▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴡᴀʟᴋ
ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴛᴛsʙᴜʀɢʜ, ᴘᴛ. 𝟷 ꒱


❝ WELL IT WAS A PRETTY
CRUMMY CONCLUSION ❞

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

"And that's why Sno-Caps are the best movie snack," Juliet finished as she leaned over to steal a fry from her best friend.

Shawn gave her an amused look. "I wasn't arguing your point, y'know," he told her, copying her gesture and stealing a fry in return.

"I know, but I've been thinking about my claim for some time so I needed someone to hear me out," she said with a shrug.

"Well, I think your reasoning is very sound," the boy agreed, attempting to snatch another fry. He was unsuccessful this time as the redhead slapped his hand away.

"Mine."

"You stole from me!"

"Only once," Juliet reminded him haughtily. "That's why I let you take a replacement. Eat your own food."

He huffed and turned back to his meal. "But stealing your fries makes them taste better."

She stuck her tongue out at him childishly. "Shush and have your sub-par fries."

Shawn sighed and reluctantly accepted defeat. The two were sitting in their usual booth at Chubbie's on Sunday night. The restaurant was slightly crowded with students enjoying the last night of the weekend much like they were. They'd fallen into a comfortable habit of spending the weekends mostly by themselves and not talking at all about it to Cory or Topanga, who they knew would meddle in their relationship— or lack thereof.

"Now then," Juliet continued, "the best TV-show watching snack is popcorn but you aren't ready for that debate yet."

"Am too!"

"Alright," she allowed with a faint smirk. "Popcorn usually lasts half an hour to an hour and most TV shows run that long. Additionally, you can fast forward through the commercials if you prerecord them and you don't have to watch all of the coming attractions. At the movie theater, your popcorn is usually gone before the movie even starts."

"Good point. And at home, the popcorn stays hot right up until you eat it since it's made right before you want it. They do their best at the movie theater but it's not always fresh."

"The downside is that homemade popcorn seems to lose its heat pretty quickly despite its freshness," Juliet pointed out. "Somehow, movie theater popcorn stays pretty hot."

"True," Shawn conceded, "and you can't sneak popcorn into a movie theater as easily as you can Sno-Caps and it's always way more expensive to buy there."

"Exactly." The redhead nodded. "It's not like you can hid a microwave in your tote bag."

"Ri— hey!" he exclaimed. She'd stolen another one of his fries and was currently giving him a shit-eating grin.

"What?" she asked as she put the food in her mouth obliviously.

The boy glared at her but the expression lacked any true heat. "If I'm not allowed to steal yours then you shouldn't be allowed to steal mine."

"Would you like a replacement?" Juliet inquired innocently.

"Yes, thank you." Shawn reached across her to take his share back but she jerked the food away from him.

"Sike!" she taunted him giddily, ignoring the grumpy look on his face.

"Julie—" he started exasperatedly, but motion on the stairs caught his attention and he glanced up, his eyes widening in surprise. "Topanga!"

"You got it right the first time," the redhead corrected him, confused. "I'm Juliet, remember?"

"No, not you— Topanga."

Juliet turned and looked where Shawn's gaze had landed to watch the blonde make her way through the crowd with her head down. She chewed on her bottom lip. "Shoot. D'you think we've been caught?"

"I don't know," Shawn replied. "She looked pretty upset."

"Upset?" she echoed. She turned around on the seat to kneel on the bench and her head poked above the back as she searched the crowd for their friend.

"We should make sure she's okay."

Acquiescing, Juliet climbed out of the booth and Shawn followed her, stealing a few fries on his way out from her dish. She turned and gave him a stern look. "Don't think I didn't see that."

"How do catch everything?" he grumbled. 

She didn't answer, instead making her way to where they last saw Topanga. They found her in the back room sitting on the pool table, visibly upset. Immediately, the redhead pushed herself up next to the blonde and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. Topanga leaned against her without even checking to see who it was, though Juliet suspected she already knew. Concerned, she gave the blonde a worried look. 

"What's the matter, Panga? Is it Cory? I can help you kick his butt." She frowned when her words only served to make the other girl more distraught. "It either really is Cory or I'm making it worse."

