Running from the past

tripping on the now

what is lost can be found,

it's obvious...

The crowd simply faded when Elise was staring into Julie's eyes, the boys easing on their instruments and slipping away with the underlying gasp from the audience. There was a beat of silence in which the two entirely forgot they were being watched, until the gravity between them was broken by the bouts of cheers and applause that closely followed. Elise chuckled momentarily and turned to face the onlookers.

The pair waved, Elise's eyes catching Sunset Curve off to the side. She scrunched her face in response to the smirk on Luke's - while Reggie was as oblivious as ever. Though, Alex seemed to be off in his own little world. She made a mental note to keep an eye on that; the blond had been acting off for a day or two.

They stood after a minute of taking in the applause, it died down gradually and the two began conversing with the fans before them. It was still strange that people were willingly approaching Elise; just a month or two ago the only thing she was known for was her family issues and her (incredibly effective) intimidation tactics. The acceptance made her smile, she'd come a long way.

She giggled at Julie when she noticed the blonde boy that approached her; Julie told Elise of her awkward rejection when Nick asked her out, and made fun of the girl just slightly for the whole situation. Elise caught her eyes and Julie gave her strained contact. Elise threw her hands up as subtly as possible, backing away as if to say I'm not saving you. When they went public about their relationship - hopefully soon - all would be explained.

The dark-haired girl turned back to continue her own conversations, when through the group of people laughing and shouting their praises around her she caught a glimpse of pink- and long blonde hair. Her heart dropped just slightly, and she dismissed them with a wave and pushed through. She didn't know what she was planning to do when she was standing right in front of her own sister, but a tug in her chest pulled her closer and closer. She had to say something, right? Maybe she was here to apologize.

Though the possibility seemed unlikely, she couldn't help but lighten at the thought.

Carrie seemed surprised when her twin approached, to say the least. Elise didn't trust her own perception; her mind had the tendency to take anxiety and run with it - twisting the realistic and turning her into an over-analytical mess. So, was that disgust on her face? Or did she sense anger? She blocked that out.

"I didn't know you were invited," Elise tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She failed.

"I just assumed you forgot." She said it with a mountain of fake cheeriness that made Elise nearly gag. The brunette's features narrowed, and in a turn of events that was all but shocking, the other girl's relaxed. Instead of the sour smile, the subtlest of frowns took its place.

"Look, Elise. That was really good." A straight up compliment? She smiled slightly. "You and Julie... sing... really well together."

Elise's face instantly turned the shade of a tomato. She held back the rest of her grin and nodded toward Carrie. "Thank you. And... thank you for coming. I must have lost your invitation." They both knew it had been sent out via text, but it was the thought that counted.

Carrie smiled, and with a brief hug that left Elise standing in disbelief for a moment, she was gone. The smile that followed refused to leave her face the rest of the night.

Looking back, Julie had been watching their conversation with a similar smile rather than talking efficiently to the boy in front of her. Elise rolled her eyes and thought up an excuse to save her.

After shooing Nick off with an excuse that Elise immediately blocked out of her memory (something about expired fruit and Julie's grandma,) the two girls strode quickly away into the studio - giggles and all. With their hands interlocked, the two shut the doors.

Elise didn't waste a second before pulling the other closer to her, kissing her quickly and then draping her arms over Julie's shoulders. Julie's snaked around her waste, and the two stood in silence for the moments that followed. They swayed just slightly, engulfed in a swarm of butterflies; listening to the pair of beating hearts that needed each other.

To her surprise, Julie didn't pull away when Alex appeared beside them. At first Elise had thought she didn't notice - until the curly-haired girl turned her head to face the blonde before them.

"Oh, sorry I- I saw you guys come in here." Despite the haste in his words, he didn't seem anxious or surprised. He smiled calmly, Elise supposed she hadn't exactly been too secretive around the other members of her band. And Luke had a big mouth. So it wouldn't be a surprise if he knew.

"It's fine, Alex." Julie's arms loosened but the presence remained, Elise followed in her girlfriend's actions.

"Your dad is looking for you inside, by the way. I think he's about to come in here to get you. Just wanted to let you know." Julie's smile fell just slightly, but she nodded nonetheless.

"We'll be inside in a second," Elise said. With a nod the boy disappeared, and the girl's attention returned to each other.

Elise bent down to kiss her forehead, moving her hands to cup the other's warm cheeks. Julie lifted her chin for one more quick peck on the lips, before they broke away and stood coldly apart. It felt like they were miles away - like worlds had come between them and snow accumulated beneath their lonely feet.

Julie sighed. "I don't want this moment to end."

Elise smiled, wrapping her pinky finger around the other's. "There will be more moments, Jules." She wasn't sure how true her statement was.

Their fingers released when they entered through the front door of the house. Elise walked in first, immediately identifying Flynn and Payton's bickering before spotting them sat on the furniture - the younger on the sofa and the other in the lone chair. It took a few seconds for the two to spot them standing in the doorway, and their faces both brightened when they registered the pair.

"You were amazing-!"

"Julie your outfit-"

"And the end-"

Both of their eyes went wide and they exchanged wild glances as the siblings approached them, shouting praise after praise about their performance. They each sped through their words so fast that it was difficult to understand anything out of their mouths - Julie and Elise both knew that once they started it was easiest just to let them finish. It was funny, she'd never really noticed the ways they were so similar before.

It wasn't until what felt like ten minutes later that they resigned, finally allowing the bandmates to respond. They laughed and tried to respond to as many of the comments that they could, namely sticking to numerous "thank you's" and laughs.

When the cacophony died down, Flynn remained smiling like a proud mother. This wouldn't have happened without her, neither Julie nor Elise knew a thing about PR and gaining a following on social media - but the Instagram page Flynn ran already had nearly 10,000 followers, half of which had been gained in the last three days (especially in the last hour). "You guys are going to be huge," she smiled, sincerity dripping from her voice.

