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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ꒱


❝ FRIENDS FOR LIFE &
ALL THAT JAZZ ❞

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"Mrs. Hodges' math test is going to be brutal," Juliet complained to Topanga as they exited the classroom.

"If you study it won't be so bad," the blonde responded expectedly.

The redhead sighed. "I know. It just takes so much effort to get a good grade in this stupid subject." 

Her friend was about to reply when Shawn suddenly appeared before them and Juliet jumped, not having seen how quickly he'd run to catch up. "Stop doing that!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," he said hastily, "Julie, I need your help."

Immediately, she gave him a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

He was startled by how quickly a worried expression appeared on her face, especially when it was in regards to his wellbeing. He shook his head to focus. "I'm fine but I need you to come with me. Please."

She exchanged a confused look with Topanga at his odd behavior. "Er, okay—"

As soon as she answered, he'd lightly grabbed her wrist and was already nearly jogging back the way he came. Caught by surprise at his fast past, Juliet stumbled to catch up and tried to stop. "Shawn, slow down!"

Thankfully, he did as she requested and shot her an apologetic look. "Sorry. I promised I'd be back soon."

"Promised? Promised who?"

"You'll see," he told her vaguely as they arrived at the girls' bathroom. Juliet opened her mouth to point out the fact but Shawn paid the sign no attention as he opened the door. He pulled her inside, calling: "Claire? It's okay, you can come out."

The bathroom stall opened to reveal a blonde girl that Juliet had seen a few times in the school hallways. Claire had a very timid manner and ashen features that made her blend in easily with the crowd, but she'd never heard anything bad about the girl so she greeted her cordially.

"Hello," she said softly in reply, looking at the redhead with dull, barely curious eyes.

"Julie, this is Claire," Shawn introduced them, "Claire, Juliet. She can help us."

"Help you?" Juliet asked, confused.

"I need you to promise you won't tell anyone," the dark-haired boy said, "it has to be a secret."

She gave him a wary look but at the serious expression on his face, she nodded. "Alright, I won't tell anyone."

Relief instantly washed over his expression. "Good, because I can't do this without you."

Her own face warmed, though she couldn't take much pride in his words due to the heavy atmosphere in the room. "So, what am I not telling anyone?" she asked carefully.

"Claire's dad hits her," Shawn told her quietly, "she needs help hiding from him."

Juliet took another look at the unassuming girl with a new perspective and her expression softened. "I'm so sorry, Claire," she said sincerely, "you don't deserve that."

"No one does," he agreed.

The redhead looked at the boy. "What about the police? They could help."

The other girl shook her head. "I'll just lie. I don't want any trouble."

Shawn frowned. "Police always make things worse. You promised you wouldn't tell anyone."

"And I won't," she agreed. She went quiet for moment as she thought. "What about my dad? He's got lawyers on his team. Y'know, for the bank. He could help and he's not police."

"No one else can get involved," he insisted, "who d'you think they'll believe, anyway?"

Juliet had to admit he had a point. "Alright. Where's she staying tonight? If this was a year ago I'd offer my place, but with my mom being home more often I'm sure she'll notice another girl."

"My parents are away for a bit so she can stay with me," he answered, "and we'll figure it out after that." He turned to Claire. "Julie's smart," he informed her and the blonde picked up on the pride in his voice. "We'll figure something out."

Claire looked between the two, Shawn determined and stubborn, Juliet intelligent and thoughtful. "Okay," she agreed, knowing she could trust them.

🌎🌎🌎

That night, Juliet told her mom that Shawn's parents had invited her over for dinner and she'd be there late. Unsuspecting of anything going on, Daly agreed and told her daughter to be home by eleven. Now, Juliet was at Shawn's trailer with a change of clothes for Claire seeing as how he didn't have any girl's clothes.

The blonde had wanted to take a shower before bed so while Shawn prepared his room for her, Juliet helped her get settled in the bathroom and showed her the clothes she'd brought. Claire took them gratefully. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you."

"It's better than sneaking in and out of your house with your dad around," the redhead told her as they left the bathroom to collect some towels. "If you don't have to risk it you shouldn't have to."

Claire was quiet as Juliet opened the linen closet door and took the towels from the shelf. Her next words were so soft the redhead almost missed them. "You're lucky, you know."

She turned to look at the other girl. "I know," she admitted solemnly, handing her the towels.

The blonde gave her a wistful look. "I wish my dad looked at my mom the way Shawn looks at you."

The words took her by surprise. "What do you mean? He doesn't look at me in a special way."

"Yes he does," Claire disagreed, "when you're not looking— and sometimes when you are— he looks at you as if you're some kinda angel."

