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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ-ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ʀᴜʟᴇ ꒱


❝ YOU SAID MOBY ❞

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"Julie! Julie!" Shawn called as he ran into the library. He ignored the irritated looks he received from the other students as he disturbed their peace and made a beeline for his best friend's table in the back of the room. He placed his hands on the surface once he was in front of her as he stared at her eagerly, waiting for her attention.

The girl didn't look up, instead choosing to disregard his appearance and focus on her studies. The only indication that she'd heard him at all was the curt response she gave him: "studying, Shawn."

He rolled his eyes, knowing that she was still mad at him for getting suspended last week. He decided to dig himself a deeper hole and reached forward to yank the book away from her. "Yeah, yeah. Study later! I just solved all of our problems."

The redhead finally gave him the attention he wanted, though her expression was less than pleased. "I highly doubt that. I haven't solved them so I'm sure you couldn't have."

"Our relationship problems, Julie," he corrected her. "I've got two words for you: dos semanas."

"Two weeks?" she asked, confused. "And since when do you know Spanish?"

"I hear it all the time at the trailer park," the boy replied dismissively. "Anyway, don't you think it's genius?"

"I'm going to need a few more words than that, I think," Juliet said. "You're not making any sense."

"Well, you're afraid of losing our friendship if something goes wrong and I'm afraid of hurting you, so I thought about it and came to the conclusion that if we had a set end date for our relationship, we'd know what we were walking into before something terrible happened," Shawn explained enthusiastically.

"That's the most stupid idea I've ever heard," she told him flatly.

"So you're going to say yes, right? It's foolproof."

It was far from foolproof, obviously. "What if one of us doesn't want to break up?"

"That's the beauty of it, Julie. We both know we only get two weeks. There's no exceptions and at the end we can go back to being best friends like we've always been."

"There's no way this is going to work, Shawn," Juliet replied. "None of your plans ever do."

"This one's different," he insisted. "You're agreeing to it and since you're the brains of the operation it's going to work."

Juliet still wasn't entirely convinced since she knew that if she did get two weeks with Shawn, she'd want their relationship to be longer than that. She was worried that after everything, her feelings would deepen and not go away, thus making the breakup harder. Still, maybe she could convince him during the time that a longer relationship might be doable even with their misgivings. Besides, what did she have to lose?

While she did have the danger getting her heart broken, she'd rather take the risk than loose the chance.

After a moment of consideration, she asked one more question: "would I get to call you my boyfriend?"

Shawn gave her a beaming grin. "You'd get all the privileges that come with dating Shawn Hunter, including that," he agreed. "So, can I pick you up at seven for our first date?"

Even though she tried to fight it, the redhead couldn't hide the smile that crept onto her lips. "Sure, I'm in."

If it was possible, his expression grew even brighter and he leaned across the table to press a quick kiss to her lips— in front of everyone!— before he pulled away. "I can't wait to tell Cory!" he exclaimed as he turned and all but ran out of the library.

The redhead could have sworn that as the door swung shut behind him, she heard the boy let out an excited whoop!

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet sat in front of Morgan's vanity mirror with a curling iron in hand as she attempted to tame her wavy hair. Normally, she'd have Topanga help her, but she was afraid of the blonde finding out about the "two-week rule" as she'd opted to call it. She was sure her friend wouldn't approve and try to meddle. (And, while she had asked for Topanga's help, this wasn't something she wanted the other girl to interfere with.) That being said, it was taking much longer for her to sort out her hair for her date with Shawn.

A part of her still couldn't believe that this was happening: that Shawn was actually her boyfriend even if it was only for two weeks (the nervous butterflies in her stomach told her otherwise.) She suspected that their date (their date!) would be a normal outing to Chubbie's but even their usual habits felt completely different now.

The youngest Matthews entered her room as Juliet was attempting to fix the back of her hair and the younger girl watched her for a moment before she observed, "you're getting dressed up. Do you have a date?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah." The redhead did her best to fight the blush that rose so easily to her face but she was unsuccessful.

The blonde gave her a curious look. "Who's it with?"

"Do you promise not to tell Cory?" Juliet asked, though she was sure he already knew. She'd still try to avoid him finding out if she could help it— at least until Shawn was there to defend the idea he'd come up with.

"I love not telling Cory things!" Morgan agreed cheerfully.

"It's with Shawn," she confessed. She didn't need a mirror to know her face had turned more red at the admission.

The girl's expression turned surprised. "He finally asked you out?"

"Sort of, yeah. He's picking me up at seven."

