It was all a blur of 70's classics, rum, and candlelight. Neither of them knew exactly how it happened or who initiated it, but somewhere in the middle of "Sweet Home Alabama", they'd begun kissing…which led to touching, which led to clothes being shed, which led to…

It hadn't been the alcohol's fault. Well, not entirely the alcohol's fault, anyway. Truth be told, they'd been thinking about one another for quite some time, and the rum had given them both the little boost of courage necessary to let them act on their emotions.

He had to admit, she'd been like a breath of fresh air after everything that had happened. Once she had agreed to stay on the island for two more weeks, they began spending more and more time together. She'd opened herself up to him after that, and he to her…

"Oh come on, James, that's not fair!" Juliet protested with a laugh as James stole away the jelly bean she'd been about to eat. "Do you know how long it's been since I had a jelly bean?" she crossed her arms and pretended to pout, but she couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, I'll give it back to ya…if ya tell me somethin' aboutcha that no one else knows." he said with a mischievous smirk.

Juliet rolled her eyes, but her smile remained on her face. "Okay. I only like the yellow ones."

"That ain't a secret! C'mon, Blondie, tell me somethin' real." he insisted, still grinning at her, in a way that, though she wasn't ready to admit it, made her heart flutter.

"Alright. Well, um…" she took a deep breath, "I've never been in love. I mean, I thought I was, but it wasn't real. I'm talking about the kind of love that just makes you forget that anyone else even exists because you've finally found the person you were meant to be with. The kind that people die for, the kind that shatters hatred and overcomes every obstacle because it's so strong…" she let out a soft chuckle, "I'm a Juliet without a Romeo, you know?"

James just smiled softly and placed the yellow bean back in her hand, closing his palm over hers. "Whattaya want a Romeo for, Blondie? Don'cha know they both kill themselves at the end?" he smiled, and he was so adorable she just had to laugh.

"I suppose you're right." she agreed with a smile.

"Nah, I know whatcha mean, though. I…I thought I had it, too, with Kate." he admitted with a sigh, "Wasn't it, though. Maybe some of us are just meant to be alone."

Juliet shook her head, "I don't believe that. I can't believe that. There's someone out there for all of us. There has to be." she smiled softly and lifted the jelly bean to her lips, biting off half of it. She held the other half out to him, her fingers inches from his lips. "I know how to share, see? I promise I don't have cooties." she grinned, and he took the half-bean from her fingers with his lips, causing her to shudder at the sensation.

"Mm…sure is good. If I get cooties, though, I'm blamin' it on you." he said, his dimples appearing as he grinned at her.

Juliet laughed, "You're free to do that, James."

She had a way of making him laugh as well as calming him. Now that he was finally able to delve deeper into who she was as a woman, he had stopped seeing her as an "Other" entirely. She was with him, she had his back, and he trusted her completely. "Alright, Blondie. Let's see how good your poker face is." he said, pulling out a deck of cards.

She won.

The two weeks she'd agreed to went by faster than he'd hoped they would. They'd stayed up for hours the night before, talking about anything and everything. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a deep conversation with anyone…probably because he never had. With her, he wasn't afraid to hold back. She never judged, she never looked down on him, she just accepted him as he was, flaws and all. It was a new experience to him, and he wasn't sure he was ready to give up having a person like that in his life. He knew he wasn't ready…

"Juliet!" he called out to her as she made her way down the dock. "Wait!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him, a surprised look on her face. They'd already said their goodbyes, what was he doing here? "James?"

"You can't go." he told her, panting from his manic sprint to the pier.

"What? James, I…I'm going, the sub, it leaves in 10 minutes…I have to go, James."

"Why? Why can't ya stay here, why can't ya stay with me?" he asked with pleading eyes.

"James…" she said with a sigh, looking away from his gaze, "Please don't do this now." she said softly. "It's time for me to go home."

"But it ain't home, Juliet, that's what I been tryin' ta tell ya! Home don't exist yet, and maybe that's okay. Maybe…maybe home can be here, for now. C'mon, please…don't go." he held her hands in his, and her eyes found his way back to his face.

"Why not? What's here for me?" she asked, silently begging him to give her a reason to stay.

"Me." he stated simply, pulling her into an embrace. She closed her eyes and smiled, taking in the scent of him. Something about that moment gave her hope. Maybe this could be home…for now. He'd become her best friend over the past two weeks. Maybe she shouldn't be so quick to give up on that…

"Alright," she agreed softly, lifting her head from his shoulder and smiling, "I'll stay."

