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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴄᴀɴ ɪ ʜᴇʟᴘ
ᴄʜᴇᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ? ꒱　


 ❝ I'VE HEARD THAT TAHITI
IS A MAGICAL PLACE ❞

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Topanga and Cory had invited their friends to come with them to sit in and watch a wedding so that they could get an idea of what they wanted theirs to be like. The boys were dressed in tuxes while Angela wore a dark blue dress, Topanga was in a similar color but different style and Juliet wore one in a beige color. They stood off to the side as the party guests milled around while they waited for the event to start. Cory glanced around nervously. "Topanga, listen. I gotta tell you, I feel very uncomfortable being at a wedding that we weren't invited to."

"Cory, it goes on all the time," she replied. "Mr. Beckman, the wedding planner, said that as long as we keep a low profile everything will be okay."

Shawn had obviously not gotten the message. "These are delicious!" he exclaimed loudly as he ate from a tray that a caterer was holding. "You know, you guys should get married here."

Juliet rolled her eyes and swatted his arm. "You are such a pig!"

He quickly dropped the pastry to raise his arms so he could defend himself. "God, would you stop?"

Topanga ignored them as she looked around the hall wistfully. "Our wedding will never be this beautiful."

"And why not?" Cory asked.

"Because we'll never be able to afford a wedding like this."

"Wait a minute, your dad's not rich?"

"No."

"Uh, bye," the curly-haired boy said. He made to walk away. His fiancé caught his arm and gave him a stern look.

🌎🌎🌎

Cory was pulled off by an older man from the wedding as the quartet went over to where some of the wedding hall's employees waited to be called on. Topanga was the first to address them: "how many people does the hall accommodate?"

"Anywhere from fifty to a hundred guests, miss," the uniformed man replied. "Extra chairs can be added if necessary but you don't have to worry about cramped spaces. It's a very comfortable fit."

"Can people have their ceremony here as well? Is there an additional cost?"

"Yes, there is a reception hall in the back," he answered. "For any pricing questions you'll have to ask our manager."

As she continued to do research, Shawn leaned over to the redhead. "Where'd she get these questions? 'Fifty Questions to Ask a Wedding Venue?'"

"I admire preparedness," Juliet said lightly. "You've got to make an informed decision about this sort of thing. There's actually quite a bit that goes into planning a wedding but it can be a lot of fun if you're organized."

"What's fun about asking the difference between Oatmeal and Eggshell?" the dark-haired boy scoffed. "They're all the same color!"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "And that is why you won't be a part of the wedding planning. Clearly they're different."

"Even if they are it's not like anyone's gonna notice if it's a shade off! Just go with paper napkins and you don't even have to do any laundry."

She gasped dramatically as she pulled an offended look. "I would never have paper napkins at my wedding! Do you know how tacky that is? You obviously know nothing about this sort of thing."

"What? People are still gonna use them. I mean, it's not like Cory and Topanga are filthy rich."

"Well, I'm certainly glad that we aren't getting married if that's your perspective. . ." Juliet trailed off and her expression became embarrassed as she indirectly brought up their past relationship.

Shawn looked distinctly uncomfortable, though not for the reason she thought. As soon as she'd said we, he couldn't help but imagine her in a wedding dress and felt an instant tug of longing. While he knew they were nowhere near ready for that step, he'd never given up hope of it happening one day and all of this marrying business was making him think about it even more. He was saved by replying as Cory came over to them. "Guys. You'll never believe what just happened!"

🌎🌎🌎

After he explained everything, the first thing out of Shawn's mouth was: "take the money," which was immediately followed by a wince as the redhead poked his side with her finger.

"Don't take the money," she countered.

"I love Topanga," Cory agreed.

"We all do. Take the money," his best friend insisted.

The redhead crossed her arms. "If we were still dating and you were offered a million dollars to marry this girl, would you?" Why did she keep digging herself this hole?

The dark-haired boy looked awkward. "Um. . ."

"If it's anything other than no I'm breaking up with you again," she informed him.

"No," he answered quickly. "No, definitely not."

Juliet's expression became smug as Cory returned to his first point: "I'm not going to take the money. I love Topanga more than money. She's my life."

The blonde joined them then as she pulled Angela along with her. "Cory, you're not supposed to be just standing around. You're supposed to be doing research."

"I know. I was gonna."

"'I was gonna,'" she repeated. "Do you know what that means, Angela?"

"Yep," the brunette replied dryly. "You're going to do everything by yourself."

"Just like every group project since elementary school," the red-haired girl added. "I don't know why you expected it to be any different."

Topanga stepped between the two boys. "Ugh. Cory, I don't ask much of you." She turned to Shawn as her fiancé shook his head behind her back. "And you, you're his best friend. You're supposed to help him. Help him. Peaches, you're supposed to keep them in line." She addressed the curly-haired boy again, which prompted Shawn to nod as she looked away. "Now, I want you guys to be taking notes during the wedding so we can decide what we want to do and not to do for our own wedding. Are you guys listening to me?"

