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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋᴇʀ
( ɴᴏᴛ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ) ꒱


❝ YOU KNOW, A REAL POWER
MOVE WOULD BE TO
UNINVITE THE GROOM ❞

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[ O C T O B E R ]

As Friday rolled around, Juliet was feeling more nervous than excited. It was her first date in three years, how else was she supposed to feel? One thing that she didn't have to worry about, however, was Celeste and Kendrick finding out about this; they had left for their honeymoon in the tropics as soon as possible, leaving the bride's family to pack up by themselves. She didn't blame the newlyweds and was glad that none of Celeste's family seemed particularly inclined to her except Chen.

Juliet still couldn't believe that she was going on a date with an extremely hot (according to the public— not her, really!) and well-known CEO (though she didn't know what company he worked for.) Of course, she'd considered the guys she'd dated during her school years to be attractive, but she felt that adult-dating was on a whole different level. It was a shiny, new concept that she was certain would work out better than her past relationships.

This time, she was going in with a game plan: one-date-one-kiss-one-break up. (That she would be in charge of. She was never letting any man have that sort of power over her again.) It would work; she'd make sure of it. Kendrick and Celeste might discourage her idea, but they weren't here to convince her otherwise. There would be no tears, no broken heart, and most importantly: absolutely, positively, no love. As she'd said to Chen at the wedding, one day wasn't long enough to form an attachment.

To fit into this theme of 'building the new,' Juliet decided to wear the floor-length, dark orange dress that she'd gotten last month. She wasn't normally a dress person, but when she'd tried it on, Celeste had looked up from the magazine she'd been reading and gave it an approving nod. That was as close as a girl, yes! that she was going to get from her composed friend. Juliet was— once again— thankful for her now-dark hair; it made pairing things so much easier. (Though she did miss how the red color shone in the light once it was brushed; black hair just didn't have that same vibrancy.)

─────

Chen knocked on her door at a quarter to seven. Nerves tumbled in Juliet's stomach but she did her best to push them aside as she opened the door. While she'd seen him in a suit at Celeste's wedding, just being with him was still so new to her that his attractiveness caught her by surprise. She felt her face flush slightly as his gaze took in her appearance and a rather. . . giddy feeling begins to replace her nervousness.

He even whistled in appreciation. "Do I even need to say it?"

"It would be nice," Juliet replied, attempting for a flirtatious tone. Her flirting skills were definitely rusty after three years without use.

"You look like a heartbreaker, Juliet."

The dark-haired woman beamed at his compliment. He'd said heartbreaker, not heartbroken. This was what she'd worked so hard for and it was finally paying off. "Shall we get going?"

─────

When they get to the restaurant— some exclusive, only-get-in-if-you-know-someone place— Juliet almost wished that Shawn was there, just so she could rub her hot date in his face. Chen must have some pull in London's social life as they were seated immediately and at the table with the best view. There were a few uncomfortable moments (all due to her, of course, when she clumsily tried to flirt), but other than that, dinner went quite well. They were both laughing as the waitress came out with dessert.

"So since Celeste was so worried about her— well, your, I guess— family making the wedding a disaster, I suggested that she should add an uninvite option. You know how invitations usually have a 'plus one?' Well, I thought that they should offer a minus one as well. That way you could take someone that you don't like— such as Niwa— off the list," Juliet said with a grin.

Chen gave her an entertained smile, his Chinese accent more noticeable as he was distracted by his amusement. "You know, a real power move would be to uninvite the groom."

The dark-haired woman chuckled at his suggestion. "I'd totally come to every wedding— as an observer, mind you— if it could be that chaotic. Celeste would probably have actually committed murder if that happened, though."

─────

When they returned to her apartment, they stopped just outside of her door. She didn't invite him in and Chen didn't ask if he should stay. There was a pause as neither one was quite certain how to end the evening until the Asian man spoke first: "well, goodnight then."

Charming. Outgoing. Confident. Juliet repeated part of her mantra in her head; she didn't want her new game plan to fall apart before she'd even used it. Summoning all of her courage, she did her best to be coy as she asked: "aren't you going to kiss me?"

Chen seemed surprised by her question until a slow, rather. . . naughty smile appeared on his lips, causing her face to warm. He stepped closer to her and she pressed her back against the door. He lowered his voice as he answered her: "would you like that?"

Juliet felt her heart pick up speed and her breath caught in her throat as she breathed out, "yes."

