A/N: I have to say I'm upset I only got one review for the last chapter. We're literally nearing the end, and I would love it for you guys to stick with me just a little while longer, and just review so I know you're there ;)

By far my favourite chapter so far!

Chapter 28 a happy end for some

"Are you sure you're –" Andy started.

"I'm fine!" I snapped, opening the car door, and closing it gently to avoid waking up my Uncle and Aunt. The last thing I needed right now was for them to see me in this state. Not that I thought it would be any better by the morning, in fact I knew it would probably look even worse, but I didn't have the energy to deal with them tonight.

Andy put the passenger window down. "I'm just saying man, if you get the urge to do anything stupid, just call me first ok?" he said choosing to ignore my irritant mood.

"Yeah, ok," I said in a lot calmer voice, knowing that none of this was Andy's fault and he was just being a good friend. If it wasn't for him finally pulling me away from Romeo, we would both probably be a hell of a lot worse off and would have probably ended up in the emergency room. I think I was finally ready to let the past go after our game tonight, but after hearing what that idiot had been planning with his little friends to do Juliet, it was the last straw. I had just lunged at him and let all my anger out, and at the time I hadn't felt any pain, I just knew I wanted to inflict it on him.

"Ok, so I'll come and get you tomorrow and we can go pick up your car," he said, and I grimaced at the thought of going back to Romeo's house, where I had left my baby since I was in no state to drive tonight.

"Thanks," I said, and Andy nodded and began to back out of the driveway.

The lights were all off as far as I could tell and it was nearing two am. I walked up the steps and felt the pain in my wrist as I twisted it to open the door knob, and winced at the thought that it was probably going to all be worse tomorrow.

The lights were all off and I kept them that way as I walked up the stairs and toward mine and Juliet's wing of the first floor. The second I turned the corner, Juliet's light snapped on and she jumped toward the doorway.

"Timm-….Oh my god..." she said trailing off looking at my appearance. At this point I didn't know who I was madder at, Jules or Romeo. Romeo for being an overall ass and betting on my sister and going as far as taking her virginity, or Juliet who was stupid enough to get herself into that situation in the first place. Even though Romeo's intentions were bad, like the saying goes it takes two to tango and Juliet had to agree to it.

"I'm fine!" I snapped, but keeping my voice low not to wake anyone. Even though I was hoping she wouldn't be awake when I got back I knew this confrontation had to happen at some point.

"I think you should go to the hospital—"she said with a panicky expression taking in my white t-shirt which was covered in blood and my bruised and bloody face. She was obviously worried at never seeing me in this state before and part of me wanted to reassure her that it wasn't that bad but the other half of me didn't think she deserved that.

"I said I'm fine!"

"Ok," she mumbled, and looked down, suddenly finding the carpet very interesting. After about a minute of silence she looked at me with pain filled eyes and I forced myself not to react.

"Timmy..." she said in a pleading voice, trying to relay her message in the way that she said my name.

"What the hell do you want me to say Juliet!" I yelled, not being able to stand here pretending the night didn't happen. She stepped back in surprise, as I had never spoken to her like that before.

I could see moisture gathering in her eyes and as much as it killed me, I refused to feel sorry for her.

"I'm not going to stand here and give you sympathy Juliet," I said in a matter of fact way, with my arms crossed in a defensive manner. From her point of view she was a girl who had just found out her relationship had all been a lie, and it was all a bet in which she got hurt in the process, but from my point of view, this could all have been avoided if she had just listened to me in the first place.

"I'm sorry," she said in a teary voice.

"I'm not asking you to be sorry for me Juliet, because I'm not the one hurting, that's you!"

She collapsed down on her stool, like she couldn't hold her weight standing up anymore and she had just given up.

"It wasn't about you ok, it was about me! It was always to get to me, why the hell didn't you see that? I warned you Juliet that he was trouble and not a good guy and did you listen to me? No!" I said, not shouting this time but in a stern voice.

She didn't say anything but wiped her tears away with her fingers.