Her face warmed at the observation, remembering how she'd noticed the same look when they were younger. She'd thought he stopped but maybe he hadn't. Juliet cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Right. Um, why don't we go put these in the bathroom and see if your bed's ready?"

The blonde nodded in agreement. When the two girls approached Shawn's room, they heard another voice coming from the entrance of the trailer, prompting them to go see who it was. Juliet recognized it too late as Claire asked, "Cory?"

The curly-haired boy looked up to see the blonde and redhead standing in the entrance to the hallway and he gave them a confused look. "Claire? Jules?" he turned to Shawn, "Shawn?"

His mind put two and two together to come up with five, but seeing as how he'd never been good with math, that was the answer he took without bothering to check his work.

🌎🌎🌎

At Chubbie's the next day, Shawn, Cory and Juliet were sitting at a booth in various stages of studying with the redhead being the most absorbed in her schoolwork. After checking to make sure she wasn't listening, Cory stared at Shawn as he tapped on the table anxiously.

"Yes?" the dark-haired boy asked, looking up.

"Shawn, we've always told each other everything," he began.

"Did I say there was nothing to tell?"

"But I—"

"Did I say there was nothing to tell?" Shawn demanded, glancing quickly in the redhead's direction.

"Yes, but you still—"

"Then let it go."

"Shawn, you, Jules and Claire spent the night together, without me," he protested, "you've always wanted to be with Jules—"

"Man, this is not something you sit around and talk to a friend about," the dark-haired boy interrupted him quickly.

"Why is that? Because you've moved up to a higher level of intimacy with women and I'm still walking around with my address in my pocket?"

"You know, don't be so hard on yourself about that one," Shawn said with a chuckle, "that's a tough address, three-two-one."

"No, no. This is about where you are and where I'm not."

"Cory, don't do anything because of me, okay?"

"Shawn, I've been going out with Topanga since, like, the day I was born and all we've ever done is kiss. Until last night, you hadn't even kissed Jules. I just think it's time we take it to the next step, okay?"

He still hadn't, Shawn wanted to correct the curly-haired boy, but he wanted the conversation to end before Juliet was done studying. "Okay."

"So what is the next step?" Cory asked.

🌎🌎🌎

"I don't trust it," Shawn said to Claire the next day at school.

"Look, I'll be gone. In and out. He's not there all the time. He's working."

"I could bring you new clothes," Juliet suggested with a frown.

"Thank you, really, but I do have my own," the blonde replied, "it won't be hard to get."

"What if he comes back?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. I've dealt with worse. I'll be okay."

"At least let me go with you," the redhead offered. Next to her, Shawn tensed. 

"Absolutely not," he answered before Claire could respond. Juliet was surprised to see that his expression was hard and steely. "I'm not letting you go in there. If anything, I'll go."

"I can do it," the blonde told them stubbornly, "I know the way around so I'll be faster than if either of you come with me."

Reluctantly, the two agreed and they split up with Shawn and Juliet joining Cory by the lockers. The curly-haired boy was not pleased to see them. "And I hope you're happy."

"What?" the pair asked in unison.

"I've blown it with Topanga and it's on you're head."

Juliet continued to look confused as Shawn closed his locker. "Wait a minute. Let me get this straight," he paused, "what?"

"I made a move on Topanga last night and she got all upset like we're not supposed to be doing that even though I told her that you had Jules and Claire spending nights at your place—"

"What?" the redhead repeated, this time with outrage creeping into her tone. She felt her face warm with anger at his insinuation.

Shawn put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her before she exploded. He gave Cory a worried look. "What, you told her about Claire?"

"Uh, perhaps. And Jules," he added unhelpfully.

"Cory, you promised you wouldn't tell anyone. I thought I could trust you."

"Shawn, we're talking about Topanga—"

That did not sit well with him. "No. No, no, no. We're talking about Claire. Trust. But you don't know what that means, do you?" Shawn demanded, "come on, Julie."

"Cory," the redhead began with a dangerously calm voice, "what exactly do you think went down last night? I'd suggest you reevaluate your answer." She walked away with Shawn before he could reply.

🌎🌎🌎

On Friday night, Cory's window opened to reveal Shawn, predictably. The surprise came in the form of Juliet, who was following him. As soon as his feet hit the floor, the dark-haired boy turned to help the redhead inside, offering his hands to her to steady her landing as she stood next to him.

"You know, Shawn, you don't have to always use the window," Cory told him.

"I like it. Danger," he replied as the redhead shut the window behind her.

"Listen, I'm sorry I told Topanga about you, Jules and Claire. You forgive me?"

