A/N: Okay, so here's a little one-shot, at the request of My Sweet Audrina (aka Audrey, haha). Mostly fluff, ever-so-slight amount of angst-ish stuff, but all in all, rather cutesy. Okay, strike the "rather". It's cheeseball, corny fluff, okay? Got a problem with it? Oh. Didn't think so. Hehe :) Just one of my many versions of how Suliet came to be. Ahh, Miles the Matchmaker strikes again. Oh, and Jin-bo, too. :) Enjoy!
Jin and Miles sat on the front porch of their little yellow house. It had been nearly 8 months since they'd been trapped in 1974 (which was now actually 1975), and they had all gotten used to the fact that they probably weren't going to be "rescued" anytime soon. Daniel was in Ann Arbor, and Jin's English was almost better than his roommate's, thanks to the tutelage of Juliet.
They couldn't hear what James and Juliet were arguing about from the distance between their house and that of the lovebirds that had yet to realize they were in love, but it looked like a doozy. Juliet was throwing a few items of James' clothing and a pillow at him, and he was likely saying something snarky to her because he was too proud to apologize.
"Think we should do something?" Miles asked, turning to Jin, who shook his head.
"They need to work it out. It is good for them." he replied with a nod.
"Orrr we could help them along a little…" Miles suggested with a grin.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, they fight like a married couple because they're too afraid to admit that they're crazy about each other. Maybe we should do something to make them admit it." Miles said, shrugging.
"Like what?"
"I dunno, but here he comes…I have a feeling she kicked him out again." Miles said, unable to keep himself from laughing. Juliet had thrown him out of the house a few times when she'd gotten too fed up…or too afraid that she really felt something for him, as Miles thought of it.
"Hey," James said, walking up to them with the expression of a puppy that's just been abandoned, "Mind if I bunk with you guys tonight?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Of course," Jin said, smiling reassuringly, "Do not worry. You will work it out."
James scoffed and shook his head, "Women," he said, taking a seat next to Jin, "Says I'm a slob. Says I don't care 'bout no one or nothin' but myself. Says if I wanna live with her, I gotta learn to respect her. I don't even know what I did!" he told them, throwing his hands in the air, clearly mystified.
"Did she see you talking to Sally last night at the party?" Miles asked.
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Just answer the question, Jim."
"I dunno, I guess she could've. Who cares?"
"She see you kiss her?"
"What? I-"
"I bet she did. Way to go, man," Miles said, chuckling, "You can't live with one girl and go around kissing other girls. Especially when the girl you live with is Juliet."
"I didn't kiss Sally, she kissed me. And why would Juliet care, anyway? She hates my guts."
"Are you serious right now? You're blinder than a bat."
"Bats ain't blind, Einstein." James quipped.
"Whatever, not the point. The point is," Miles paused, "You know what, man? Don't worry about it. She's a chick, all you've gotta do is give her some space and it'll blow over. She's probably just, you know, on her time of the month or something."
James paused, as if considering this, "Yeah, maybe. Well, I'm gonna go set myself up on the couch and try to get in a little readin' before dinner."
"Oh, uh…Juliet was gonna have us over tonight…" Miles said, a plot beginning to form in his mind.
"Oh. Well you two go ahead, I'll eat in the dining hall tonight. Part of my banishment, an' all." James said, forcing a chuckle, but inwardly grimacing at the idea of having to eat cafeteria slop over Juliet's home cooking. He wished he could take back whatever it was he'd done to piss her off so he could get some real food in his stomach that night. He bid his friends goodbye and went inside.
"What are you up to?" a confused Jin asked Miles once James was out of earshot.
"You'll see. Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"To stage a setup."
TEN MINUTES LATER…
"Seriously, Jules, you've had a rough day. And you do a lot for us, we just wanna pay you back for it. Go on, to the beach or to Amy's or something, just relax for a couple hours, and we'll take care of everything." Miles insisted to a baffled Juliet.
"I…well, I suppose it would be nice…but if you blow up my kitchen, Miles, so help me…"
"Don't worry, I haven't blown up a kitchen in, oh, 5 or 6 years, at least," he joked, provoking a smile from the obviously still upset blonde.
"Alright," she consented, "I'll see you at 6, then. Jin…make sure he doesn't set the house on fire, okay?" she said with a chuckle.
Jin laughed, "Will do."
As soon as Juliet stepped out of the house, Miles launched into matchmaker mode, putting his plan into action. "Okay, so we've got candles, and music, and…what's that you're making?"
"Samgteyang." Jin replied, stirring the contents of the pot in which he was cooking.
"Ooo…kay, that stuff, and…magic!" he said emphatically, a big grin on his face. "All that's left is getting Jim over here."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Leave it to me." Miles said mischievously. He picked up Juliet's phone and dialed, "Hey, Jim…yeah, Juliet said you can come to dinner…I dunno, man, I told you, chicks are fickle. Yeah…uh huh…don't question it, just get over here. I know you don't want that dining hall crap. Okay, see you." He hung up, "Done," he said, turning to Jin with an enormous smile. "We're good. We should do this professionally, man." he said, laughing and patting Jin on the back.
A few minutes later, Juliet entered the house, and gawked at what she saw awaiting her. "Miles…Jin…what's all this?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at her houseguests.
"We wanted you and James to—ow!" Jin said, interrupted by Miles elbowing him in the side.