"I tried to protect you Juliet, like I always have, and what do you do? You lied to me. It wasn't just once, you've been living with me, seeing me every day for months and you've just kept on lying to me! All of these years Juliet, I've seen you as my sister and I thought you trusted me and saw me in the same way to be able to talk to me about anything even though you might not think I would approve, but I guess I was wrong. God, I don't even know what to say to anymore, it's like you're a different person!"

He head snapped up, "Timmy, we are close, I love you as a brother, don't say that." She said, as the tears she just wiped away resurfaced. I could see hurt in her expression and I pushed it to the back of my mind. "I don't know why I didn't tell you, I think I was just scared—"

"No, you want to know the real reason you didn't tell me? Because you knew in the back of your mind that you were making a stupid mistake, but you just didn't want to listen to yourself! I told you from the start that he was not a good guy, and I wasn't friends with him anymore for a reason! You know that he slept with Rose right?" I asked, ready to tell her what only Romeo and I knew.

She weakly nodded, " I knew about that but—"

"Well he chose to tell me on the day it would hurt me the most, a couple of months later on the anniversary of my parent's death. Apart from you and your parents the only other person who had known what day it was Romeo my best friend, because I was determined not to make a big deal out of it and deal with it in my own way. Well Romeo told me on purpose, in front of everyone, when I had just come back from the cemetery with Grandma, and he knew full well where I was. In his own words, he thought it would 'brighten my day'"

"He did?" she said looking shocked.

"The funny thing is, earlier that day I had been telling him how lucky I was to have Rose in my life to be there for me now that my parents weren't around anymore," I said letting out a dry laugh. Even though it had hurt a lot at the time, I was over it by now. I didn't want Rose anymore, and I didn't want his friendship either and I had learned around that time not to get attached to people because you always lose the people you care about, and it was the truth. I had lost my parents I had attached myself to my girlfriend and best friend and I had lost them both too. It took a lot for me these days to fully trust a person and let them in, and part of me suspected I had subconsciously screwed up my relationship with Ellie because of that. My only exception to the rule was Juliet, even though I had my Uncle and Aunt, she was my only real family, and now I knew I didn't have her either.

She looked up shocked at what I had said.

"I don't know what to say," she said apologetically. The last thing I wanted was her sympathy.

"You don't have to say anything I'm over it." I said making a move to leave her room. "You know Juliet, out of everybody in my life; I always thought you'd be the one to have my back."

I saw her take a sharp intake of breath, but before she could say anything, I left her room, closing her door behind me, and walking toward my own.

I opened my door, and was surprised to see the last person I expected to see on my lounger, half asleep, but she instantly sat up as I came into the room.

She gasped seeing my injuries. This was something else I didn't need, Ellie seeing me like this, another reason for her not to be with me because I started fights.

She didn't say anything but guided me over to sit on my chair, and she walked over to my mini fridge taking out a bottle of beer. "This'll do," she mumbled to herself.

"What're you doing here?" I asked her.

"After I dropped Jules, I was worried about you so I decided to wait until you got back. You don't mind I was in here right?" she said, "Maybe I should have just called or something."

"No, it's ok, "I told her. She was the best thing I had seen all night. Since our encounter this morning, I didn't exactly know where we stood, the last I knew we weren't friends that were really friends, and I didn't think her turning up in my bedroom in the middle of the night, because she was worried about me fell into that category.

She walked over to me and held the ice cold beer bottle up against my eyebrow, and I flinched at the pain.

"Don't be such a baby, it's your own fault," she said strictly, "Now hold this." I found myself following her orders, like a little kid being told off by their parent for doing something stupid which resulted in them hurting themselves.

I reached up and supported the bottle and she disappeared into my en suite and came back with a wet flannel and began going to work wiping the blood off around my nose off.

"You don't have to do that," I told her, but she made no move to stop, and I didn't make any moves to stop her, letting her take care of me. I hadn't let someone take care of me in a long time in more ways that one.

She went to work, getting some plasters out of the bathroom cabinet and we sat in a comfortable silence for a while as she worked, but I didn't mind, I got to watch her whilst she was completely absorbed in fixing me up.

