𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

15│A BRAVE NEW WORLD, PT. 1

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[Model Family, 1.15]

"Why don't you just marry Shawn?"

The two boys looked at each other with confusion before Cory said, "'cause our kids would look like horses."

"Besides," Shawn added with a smile as he pulled Juliet closer, "I'm already taken by Mrs. Hunter."

The redhead sighed. "Alright. Give me your paper, Shawn."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Paper? What paper?"

"So I can be your model wife," she explained patiently.

Realization flashed across his face before he smiled at her again. "That's just the thing, Julie. I don't need a dumb paper. You're already my model wife."

Topanga gave a little 'aww' as Cory pretended to wretch. Juliet sent her best friend a deadpan expression. "You didn't do the assignment, did you?"

"Oh no, I did," he reassured her. "I thought about my model wife and realized you're already it."

Juliet ducked her head as she tried to hide her suddenly very warm face.

"My turn," Minkus said and he gave them two thick stacks of paper. "Here you go, bro and who should've been Mrs. Minkus."

"For some reason, Juliet Minkus doesn't sound nearly as good as Juliet Hunter," Shawn observed evenly as he reached for the pages. "I just can't put my finger on why."

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But, he wasn't a kid anymore. There was more at stake than just his happiness. Juliet had always been more ambitious, confident and driven than he had been and he couldn't be the one to keep her from achieving her dreams. He swallowed against his selfishness. "Julie, I'd only be holding you back."

She stared at him with wide eyes. "What? That's not true!"

"It is," he insisted. "I always have. I love you too much to be the one keep you from doing what you want."

"I love you too, Shawnie," Juliet said. "That's why I want you to come with me. I don't get the disconnect here."

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[Cult Fiction, 4.21]

"What are you doing, Julie?"

"I'm looking for the disconnect," she replied. "Why didn't you tell me any of this? You know I didn't have a dad my entire childhood. Don't you think I know how you feel?"

How could she know how he felt though? Juliet had always been more confident, smarter, more self-assured and well-liked than he had been. She'd always seemed to know exactly what to do at any given moment. She'd always been driven and ambitious and never skated by like he did.

Instead of saying all that, though, he looked away and replied quietly, "but he came back."

"Yeah, he did," she agreed. "But that doesn't erase the feelings, Shawnie. I still have them and I have to come to terms with them, not shut them out. It's worse if you do." The redhead paused, seeming to consider a point before she continued: "if it's the change you're worried about, believe me, I know it can be scary but we'll make it through. It's us against the world, remember? And the us is Shawn and Juliet, not Shawn and The Center."

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When he didn't answer, she sighed before she reminded him firmly, "it's us against the world, remember? No matter where we are."