𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐢𝐢) | ✔

epilogue

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epilogue
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"Mom? Dad? Lisa? Ava?" Juliette asked as she opened the door to her house. The premiere had been cancelled due to no members of the cast being there and, after (unsuccessfully) trying to fix the mess Channing had made, they had gone home already. "I've got a surprise for you!"

"Honey! What happened to—" her mother rushed downstairs, but stopped on her tracks as soon as she saw who was with her. Her father's face hardened, looking at the boy.

"There is... well, there's a lot to tell," the older girl smiled awkwardly.

Lisa and Ava were quick to reach them and, when they saw Ricky stepping into their house, they took him by his arms and walked out with them. The door remained half-open and all of them could hear the twins telling that "curly-haired asshole" that he better not hurt their sister again or they will make sure he never stepped another foot anywhere else for the rest of this life. Once Ricky had nodded frantically, they all walked in again.

     The boy was clearly overwhelmed. Not many months ago, those people in front of him had treated him like a son of their own. He had stayed over when he needed it, they had made sure that he always left with food on his stomach and they had been there to listen to him when things got rough. Now, however, it was as if they were trying to burn him with their eyes and he did not know how to react. All he hoped was that, some day, everything could go back to how it was. 

     "I'm sorry," he spoke. His voice broke in the middle of the sentence and he saw himself forced to clear his throat before he could continue. "I'm sorry about everything that happened. I'm sorry I hurt Juliette and I'm sorry I wasn't the person you expected me to be. But I am now. I love her. And I was stupid letting her go."

     It took some moments for her parents to react. Mr Duchamp's face did not relax and continued looking at the boy in front of him with a hard expression. All you could hear were breathings, all in different rhythms. Mr Duchamp's was quick and short, the twins were breathing in long and steady but Juliette and Ricky held their breaths to the point they thought they were going to pass out. 

     "I know that... I know that this may seem stupid but listen to me," Juliette pleaded, desperately trying to fix the situation. "Ricky and I... well, this was a long Summer. And there is a lot more to come, with the documentary and... I just... I love him. I have loved him every single day I've been with him and... well, I do think that we are now in the right headspace to try this again. To make it right this time."

     Finally, it was Juliette's mother the one to give in.

     "Welcome back to the family, Ricky. Have you two had dinner?"

     Juliette and Ricky let out the breaths they had been holding as they relaxed their shoulders. Juliette's hand reached for Ricky's behind her, giving it three soft squeezes. She simply hoped he had got the message before they left their things on the entrance: Ricky's jacket on his self-proclaimed spot, which had remained empty until that moment, and Juliette's heels by the door. 

     They walked to the kitchen and sat at the table, each in their own chair, while Mrs Duchamp put some chicken pasta bake on the plates, a big salad in the centre of the table. At first, Juliette could have sworn that Ricky was about to combust; the first minutes of that dinner were the most uncomfortable thing the ginger remembered. Mr Duchamp continued shooting daggers at the scared boy and the twins letting out loud comments about how glad they were Juliette was never going to cry for a boy again. 

     Juliette look at her mother, desperate. She did not know what to do. Not even the camp anecdotes and the story of how successful Frozen was (seeing that they had not been able to attend due to the twins' Summer classes) helped. However, when Juliette, due to the nerves, knocked over her glass and provoked the laugh of all those sat at the table, everything got smoother. 

     Soon, it was as if Ricky had never been gone, as if he had eaten dinner with them every day for a week. Juliette's parents and sisters began asking them questions about the weeks they had spent half a day away, about the premiere and the documentary. 

     Ricky's hand found her way to Juliette's thigh under the table, where he was pleasantly surprised at feeling the girl's hand on top of his. Everything was slowly falling into place and their hearts were slowly getting fixed.

lxngbottom speaks!

i'm not crying you are

i can't believe i've got to say goodbye
to ricky and juliette AGAIN until we get
another season

i've grown to love them so much that it
pains me not to write for them for some time
but they'll be back as soon as s4 drops!
(i may drop a couple of one-shots here and there
so don't take this story out of your library just yet)

until then, you can find me in WAR, my
wizarding world story, already available in
my profile

tell me, how did you like this story?
thank so much for all the reads, votes and comments,
you all truly inspire me to continue writing.

ily xx