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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴏғ ᴜs ꒱


❝ AND THE STORY OF US LOOKS
A LOT LIKE A TRAGEDY NOW ❞

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S H U L I E T

December 24th, 10:00 p.m.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. 

Juliet kept repeating those three words in her head as she sank down to the floor with her back pressed against the closed door. She buried her head in her hands, her fingers tangling with the dark strands of her hair. Her heart was thudding uncomfortably fast in her chest. All she could hear was the blood roaring in her ears. Her breaths were coming short and shallow, her chest heaving as she freaked out about what had just happened.

Miya, having heard the door slam, came rushing out of the bathroom in her pajamas, her hair held up in a twisted towel. "Mom!" she exclaimed worriedly as soon as she saw the position the older woman was in.

The brunette ran to her side and crouched down next to her, her brown eyes scanning over her mother with concern. "What's going on? Who was that?"

As Juliet struggled to take a deep breath, the only response that she was able to rasp out was, "him."

"Him? Who's him?" Miya asked.

Juliet lifted her head so that her daughter could better see the panicked expression on her face, her blue eyes wide and terrified. "Him," she repeated. Then, shakily, she added, "Shawn."

The girl's eyes widened as well at the name from her mother's past. "Are you sure?"

The dark-haired woman gave the teen a momentarily unimpressed look before she went back to mildly panicking. "Of course I'm sure. I've stared at him a thousand times; I'd know him anywhere. How did he find me?"

Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. An unfamiliar man's voice (to the brunette) followed: "Julie? I know you're in there. Can we just talk, please?"

Miya tried not to let the guilt show on her face; she was the reason Shawn was here. Riley had texted her earlier that day asking for the apartment's address. Foolishly, she'd given it to her friend because she'd thought that the two girls would want to come for a visit. Of course they'd just been friendly to her because they wanted something.

"I can tell him to go away, if you want," she offered, partly to ease her accomplice-ship. "You don't have to see him."

Juliet's eyes went impossibly wider. She grabbed her daughter's arm and shook her head frantically. "No. No," she said, almost horrified. "I don't want him to meet you now; it would only make things worse."

If it had been any other situation, her words would have stung. But, there was so much fear and alarm in her voice that there wasn't any way to take the sentiment negatively. Miya's expression softened and she nodded. "Okay. I'll go back to the bathroom and you can let me know when he's gone. I'm here if you need me, though."

It seemed that her mother realized how the sentence might have sounded since there was apology written all over her face. Her grip on the younger girl's arm eased and she gave her an appreciated squeeze instead. "Thank you, honey. I can do this. I have to do this."

Again, the man's— Shawn's— voice sounded from outside: "Julie? Is everything okay in there?"

Once Miya had returned to the bathroom, Juliet stood from the floor and brushed off her clothes, mostly just to compose herself. She was finally able to take a deep breath as some of the shock subsided. Shawn had found her. Of course he had; that had been her biggest fear about returning to the states, hadn't it?

Not wanting to appear frazzled or put off by his appearance, the dark-haired woman shook herself. The motion caused a slight sting in her hand, which she turned over to look at her knuckles. She was only faintly surprised to see that they were bruised; she hadn't felt the pain in the moment. Still, she didn't regret that particular decision.

Calling on all of her years of hurt and anger, she masked her expression to hide any other tumultuous emotions she was currently feeling. Instead, the face she presented him with was disdained and blasé. Feeling as ready as she would ever be, she opened the door.

Shawn was, unfortunately, still there. His bottom lip was split and red from where she'd punched him. Her only thought in relation to that was: damn; I missed his nose. Then, she saw the flowers and her sneer became a little more genuine. 

She used the same frosty tone before as to demand, "what?"

He looked a little startled by her chilly reception, which caused her to scoff internally. What, did he expect me to throw myself at him? "I, um. . ."

The dark-haired woman shook back the sleeve of her green sweater to look pointedly at her watch. "You have two minutes. I should be giving you thirty seconds, but it's Christmas; I'm feeling generous."

Shawn cleared his throat, glancing uncertainly down at the flowers in his hands. "Look, Julie—"

"Don't call me that."

"W-what?"

"Don't call me Julie. That's something that my best friend called me, and you're no longer in that position," she told him flatly, uncaring how much her words hurt. In fact, she hoped they did. He deserved it.

