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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴄʏʀᴀɴᴏ ꒱


❝ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ❞

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"Hunter! Hey— Hunter!"

Shawn paused on his way to class as he registered his name being called. Turning around, he saw that Jack was running up to him with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Montacute," he greeted the other boy coolly.

"Here, these are for you," the blond thrust the flowers at the dark-haired boy. Shawn gave Jack a weirded-out look. 

"Thanks but no thanks."

"No, not for you to keep. For you to give to Juliet," Jack explained, his voice breathless from the jog to catch up to the other boy.

"I'm not a messenger," Shawn told him coldly.

The blond gave a drawn-out sigh. "These are for you to give to her, from you," he explained clearly.

"What, I can't buy my own flowers?"

"Well, have you?"

"Why would I buy flowers for my best friend?"

Jack gave him a 'really?' look. "Do you think you're fooling anyone with that lie? I'm thowin' you a bone here, man. Take it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shawn huffed. "Give Juliet the flowers. I don't care."

"Yes, you do," Jack insisted as he thrust the bouquet at him again. "I know you like her and since I figured you wouldn't be thinking about Valentine's day, I got you these to help out."

"Let's just say for a minute that what you said is true," Shawn began. "I thought you liked her. Why would you help out the competition?"

Jack ran his free hand through his blond hair. "Look, man, it's killing me to give you an advantage but you're what makes her happy so I'm trying to help you out here."

"I only make her happy as her best friend," the dark-haired boy clarified. "That still doesn't answer my question."

The other boy sighed. "I like her so much that I'd sacrifice my own happiness to make sure she gets a good Valentine's Day, and that would only happen if these came from you."

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us," Shawn grumbled reluctantly.

"What?"

"You're what makes her happy so if you want to give her the flowers, go ahead. I'm not gonna stop you."

"No, these are for you to give her," Jack insisted again. How did Juliet put up with this? The bell rang. "I've got to go to class, Hunter. Take the flowers; they won't fit in my locker and throw them out if you really want to. They're just not for me to give."

The blond boy gave the bundle a final push towards Shawn, who was forced to take them before he headed off down the hallway. The dark-haired boy stared at the bouquet for a moment until he came to the decision to put the flowers in his locker for the time being.

🌎🌎🌎

"Cyrano de Bergerac stands in the shadows whispering poetry to the lovely Roxanne but she thinks it's the good-looking guy speaking to her. So, our poor, big-nosed lug wins the heart of the woman he loves but he wins it for somebody else," Mr. Turner lectured them.

"That is so sweet and noble that he would sacrifice his own happiness to help his friend," Topanga said.

"Other opinions?"

"Loser!" the class (minus Juliet) exclaimed.

"Okay, define 'loser.'"

"Big dip," Shawn spoke up helpfully, and a certain blond-haired boy came to mind.

"It makes no sense. I mean, he likes this girl and then he passes her on to another guy," Cory added.

"Dip. The biggest."

"Juliet, would you like to refute the dip theory? I noticed you didn't agree with 'loser,'" Mr. Turner asked.

"Cyrano performs a totally selfless act and he does it for the sake of love," Juliet explained. "That's actually quite romantic."

"Why? What does he get out of it? He knocks himself out spewing poetry, his friend gets the girl, all he can do is go home and blow his big nose," Shawn argued.

"Juliet, Topanga, rebuttal from the estrogen section?"

"Sure," Juliet replied easily. "Most boys don't understand passion and romance and will never understand women."

Topanga turned to look at the boys. "And that's why all of you will spend half your lives confused and the other half paying alimony."

"This is interesting," Mr. Turner observed. "The women here find Cyrano compelling and romantic, yet the men find him misguided and dip-like. What does that tell us?"

"Women like dips?" Cory guessed.

"Sorry Matthews, no luck. It tells us that men have a hard time understanding what women find romantic."

"Will that be on the test?" Shawn asked.

"Oh yeah, in ways that you cannot yet imagine."

🌎🌎🌎

After Cory and Shawn escaped Frankie with the agreement of helping him out, Shawn crashed into someone as he left the cafeteria. "Hey, watch—" he started defensively before he paused and his tone took a one-eighty. "Montacute."

"Sorry, Hunter. What's the rush?"

"None of your business."

"You give Juliet the flowers yet?"

"No," Shawn answered.

"What are you waiting for, man?" Jack exclaimed. "I'm trying to help you woo her and all you're doin' is sitting on it!"

"There it is again, that word," the dark-haired boy said. "Woo. What does it mean?"

"You've gotta be kidding me," the blond exclaimed, exasperated. "It means to try to gain the love of someone."

"Oh."

Jack reached out and patted Shawn on the shoulder. "Give her the flowers, okay? They'll make her happy."

He gave the boy a nod before he moved past him and pushed the doors open to the cafeteria. Shawn shook off the interaction by sending an annoyed glare in the direction the blond disappeared before he rejoined Cory on their way to Juliet's locker in the hopes that she would help them with their Frankie problem.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet begrudgingly agreed to help them 'woo' whoever Frankie liked so she met up with Shawn and Cory at the Matthew's house.