"Yeah," Shawn said at the same time Juliet answered: "no."

The dark-haired boy turned to her pleadingly. "Julie, we talked about this."

"He was— is— being a jerk," she insisted, "that's not who I am—"

"I know," he interrupted her, "but we need him." The redhead chewed on her bottom lip as she thought, causing him to huff. "Don't over think this, Julie," he said, giving her what she now called the 'stop that' look. She made a pointed effort to do so.

"Fine," she grumbled, "friends for life and all that jazz."

"Good, good," Cory said, sounding entirely unconvinced while also looking extremely bewildered. "And I want you to know that you can always trust me. You can always come to me for anything."

"My parents are back in town," Shawn said before Juliet could respond. "Can I bring Claire here tonight?"

"Oh, just throw it in my face," the curly-haired boy scoffed.

"Cory, it's not like that."

"Then what is it, Shawn?"

"Cory, don't you think that if I could've told you something I would have? We promised her that we wouldn't—"

"Shawn, I think you and Jules know that you can always trust me with anything," Cory told him.

The dark-haired boy nodded. "You swear you'll never tell?"

"I swear."

"Okay. Claire, Julie and I aren't doing anything. We never have. The reason Claire's been staying at my place lately is. . . her dad hits her," Shawn explained, his tone deadly serious.

"What do you mean, he hits her?"

"At night sometimes," Juliet continued, "he yells a lot and beats her up."

"Wait, isn't he the vice president of a bank?"

"Yeah, I know. Good job, fancy home. A low-life creep. I can't hide her at my place anymore."

"And I'd offer mine but my mom would find out for sure. Besides, she might be uncomfortable with the similarities," the redhead added quietly. "I know I am."

Shawn's expression softened at her last words and his stomach twisted at how the situation could have been completely reversed. If anyone ever hurt her. . . he reached down for her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. The action startled the girl but she quickly returned the gesture and was relieved when he didn't let go right away.

"Well, we should probably go to the police," Cory suggested.

"I already tried that," Juliet answered, "that's a no-go."

"Why not?"

"Because we're kids from a trailer park and he's the vice president of a bank," Shawn told him, "I mean, who do you think they're gonna listen to?"

"Well, then at least let me tell my parents. I mean—"

"No!" Shawn cut him off quickly. "Cory, you just swore that you wouldn't tell anyone. I need to know: can I bring Claire here tonight?"

After a moment of hesitation, Cory nodded. "Yeah. I'll call you when my parents go to sleep. And Jules?" The redhead turned her attention to him so he continued: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a jerk or make the wrong assumption. I should've known you better."

"You're forgiven, Cor," Juliet said, pleasantly surprised with his apology.

🌎🌎🌎

"You're quiet," Daly observed as Juliet helped her make their Saturday night dinner, "is something wrong?"

"I'm just thinking," she murmured as she prepared the salads. "Mom, what would you have done if Barron wasn't who he was?"

"I don't think I understand the question," Daly said with a frown as she checked the potatoes.

"Well, what if he was a jerk like the stereotypical father who leaves their daughter?"

"I may not have had a college education back then but I could see a bad person when I met one."

"But what if you couldn't?" Juliet asked, "what if he was nice until he wasn't?"

The older woman wasn't sure where this was coming from but since her daughter looked so concerned about it, she answered honestly: "I don't know. Thankfully I've never been in that situation. I'd like to say that I'd get out of it but I know that's often easier said than done. If you were involved, though, I would leave without hesitation."

"Are you sure?" the redhead questioned her, unconvinced.

Daly put down the knife she was using and closed the space between her and her daughter, gently taking Juliet's attention away from the food. "Darling, you safety is always my top priority. If you were in that situation I'd make you leave, even if that meant you hating me for the rest of my life."

The girl's eyes filled with unexpected tears and she threw her arms around her mother who held on tightly to her daughter in return. She still didn't know what had caused her to worry so much— enough to ask those questions— but she hoped that her answers had alleviated some of the worry. (They had.)

A little while later after Juliet had recovered, a knock sounded on the door. Quickly washing her hands, the redhead all but ran to answer it. She yanked it open to reveal a very familiar dark-haired man standing in the entrance. Though his appearance was expected, it didn't stop her from hugging him as well. And, as her arms tightened around his waist, a rarely spoken, one-syllable word escaped her mouth for the first time while addressing him: "Dad!"

Beaming, an expression of awe was on his face as he looked up at Daly, who was teary-eyed. Hardly daring to believe what he'd just heard, Barron mouthed ecstatically: "she called me dad!" to the older woman who gave him a soft look in return.

[written mar. 2021]
[edited may 2022]