[1.6]

"i am not a princess"

If Luke Patterson had known that Mickey kept her window unlocked for Reggie, then he would've gone there first. But he didn't know, so he settled for lightly knocking on the front door of Bobby and Mickey's house. He hoped more than anything that it'd be one of them that opened the door. But it seemed luck wasn't on his side, as Mrs. Williams was the one to greet him.

The last thing she was expecting was to open the door to the crying sixteen-year-old in the middle of the night. His face was red and he had a bag and his guitar case slung over his shoulder. His bike was lying on the front lawn and his clothes were soaked from the rain that had started a little while ago.

"H - hi, Mrs. Williams," he stuttered out, wiping under his nose.

"Lucas, you poor thing. Get in here," she said, ushering him inside. While she did, she called loudly over her shoulder. "Robert! Michelle! Kids, get down here!"

The first to run down the stairs was Bobby. "Whatever it is, Mickey did it."

"No, I didn't!" she called, just a few steps behind him. "Actually, maybe. Depends on what we're in trouble for."

The twins stopped at the bottom of the stairs when they saw their friend standing in the entryway.

"Dude, what happened?" Bobby asked, immediately worrying about his friend. He took Luke's bags while Mickey hugged him — she didn't know what was wrong yet, but she knew he needed one. Luke hugged her back and shoved his head in her neck, still crying.

After a moment, he pulled back and took in a deep breath. "I uh, I got into it with my folks. I just... I bolted. I can't go back there. Not right now."

Bobby and Mickey shared a worried look. They knew that things had been rough for Luke ever since the band started, but they never thought he'd run away.

"Let's uh, let's get some dry clothes," Bobby said, glancing at his mom. He led Luke to his room, passing Mr. Williams on the way.

Mickey was left in the entryway, staring at her parents. "What's that Patterson boy doing here so late?" Mr. Williams asked, crossing his arms.

"He got into a fight with his parents," Mrs. Williams explained. "I'll, uh, I'll call Emily and let her know that he's safe."

"He can stay over, right?" Mickey asked, worried about him. "Like, on the couch or in Bobby's room. It's raining and he can't go home right now while his parents are mad at him."

Her parents both sighed and shared a look. Reluctantly, they nodded. It was more for Luke's parents than for the boy — they weren't his biggest fan. But if Bobby or Mickey had run away from home, they'd want to know that their child wasn't out on the street.

"Thank you," Mickey said, smiling. "It'll probably just be a few days. I'll go tell Luke."

|||

The morning after the dance incident, the four ghosts followed Luke to some restaurant. He didn't explain his plan very much, but he was determined to try and get Julie to forgive them. While he wandered off to write their band name on some list, Reggie, Mickey, and Alex sat at a table with a lifer. She was taking pictures of her breakfast instead of eating it.

"Oh, great angle," Reggie muttered, making fun of her. "Now that's a good pic."

"Is this what we're here for? To watch people take pictures of food?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's fun. Watch this. People never stop looking at their phones," Reggie said.

Reggie grabbed the woman's plate and slid it away just as she reached for it. Instead of looking away from the device, she just blindly reached for it again, but Reggie pulled it to the edge of the table. The woman finally looked away from her phone and frowned at the pastry. She hesitantly grabbed her food and moved to a different table.

"Luke said something about this place being a hot spot for music industry people," Reggie said.

They looked back to see Luke scribbling something on a clipboard. Then he excitedly joined them at the table. "Boys, Princess, being a ghost definitely has its privileges. I just wrote our names on the playlist for tonight."

Alex leaned over the table to whisper to Mickey and Reggie. "I'm getting a little worried about him. He keeps forgetting that Julie quit the band."

"And that she's gonna come back just as soon as she knows we have a great gig," Luke insisted.

"But, if she doesn't come back, let's not forget we do have somewhere else we can play and eat pizza," Reggie reminded them. "And Mickey can dance again!"

Mickey smiled and leaned against Reggie, who immediately put his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, I definitely wanna go back there again. Caleb was so nice, and I can't wait to do ballet for people again."

"Dudes, I know. It was awesome to be seen by lifers at Caleb's party, but... but we got this with Julie. We don't need him."

Mickey frowned slightly. She needed Caleb. Sure, she loved when she performed with the band, but it would never compare to dancing. And that was something that she couldn't do.

But then another one of those jolts hit the four ghosts. Mickey groaned and held her chest, leaning against Reggie, who was also in pain.

"Oh! It's the same thing again," Alex groaned.

"Just like yesterday," Luke added, frowning.

"It feels like that time I was fixing my amp in the rain."

Mickey bit her lip and frowned up at Reggie. "Oh, baby, no. You... you shouldn't..." She shook her head before looking back at the others.

