A/N: why did it take so long:…because I didn't want it to end!

Wow. I finally did it. It's really over. I can't even believe it myself. This has been a HUGE part of my life for over a year and it's incredibly sad to see it go. I'd like to say thanks to those of you who stuck with me from the start, and reviewed all the way through, I love you guys and this would have been nothing without you.

I just want to say an extra special thanks to Tori and Miss P, and I hope this lives up to your expectations. I feel so sad to think I'll never have contact with you guys again :[

Epilogue part 4

"Timmy!" I yelled into his apartment as I let myself in, thankful that this was one of the rare weekends he was in Verone.

"You know I gave you that key for two reasons. To water my plants while I'm away and for emergencies. Considering my plants have been dead for a pretty long time, it's a bit late to start" he called back and I followed his voice into the kitchen. Timmy was flipping pancake's wearing nothing more than a pair of black Calvin Kleins.

"Jeez put on some clothes," I said, sitting down on one of the bar stools, "And this is an emergency!"

"It's my apartment, I'll wear what I want," he said and I rolled my eyes. I still found it pretty pointless for him to have his own place in Verone considering how little time he spent here. "So what's going on?" he said putting a mug of coffee in front of me. I waited until the coffee pot was back on the table before I spoke not wanting to cause him to drop it in shock.

"Romeo's back," I said then took a deep breath.

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that all you're going to say?" I said, surprised at his lack of a reaction.

"I saw Ben last week at the store, and last I heard he was travelling with Romeo, so I figured that meant Romeo was back too."

"And you didn't think to mention anything?" I said.

"It didn't come up?" he said, then looking at my expression said, "Look Jules, you're in a good place right now, I didn't want to bring it up in case I was wrong, or you didn't even see him while he was here."

"Well it would have been nice to have some sort of warning before Paul and Nala ambushed me with him at their house."

"They did? Are you ok?" he asked, leaning on the counter towards me.

"I don't know," I sighed, "I just didn't expect to see him there you know? And he was saying all these things, like he missed me, and he still thought about me," I said taking a sip of coffee.

"I don't think he would go to all that effort after all these years if it wasn't true," he said.

"What did you just say?" I said in amazement, this morning was all full of surprises. I never thought I would see the day where Timmy would say something positive about Romeo. A part of my decision rested heavily on his opinion of it, I didn't want to risk losing Timmy again.

"You heard me," he said going back to cooking his pancakes.

"So you wouldn't mind if I went back to Romeo?" I tested him.

"If it means you'll stop moping around here, then no," he said, and I didn't even attempt to defend myself over the years.

"So you'd be totally ok, if me Romeo got back together? And you actually had to socialise with him and play nice?"

"Juliet, I know exactly what you're doing and why you're here," he said ignoring my question and crossing his arms.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't want to make the decision yourself. You want someone to tell you exactly what to do, and you thought coming here, I would lecture you against getting back together with him and your decision would be made for you," he said.

"That's ridiculous," I said, but it came out in a squeaky high pitched tone. There was some truth in what he was saying and we both knew it.

"Jules, that's the easy way out, you need to make this decision yourself; nobody can make it for you," he said ignoring my attempt to disagree with what he was saying, knowing full well what my lying voice was.

"What if I can't," I said in a serious voice, "It's too hard."

"Look at the end of the day; you need to decide what's going to make you happy. If it's Romeo, then fine, if it's not Romeo, then that's ok too. But you need to do this for yourself and not for anybody else," he said and I knew he was right. Most of my life I'd been doing what everybody else told me too, and doing things to make other people happy.

"Look years down the road Juliet. Imagine who you are, where you'll be. Imagine the kids you have and the house you live in, and the memories you'll carry with you for the rest of your life. Now imagine the person next to you. The one who'll always be there for you, take care of you and protect you and all the things you care about. Who is that person?"

I closed my eyes, and tried do what Timmy said and look into my future, but all I saw was a blank. An undecided.

"Think about it," he said, not seeing me coming up with an answer, and the frustration on my face. He walked over to the couch and pulled on a pair of shorts at the top of a clean pile of laundry.

