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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ
ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛʏ* ꒱　


❝ I HAVE SEEN THE
PROMISED LAND! ❞

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Juliet ran a brush through her hair as she watched herself in the mirror. In the reflection, she could see Topanga walk over to Cory's shower stall so she could pester him about wedding arrangements. "Cory, the banquet halls are filling up. Will you please look at these dates?"

"No, I'm wet and naked," he replied from behind the curtain.

"Me too."

Immediately, he pulled it back to reveal his head only to frown with disappointment. "You're not naked."

In response, his fiancée shoved a piece of paper into his mouth. "Cory, I can't pick out a wedding dress or flowers or anything until we set a date."

The boy returned to his shower. "Will I ever see you naked?"

"Someday."

Hopefully, he peered out into the bathroom again as he ripped the paper out of his mouth. "Sunday?"

"Pick a date!" Topanga shouted in return.

"How about your tushie right now as a sign of good faith?"

Growing tired of his insistence, the blonde picked up a nearby can of shaving cream and aimed it at his head, only for him to jerk the curtain back in place. "Ha! Nice try, babe."

Angela smirked from her place on the bench. "Ooh, nice tush." The boy screamed in response and fixed the separation properly. He turned off the water and then put on his own towel, which was wrapped up to his chest. As he stepped out of the shower, the brunette stood. "Ooh, hubba, hubba."

"I'm just a piece of meat to you, aren't I?"

"All men are," the redhead chimed in. She placed her brush down to lean over and press a kiss to Shawn's cheek. "Isn't that right, Shawnie?"

The dark-haired boy turned to look at her with wide eyes. "Julie, what'd you do that for?"

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "That's the tamest thing I could've done."

Topanga picked up her toiletry kit and walked over to the curly-haired boy. "Oh, Cory, here— I borrowed your razor."

He faced her slowly. "You used my razor?"

"Yeah, just to shave my legs. You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind?" he echoed. "That the razor I use on my face was used to shave your wonderful leg only brings us much closer and increases my overall joy."

"Good," she said. She kissed him. "Please remember to look at those dates."

"I will, my smooth one," he replied before she left. As soon as she was gone, he placed his hands on one of the sinks. "I'm gonna be sick."

"What?" Shawn asked, mid-shave.

"She used my. . ."

"What's the big deal?"

"She used my. . . blecch!" Cory shuddered.

Angela, who had taken his place in the shower, popped her head out. "Why don't you just change the blade, you baby?"

"I think it's sexy," the dark-haired boy admitted.

Juliet grimaced. "I don't. My things are my things."

"Thank you!" Cory exclaimed. "I don't see how her stubble on my face is sexy."

"It's not," the redhead confirmed, "at least in my—"

Topanga returned and she quickly trailed off as Cory forced a smile on his face. Still watching them, Angela called out: "Cory's disgusted that you used his razor."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Why wouldn't you have just said something?" the blonde asked him.

He laughed nervously. "Ha, ha. I don't mind. I think that you using my razor is very sexy."

"Oh, good. So when I use this razor right now to shave under my arms you'd be okay with that?"

"Sure," he agreed, only when she mimed the motion, he broke and took the razor from her as he pleaded, "no, I'd hate it! Please don't!"

"Why wouldn't you have just told me the truth?"

"The truth? That's funny, the truth."

"Cory, if we're gonna be married we have to be able to be totally honest with each other," Topanga said. "We should learn from this. From right now, total honesty."

"It's a trap," Shawn announced.

"Wait a minute. Are you saying I can tell the truth about everything?"

"Trap, trappity, trap-trap. . ."

"I want to," the blonde promised.

"—trap-trap," the dak-haired boy finished.

"Are you saying I can tell you exactly what I think with no fear of repercussion or lots and lots of yelling?" Cory asked.

"I wouldn't," Juliet advised as she placed her hairbrush back into her bag.

"Try it," Topanga offered. She shot the girl a warning look.

"Well, okay," he began. "Topanga. . . if you don't mind, would you please consider keeping your paws off my razor?"

"Done."

"Really?" he questioned her, clearly surprised. She leaned forward and kissed him in confirmation. As she walked out of the bathroom again, Cory turned to his best friends. "Wow. Honesty all the time. This will be good, huh?"

"I wouldn't count on it," the redhead warned him.

Shawn gave the other boy a look. "Yeah. This will be real good."

🌎🌎🌎

The next day, they found a table in the Student Union as they tried to figure out what to do for the weekend. Topanga had a school flyer in front of her as she read off the ads: "oh, look. My Petite Shoe is playing at the university theater. Do you want to go?"

"Watch this," Cory murmured to Shawn. He addressed his fiancée: "no. I don't wanna go. You know why? Because it's a chick flick and Cory don't like chick flicks. You know what else I don't like? The Ice-Capades. Don't ever take me there."