"So I'm guessing you probably heard most of the conversation I had with Juliet just now?" I asked her breaking the ice, and also half embarrassed.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she said. "For what it's worth I know you're hurt and I'm not condoning what she did but don't be too hard on her, she just had her heart broken, and I know what that's like."

I frowned at reference to how I had hurt her, and I sensed that it was unintentional.

"Why're you really here El?" I said. Although I loved her being here, and loved the fact that she was warming up to me, it was a complete 180 to how she was feeling this morning, and I wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

"Look, I should be mad at you for being irresponsible, reckless, stupid, hasty, careless—"

"Ok I get it El," I said stopping her.

"But I'm not," she said sighing, and I perked up a little at her words, I had been expecting a lecture. "If anything I'm proud of how you stood up for Juliet and defended your little sister, and even though you're mad at her, I know you care about her and would do anything for her, and I admire that quality about you Timmy Capulet…..and plus he totally deserved it." She said shrugging and rolling her eyes, giving me a little cute grin.

"So what does this mean?" I asked her hopefully.

"I guess it means we can go back to being proper friends, like before this morning," she said.

"El…," I said sighing loudly. Although it was a step forward from the disaster that was this morning, after the events of today I was in no mood to go back to the friend zone again, even though this morning I was ready to put a plan into action to getting her back, now the wait seemed torturous.

"What do you want me to say?" she said in a defeated voice, sitting down on the edge of the bed opposite me.

"Look Ellie, I've changed and that's all down to you," I said reaching forward and taking hold of her hand and squeezing it gently. "I know I hurt you, but you've made me see that I don't need to be that guy to be 'Timmy Capulet', I can just be me and that's ok, I know that now, and god El, all I want is for you to see that" I said honestly.

I could truthfully say when I was with Ellie, there were no pretences or any of us trying to impress each other, we were just ourselves, and I hadn't been that way with anyone in a long time. I let go of her hand and stood up ignoring the ache in my lower back. "For once in my life, I don't care about any other shit going on around me, all I care about it you, and that scares the hell out of me. For the first time in my life I'm willing to put the girl I love in front of everything else—"

"Did you say the girl you love?" she said standing up too, so we were now facing each other. I visibly saw her swallow hard but I didn't regret letting out those three special words in some form, the first time I had said them to anyone in my life.

"I guess I did," I said. There was no point trying to take it back now.

"If it helps the depth of my feelings for you scare me too," she whispered. "I should hate you for what you did."

I felt a part of me break at her words.

"But I don't," she said and I thought I heard wrong, "and after tonight, and the loyalty I saw that you have to Juliet, I know for sure what I've been trying to ignore: that I'm in love with you."

I had to replay the whole of the conversation all over again in my head like a movie reel to make sure I didn't just make up the end to my own liking because I didn't like what she said.

She reached up and put one hand gently on my neck. "But Timmy, I have to tell you now, if anything like what happened before happens again, I don't think I could deal with that again," she said looking vulnerable.

"And I promise you won't have to, because I'm yours, and only yours, and I love you," I said, reassuring her that I would never hurt her ever again.

She looked into my eyes for a few seconds before she smiled weakly and leaned forward touching my lips with her own, so gently I had to open my eyes to make sure she was actually there.

"You're killing me," I said jokingly.

"You know as well as I do that I'll hurt you if I kiss you properly," she said. Ellie, always the practical one. I didn't argue with her, as I knew as much as I wanted to kiss my girl, my split lip would not appreciate it.

"You need to get some sleep," she said handing me the box of Advil that she had gotten out earlier with the plasters. "And I should probably go."

I held onto her hand and she made to move and didn't let go. "Stay…." I said not wanting to be left alone with my thoughts. I noticed her in her dress from earlier and realised she obviously hadn't been home yet and it was nearing four am. "Aren't your parents wondering where you are?" I asked her, knowing her parents were the complete opposite to my Aunt and Uncle; they actually bothered to know the whereabouts of their children.