She saw the little confidence that was in his expression disappear, replaced by sadness. "But Julie—"

"I'm closing the door," she warned him, her hand on the knob doing exactly that.

He immediately held up his free hand. "Wait, wait— okay, I won't call you Jul— that anymore. It's just, Riley told me that you were in New York and I needed to see you. We said when we broke up that—"

"You said," Juliet corrected him. "You said, and you didn't give me a chance to disagree. I didn't want to break up. You're the one who disappeared without a trace, Shawn. For years. No calls, no messages, nothing. And now, you show up on my doorstep with flowers? What kind of explanation could you possibly have for that?"

Shawn took a deep breath, his eyes searching hers for a connection that seemed lost. "I messed up, Juliet. Big time. I couldn't face you. I thought leaving would be easier for both of us."

"Easier for us?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea what you put me through? I had to pick up the pieces of my life, move on, and convince myself that you were never coming back. And now, you waltz in here on Christmas like nothing happened."

"I know," he agreed. "I'm not expecting you to forgive me right away, Juliet. I just needed you to know that I never stopped thinking about you, even when I was on the other side of the world. I messed up, and I'm here to make it right, even if it takes time."

The dark-haired woman glanced at her watch. "Two minutes are up, Shawn. You can't fix a broken heart with flowers and a stupid apology."

"Take them anyway," he insisted, thrusting the vase towards her. "At least they'll look nice in the apartment."

Juliet's lips pressed into that thin line again as she considered ignoring his offer. The thought of damn, I missed his nose floated back through her mind and prompted her to take the gift. "Fine. But I'm giving you the vase back— I've got enough junk around here that I don't need to add to it."

He waited patiently as she walked over to a nearby table and took the flowers out, feeling pleased that she hadn't rejected him completely. It might be harder than he thought to win her back, but he'd always been in it for the long game. When Juliet returned to the door, he held his hands out for the vase. But, she didn't give it to him right away.

Smirking, she upturned the entire thing over his head, allowing water to splash down over his hair, his coat, his jeans. He spluttered a bit at the unexpected coldness. Juliet placed the vase in his hands, noticeably avoiding touching them with her own.

She smiled sweetly at him before she closed the door. "Thanks for the flowers. I do hope you don't catch a cold on your way home."

🌎🌎🌎

December 25th, 3:45 a.m.

RILEY

u need 2 get ur mom over here asap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sent 3:45 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

Riley, it's 3 in the morning.
sent 3:47 a.m.

RILEY

ur awake
sent 3:47 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

Your text woke me up.
sent 3:49 a.m.

RILEY

so ull bring ur mom?????? 🤞🤞
sent 3:50 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

Can we talk about this
when it's light out?
sent 3:53 a.m.

RILEY

PWEEEEAAASSSEEEE???????????
🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
sent 3:53 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

I don't know...
sent 3:59 a.m.

RILEY

Y NOT?>???>?????????? 😥😔
sent 4:00 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

She didn't react to seeing
Shawn very well. She won't be
happy to see him again.
sent 4:05 a.m.

RILEY

but wht if its ImPOrtAnt??????
sent 4:05 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

Why?
sent 4:06 a.m.

RILEY

bc they're OTP!!!!! ❤️ 💑 💗 💗
sent 4:07 a.m.

HELLLOOOO?????????
sent 4:08 a.m.

DID U FALL ASLEEPPP???????
sent 4:08 a.m.

MIIIYYYAAAAAA!!!!!!
sent 4:09 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

You won't let this go, will you?
sent 4:12 a.m.

RILEY

NEVER!!!!!!!!!
sent 4:13 a.m.

MIYA🎀🐣💙🌷

Fine. I'm going to sleep now.
sent 4:16 a.m.

RILEY

YAAAAAAYYY!!!!!! 🎊🎉🥳
sent 4:16 a.m.

💃🎉🥳🎊
sent 4:17 a.m.

🌎🌎🌎

December 25th, 10:00 a.m.

"Sleep well?" Juliet asked as Miya came into the kitchen the next morning. Her tone gave nothing away; it was almost as if the ghost from her past hadn't shown up last night.

This was almost more worrying than if she was still emotional, and her daughter frowned slightly in response. "Yes. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she replied, coming over to give the girl a hug. She then went back to flipping pancakes, a pile of which were already on the counter next to her.

