꩜ no, like j-u-l
real life & flashback...
TWENTY MINUTES PASSED AND MATT was now pulling into jules' driveway. she has already been woken up by that weird feeling you get when your body knows you're almost home. it was the weirdest feeling to jules because how was a specific turn able to tell her she's turning onto her street? more importantly, how does her body know when she's already sleeping? it was something she thought of anytime she fell asleep in a car.
"jules, you're home." matt called to the backseat the second he put the car in park, not realizing that she had already awoken.
"i know. i know." she groaned, wanting nothing more than to be carried to her bed like she had when she was a little girl.
her comfy bed was calling her from all the way out in the driveway, it was her final destination before she could finally go to sleep for the night. she was so tired she didn't even feel like changing into pajamas. she thought that at most she would just take off her shoes.
"do you need help or anything? getting into the house?" matt asked after he opened her door, grabbing her outstretched hand and helping her out. the blanket she had was his car blanket, but he didn't mind her borrowing it for a night. he knew he'd get it back eventually.
he walked her up to the front door of her house before she answered his question, "maybe? can you just unlock the door? i don't feel like getting my keys out."
"yeah, gotcha." he grabbed her purse and pulled out her set of keys, looking for the bright blue one. he's unlocked this door so many times, to him it was common sense what key it was.
after gently pushing the front door open, he checked to make sure jules had everything she entered his car with. her purse, her extra jacket, the blanket, and her shoes. jules has forgotten her shoes in matt's car far more times than she should have. how do you forget to put your shoes on? why take them off in the first place? a lot of questions for another time.
"you look ready to have the best sleep of your life." he laughed at the amount of tiredness on her face. she was so tired she hardly laughed at the little joke.
"yeah, why don't you go to bed..." he was catching on.
"oh— i am."
matt leaned in for a hug, but jules just plopped her whole body weight against him. she stayed there for a second even after matt said, "you gotta get some rest... goodnight, jul."
she smiled at the nickname. jules was her universal nickname that everyone usually used, but jul was just matt's. he was the only one who could use it, and they both made sure it stayed that way. and she remembers exactly the day it was created all the way back in their freshman year.
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JULES AND MATT WERE WALKING SIDE by side in the mall. their whole friend group had been planning this mall trip all month. one where they would go alone, without any parents. but the only way they were allowed to, was if one of their parents were at least somewhere in the mall with them. it was one of the first time jules' parents let her got somewhere by herself, with the exception of marylou wandering around, being the chosen parent. they knew she would actually listen and give the teens some space while they were there.
apparently their plan didn't work out as well as they thought because now jules and matt were stranded from the group. to make it all worse jules was phoneless and matt's was dead.
"maybe we can just walk around until we find them?" jules suggested, starting to feel a bit anxious. her anxiety has just been getting progressively worse this past year, and she didn't know why. it was like a switch was flipped and she couldn't control it like she used to.
"no, we should stay here and wait til they find us." matt had his own shares of anxiety, so all in all, they were the worst two to get lost together.
"but then people will think we're lost."
"we are..."
"yeah, they don't need to know that though." jules always thought that there was a difference between feeling lost, and looking lost. the second one was definitely worse for her. anyone could notice you're not aware of your surroundings when you look lost, then just come up and snatch you.
matt noticed she was starting to look off, and he knew exactly how she was feeling because he felt it too. he had to figure something out for the both of them. he then came up with a perfect compromise.
"let's pretend we're shopping around here then, we won't move but we won't just stand here." matt's plan seemed to calm her nerves a bit, because it was a pretty good plan. each of their worries would be fulfilled and they probably won't be a victim of any kind of kidnapping.
they walked into a jewelry shop, jules' choice, and started looking at all the different silvers and golds.
"wait, i love this one." she gasped at the sight and pointed towards a ruby heart necklace in front of them, with the price next to it being $899.99. she grabbed onto the twenty in her pocket and couldn't even imagine having that kind of money to spend on a necklace.
"it is very pretty," matt agreed, hovering over the protective glass, not even looking at the price.
"it's my birthstone!"
"what is that?"
"it's the stone of your birth month. yours is..." she trailed off looking down the row of necklaces to find the one that says august. "peridot. yours is peridot."
"that sounds funky," he admitted moving back over to the ruby, "i like yours better."
"it does not, but thank you." she actually liked august's stone. it was like the perfect shade of green, and it honestly reminded her of nick, matt, and chris.
they spent a little more time looking at the birthstones of other people they knew, judging if they liked it better or worse than their own. matt continuously said his was worse. he had developed a hatred for his own stone.
they eventually got bored in the jewelry shop and jules decided to spend her money at auntie anne's instead, like she always did. she bought two regular pretzel bites with cheese, one for her and one for matt. somehow it was easy for them to find a table despite it being a very crowded day.
matt decided to start the conversation by asking her a question he had in his head since they walked into that jewlery store. "has anyone ever called you jul before?"
"jewel? like a crystal jewel?" she was confused because why would someone call her jewel?
"no, like j-u-l. a nickname? for julien." he explained, knowing that the reason he thought of it in the first place was because of all the jewels they were previously looking at. which made him think again about how jules and jewels sounded the exact same as well.
"umm... no, why?"
"i don't know. i just thought of it. and it sounds nice."
"you can call me it if you want, i like it!" she smiled, dipping her pretzel in the cheese.
and that he did. sure, he would only say it when it was just the two of them, in fear that someone might take it from him. but against his efforts, others found out and a few even tried to use it. and jules hated that as much as matt did.
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nat's notes !
you guys are probably like "omg they're moving a bit fast! they're so cute!" ermm...🤔
i got so hungry for a good soft pretzel and cheese... but my mom alr left the store when i called her :/
also matt was the one who made jules spam user. that's why it had jul in it 🤭