He leaned down and closed the space between them. His breath was warm against her face and despite the firm grasp of his hands around her waist, his lips were soft and careful, allowing her a chance to pull away. She didn't, though, and tried to relish the act of kissing someone for the first time in three years.

Except, during the entire time that she kissed Chen, she felt. . . nothing.

🌎🌎🌎

[ D E C E M B E R ]

Alright, so she and Chen weren't meant to be. Big deal. To her relief, she didn't feel any pang of loss when Celeste's cousin left London the next morning. As the familiar saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea. She could try again. . . and again. . . and again.

Over the next few months, she accepted any invitation that came her way, whether it was a one-on-one date or a party that was hosted by a friend of a friend. Between working on her PhD and spending time with Kendrick and Celeste, she met up with a new guy as often as she could. It became a common sight for her neighbors to catch her date waiting for her outside her door or— if she didn't know them as well— returning home alone at night. It was on one of these occasions that her neighbor in the apartment next door, Marie Harrison, was arriving home at the same time she was.

The blonde woman was dressed in blue nurses' scrubs and she held a coffee in one hand while she juggled her keys with the other. Juliet took note of her struggle and held out one of her free hands. "Need some help there?"

Marie shot her a grateful look and handed off her coffee with a warning: "don't you dare spill that— it's the only thing that kept me going through my shift."

Juliet let out an amused chuckle as the other woman finally got her keys in the door. "Long day?"

"One of many," she replied with exhaustion clear in her tone. Upon closer inspection, Juliet could see the tired, wan look to her neighbor's face. She could only imagine the dark eye-bags that were currently concealed by makeup. Marie glanced over at her considerably more dressed-up appearance. She offered a small, slightly teasing smile. "Hot date?"

The dark-haired woman sighed. "One of many. Adult dating is so much harder than high school dating."

"Tell me about it," Marie agreed, taking her coffee back from Juliet. "I'm busy enough as it is, but then whenever I do get a chance to date, nine time out of ten the guy will disappear after I tell him I have a son."

Juliet gave her neighbor a surprised look. "You have a son? Really?"

"Yep. He's not even a year old yet and very cute— though I will admit I'm biased. His name's Jonah— and this time I'm not biased when I say that he's special. He's already started talking, earlier than other kids his age." She paused as an apologetic expression appeared on her face. "Sorry. In case you couldn't tell, I'm only a little obsessed with him." She let out a light laugh to cover her embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," Juliet reassured her. "I'm sure you're very proud of him. I can't even imagine being a parent at this age."

"It's not easy," Marie admitted, "but he's worth it." There was a moment of silence and Juliet made to head towards her own apartment now that Marie had gotten into hers, but the blonde spoke again before she could: "hey— how do you feel about blind dates?"

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise at the question, but then she shrugged. "I wouldn't say no. Why? Did you have someone in mind?"

The other woman nodded. "I think so. He's a nurse at the hospital where I work and he's always going on about wanting to go out with someone. I could find out when he's free, if you'd like?"

"That would be great," the dark-haired woman said appreciatively.

─────

Juliet's date with the mystery man her neighbor had acquired was set for the following weekend. She hardly knew anything about him, save for what Marie had told her and his basic appearance: sandy-blonde hair, green eyes and he would be wearing a blue polo shirt. She was going to meet him at the bar down the street since he was apparently more easygoing than some of her other dates (Chen specifically came to mind here.)

While London seemed to have a pub every few buildings (and at least ten per street), Montague Tavern was both cheap and convenient. Juliet met quite a few of her dates here. (Although, while a smarter person might go somewhere that they didn't frequent regularly, Juliet liked the safety net of a familiar place when meeting strange men for the first time.)

When she stepped inside, the familiar, stereotypically-gloomy setting of the pub was somewhat of a comfort, especially after the chilly night air. The low lighting made it harder to pick out individual faces but she didn't mind, and took her time to search for her date. She found a man that matched the description that she had seated towards the back in a corner booth that faced the entrance. She paused next to the table to ask: "um, excuse me— are you waiting for. . . a Juliet?"

It felt very strange to refer to herself in third person, but she didn't know how else to phrase the question— she didn't even have his name to confirm who he was! Thankfully, the man gave her a relieved smile and stood. "Yes. I'm guessing you're Juliet?" When she nodded, he held out his hand. "I'm Sean."

Juliet froze.