Miya helped herself to some and added butter and syrup to her liking. She took a seat at the dining room table to watch her mom finish making the rest of the batter. Juliet joined her not long after so they could have breakfast together.

"When do you want to open presents?" the older woman wondered conversationally. "We don't have anything planned for today so you can decide to open them after breakfast or later on."

Recalling her early-morning text exchange with Riley, she let out a little sigh. She didn't particularly like manipulating her mom into doing something that she clearly didn't want to, but Riley was the type of person who never let things go. She would probably fly herself and Shawn over to England if the Capelwoods left without setting foot in the Matthews' apartment again.

"Well. . ." she began, attempting to sound casual, "can we open presents after we go to the Matthews'?"

"Sur— wait a second," Juliet caught herself before she agreed completely. "What do you mean, 'we go to the Matthews?''"

"I have presents for Riley and Maya," the brunette explained— this was true, so she felt a little less guilty. She didn't normally give presents to her friends, but since she'd never met them in person before, it felt. . . weird to show up empty-handed. "I wanted to give them in person."

Her mom's lips thinned as she considered this. Slowly, she replied, "I. . . suppose we could go over. I'll just wait outside for you."

"I don't know how long I'll be," she reasoned. "It's too cold to wait outside. And besides, wouldn't you rather go back to England on better terms with your friends than worse?"

Juliet's blue eyes narrowed at her daughter's unusually pushy suggestion. "Are you trying to get me and Shawn back together?"

As much as she tried, Miya couldn't hide her expression as well as her mom could. The shock on her face at the other woman's accurate guess was too visible, so she gave up the ruse. "I— well— how'd you know?"

"I grew up with a pair of schemers," she reminded her daughter with a faint smirk. "I know every trick in the book." She became a little more serious as she studied the younger girl. "Do. . . do you want me to give him a chance?"

"To be honest, no," the teen said. "I'm not trying to put the blame on someone else, but this really was Riley's idea. She wouldn't let it go and insisted that you two are perfect for each other." Here, she made a face since she didn't agree. "If two people are so perfect for each other, why would one hurt the other so badly?"

"Thank you!" the dark-haired woman exclaimed, throwing her hands up in relief. "Cory and Topanga think the same thing, but they're biased because they've worked out so well."

Although she nodded in agreement, the Asian girl chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before she spoke again: ". . .but I do think it might be. . . beneficial if you were at least able to get some closure. I'm not saying that you should get back together tonight or anything, but maybe if you worked things out you might be able to move on."

Juliet gave her a faintly amused look at her careful choice of words. "You think I haven't moved on?"

"Mom, you date a different guy literally every week. I think if you 'moved on' you'd be with someone for longer than that."

She let out a little scoff. "Now you sound like Kendrick." She deepened her voice to mimic him: "'you know, when I suggested that you get out more, I didn't mean date every man in London.'"

"I'm just saying—"

"I know, honey," she reassured her daughter. "Fine, I'll talk to him. But if I punch him in the face again, I can't be held accountable."

🌎🌎🌎

December 25th, 12:00 p.m.

They arrived at the Matthews' around noon. This time, Miya had the duty of pressing the speaker button to request to be let up. Riley's voice answered, just as eager as her father's had been the day before, "'Miya? Aunt Jules?'"

The woman in question allowed a faint smile to appear on her lips, already fond of the brunette who'd taken to calling her 'aunt' so quickly. Miya pushed the button in reply, "yep!"

They were buzzed in and soon made it back up the stairs. Riley was already at the door and was holding it open for them. There was a bright smile on her face as she said, "Miya! Aunt Jules!"

She hugged each of them in turn before they were even across the threshold. Maya was there as well, of course, and she gave each of them a cool welcome. Topanga was at the sink preparing lunch for Auggie, who was sitting at the dining table on the side facing them. He waved when they walked in but was too excited about his lunch to do much more than that. Cory got up from the chair at the head of the table and went over to greet them.

"Jules, I just wanted—"

"Ah-ah," Riley cut in, pointing at her father warningly.

"—to say that—"

"Dad," she interrupted him again.

"—we're so—"

"Save it for the bay window!" the brunette insisted. "Things are always worked out best there."

