OLVIAS FEET WERE ABOUT TO FALL OFF . The four ghosts had been roaming around Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard all night, popping in and out of clubs and music joints whenever they pleased.
It wasn't that the girl didn't want to, she loved hearing the different bands and singers perform but the girl needed her damn sleep. So by the time it was noon, the boys finally poofed back into their garage, only to find Julie at the piano playing and singing her heart out.
"Wake up - Wake up if that's all you do. Wake up the dream inside of you." The song was beautiful.
The heartwarming lyrics along with Julie's powerful voice were enough to bring a house down.
The boys stared at her in awe, but as Olivia stared at the young girl, the only thing she could think of was, "She reminds me of me when I was her age."
At that age, she stopped playing music.
It wasn't that Olivia found Julies singing bad, no gods Olivia loved her voice. But seeing how passionate the Latino was about music brought her back to when she was her age and all the bad memories that caused her to stop playing.
Olivia poofed out of the garage silently and reappeared further outside the door and began to pace, shaking her hands in front of her in the motion you would do after you have just washed your hands.
Olivia felt bad that she wasn't there to witness Julie singing, but she couldn't help it. She always had slight PTSD over the incident, as her therapist called it. Her breathing started to become ragged as her mind flashed images of memories.
"What is she even doing?"
"Is she going to just stand there with her mouth open?"
"How embarrassing"
"Hey, freak! Get on with it already! "
"God, this is the most pathetic thing ever. Why is Luke even friends with this bitch?"
Tears streamed down the girl's face as she
Thank God for Alex Mercer.
The oldest Mercer sibling poofed out not a few seconds later and rushed over to his sister, his heart pounding with worry. He's seen Olivia have panic attacks before, but never like this.
The boy grabbed his sister's hands and sat her down near the sidewalk " Livia, hey hey hey, you're ok . Look at me, you're okay" he said calmly as he stared into his sister's eyes. She shook her head furiously
"A-Alex, I can't b-breathe - I cant Alex -"
"Hey hey, look at me. Listen to me, you're safe. You're alive, you're healthy, and you're okay. No one is going to hurt you okay," Alex's voice broke slightly towards the end. His heart ached tremendously for his sister.
Alex continued to repeat what he said while squeezing Olivia's hand tightly. It took some time but the girl slowly started to breathe normally again, tears no longer streamed down her face but her eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Anyone would be able to tell she had been crying.
"I feel bad, I just walked out of Julie's performance like that. I can't believe I did that" the girl croaked out wobbly. Alex shook his head furiously and pulled the girl towards his chest for a tight hug, his hand soothingly stroking her hair.
"Olivia Mercer, you listen to me and you listen to me well. Never feel bad for giving in to your feelings, never feel bad for letting your trauma affect you, and more importantly, never feel bad for having a panic attack.
You left her performance because of your mental health and I couldn't be prouder that you're finally facing your past demons and letting yourself feel again, even if that means having a panic attack because no matter what happens I will always be there for you, you hear me ?" he said fiercely and Olivia nodded weakly, burying her face further into his chest and squeezing him tighter.
Olivia slowly let go of her brother and sniffed
"Gods, I must have looked like a mess," she laughed
"A hot mess" Alex winked, and the girl snorted.
She tried to wipe away the tear stains the best she could not long before the other 2 boys of the band poof out to join the siblings.
Alex stared at the boys and tried to signal to them to not ask her about what happened by shaking his head, but the 2 boys ignored him.
"Liv, are you ok?" Reggie asked worriedly, immediately making his way forward to pull the girl into a hug as she laughed softly at the boys' actions.
"I'm okay Reg. I swear." the girl responded within his arms.
Behind the two, Luke clenched his firsts slightly at the sights as his jaw locked. He didn't even get the chance to ask her if she was ok before Reggie swooped in and stole her away, it made him mad.
But as he stared at the girl he was oh so hopelessly in love with and he couldn't help but feel relieved that she was ok, that she was able to smile even though not more than 2 seconds ago she had been crying.
He couldn't help but admire how strong she was and it just made him fall in love with her even more.
Olivia untangled herself from the hug and looked toward Luke. "How's Julie? Is she ok? I mean she did just sing the songs her mom wrote for her," she asked as Luke shook his head, "I mean she was crying after she finished the song but what Julie needs right now is a little privacy." he said.
"Julie was crying -?"
"You know what, I bet you poofed out because you can't handle it when people cry." Alex cut Olivia off as he spoke to Luke, Reggie and Olivia exchanging glances as they tried not to laugh.
"I should know, I cried in a room for 25 years and I didn't get a single hug from either of you," Alex said as he pointed his fingers at Reggie and Luke accusingly, Olivia stifled a laugh. Reggie sighed as he moved his way over to Alex with open arms.
