"WHAT?!?" I screeched, slapping all of them on their shoulders. They let out small protests as I sat back, fuming. Why in the world would they tell my dad? 

"Why would you do that?" I asked angrily. "Why would you put my dad through that amount of stress and worry? I don't want-" I stopped and took in a shaky breath, the memory popping up in my head. They boys' faces changed from guilt to worry.

"Jules? You okay?" Luke asked quietly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I bit my lip and looked down.

"It's just... the last time I saw him worried- and I mean super worried- was when my mom was sick," I said in a small voice. "I don't want to see him like that... ever again."

I heard the boys suck in sharp breathes around me, but I didn't pick my head up until their arms wrapped around me again.

"We're sorry, Jules," Luke mumbled into my ear. "We didn't mean..." he trailed off and I put my hand on his arm comfortingly.

"It's okay," I said softly as the three of them disbanded from the hug. I smiled brightly at the three of them. I had never felt so grateful to have them before. They were more than my band, more than my friends- they were my family.

Although, my friends were pretty awesome, too. Flynn was great- of course- and so was Nick when-

"Nick!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening. Oh no. What had happened to him when the building collapsed?

Ignoring the dark look that crossed Luke's face (I'd talk to him about it later), I jumped to my feet and hopped on my good leg across the crumbled floor. I hopped over to where I knew the red door had been and began desperately digging through the rubble.

After a few minutes of digging, I finally uncovered Nick. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

I pressed my fingers to his neck and breathed a sigh of relief when I felt his heartbeat.

"Nick," I said, shaking him gently. He moaned and squeezed his eyes tightly, as if the daylight was hurting them.

"Julie?" He mumbled, slowly sitting up. I helped him up, keeping my hand on his back in case he fell.

"Hey," I said quietly as he blinked rapidly.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was the building collapsing, and-"

Nick gasped, his eyes wide.

"Are you okay? Is your band okay? What happened to that Caleb guy?" He asked, looking around wildly.

"We're okay, we're all okay," I replied. "And Caleb's... gone." Nick looked at me with worried eyes.

"For good?"

I nodded.

"For good."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief, putting his hand on his chest.

"That's good."

I grabbed Nick's elbow and pulled him to his feet, only to stumble as I tried to keep my weight off of my bad leg.

"Whoa!" I cried, flailing my arms. Nick reached out and caught me before I could fall.

"Thanks," I said quietly, brushing off my tattered dress. Nick smiled, and it was no longer awkward, which I was grateful for. After going through something like this with someone, how could things ever be awkward? And to think only six hours ago I was worried about telling Luke how I felt about him.

"Oh, is that your band over there?" Nick asked, pointing behind me. I looked back at what used to be the backstage area to see Luke and Reggie standing off to the side as Alex and Willie embraced.

"Yeah, and Willie," I replied, turning back to Nick. "Come on, let's join them."

Nick looked behind me again, nervously this time.

"You sure? I don't think they like me much- and by they, I mean Luke."

I chuckled and shook my head.

"They're just overprotective of me," I said. "And Luke... well, he can certainly be stubborn, but he's great when you get to know him." Nick smiled at me and nodded.

"I'd like to get to know him... all of them," he responded. I let out a small laugh and turned as we made our way over to the guys and Willie.

When Luke saw me walking back towards him, his smile widened and I saw a sparkle in his eyes, which quickly diminished when he saw Nick next to me. I internally shook his head. Luke already knew I was in love with him, what did he have to be jealous of?

"Guys," I said loudly, getting the others' attention, "this is Nick. I don't think you've... properly met."

Willie was the first to walk over, a large grin on his face.

"Hey, Nick. Nice to meet you... again," he said, shaking Nick's hand.

"Yeah man, thanks for busting me out of that basement," Nick replied. Willie laughed and fell back into position behind Alex, who walked forward with Reggie next. The two of them crossed their arms, and I could tell they intimidated Nick.

"So, what are your intentions towards out Julie?" Reggie said in a gruff voice that was so unlike him.

"Seriously?" I said skeptically, glaring at Reggie. He grinned and scratched his arm.

"Just looking out for you, Jules," he said sheepishly. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Sorry about him," he said, addressing Nick. "He's assumed the role of Julie's big brother."

Nick chuckled as Reggie hit Alex on the arm before turning back to Nick.

"Yeah, sorry," he said. "It's nice to officially meet you."

Once Alex and Reggie disbanded, we fell into an awkward silence. I glared at Luke, who was determinedly looking anywhere but Nick. I cleared my throat and he groaned.

"Fine," he grumbled, sulking towards us. Nick looked at me nervously, and I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's nice to meet you, Mick-"

"Nick."

"Nick," Luke corrected. I glared at him and he let out a defeated sigh, smiling at Nick genuinely this time.

"It really is nice to meet you, you know, when you're not possessed," Luke said, extending his hand. Nick hesitated before grabbing it, a large grin appearing on his face when Luke didn't throw him across the room.

"You too," he responded, "and sorry for the whole kidnapping Julie thing."

"And I'm sorry for the whole strangling you thing," Luke said. The two laughed before Luke walked around us to stand on my other side. I felt a my cheeks heat up when he slipped his hand into mine.

"Okay," I said. "Are we ready to go back home?"

The guys nodded and Alex stepped away to say goodbye to Willie. Luke was already holding my right hand, so I grabbed Nick's with my left. Reggie walked over and grabbed Nick's elbow. Nick looked at me in confusion.

"Remember when I told you they're ghosts?"

Nick nodded and I grinned, shooting a quick glance at Luke.

"Being dead comes with privileges," Luke said. "For example- we can teleport."

Nicks jaw dropped and he almost lost his footing on the uneven ground.

"Teleport?"

