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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴘɪᴄᴋᴇᴛ ғᴇɴᴄᴇs ꒱


❝ ARE YOU PROPOSING? ❞

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It was only after Cory and Topanga returned from their honeymoon that they realized they hadn't planned for everything. Now that they were married, it was natural for them to live together; Topanga wanted to move out of the apartment that she was sharing with Angela and Rachel, but they couldn't move into Cory's dorm for obvious reasons. The next few days were extremely tense for them as they tried to find a place to live, at least until Angela heard about a couple who'd had. . . a contentious relationship that eventually got them evicted from their apartment.

That still wasn't ideal because it was an even worse dump than what Rainbow Falls had been and they could only take so many sleepless nights. However, with all of the rearranging going on, Jack had moved back into the apartment so they couldn't escape there and Eric had taken Cory's old dorm. Juliet had felt bad that they were having such a rough go of it so she'd pleaded with Celeste to let them sleep in her dorm, at least for a few nights. Her roommate had thankfully agreed, saying that she'd be happy to cram in with her boyfriend for a couple of days. While she didn't regret her decision to offer the space, Juliet was having second thoughts because she hadn't realized how annoying her best friends could be. 

She had just "put them to bed" for the night and had opened the door to let Shawn in who gave her irritated expression an amused look. "So, babe, how was your day?"

The redhead stood off to the side to let him in as she grumbled, "I don't even want to talk about it."

"Are the kids tucked in?"

He chuckled at the sour face she pulled. "All tucked in. Can we please go take a shower now?"

"When was the last time you had a moment alone?" he asked instead, clearly enjoying her short temper.

"Before the kids came, that's for sure. Are you quite finished?"

Their quiet talking must have been heard by the couple because Topanga propped herself up on the bed. "Bath?"

"Babe, I hate the kids," Shawn complained.

"Be glad you don't live here all the time," Juliet huffed before she turned to the blonde. "No, you're already in your pajamas."

"I wanna be clean!" Cory added his objection as he tossed the covers off to climb out of bed.

She gave a deep sigh. "Guys, you know you're my best friends, right?" The couple looked at each other and nodded as Topanga cheered "yeah!" enthusiastically. "So you know that I say this from a place of the utmost love and affection," she continued, "but I am sick and tired of you. Please get out and don't ever come back."

Cory scoffed. "Oh, you crack me up, Jules."

"Cory," the blonde said tentatively, "maybe we should go back to our. . ."

"Hole?"

"Our. . ."

"Dump?"

"Our. . ."

"Sewer?" They spoke almost in unison as their eyes rounded pleadingly.

"Look," Shawn told them, "we'd love to hang out with you guys forever but right now you're on this new marriage thing and we're on this new serious-couple thing. . ."

"Yeah," she agreed. "So it's like you're a couple and we're a couple, which is exactly the same except that—"

"You're married and we're happy," he finished. "So get out. We're serious."

"We understand," Cory replied. "We really do. We'd never want to impose on your little life of sin."

"You make me sick!" Topanga exclaimed as they walked to the door. "We're just gonna go and hang out with our other friends!"

"Yeah, you think you're our only friends in the world?"

"Well, you're not!" the blonde retorted.

"Because we are a beloved couple!"

Shawn closed the door in their faces and turned to the redhead. "How long do we have to wait before we can go into the hallway?"

🌎🌎🌎

"I'm so sorry that I kicked you out of your own room," Juliet apologized to Celeste when she took her roommate and Kendrick out to lunch as an apology. "I don't know what I was thinking—"

"Don't worry about it, Gollum," he replied easily. "We had a good time. My roommate, on the other hand. . ."

"Didn't," Celeste finished as they shared a laugh.

The redhead pulled a disgusted face. "I know Shawn and I are bad but I'd rather not hear it from anyone else, thanks. Anyway, it feels like I haven't seen you that much and I'm sorry about that, too."

"Don't worry about it," the brunette repeated her boyfriend's words sincerely. "I know you were busy with your friend's wedding and everything else."

"I know," she agreed, "but it wasn't too long ago that I felt left out because I wasn't in the group and I would never want someone to feel like that if I could help it. My Saturday lunches are already booked thanks to Kendrick and Rachel, but maybe we could plan something on Sundays? That way I can always make sure that I have time for you."

Celeste's expression softened and she reached her hand out to gently squeeze her roommate's arm. "I'm happy with whatever makes you feel better, Jules. Really, it's okay."

She gave a stubborn shake of her head. "Well, what would make me feel better is knowing that your Sundays are booked from here on out."

"You got it," the other girl concurred.

"And," Juliet continued, "I was thinking that maybe. . . on a Sunday in the near future. . . we could. . . go ring shopping?"

"I'm flattered," her roommate teased her, "but I'm afraid I'm already taken."

Despite her laughter, Juliet felt her face worm and she shook her head again. "Not you, sorry. I've, um, been thinking about. . . about asking Shawn." She jumped at her friends' suddenly raised, celebratory voices. "Shush! I don't need the whole town knowing!"

"How long have you been thinking about this?" Celeste wondered excitedly.