"What he means is…we thought we'd give you two a chance to make up. So we-"
"Hey there, lady and the tramps. What's cookin'?" James asked, entering the room with a grin that faded the instant he saw the room's setup and how upset Juliet was. "What's goin' on, here?" he asked his two guilty-as-sin-looking friends.
"Look, the two of you need to hash this thing out, once and for all. We're just making sure you actually do it, because if we just let you sit and stew about it, you'll be even more repressed and clueless than you already are, so…"
"Hey, who you callin' clueless, short stack?" James said defensively.
Miles rolled his eyes, "You, Einstein," he said, mimicking James from earlier that day, "Let's just put it this way: you like Juliet. Juliet likes you. Why don't you just go from there?" he suggested. "God I feel so junior high right now…" he said with a laugh, "Come on, Jin, let's leave them to it. Oh, and don't even think about leaving, you two. You're not allowed to go anywhere until you can play nice." he said in his very best motherly impersonation. He and Jin exited the house, standing guard outside the door in case either of them decided to try and make a break for it.
"I, uh…I'm sorry 'bout those two idiots…well, that one idiot. I think Jin's just playin' along, but…well, I'll get outta your hair. Don't worry, I'll deal with Miles." he assured her, heading back for the door, not wanting to upset her any further.
"Do you," she began quickly as he turned away, "Do you know why I got so upset before?" she asked softly, inviting him to stay without actually saying the words.
He shook his head, "I ain't got a clue, Blondie. If I did somethin' wrong-"
"It wasn't anything you did. I mean, it was, but it wasn't your fault," she began, biting her lower lip and pausing to collect her thoughts, "I saw…I saw you and Sally last night, and I just…" she sighed, "I shouldn't have treated you like that. I mean, it's ridiculous! You're perfectly free to kiss whomever you feel like kissing, it's just that…everything's gonna change now. I've gotten so used to things, and I guess I was starting to think it would always be this way, which is silly, because, well, it's 1975, so…" she paused, shrugging, "What did Miles mean when he said you like me?" she asked, shifting subjects and looking at James expectantly.
"What? Well, he…I mean, of course I like ya, I wouldn't live with somebody I didn't like," he covered, "And who said anything's changin'? It ain't like I'm gonna marry Sally. Not really my type. And uh, she kissed me, for the record." he told her softly.
"Well you didn't look like you had a problem with it," Juliet quipped.
"Well, sweetheart, I'm a man, and if you hadn't noticed, I ain't exactly been gettin' lucky lately. Pardon me for scratchin' the itch a little. 'Sides, it's not like I could just-"
"Just what, James?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Nothin'. I don't gotta explain myself to you, ya know, you ain't my-"
"Your what, James?" Juliet's eyes narrowed as she stared him down.
"Now wouldja quit lookin' at me like that, Blondie? Jeez, you on your time of the month or somethin'?" he asked, remembering Miles' comment about it earlier.
"Excuse me?" she said loudly, her eyes widening, arms dropping to her sides, "Didn't anything I said earlier sink in? I ask you for some respect, and this is how you do that? You'd think someone who used to smooth-talk women for a living would know how to treat one!"
"Hey now, gimme a break! I never had a functional relationship with a woman. One where I wasn't lyin' or tryin' ta get somethin' from her or pretendin' to be someone I ain't…you're the closest thing I ever had to functional, and we ain't even…" he paused, shaking his head and sighing, "I don't always do the right thing or say the right thing. Hell, Juliet, I ain't perfect and you know it! I'm never gonna be. But I do respect you, even if I don't show it. Don't you get that by now? I got your back, Blondie. Okay?"
Juliet just stared at him with an unreadable expression. He wondered for a moment whether she wanted to forgive him or slap him across the face. Maybe both. She approached him, and he held his breath, preparing for the latter of the two situations, but to his surprise, she didn't slap him.
The next few minutes were all a blur. Instead of her palm making contact with his cheek, her lips did, and before he knew it, his lips found her cheek, and he tasted salt. She was crying, and he didn't know why she was doing it, but he wanted to make those tears go away. So he kissed them. He kissed her cheeks, and the corners of her eyes. He held her face in his hands, and soon, he was kissing her lips. Much to his surprise, she kissed him back. He pulled her into him and found her tongue with his own, gently probing, tasting, exploring, until he felt weak at the knees.
The kiss continued for heaven only knew how long, and it would have gone on longer, but the sound of the door opening jolted them both back down to earth. "Whoa…" came Miles' voice from the doorway, where he stood with a grinning Jin next to him, "We heard yelling and then it got real quiet…we thought she might have killed you." Miles explained, also grinning, "Way to go, guys. We, uh…don't let us interrupt." He slammed the door quickly, and James and Juliet heard snickering on the other side of it, causing them both to laugh, as well.
"Well, I, uh…that was…I mean, you're a…"
"Are you going to keep trying to be articulate, or will you just shut up and kiss me again?" she asked with a smirk.
His eyes widened, and he looked at her with a dimpled grin, not wasting any time in capturing her lips with his own again. They still had a lot to iron out, but this was the start of something good. He reminded himself to thank the Straume & Kwon Dating Service later, though he knew Miles would probably gloat for the rest of eternity…but for now, he'd just enjoy the moment, and the woman he finally had in his arms.
THE BEGINNING.