A/N : I never, never intended to write a Nick/Juliette fic. I'm not even a fan of Juliette but I think it is important to note that none of the crap that happened on the show is her fault. Anyway, this story was supposed to be multi-chapter-ed with this part ending at Juliette feeling hopeful about her relationship with Nick until she met Renard for the first time - and then everything changed.

But...somehow... sometimes...the fic just writes itself. So, there you go.

Second Chances

Many people spend forever in search of their Mr. Right.
Some are fortunate to meet their other half within their lifetime.
Very few get to do it twice.

They say that you will never get a second chance at the first time.
Maybe Juliette was an anomaly to the fact...

Ever since Juliette awoke from her coma, everybody has been telling her how it's so sad that she couldn't remember her fiancé. No one ever stopped to think that maybe, it didn't matter so much to her as it did for everybody else.

It wasn't as if she felt a void in her memory - In the world that Juliette Silverton lived in, Nicholas Burkhardt simply did not exist.

There are a couple of things that she'd learnt from her friends about her forgotten beau. She learnt that Nick was a great guy, a sweetheart they said, and very much deeply in love with her.

She was told stories about what he did to get her attention.

...

"You told me Nick once brought a stray pup to the clinic, insisting that it was sick and in dire need of some medical help.
It turned out that it was just an excuse to see you - The little pup was fine.
He was so awkward but very adorable. It made you smile."

"There was another time that he got held up by a case and felt so bad about missing a dinner date with you that he turned up at your doorstep with a bouquet of a hundred roses.
You told him that it was such a cheesy move.
He got so embarrassed, looking almost as red as the flowers in his hands. It made you laugh."

"Two years back he asked you to move in with him. We asked if you were sure.
You said that it has always been him and no one else. You couldn't have been happier."

...

At that moment, Juliette wished she were the girl in the stories.

However, she also learnt that she'd rejected his marriage proposal. No one could tell her why she did it. For all intent and purposes, this should have raised some flags but her friends had commented that perhaps, this is a blessing in disguise - getting to fall in love with the right man all over again.

Juliette wanted to believe it so badly.

Nick brought her home the day she was discharged from the hospital. He gave her space and slept on the couch that night, and the night after, and the night after that. It soon became clear that the path to recovery was going to be a slow and tedious one.

Things were awkward between them, and not in the way that used to make her smile.

She could tell how her detachment from him was tearing him up inside. He never once complained about it but every now and then, he would have this look in his eyes like he was mad at her for forgetting him. Sometimes he would lean too close into her, and then take a step back as if he'd sensed her discomfort, apologizing for something that wasn't quite his fault. His hands would occasionally find themselves inching towards her own, only to stop when she pulled away.

For the most part, Nick was a nice guy - just like what everyone said.

Juliette needed to talk to someone about it. Elisha was one of her friends who stuck by her throughout this whole ordeal. She was one of those who didn't get to know Nick very well and Juliette hoped that she might have a more objective view on the issue because everyone else she had spoken to seems to have taken Nick's side, having great sympathy for the unfairness that have befallen him.

...

"Don't get me wrong, I like Nick a lot," Juliette said to Elisha.

"But... you don't love him," she stated.

"I don't know if I love him. I just met- It feels like I just met him." Juliette corrected herself.

"So what's wrong with that? I wish I could re-meet my husband again," Elisha remarked.

...

Apparently, so did she.

With so many people affirming Nick's character, it became to hard for Juliette to differentiate her real feelings from those imposed by others - So she decided to reignite their relationship. It wouldn't be fair to Nick if she didn't at least give it a try.

She recognized her handwriting in one of the pages of her favorite recipe book. Tracing her fingers over the letters that wrote "Nick Loves", Juliette recalled all the times she prepared that dish. The first time she made it, she forgot to add cilantro and it wasn't 'Cilantro Chicken' without the herb. The second time she made it, she got distracted by a phone call and over-baked the chicken - It was tough and dry. She could even remember how she panicked and burned her hand while removing the crock-pot from the oven.

Of all the times she pictured in her head, Nick just wasn't there.

It's time that changed.

...

"You know, I may never remember who you were, but I'd like to get to know who you are" Juliette told Nick and he beamed. It was the happiest she'd seen him in days.

"So, how did we meet?" She asked.

"I was still in uniform and you were a witness to a hit-and-run accident" he supplied.

"Oh my God, I remember that. It was so awful. The guy kept going and I got the license plate..." Juliette paused for a while and looked at Nick before continuing, "I remember talking to a police officer who I thought was very good-looking... Was that you?" she teased.

"I can only hope" He blushed and they laughed.

...

They say that the sweetest part of a relationship is courtship - when sparks fly for the first time.

That was how Juliette's second 'first date' with Nick went.

They started talking... and never really stopped.

-END?..or not.-

Please review ;D