I Don't Date Stupid ✓

27: "This Is for Me."

"You've fucked up, Jack," I tell myself, pacing in the elevator up to Juliet's apartment.

"She hates you, you're done. What are you gonna come up with next time to make her forgive you, huh? You gonna say 'Let's get married, that would piss Damon off for sure!'. God, you're stupid." I feel like ripping my hair out by the time I reach the top floor.

I speed walk to Juliet's door but I can't quite bring myself to knock.

"If you always have to come up with some scheme to get her to talk to you again, she clearly doesn't want to talk to you."

I bend down and run my hands through my hair out of sheer frustration then straighten up and press the doorbell before I can change my mind.

"Come on, come on, come on," I chant, hoping she'll answer.

There's silence for at least a minute. "Take the hint, Jackass," I mutter to myself and press the doorbell again anyway.

The door swings open and Juliet stands before me looking like a queen. "I'm going out," she says matter of factly and tries to walk past me.

I move, blocking her path. "Please hear me out."

"I'm meeting someone for lunch, get out of my way." She looks me dead in the eyes and gone is the hurt from last night. But strangely enough, I don't see anger, it's an emotion I can't quite place.

"It's 4 pm, Juliet." I eye her suspiciously.

"Fine, I'm going to the movie theatre. I'm gonna miss my film. Bye, Jackass." She tries to breeze past me again but I catch her arm before she has the chance.

"The film can wait, I can't. I need to talk to you. Please," I beg her.

She takes her arm back and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "How long will this take?"

It's best to be generous. "Half an hour?"

She turns away from me and marches back into her place while setting a timer on her phone. "You have 15 minutes."

Fuck. I jog in after her, closing the door behind me and sit opposite her on the sofa. "So what is this?" She asks. "You gonna lay down the rules on how we carry out another fake relationship for Damon's sake or are you gonna come up with some sort scheme to get me close to you again?"

Everything she says is a dagger in me. Sure, she's echoing my thoughts but aren't you meant to be your own worst critic? She really thinks that lowly of me, that I won't get on my knees and beg like a decent human but instead I'd manipulate her into being with me. "Juliet, you've got to know I didn't come up with the whole relationship plan to hurt you. I only ever wanted you to forgive me and I guess it was a shortcut. But that's not what this is. I'm not coming up with a plan to get you back, I'm coming to you and getting down on my knees and begging."

She cocks her head to the side and sucks on her teeth. "Why aren't you on your knees then?"

My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. Is she being serious? "Juliet, are you being serious?"

"Deadly." The look she sends me isn't what I'd expect. It's not clouded by venom or hate. Almost uncertainty?

I shake my head at her. I swear she'll be the death of me one day. But slowly and dutifully I get on my knees and crawl towards her. "Please, Kat. I keep calling you out of habit not just because I want to clean up this mess. Not that you pick up, anyway." She looks away from me for a brief second before facing me again with the same emotion lying behind her eyes that I can't work out. I continue, "Because being with you is so natural that you've become my new normal. When you fled the dance it crushed me. I can't stand being away from you. I'll say that I'm sorry a thousand times and stay on my knees until I die if that's what it takes." I take a deep breath and convey nothing but desperation in my expression. "Please, Juliet."