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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴡᴀʟᴋ
ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴛᴛsʙᴜʀɢʜ, ᴘᴛ. 𝟸 ꒱


❝ HOW CAN TOPANGA
MEDDLE FROM PITTSBURGH? ❞

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It had been almost a week since Topanga left for Pittsburgh and Juliet was feeling the loss of her best friend acutely. She missed being able to talk about "girly" things with her and even missed the blonde's meddling in her relationship with Shawn. It was this feeling that prompted her on following through with her promise, intent on being able to tell Topanga the outcome the next time they talked on the phone.

Juliet made sure to catch Shawn during their lunch break at school to limit the places he could run off to. It was also so that she could talk to him on neutral territory, wanting him to feel more comfortable— and for her own ease as well. As they made their way out of Mr. Feeny's history class, she grabbed his wrist to catch his attention. "Shawn, can I talk to you?"

He turned and gave her a curious look. "'Course, Julie. What's up?"

"Not here," she decided quickly. She pulled him to a quieter, less travelled part of the hallway. Once they were relatively alone, she took a deep breath. "So, we, uh, need to talk."

"Okay," he agreed easily. "About what?"

The redhead chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about the best way to broach the subject, forgetting that Shawn had asked her not to do that. As she considered her options, the boy's gaze focused on the habit and he sighed. "Julie."

"Hmm?"

"You're doing it again."

She looked confused, so he pointed to her mouth. Her expression turned guilty. "Sorry. Anyway, um, about the, well, the night we-we spent at Chubbie's."

"We spend a lot of nights at Chubbie's so you'll have to be more specific."

Juliet gave him a mildly irritated look and rushed out: "after you broke up with Jennifer."

Shawn's eyes widened comically as if he hadn't known the night she'd been talking about. "Oh! That night. Well, what about it? I thought we agreed we wouldn't."

"We didn't agree to anything," she reminded him. "We just avoided talking about it. I think now's a good time."

"Now? I have lunch now," he tried to excuse himself. "We can talk any other time but now."

She fixed him with a stern look that kept him in place. "We're talking about it now whether you like it or not." She paused, uncertain as to how to continue. Finally, she stated: "so, we kissed."

"Well, when you put it like that—"

"There's no other way to put it, unless you'd like a more graphic adjective like made out," Juliet pointed out, "but I was trying to make it easier. Obviously, we haven't made out since then. What's up with that?"

"What's up with you?" was the only response Shawn could come up with, feeling extremely uneasy about the topic. The redhead sighed. It looked like she would have to be the mature one about this. 

Since that wasn't a surprise, she continued: "well, I know my reasons for not addressing the situation but I don't know what yours are, so I think I'll go first." She hesitated again and her fingers twisted the straps of her backpack anxiously. "So, um, how I feel is, that, well—" 

Juliet broke off, completely fed up with herself at the difficulty she was having expressing her feelings. So much for being the mature one. She took a deep breath. "My reasoning is that I'd rather have you as a best friend forever than lose you if our relationship went south."

There, she'd said it.

There were several heartbeats of silence as she studied her shoes, unable to bring herself to look up and see the boy's reaction. Shawn's expression had softened at her explanation and he suddenly felt much more comfortable with the conversation. As much as he'd always wanted to be in a relationship with her, he was glad he wasn't the only one who was. . . scared.

"I feel the same way," he conceded quietly, causing her to meet his eyes again. He ran his fingers through his hair as he continued: "I think you know this but I have a habit of pushing people away when things get. . . hard. I know I'd do that in a real relationship and I'd never want to do that with you. That's why I-I avoided talking about it."

"So what do we do now?" Juliet wanted to know.

"I dunno," Shawn admitted. "It would be easier if we could be happy just being friends."

The redhead considered his words. She was glad Shawn held her feelings in as high regard as she held his, though the fact that they were both afraid of hurting the other was putting a damper on things.

"Well, maybe we can be," she allowed reluctantly.

He gave her a confused look. "I thought we were supposed to work things out?"

She shrugged. "Maybe this is working them out, at least for now. We can just let things take their natural course. Maybe Topanga or Cory will meddle enough that everything will work out of the best."

The boy chuckled as he wondered, "how can Topanga meddle from Pittsburgh?"

"She made me promise that I'd talk to you."

Shawn shook his head in disbelief at that. "I can't believe she's influencing you and she's not even here."

Juliet grinned. "Maybe Topanga has a superpower."

🌎🌎🌎

Despite her talk with Shawn not exactly resolving itself (even she didn't think they could stay "just friends" for the rest of their lives) she could report a positive answer to Topanga the next time they spoke.

