After she stayed, Juliet wanted things to go back to what they were before. She was relieved that James followed her a step behind and they picked up their rhythm again. They were friends and she was content with that. She was glad to have somebody on the island she could talk to about everything, and she knew he was too. But she didn't let him too close. She didn't show him her vulnerable side after that day- at least not intentionally- and she was always careful of physical contact. Right now, she knew that was best for her, and James seemed all too happy to go along and respect her wishes.
There were moments, though. Nothing in particular- at least at first- but there were moments when they felt each other getting closer, and she knew it. Moments that made her forget the hell she was living in. She didn't want to let herself enjoy them, but she did, and they started almost the second they made their hippy pledges for life (or rescue).
Most of the houses in the Dharma Initiative were still under construction, so Jin, Miles, James and herself all had to live together in a smaller unit while they waited for Locke to come back. Although she supposed Goodspeed was being generous since they had so reluctantly joined and accepted jobs within the Initiative, when she first saw it she couldn't believe that this was the living quarters he had described. But it could be worse. They could be Locke.
The house had four rooms with minimal furniture. One had three twin sized beds, the other a small kitchen and bathroom, and the last was a living room with a pull out couch. James was the first to speak after they had a look around. "Well ain't this quaint!" He clapped his hands together loudly, startling a weary-looking Jin. Right away Juliet could see potential for conflict. It was a confined space for four people to live in, only made more unpleasant with Miles's constant complaining, not to mention her companions were all men. To make things worse, there were three beds and four people. Since there wasn't enough room in the house for four, someone would have to sleep on the pullout couch every night. She sighed softly. How enthusiastically Goodspeed had said "namaste"... She could almost pray for a short stay, if that was the kind of thing she believed in.
Miles quickly got to the closest bed and sat on it, making sure he made a lot of noise while doing it. "This one's mine," he then declared, as if the three of them didn't know exactly what he was up to. When Jin made a move to set his stuff down as well, James spoke up again. "Guys, wait..We should make this fair." Juliet blinked and ignored Miles's groan of agitation. This should be interesting. "Wait a sec." He looked occupied as he walked out of the room, and she could see he was formulating an idea. Jin sat down anyway when he left, although unlike Miles he was accepting of James's growing authority over the group. Ford was good for figuring things out on the spot, Juliet gave him that much. His experience as an ex con man may have had something to do with it, but she could see he was a thinker by nature. While Miles sat griping about his superiority complex, he was solving a minor solution.
They could hear rustling around for a little while inside the tiny house until finally James returned to the rest of the group with a dingy and (sadly) completely empty Dharma beer bottle and what looked like a pen and three slips of paper. He smirked. "Alrighty troops. Since there's only three beds and four of us, I figured why don't we leave who gets which up to chance instead of fightin' over who gets what? Each day we pick out of the can for spots, and whoever's last gets the pullout" Jin looked back at Juliet, who was still standing. She nodded and glanced at Miles who appeared to be reluctantly agreeing. Even he couldn't argue with it. Before they even said a word, a pleased James said "good!" in a loud tone that made the blonde jump. Jesus. After writing his own name he handed the can and pen to Jin, who then turned around and threw them to Miles. James walked over and took the slip from Miles's still writing hand and dropped it into the can. "Now, we pick." But why were there only…
Juliet looked at James, slightly confused. "I still have to write my name." He tossed the beer can once, twice, three times."Guess there ain't enough paper, blondie." Bullshit. What the fuck? Was he trying to give her one automatically because she was the only woman in the house? You've got to be kidding me. She started to speak but he stopped her. "You really want the pullout so badly? I'm sure there's paper over in Goodspeed's office. I wouldn't make you walk all the way back out there, but if you want things fair and square…" Jin and Miles stayed quiet while she folded her arms and glared at him, silently fuming. He was still looking at her in that way, like he was slightly teasing her. Unbelievable. "Just do it." Juliet walked out of the room and into the kitchen while they decided, and stayed there while Miles loudly convinced himself that James was really cheating him out of the whole thing. She snorted. Well, good. If anyone deserved the pullout couch..
Eventually James, Jin, and Miles all came out of the tiny room. Jin and Miles headed for the front door while James stayed back. Goodspeed had told them to meet him back at the main building (still under construction) after they were done "poking around" and she guessed finally picking the sleeping situation was the cue to go. She went back to looking for something to eat in one of the cabinets while she heard his footsteps coming towards her. This should be good. After the day she had, she was in no mood for more of James's bullshit. The blonde slowly stood up, turned around, and faced him. "Look, before you say anything- I'm sorry alright? There really wasn't any more paper left over. I know how that must've looked." Juliet hooked a strand piece of hair behind her ear and looked at him. He seemed sincere enough. That didn't excuse his fucking tone, though. "Fine," she said curtly, turning back around to close the cabinet door. She just wanted to get the hell out of here. "But…" Juliet sighed with exasperation. "What, James? What." He was still holding the can, and she saw him overturn it and take out Miles's slip. He scribbled out his name and wrote his own, then put it back in. "Now...he'll always lose." He looked back up at her from his shaggy hair and grinned. When James didn't get the positive response he wanted from his confidant, he turned serious again. "Can't tell me he doesn't deserve it.." God, he was so immature. Although he did have a point. Miles could be a real ass. She tilted her head. "Won't getting the pullout couch every night start to make him… suspicious? And even more irritating?"
James raised his eyebrows at her and nodded. She'd found a fault in his plan, and he was impressed. "Right. Well then we'll just have to replace it every few days with a different name, won't we blondie?" They looked at each other for a second and Juliet couldn't help but chuckle. Even as they talked, Miles was loudly complaining to Jin about how hot the sun was, and needing sunblock ASAP. He threw the can across the room and they walked out of their little house one after the other, James letting her by first.
They made it about 3 weeks before Miles figuring out James's scheme. They would always pretend to go to bed on designated days, and wait until they knew both he and Jin asleep to change the slip...but one night he had to use the bathroom and saw what James and her were up to. "Oh well. Fun while it lasted, right?" James had grinned. Juliet allowed herself a small smile. It was. In some idiotic, completely meaningless way, it was.