"Whatever that is it smells great," Ellie said yawning and walking into the kitchen with her hair a mess and wearing one of Timmy's LA Lakers training t-shirts.

"Jules!" she said turning bright red. She tugged at the bottom of the t-shirt, but when that failed settled for just crossing her arms over her chest, obviously embarrassed at being caught in the act.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't even think," I said feeling bad for just bursting in with my problems when this was one of the occasional weekends Timmy and Ellie actually had together. Timmy was away a lot in Los Angeles training for the Lakers, and during the weekends would normally fly down for the day or for a couple of hours, and then fly back to LA at night, and on the rare weekend when he had some time off would actually spend the whole weekend here. I know the long distance thing was hard for Ellie, but they were trying to make the most of his time in Verone, for the rest of the year until the training season was up. Timmy was originally hesitant about taking the offer, but Ellie convinced him it was the right thing to do, it was his dream after all. Me and Ellie were actually a lot closer now, hanging out more and moping around together, two lonely hearts and all.

"I know, you're so self-absorbed," Timmy said kidding around, and walking over to Ellie and kissed her good morning, their kiss lasting a second too long to be decent, which was unlike Ellie, who was normally against any signs of PDA. I started to feel like I was intruding, and got up to leave.

"Oh don't listen to him Jules, you know you're welcome anytime," Ellie said playfully hitting him on the arm.

"She is?" Timmy said, pretending to sound disappointed

"Oh shut up," I said throwing a grape from the fruit bowl at him, which he caught in in mouth and grinned.

He put his arm around Ellie's waist and she leaned into him, putting her hand on top of his. Something weird was going on; they were unable to keep their hands off of each other, and it something more than the 'We just missed each other' excuse.

"Am I missing something?" I asked them slowly, trying to study them.

They looked at each other, having a silent conversation, which just confirmed my suspicions.

"Well…" Timmy started.

"We….umm…..sort of got engaged last night," she said, and Timmy pulled her closer smiling.

"You what!" I said, making sure I hadn't misheard.

Ellie nodded, and held up her left hand to reveal a diamond ring.

"And you waited until now to tell me!" I screamed, rushing forward to take hold of her hand to look at her ring. "I've been here for twenty minutes already! Do you think you're both ready to get married?"

"We just didn't want to be apart anymore," Ellie said.

"You guys do know you can just move to LA without getting married right?" I asked them. "This isn't the dark ages."

"It's not even about that. If the last year has taught us anything, it's how much we love each other."

"Yeah but you're only twenty-tw—" I started planning to make sure they both weren't rushing into something. I know they loved each other but they were still young. Sure Nala and Paul were married, but they had Jessie, so that was different.

I stopped when I saw the ring on her finger. It was Timmy's mom's ring. I knew what it looked like well enough since I knew it was once my Grandmothers, and my Mother was more than a tad put out Aunt Marie had gotten it instead of my Father to give it to her. My mother tried to get her hands on it after Timmy's parents things were delivered to my house after the accident, but we never found it. Timmy must have held onto it all these years.

Ellie must mean a lot to Timmy, for her to have his Mothers ring. This wasn't just a poorly thought out idea. I looked to them both standing together facing me. They looked so happy. After his parents died, it wasn't as easy for him to get close to people, but Ellie had been so good for him, bringing out the real him. They had stuck together, ever since that day they had gotten back together back in high school. Going to different colleges didn't even break them apart. They were perfect for each other. I knew one day I wanted the closeness that they had. They were each other's family and nothing else mattered.

"Timmy…" I started drifting off knowing he got my implied meaning.

"She would have wanted her to have it," he said giving me a weak smile, and I smiled back happy for him.

"I'm so happy for you guys," giving Ellie a hug, and tearing up a little. "They would have both been so proud of you, you know that right," I whispered as I hugged Timmy, knowing he had come so far in the last four years.

"Thanks, "he whispered.

"Oh, I'm going to go and get out of your hair," I told them, wiping my eyes.

"Jules?"

"Yeah?" I said turning around.

"Think about what I said ok?" Timmy said, and I knew he was talking about our little talk earlier about Romeo, but I didn't have the energy to deal with that right now. I had been up most the night unable to sleep, my mind filled with thoughts of Romeo and when I couldn't contain myself any longer, I left early this morning to go and see Timmy. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

I walked out of Timmy's apartment smiling, as he picked up Ellie and she squealed. At least one of us was happy.