Cory sighed but relented at his daughter's resolve. "Fine. Who's first on your list, then? Do you have a specific order for this sort of thing? Even though I'm your father and should always be first—"

"Yeah, yeah, Matthews," Maya was the one to talk across him now. "The important thing is that before anything else happens, we should—"

But she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the final person in the Matthews' apartment entered the room: Shawn had come down the hallway to return to the kitchen. Juliet's attention immediately went to him as he stood in the doorway a little sheepishly. She was pleased to see that his lip was still split from her punch the night before. Everyone else in the room could feel the temperature drop several degrees as the sudden tension snapped everything into a standstill.

"Julie," he breathed out, the same as the night before, his eyes just was awed and surprised. Then, he quickly cleared his throat as she narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Uh— I mean— hi. Hi, Juliet."

"Shawn," she greeted him, just as she had the first time. There was no warmth in her tone as she bit out his name.

"Woah," Maya said, impressed despite herself at how uncaring the older woman sounded; it was a level coolness that she aspired to achieve.

Riley was more interested in how Shawn's gaze stayed trained on his ex-girlfriend, his eyes holding hers. There seemed to be a sort of desperation in it, as if he were asking her for something that wasn't there anymore— or at least, that was the front that Juliet was putting up. Riley didn't know her aunt well enough yet to see past the façade very well, but she was convinced that was exactly what it was.

Miya, as the third most immediately affected party, was looking between the pair of them. Her expression was similar to her mother's; one of disdain with an undertone of its-all-your-fault. She was fully on her mom's side for this one— Shawn deserved any treatment that Juliet decided to throw at him.

After several moments, his gaze finally moved off of the dark-haired woman to take in the girl who was standing next to her— a girl who was wearing a strikingly familiar jacket. "And what are you?"

She startled a bit, not expecting him to actually talk to her. "I'm Miya."

"You know Julie-Juliet how?"

The Asian girl froze up at this, since her mom didn't want Shawn to know about her. But, that had only been in that particular moment. Now that the surprise had warn off and Juliet wasn't in a state of panic, she wasn't about to give Miya a different relation to her. So, she wrapped her arm around the teen. "Miya's my daughter," she announced proudly.

It was rather rewarding to see Shawn's face drain of all color as he stared between them in shock. It sort of looked like he'd been punched in the stomach. He blinked rapidly, attempting to process the revelation. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out initially. Eventually, he managed to stammer, "your daughter? But. . . how. . . when. . . what?"

Juliet smirked at his horrified surprise; clearly he thought she meant biological daughter. "Well, Shawn, when two people love each other very much—"

"You know what I mean," he said, staring at the brunette. Miya guessed that he was trying to see what resemblance she shared with Juliet, but she shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze.

"I'm adopted," the Asian girl corrected him. "My mom adopted me when I was little."

Almost instantly, relief washed over the dark-haired man's face. "Oh— oh. That's-that's cool. Yeah."

She gave him a tight smile, used to people acting weird about her status. Little did she know, Shawn was only reacting that way because of the immense reassurance he felt when he realized that this meant Juliet hadn't married and had kids. Well, she still could've, he supposed, but he could pretend for a little longer that she hadn't moved on.

A loud clap of Riley's hands brought them all out their little bubble. "Okay! You and you first." She pointed at her father and then her aunt.

"Yay!" Cory exclaimed, smiling brightly as he walked towards the hallway.

Grateful that it wasn't Shawn first, Juliet acquiesced and followed her best friend to his daughter's room. Once they had seated themselves, Riley prompted them: "dad, tell Aunt Jules about what you and mom talked about yesterday after she left."

Then, she closed the door behind her to leave them alone.

🌎🌎🌎

Cory didn't waste any time to follow his daughter's direction: "Jules, what I was trying to say earlier, when you first got here, is that Topanga and I are sorry that we jumped to conclusions. I guess we only assumed it was your doing was because Shawn came with us— which is why you're right, as usual." He added the last bit lightheartedly, causing her to smile slightly. "We did lose touch with you because you went off on your own. That's no excuse, I know, and we're not blaming you or anything, just to be clear. We should've been supportive of your decision instead of abandoning you."