Still, it was working fine for now with the two of them sitting on the Matthew's couch with a deck of cards between them. Juliet studied her hand and contemplated her best move, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought. Focused on her decision, she didn't notice Shawn's attention fixate on her lips. Next to them, Cory and his date— a British girl named Rosie— were sitting an awkward distance apart, the boy having sat down on the chair instead of the couch.

The dark-haired boy sighed. "Come on, Julie. You've been thinking about what to play forever."

He'd almost forgotten what game they were playing (or even that they were playing one) as he watched her concentrate. The redhead waved a hand in her direction. "Stop whining, Shawnie. I'll play in a second."

"You said that two minutes ago."

"Well, you keep interrupting me. How am I supposed to know what to do if you keep talking?"

Shawn flopped against the side of the couch as he gave her a pleading look. "It's literally Go Fish, Julie."

Juliet shot him an unamused glance. "Fine, do you have any fives? And it's Mega Go Fish, for your information."

"No, go fish," he replied. Just as she was leaning over to take a card, he added, "do you have any kings?"

She scowled at his impatience. "Even if I did I'd still say no since you're being annoying."

"What a rushy boy," Rosie commented behind her.

"Yeah, he is, and if he doesn't stop I'll forfeit the game."

Shawn drew a card from the deck. "A rushy boy?"

"Since my sister and I came to America we haven't really been on many dates, you know," the blonde remarked conversationally.

Juliet tried to block her out since she found the pitch of her voice rather irritating. "Do you have any Aces?"

The boy sighed. "Yes." He handed her two.

Rosie giggled. "I have a little catching up to do."

"Did you hear that, Cor?" Shawn mused. He copied the girl's accent: "she has a little catching up to do."

The redhead glowered at him as she laid down four pairs of Aces in addition to her sixes, tens and threes. "Do you have any sevens?" she inquired, seeing as how he'd given her what she'd asked for.

"No, go fish."

Rosie turned to the curly-haired boy as Juliet drew from the deck. "Well, I suppose anyone can sit on a couch but you were clever enough to choose the cozy chair."

She stood and moved behind him to rub his shoulders. Cory looked suddenly uncomfortable and all but leapt out of his seat to pick up the phone. "Hello, Topanga? How are you? I miss you so much."

"I didn't hear the phone ring," the British girl observed. "Did you hear the phone ring, Juliet?"

As much as she wanted to deny that she had, Juliet shook her head. "No, I did not. Shawn, it's your turn."

"I know, I know." He brushed her words aside and put down his hand as he stood. He then grabbed the phone on from his best friend and pressed the end button.

"You hung up the phone on Topanga!" Cory exclaimed.

"I hung up the phone on nobody," he replied. "The phone has to ring for somebody to be on it."

"Not when you're in love."

"Or nuts. You're killing me, man."

"I haven't done anything," Cory pointed out.

"That is exactly what the problem is," Shawn argued. "You have a beautiful girl from another country who doesn't understand our language." Juliet huffed as Rosie smiled brightly. The dark-haired boy gave her a look. "Julie, you're my best friend. I can't compliment you."

"Yes you can," she countered, though she let the subject drop to allow him to continue.

"And you haven't done a thing," he finished.

"Well, the night is young," the blonde stated.

"Cory," Shawn pleaded quietly.

"Listen, Shawn. I am getting to know Rosie, okay? Maybe we can play Mega Go Fish with you and Jules."

"Sorry, it's a two-player game," Juliet responded immediately.

The curly-haired boy gave her a imploring look. "You have four decks!"

"Two per person."

As Cory turned to Shawn, the other boy put up his hands. "Hey, she's the one who created the game. I'm only a contributor. You should move a little faster, anyway. She's only here on a six-month Visa and I'm about to beat Julie."

"No you're not!"

"You don't know what I have in my hand," he shot back, giving her a smug look.

"I'm just worried about Topang—"

Shawn covered his mouth. "Please, for one night, I beg of you. There is no Topanga. If you care about me at all, and even if you don't care about me but could someday care about me, then go."

Cory looked over at Rosie, who waved while Juliet waited impatiently for Shawn to take his turn. Reluctantly, the curly-haired boy sat next to his date as Shawn sat back down. "Now, if memory serves, the point I was trying to make was—"

"You're not about to win," the redhead told him firmly.

"You don't know that," he answered with a grin. He laid down his fives, fours, eights and tens.

Juliet's eyes widened. "I asked you for fives a few turns ago!"