This time when she looked between them, the dark-haired boy nodded while Cory shook his head. Shawn shot him a look. "Well fine. If you're not taking the money I am."

"Shawn!" the redhead exclaimed. "No one's taking the money. Stay focused you idiots."

"You just love to kill the mood, don't you?" her best friend grumbled as he went to sit down.

"What are you guys talking about?" Topanga asked, confused by how weird they were acting.

Juliet followed the boy to her own seat, leaving Cory to explain himself. "I don't know why I'm the mood killer," she argued. "This is supposed to be romantic and you're making it about material things. Who's the mood killer now?"

"It's still you," Shawn retorted. "Let the man live before he's tied down forever, won't you? Geez!"

"I think it's a very shallow and selfish thing to even be tempted by it. If you even think for a second about ditching someone you love for money, do you really love them?"

"Were you not listening to his story?" he argued. "It's a million dollars, Julie. Do you have any idea of how much that is?"

"Of course I do," she huffed, "but I wouldn't leave someone I love for it. I maintain my opinion of you being a pig."

"I am not!" the dark-haired boy objected sharply. "I'm just financially aware."

"Well, if you wanna know what I think—"

The pair continued to argue as Cory and Topanga joined them moments later and gave their best friends confused looks. Despite the normally very good relationship Shawn and Juliet had, it seemed like they'd been arguing more frequently and about the smallest things, too. The blonde interrupted them as her fiancé was pulled away again: "why does that man keep talking to Cory?"

"It makes you mad, doesn't it?" Shawn asked. "You should break up with him— oof." He glowered at the redhead next to him. "You didn't have to elbow me!"

"Yes I did," she responded simply.

Before he could start up another argument, bridal music began playing to indicate that the wedding was starting. They quieted as the bride herself came down the aisle on her father's arm. When they arrived at the altar, the minister began to speak: "dearly beloved, we are gathered here to join Jessica and Edward in holy matrimony."

"This whole thing is so out of our league," Topanga sighed quietly. "They'll probably get in some private jet and honeymoon in Tahiti."

"I've heard that Tahiti is a magical place," Juliet murmured in agreement.

"They'll probably be in a private romantic villa on a beach," Angela added.

"Can you imagine what kind of honeymoon they're going to have?" the blonde wondered aloud.

"Yeah," Shawn said. "Could you just imagine?"

"No," Cory replied quickly.

The minister continued the ceremony: "if there is anyone here present who might just give cause as to why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

The curly-haired boy raised his arm.

"What are you doing?" his fiancée hissed.

"Spasm," he answered hastily.

The blonde lowered his arm only for him to raise it again. She used more force the second time, which was enough to send him sprawling into the middle of the aisle. The minister looked down at him. "Young man, is there something you'd like to say?"

The older man from earlier hurried forward and all but laid on top of the boy. "Yes, yes you do. Say something, kid."

"What are you doing?" Topanga demanded.

"Do you mind?" the man asked. "I'm talking to my son-in-law." He helped Cory into a standing position.

The boy chuckled nervously as everyone's eyes turned to look at him. "Hi. I don't know any of you but, um, I guess I should say something very important here."

"Alright. Everybody listen to this. This is important!"

"Um, this is the greatest place to get married that I've ever seen and I would give anything to be able to get married in a place like this," Cory stated, "but I can't, so it doesn't matter."

"Cory, will you please tell me what's going on?" Topanga questioned him.

"What's going on is that when you love somebody nothing else matters," he answered. "Not the money, not where you get married, nothing like that. All that matters is who you're standing next to and the only person I want to stand next to is you." He turned to face the soon-to-be-married couple. "So, Jessie and Eddie, I wish you two what we have: true love that you can always count on." He turned back to his friends. "Let's go. This is their day. We'll have ours."

🌎🌎🌎

The beach in Shawn's fantasy was deserted except for him and a certain redhead. They were lying together on a mat in the sand with the gentle sound of waves lapping at the shore. Teasingly, he held a bunch of grapes above her. Juliet shot him an unimpressed look. "What do you want me to do, eat them?"

"Well it's my fantasy, so yeah."

"No."

"C'mon, not even if I say please?"

She rolled her eyes. "No— again. But I do have a better idea."

"Oh yeah? What's— mmph."

He relaxed almost instantly as her hand grasped the front of his Hawaiian shirt to pull him in for a kiss. Shawn closed his eyes at the gentle feeling of her lips pressed against his. He quickly dropped the grapes so he could use his hand to cup her face instead and tilted it towards him so he could kiss her more comfortably.

"Hey!"

With a sigh, he pulled away from her to see Cory staring at them accusingly. "I thought you'd be here with the million-dollar bride."

He shrugged. "Well, you were right. Money doesn't matter if you're not with someone you love."

"I knew your answer would be no," Juliet said fondly.

"Hey, what d'you know? I can be right," the curly-haired boy chuckled. "Well, I'll let you two get back to it. Can I have the grapes?"

"They're all yours," the redhead replied. She released Shawn for a moment to hand them to her friend. He proceeded to eat the happily as he remained oblivious to the couple's make out session.

[written oct. 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]