"Oh, we actually prefer the term 'poof,'" Alex said, rejoining the group. Willie was nowhere to be seen. He must have left, I thought.

"That's insane," Nick muttered. His eyes grew wide as he looked at Reggie. 

"Wait, is that why you're touching me? Are we about to-"

Reggie grinned at me, a twinkle in his eye, before I heard the familiar whoosh as the blue lights flashed across my vision once more.

All of a sudden, we were standing in front of my house, a few paces behind the steps to the porch. I sighed. Even though I had only been gone five hours, it felt like way longer and I was glad to be back.

The guys, Nick, and I walked up the porch steps. I was incredibly nervous. Would my dad be nervous? Angry? Happy? And how was he currently reacting to what the boys told him?

I looked nervously at Luke, who gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back and grabbed the door handle.

When I opened the door, my heart got stuck in my throat when I saw my dad, Carlos, and Flynn sitting in the couch in silence. The moment the door swung open, they turned to look at me so quickly I got whiplash.

Their eyes widened and they let out a collective yell.

"JULIE!"

They jumped off the couch and tackled me in a giant group hug. We swayed on the spot for a moment before steadying ourselves. I wrapped my arms around them and smiled. Flynn was the first one to break the hug.

"Oh my god, Jules, I'm so happy you're okay!" She said, tears in her eyes. I laughed before my dad let go of me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"Thank God you're alright," he murmured, wiping his eyes. "I don't know what I would've done if I lost you."

"I'm okay, Papi," I replied, trying to hold back my own tears.

I looked down and saw Carlos still hugging my waist tightly.

"Carlos? Buddy?" I asked cautiously. When he finally let go I saw the huge smile on his face.

"Welcome home, Sis," he said brightly. I laughed and ruffled his hair. 

The guys fell into place besides me, and when my dad saw them his eyes filled with tears again.

"Thank you!" He cried, giving them each a hug. "Thank you for bringing Julie back to me." Luke chuckled as my dad stepped back.

"As much as we'd like to take the credit," he said, "Julie was the one who defeated Caleb in the end."

My dad, Carlos, and Flynn looked at me in surprise.

"Really?" My dad said.

"Oh yeah," Reggie said, slinging his arm over my shoulder once more. "She took down a super powerful dead magician in a red dress."

"And with a broken knee," Alex piped up.

The room fell into silence. I glared at Alex before the three of them erupted.

"WHAT?!?"

"Broken knee?!?"

"Why are you walking around?!?"

"It's okay," I said, slipping out from under Reggie's arm. "Can I get changed out of this stupid dress before we go to the hospital?"

My dad and Flynn exchanged eye contact. They obviously thought we should go straight to the ER.

"Please?" I pleaded. "Like Reggie said, I took down a powerful ghost. And my knee was broken. I think I'm capable of getting changed."

My dad sighed in defeat.

"Fine," he said. Luke wrapped his arm around my waist and Reggie did the same on the other side. Alex stepped behind me and put his hand on my back for support.

"Come on Jules," Luke said, smiling brightly. "We'll help you up the stairs." 

 I laughed to myself, thinking this would probably be the new arrangement until my knee was healed.

"No boys in your room, Julie!" My dad called as I hobbled up the first step. I rolled my eyes.

"Relax, dad, they're just getting me up the stairs!" I shouted back. I chose not to tell him that the boys have been in my room before on several different occasions.

Once I was at the top, the guys let me go and I hobbled into my room, smiling at them before I closed the door.

I looked around and took in a huge breath. It was good to be back in my cozy bedroom and not in that uncomfortable concrete room.

I walked over to my closet and pulled out a crop topped sweatshirt, jean shorts (so my knee was easily accessible), and my favorite white tennis shoes.

After peeling off the tattered dress (I wanted to burn it so I never had to see it again) I changed into my new outfit. I had some difficulty getting the shorts on, and when I bumped my bloody knee I bit back my scream. I knew that if I shouted the guys would come bursting into my room and I'd rather them not see me in my underwear.

When I was changed, I threw my hair into a quick ponytail and limped out of my room and into the hallway, where the guys were waiting.

"You've been in that dress for so long I almost didn't recognize you!" Reggie joked, sliding his hand back around my waist. Luke did the same.

"It feels good to be in real clothes again," I said happily as we started down the stairs.

When we got to the bottom, we found Nick talking to Flynn and my dad.

"So... this Caleb guy... he possessed you?" My dad said, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Uh, yeah. Kind of," Nick replied. Flynn gave him a tight lipped grin.

"I guess that explains your weird behavior."

Nick groaned and out his head in his hands.

"I know, and I can't believe what I did! I feel awful, I-"

"I already told you back at the Club, Nick," I interrupted, walking towards him, "it wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for anything that happened."

"And neither do I," my dad said. "You're a good kid, Nick, I know you only mean well." Nick gave him a relieved smile before turning towards me.

"Thanks for forgiving me," he said softly. I smiled and nodded at him as the boys released me, but stayed right by my side.

"So, you ready to go to the hospital?" My dad asked. I nodded, looking around for my brother, but he was nowhere to be found.

"What about Carlos?" I asked.

"Your tía is coming to look after him," my dad said. "As far as she knows, you broke your knee in a bike riding accident."

I nodded, still a little worried, but when Luke slipped his hand into mine all that worry flying out the window. I looked up to see him shooting a bright smile at me. I returned it. I saw my dad and Flynn exchange knowing looks, but I ignored them.

"So, are we ready to go?" Reggie, who was completely oblivious to the whole thing, said. I nodded, still looking at Luke.

"Yeah," I said. "Let's go."

Hey y'all! I hope you liked this chapter! This was just basically everyone's reactions to the boys bringing Julie home safely, and I thought that was important to write before I got started on the Epilogue.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you tomorrow for the next one!