So I figured it was high time I addressed the way Shawn and Juliet actually get together in the show. I actually wrote very little of dialogue in this, just the monologue and a little in the middle there, but review and let me know what you think! So without further ado, I present:

The Moments

She saw Shawn and a frog leapt into her throat. And now they were alone.

"Have a great four days."

"It's two weeks, Shawn."

She saw the shock register in his face and all she could think of was what he said before. That he couldn't imagine being happy without her. He said something about the vacation being a long time and she nodded, frog blocking her ability to speak. He looked so earnest. So serious—and yet still so like Shawn. Like Shawn in those quiet moments and flashes of roller skating popped in her brain.

"Have an amazing trip, okay?"

She was sure the surprise registered on her face.

"Promise me."

She nodded barely as her brain exploded. Shawn couldn't be saying that to her. He was supposed to whine or crack a joke. He was supposed to be immature. Foolish.

"Cause you know they say these trips are once in a lifetime experiences and they're even better when you have someone you care about to share them with and…you do."

It was like a movie reel started in her brain of time with someone she cared about…whispered 'thank you's. A nod of appreciation, and she couldn't look at the man who starred in all those thoughts.

"Take lots of pictures."

She looked up to see him weakly smiling.

"Not of sights, don't take pictures of buildings. Take pictures of moments."

Moments…the moment he broke her heart after Yang and she kissed him on the cheek—

"Cause that's what matters. Capture them here,"

The moment where he blundered on and on about a cereal box and she thought he was finally going to say something—

"and hold on to them here. At least that's what I would do."

She didn't even hear the rest of what he said. Moment after moment was flooding her brain. Smiles and compliments and very close talking, oh the very close talking and before she could stop herself, before her brain got in the way yet again she was grabbing his shoulders and kissing him on the mouth.

An explosion of memories and emotions and sensation shook her to her core. His hands were on her sides and kissing her back but it was different than she'd ever imagined. His kiss wasn't greedy or playful or even overly zealous. It was a conversation. A two-way apology for time wasted and decisions made. A culmination of all the moments they had shared. It was deeply passionate but reserved. It conveyed all the pain and fear but more than that, there was hope. She brought her hands to his face, he lightly bit her lip and she kissed him again with the realization that this was so much more than just another moment in their lives: This was the moment everything changed.

Movement from somewhere within the house broke her out of her reverie and she pushed away from Shawn and looked at him with the realization that they could never go back to how things were.

Declan and Gus came back.

Declan…

He, Shawn, and Gus said something but her mind was swimming. Declan. Amalfi. She tried to seem excited about what Declan said but all she could think about was Shawn. About kissing Shawn. About how kissing Shawn felt like finally connecting that last piece of the puzzle and how Declan's kiss never felt that way.

She looked at Shawn as he left and Declan tried to kiss her. She saw the look in his eyes and knew hers must have mirrored it. A look of pain and being unsure of the future when all you wanted to do was ride off into the sunset.

Declan walked away and she brought a hand to her head as the implications of what just happened and the realization of what needed to happen next hit her. She couldn't go to the Amalfi Coast with Declan—right? Not after what she felt for Shawn. What she'd always felt for Shawn. Not after that kiss.

She walked upstairs and saw him packing a suitcase with a smile and tears blurred her vision just after she saw the smile fall from his lips.

"Juliet, what's wrong?"

"I can't do this." She breathed and he walked up to her and grabbed her hands.

"Can't do what?" His voice was so tender. His hand so soft as he wiped a tear from her cheek and it broke her heart.

"I can't go away with you."

"Did something come up with work? I thought you got clearance—"

"No." She interrupted, taking a step back from him. "No it's not work."

The look in his eye fractured the broken fragments of her heart. "Is it me? Is it something I did?"

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "It's nothing you did. You've been wonderful. You're an amazing man Declan, but—"

"But what?" He asked and she could hear the hurt in his voice. "What could possibly have changed in the last ten minut—oh." His voice turned hard. "It's Shawn, isn't it? He did something. What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything!" She cried. "It's what I did. I kissed him Declan and I'm so sorry, but he was telling me to have a great vacation and take pictures of moments and it just happened!"

Pain and betrayal registered on his face and he sat on the edge of the bed. "Why?" He asked softly. "What does he have that I don't?"

"Nothing, Declan, it's not that, it's—"

"Then why?" His voice was hard again as he rose from the bed and approached her. "Why did you kiss him?"

"I—I just had to know…"

"Know what?"

"I don't know!" She cried. "How it would feel? If he would kiss me back? I didn't think about it, I just did it."