"It's the second one," Topanga stated quietly, her voice thick with tears.

Shawn furrowed his brow and exchanged a glance with the redhead. "Worse? Topanga, what happened?"

The blonde finally looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy and she wasn't the usual put-together Topanga they were used to. "I had a fight with my parents."

"But you have a good relationship with them," Juliet reminded her rather unhelpfully. "I thought you guys talked about everything."

"I know," she acknowledged, sniffling, "but not this time. We're moving."

The words hit Juliet like a punch to the stomach and she was momentarily winded from the shock of the revelation. Eventually, she was able to croak out: "moving?"

"For my mom's job," the blonde explained weakly. "I tried to tell them that I didn't want to since all my friends are here but they wouldn't listen."

The redhead tightened her arm around the other girl and moved closer to her. Topanga rested her head against Juliet's shoulder. Shawn gave her a sympathetic look. "Did they say where you were moving to?"

"Shawn," Juliet scolded him immediately.

"I didn't mean it—"

"It's okay," Topanga interrupted him. "It doesn't really matter anyway. It's Pittsburgh."

"Well that's not so bad," she attempted to be positive. "It's not too far where we can't come visit."

The blonde's expression matched her disbelieving tone. "It won't be the same."

"I suppose not," the redhead gave in, "but I'd come to visit anyway."

Topanga gave her a watery smile and she took the other girl's hand to squeeze it comfortingly. "I'll go get you some water. You can't cry and drink at the same time."

As Juliet slid off the pool table and made to head for the counter but Shawn grabbed her wrist. In a quiet whisper, he hissed, "don't leave me!"

She gave him a confused look. "Why not?"

"She's upset! I don't know what to do when girls are upset!"

The redhead thought for a moment. "Pretend she's me."

"What?"

She shrugged. "You always knew how to make me feel better so pretend Topanga's me." With that, she shook herself free from his grasp and left the room.

Pretend she's me. Juliet's advice repeated itself in his head. Shawn frowned as he watched the blonde continue to cry. He felt awkward just standing there so he thought of what he'd do if Juliet were in Topanga's place. Immediately, his face fell slightly at the thought of her moving. He didn't know how he'd take it if he never got to see her again. (Of course, they'd try to see Topanga but everyone knew friendships fell apart over distance eventually.)

He came to the conclusion that if Juliet was the one moving, he wouldn't waste any more time. He'd ask her to be his girlfriend officially, end result be damned. He'd make sure to kiss her every chance he got and do everything in his power to keep her from actually leaving. Shawn tossed aside most of his thoughts, knowing that some of that would be Cory's job as Topanga's boyfriend.

That left him with one— kiss her.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet was dreading seeing Shawn. A first in their many years of friendship, but after returning with Topanga's water, she'd watched in horrified fascination as Shawn kissed her. A part of her knew it was her own fault; she'd given him that advice, after all. (And a part of her was pleased that that had been his answer if she'd been in Topanga's place.) Still, it stung deeply to have that memory despite knowing all sides of the story.

She finally joined up with Cory at lunchtime and he looked worse for wear. As they entered the cafeteria, they saw Shawn and Topanga sitting at a table together. He froze. "I— uh, need to go to the library."

Before he could run off, Juliet caught his arm. "No, Cor. Don't you wanna know the truth?"

"Yes. No. Yes. I don't know."

"Since you said yes first, let's go," she told him. Her grip on his arm tightened to pull him towards their friends.

"I don't know why you can't tell me," he grumbled. "I know you know."

"It's not my place," she repeated for the umpteenth time.

They arrived at the table and the pang of the reminder made her avoid Shawn's eyes. Cory greeted them robotically: "Shawn. Hi. Topanga. Hi. Both of you. . . Hi." He paused. "Topanga, I need to talk to you."

As he led her off, Shawn gave the redhead a curious look. "What's wrong, Julie? Are you upset about Topanga?"

Of course she was, but that wasn't all. Still, she wanted to avoid talking about kissing for as long as possible, so she just nodded. "Yeah."

She tensed slightly as Shawn placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You know you've still got me and Cory, right?"

