***ALEX***

Talk about waiting till the last minute. Well, almost, but not quite. In the last week of July, I finally plucked up the courage to reach out to Juliet and ask if we could meet up, face-to-face. And then it took several days to make the travel arrangements. Planes and airports aren't so efficient anymore, not with the TSA still on high alert almost two months after White Shadows.

But now, here it is, July 31st, 1:15pm. I disembark from the plane and make my way to the baggage claim. It takes about twenty minutes for my suitcase to make its way to me, and then I head for the exit.

Before I get there, though, Juliet finds me. She's not waiting in the concourse with a cardboard sign bearing my name, but it warms my heart when I recognize her anyway. At least after video-chatting with her the other day, I know to look for her wearing her hair shorter, dyed blonde, with pink, purple, and blue stripes on her bangs. When I reach her, she stands on her tiptoes so she can kiss me.

"I've missed you," I say.

"Me too." She takes my hand and walks me out into the warm, sunny LA day outside.

"I thought it would be hotter here," I say.

"You've come on a good day," Juliet says, shielding her eyes as she glances around the driveway in front of us. "It's only eighty degrees in Anaheim today. Usually it hits ninety or more every day this time of year."

"I've been to Disneyland often enough to know that," I laugh. "So...you told me your brother would be picking us up?"

"Yeah...oh, speak of the Devil, there he is." She points down the driveway at an approaching ocean-blue Jeep. It looks like the ride of a surfer dude with long blond hair and only a puka-shell necklace above the waist. Hell, with his cargo shorts and tank top, the Jeep's driver looks like he really belongs on the beach. SoCal, I guess.

"You know," he says as Juliet and I climb into the backseat, "I would've thought I'd be the first of us to date a high-schooler."

"Even with your well-known preference for older women?" Juliet laughs.

"Two years older doesn't matter so much to me at my age. Wait till you're a super-senior yourself and then we'll talk." He rolls his eyes at the ceiling, then puts the Jeep in gear and drives off. "So you're the greasy teenager who'll be sharing my room for the weekend?"

"Alex Snow, at your service," I say, pretending to bow as much as I can while seated and belted.

"Well, unlike most teenagers," says Juliet's brother, "you sound like you've got a decent sense of humor. I'm Carl, by the way. Although if you wanna yell 'CORAL!' at me, then go ahead and get it out of your system."

"Why would I do that - CORAL! Go wait in the house, gorrammit!"

Carl sticks his fist out behind his seat. "Bonus points for cussing like on Firefly, man."

I bump fists with him. "It just came to me."

I'm not much of a stranger to LA traffic, actually. Every time Mom's taken me and Gabe to Disneyland, we've driven the whole way. Invariably, whenever we reach the outskirts of LA in the afternoon, it takes us two hours from there to reach Anaheim. From LAX, there's much less distance to cover, but being the middle of the day doesn't do us any favors.

Once we've reached our destination, Carl stays long enough to see me and Juliet into the house, then turns around and heads for his Jeep again. "Aww, and I don't get to keep on getting to know you?" I ask, pouting at him.

Carl laughs his head off - for some reason, he laughs at my jokes even more than Juliet does. I think he's trying to lure me into a false sense of security before he corners me and gives me a far-from-veiled threat to beat my ass to a pulp if I hurt his sister in any way, shape, or form. "I'll be back in time for dinner, I promise," he says. "Even though I'm probably not gonna eat - I'm grabbing a bite at Chipotle with the guys after we hit the beach."

"Go on, then," Juliet chuckles, closing the screen door. "You're clearly itching to get back on your board!"

"Haha, thanks for reminding me!" Carl calls out as he disappears into the garage and emerges a few seconds later with a green surfboard held over his head.

Now we're alone, Juliet and I. She casually flicks her colorful new hair out of her face, then says, "You wanna come to my room?"

"Sure," I say. "I don't think I got a good enough look at it from our video chats."

She lets out a chirpy laugh as she leads me upstairs, then into a room decorated with quite a few posters. Most of these are of good-looking celebrities or of animated-movie characters. I think my favorite is the one of Toothless, with Honey Lemon a close second.

"So...boyfriend," she laughs. I kiss her cheek, making her giggle even more. "You wanna watch something? We could, you know, Netflix and chill."

"You mean that literally, right?" I ask, struggling not to laugh.

She blinks a couple of times, then she finally realizes what she said and bursts into peals of laughter rivaling those of her brother. "No, no, no, I didn't...unless you, uh, wanted to?"

