--
Shawn was so nervous that he couldn't even seem to catch his breath as he drove towards Juliet's apartment. It was their first date all over again, except he had already taken her on a date and it was a little awkward because he had to impress her all over again. You'd think it would be easier, considering he already knew how to please her, but he couldn't get the damned butterflies in his stomach to leave him alone.
He took a deep breath before knocking on her door, motorcycle helmet under his arm and a smile on his face. She answered the door in a pair of dark jeans, a pink polo and matching ballet flats, her hair pulled in a half-ponytail and a nervous smile on her face. She looked exactly as she had on their first date, down to her shade of eye shadow.
"Hey Shawn." She greeted him nervously and he smiled down at her.
"Hey Jules, you ready?"
"Uh, sure, where are we going?"
"You trust me?" he asked her and she hesitated.
"Well I don't really know you." She admitted and he felt a knife in his heart, and she seemed to realize that she had said something wrong because she leapt to repair the damage.
"Oh Shawn, I didn't mean to…I'm sorry, of course I trust you."
He smiled at her, the pain lessening incredibly at her words and took her hand gently in his.
"We're going to go for a ride, c'mon." and she followed him down the stairs and out towards his motorcycle, where there was a helmet waiting for her. He reached down, scooped it up and held it out to her.
"Here, we got this together about two weeks into our relationship." He told her and she smiled as she put it on.
"We did?"
"Yeah, I wanted you to be able to ride with me and keep you safe at the same time, I wasn't about to let you ride without a helmet, Jules." He told her incredulously as though she had just said something scandalous.
"Oh, I see." She giggled, a warm feeling curling throughout her body at the though of Shawn keeping her safe.
"You ready?" he asked her, once he was already on the bike and she hesitantly got on behind him.
"I guess so."
"Okay, hold on Jules." He told her gently as he started his beloved ride and she wrapped her arms tightly around his middle wondering if maybe that had been his plan all along.
As soon as they got on the rode Juliet had a flash, it was she and Shawn riding along the road and pulling off to this diner. He had a hold of her hand and she was smiling, he leaned in and kissed her. They walked in together, without a care in the world.
She jerked back to the real day and had the most awkward feeling that she should recognize that diner, it seemed so familiar, but why?
"You okay?" he called back to her, unsure if she was starting to regret riding with him, maybe he should have taken things a bit slower.
"I'm fine." She called back to him, readjusting her grip.
--
They pulled off to the diner from her flash and she instantly knew it. Shawn stopped the bike and took off his helmet; she slowly took hers off and stared up at the diner, open-mouthed.
"What is it?" asked Shawn, but she didn't answer, she just sat on his bike, her mouth agape, and her helmet in her hands.
"Jules?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her face. She jerked out of her reverie.
"This I remember." She told him and he looked at her with hope and confusion.
"What d'you mean?"
"This diner, I recognize it. Its where we first met." She told him and he looked so happy that she thought he'd burst into tears for a moment.
"You remember that?" he asked her and she smiled, nodding her head.
"Yeah, you came in and said I had stolen your seat, you said something about a newspaper, that was my first stake out in Santa Barbara."
"That's right."
"You even managed to tell me about my cats and my family, and you made me sound like a fourteen-year-old."
"Well, in my reality you only had an eighth grade education." He defended himself and she laughed.
"Yeah, yeah Shawn, I know."
"Want to know the truth?" he asked her as they headed in. She looked up at him and quirked her head to the side.
"About what?"
"About the first time we met."
"Sure, tell me."
They sat across from each other at a booth in the back.
"When I first saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen." Shawn admitted to her and she laughed.
"C'mon Shawn, ever?" she asked him incredulously and he held up his hands.
"I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but you were, you still are."
She blushed bright red and he looked away, letting her collect herself, he hadn't meant to say things like that, in fact he had had a rather stern talk with himself in the mirror just before leaving so that he wouldn't make her feel overwhelmed, after all this wasn't a date, it was the tow of them getting together to make sure that she could remember.
"Well thank you."
"You're very welcome."
Their waitress took that moment to show up and took their drink orders before leaving again.
"What would you like to know, Jules?" he asked her finally, and she looked up from her menu in slight surprise.
"Well, I remember how we met, and I can remember a little from later days, what was our first date like?" she asked him and he smiled.
"Well, I brought you here, after all its where we met. We had dinner, and we talked, and we laughed, and you told me a little bit about Miami, I told you a little about my past girlfriends, and then we went down to the beach, took a walk, and I walked you up to your apartment, and you kissed me on the cheek, and I knew…"
"Knew what?" she asked him, curious as to the extent of his feelings.
