(A/N) LAST CHAPTER! :'( Sad day...but this has to be my favorite :) Please R&R! Let me know if you want more like this! (A/N)
When he pulled up in her driveway, Carlton looked at his watch.
"Well it's almost nine o'clock...I think I'm gonna go home and get to bed early tonight."
Juliet then turned to face him in an almost disappointing look.
Carlton knew that face far too well.
He prepared himself to not give into anything that she asked him because he had given in, too many times on his account that it was time for him to stand by what he says.
"You're not gonna come in and watch a movie or something with me for a little bit?"
"I watched a movie with you last night...and we both knew how THAT turned out," he said raising his eyebrow.
"Yeah...well it's not as late as last night...plus I promise that I wont do THAT again...please Carlton!"
Juliet pushed out her lower lip and folded her hands hoping that Carlton would give in.
Carlton on the other hand just rolled his eyes.
"Please O'Hara...you are not going to start this."
Juliet squinted her eyes at Carlton angrily and opened the cruiser door.
"Fine! I'll just call Shawn. I'm sure he would love to come and hang out with me tonight. It will just be me and him then...tonight...all alone in my house..."
As she hoped out of the car she walked right up to her door and opened it. When she shut the door she counted to three.
Almost as if it was on cue, she heard a knock at the door.
Smiling in victory, she peeked through the door hole.
"Who is it?"
"O'Hara...open the door."
"I don't know who you're taking too...but if you don't leave I'll have to call the cops on you for trespassing."
Carlton gave out a sigh, ran his hands through his hair and said, "Fine...I'll stay for one movie...but that's it. I want to get home to sleep in my bed this time."
Juliet opened the door and gave Carlton a satisfied smile.
"What movie do you wanna watch then?" Juliet asked as Carlton walked in the house.
"Doesn't matter...just pick one."
"Okay...I'll pick one in a sec, just let me go change and I'll be right back down," Juliet said as she ran up the stairs to her room.
When she was out of sight Carlton made his way to her living room and took off his jacket, shoes, tie and unbuttoned his shirt a little bit so that it wasn't choking his neck like the way he always wears it.
He sat in the couch and rested his head.
With his head pointed towards the ceiling, he closed his eyes.
Not realizing that he fell asleep not long after, he began to softy snore.
A few minutes later, Juliet came rushing down the stairs in her purple pajamas.
"Sorry that took longer than I thought. You ready Carlton?"
She had expected to see Carlton wait below the stairs, or in the kitchen, but when she couldn't find him she heard a strange noise coming from the living room.
"Carlton? Is that you?"
As she came around the corner she could see him dead asleep on her couch.
He hadn't moved from when he first sat down.
Man...it'll take the entire military to wake him up... Juliet thought.
As she came closer to where he was sleeping, she could see that for once in his life, he looked...peaceful.
If only he was always like this. Juliet thought.
She tiptoed to the back of her couch and curiously watched him sleep.
While he was sleeping, Juliet studied his features.
She never really had a good look of what he looked like. Working with him for four years, Juliet knew almost everything about him appearance wise. She could pick him out in a crowd without guessing herself, but she never spent time actually looking at him, and seeing every feature for what it was, on him.
Her eyes wandered from his jaw line, to every hair on his head.
She knew that Carlton wasn't bad looking, in fact she always found him somewhat attractive, because she has always been drawn to older men, but she never knew how beautiful he was.
Juliet memorized every move he made with his face, and every feature.
Wow...I never knew how handsome you were...Victoria doesn't know how lucky she was. Juliet thought.
A few seconds went by, until Juliet realized what she just said...in her mind that is.
She nearly jumped back and put her hands on her mouth as if she said it out loud.
What? No! You can't think of Carlton like that! He's your partner! Not only that but your commanding officer...what the hell is wrong with you Jules? She yelled to herself.
Just then Carlton made a couple small grunting noises and shifted his head so that the right side was resting on the couch.
Juliet stopped kicking herself and glanced back over to Carlton.
She cautiously walked back up to him and watched him sleep.
Carlton smack his lips together a couple of time and then clench his jaw.
Juliet watched as she saw how strong of a jaw line he had. She watched him clench his jaw many times at work or when he was pissed off at Shawn, but as he slept, she saw as every muscle moved and how they rested on his strong features.
Without realizing it, she placed her hand on his head and traced her fingers through his hair down to his jaw line.
Surprisingly Carlton didn't even flinch. He remained perfectly still.
Juliet then ran her fingers down his neck and back up to his hair.
Her thoughts became blurred as she seemed to become tranced by Carlton's sleeping figure.
She then began running her other hand through his hair as one hand was to enough to satisfy the spell she was under.
When she did this, Carlton began to stir in his sleep.