I blush and turn away from her. "I...well, I brought some protection with me, just in case...b-but I figured there was a very slim chance I'd need it. I didn't exactly come here for sex. And..." I swallow nervously, already scared I'm about to blow it completely. "But I just wanted my bases covered."

"It's all right," Juliet says, turning her TV on and navigating to the Netflix menu. "I'm not sure I'm ready either."

"Yeah," I say with a soft laugh. Soft, and a bit relieved too. Right now, I'm good with getting no more intimate than cuddling. Or, even better, feasting my eyes on something in the corner that's infinitely cooler than any Netflix. "I didn't know you played guitar," I say, approaching the angular, solid black axe with reverence.

"Well, now you do." Juliet puts down her remote and picks up the guitar, plugging it into an amp sitting on the floor nearby. "I bet you'll recognize this song - it's by one of your favorite bands." She launches into a riff I know very well.

"'Don't Save Me?'" I guess.

Not missing a chord, Juliet clicks her tongue - which I somehow hear over the twangy sound pouring from her amp - and grins at me. "I knew you'd get that," she says. "Yeah, that whole Haim album is one of my favorites to play. That, and Lorde's Pure Heroine. Haha, that one was my jam for a while, 'cause Steve introduced me to it. I used to think Lorde was so boring - can you imagine?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Um...I thought it was a cardinal rule that boyfriends and girlfriends aren't supposed to talk about their exes with each other. Or am I wrong?"

"Not really," Juliet says. She stops playing, then sits next to me, her guitar slung across her lap - and now mine as well. "It's just...you and I, we're both not quite over our old loves. But I think if we talk it out enough, we can help each other move on."

"We won't talk it out all at once, though, will we?" I ask.

She takes her guitar off and lays it aside, then hugs me. "No, I guess not. Hell, I could do with a little break from talking anyway."

We lie side by side on her bed, cuddling in silence for a while. When she speaks up again, the first thing she says is this question: "Do you still dream about Fionna?"

"Sometimes," I say. "But not like I used to. Not all vivid and lucid and increasingly steamy." Truth, all of it.

"Oh, good," she says. "Otherwise I'd have to break up with you 'cause you're a necrophiliac."

We both explode with laughter, pounding our fists on her pillows and mattress - and, eventually, even each other. Then she grabs my fist and stops it in its tracks. We lock eyes again, then get back to our cuddle-fest.

"You," I say, stroking Juliet's cheek with the back of my hand and wiping away her laughter tears, "have a future in stand-up."

"If I can do stand-up without laughing at my own jokes," she says, "I can probably get through any scene they throw at me and not break character."

"What, you wanna be an actress?" I ask.

"Living this close to Hollywood and Disneyland, who doesn't?" She yawns, then adds, "I'll be right back. I just need to go get something downstairs."

"Sure, sure," I say, dropping back onto the bed. Resisting the urge to try and play with Juliet's guitar - not that I would know the first thing about how to produce those sweet notes - I get out my phone and text Mom to let her know I've arrived in one piece. I also text Luca to tell him the same thing, and add, "Isn't Mattia visiting you guys again today?"

"Tomorrow, actually," Luca responds.

"It's good that she's reconnecting with you guys," I say.

"Yeah, definitely." Insert upside-down smiley-face emoji. That never fails to make me laugh.

"What's so funny?" Juliet asks as she comes back in with a pack of berry-flavored Oreos.

"Just texting Luca," I say.

She rearranges the pillows and stuffed animals on her bed so we can both recline on them that much easier. "You don't have Netflix, right?"

"Nope."

"So you've never seen Daredevil?"

I match her shiny-eyed smile to the best of my ability. "I wish."

She navigates through the menu until she finds the first episode. "Then you're in for a real treat." Once she has it play, she snuggles up next to me, holding my hand and balancing the open tray of Oreos so it straddles both our stomachs.

I'd like to say I enjoy the show. I do, but it's a little hard to pay attention when my viewing partner is so sweet and beautiful. I don't want to think of Juliet as a Fionna replacement, but she's not. She doesn't have quite the same sassy side, but she's still every bit as spunky in her own way.

I nuzzle her ear and whisper, "You're the best."

She does that chirpy laugh again. It sounds so adorable coming from her. "Love you too," she whispers.

Yeah...this is totally going to work, I can feel it. However long, I don't know. But right now, I'm not worried about the future. Not as long as I'm with Juliet.

For the first time in...I don't know how many years, I feel like I could look up at the sky and see God smiling down on me from Paradise. Like Coldplay's composing the new theme song for my life. My life will never be perfect again, but I can always hope.

Hope, and pray.