"Okay, look. Do you think something's wrong with us?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, we ate, like, ten pounds of pizza yesterday without a stomach," Luke stated. Mickey didn't remind them that she only had two slices, so that likely wasn't the answer. "I'm sure it's just our bodies working through it."

"So, we're just gonna forget about getting back at Trevor?" Reggie asked them. "That jerk stole our music and he hurt Mickey."

She sighed and leaned on the table. "Reg, I appreciate it, but I'd rather he just live with the guilt."

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "It's just like what Julie said. We have a new band, a new sound, okay? That's what we should be focusing on."

"Isn't that Willie?" Alex suddenly asked. They all turned to see the ghost in question peeking through the window. Though, as soon as he was spotted, he skateboarded off. Alex ran outside to follow him, but it was too late.

Reggie chuckled. "Well, someone's not focusing on our music."

"Like you're one to talk," Luke said, scoffing.

He gave a pointed glance at Mickey, who was too focused on watching Alex. Then she got up and followed Alex outside, who was pouting.

"Hey, maybe he was just in a rush or something," Mickey said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"W - what if he doesn't like me like the way I like him?" Alex asked nervously. "Was I reading too much into it?"

"Of course not!" Mickey insisted. "You two had so much chemistry last night. Why do you think Luke, Reggie, and I left you two alone for most of the night?"

"Uh, you and Reggie spending the night with each other had nothing to do with me," Alex said, rolling his eyes. "You would've had that little date with or without Willie."

Mickey blushed but rolled her eyes. "It wasn't a date."

Alex scoffed and looked down at her. "Can you guys just, like, kiss already? The longing looks and constant flirting is really starting to gross me out."

"We are not gross," she said, crossing her arms. Though she never denied the fact that there were longing looks.

"You two cuddled in the dark room for twenty-five years," he reminded her.

"Um, he was comforting me. I had just died," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I was the one that needed comfort. You just wanted to sit on his lap!"

|||

A few days turned out to be much longer. Luke had been crashing on their couch for two weeks, and his constant presence was growing annoying to Mr. and Mrs. Williams. They were on the brink of kicking him out, meaning that Mickey was tasked with talking them down — they always had trouble telling her no. Unknown to the parents, Luke and Bobby were around the corner, listening as Mickey argued with them in the kitchen.

"But where else is he supposed to go?" Mickey asked, running her hands through her hair. "You know he can't go home!"

"Well, he can't keep living on our couch," Mr. Williams said, crossing his arms. "He's in the way and he's always playing that horrible music. It's been two weeks. I want my house back and I want him gone."

"But he's always helping out," Mickey pointed out. "He helps Mom with the dishes and he's always picking up after himself. And he totally took out the trash last night even though it was Bobby's turn."

"Michelle, he's not a good influence," her mother said, frowning. "He already got your brother into that rock band. And he's dating that drummer boy. A young, respectable lady like you shouldn't be living in the same house as him. What's to stop him from coming into your room at night?"

Mickey scoffed and rolled her eyes, knowing that her mother was just trying to come up with a good reason to get him out. It was a ridiculous notion that Luke was a bad influence. If anything, Bobby was keeping his room cleaner now that Luke was staying over.

"He can't keep living in this house," her father said firmly.

"W - well, what... what about... oh! The garage!" Mickey exclaimed after a moment. Her parents shared a confused look. "He - he can stay in the garage! We never use it anyways, and there's that old bathroom in the back. You'd never have to see him, and if you're so scared about him being in the house with me — which is ridiculous by the way — then just lock him out."

Mr. Williams rolled his eyes. "Michelle, you can't even move around in the garage. It's full of junk and garbage that has been there since we moved in. I'm not going to clean that out for him."

"Well, Bobby, Luke, and I can fix it up," she insisted. "We literally never use it, so he wouldn't be bothering us by staying there. Just... just let him try it out. Bobby and I wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if we let you just throw him out on the street."

Mr. Williams sighed before looking at his wife. Then he rubbed his forehead, stressed out by the situation. "Michelle, go to your room—"

"But—"

"I will talk it over with your mother, but this isn't a decision that you're going to be a part of. I will let you and your brother know what we decide."

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either. Mickey sighed and smiled weakly at her parents before leaving the kitchen. Instead of heading to her room, she met the guys in the hallway.

"Did you hear all that?" she asked, giving Luke a sympathetic look.

He frowned and nodded his head. "Look, guys, I don't want to cause any trouble. I can just find somewhere—"

"No way," Bobby told him. "You're like a brother, Luke. We aren't letting them just throw you out without a fight."

"Well, what are the odds that they'll say yes?" Luke asked, glancing at Mickey.