Her vision tunneled and all she could see was the man in front of her: his slightly wavy blond hair, the curious look in his green eyes, his strong, square jaw and his brilliantly white teeth as he smiled welcomingly at her. The air in her throat constricted and the dimly-lit room seemed to press in on her from all sides, the darkness threatening to swallow her whole. All of her effort— her mantras, her compartmentalizing, the complete overhaul of her personality— seemed to vanish into nothingness.

Suddenly, she was just Juliet Capelwood, the heartbroken. The woman— no, the girl— who couldn't get over the boy who'd left her three years ago. The girl whose unused ring still burned a whole in her pocket rather than buried in her closet. The girl who cried herself to sleep and lived an isolated life to protect herself from being hurt again.

Juliet sucked in a painful breath past the lump in her throat, allowing herself just enough air to croak out: "how-how do you. . . spell that?"

Sean looked understandably confused by her reaction. He slowly lowered his hand as it became apparent that she wasn't going to shake it. "Um, S-E-A-N."

"Like. . . like bean, right? Not like yawn?"

"Right— like the first one."

Some of the panic subsided. There are lots of Seans in the world, she thought sternly. Pull yourself together, idiot. What if your future boss is named Sean? You can't be terrified every time he calls for a meeting. The name Sean means nothing to you. You can't avoid a whole group of people just because you have bad history with one person who shares a similar name.

She made a valiant attempt to cover up her awkward introduction. "Sorry about that," she apologized breezily, then did her best to laugh off her discomfort: "I'm always scared I'll use the wrong spelling and offend you guys."

Sean, luckily, thought her explanation was amusing and joined in her laughter. "It's all good. I've never had my spelling compared to bean, though. Usually, people just pronounce it as seen."

"Well, I'd definitely rather have my name mispronounced than always be compared to 'Shakespeare's Juliet,'" Juliet countered easily, using air quotes to show her disdain for the idea.

"Not a Shakespeare fan?"

The dark-haired woman shook her head. "Nah, I like him fine. I just don't like Juliet."

─────

The date progressed fairly well after she recovered from her shock. The one thing that was noticeably different from her other dates was that she actively avoided addressing Sean by his name. Juliet knew that she needed to just get over herself, but every time she tried, it felt like a stake to the heart. Memories of a boy with smooth, dark hair and ocean eyes would flicker to the forefront of her mind and cloud her thoughts.

During the past few months, she'd had a fair amount of both hits and misses with her dates, though this one was definitely turning into the former rather than the latter. Normally, she tried to contribute an equal amount to the conversation so she could appear to be as outgoing as her new personality deemed her to be. This time, however, Sean was clearly doing most of the talking while a majority of her concentration was focused on not hiding in the bathroom for the rest of dinner. Juliet did feel guilty as he was very nice, but his name was just throwing her off.

When their food came, Juliet decided to use the distraction of eating to make up for her lackluster efforts. Clearing her throat, she kept her eyes on her food as she attempted to inquire about him rather than talking all about her.

"So, Sean—" Her words cut off abruptly as her stomach twisted. She put her fork and knife down to reach for her coat as she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I can't do this."

Juliet gathered up her things and finally, finally, gave into the temptation to bolt out of the pub.

🌎🌎🌎

[ M A R C H ]

One would think that after that encounter, Juliet would relapse back into the heartbroken girl she'd been months ago. Instead, she threw herself into her 'new life' with renewed vigor and became all the more determined to keep the past where it belonged. Kendrick and Celeste had long since returned from their honeymoon to find someone who was almost a complete stranger in their friend's place. Even now, after they'd (somewhat reluctantly, because they knew that this wasn't really her) accepted the change, they found it hard to find time to get together with Juliet since she was always so. . . busy.

The dark-haired woman was currently on her way out the door just as the couple had come over to visit not long ago. They watched her with slightly bemused interest as she rushed around to get ready to leave for her newest date.

"You know, when I suggested that you get out more, I didn't mean date every man in London," Kendrick remarked dryly.

Juliet didn't even pause in pulling on her long coat and fixing her hair as she replied easily, "what, are you worried that you're next? Well, don't be— you're not my type."

"Uh, okay, first of all— ouch—"

His response earned him a light slap on his arm from Celeste. "And why would you be worried about that?" she asked pointedly.

He huffed. "Well, I'm sorry if I'd like to be considered attractive to the female population. Is that a crime?"

Both women didn't hesitate when they emphatically answered: "yes."

Kendrick held his hands up pacifyingly. "Alright, alright. I think we're getting off topic here, don't you?"

