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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʜᴇʀ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀ ꒱


❝ WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? ❞

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After leaving the Matthews' that night, Juliet and Shawn walked back to her apartment in relative silence, both lost in thought about the wedding their best friends were having without them. When they arrived at her door, she pulled the dark-haired boy closer and leaned up to press a gentle kiss to his lips. He smiled softly down at her when they parted. "That'll be us someday, you know. Living on the edge, making people mad at us."

The redhead chuckled at his words. "Well, we already do the last one pretty well." She looked up at him curiously. "Would you really want to elope?"

He shrugged. "I've never really thought about it, actually. It's still a long, long way off."

"We have time," she agreed. "'Night, Shawnie."

"'Night, Julie," Shawn said. He squeezed her hand as he gave her a final kiss.

Juliet watched him go with a fond expression on her face until he had disappeared down the stairwell. Then, she turned back to her door and let herself into the dark apartment. Quietly, she got ready for bed so as to not wake her mother and then went to bed herself but she didn't sleep.

Instead, all she could think about were her best friends out somewhere in the country, getting married because no one supported them. While she and Shawn had both agreed with the couple, it hadn't been what they wanted— what they needed. Rather, they'd only given their opinions and not unbiased consideration.

🌎🌎🌎

Several hours later found her walking up the Matthews' back pathway to enter the home through the kitchen door. Though she'd half-expected it, she was still surprised to see all of the lights on and nearly everyone gathered in the kitchen. The door opened easily and she entered the house. "Hello everyone."

"Juliet, what are you doing here?" Mr. Matthews asked, startled.

"Same as you, I'd expect. I guess that means we're all up with the creeps and weirdos," she remarked. The kitchen door opened again. 

"How you doing?" Mr. Feeny asked as he entered the house.

"Hi George," Cory's father said in response.

The older man went over to the fridge and took out two juice boxes. "I couldn't sleep."

"Why not?"

Mr. Feeny handed one of the containers to the redhead as he answered, "well, you got all the lights on. Everybody's yelling and Eric parked his car in my garden."

"So?" he demanded as he stood from the table. "What the hell do you care? You're moving. Go ahead, Feeny. Retire. Take care of yourself, that's what you're best at."

"The man has given the last forty years of his life teaching people," Mrs. Matthews pointed out.

"He's probably tired of your crap," Juliet added easily as she took the now unoccupied seat.

"Don't care," Eric declared. "Kill his flowers. Kill them."

He patted the boy on the shoulder. "Eric, when someone you care for makes a considered decision to change his life, then those who do care should offer support and respect his decision."

"Oh, Feeny, you had me at 'Eric,' man. Come here." He pulled the man into a one-sided hug as the latter was clearly uncomfortable.

"You're right, George. We should accept what they've done and do something to show our support. I mean, after all, we're talking about Cory and Topanga," Mr. Matthews agreed.

"Cory and Topanga?" Mr. Feeny repeated. "I was talking about a going away party for me."

"Going away?" Eric echoed accusingly. "You're still going away? Oh for the love of Mike, stop with mind games, man!" he exclaimed dramatically. He pushed his hands into his hair as his eyes widened comically.

The man grabbed his arm. "You know, this is the reason I can't sell my house."

Juliet watched them go with an amused look. "Mr. Feeny thinks he can leave. Doesn't he know he's too important to our lives to get the easy way out?"

🌎🌎🌎

The assorted group of Cory and Topanga's friends and family were gathered in the living room as they eagerly awaited the couple's arrival. They'd taken Mr. Feeny's advice to heart and had quickly arranged a last-minute celebration for the pair upon their return. When the kitchen door opened, they walked into the kitchen cheering loudly.

"Congratulations," Mrs. Matthews said as she hugged her son. "It's really great."

Morgan looked up at Topanga. "I always felt like you were a sister to me. Now you really are."

Juliet huffed. "What am I, chopped liver? It's not like we shared a room for a year or anything."

"Shush, Peaches," the blonde chided her as the younger girl gave her a hug. There was something strangely off about her teasing grin. "This is about me now."

Eric, as usual, was completely oblivious to the emotions in the room as he offered his brother a bowl of orange puffs. "Cor, you gotta try these cheese balls, man. They're, like, insane. They're so good."

Cory ignored him as Shawn went to give him congratulations. "You guys look exactly the same," he remarked as he passed some orange juice to his best friend. "What'd I tell you, Cor? You were always married. It doesn't take a piece of paper to change what always was."

The redhead offered Topanga a supportive smile. "Well, at least you saved me from having to catch your bouquet. Could you imagine the reaction I'd get?" She nodded to her boyfriend, who rolled his eyes.

"Please, Julie, what do you think I'd do?"

"I dunno. . . faint?" she asked lightly.

The dark-haired boy scoffed. "As if."

Cory grasped his friend's arm. "Shawn, I gotta tell you something."