"I know," Juliet answered and repeated Topanga's words: "it's not the same." And it wasn't; having a girl best friend was very different from having two boy best friends.

Apparently, Cory's talk with his girlfriend didn't go well and the blonde left quickly. Shawn gave her an apologetic look. "I gotta go. D'you wanna come with me?"

"Wait, where are you guys going?" the curly-haired boy wondered before she could reply.

"We've got history now," Shawn lied.

"You both have lunch now, with me," Cory corrected him.

"You let her go!"

"Shawn, please," Cory implored him.

"Okay, okay, but we only have a minute or two."

"Alright, listen. I am gonna be absolutely mature about this." He paused. "Knock knock."

"Who's there?" Shawn asked.

"You and Topanga together at Chubbie's last night, Eric saw you."

"You and Topanga together at Chubbie's last night Eric saw you. . . who?"

Cory grew impatient. "Shawn, were you at Chubbie's last night?"

"Eric has no idea what he saw," the dark-haired boy defended himself. "Tell him, Julie."

"Don't get me in the middle of this!" the redhead protested. "I didn't tell you to kiss Topanga!"

"Yes, you did."

Cory turned to her with a betrayed look. "Jules, what does Shawn mean? It's not true, right?"

"Of course it isn't," Juliet snapped, glaring at Shawn. "I didn't tell him to kiss her. He came to that conclusion on his own!"

"Well, it was a pretty crummy conclusion then," Cory snapped at the other boy. "You actually kissed her?"

"Cory, it was no big deal, okay? Topanga got into a fight with her parents, she was real emotional and I happened to be there. Julie went to get water and I didn't know what to do so I pretended Topanga was Juliet and yes, I gave her an innocent kiss. Innocent. That's what happened and you know we tell you everything."

"Yeah, but how come she didn't tell me?" Cory wanted to know.

"She will," Juliet promised him. "We just happened to run in to her first. And Cor?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I didn't think that advice through."

"It's not your fault," Cory conceded. "I guess I feel better. If Jules isn't upset that you kissed Topanga then I'm not either."

The redhead flushed and looked at the ground, though she supposed she deserved that for the mess they were in. Thankfully, Shawn ignored the last part. "Topanga loves you. Eric's got you jumping to conclusions. Tell him to back off."

"Excuse me," Cory declared, leaving to go find his brother.

Juliet and Shawn stood awkwardly together in the middle of the cafeteria after he left. The other boy's mention of kissing made them recall the unspoken evening they'd spent together at Chubbie's. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Well, I better go find Topanga."

"Right," he concurred immediately. "I've got. . . lunch. I'm already here."

She gave him a faint, amused smile before she quickly followed the path the blonde had taken.

🌎🌎🌎

She found Topanga in the girl's bathroom sitting on the bench. Juliet sat down next to her but didn't speak. It was the blonde who broke the silence first: "you know that Shawn's kiss meant nothing to me, right?"

"I know," the redhead reassured her. "It still hurts even though I know why it happened."

"Probably because he kissed me before you, right?" Topanga teased her.

"That's actually not true," Juliet mumbled.

The blonde turned to look at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Nothing."

"No, no. You and Shawn kissed? On the lips?" For the first time since the news, Topanga sounded like herself.

".. . Yes."

"When was this?" she demanded.

"Uh, after he broke up with Jennifer," the redhead admitted, feeling her face warm at the confession.

"And you didn't tell me?"

She shrugged. "We haven't talked about it or kissed since."

"So you're not his girlfriend?" Topanga questioned her.

"No."

The blonde huffed. "Would you stop with the one-word answers? Why haven't you talked about it?"

Juliet chewed on her bottom lip, thinking of the best way to respond before she stated, "well, we're both kinda afraid of commitment. On my end, at least, I don't want to lose Shawn as a friend if our romantic relationship goes south. And, well, Shawn's Shawn."

"Yes, but he's been half in love with you since kindergarten," Topanga pointed out. "I don't think he has commitment issues."

"He might be afraid of losing me as a friend. I dunno. I've never asked."