X x x x x x x x

Rose POV

Chasing someone through an airport wasn't half as simple as they made it seem on TV. First of all, you can't just demand a ticket to anywhere, just to get past security. They need your passport, and credit cards and a whole load of other stupid details. It would be a miracle if I made it on time.

I ran through a group of senior citizens on a world tour, and rushed into the departures lounge, and scanned the screen looking for a four pm flight from Verone to New York. My heart sank as I saw it wasn't there anymore. I couldn't comprehend that I really had lost my chance. I started making my way back toward the exit, when I heard my name being called through the crowd.

"Rose?" Ben said, walking up to me.

"Your flight?" I said stuttering.

"It got delayed. What's going on? What're you doing here?" he asked, with worry.

My heart skipped a beat as I realised that he was right here in front of me, and this was my chance to tell him.

"I…." I started, not quite knowing what to say. Now, rushing through the airport to find him looked like the easy bit. I hadn't really had time to think about what I would say when I saw him.

"Are you ok?" he said, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," said walking over to where there were less people and he followed. "Look Ben, I've been thinking about things, and I can't be your friend."

"You what?" he said, looking confused.

"I can't be your friend," I repeated shaking my head. I thought it was better to have him in my life than not at all, but it was way too painful that way to have him so close but knowing we were nothing more than just 'friends'.

"Rose, I don't understand. Did I do anyth—"

"No, you didn't, and I don't blame you. I know there's no excuses for the way I was back in high school, and I don't expect you to just put the past behind us," he started to speak, but I put my hand over his mouth and he got the message to let me finish.

"You deserve way more than me, and I fully understand that. But I am so in love with you Ben that it physically hurts to be so close yet so far away. The last few weeks have been amazing and torture all at the same time. And watching from the side lines and being your friend, I don't think I can carry on doing that," I said looking to the floor the second I finished, completely dreading his confirmation of my thoughts. The last thing I needed right now was to hear it directly from him. I came to the airport to get my last goodbye, and it seemed I had done that, considering he hadn't said anything yet. I turned to leave and he grabbed my arm.

"Rose, you're right, I don't want to put the past behind us," he said. Here we go, I thought as my vision blurred with tears. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting them to spill out. He kissed my cheek and I felt a spark of electricity run pass between us.

"I don't understand. Was that a goodbye kiss?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"Rosie, I don't want to put the past behind us because the past is what made us today. It's a part of who we are. Without all that you wouldn't be who you are today." he said. "I don't think I can be friends with you either."

I nodded, and smiled weakly, trying to memorise every part of him before we went our separate ways. I turned to leave again but once more, he grabbed my arm.

"I can't just be friends with you because I want to be more."

"You mean…" I said, frozen in my spot.

"I love you too, you goof," he said kissing my nose.

"You do?" I asked, grinning through my tears that were now freely flowing.

"I do," he said. I pulled his lips to mine for the first time in four years and he didn't resist. It was one of those kisses where we both forgot where we were, what day it was and what our own names were. That sort of kiss. My brain temporarily shut down and put up vacancy signs, my most basic instincts kicking in: kiss him a lot, don't stop. I remembered what it felt like the second out lips met, and couldn't believe I ever forgot. I loved the familiarity of kissing Ben, not to mention he was really good at it. I had kissed him many times in the past but this kiss had something new about it—desperation and longing and most importantly: love, and I knew he wanted this as much as I did. This wasn't just an official first kiss to mark the beginning of something I had been waiting for. It was the beginning of our lives together.

X x x x x x

Juliet POV.

"Hey," I said as I walked into the apartment.

"Hey. You've left early," Tori said from her spot on the couch, watching Glee. "Breakfast?" she asked holding out the tub.

I took out a spoon from the kitchen drawer and went to join her, digging in to her tub of cookie dough ice cream, not making any comments about ten o clock in the morning being too early for the sugary desert.

"Yeah, I had to go talk to Timmy about something. I'm surprised you're up; you're usually knocked out until midday on weekends."