She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "We'll just have to wait and see."

|||

The four ghosts had to wait for a very long time for Julie to get home from school. They hadn't seen her since she fled the dance. When they noticed her walking towards the studio, the boys got in formation — Mickey simply stood to the side. She wasn't too confident in the plan.

"We're sorry!" Reggie sang, poking out from behind Luke as Julie spotted them.

"So sorry!" Alex came in.

Then Luke came in, going down on his knees. "We're super-duper, crazy, stupid sorry!"

"In case you missed it, we're really sorry," Reggie told her as they all did jazz hands.

"Yeah. I - I got that part," Julie said with an unimpressed look on her face.

"We've been here for, like, three hours," Alex told her.

"They almost sang to Carlos," Mickey added, smirking. "Multiple times."

"He comes in here a lot. Mainly to use the bathroom," Reggie explained.

Alex sighed. "Yeah. It's not our favorite part of the day."

"But Julie, it wasn't okay that we flaked on the dance last night. We know we let you down," Luke told her.

"Yeah, and none of us wanted to disappoint you. You're the best thing that's happened to us since we became ghosts," Alex said.

"So, in hopes that you'll rejoin the band," Luke said, stepping forward to hand Julie the flyer. "We booked a new gig."

"A mega important, life-changing gig," Reggie added, grinning. Then he put his arm around Mickey.

"Okay, check it out. Tons of managers go here to listen to new bands," Luke told her. "All we gotta do is blow them all away, and we're living the dream."

"So, this means a lot to you, huh?" Julie asked him. Mickey winced, knowing how this was about to go. Luke's face fell as he also sensed it. "Kind of how playing in front of my whole entire school meant a lot to me."

"Sounds like sarcasm." Mickey rolled her eyes and put her hand over Reggie's mouth. He raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "I'm starting to think our plan isn't working."

Alex rolled his eyes at Reggie before turning back to Julie. "Look, we know we messed up."

"But we need you in the band," Luke said softly.

"Of course you do," Julie snapped. "Because without me, no one can see you guys playing. You know, I thought that the music that we were writing was special, but you're too obsessed with your past to even care."

"I do care!" Luke insisted. "Our band has a real chance at greatness. I'm not gonna let that get away from us again."

"Uh-huh. Right. So, then why did you bail on me to get back at Trevor when Mickey is the only one of you that had any right to be actually upset. I'll tell you why. 'Cause there's only one thing that you care about, and that's yourself."

Julie stalked back to the house, leaving Luke watching her with a heartbroken look on his face. Mickey sighed and walked up to him, taking his hand in hers.

"Dude, she didn't mean it," Alex told him.

Luke glanced down at Mickey with a question in his eyes. She nodded softly, and then Luke flashed the both of them out. Reggie frowned.

"Where they going?" he asked.

"Where do you think?" Alex asked rhetorically. "Remember what today is? She's the only one he'd take with her after everything she did for him."

After a few moments, Alex and Reggie made their way to the house. Julie was in the living room, quietly working on some homework. She knew they were there, but she didn't look up at them.

"Hey, you, uh, you got a second?" Alex asked her.

Julie didn't reply and instead kept working on the math problem.

"Oh my gosh! She can't see us anymore!" Reggie exclaimed. Alex rolled his eyes and gave him a pointed look while shaking his head. "Oh, right."

Alex moved to sit on the armrest of the couch. "Julie, please."

"I already told you that I'm done with the band," she said, finally acknowledging them.

"Yeah, we know, alright. But before you decided that forever, we just... we wanted you to know that Luke isn't as selfish as you think he is," Alex told her.

"Yeah. You've got him all wrong," Reggie added.

Julie simply scoffed and looked down at her book. Reggie and Alex looked at each other helplessly for a moment before Alex spoke again. "You remember that song Emily? Can we at least show you who that's actually about?"

Julie looked between the two of them skeptically before agreeing. They ended up taking her to a house about thirty minutes away. Julie had never been to the neighborhood. Once they arrived, they led her to the backyard, where they each hid behind a tree. They could see directly into the kitchen of the small house.

There was an older couple moving around the kitchen. They could also see Luke, who was sitting on top of the counter, crying. Mickey stood by his side, comfortingly rubbing his back and holding one of his hands.

"So, Emily's his mom?" Julie asked the guys.

"Yeah," Alex answered. "Yeah, Luke comes here a lot."

"He thinks we don't know, but we've been following him," Reggie added. "All he does is just hang out like this and watch them. Sometimes he brings Mickey. They never really do anything though."

"They're having cake," Julie said as Luke's mother sat a chocolate cake down on the kitchen table. "That's something."

"It's a... it's a birthday cake," Reggie told her. "For Luke."