Topanga turned to her with a serious expression on her face. "Okay, I need you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"Since this move is inevitable and you're going to lose my nagging, I'm going to rely on your conscience and responsibility to see this through. I need you to promise me you'll talk to Shawn about your feelings. Have an honest conversation with him when I'm gone. Even if I'm not here I want to make sure my best friend is happy."

Juliet gave her a soft smile though she already felt anxious at the prospect. She sighed. "I promise."

"You don't have to sound so glum about it," the blonde scolded her. "I'm doing this to help you."

"You're meddling."

"I'm helping. Trust me, you're going to thank me later. Also," she added sternly, "you're supposed to tell me any type of relationship thing. It's in the best friend contract."

The redhead gave her an amused look. "There's no such thing."

"Every girl knows to tell her best friend the important things and finally kissing your longtime crush is definitely one of them."

"We thought we could work it out on our own," Juliet reasoned.

"And how's that going for you?" Topanga snarked, her expression saying 'I-told-you-so'.

🌎🌎🌎

"Why so glum, chum?"

Juliet glanced up from the linoleum countertop of their booth to give her father a blank look. "Chum?"

He shrugged. "I was just trying it out. Your mom has a nickname for you and so do your friends. I was thinking sweetheart but that makes me sound like an old white guy at a diner."

She cracked a smile at that. "You are an old white guy at a diner."

"Am not!" he objected, offended.

Daly came by then with their two slices of pie and glanced at her daughter. "What's he making a fuss about now?"

"I called him old," she replied smugly.

"And I'm not," he huffed. "I'm in my prime years."

The red-haired woman patted him on the shoulder consolingly as she made her way back the kitchen. "You keep telling yourself that, Barron."

"Thanks, sweetheart!" the dark-haired man called after her before he turned to his daughter with a grimace. "See? It doesn't work."

"Only because you're making it weird."

Barron picked up his fork and broke away a bite of pie, putting it in his mouth instead of choosing to answer. Juliet copied his actions on her own slice and they ate in silence again for a minute. He'd made a special trip out to see her in the middle of the week since Daly had told him that she'd seemed down. In an effort to make her feel better, he'd taken her out to dinner at the restaurant where Daly worked. He hadn't been able to get much out of her but he had been able to determine her feelings had nothing to do with Shawn or Cory from how easily she talked about them.

He sighed and put his fork down. "Seriously, Julie—"

"Don't call me that," the redhead interrupted him suddenly.

"It's a natural nickname—"

"That's not the point," Juliet interjected seriously. "Just— don't call me that, okay?"

"Right, sorry," he apologized. "Er—"

"Don't try so hard," she cut him off again, this time her tone was softer. "I don't mind if you just call me by my name."

"Yeah, but I'm your dad. It seems like I should have something special to call you. What about Juju?"

She made a face and pointed her fork towards him threateningly. "Never call me that again."

Barron raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay. That's not the point of why I'm here anyway. I know something's wrong, Juliet. See? It doesn't sound as nice."

The redhead rolled her eyes but her humor was short-lived. She looked back down at her pie. "Fine. It's just that Topanga's moving."

"That's Cory's girlfriend, right?" She gave him a surprised look and he added, "I do listen, you know."

"Yes," Juliet confirmed. "She's moving to Pittsburgh."

The dark-haired man reached across the table and placed a hand on her arm. "I'm so sorry, sport."

"As much as I appreciate your sentiment, you ruined it with the experimentation."

He sighed. "Tough crowd. In all seriousness, though, Pittsburgh isn't that far. It's even closer than the drive you take to visit me every other weekend."

"I know," she acknowledged, "but Topanga's right. It won't be the same. She'll have new friends, a new school and unlike coming to visit you, she'll have other options. You don't have any other daughters."

"You don't know that," he tried to joke but his efforts fell flat. "Do you really think that Topanga can replace you that easily?"

Juliet shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. She's the only female friend I've ever had and I don't really want to go back to being friends with just guys, as much as I love them. I almost wish I didn't know what it was like since you can't miss what you've never had."

Barron squeezed her arm. He didn't know what else to say except: "hang in there, bean."

The redhead looked up to see his worried expression and she felt hers soften. She knew he was only trying to make her feel better, nicknames and all. "Thanks, dad." (She was still getting used to calling him that.)