"Hey, guys, how you doing?" Eric greeted them as he wheeled a baby carriage past them.

"What's Josh doing here?" his brother asked.

"I'm just babysitting. I'm waiting for mom and dad to come pick him up."

Juliet stood from her chair as Cory went over to say hello the baby. "Hey, little bro."

She did the same and offered her finger to the youngest Matthews as she smiled at him. "Hey, Joshie."

As the baby's grip tightened on her finger, she remained oblivious to the soft look Shawn sent her way at their interaction. Angela caught it, though, and despite her remaining disappointment that they hadn't worked out, she coughed loudly as she said, "feelings."

The dark-haired boy quickly jerked out of his daze as Eric tried to pull the stroller away quickly, only to have Rachel stop him. "Eric, wait-wait. We wanna catch everybody here. Well, Jack and I are having our first dinner party on Friday night and we wanted to invite you all 'cause I'm gonna cook and it's gonna be really, really fun."

She smiled happily as they agreed.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet sent her best friend an amused look at the horrified one he was giving to Topanga as they stood in the elevator. Cory's face had frozen into an expression of aghast disbelief at the sight of his fiancée's new hairstyle. While she didn't necessarily like it either, she did think it was a very bold move. When they arrived at their floor and exited the elevator, Cory finally spoke: "Topanga. . . at what point when you were paying to have this done to your hair did you look in the mirror and say 'hey, this looks good?'"

"Cory, you've made your point. You don't like my hair," she replied evenly.

They stopped in the hallway as he turned to her. "Topanga, if I may be honest— and you said I could— I don't dislike your hair. No, no, I hate it. No— hate's too strong of a word." He paused. "Uh, no. Hate's good. I think whoever did this to you should be taken outside, tied down and made to look at it."

"Oooh," the redhead murmured. She grimaced at the oncoming argument.

"He's like a dog with a bone," Shawn agreed.

The blonde didn't respond to him and opted to knock on the door. It opened quickly to reveal Rachel, who wore a nervous smile. "Hi, come on in." As they entered, she caught sight of the new style. "Oh, Topanga, I love your hair."

"Thank you."

"I don't," Cory said bluntly. "Don't worry, we have an honesty pact. We tell each other the truth about everything now."

"Five bucks that this blows up in his face," Juliet whispered to Shawn and Angela as they trailed behind the couple.

"I'm not taking that bet," the brunette objected. "I'm not losing out on my morning coffee."

"Yeah, nothing bad's gonna happen at all," the dark-haired boy scoffed.

"You know what?" Rachel asked as she lifted a plate of appetizers. "This reminds me of a game we used to play back in high school."

She began to pass out napkins and Topanga gave her a curious look. "What kind of game?"

"It was an honesty game."

"Well, how do you play?" Angela wondered.

"We put everybody's name in a hat and whoever's name you draw, you can ask whatever you want," she explained.

Shawn smiled apprehensively. "I just came to eat," he told her. He took the appetizers from her hand and helped himself to them.

"Are you afraid of honesty, Shawnie?" Juliet asked, already knowing the answer. She didn't need to be present in the bathroom last night to guess his response.

"Oh yeah, in a big way."

"Cory and I aren't," Topanga told them.

"Honesty's a cinch for us," her fiancé agreed.

"Trap," the dark-haired boy commented on his way up the stairs.

"Well great, I'll get the hat," Rachel announced excitedly.

"Put it on Topanga," Cory joked. He laughed obnoxiously, causing everyone to stare at him until he stopped. "I'm done."

"Okay everybody, let's play."

"Do we have to?" Jack complained.

"Come on, dinner's not quite ready and we have to wait for Eric anyway. It's really funny to think of intimate questions that'll really embarrass everybody."

"Okay, well I'll go first," Angela announced quickly and she took a slip of paper from the hat. After reading off the name, she looked over at the older Hunter. "Jack. If you could change one thing about Rachel, what would it be?"

"I don't know. Who's next?"

"Oh, come on, Jack," Rachel begged. "I mean, there must be something about me that bothers you."

"Nope, sorry. Great game." He gave her a winning smile. "Feels good to be honest, huh?"

Topanga took her turn next. "Rachel, same question. Is there anything about Jack that bothers you?"

She looked over at him, prompting him to ask, "see how hard it is?"

"He's too passive and needs to voice his opinions more," she decided.

"Jack, what do you think about that?" the brunette questioned him.

"I don't know."

The door buzzed and Rachel hurried over to answer it, which revealed Eric and an unknown girl. "Eric, hi. . . you brought a guest."