"Alright bring it in -"
"Don't touch me !" Alex exclaimed as he raised his hand to Reggie, the latter shrank back with a pout.
"This is why no one hugs you"
"Guys focus " Olivia sighed .
Luke nodded " ok I think the first thing we should do once we get the courage to go in there, ask Julie why she lied about knowing how to play piano"
"Yeah and of course tell her how amazing she is " Olivia added with a small smile, it definitely must not have been easy for the girl to play again and Olivia couldn't be prouder of her. The boys nod their heads.
"Shes legit, I got ghost bumps!" Reggie said, before the ghosts could even respond, sounds of sobbing filled the air and a girl walked past the ghosts in fast strides.
Olivia had never seen someone walk that confidently and cry at the same time before.
The 4 ghosts watched in silence as the crying girl made her way into the garage. "Ohmgosh - was she crying too?" Alex said nervously. Luke and Olivia turned around to look at the blonde boy with narrowed eyes
"Yes," they said in unison.
"and the only thing scarier than one girl crying is two girls crying", Luke said which led to Olivia turning to frown at him, slightly offended for the female gender.
"He's right," Alex said.
"Guys we definitely cannot go in there," Luke said but Reggie's eyes lit up
"but we can listen," he quipped.
Olivia rolled her eyes as she watched the boys rush over to the garage door to spy on the girls, tiptoeing slightly so they could see what was going on through the window,
"so much for privacy" Olivia muttered as she slid down the garage door and sat on the ground beside them her back resting against the door.
The boys suddenly bend down as Olivia raised a brow
"we really shouldn't be eavesdropping"
the boys slide down the door too and sit beside the girl. They kept quiet as the conversation between Julie and Flynn, in which they got to learn was crying girl's name, and how Julie can't give up music.
Olivia and the guys would crack up now and then at Flynn's words, Olivia's heart swelled when she heard Julie telling Flynn with pride that she played the piano and sing again. The pride that flowed through Julie's words caused Olivia to smile.
The ghosts continued to listen to their conversation silently with small grins on their faces before quickly scrambling to get up and act as if they were not eavesdropping on the girls as they heard their voices and footsteps getting nearer to the door.
The boys quickly pretended to be busy and struck unnatural poses as Olivia rolled her eyes and just leaned against the garage door.
Flynn swiftly walks out with a smile on her face, as compared to how she was storming in sobbing a few minutes ago. Julie closes the door behind them and notices the ghosts.
"Oh hey!" She greets them with a smile.
Olivia cringed at the girl's mistake as Flynn turned around, confused. Julie quickly covered up her mistake with a shaky smile and walked towards her best friend.
"Let's hustle!" she says with forced enthusiasm. The ghosts watch, amused, as the girls make their way out, Julie turning around to wave them goodbye.
"Don't worry, we weren't listening," Reggie says from where he was still sitting on the floor, which led to Luke kicking him in the knee.
Reggie looks up with confused eyes and waves his hands around in annoyance as Olivia and Alex sigh.
Once Julie and Flynn left, the four teens stepped into their garage and started talking. "I wonder why Julie always told us she could shred it on the piano?" Reggie inquires.
"And sing! That girl can sing!" Luke says, pointing at the piano, and Olivia nods her head furiously in agreement. She may not have stayed to watch Julie's whole performance, but she heard enough to know the girl was good.
"Probably has something to do with her mom, you know," Alex says, Olivia pointing her finger at her brother in agreement, "must've been hard," she adds. Alex runs off to the ladder leading up to the loft as the rest of the ghosts spread out.
Olivia makes her way near the guitars and the side of the piano as Alex continues to talk.
"Anyways, I feel for her, you know," he says from up in the loft.
"Yeah, but now she's got the music back in her life. Just like us," Luke says as he makes his way to the piano too, his gaze flickering back and forth between Olivia and the sheet music. Olivia gently runs her hands over the guitar necks, completely oblivious to the boys' gaze.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what we have is life," he says, as Reggie nods in agreement. Alex starts shouting from the loft again, this time calling them over "hey, some of the clothes we left behind are still up here".
The teens quickly open up bags of clothes that Alex throws down and Olivia can't help but grin at the sight of the navy blue bag filled to the brim with her clothes, Alex throws down two more bags and shouts "those are your sis, jeez, you have a lot of jackets and shoes"
Olivia ignores her brother's quip as she quickly digs through the bag for another shirt for her to change into as the other 2 boys were already changing in front of her.
"Sweet! Same clothes since '95 boys, "Luke says as he changes into another shirt. Olivia can't help but blush at the sight of Luke's exposed upper half. Once Luke put on his shirt, the girl quickly looked away and stood up.