Juliet slowly ran her fingers down Carlton's neck again, only this time she lingered longer than last time.
She closed her eyes lazily and the opened them back up, realizing that she too was exhausted.
Looking down at Carlton, she noticed that he was starting to wake back up.
Quickly removing her hands, she walked around and sat on the couch next to Carlton, picking the up remote and flipped through the channels to see what movies were on.
Carlton opened his eyes and saw Juliet next to him.
"Wh-what time is it?...it's not morning already...is it?" Carlton said blinking away the sleepiness.
"It's around nine twenty...you feel asleep for a little bit and I've just been looking for a movie to watch..." Juliet said trying to cover up her nervousness.
"Oh...huh weird..."
"What's weird?"
"Well...it feels like someone was touching my face...I don't know why though," Carlton said confusingly rubbing if his hands on his cheeks.
Out of the corner of her eye, Juliet prayed that he didn't asked her if she had anything to do with it.
"Huh...that is weird..."
Flipping through the channels, Juliet finally found a movie.
"How does True Grit sound? I know you love western movies, plus I hear there's a lot of shooting involved..." Juliet said looking at Carlton out of the corner of her eye.
His eyes flickered back and forth from the tv to her.
"Yeah...sounds fine," Carlton said readjusting himself.
He rested his armed on the back of the couch and slumped down to watch the movie.
Juliet played the movie, crossed her arms and put her legs up to rest on the coffee table.
She sat opposite of Carlton and dared not to look at him because she was too embarrassed of what she did just a few minutes ago.
What were you thinking Jules...you should NOT feel these things towards him! He probably doesn't even think that way of you...not only that, but you even told yourself...absolutely NO inter-office relationships! What the hell!
Juliet continued to yell mentally at herself not realizing that Carlton had been watching her make strange faces.
"You okay there O'Hara?"
Juliet jumped a little bit forgetting he was sitting right next to her. She was glad that most of the lights were turned off in the living room so that it wouldn't show her blushing.
"Ye-yeah…I'm fine…I'm fine."
She couldn't handle herself anymore. She was so confused and wasn't sure what to think anymore.
"I'll…be right back," Juliet said quickly.
She headed straight up the stairs into the bathroom.
Closing the door, she leaned against the counter and looked straight into her reflection on the mirror.
"What is wrong with you? Why am I like this all of a sudden?...ugh…" Juliet cupped her hands in the sink and splashed her face with water.
After about a minute of cooling off, she looked at herself again.
"It's probably from everything that's happened…I mean I've been through, a lot…recently, and I'm probably just attaching myself emotionally. I probably am not even thinking clearly…" Juliet then rolled her eyes, "Okay I know I'm not thinking clearly…but I can't keep this up…I'll probably be back to normal when I start work again…but how am I going to last the whole week?...maybe I should just stop hanging out with Carlton outside of work…"
Juliet rubbed her face a couple of times and walked around in circles in the bathroom.
"You've always looked up to him…ever since you became his partner…but what makes it different now?"
Juliet sat on the toilet and closed her eyes to think.
Just then a flash of Carlton's face appeared in her mind.
Those eyes. Juliet thought.
It has to be something about those eyes that seem to attract me…or maybe his personality. I know he can be a stubborn mule, but deep down, he is a man that I know has a heart of gold. I've seen it a couple of times…but even since Victoria left him, he's been a different man. It almost seems like he's afraid to show his feelings because he doesn't want to be hurt again…
Once Juliet came to that realization she immediately opened her eyes and stood up.
She went back to the counter and leaned to look at herself in the mirror.
"That's it!" She whispered to herself, "It was when she left him when he became so closed off…but before, I had always envied Victoria because how amazing Carlton treated her. He was everything I wanted in a man…maybe that's why I was so determined to get approval from him…," Juliet blushed a little bit and turned away from the mirror, still leaning against the counter, "I…I wanted him to treat me like he treated Victoria…but…but then once she left him, he became such a different person…maybe that's why I tried so hard…to…to help Carlton. I wanted to comfort him, so that maybe some of the old Carlton would come back…" She then started pacing back and forth, "And…since the incident, he's become more like his old self…maybe the thought of losing me…has brought him back…"
Then a realization struck her again.
"And maybe THAT'S why I am feeling like this now…since the incident, he became the man I once knew…and loved…," she smiled at the thought, "And those eyes…something has changed in him…something that I don't know yet…but I can see him slowly becoming the man I once knew."
Juliet then frowned in disappointment. But that doesn't help me with the "No inter-office relationships!
She balled her hand into a fist and put it to her forehead.
Not a moment later, she heard a knock at the door, "Juliet? Are you okay?"
Carlton sounded concerned.
"Yeah…I'm fine," she said in defeat when her heart raced hearing his voice on the other side of the door.