"Thanks, Cor," she replied, pointedly using the nickname from their childhood— which she refused to do for Shawn; she wasn't nearly as upset with the Matthews as she was with her ex-boyfriend. "But I'm sorry, too; it's partly my fault that we lost touch. I was just so afraid that, if I did reach out, the first thing you'd want to know was what happened between me and Shawn." Here, he smiled guiltily. "The other part was that I didn't want you to surprise me by having him on the phone instead; I just wasn't ready to face him again. I'm still not, to be honest—"

"But you're so calm," he pointed out, a little confused. "If you're not ready to see him, shouldn't you be. . . I don't know. . . in more distress?"

She laughed softly at his question. "Oh, Cor, I am in distress; I've just gotten very good at hiding it over the years. Trust me, I was a wreck when I first moved to England— that's why Kendrick and Celeste moved with me; I wasn't stable enough to be on my own. I'm much better now, but having Shawn show up at my door the other night definitely threw me for a loop."

Cory nodded and reached out to gently place a hand on Juliet's shoulder. "I had no idea, Jules. I wish I— we could've been there for you," he told her sincerely.

"Thank you," she said again. "But I know that life happens; I'm not blaming you two, either. I know that you and Topanga have your own lives and concerns. Besides, it wasn't all bad. I learned a lot about myself during those years. Do you wanna know why I dyed my hair?"

He brightened at that. "Really?"

"Yeah. There's not much behind it except, well, I didn't like who I was turning into. I was miserable and-and I'm pretty sure that I was depressed; I had a hard time finding happiness in anything. Eventually I made a pact with myself that when I finally was happy, I'd let my natural hair color return."

The curly-haired man's intrigued expression became a little sadder as he took in the woman's inky black hair. "I guess you haven't found it yet, then?"

"Not yet," Juliet answered quietly, "but I'm definitely feeling better than I had been. Raising Miya has helped a lot."

"She seems wonderful," Cory said. "You did a really good job raising her."

"Thanks," she repeated. "That means a lot. You've done a good job with Riley, too."

He smiled warmly at her. "Does this mean we're good, then?"

"Yeah," Juliet agreed without hesitation. "We're good."

This time when he pulled her into a sideways hug, she didn't remain stiff in his arms. Instead, she leaned into him and returned the gesture as best she could from her awkward angle. Juliet buried her face in his shoulder, taking comfort in his solid reassurance; she hadn't realized how much she'd missed their relationship.

🌎🌎🌎

Riley must've been listening at the door since she came in shortly after, leading Shawn by the wrist. "Great! Now it's time for you to leave," she told her father.

He put a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended. "Riley, you don't tell your father to leave your room in the house he pays for."

She pointed at the door. "Go! You've served your purpose."

"Fine," he pouted in response and followed the girl's order.

The brunette pushed the dark-haired man to sit next to Juliet, who protested, "wait, what are you doing?"

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Shawn echoed, looking at the teen with an 'are you sure about this?' expression.

"Trust me," Riley replied to his unasked question. She looked between the two of them. "Uncle Shawn, tell Aunt Jules what you told Maya and me at the Svorski's last night. About why you didn't stay in New York."

Once she left the room, the pair sat in an uncomfortable silence for several long moments. Shawn was worried that if he said the wrong thing— said anything, he would be the next case on Unsolved Mysteries. Juliet, on the other hand, was afraid that if she talked to him for too long, if she so much as touched him, she'd forgive him for all the years of hurt that she'd been through— something that he didn't deserve so easily.

When there had been too much silence for Riley's liking, she shouted from the other side of the door: "I don't hear any talking!"

The dark-haired man let out a nervous laugh while Juliet allowed a little smile at her pseudo-niece's antics. He shook his head in amusement. "That kid's something, huh?"

"She's definitely got Cory's personality, that's for sure," she agreed. She paused, and then— "so, you didn't stay in New York after you abandoned me for, well, New York?"

He winced at that. ". . . Yeah. I left just after Riley was born. I got a job where I have to do a lot of travelling so I don't get to visit very often."

"Well, she since this is what she wants us to talk about, why didn't you stay?"

"Riley, I'm never sharing my feelings with you again!" Shawn called out to the brunette who was surely still at the door. He sighed. "I told her that the reason why I couldn't stay, why I couldn't talk to her, was because every time I came here, it reminded me of what I wanted to have with you."

There was another period of silence as Juliet tried to accept his answer. Then, she asked, "if you wanted to have a family with me so badly, why did you let me go? And don't you dare give me the bullshit excuse that you were 'trying to protect me.'" She put air quotes around the last words.