"I'm-I'm gonna head to the bathroom to change real quick okay, don't mess up my clothes," she cheerfully warns them before heading to the bathroom. The girl quickly changes out of her crop top and jeans and puts on a short white cropped tee and some denim shorts, tying her yellow flannel around her waist and kicking on some brown heeled boots.
Call the girl basic, but that was all she had.
She quickly tied her long blonde hair into a messy high pony, letting some strands from her grown-out fringe frame her face. Once she was satisfied, she let out a small smile at her reflection before stepping out. The poor girl immediately came face to face with a smiling Luke.
"AHH! Oh my God, don't do that. Now I know how Julie feels, " The girl said, as Luke bashfully smiled, "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were OK."
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She said, smiling in confusion.
"Oh come on Ol, you think I wouldn't have noticed you crying just now ?" Luke said as he lowered his voice.
Olivia sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I knew you knew, but Alex was there and I'm OK now. I promise, Luke. Don't worry about me, okay," said Olivia, squeezing his shoulder and offering him a sweet smile.
It made Luke's heart go stir crazy.
The boy sighed and placed his hand over the hand that was on his shoulder, sparks immediately shaking up Olivia's hand.
"Okay, but promise me you'll tell me if something is wrong," Luke asked.
The girl nodded, her face slightly flushed, "I promise."
The two teens let go of each other's hands and made their way back to Alex and Reggie. Olivia couldn't help but wonder if Luke felt the sparks too or if it was all in her head.
The latter won, unfortunately.
When they reached Reggie and Alex, the door swung open, and in stepped Julie's father holding a camera. He walked through Reggie as Reggie shuddered and stood at the entrance of the garage looking around the room.
"Woah, that was weird, but somehow I can tell that this man has a kind heart," Reggie breathed as Olivia giggled. They all watched curiously as Julie's dad started to speak.
"So how have you been?" He goes into the garage.
"Honestly, not that good. See, we ate these hotdogs and-"
"Julie sang for the first time this morning. She hasn't done that for almost a year. You would have loved it. " Julie's father cut Reggie off and that's when it clicked. He was talking to Julie's mom Oliva realized with a sad smile.
She glanced up at Alex who was still in the loft and they exchanged glances as both of them knew it was Julie's mother he was walking to but Reggie still hadn't made the connection "yeah we saw, cause we were ... oh - oHHHH. I get it now, he's not talking to us" Reggie says, waving his arm up and down in front of Julie's dad as the rest of the ghosts deadpan.
"You are so lucky you can play base," Luke says as Reggie sends him a slightly confused and hurt expression.
"Pretty sure he's talking to Julie's mom," Olivia says from where she was on the couch as they continue to watch Julie's dad walk around the garage, taking pictures ever so often.
"She's such an amazing young woman, every day she reminds me more and more of you ." Julie's dad says as he stands by the piano, next to Olivia. "Called it," Alex says as he points at Julie's dad causing Olivia to roll her eyes and divert her attention to the man beside her.
"Oh, I'm uh - I'm taking pictures of the real estate website. I don't really wanna move, but I guess it's best for Julie." He says in a sad voice as Olivia quickly stands from the chair as he sits. She joins the boys where they were all now standing in front of the piano, staring at Julie's dad with sad eyes.
"Move?" Luke breathed sadly as he leaned forward on the piano as Julie's father starts speaking again "There are so many memories, of Julie playing next to you and Carlos trying to sing with his two front teeth missing "
As Julie's father gets emotional, so do Olivia and Luke. Luke breathes in shakily as Reggie groans trying to hold back tears " oh no, come on Luke to you too" Luke just shakes his head trying to hold back open sobs as he watches Julie's father "He-he's talking about moving but the poor guy doesn't wanna move."
Luke sniffs as Olivia rubs his back sympathetically, Julie's dad takes another picture and sighs "It's like they grew up out here." Reggie sniffles too. "Aw now he's got me too," he says in a teary voice as Olivia shakes her head in agreement and tears up too.
"Ok, how am I the emotional one?" Alex asks incredulously as he looks at his three teary-eyed friends. "C-c-can we go see my family and see how they're doing ?" Reggie asks sadly and Alex nods. "Yeah, listening to this feels wrong," he says.
"Hey, do you remember when the kids were at your sisters and we came out here on our anniversary ?" Olivia's eyes widen as the grp moves away "oh yeah definitely wrong" she said as the group poofs out of the garage.
When they landed on solid ground, Olivia immediately recognized where they were. The familiar beach stared back at her and sounds of chatter and laughter could be heard. The 4 ghosts watched along the beach to find Reggie's house but when they got there they froze and stared in disbelief.
In the 25 years they were gone, they had turned Reggie's house into a bike shack.
A/N : im sorry i didnt update last week, i didnt have enough time to edit so im gonna be double updating this week ! love you guys and please remember to love yourself, happy pride month π³οΈβπ
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