"Can I help you get ready?" Morgan asked hopefully.

"Sure," Juliet said. "Do you think you could help me chose what to wear?"

"Yes!" she replied happily. "Do you know where he's taking you?"

"Not really but probably somewhere casual," the redhead responded.

The blonde went over to the dresser and opened the drawers she'd cleared out for the older girl before she sorted through the clothes. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," she admitted as she moved the curling iron to the front side of her hair. "We've both waited so long for this to happen, I just hope it goes well. I mean, we might sit in complete silence for the whole time." She sighed. "That would be terrible."

Morgan chose a pair of high-waisted, dark blue jeans and set them aside on her bed. "Are you guys going to kiss?"

"I think so," Juliet answered. "It wouldn't be the first time, anyway."

The younger girl kept asking questions about the redhead's date as they enjoyed the sister-like conversation. Juliet continued to work on her hair and she successfully tamed it into a presentable style while Morgan decided on a blue button down collared shirt with pink flowers. The redhead changed into the outfit and came out of the bathroom as she tucked her shirt into her jeans. She pulled on a pair of soft, light-brown boots and the blonde presented her leather jacket. "If you're going on a date with Shawn you'll probably want to match the dress code."

She took the item from her. "What if I want to wear his jacket?"

Morgan looked thoughtful for a second before she shook her head. "You'll have lots of opportunities to wear his jacket. I think he'll want to see you in yours first."

Smiling slightly at her reasoning, Juliet pulled on the black coat as the door to Morgan's room opened suddenly. "Hey, Jules. Shawn's here, he's—"

Cory stopped talking midsentence as he took in her nicer-than-usual outfit. He frowned. "Why are you dressed up?"

She only hesitated a second before she explained, "Shawn's taking me out."

The curly-haired boy stared at her in surprise. "Out? But you two go out all the time and you never get dressed up. . ." He trailed off as he seemed to remember something and his eyes widened. "Shawn told me he had a date with you but I thought he'd dreamt about it when we slept through Feeny's class. It's real?"

"Yeah," Juliet said, unsurprised that she couldn't hide something like this from him. "I still can't believe it."

"Do I have to give him the Dad Talk?" he asked sternly.

The redhead gave him an amused look. "Thanks but I think we're good. Let's go."

During the time Morgan had distracted her with questions, her nerves had abated a bit. Now, the butterflies returned to full force and she could have sworn they were fencing in her stomach. The youngest Matthews darted eagerly ahead of them while Cory stayed next to her, his expression worried. "Are you sure you're looking forward to this, Jules?"

"Of course I am," she replied. "It's perfectly natural to feel like you're about to puke before your first date with the guy you've liked for years."

"I don't think that's true," the boy said. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"On my date?" Juliet asked with a laugh. "No thanks."

"I could offer moral support."

She gave him a grateful look as they made their way down the stairs. The closer they got to the first floor, a miracle seemed to happen and she became more excited than nervous as she thought about all the possibilities their time together held. She couldn't stop the happy, genuine smile that appeared on her lips as she stepped down the final stairs.

"Whoa," Shawn breathed out at the sight of the redhead, her joyful expression contagious as she approached him. "This is no dream."

"It's real," Juliet agreed eagerly. "Shall we get going, boyfriend?"

It was hard to miss his bright, beaming grin.

🌎🌎🌎

So far, their date had been going surprisingly well. They hadn't fallen into silence like she'd feared they might and it felt very much like they were still best friends— except that Shawn hadn't let go of her hand and he kept staring at her in a way that made her both squirm and feel pleasantly warm. The only time he'd left her side was to pick up their food at the counter before he promptly returned to their booth.

As Juliet began to eat her fries, she proposed the next topic of conversation: "so, if we're going to do this dating thing right, we need a relationship name."

"Relationship name?" the boy repeated.

"Yeah. Y'know, like Cory and Topanga are Corpanga."

"No one calls them that, Julie."

"People do," the redhead argued.

"Yeah? Like who?"

"Like me. And Topanga. And—"

"And that's it," he finished with a grin.

"Well we should still have something that people can call us," she huffed. "I've been thinking about Shuliet."

"But that's only two letters of my name," Shawn complained. "What about Shawnliet?"

"I don't think you get the point," Juliet said. "It's not supposed to contain our whole names, just parts of them. I've also considered Jawn but that just sounds like you're saying yawn wrong."

"Or people could just call us Shawn and Juliet," he suggested, "instead of making up words."

"But it's more fun this way," she countered. "I think the best contender is Hunterwood, our two last names combined."