"Well, if I'm being completely honest, since our first kiss, I think. But it's only been more serious since Cory and Topanga's wedding. I mean, I know I'm not gonna love anyone else but Shawn for the rest of my life so I think the decision's pretty obvious."

The brunette beamed at her. "I'd love to come with you, Jules, but don't you want your best friend instead?"

"I'd ask Topanga," she conceded, "but with everything that they're going through right now I don't think that it's the best time. Also, I know she'd have the best intentions but there's no way that she could keep it from Cory, who would tell Shawn and the whole thing would be spoiled. I want to announce it when I'm ready."

Kendrick smiled at her kindly. "It makes sense that you're the one getting the ring, Gollum. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, guys," the redhead responded appreciatively. She felt the warmth expand in her chest that always came from spending time with people she cared about.

🌎🌎🌎

Later that day, she and Shawn went to go visit their friends at the 'sewer' they had returned to. She hoped that none of her recent revelation showed on her face, though Juliet thought that maybe her boyfriend had picked up on some of it since he kept sending her bemused looks. Now, she sat with Topanga on the ratty couch and tried to find a positive. "It's. . . nice."

"Liar!"

"Well, I thought I knew what growing up in a 'stink hole' was," Juliet admitted, "but this is way, way worse."

"I think this place has possibilities," Shawn argued. "I mean, Julie, your dad saw potential in your apartment complex."

"What possibilities?" Cory demanded. "Grease fire? Wrecking ball? Or the place just falls apart on its own because it should?"

"At least Rainbow Falls had tap water that you could drink," Juliet pointed out.

"Come on, guys. This is exactly the type of place we said that we always wanted to live in, right? Julie would be the brains and Cory and I would build."

"I'm married now," the curly-haired boy reminded him.

"Oh, hey," Topanga snarked. "If you two want to live here, you can go right ahead!"

"Come on," Shawn protested as he walked around the small space. "You could. . . you could put a nice little bookshelf in right here."

"Ooh, that would be nice," the redhead realized. "Or some nice stock photos just for the laugh."

"No," Cory interrupted them. "Guys, we're not gonna fix this place up, okay? It's not like we're gonna live here."

"Where are you gonna live?"

"We found this great little starter house with a nook," the blonde replied.

"I don't get it."

"What's to get? We hate this house and I'm gonna get us into that other house with or without my cheapskate dad."

"Cory, you got a great place right here!" Shawn exclaimed. "Why don't you slow down for a second and take a look around you? You know, this is your place, man. Fix it up. Have an imagination."

"You have an imagination," he retorted. "Okay, look what we got here, Shawn. Imagine this is the water you drink." He went over to the sink and turned it on to allow the brown water to spill out as he collected it in a cup. "Okay? Look at that. Go ahead. Drink the mud."

"Cory, imagine you have some pride in the place and fix the rusty pipes! You want to live in a nice place, you're gonna have to work at it. And then, someday, maybe you'll be lying next to each other on the floor with the sun streaming in the windows, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper."

Even as Cory and Topanga eventually kicked them out, the image Shawn had painted stayed in her mind. It was so easy to put them in their friends' place in a few years. Just married, barely out of college— maybe living abroad, but everything else the same. Fixing up an apartment together with long days of work as they looked forward to whatever the night might hold. Waking up together in bed surrounded by things that they had created.

Juliet's heart yearned for that future so much that she could almost reach out and touch it, and the best part was that she could only see that possibility with him.

🌎🌎🌎

That evening, Celeste was out on a date with Kendrick so Shawn and Juliet had her dorm to themselves. While they'd normally. . . take advantage of this opportunity, they remained curled up on her bed instead. Juliet ran her fingers contentedly through her boyfriend's hair as his arm wrapped comfortably around her waist to pull her closer to him. He let out a quiet sigh. "Well, here we are. Just us, together. It's what I've always wanted."

"It's perfect," the redhead murmured. "Are you happy?"

"I'm as happy as I'm gonna get."

She huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"This isn't real, Julie. We're living in dorms and going to college. We don't have to worry too much about taxes or bills or other adult things. It's easy to be happy when you have other people that can help out."

A soft giggle escaped her lips. "You're jealous of Cory and Topanga's stink hole!"

"You know I haven't had a lot of good things in my life that really belonged to me so when they come along, I want to do my best to protect them and hold on to them. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to this relationship," Shawn said firmly. The arm wrapped around her waist tightened.

"You're such a sap," Juliet told him fondly, "but that's one of the reasons why I love you."

He tilted his head up to meet her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing you say that. But it's true, Julie. We're just playing house."

She stilled. "Do you want what Cory and Topanga have?" she asked. She swallowed against her suddenly dry throat. "Do you want to get married?"

Shawn sat up so he could twist around to stare at her with wide eyes. "Are you proposing?"

The redhead let out a slightly nervous chuckle. "Not yet, Shawnie." Then, she threw caution into the wind as she added: "but soon. Real soon."

He could hardly tear his gaze away from her then, with how her red hair spread out around her head, her blue eyes sparkling up at him as bright as sunlight reflecting off ocean waves, the adoring look that softened her face from the promise she made.

The promise that she made to him.

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