🌎🌎🌎

After school the next day, Juliet sat next to Shawn in their booth at Chubbie's. Cory sat across from them as he chugged several cups of Coca-Cola.

"So," Shawn began, "what are you and Topanga doing this weekend?"

"You know, Shawn, it occurs to me that we have been here for an hour and you have yet to feel bad for me. Now, why is that? Why haven't you felt bad for me?"

"Guys. Would you say I happen to watch a lot of TV?"

Juliet glanced up at him. "Uh, yeah."

"More than anyone I know," Cory added. "Why?"

"I have seen this plot a thousand times and it always ends exactly the same. The girlfriend never moves away."

"Shawnie, Topanga's moving this weekend. Her mom got a job in Pittsburgh," Juliet pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, all packed up, enrolled in a new school, boo-hoo, tears, tears. Give me a challenge, okay?" the boy remarked.

"Shawn, it's not TV," Cory said.

"Guys, trust me," he insisted.

"So you're saying that she can't move if we're really supposed to be together, can she?"

"Not if TV is the true mirror of our lives."

As much as Juliet wanted to believe him, she knew Shawn had the tendency to be wrong more often than he was right. Cory was easier to convince. "Okay, okay. But wait, wait. What about tomorrow night? Now tomorrow night, she's coming over to my house to say goodbye. What about that?"

He shrugged. "It's not gonna happen."

"Okay, Mr. I-Know-Everything, what about ER? The doctor on ER actually left," the curly-haired boy reminded him.

"ER's real." The redhead sighed and buried her face in her hands. Shawn gave her confused look. "How can you be exonerated by that? It's sound reasoning."

She peaked at him from between her fingers. "Exasperated, Shawnie. And it's the worst reasoning I've ever heard."

"No, no, Jules," Cory tried to reassure her. "Shawn's always right about this stuff." He turned to the other boy. "So you don't really think she's gonna leave, do you?"

"No, I don't," he agreed.

"Why not?"

"Because you don't deserve that kind of pain."

Juliet lowered her hands and gave the dark-haired boy a soft look as her hand reached under the table to squeeze his. While she still didn't believe him, she appreciated his efforts.

🌎🌎🌎

The night Topanga was leaving arrived sooner than they would've liked. The trio stood on Cory's back porch as they waited for the blonde to stop by. When she did, she saw Cory first. "Hi, Cory. Hi guys. Thanks for coming."

"Sure, Topanga," Shawn responded enthusiastically. "Really sorry that you're moving."

Juliet ignored him and stood awkwardly in front of the other girl, unsure if this was a situation that called for a hug or not. Thankfully, Topanga seemed to understand her hesitation and hugged her first. The redhead wrapped her arms around her in return.

"I'm gonna miss you, Panga," she mumbled quietly, feeling tears prick her eyes as it set in that she really was saying goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you too, Peaches," Topanga replied softly, hugging her tighter.

They parted and Juliet stepped away to let the blonde say goodbye to her boyfriend. She was surprised when Shawn looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She looked up at him. "I thought you believed that she wasn't leaving?"

His gaze remained focused on their friends as he answered, "you're still sad."

Her expression softened and, after a moment of indecision, she turned slightly and wrapped her arms around his waist. Shawn stiffened in surprise before his arm slid more comfortably around her. They watched as Topanga hugged Cory tightly. She pulled back to look at him. "Goodbye, Cory. I love you."

After kissing him one last time, she turned and walked back to her parent's car and got in. Cory watched her go. "Shawn, what's happening?"

"It's not over yet," Shawn declared. "The car's gonna turn around, just watch. Any second now. Just wait. Okay—"

As the car continued on its path, Juliet turned her head against the boy's shoulder, feeling the tears finally escape her eyes. Shawn stared after the car. "What the hell kind of TV show is this?"

They stood in shocked silence for several minutes, the redhead refusing to let go of her best friend. Finally, Cory spoke again: "guys, you know that pain everyone keeps talking about?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm starting to feel it," he admitted quietly.

Despite his words, neither Shawn nor Juliet knew how to make him feel better.

[written apr. 2021]
[edited may 2022]