"Yeah, this is Dana," he replied as he entered the apartment. "I met her at the Student Union when I was with my son Joshua. He's with Grandma and Grandpa Matthews right now. You remember my son, Joshua."

Juliet sighed at the lie that she knew would eventually come to light. As he walked to the other side of the island, Shawn adopted a British accent: "and the honesty game just got a little more interesting."

Predictably, Eric started laughing at the sight of Topanga's hair and Cory joined him as the dark-haired boy caught him up. "So, Eric, we're playing a truth game to promote honesty in relationships."

"Honesty. Excellent. It's what they teach us in law school."

The redhead rolled her eyes at his reply as Topanga took another turn. "Alright, let's see who's next. Shawn: If you could spend one night with anyone, no strings attached, who would it be with?"

"Anyone in the world? No strings?"

"Yep. Be honest."

Juliet's gaze fell to the floor as she waited for him to answer, wondering if there was any chance at all that he'd say Angela. She wasn't sure if she could take it if that was the name that he responded with and she felt herself begin to chew on her bottom lip as she started overthinking worst-case scenarios.

"I'm sure this comes as a shock to everyone," he began dryly, "but I'd pick Julie."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his and the familiar warmth expanded in her chest as her heart picked up speed. She was deaf to everyone's teasing remarks as she stared at him with wide eyes. Topanga smirked slightly at her friend. "Peaches?"

"You'd really pick me?" she asked. "Above-above anyone else?"

Above Angela? she wanted to ask, because even though their date hadn't gone well, things between her and the brunette had never settled which indicated that maybe there were still feelings there.

"I always will," he answered simply. "What do you say to that?"

She tried to ignore her racing heart because it's not like they hadn't before, but it was different now that everyone was there. She could feel the weight of the group's collective eyes on them and she swallowed. Her voice came out somewhat nervously as she said, "let's do it."

It was rather gratifying to watch his moth drop open in shock before he smiled boyishly at her. "Now?"

"Now," she agreed. She reached for his hand to pull him up the stairs.

"I like this game!" he exclaimed excitedly as he followed her.

They stumbled to a halt as Cory intercepted their path. "Hello. When you two broke up, who was your best friend who comforted both of you while you moped over each other?"

"You, dah-ling," Shawn answered. "But I still say that I didn't mope." 

The curly-haired boy gave him a disbelieving look as he continued: "and who was the one who kept telling you how stupid you were?"

"I'm not the stupid one," Juliet huffed, "but you, dah-ling."

"Then why are you continuing to do strange things when I haven't had any part in them?"

"Sorry, Cor, but I'm not about to ask you to join us," the redhead sassed. "Besides, it's not like this means anything. We're still not together."

"I don't get it."

Growing tired of his questioning, she pushed past him as Shawn added, "bye-bye."

🌎🌎🌎

As soon as the door closed behind them, Juliet startled him by pulling on the front of his shirt so that their lips would meet quickly.

While they'd both always been shy about admitting their feelings for each other, it was a whole different story when it came to expressing the. . . physical attraction between them. He never ceased to be surprised by how bold the redhead could be when it was just the two of them. (Though he was far from complaining about it, of course.) How could he, when their lips moved together in a drawn-out kiss that said more than words ever could?

Shawn's hands found their way to the girl's face to cup her cheeks gently so that he could pull her closer to him as they moved backward towards the bed. As he carefully helped her lay down on the mattress, his lips moved from hers so he could press them along her skin, freeing her mouth to breathe out, "Shawnie."

He pulled away for a moment to gaze down at her softly. "I like it when you call me that, you know."

Juliet tried to get her dazed eyes to focus on him. "What? Shawnie?"

"Yeah. You're the only one who uses that. Except for Cory, I mean, but that's not nearly the same."

"I like it when you call me Julie," she admitted. Her eyes flicked down to his lips.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she echoed his agreement. "You're the only one who calls me that. I don't like it when anyone else does."

A smug grin appeared on his expression. "Really?"

The redhead huffed. "Shut up and kiss me, you idiot."

He gladly did just that and he shifted above her slightly to get at a more comfortable angle. Juliet closed her eyes as she responded to him passionately, and she allowed herself to believe that just for this moment they were together again. She could feel the warmth of his hands on her face and how her lips tingled when they kissed. They were both breathing heavily when they parted again and this time the dark-haired boy softly brushed his thumb along her cheek as they caught their breath. "You still have freckles. They're like stars."

She felt the familiar heat rush to her face at his murmured words. "It's genetic."

Shawn couldn't pull his gaze away from hers. "Your eyes are really pretty, too."

The girl gave him an amused look. "Get some new material, would you?" she asked, though she didn't let him reply as she pulled him back down.