"I never knew Luke was hurting this much," Julie mumbled, keeping her eyes glued to the crying boy.

"Yeah. It's even worse because when he died, he left on bad terms," Alex explained. "You know, his parents didn't want their seventeen-year-old in a rock band, so... he just left. If it weren't for Mickey, he would've ended up on the streets. He never got the chance to make up with them."

Luke's parents sat at the table, and he slowly got off the counter to join them. Mickey stayed back, letting him have the moment with them. Luke's father lit the birthday candle, but Luke leaned down and blew it out. His mother looked around, wondering where the breeze had come from.

"That's why Luke was so angry," Reggie said, sighing. Luke sat at the table as his father relit the candle. "If Trevor had given Luke credit for writing all the songs, then... his parents would've known that his dream was worth chasing."

"They would've been so proud," Julie said, shaking her head.

Luke's parents held hands and he placed his on top of Emily's, though she couldn't feel him. Then the three of them blew out the candle together. Mickey slowly walked up behind Luke and hugged him. He turned in his chair and cried into her stomach.

Julie wiped under her eyes to try and stop her own tears.

"We know how bad it hurts whenever someone that should've had your back completely lets you down. We never meant to make you feel that way," Alex told Julie.

"Julie, we love our band, and Luke does too. Please give us another chance," Reggie said.

Julie looked back at Luke and his parents, thinking it over. Then her eyes widened ever so slightly, seeing the vase full of dahlia flowers sitting on the counter. Maybe it was a sign from her mother or maybe it was the completely heartbroken look on Luke's face, but she knew that she had to forgive them. They were too important to lose.

|||

"You know, I distinctly remember you being the first one to offer to help clean this place up," Luke said in a snarky tone.

After a long wait, Mickey and Bobby's parents had finally agreed to let Luke stay in their garage. After celebrating, Sunset Curve got to work cleaning out all the junk — Mr. Williams hadn't been exaggerating. There was basically no room to move around, and it would take days for the five of them to turn it into a livable space. Well, four of them.

While Luke, Bobby, Reggie, and Alex had all shown up to work, Mickey simply sat to the side to watch. The day before, Alex had found a fairly okay looking couch on the side of the road and they had dragged it to the door of the garage. Once it was cleaned out, they could move it in and Luke would have something to sleep on. For the time being though, Mickey was lounging on it, ignoring the looks the guys gave her every time they passed with a heavy arm full of trash to take out to the side of the road.

"Um, one, I have the upper body strength of, like, a toddler, so I don't really think I'd be that much help," Mickey said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Then she sucked on her teeth and looked down at her nails. "Two, I literally just painted my nails. I can't risk them chipping. You understand."

Alex and Reggie snickered, and Bobby held back a smile, while Luke scoffed. "My god, Mick, you're such a prissy little princess."

Mickey gasped and turned to him. "I am not a princess!"

"Really?" Luke said, smirking at her. Her reaction to the name meant that he would likely start calling her that more often just to get on her nerves. "You dance like a princess. You dyed your hair blonde to look like a princess. You spend way too much time on your looks like a princess. Oh, and let's not forget that you just have to bat your little princess eyelashes to get whatever you want from Mommy and Daddy."

"Hey man, the princess was the one that got you this garage, so maybe don't complain about that," Alex said, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. Then he kissed the boy on the cheek before dragging a box full of old and broken plates outside.

"Yeah, dude, you should be thanking her," Reggie said, walking behind the couch and resting his chin on top of Mickey's head.

"All right. Thank you, Princess."

"I'm not a princess!"

"Too late. It's your nickname now. No take-backs — Wait! Mickey! Stop trying to kick me!"

|||

When Mickey and Luke finally poofed back to the studio, the last thing they were expecting was for Julie to be rehearsing with Reggie and Alex. They had landed on a bench, but both quickly got to their feet and looked at Julie, surprised.

"Woah, Julie," Luke said.

"Grab your guitars. We got work to do," Julie told them.

Mickey smiled at Reggie, who was holding her guitar out to her. She joined his side and put the strap over her neck. She wasn't sure what had changed Julie's mind, but she had no complaints.

"What made you come back?" Luke asked Julie in a soft tone.

"I realized how important music is to all of us. We've lost so much already. We can't lose this too."

"Thanks," Luke whispered. Then he smirked down at her and chuckled. "All right, boss. Where we at?"

Julie smiled at him. "Oh, and by the way, happy birthday." Luke looked at her in disbelief before glancing at the guys, who were smiling. "Let's go from the pre-chorus."

It seemed like everything was good. The guys had calmed down about Trevor, Julie had forgiven them, and they had an awesome gig to play. Mickey couldn't help but grin at Reggie as they played. They were all blissfully unaware that the worse was still yet to come.