"Well I was, until someone started knocking on the door first thing this morning, I swear you get all the hot guys Jules."

" What?"

"I was totally ready to rip into him for waking me, but then I got a look at him. Totally made me regret wearing Minnie Mouse PJ's."

"Tor! The guy- what did he want?" I said, trying to get the full story out of her.

"I did ask if he wanted to come in and speak to you, at this point I thought you were asleep in your room, but all he wanted was to drop off a stupid letter, and then he left. So you gonna spill? Who's the guy?"

"A letter?" I said looking frantically around for an envelope lying around, already having sussed out the guy she was talking about was Romeo, curious to see why he said no to seeing me face to face.

"Relax, it's here," she said, handing me a letter from the coffee table, with Romeo's familiar scrawl that I hadn't seen in a long time, spelling out my name on the front. No Lee. Just Juliet. The letter felt heavy in my hands, even though it was thin enough to be empty.

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?" she asked me bringing me out of my daze.

"Umm I don't know," I said, not taking my eyes off the letter.

"You're nuts," she said standing up. "While you ponder over that, I'm going to take a shower," she said stretching. "And you still owe me an explanation about the guy!" she called over her shoulder.

X x x x x x

JPOV

I sat for half an hour at the mini dining table we had with the letter placed in front of me just staring at it. I picked it up a few times, ready to open it but chickened out at the last minute and put it back on the table again. Part of me wanted to know what he had to say following the disastrous meeting we'd had yesterday, which ended in me running out, but the other part of me thought opening it would open up a can of worms which I had already closed. This is ridiculous! I was scared of a letter! I picked it up and tore it open before I could change my mind.

Lee.

I wouldn't blame you if you threw this letter away but I really hope you don't. I thought about running after you and talking to you in person but I figured it would be easier to write it all down because I know as soon as I see you everything I want to say will slip out of my mind.

I need you to know that if I knew you and Paul had broken up, I would have come to find you a lot sooner and I would have fought for you. What stopped me before was the illusion that you were happy. I regret what happened with me and Rose every day, and if I could take it back I would. I was stupid and I got scared of what we had and the intensity of what I felt. But I knew I made a mistake and if that mistake means this is the end for you and me, I fully I know that I deserve that. Just knowing that you were happy would be enough. We both were changed by what happened, but I am still the person you fell in love with. I have grown a lot, I have learned a lot. I will move on with my life, but I can't move on in my heart. You are the only one I ever wanted and will ever want.

The truth is Lee, you changed me. When I came back to Verone, I wasn't in a good place. I didn't know it at the time but what I did to Timmy, and losing a friendship that meant so much to me, affected me more than I realised, and I lost myself along the way. Knowing you brought the old me back, and for that I will always be thankful. Lee, you are the most amazing person I had ever met. You make me laugh at the silly things we do, and smile for no reason at all. You became my best friend. I know from the years that we spent apart that we are made for each other. Even if you don't believe in me anymore at least believe in that.

Every morning I wake up and hope that the last few years have been a dream, and I didn't screw this up between us. Each morning I wished something would bring you back to me, and each morning I thought if you did come back to me Lee, I would never let you go ever again. We both know that life isn't always fair. We know that there will come a time when we have to face trials in our relationship, but we would be able to overcome them because what we have will see us through. Up until I saw how much you hated me at Pauls house I still thought that was a possibility.

This letter isn't to ask for you back, because I know that you don't want that, and I don't deserve it. Just be happy Juliet. That's enough for me.

I'll never forget you. I love you, I always will.

Goodbye.

The letter slipped from my hands onto the table, and tears were falling down my face.

I picked up my keys from the coffee table and rushed out to the door, just knowing I had to talk to him.

I pulled into Romeo's driveway, and rang the doorbell a couple of times unable to stand here waiting for him. I could see a shadow approaching the door and I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. This was it.

The door slowly opened and Izzie appeared, the once little girl now pre-teen and all grown up. Her eyes widened in realisation when she saw me. I had seen her a little bit around town , and normally shared a smile, but this was the first time I had spoken to her in years and I felt a pang of guilt for stepping out of the little girl's life who I had grown close to, when I broke up with her brother.