"Hey, Cor," Eric greeted the group as he passed them.

"Hi."

"Shawn, Juliet."

"Hey."

Eric screamed suddenly as Frankie entered.

"Eric, you know Frankie Stecchino. Frankie, this is my brother, Eric," Cory introduced them.

"Sure, Eric. I stole your lunch everyday in ninth grade. Don't tell me— tuna on white," Frankie remembered.

"Wheat," Eric corrected him.

"Right, right. Those were the days, huh?"

"Excuse me," the eldest Matthews boy said before he turned to the trio. "What's the Enforcer doing in our house?"

"We have it under control," Shawn reassured him.

"It's fine," Cory added.

"Nothin' to see here," Juliet finished.

"Under control?" Eric repeated. "Frankie Stecchino sprinkles guys like you on his pizza!"

"Nice visual," the redhead commented.

"Eric, please, everything's fine."

"Okay, just remember: no sudden movements, no shiny objects in front of his face, okay? It was nice seeing you again, Frankie," Eric said.

"Nice to see you again, Tuna."

"Yeah," he agreed before he disappeared upstairs.

Once he was gone, Frankie approached the three of them. "Okay, guys, teach me the ways of love."

"Alright, Frankie. This girl you like, you ever try to talk to her?" Shawn asked.

"Oh. I, uh, I-I-I—"

"You cannot let her psych you out, man. You just gotta walk right up to her and tell her like her, okay?"

"Yeah, like that's so easy," Juliet scoffed. "The better way would be to start simple: ask her how her day is going."

"Oh. . ." Frankie trailed off uncertainly.

"Okay," Shawn said as he picked up a lamp. "Let's pretend this is her."

"Could the pillow be her?"

"Anything you want, Frankie," Juliet said. She picked up the pillow and handed it to Cory.

"Ah, there she is. Ooh, she looks very pretty today," Shawn narrated for him.

"I'd better go."

"Ah, come on. Come on, tell her how nice she looks," the dark-haired boy encouraged him. Frankie didn't speak so Shawn prompted him: "I can't take my eyes off you."

"I can't take my eyes off you," Frankie repeated.

"Thank you, Frankie. That's real nice," Cory answered in a high-pitched voice.

"I just wanted to tell you how pretty that dress is," Shawn added.

"I just wanted to tell you how pretty that dress is," Frankie followed his lead.

"Oh, this old thing?" Cory asked in his girly tone.

Juliet smiled in amusement. "There you go, Frankie. You can do this!"

"No, no, no. I could never do this by myself. You guys have to come with me."

"Frankie, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Yeah, I think she's gonna notice us hanging around you. I mean, what are you gonna do, put us in your locker?" Cory asked.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet was busy packing up her school bag at the end of the day when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, her eyes widened as a bouquet of flowers entered her vision. Peering around them, she was even more surprised to see Shawn holding them. Her heart picked up its pace and started thumping loudly against her chest.

"Shawn?" she asked, almost nervously.

"These are for you, Julie," he explained as he held out the bundle. "From. . ." There was a significant pause before he finished: "from Jack." The last word sounded slightly strained.

"Oh," the redhead said, her hope fading as her expression fell. "They're very nice, I suppose. Thanks for bringing them to m—" She froze as she quickly caught on to the strange situation. "Wait, why isn't Jack giving me these?"

"Oh! Uh, he, uh," Shawn scrambled to come up with a cover-up. "He had to leave early and he meant to give these to you yesterday, so he didn't want to delay anymore and asked me to give them to you."

"Right," she agreed, though she didn't sound entirely convinced. She accepted the flowers. "Well I'll be sure to thank him, then."

"No, no you don't need to," the dark-haired boy cut in quickly. "He's like that dip-guy but I'm trying to help him out instead of taking the credit."

The girl's brow furrowed in confusion at the explanation but after a moment, she nodded. "Well, I suppose I won't thank him if that's the case, though he doesn't seem to be the shy type. You're sure these are from him?"

"Yes! He gave them to me to give to you," Shawn said.

Juliet's eyes flicked from the bouquet to her best friend. "Well, thank you for delivering them, Shawnie."

"'Course," he answered. "And he wanted me to tell you Happy Valentine's Day as well."

"Just from him?"

The boy paused. "From both of us," he decided.

The redhead's expression lifted again and she gave him a bright smile that was almost worth the loss. 

A/n: I know this is a surprise update but it also comes with some news since I think more people read the chapter than the message board announcements: 

I'm a bit discouraged because I do compare my Boy Meets World book to Capsize since I think our writing ability is on the same level. I know the author just updated and the enthusiasm for the chapter I posted yesterday pales in comparison to today's Capsize chapter. Comments do wonders for writing motivation but when I see other readers claiming that that is the best BMW book while I know they also read mine just makes me feel crappy. 

I do appreciate all of the comments and support you guys have left on my chapters but I think I need to take a few weeks to regroup before posting again. 

[Edit]: I'm going to leave this author's note here because the feeling still applies even all these months later. I'm doing my best to get over it but I don't think it's ever going to go away fully.

[edited may 2022]