Her hands found their way to his hair and her fingers buried themselves in the shorter strands, hoping that a more secure hold would keep him from talking. It seemed to work for at least a little while as they continued to kiss enthusiastically, leaving little room for words. It didn't stop them from needing to breathe, though, and the next time the pulled apart his eyes returned to admiring her.

As much as he looked forward to their. . . nightly rendezvous, it was different when they didn't have the threat of other students walking in. Juliet's red hair was spread out over the pillows and surrounded her head almost angelically. Her ocean eyes were brilliant, like the sun reflecting off the waves. His heart tugged at the sight of her flushed, bright cheeks as she panted slightly underneath him. Unable to stop himself, he murmured, "Julie. . . I miss you."

Her expression softened. "I missed you to, Shawnie. I was miserable when we weren't speaking."

He couldn't keep the guilty look off his face. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"We're talking now, though," she offered. "A little too much. For what we're supposed to be doing, anyway."

"I can't help it," Shawn said quietly. "Julie, I love you."

Juliet's eyes widened at his admission and her chest squeezed at the once-familiar words she longed to hear— but not like this, not when they weren't even back together yet, not when she was still afraid that he'd leave her somehow. She tried to formulate a reply, knowing that she felt the same way but with him looking at her so expectantly and hopefully, the words faltered in her throat. "I. . . I—" She couldn't say it.

To take the attention off her expected response, she did the first thing she could think of: she shoved him to the floor. The dark-haired boy landed with a pained grunt. "Ow, my keys."

She let out a breathless, nervous laugh. "We weren't supposed to get emotional, Shawnie."

He sat up and groaned. "Oh man. I Cory'd this up, didn't I?"

Her giggle became more genuine. "Yep. I can't believe he's an adjective now."

Shawn pushed himself off the floor before he came to sit beside her. "I wasn't trying to get emotional, Julie. I just think that an emotional commitment is a proper foundation for—" he broke off, looking horrified. "Oh my God, I'm both of them!"

🌎🌎🌎

They returned to the main part of the apartment a few moments later to find that some of their friends had left. Juliet was certain that signs of their make-out session were visible in their mussed hair and red lips, though no one made a comment on it as she went over to Rachel. The other redhead was moodily ripping apart lettuce at the island. "Thank you, Rach. I had a really nice time."

"You're welcome," she pouted as she lifted a piece of broccoli to her mouth. "Come back soon."

The door opened and Cory reappeared suddenly with Topanga in tow as he exclaimed, "I have seen the promised land!"

When everyone turned to look at him in confusion, his fiancée raised her hand and offered: "I showed him my butt."

Shawn pointed at them in irritation. "You two make my life a living hell," he told them before he stalked out.

The curly-haired boy chuckled. "Great, great party, Rachel."

"We're having a great time," Topanga agreed.

"How? I thought that whole honesty game might have ruined the evening."

"Ah, on the contrary," Cory corrected her, "honesty is the only way to go for a healthy relationship. If you'll notice, only the honest couples are left here."

"Hey! What about me?" Juliet protested.

"Everyone knows you're lying to yourself, Peaches," the blonde dismissed her.

The redhead opened her mouth to argue before she sighed. "Fair enough. As long as Eric doesn't count."

"He doesn't," his brother allowed.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet sighed as the dark-haired boy trailed behind her into the bathroom. "Shawnie, have you looked outside recently? It's not dark out. Therefore let me be."

He scoffed. "I know it's daytime. That has nothing to do with why I'm in the bathroom. Has it ever occurred to you that I might need it for personal use?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "So it's not because you're following me?"

For emphasis, Shawn rolled his eyes as he replied, "I couldn't care less about you— I mean, in the romantic way. You mean nothing to me— except that you're my best friend. Less than nothing— except—"

"I get it," she cut him off, amused at his backtracking. Ignoring the presence of their best friends, she reached up and placed her hands firmly on his shoulders to sit him on the bench next to them. Juliet then guided him so that his back was pressed against the seat and she leaned over him as her red hair fell around their faces. In another one of her bold moves that Shawn admired, she pressed her lips soundly to his before she pulled away to watch him expectantly. 

He gave her a shit-eating grin. "Nothing. Not-a-thing."

"Right," the redhead agreed, clearly unconvinced. She patted his cheek patronizingly. "Good for you, Shawnie."

Juliet stood and steadfastly ignored Topanga's interested look as she walked out of the bathroom with her head held high. Shawn rose from the bench to walk nonchalantly towards the sinks. He made sure that she really was gone before he all but leapt over to the other side of the bathroom. "Cold shower, now!" he exclaimed as he yanked the curtain out of the way.

Unbeknownst to either of her friends, Juliet paused before she'd even gotten back to their dorm and leaned against the wall to calm her pounding heart. She rested her head against the cinderblocks and closed her eyes as she breathed out, "that was a close one." 

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