He gave her a mischievous look. "Hunter's Wood would be a good combination."

Juliet turned red and hit him on the shoulder. "I take that back, it's a terrible name. Why did you have to go and ruin it, you horrible boy?"

Shawn chuckled at her reaction. "What? I was only suggesting that it might be nice to have a forest named after my family."

"That's not what you meant and you know it," she grumbled, turning back to her dinner. "Never mind. People can just call us Shawn and Juliet."

"Aw, c'mon, Julie," he whined slightly as he leaned against her. "Don't be like that. I was only joking."

"Yeah, well, congratulations. You ruined it."

"Does this make up for it?" he closed the distance and pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek.

The redhead did her best to remain grumpy. "You're going to have to do a lot more than that."

He didn't give up that easily. Instead, he lifted his hand to gently cup the side of her face so he could turn her to look at him. Juliet leaned into the warmth of his palm as he gave her that look again. Shawn shifted towards her and pressed his lips to hers to kiss her softly. The food became quickly forgotten the longer they were connected.

🌎🌎🌎

The couple made their way out of Chubbie's some time later though their date was far from over. As they neared the door, a brightly lit display caught Shawn's attention and he pulled the redhead over to the game. "Let me win you something."

"No one can beat the claw machine, Shawnie," Juliet said, amused.

"You wanna bet, Julie?" he countered. "I'll get you that whale."

"And what do you get in return?" the redhead asked.

"A kiss."

"Those aren't very high stakes," she mused. "I can kiss you any time I want now."

"Well, then you have nothing to lose."

"I can lose a whale," she argued. "Now I'm looking forward to getting it."

"Then I'll be sure to win it for you," Shawn promised with a charming grin.

He turned to the machine and put the money in the slot, causing it to come to life. With more focus than he'd ever given a homework assignment, he carefully navigated the claw over to the stuffed animal and pressed the button for the machine to grab it. Moments later, the toy landed in the dispense chute. He opened the flap and pulled it out, proudly presenting it to her.

Juliet gave him an awed look. "That's amazing. You may collect your prize now."

Beaming at her happily, Shawn looped an arm around her waist to pull her closer before leaning down to kiss her. When he pulled away, the redhead hugged the gray animal tightly to her before she pronounced: "I'll name him Moby Dick." She adopted a suspicious expression as he started to laugh. "What?"

"You said Moby."

The redhead gave him a stern look. "Yes, I'm sure that's why you're laughing. Moby—" she started, only for him to chuckle even more. She huffed. "It's a fictional character written by Herman Melville. It's not that funny."

"Yes it is," the boy said, though as she continued to look unimpressed, he sobered quickly. "Sorry."

Sighing, she shook her head in exasperation at his antics before she returned to their path out the door. "C'mon, Shawnie."

He caught up to her quickly and his arm wrapped around her shoulders in its familiar position. This time she leaned against him though, her own arm curled around his waist. The action reminded him of the time she'd done it when they'd gone to Disneyland and watched the fireworks together.

They walked in a comfortable silence down the street and the memory of the bright fireworks caused him to notice the sunset that was currently taking place above them. "The sky's pretty tonight," he observed.

"Did you know that the sun doesn't actually change color?" Juliet asked, following his gaze.

"It doesn't?"

"Nope. We only see it that way because the sun's wavelengths react with the difference in the environments. As sunlight reaches Earth's atmosphere, it mixes with other gas molecules and travels through water droplets, resulting in color change. Then the sunlight scatters and breaks down into the colors that we can see."

During her explanation, Shawn's attention had turned from the sky to the redhead next to him to watch her with mystified fascination as she shared the knowledge she was able to retain. She never ceased to amaze him with how incredibly smart she was, even if he didn't always understand everything she said.

When she didn't receive a response, Juliet looked away from the sky to see the awed expression on his face. "What?"

"You're absolutely brilliant, Julie," he breathed out. She ducked her head, embarrassed by his praise. 

"I'm not as smart as Topanga is, Shawnie," she protested.

He scoffed slightly. "Topanga's got nothing on you. If you were competing against her in an intelligence competition, I'd bet on you every single time."

"Even if I lost?"

"Win or lose," he promised. "Though she'd be hard pressed to beat you. You're the smartest person I know."

Shawn was looking at her like that again and she couldn't tear her eyes away from his. The world around them faded into muffled sounds as they stood in the middle of the sidewalk and the only person she cared about in that moment was him.

It was going to be a very hard two weeks.

[written apr. 2021]
[edited may 2022]