After that day, James and Juliet became inseparable. They not only lived together, but they dined together, took walks together, read books together, and spent nearly every waking moment in each other's company, when they weren't working or sleeping. After a few weeks of this, Jin, Daniel, Miles, and Amy started a betting pool on when they'd become an official couple. Jin said it would only take another week, Daniel thought it would be a month before they'd admit their feelings, Miles gave it 24 more hours (if they weren't secretly sleeping together already), and Amy guessed 16 days, because the 16th had been she and Paul's anniversary.

Amy won.

Precisely 16 days later, a frazzled Juliet appeared on her doorstep, hair mussed, cheeks flushed, looking like she'd just woken up (which she basically had). "Amy, um…do you have a minute to talk?"

A look of concern appeared on Amy's face as she ushered Juliet inside, sitting her on the couch. "Of course, what's wrong?"

"I…James and I, we…last night…there was music, and candles, and alcohol, and…oh my god, what have I done?" she asked, burying her face in her hands.

"You mean you…you slept together?" Amy asked, a smile creeping onto her lips. I knew it! she thought to herself, wanting to laugh at the situation and the ironic accuracy of her prediction.

"Yes." Juliet admitted sheepishly, her face flushing a new shade of pink.

"Well, so? How was it?" Amy prodded with a grin that Juliet didn't understand.

"It was amazing!" she confessed, "Which is why this is so awful! James and I can't be…I mean, he was drunk, and I was…we were drunk! I know I can't expect anything from him. Right?"

"I dunno, Juliet, what did he say this morning?"

"Um, nothing yet…he's still asleep. Or he was when I left."

"You mean you just left him there? Juliet! What if he wakes up and you're gone? He's going to think you're rejecting him." Amy said, with almost a lecturing tone.

"No, he won't, because there's nothing to reject. We just…we made a mistake, I'm sure that's the way he's going to see it, and it's probably better if I'm not there when he wakes up. He'll be grateful that I spared him the awkwardness of that situation." she rationalized to herself, but Amy shook her head.

"No way, Jules. Come on, do you honestly not see how much he cares about you?" she asked in disbelief.

"I…I know he cares, but…" she shrugged, "He can't feel that way about me, he just…can't."

"And why not? Is that such a crazy idea? You feel something for him, don't you?"

"Yes, but I…he doesn't feel the same way. He only slept with me because of the situation, it wasn't because he wanted to be with me."

"Do you honestly think James would do that to you? Because I don't. He'd never use you like that, Juliet. Don't you get it? He's your Romeo."

Juliet's ears perked up at that statement. "What did you just say?" she asked, though she'd heard Amy perfectly.

"I said, he's your Romeo, Juliet." Amy repeated with a chuckle, "So go get him."

"But, I--"

"Methinks thou doth protest too much." Amy interrupted her, grinning.

Juliet laughed at the reference, then took a deep breath, "You really think he has feelings for me?"

"Honey, if he doesn't, I'll eat this couch."

Juliet smiled gratefully, "Alright…I'll talk to him." she agreed, standing up, as did Amy. "Thank you." she said, hugging her friend.

"No, thank you." Amy said.

A confused expression crossed Juliet's face. "For what?"

"I won the bet." Amy told her with a broad smile.

"Bet?"

"Miles, Jin, Daniel, and I…we took bets on when the two of you would finally get together, and I just won." Juliet didn't quite know what to say to that, so she found herself laughing along with Amy. "Alright, go get him, already! I wanna find the boys and rub it in that I was right."

Juliet hurried back into the house she'd been sharing with James, only to find him sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee and a copy of Carrie. She couldn't help but smile, though his expression was much more somber. "James…" she said softly, causing him to look up from the pages of her favorite book.

"Juliet." he said simply. She could hear the hurt in his voice as well as read it on his face, and in that instant, she knew…he felt something for her, just as she did for him. Last night hadn't been a mistake to him, after all.

She sat down beside him and gently took the book from his hands, setting it on the table. "I'm sorry that I left. I just…I had to talk to Amy."

"You had to talk to Amy?" he asked, obviously upset by her decision to speak to the redhead instead of him.

"Yes. And she made me realize something very important."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"That I love you, James. And I'm not afraid of it anymore. Last night…I thought you thought it was a mistake, but I know it wasn't, I know that. And if I feel it, I think you do, too. I'm in love with you. I think I have been for a long time, but I was so scared that you didn't want me, I just let it go, and I kept my mouth shut when I should have been telling you every day that…I think you might be my Romeo." she told him with a laugh, her eyes welling with tears, "Please say something, please, because if I'm completely wrong about this, you need to tell me right now, James..."

He swallowed, "You ain't wrong, Juliet." he told her softly, reaching out and placing his hand against her cheek, "Cause I think I'm in love with you, too." And with that, he pulled her into a kiss so passionate that it drowned out all thought. When they finally came up for air, both were smiling. "Well…ain't that somethin'." James said, grinning happily.

And so it began.