As they separated from the girls, the blonde's expression faltered slightly. "Peaches—" she began, but Mr. Matthews interrupted her by clinking his glass.

"Okay, everybody. Listen up, please. I just want to say that I am the luckiest man in the world. I have one beautiful wife, a lovely daughter and one wonderful son!"

"Hey!" Eric exclaimed.

"Hey!" his father retorted before he approached Topanga and continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "And now I have another lovely daughter." He gently kissed her cheek before he raised his glass. "To Cory and Topanga, all the best. We love you."

"Cory and Topanga!" came the echoed response.

"Well, well, well," Mr. Feeny began.

"Mr. Feeny, before—"

"No, no," the older man cut him off. "It's my turn, Mr. Matthews. You have done quite enough tonight, now haven't you?" He paused as his words received amused chuckles. "For forty years, I have taught young men and women. I have seen countless lovestruck children but I have never seen the love, loyalty and fun that I have seen in you two."

Next to her, Shawn gave a loud cough.

Their ex-teacher sighed. "Yes, I suppose you two can be included in that as well." He raised his glass. "My friends, my dears, Cory and Topanga."

Finally, Mrs. Matthews stepped forward to stand in front of them. "Well, it's the mother's turn and I do want to say something. I have watched these two grow up. Boy, have I. And here they are now, adults, just fresh out of high school, don't know anything about the world at all. . ." she trailed off and turned to look at her husband. "I'm sorry. I can't do this. This was a mistake and I don't support it." She returned her attention to Topanga. "Why couldn't you have just gone to Yale?"

Juliet's eyes widened at the older woman's words and her hand instinctively tightened around her boyfriend's. On her other side, Eric cheered, "here here!"

The redhead shot him an annoyed look as the blonde stared Mrs. Matthews with a hurt expression on her face. "I should go."

"No," Cory said sharply. "Topanga, you're not leaving your own wedding reception."

Topanga met the other woman's gaze. "I'm sorry for any pain I've caused," she apologized quietly before she turned and left the house.

"Topanga, wait—" Cory made to stop her before he rounded on his mother. "How could you say that to her?"

"I'm sorry," she murmured weakly.

"You're sorry?" he snapped incredulously as his voice rose with anger. "So for fifteen years you've been lying to me?"

"No."

"No, you've been lying to me about how you feel about us and you've been lying to me about how you feel about her!" the boy shouted furiously.

"I want what I believe is best for you, Cory, and Topanga," his mother tried to explain.

"What's best for us, Mom, is for you to trust us!" he all but yelled at her. "I love her, alright? I will always love her. And you know something else? We didn't get married because she wanted you to be there!" He spun around and stalked out to follow the same path his girlfriend had taken moments before.

🌎🌎🌎

Eventually, things settled down as they always did. Mrs. Matthews and Topanga resolved their differences and the blonde even received her soon-to-be mother-in-law's ring as her official engagement ring. They'd even had a retirement party for Mr. Feeny with Eric acting (predictably) dramatic about the man's upcoming departure. Now, Shawn and Juliet were sitting in their usual booth at the diner where Daly worked.

"So, what's this I've been hearing about a redheaded roommate?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Eric and Jack kicked me out for a pretty face with legs." He winced as his girlfriend poked him. "Not as pretty as you, though!"

"That's not why I did that," she retorted. "First of all, you're probably just as pretty as she is." (Almost against his will, Shawn could feel his face warm; he still wasn't used to his girlfriend complimenting him.) "And second, you shouldn't talk about women like that. It's degrading and rude."

"Right, right," he said quickly, hoping to avoid a lecture. "Now they're tripping all over themselves trying to impress her. It's rather funny, actually."

"Can I meet her?" Juliet asked as she looked up at him hopefully. "I'd love to meet another redhead!"

Even if she hadn't been so excited about it, it's not like he would have said no. "Of course."

🌎🌎🌎

The next day, they made their way to Eric's and Jack's apartment to meet their new roommate. The latter was the one who opened the door. "You're lucky I'm letting you in. Visiting hours are from nine to five."

"It's three thirty," Juliet informed him.

Jack paused. "A happy coincidence then." He raised his voice: "Rach? They're here!"

It only took a moment for a tall, red-haired woman to appear out of the back room and her expression lit up at the sight of her younger counterpart. "Finally! Another redhead!"

The girl giggled at the gleeful exclamation as Shawn wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "This is Juliet, my girlfriend."

"I'm Rachel," the woman said with a smile as she came down the stairs.

Juliet gently pried herself free from her boyfriend and, almost in unison, the two girls embraced with a familiarity that two kindred souls shared. She stared up at Rachel. "Where on Earth have you been all my life?"

"Texas," the redhead answered simply.

Meanwhile, Eric had made an appearance and watched the exchange, only to turn to Shawn with an exaggeratedly horrified look on his face. "What have you done?" 

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