"And how did it feel? Did he kiss you back?" His voice was steady and cold.

"Declan, don't…don't do—"

"No! I want to know! How did it feel?"

"Declan…"

"Did he kiss you back?" His voice was raising.

"Please…don't"

"Why did you kiss him?" He was losing his cool, nearly shouting now.

"I—"

"Why him over me?"

"Because I love him!" She blurted and a fresh round of tears came over her as Declan reeled from her statement.

And then he kissed her. And it was desperate, and greedy, and empty—one she couldn't return. He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers. "Why him?" He whispered, a plea for understanding.

She took a step back. "I think it's always been him. And you," she stepped toward Declan again and cautiously placed a hand on his cheek, "you had all his best features and more, and I thought it would be perfect, but I—I've just realized I love Shawn's flaws as much as his strengths." She stepped back again, confident she'd made the right decision. "I kissed him because he cared about me enough to let me go, and he kissed me back because letting me go was the last thing he wanted to do."

"So now I'm supposed to let you go?"

"Declan…" She sighed.

He stepped toward her and grabbed her hands. "What if I don't want to let go? Juliet, come to Amalfi with me and I'll show you what your life could be. Choose me and I'll make sure you never regret it."

"I'm sorry Declan." She pulled her hands from his. "I have to go."

Juliet leaned on the railing and looked out at beautiful Vancouver thinking about all that had happened since her arrival. She smiled at the thought of how excited Shawn looked when he saw her and the smile fell away as she thought about every moment after. About how yet again they didn't get the timing right. Yet, as she looked out and painfully reflected on what Shawn had said at the hotel, she still didn't regret breaking up with Declan. As much as she felt awful, more heart broken than ever before, she wouldn't feel any better in Amalfi. Because at least now she knew. Knew that she and Shawn would never get it right.

Suddenly he was there, next to her. "You know this bridge was built by porcupines."

He was making a joke. Of course he was making a joke. He kept talking, but she interrupted, unable to stand it anymore. "Shawn, can we not do this right now? I'm really upset with you. We just, we missed the moment." She wondered if he'd catch the significance of the word moment. Wondered if the moment they'd had in Declan's living room changed him as much as it did her. Because while they had missed the moment after, in that moment she had found what every little girl spends her whole life looking for. "Some people just don't fit."

"Yeah, but those are LEGO people. And..." He went on and it killed her that even though he had hurt her so badly time and time again, she still found herself loving him. Loving the fact that even now his convoluted explanation could make her laugh.

"It's funny. It's always funny." She said with a smile to mask the pain. "Can we not do this right now? It's okay, the way things are, it's okay." And it was. Evidently the old standby that it was better to have loved and lost than never loved at all was true because even though she wasn't with Shawn the way her heart so desperately wanted to be—she was okay. And now she had a standard. If anyone else would ever reach it, she didn't know, but she truly loved Shawn, much to her own surprise, and she was sure someone else would come along. "I just really need to sort this out on my own right now." So much had changed in so short a time and she wasn't sure where it left her.

Shawn walked away and she sighed and tried to hold back the tears that seemed to be lurking so close to the surface the last couple of days.

"Can I just say what I came here to say please?"

She sighed and turned to him, reluctantly looking in the eyes that captured her heart.

"I have a motorcycle."

That was what he came here to say? "Yes, you do." Why would that possibly be what he wanted to say right now, after all that had happened? But she let her mind fill with his explanation, hoping to glean something from what he was saying.

"…and I have never regretted it, not for one second."

"Great, you love your motorcycle. Is there a point to this?" She was tired of trying to figure him out. Tired of trying to make a moment happen when all there seemed to be were mistakes.

"Yeah, there's a point." He answered confidently. "The point is, since I met you, I—" he hesitated and she prodded him on with a look, hoping that whatever he said would make all of this make sense. "I've been thinking about getting a car."

She smiled as all of the pieces came together. He loved her. More than his motorcycle—the symbol of his independence, his me-focused lifestyle—he loved her. "And you're not thinking something practical, or sensible" She needed him to know she loved him, all of him, that he didn't need to totally change for her.

"Oh God no, I'm not throwing in the towel all together."

As he grabbed her face and pulled her close, she closed her eyes, capturing this moment and as their lips collided and the joy of finally making the timing right filled her, Juliet felt it get written on her heart. The best thing, the richest thing. It hadn't come easily, but it was by no means a mistake. This, not just kissing Shawn, but finally giving herself to him as he gave himself to her, was the perfect moment.