Whyyyyy! Juliet thought, throwing her hand in the air.
"Are you sure? Can I help with anything?" Carlton asked.
Yes, you can help me by not trying to help! Why do you have to be…so…wonderful? Juliet screamed at herself.
"Yeah…I'm sure, no…don't worry about me…I'll be down in a minute…" Juliet said waving at the door as to shoo him away.
She wished it was all a dream. A few days ago everything seemed so much easier. Sure she had feelings for the man, but not like this at the moment. Juliet still struggled accepting her feelings. She had been taught for so many years to not let emotions get in the way. Sure, she was an expert at it, but for some reason she couldn't seem to hold back these feelings. Granted, she was almost murdered, but it didn't help knowing that Carlton was the one to save her because he was the only person she was thinking of that whole time she was on the roof.
It also didn't help now that he was willing to let his guard down a little bit and be there for her in ways she wished for years that he would do.
She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed, "Boy, you're a sucker for men in uniform aren't you…"
She gave herself a little smile and turned for the door.
Once she opened the door she found Carlton waiting patiently for her on the other side.
"Carlton," Juliet said a little surprised and embarrassed, hoping he didn't hear her last comment, "I thought you went back down to watch the movie…"
Not only that, but she prayed that he couldn't hear her heart race like she could.
"Well I can't watch it, knowing my partner isn't there with me to hold my hand, in case I get scared…" Carlton said giving her a sympathetic smile.
Juliet smiled back, "Thanks…I'm fine though…"
Carlton held out his arm, "C'mon, I have an idea."
Well this caught Juliet off guard. She definitely wasn't used to having Carlton come up with spontaneous ideas.
"Oh...okay," she said hesitantly taking his arm.
Carlton led her out the back door and found a ladder resting on the side of the house. He adjusted the ladder so that it was up against the house.
"What are you doing?" Juliet asked.
"C'mon…" he said motioning up the ladder.
Without saying another word he began to climb the ladder up to her roof.
Juliet followed him up the ladder once he was on the roof.
"What are we doing up here Carlton? I've never seen you act like this before…" Juliet said as he helped her up.
Both of them sat on the roof facing the neighborhood on the back part of the house.
"Well, since I was a kid, I always found it relaxing to escape to a roof to think about anything and everything…I would get yelled at sometimes if my parents caught me sneaking out at night, but it was always my little escape from everything around me…and I sometimes still do it to get away," Carlton said laying back, looking up to space.
The moon was full and was shining its soothing light on them.
He rested his head on his hands and searched the stars as if he was trying to find an answer.
"I can honestly say, that I would have never guessed that about you Carlton…" Juliet said smiling that Carlton was being randomly open to her.
She liked it. It made her feel relaxed knowing that Carlton had become unusually comfortable around her.
This was the Carlton she had tried bringing out all those years. Juliet liked seeing him, happy. She hated being around him when all she could see was hurt in his eyes. It broke her heart knowing that he had done nothing to deserve something so horrible, and it broke her heart even more knowing that she couldn't do anything to help.
But now that he was coming around to his old self, it felt a little weird because she didn't quite know how to act around him. She had grown used to seeing him so angry, that she had accepted that he would always be like that, but now that he seemed…happy-ish, she found it odd.
"You're the first person I've told…" He said gently.
"Really?" Juliet said looking down at Carlton who was lying next to her.
"Yep. I never even told Victoria. I guess I never felt the need too," Carlton said looking back at her.
Juliet swore she felt her heart stop when he met her gaze with those piercing blue eyes.
"Wow…" Was all she said.
"Yeah…but it's just between you and me okay? If Spencer found out, he wouldn't let me live it down…he'd say that I'd have soft spot or something idiotic like that."
Juliet couldn't help but smile at his comment.
"But you do have a soft spot Carlton…I know that deep down, under all that tuff exterior that you make everyone see, is just a big ole teddy bear waiting to be hugged and loved by a little girl."
Carlton gave a sarcastic huff and looked back up to the stars.
"A teddy bear? Really Juliet…I am not a teddy bear."
"Oh c'mon…yes you are! I have seen it!...Well, actually…I'm looking at it right now. You just don't want to admit it…but you can't deny that you love being called a teddy bear."
He smiled at her, and then rolled his eyes.
"If you say so…"
"I do," she said crossing her arms.
He glanced at her and then back up.
Juliet then sat back and laid down next to him looking up at the stars.
"Did…did I tell you that the Chief almost fired me?" Carlton said not looking at her.
"What? No you failed to mention that Lassiter!" Juliet exclaimed a little more angrily than she intended.
"Sorry…it didn't occur to me until just now," Carlton said apologetically.
"Well, tell me what happened? Why were you almost fired?" Juliet asked calming her tone down.