"I knew you really were as perfect as my imagination had made you to be." He told her and she laughed.
"A girl could get used to all this sweetness." She teased and he smiled.
"You say that all the time."
"Okay, how long have we been dating?"
"Well, only counting the days before the accident, three days past two months, and uh counting the ones after the accident, three months solid." He told her without hesitation and she smiled, glad that he was the kind of guy that knew how long he had been dating someone.
"Tell me about our first kiss."
"What?" he chuckled, a little shocked at the question, "I just did."
"No, you told me about our first date and I kissed you on the cheek, I want to know about our first real kiss."
He looked a little uncomfortable with the subject but cleared his throat and took the time that the waitress gave him by coming back, delivering their drinks and taking their orders to prepare himself.
"Our first kiss happened on our third date. I took you bowling."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, we had fun, and I walked you up to your apartment again, expecting another kiss to the cheek, and you grabbed a fistful of my collar and pulled me in."
"What?" she giggled, "I did not."
He laughed along with her, nodding before quickly shaking his head.
"No, you're right, you didn't. Actually, I kissed you, and it was small, and slow, and extremely awkward, cause I really wanted to kiss you, and I knew that you weren't that into me yet, so it was a really pitiful excuse for a kiss." He shrugged and she reached out across the table and patted his hand.
"I'm sure it wasn't as bad as all that, I went out with you again, didn't I?"
"Yeah." He admitted.
"Well then, it mustn't have been terrible, because if a guy is a bad kisser, then he gets dumped quick."
"Kissing's a deal breaker, huh?"
"Oh definitely." She nodded wisely as she took a sip of her coke.
"I'll remember that."
"You make sure that you do."
He chuckled and she joined in.
"Okay, so tell me about, tell me about our first fight."
He paused, a paleness coming over his countenance and Juliet became concerned.
"Shawn?"
"Sorry, its just, our first fight was a little heavy, and I don't know if we should really get into that yet," and at her slightly crestfallen look he continued, "I'll tell you, I swear, just not yet."
"Okay, that's fair, so tell me about something else, tell me about you."
"What about me?"
"I don't know, when did you have your first kiss?"
"First real kiss, or first little kid kiss?" he asked and she smiled.
"Whichever you count as your first kiss."
"I was thirteen, and I kissed Connie D'Amico under the bleachers."
"I was fifteen, and Jimmy was my first boyfriend." She admitted, even though she was sure that he already knew that, she didn't want him to feel like he was the only one sharing.
"Okay, I was five when I first met Gus. My favorite color is green, I love pineapple, its natures perfect food, forget the egg, and I have had my motorcycle since I was nineteen and my dad has always hated it."
"I was nine before I learned how to ride a bike, my favorite color is yellow, though sometimes I'm a little more partial to blue, I don't have a favorite food, but tea is something I could never live without, I hate coffee, and as far back as I can remember I have wanted to be a cop."
"I never saw Forrest Gump." He told her, and she giggled.
"I couldn't tie my shoes properly until I was ten." He just gave her a quirked eyebrow and she shrugged.
"I haven't had a relationship last longer than three months." That one just earned him a sad smile.
"I've never kissed a girl." He looked a little mischievous at that statement and she instantly regretted making it.
"I've never spent a whole day in bed doing nothing." He admitted and she smiled.
"Me neither."
The waitress brought their dinner and they ate in compatible silence for a few minutes.
"My favorite movie is the Princess Bride, I love the romance." She told him suddenly.
"I cried during Bambi, when I first saw it as a kid and again at twenty."
"I like action flicks, but I don't like horror movies."
"I kissed you again on our fourth date, and this one was a real kiss."
"Was it good?"
He stared at her as though she had three heads and let out a slightly shaky breath.
"Oh yeah."
She laughed.
--
They spent the next hour and a half talking about themselves, about each other, about everything, and when it was finally past midnight, Shawn drove Juliet home. He walked her up to her apartment door and said goodnight.
"Shawn, do you mind if I keep this?" she asked him, gesturing to the helmet still in her hands.
"Sure."
"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked and he nodded.
"Yeah, sounds good."
"Goodnight Shawn."
"Goodnight Juliet, sweet dreams."
She smiled gently at him and closed the door. He walked back to his bike and as he started it up and pulled away from her apartment he got the same giddy feeling that he had gotten after their first date. That had gone well.
--
Phew, longest chappie yet, and sorry if the dialogue seems a little OOC, I tried my best to capture the characters, but sometimes I spaced a bit and changed them around. Also, I noticed that Juliet wears pink, a lot, but I just think that she seems a little more like a yellow girl. Please read and review, and tell me what you think.
Andrew's Slinky