"Juliet?"

"Hi Izzie," I said , and looking over her shoulder waiting for her brother to appear any minute.

"What're you doing here?" she asked.

"Is Romeo home?" I asked.

"No," she said defensively, crossing her arms.

"Oh ok," I said a little taken aback by her tone. "Do you know how long he'll be? Or even where he went?"

"Look, Juliet. I like you ok, but my brother was hurting a lot after the two of you broke up and –"

"I need to speak to him Iz," I said reassuring her. I could see where she was coming from, not knowing the full story but feeling protective over her brother.

"Really?" she said her eyes lighting up.

"Yes, but don't get your hopes up-."

"That's great! I'm really happy for you guys," she said smiling.

"Thanks sweetie, now can you tell me when he'll be back?" I said happy to have her on my side, but also itching to find Romeo and rectify my mistake from yesterday.

"He isn't coming back," she said, her smile dropping.

"What!" I said hoping she was just playing.

"He's moving to New York."

"I know, he said something about that, I just didn't know when that was!" I said starting to sound hysterical. I might have really lost my chance, all down to my insistence that I had to be right all the time.

"He left like two hours ago," she said rummaging through a draw in the hallway. "He called earlier and said his flights been delayed, you might just catch him." She thrust some papers in my hand with his flight information written on it.

"Thanks!" I yelled, already half way to my car, with a new burst of energy. It might not be over yet.

"Good luck!" she yelled as I drove out the drive.

I must have broken about fifty different driving laws rushing to the airport and I would be surprised if I got sent more than a few speeding tickets in the mail tomorrow, but right now I could care less. The airport was packed with people, which I found hard to believe that this many people would be passing by Verone of all places; most people didn't even know it existed on the map.

I rushed up to the security gate, and ran to the head of the line, ignoring the groans from everyone standing in the queue.

"There's a line miss," the airport staff standing by the desk said.

"I know! I just really need to get through like now!" I yelled, trying to look past her into the waiting lounge to see if I could spot him.

"So does everyone else miss. If you could just join the line—"

"You don't understand! The man I love is about to board a plane, and I need to tell him I love him!"

"Oh please, like I haven't heard that one before," she said rolling her eyes. "I have seen quite a few movies you know."

"I'm being serious!" I said nearly in tears.

"Ok, ok, miss please calm down," she said looking uncomfortable. "I suppose I could let you in."

"Really?" I said relieved.

"Do you have your ticket?" she asked.

"No," I said, feeling stupid.

She gave a look that made me feel ridiculous for even thinking I could get through without a ticket. I turned back to look at the ticket line, which was even longer than this one and groaned.

"Miss, people don't usually come back once they're in," the lady said trying to get someone's attention.

I flipped around and saw Rose walking out of the departure lounge and coming back through security, with a grin on her face. She just ignored the lady and carried on forward but stopped when she saw me.

"Juliet?" she said confused.

What was she doing here? Was she with Romeo? Had I completely misread everything he had told me. Come on, Juliet, they're just friends! , I told myself.

"I was here for Ben," she said, almost as if sensing my disdain.

"Oh," I said relieved even though I knew I was panicking for no reason. "Are they stil…..?"

"The plane left already," she said, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I sank onto a metal bench. It really was too late.

"Were you going to…?" she said, both of us knowing what she meant.

"Mmmhmm," I said, and she sat down on the bench next to me. This was the first civil conversation, if you can call it that, we had ever had. Our verbal exchanges in the past usually consisted of insults going back and forth. I hadn't seen her in years, but she looked so different. Her hair was shorter, and she was wearing denim shorts that were a respectable length and a green sweater, miles away from the minimal amount of attention grabbing clothes she used to wear.

"But I guess it doesn't matter now. It's too late," I said.

"Juliet, it's not too late. He's not moving to another planet. He's just in New York," she said, and it felt weird receiving kindness from her.

"God, I don't even know what I'm doing. I just knew I had to talk to him."

"Juliet? Could you live with yourself knowing you just let him go? And just carry on with your life?" she said. Reading Romeo's letter, and realising I had missed him now, and knowing that was a possibility to be the end, I realised I couldn't live with that.