"I was supposed to be crashing at Kara's tonight," she said.

"It's too late to go there, just stay," I said pulling her in for a hug.

"Ok," she said, and I was partly surprised that she had agreed.

Despite all the uncomfortableness I should have been feeling with all my aches and pains, I had the best night sleep I had had in a long time, with Ellie beside me in one of my basketball camp t-shirts and shorts. I finally had my arms around her, and now that I finally did, I never wanted to let go. Even through everything that happened tonight with Juliet and Romeo I knew as long as I had Ellie right beside me, everything would be ok.

X x x x x

Romeo POV

I would be lying if I said I never thought this day would come. The truth is, Juliet would have found out everything about how we came to be together sooner or later, I just wanted it to be later rather than sooner. I had been too content living in our own little bubble where bad things couldn't happen and ignored the small part of me that knew this would happen.

Of course from the start I had never planned on fully going through with hurting Juliet and along the way I had fallen in love with her, but I could see why this would look bad to her. I didn't even blame Timmy for getting mad at me and taking it out on my face. If anybody ever did anything like that to Izzie, they probably wouldn't be alive right now.

All of my friends were mostly congratulating me on my plan, them thinking the hurting Juliet part being when our relationship was revealed in front of everyone, they all seemed to have a new level of respect edging toward my way. Yes, that was exactly what I had been out to get back from the start but I never wanted to get it this way. Right now I couldn't care less what anybody thought as I was too busy panicking that this was it and I had royally screwed up my last chance with Juliet. The thought of losing her made me sick my stomach, and the thought of her out there hating me made me feel even worse.

I paced the span of my kitchen with a bag of frozen peas held up to my face, trying to numb the pain that was tenfold what it was last night. My friends were around the house trying to clear up from last night and return the house to the state it was before my parents had left, but I was in no mood to think about anything except how I was going to fix this. I had spent the majority of last night trying to call her cell , but she hadn't picked up. Gabrielle had walked in to my house this morning and took one look at the look on my face while people congratulated me about last night and she somehow knew about my real feelings, and surprisingly she didn't judge, she just called me into the kitchen to tell me to follow my heart.

"Hello, would it be possible to speak to Juliet please?" Gabrielle said into the kitchen phone while she wrapped the cord around her finger.

"It's Sarah from school. I have her assignments which she missed," Gabrielle said. I was impressed at how easily this came to her.

"Thank you," she said into the phone, and then passed the phone over to me. "Don't screw this up," she told me walking out the room

"Thanks Gabs," I called out, as she closed the door behind her leaving me alone. I held the phone up to my ear and waited.

"Hello?" I heard Juliet's voice. To an outsider she would sound perfectly normal but I could tell she probably hadn't slept any more than me and was still hurting.

I let out a relieved breath at hearing her on the other side of the phone.

"Hello?" she asked again, starting to sound impatient.

"Don't hang up," I said, knowing full well as soon as she knew it was me she probably wouldn't want to speak to me.

"Romeo?" she said in a surprised voice.

"Just hear me out please; I know you have every reason to hang up right now but just please listen to me!" I rushed out, expecting her to cut me off at any second.

"Why? Was there a part of our joke of a relationship that you forgot to mention in front of everyone yesterday?" she said with a new hardness to her voice.

"Please, just hear me out and I promise if you don't like what I say you can hang up then," I told her. I was banking on her liking what I had to say. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk out of this one with a few smart words. If I had any chance of this working I needed to go with the full truth.

"You have two minutes." She said and I heard her sigh.

Here goes. "I liked you since we met at the masquerade party your school was having that we crashed, I've always like liked you, agreeing to go with the bet was my excuse to spend time with you because I knew it would never happen otherwise. I was never going to go through with it and hurt you or embarrass you."

"Really? Because I thought you did a good enough job of that yesterday. Or at least your little partner in crime did."

"Rose was lying about everything, I swear, I didn't even know she knew anything about the bet."

"So you're trying to tell me you never sat around laughing at my expense?"

"No! I swear we didn't!"