"You're the one who brought it up," Juliet pointed out as she grabbed her purse that sat by the door. She checked the time on the oven clock. "I'm going to be late anyway, so you'll have to save the lecture for another time."

"It's not a le—!" His protest was cut off as she closed the door behind her, knowing that her friends would lock up when they left.

─────

"So I was talking to my neighbor about how different it is to date as an adult than during school," Juliet said to the man, Chris, who sat across from her. "The same goes for making friends, too, since when we were teens— or in our early twenties— went to one place consistently, which we don't really do anymore unless you count work. I don't know about you, but—"

"Sorry, can you hold that thought?" Chris asked as his phone rang. He scooped it up as his silverware clattered to his plate. He didn't wait for a response as he stood quickly and had barely left the table before he answered, "this is Chris. Tell me the news."

Juliet rolled her eyes as he walked away; this was the one drawback of never saying no to a date: some of them were bound to be. . . well, bad. It wasn't that Chris was necessarily a bad guy, but he was definitely work-obsessed. He'd been checking his email the whole time they'd been out together and when he wasn't on his phone, he was raving about the contract that he was in the middle of scoring, which was apparently a big deal. It wouldn't be so bad if she'd been able to get a word in edgewise, but the second she'd tried to contribute, he'd been immediately uninterested.

Now left alone at the table, she pushed her food around as she waited for him to come back. It took a good twenty minutes for him to finish up, by which time she had already finished dinner. He returned with a genial smile on his face as he sat down. "That was Tom from accounting. . ."

Back to talking about himself again, Juliet thought wryly. This diatribe lasted until the bill was paid and they'd left the restaurant. While she would have liked to leave as soon as she could have, Juliet gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought that maybe now he'd taken care of things, there would be a little more give-and-take in the conversation. She was rather pleasantly surprised that, as they walked down the street, he took her hand in his. (In all honesty, Chris hadn't seemed like the type to do anything remotely romantic.)

There was no sensation of tingles shooting through her fingers or electricity at his touch, but it was still nice. His hand wasn't too warm or sweaty— or too cold, for that matter. He didn't swing their arms as they walked or attempt to wrap his arm around her shoulder (for that she was grateful), he just kept their hands still between them, as if it was something that was expected rather than enjoyable. Juliet didn't mind and let a comfortable silence settle over them.

It lasted for all of five minutes, but she was relieved when Chris talked about something else besides work: "the sky looks nice tonight."

Juliet perked up a bit at his remark, pleased that this was something she could contribute to. "Did you know that the sun doesn't actually change color?" She didn't wait for him to reply, too excited to share her knowledge (and maybe unconsciously. . . test him, too.) "We only see it that way because the sun's wavelengths react with the difference—"

The now-familiar sound of Chris' ringtone cut her off and he dropped her hand without hesitation. "'Scuze me, I have to get this." Into the phone, he said: "this is Chris. Tell me the news."

Juliet made to linger— more out politeness than anything else— to wait for him to finish up, but he made a dismissive, waving hand gesture for her to carry on. The dark-haired woman let out an irritated scoff and turned away, making up her mind to hail a cab rather than wait for him to drive her home.

A/n: sorry (again) about another wait. For some reason, I'm not as motivated to write this book as I was with Ocean Eyes. A part of that is probably because a lot of this stuff is OG material- there's no script that I can copy (yet)- and I've never experienced it, so I have to do research while I write to make sure it's realistic, so it goes a lot slower. The good news is that there's only 3 more chapters until the first GMW content, and then 11 chapters until the reunion!!

To clear up any potential timeline confusion, we're currently in 2003/2004. In a couple of chapters there will be a 9-year time skip, which will then put us closer to GMW era. Shawn is coming, guys, I promise! I just wanted to do some slice-of-life chapters to explore Juliet's growth and change as a character. :) 

Maybe this news will help tide you over: once Shawn and Juliet get back together (which will happen. . . eventually), they're going to stay together. No more angst or breakups after that! (But plenty for Miya and Farkle once they become main characters >:))

Also, for a bit of self-promo: if you don't follow me (maybe you'll go do that?), I've published a plot shop book that you should go check out, and I've decided to revamp my Bucky Barnes fic, Evergreen. It's been like, four years since I touched it last but the first chapter is already leagues better than it was. I get the vibes that Marvel isn't really that popular anymore (I'm not surprised- the current phase sucks. Everything went downhill after Endgame, IMO), but I'm always late to the party. 🤷‍♀️