"My original orders…were to not go after you, when we found out where you were…I guess the Chief thought that I was…too emotionally compromised, when we found out that you were in so much danger. But I told her that, I was going to get you anyways…the Chief was about to restrain me as I was about to leave, but the other officers knew better than to not touch me because I swear I would have murdered them if they had gotten in the way," Carlton seemed to be struggling getting his words out without having steam blow out his nose because of how pissed off he was at Mr. Yin.
"Carlton…" Juliet said as she sat up and put her hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at her and sat up.
Glancing down at his hands in lap he began again, "The whole way that I was coming to get you...felt like an eternity. I-I was afraid I wouldn't make it on time…once I got to the clock tower, the elevator had been disabled…I honestly didn't realize how fast I could run up a dozen flight of stairs until then…but then when I saw that you were still alive, I thanked God that I still had time. And if it wasn't for Gus, I-I wouldn't have known what to do…but when we finally got you to safety…I thought...that I was going to break down…" Carlton weakly smiled at himself at the thought of breaking down in front of everyone, "…because…I honestly don't know what I would have done with myself if...I wasn't able to get to you in time…"
Carlton stopped because he didn't want to focus on the thought of Juliet not being in his life anymore. He desperately searched for a way out of the thought because he could feel the tears wanting to escape.
"Carlton…" Juliet said again scooting closer to him and rubbing her hand up and down his back, "I am so sorry, but I am here now…all because of you. You came just in time, and saved me…I can't ever re-pay you for what you did…but I promise you that I won't ever leave you…"
He looked up at her and locked his eyes with hers.
Juliet could see that he was full of emotion that couldn't be contained. He looked to be happy, and relieved; but also hurt.
To Juliet, he seemed to be a lost, frightened little kid, wanting desperately to be found.
Without hesitating, she pulled him into a hug. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him tightly.
Not fighting back, he wrapped his arms around her in return and buried his head in the crock of her neck.
"You don't have to be fine…" she whispered to Carlton.
"I-I just don't want to lose you ever again," Carlton said faintly as his voice cracked from him trying to fight tears away.
"You won't ever lose me, Carlton…I will always be here for you, no matter what," Juliet softly said reassuring he that she would never so anything to hurt him.
"Thanks, Juliet, that…means a lot…"
"If it makes you feel any better…while I was on the roof…expecting the worse…I couldn't help but hope that you would come to my rescue so that I could have more time with you. All I could think of was how you were going to find me…I thought that…that…I had lost you…but as soon as I thought my life was over, I heard your voice. And, you have no idea how happy I was to hear your voice. I too thanked God that you came just in time."
Carlton pulled away and looked deep into her eyes.
"Really?...you thought you lost me? But I wasn't the one lost…"
"To me you were…I didn't know where you were or if I was ever to see you again…"
He smiled when he heard that she too had the same feelings during that incident.
"Well…you won't ever lose me, Juliet…I will always be there for you," Carlton said repeating what she had said to him.
She placed a tender touch on his cheek and gave him a warm smile, "Thanks, Carlton,…that means a lot to me."
Letting go of his face she looked back up at the stars.
"Juliet?"
Juliet turned her head to face him.
Carlton had scooted closer to her and placed one arm in behind her back to support him, and the other hand reached to gently grab her cheek.
Juliet could swear that she was going to have a heart attack from how fast it was racing.
Carlton leaned in so close to Juliet that she could feel his warmth radiate to her.
Just as she thought he would lean in more to close the space, he stopped.
She had thought that he would lean in all the way, but when he didn't she opened her eyes and saw him staring back at her.
He seemed to have a shocked expression on his face as if he had been pulled out of a trance.
"Juliet…I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean…" Carlton stuttered.
What the hell? He was about to kiss me! Now he just stopped?...FUCK IT! Juliet thought as Carlton was apologizing.
But just as she ended her thought, she pressed her lips to his.
Carlton was taken aback by Juliet's action, but he didn't protest either.
Juliet pressed harder and Carlton began to kiss her back.
Deepening the kiss, Carlton was pushed down, laying on his back while Juliet leaned over him.
His hand found their way to her sides and pulled her down so that she was just barley hovering over him.
Their kiss became more passionate and had a sense of longing as they continued.
Slowly they began to pull away for the lack of air, but they gazed into each other's eyes and smiled as big as they could.
"I love you Juliet," Carlton purred.
Carlton could swear he saw her eyes get brighter when he said that.
She kissed him again and then whispered, "I love you too Carlton."
Carlton wrapped his arm around Juliet's shoulder as she lay next to him on the roof.
They then spent the rest of the night on the roof under the protection of the moon and each other.
(A/N) In case you haven't guessed...I LOVE Carlton and Juliet together! I think that he deserves someone like her. :) PLEASE R&R!