"All thanks to you," Julie smiled back.

"Julie!" Ray's voice boomed from the top of the stairs, and she uttered a quick be right back before shuffling to meet him.

Elise quickly spotted the boys around the corner, settled on the seats in the kitchen. She excused herself as well, and the siblings didn't ask questions - most likely still freaked out by the presence of her friend's.

She smiled as she strutted up to them, catching their prideful faces just like her own. She took a seat on one of the stools.

"Great job tonight, guys. I have a really good feeling about this." Each boy nodded in agreement, and for the first time all day, the weight in her chest seemed to have completely obliterated.

Until, as if the world had a keen eye for irony, each of the band members (save for Julie, of course) was clutching at their chest as staticy pain engulfed their body. Elise had to struggle to refrain from crying out, for fear that others would hear. Instead, her normal exclamation was replaced by tears that snowballed on the brim of her eyes. It felt as if her heart had completely stopped, and in moments she would be dead on the floor.

It was a relatively quick one, she was able to silently refill her lungs with gasping breath within a few seconds of the initial shock, but the tension in the air remained thick enough to slice with a knife.

The silence that followed was somehow worse.

It was as if, despite their lack of eye contact, they each had the same thing on their minds; a variety of sorrow, anger, but most importantly...

"We need to tell Julie." Elise's voice rasped. She couldn't bear keeping this from the only person in the world that truly cared for her. At first it felt as if she were protecting her girlfriend, but Julie was strong. She deserved the truth - a chance to say goodbye.

"No, Elise. No that will only hurt her."

Frustration coated her gaze at Luke's backlash. "Hurt her? How hurt do you think she'll be when she wakes up one morning and we're all just gone? Without letting her say goodbye."

"You'll still be there you can explain-"

"Either way, Patterson, I'll be dead. And what if she can't see me, what then?" She didn't realize how loud she'd been talking until she read Alex's wide eyes. She shut her own for a long moment, tight, and tried her best to collect shakey breaths.

Luke seemed relatively shocked, Reggie donned his signature "lost puppy." It only made the stone in her heart grow heavier.

"Alright, we tell her." Alex swallowed, the rest nodded at his testament.

"Who..." Reggie trailed off, casting his gaze to the marble countertop in front of him.

"It should be me." No one argued with her. "Should I..."

"No, not right now."

No one could bring themselves to say more, Elise twiddled her thumbs and subconsciously dug her fingers into the palm of her hand. It seemed that every time she was nearing the actual feeling of happiness, something else came to pull her back down to the real world. Maybe it was a sign from the universe; Elise Wilson was destined for tragedy.

The bruises and fresh blood on her hand was testament to this fact.

"Hey, El." Julie practically skipped into the room, oblivious to the scorching anxiety. She somewhat loosened the tie between the rest of her band and the grim water surrounding then. "Can I borrow you?"

"Sure, Jules." The two interlocked arms, not making a sound until Julie's door was shut. Elise took in Julie's nose, her eyes, lips, hair: everything that made her knees weak. She was so beautiful - but more importantly, she had a beautiful soul. Julie didn't feel jealous of her anymore, of how she was so good without any effort. Now, she recognized how lucky she was to have someone that made her better, even if she could never compare.

"I think we should tell them." Despite the pain, Elise smiled. She'd been wanting to shout it from the rooftops since the first day, but she'd respected her girlfriend's wishes as best she could.

The only response she could muster was a hug. She wrapped her arms around the shorter girl as if her life depended on it - as if she'd fade away the moment she let go. And then the tears came.

Julie didn't ask questions as she silently sobbed, quivering against her as tears dripped down her nose and off her chin onto Julie's shoulder. She ran a comforting hand up and down Elise's back. It reminded her of her own mother, soothing her after she'd fallen off her skateboard. The thought made her smile.

"Julie there's something I need to tell you-"

There was a pounding on the door, the girl's heads shot up and their eyes met the wood between them and their interrupter. Flynn shouted from the other side. "We're probably going to watch a movie, be quick."

"Just a second!" Julie shouted back. She turned back when footsteps pounded down the stairs. "What were you saying."

Elise bit her lip, locking eyes with the carpet before her feet. She smiled sadly and shook her head, Julie accepted this answer with hesitance.

It was a few minutes before Elise met Julie and the rest of the group who was already lounging on the sofa. Alex handed her a popcorn bucket, that he kept sniffing religiously. She was definitely going to miss eating.

Julie was sitting in the large lone chair, and Elise didn't hesitate to join her. She say with her legs draped over the others, cuddling into her side and reaching up to place a quick kiss on Julie's lips. She giggled when her face turned bright red, resting her head in the crook of Julie's neck.

She felt everyone's eyes on her, and rather than feel embarrased she felt like jumping for joy.

"Wow," Payton said flatly. "We're all so surprised." Their voice reeked of sarcasm, and Elise laughed.

"Ew, PDA." Luke grabbed popcorn out of Flynn's bowl and threw it at the pair, causing Flynn to yelp in surprise. Elise looked up to throw it back, knowing full well it would simply float through him. She did so just in time to see Reggie pull Luke into a kiss.

Now this was shocking. Both boys had the tendency to hide their emotions, and who would have thought Reggie would be the one to make the first move? (odds were, it wasn't actually the first.)

"Right," she smirked.

"Okay, okay! Can we just watch the movie now? This is gross."

"Next time you should bring Willie."

Alex's face went beat red. "Yeah, whatever."

WE'RE BACK

sorry for the late update oops-

we're nearing the end ;)

also this isn't edited you can definitely tell <33