I had to find him, and tell him that I loved him too, and he had changed my life just as much as I had changed his. There is no way I would be who am I today without Romeo. I probably would have stayed with Paul, and carried on with Yale, and never gone to St. Martins, and I would probably living the life my parents mapped out for me. Because of Romeo I learned to take a stand for my life. Before I met Romeo something was missing, I felt detached from the world that I was in the centre of, but I could connect and relate to Romeo. He became my best friend too. I had been kidding myself this whole time.

I sat up in realisation and said, "I love him," to Rose, and she smiled.

"Then that's enough," she said. "For what it's worth, I really think you guys would make a great couple."

"Thanks," I said, in slight shock that Rose Mitchinson had just said something nice to me.

"Juliet, I really am sorry about everything that happened between us. I'm really sorry about what happened with Romeo too," she said looking ashamed.

"Thanks," I said, "that means a lot."

She nodded and smiled weakly.

"Juliet?"

"Yeah?"

"What're you still doing here?" she asked.

"Right!" I said jumping up.

X x x x x

One week later

I stood outside the huge skyscraper in front of my watching Romeo walk through the lobby and out the doors into the crisp chill air, the complete opposite to the never ending heat wave back at home. My heart fluttered seeing him looking irresistible without even trying. He was wearing a black suit and white shirt, undoing his top button and loosening his navy tie, as he walked out. This was the first time I had ever seen him dressed up as a 'grown up', but it suited him.

He looked around, no doubt waiting for his car, and his gaze swept passed me, and came back doing a double take. I saw the life rush into his eyes, and he grinned. Unable to help myself any longer, I ran forward and he caught me in his arms swivelling me around.

I knew it would be a good kiss before it even happened. He placed his arms around my waist, and I moved my hands from my side to wrap around him, under his suit jacket. He slowly lowered his face to mind, and the rush of emotions I felt before his lips even touched mine was nothing compared to the heady emotions of when our lips finally fitted over the top of each other. I had kissed Romeo many times before but this felt like unchartered territory. The kiss felt effortless as if it was made to happen, ordered from a speciality catalogue, and tailored specifically for us. It was a kiss among kisses, the best kiss of my life.

I closed my eyes savouring the moment, wanting to be able to remember every little detail of this moment forever, from the burnt orange autumn leaves falling all around us, to the feeling of his hands on my back, and that was when it happened. Timmy's theory worked. This was it. This was what I wanted for my future. It wasn't an undecided anymore. As much as I had convinced myself and everyone around me that I was over him, and didn't love him anymore I knew he was and would be the only guy I would ever love. Reading his words make me realise I wanted it all. The big house, the white picket fence, the two point five kids running around in the back yard. I wanted it all and I wanted it with him. I was in love with him, and nothing would ever change that. It was him standing beside me the whole time, I just didn't see it clearly until now, and I was too stubborn to see it before. Through the last four years everyone had told me to just get over him, and assumed it was just high school puppy love, but this was the reason I wasn't able to. He was my soulmate. My otherhalf, as cheesy as that sounds.

I had a fleeting thought as his lips pressed against mine again that he was the only man I would ever want to kiss ever again as we both fell deep into the kiss once more, completely oblivious to everything around us from the valet trying to get Romeo's attention to hand him his car keys to the crowd of New Yorkers walking by us rushing home to their loved ones.

I'm not saying this was it, everything from now on would be an easy ride. We still had a long way to go, this was only the beginning. But I knew he was right and whatever came our way, it didn't matter because we would face it together. Who cares if we are Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet? We're just two more people in this world fighting for our love. But the point wasn't that we lived happily ever after. It was that we had a chance to try.

But who's to say we couldn't have our happy ending? After all, this was another time, another place.

A/N: Ok guys, I really hoped you like that. I really fought with myself about Ben/Rose getting their happy ending, just because I thought they could be the moral in the story, but I love them too much to do that to them!

It would be great to hear from those silent readers, since this is the last chapter!

So for the last time guys, I love you, and goodnight, it's been a pleasure.

PS= Please look out for a next A/N in regards to a sequel…

PPS= for the last one out- Don't forget to turn out the light.