"At first, that's what I thought I was doing," he admitted, remembering his conversation with Riley the previous night. He gave her the same response: "but over the years I realized that maybe I was just scared. Scared of failing, of not being enough. We were trying to have a perfect love story like Cory and Topanga and I didn't think I could ever measure up."

"Oh, Shawn," the dark-haired woman said, almost sadly, "we were never perfect. We weren't supposed to be a love story. My name is Juliet for crying out loud— the story of us was only ever meant to be a tragedy."

"But you hated the comparison to Shakespeare's Juliet," Shawn pointed out. "I thought you wanted to fight against the stereotype."

She let out a quiet, sort of mocking laugh. "I thought so too. But, I thought a lot of things back then, most of which are wrong now. I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us, how we met and the sparks flew instantly. I wanted people to say 'they're the lucky ones' like they do for Cory and Topanga. I used to know my place was a spot next to you. The day you left me was the last time I knew what page you were on."

"There are so many things that I wish you knew," he began, remembering all the nights he'd stayed up thinking about her. He shook his head. "Why are you pretending like what we had was nothing? When we weren't speaking I was dying to know if what happened to us was killing you like it was killing me. Now that you're here, I'm here, I don't know why you're pretending like this is a contest of who can act like they care less. I liked it better when I knew that you were on my side."

Juliet scoffed at that. "You're the one who condemned us to that twist of fate, Shawn. You're the reason why the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now. I've moved on. It's not my fault if you haven't; I won't let you drag me back down."

Seeing as the conversation wasn't going how Riley wanted it to, she opened the door to intervene. "Alright, we're going to change tactics. Aunt Jules, hold Uncle Shawn's hand."

"What?" both adults exclaimed in very different tones. Shawn's was a little fearful but mostly excited while Juliet's was incredulous.

"I know you both still have feelings for each other," she informed them, ignoring the older woman's protests. "The only way for you to see that for yourselves is if you have a physical connection. So, hold hands."

When they still refused, she marched over to the bay window. The brunette picked up both of their hands to maneuver Shawn's over top of Juliet's. She placed their palms together and threaded their reluctant fingers by using her own to do so. Then, she stood back to admire her work.

Shawn's gaze was glued to their intertwined hands, his expression impossibly soft. Juliet, in contrast, looked everywhere but at their fingers. Her foot tapped on the floor with impatience as she did her best to act like she didn't care (when, in reality, the warm familiarity of his hand in hers was the only thing she could think about.) 

Irritation began to eat away at her remaining patience and, after what felt like an infinite amount of time to her, the dark-haired woman freed her hand from her ex-boyfriend's. She stood sharply and shook out the hand that he'd been holding. "This is ridiculous. Riley, I'm sorry, but the bay window has failed you this time. It's not some magic portal that can repair something that is irrevocably broken; we'll never be how we were. I've got things to do and dates to go on; we're done here."

As she went for the door, Shawn whipped his head in her direction and he stood quickly to follow her. "Wait, what do you mean, 'dates?' As in the fruit?"

"Dates, Shawn," she corrected him shortly, her strides long and purposeful as she made for the living room. "As in, with other guys."

"What other guys? Why?"

She spun to face him, causing him to stop short. She lifted one finger. "One, it's none of your damn business." She lifted a second finger. "Two, because I can." She resumed her path to the exit, calling, "come on, Miya! It's time to go! Bye, Cor, Topanga!"

"How many other guys?" he shouted after her as the Matthews gave their goodbyes.

Juliet paused once more, turning to face him as she answered loftily, "many, many guys. Many," she emphasized.

Miya gave him a pitying look as she went to leave with her mother, who hadn't waited for a response and was now going down the stairs. Shawn caught her off guard as he demanded, "how many is 'many guys?'"

"Waaay more than you, that's for sure," the Asian girl answered with a smirk before she left as well, leaving Shawn to stare dumbfoundedly after them.

A/n: happy new year! I hope that the reunion episode was everything you guys wanted it to be. If I missed something you were looking forward to, let me know and I'll see if I can include in a future chapter :)

I can't believe that there are only two more parts left until act II (and that this story is already over a year old!) I'm excited to start writing it since the next section focuses on Farkle/Miya's relationship.