"Then how did she know about …you know…"

I automatically knew what she was talking about, and truth be told I had no answer to that question either.

"I have no idea, because I never told anybody about it being your first time, let alone that we did that at all. I think it was a lucky shot," I said hoping she would believe me. I honestly had no idea how Rose even knew at all.

"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" she said, in a tone that implied I was wasting her time, and she didn't believe a word I said.

"But it's the truth, I promise," I said seeing how I was failing. I leaned against the wall and slid down, placing myself on the floor.

"Let's say I was going to believe you, which I'm not, if you never meant for it to end up like this, why didn't you tell me the truth from the start?"

"Because I was scared you wouldn't believe me and wouldn't give me a chance. I was hoping it would never come to this," I said, my voice wavering with emotion and frustration at the situation. "God, I love you Lee, and the last few months have meant so much to me, I was scared to ruin what we had by telling you."

I heard her loudly blow out air. "God Ro, I don't know what to say to you."

"So you believe me?" I asked hopefully, noticing her use of my nickname.

"I don't know what to believe. The better part of my judgement is telling me to walk away now."

"And the other half of you…?"

"It's not as simple as that Romeo, I have no idea what to think. I believe what we had was real, and see where you're coming from, but then I hear things about you that I didn't think you were capable of."

"Like what?" I said knowing this was going to end badly. There was a large list of things she could have heard about me, and most of them were probably true.

"Timmy told me how you told him about Rose," she said. She didn't have to say any more, I knew exactly what she was talking about, and wished she didn't know.

"Look, I'm not going to lie and say that didn't happen, because it did, but I was young and stupid then. I'm not the same person anymore and I haven't been for a long time."

"Whether you claim you've changed or not it still happened."

"Yes it happened! Do I regret it? Yes I do, but I can't take it back. What do you want me to say?" I said in a slightly louder voice, my frustration getting to me. Especially the fact that I may have lost her to something that happened years ago that I can't change.

"Romeo, you haven't changed though! You can still be that person! I saw it in you that day at the beach the first time we split up! And I've seen it when you're around your friends!" her tone was getting louder too, no doubt matching mine. "But that's not you! I just want you to be how you are with me, to everyone else too!"

"And how is that?" I said sarcastically. I knew I should be the one sitting here begging for her forgiveness, but somehow now this had gone past that. In my heart I knew she honestly believed me that I loved her, and I knew she loved me too. She knew who I was when she fell in love with me, but now she was acting like she barely knew me.

"I don't want that cool exterior, and the arrogance, and the need to be on top and have the upper hand all the time, and once you strip all that away, all you have left is you, and that's what I want."

Thinking back, she was right. Everything I had done, was to be at the top again, and get the respect I used to have back, and for what? And at what expense?

"You're right."

"I am?" she said sounding surprised.

"You are. And I see that now. I love you Juliet, and nothing's going to change that."

"I love you too Romeo," she said and I froze at her words. I never expected her to give in to me that easily.

"So let's forget last night ever happened!"

"It's not so simple! We need to do what we never did at the beginning; we need to look at this rationally. We could never work out," she said.

"Don't say that!"

"It's true. My parents would never accept me being with you, and we would be separated for college, and I couldn't do that to Timm—"

"Lee, we can get around college, we can stay together."

"A relationship shouldn't be this hard Romeo, we shouldn't have to fight this hard just to be together. Maybe if this was another time, another place, things would be easier," she said, finality in her voice.

"Lee, we can be together in THIS time and in THIS place!"

She sighed. "I love you I do, and it was great while it lasted."

"Please don't say that," I said urgency in my voice, not wanting her to give up on us.

"Goodbye," I heard her faintly whisper before I heard a dial tone.

X x x x x x x

A/N: Review! What did you think of the Scene between Timmy and Juliet when he was mad at her? And what about the Timmy/ Ellie scene?

I am so in love with Timmy it's nuts! There must be something wrong with being in love with a character which is just a creation of your own imagination. But I just want to give him a cuddle and tell him I'll take care of him…=)