"And I picked them up since then."

"You're cheating!"

"I'm winning," he corrected her boastfully, "something that you're not doing."

Behind her, Cory turned to the blonde to explain his behavior: "it's just that I've been. . . going out with this girl for, like, sixteen years."

Shawn pretended to sneeze. "Ah-kill you."

"Bless you," the redhead acknowledged him despite hearing the hidden words. "Would you take your turn now?"

He gave her a sly look. "Do you have any kings?"

Juliet's mouth dropped open in disbelief but he put his hand out for her to give the requested cards to him. "Shawn—" she spluttered. "I-I— really?"

"Yep. I know you have them, so hand 'em over."

Grumbling, she handed him three of the four kings. Smirking at her, he proudly laid down his last group. "I've got more than you. I think that means I win."

🌎🌎🌎

Later that week, it started pouring and wouldn't stop. Wrapping her raincoat more tightly around her, Julie tucked the brown bag under the protective layer as she approached Topanga's old house. She carefully secured her lunch under her arm before she climbed the slippery tree outside the girl's window. She crossed over the gap to the roof, carefully slid the pane open and ducked inside to get out of the rain.

As she'd expected, Cory was sitting in the empty room with his back against the wall, staring blankly into space. Her expression softened and she discarded the jacket on the floor before she moved to sit next to him. "Hey, Cor," she greeted him quietly.

The boy startled slightly and turned to her. "Hey, Jules."

"I brought you lunch," she informed him, holding up the bag. "I thought you might be hungry."

He gave her a grateful look and took the offered sandwich and bag of chips. "Tuna melt?"

"You know it," Juliet confirmed with a faint smile. "It's my favorite, after all. And it's the only one I can get free from the diner since the tuna expires pretty fast."

Cory's expression turned faintly amused before it fell again and she sighed, opening her own sandwich. "Do you wanna talk or just sit?"

"I can listen," he offered.

The redhead chewed thoughtfully for a moment before she swallowed the bite. "I miss her too, y'know," she started quietly. "Differently than you do, of course, but besides you and Shawn, she's my best friend." A wry smile appeared on her lips. "I was gonna spend the next school year with her— as long as her parents agreed, of course— while my dad did reconstruction on our apartment building. I guess I can't now."

"Are we ever gonna meet your dad?" Cory inquired suddenly. "He's been around for awhile now."

"Of course," she answered quickly. "He's pretty busy though so that's why you haven't yet. I think he's having a summer party once school lets out. Maybe you could come to that."

"I'd like to meet him," the curly-haired boy admitted. "I know you and Shawn are closer than we are, but you are still one of my best friends. I do care about how he treats you, you know."

Juliet reached over and took the boy's hand, squeezing it gently. It was, naturally, not the same as when she did the same gesture with Shawn, but she'd done it in an act of appreciation and comfort. "Thanks, Cor."

🌎🌎🌎

A few days after that, Topanga returned and agreed to stay with her Aunt Prudence for the remainder of her high school years. The two girls were strolling around the mall, window-shopping as they enjoyed being able to spend time together again.

"I'm so glad you're back," Juliet told her for the umpteenth time. "Everything was terrible."

"I'm sure not everything was," the blonde clarified, though she was pleased that she'd been missed so much.

"Yes it was," the redhead disagreed. "Only being friends with boys for the rest of my life made the future look pretty bleak."

Topanga rolled her eyes at that. "Speaking of which, you said you talked to Shawn but didn't go into detail. Are you guys dating now?"

"No," she admitted, "we thought it would be best to just stay friends."

Topanga stopped and gave her a disbelieving look. "Seriously?"

Juliet shrugged. "Neither of us wants to hurt the other should the relationship go south so staying friends is just better."

"Is it?"

"It's absolutely miserable," she sighed. "Every time I see him I just want to kiss him and that's definitely not friendly, but it was hard enough to get him to talk to me about it so I'm just letting it be for now. He seemed to think that letting the relationship take its natural course was the best option."

"But right now you're fighting the natural course," the blonde reasoned before she exclaimed, "I only go away for two weeks and everything falls apart!"

"I know," Juliet agreed. "That's one of the many reasons why I'm glad you're back."

Topanga gave her a hopeful look. "Can I meddle?"

"I thought you said it wasn't meddling."

"Well now that you're asking me to do it, it is meddling. Before I was just helping."

"Then yes, I do want you to meddle," the redhead decided. "Just don't make it obvious."

"Of course not," Topanga scoffed. "I'm never obvious." 

[written apr. 2021]
[edited may 2022]