𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐯)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒊𝒗. 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫
━━ 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆

 "Boo!" a scream made Juliette jump and drop her pen. Turning around, she came to face none other than Ricky Bowen, in his pyjamas, climbing her window.

"Ricky!" she exclaimed, as her mother yelled at her from downstairs to see if she was okay. Assuring her that she was, she stood up from her desk chair and threw a pillow at the boy, who had taken a seat on her bed. "Do you want my mother to yell at you for ten minutes straight? Again?"

"What were you doing?"

"Trying to work on your song. I took a shower and was inspired."

"Oh yeah, how to forget your hour-long showers," he laughed, remembering that time he had fallen asleep while Juliette gave herself what she called a 'quick shower'.

"I always think better in the shower, shut up. Anyway, this is what I came up with." She handed him her journal just so that he could read the lyrics. If he were any other person, she wouldn't be caught dead lending her journal, but she fully trusted Ricky with even her deepest thoughts. They both had had the most philosophical conversations while sitting in his car at 2 a.m.

"Jules, this is..."

"Well, I know it's not much but... I just wanted to try to..."

"It's great," he interrupted her, taking out his phone and opening the notes app. Turns out he had also written some lyrics he wanted to show her. They both sat on the bed, their legs tangled, as Juliette turned to a blank page on her journal and they both started to mix the lyrics. It took them some time to arrive at a somewhat acceptable version that had both his and her ideas, but they ultimately got to it.

"Want to give it a try?"

Ricky nodded and took his phone to play the melody he had recorded the previous day. The song flooded her head, the sound coming from their shared AirPods, making her smile lightly as she took her notebook and stood up from the bed, turning her back to Ricky so he wouldn't see her.

"Maybe this time, we do it for real. Nothin' to lose, why don't we try? Life doesn't wait and it kinda feels like the last chance to get it right," she sang before having her notebook taken by Ricky, who was walking behind her.

"A roll of the dice, shot in the dark. Everything's changing, can't you tell? It's all about us, so let's just keep this to ourselves," he continued, taking her hand.

"The future's gon' do what it wants to but maybe this time," both of their voices joined melodiously, singing together as if it were second nature. As Ricky winked at Juliette, their minds travelled to when they had first become friends, when he had tossed that cereal bar all across the rehearsal room because he had heard her stomach rumbling. "Let's live in the moment, lettin' go, but also holding onto hope that it'll all work out fine for you and I. Maybe this, maybe this time, wherever we're headed, I don't wanna miss a second. If the lesson is to enjoy the ride, I'll try, maybe this, maybe this time."

Ricky stood up from where he was sitting and walked around Juliette's room as he continued singing, "well, maybe this time is all that we get, but we've still got lots to figure out. I love the control, what happens next, I'll give you my all right now."

And it was true. Ricky was willing to give Juliette his all, he just wanted her by her side. He had experienced what it was not having her and he didn't want to have to live that again. He took her hand and twirled her a couple of times as they sang: "don't look back, just pull me closer. Hands up on this rollercoaster."

As they sang the chorus again, their minds raced to all the great moments they had lived together: when Ricky had waited at her door after homecoming, when he kissed her in front of half of the school after saving Miss Jenn, when they had spent almost a whole night chatting on her backyard, their first opening night, Christmas, camp... everything came back to them in waves. That song, more than ever, was about them, about how much their first attempt at a relationship had changed them, how much they had learnt and how much they wanted to do it right this time.

They danced around Juliette's room, the notebook going from Juliette to Ricky and to Juliette again, their faces getting closer and closer until Ricky put his hand under Juliette's chin and tilted it upwards so that he could kiss her. Every single kiss with Ricky brought a new feeling to Juliette; no matter how many times they had kissed (and, believe me, they had kissed many many times), she would never get bored of the feeling of his lips on hers, moving softly at times and quickly at others.

Ricky pushed her down softly onto the bed and put himself on top of her, never breaking the kiss while Juliette allowed her hands to travel to the back of his neck, pulling him even closer. Ricky's hand, on the other hand, moved under Juliette's shirt but never moving past her waist. He left soft caresses on her skin, making her shiver, which brought a chuckle to the boy's lips.

"I should go," he whispered against her lips.

"But I don't want you to," she replied, really wishing he could stay over even though she knew he could not.

"I don't want to either but I don't have a death wish," he chuckled as Juliette took it upon herself and kissed him, this time being the one to slide her tongue into the boy's mouth. "Stop distracting me with kisses."

"Just ten more minutes?"

She knew Ricky wouldn't say no, especially not to staying over, theory that was proven once a small smile appeared on the boy's face as he kissed her again. Ultimately, he ended up staying for a good half an hour before they heard Juliette's parents walking up the stairs, which prompted Ricky to almost literally jump out of the window so he wouldn't be caught. Juliette, on her side, had to hide her laugh when her father walked into her room to wish her good night.

Already on her bed, almost ready to fall asleep, her phone screen lit up. It was Gina texting the girl group chat they had created not too long ago. At first, she did not pay much attention to it, but her curiosity was piqued once a stream of twenty more messages arrived. Her eyes, already half-closed, opened fully once she saw what Gina had sent: a screenshot of her Instagram with a new follower, none other than Mack himself.